Eight years ago Laura Russell stole the spotlight at the
Westminster mayor and Common Council meeting on Sept. 28, 2009
Oct. 9, 2017 – Sept. 28, 2009
Our friend Laura Russell, stole the spotlight at the
Westminster mayor and Common Council meeting on Sept. 28, 2009. In an article I
wrote for the Baltimore Sun that was published October 5, 2009, I reported,
“Budget woes dominate Westminster mayor and council meeting. Westminster City
Hall - The meeting of the Westminster mayor and Common Council last Monday
began with plenty of smiles, but the mood quickly turned somber as a discussion
on budget woes dominated the balance of the evening.
The meeting began with a presentation by the Kiwanis Club of
Greater Westminster as club vice president Lyndi McNulty unveiled plans for
raising money to purchase an electric three-wheeled “T-3 Personal Mobility
Vehicle” for the Westminster Police Department.” …
Alas, sadly, the link to the story no longer works. But it
is just as well as Laura Russell and Lyndi McNulty stole the show anyway… Just
saying….
Photo caption: Westminster City Hall Sept. 28,2009 - The
meeting of the Westminster mayor and Common Council last on Sept. 28 began with
plenty of smiles, but the mood quickly turned somber as a discussion on budget
woes dominated the balance of the evening. By Kevin Dayhoff Posted on 10/05/09
Left to right: councilmember Dr. Robert Wack, councilmember Tony Chiavacci,
council president Damian Halstad, councilmember Greg Pecoraro, councilmember
Suzanne Albert. (Photo by Kevin Dayhoff)
Budget woes dominate Westminster council meeting
Westminster Common Council report By Kevin Dayhoff Posted 10/05/09
The meeting of the
Westminster
mayor and Common Council last on Sept. 28 began with plenty of smiles, but the
mood quickly turned somber as a discussion on budget woes dominated the balance
of the evening.
Mayor Kevin Utz conducted a public hearing on the 2009
Comprehensive Plan for Westminster.
Planning director Tom Beyard explained that the comprehensive plan was the
culmination of two years of work and that it was due to be adopted by October
1, 2009 in order to conform with Maryland State law.
The development of the plan, which began in earnest in
October 2007, was broken into three phases, Beyard said. The first phase was a
citizen survey, followed by additional public outreach, followed by the
drafting phase.
Beyard said the municipal growth footprint and the planned
water and sewer service area had not changed since its boundaries were agreed
upon with the county government two years ago. The plan did incorporate for the
first time a water resource and municipal growth element. Both are new
mandates from the Maryland General Assembly.
The city was “probably one of the first (municipalities in
the state) to submit the water resources element… many municipalities had asked
for an extension,” said Beyard.
Council president Damian Halstad remarked, “… that the state
found it to be an incredibly thorough plan… very detailed…”
Later the council voted to adopt the plan.
Under reports from the mayor and council members, there was
much discussion about the success of the recent Fallfest community festival the
previous weekend.
Utz and Councilmember Tony Chiavacci also noted how well the
recent Westminster Police Department sobriety checkpoint exercise was planned
and executed.
Police Chief Jeff Spaulding noted that although the
checkpoint only resulted in taking one driver off the road for being allegedly
driving while impaired by alcohol, “the whole point (of the checkpoint) is
prevention… The message will get out… (It’s) a public awareness tool.”
The mood of the council turned noticeably serious as the
council president brought up “Budget Amendment No. 1” for adoption.
Utz explained “this reduction in the budget came as a direct
result of the governor’s reduction in highway user revenues…” Other
council members noted that the state Board of Public Works recently voted to
not send $818,000 in revenue due the city from taxes collected by the state
designated for the city’s coffers – in order to balance the state budget.
A press release describing the budget amendment explained
that the state reduced the Highway User Revenues from $747,580 to $74,758 and
Police Aid from a budgeted $400,000 to $254,826.
Council finance committee chair Dr. Robert Wack described
the state cut as “unexpected and unfortunate,” as he went on to further explain
that “we will (probably) have to do this again. We need citizen input as
to what we can do without,” said Wack.
This is a “one time reduction,” said Wack of the budget
amendment. “This does not do anything about our structural budget
deficit. There will be more reductions. The hole is just getting deeper.
(Increased) taxes are also on the table,” explained a clearly concerned Wack.
Wack and Councilman Greg Pecoraro gave an analysis of the
steps the city has taken to address the city’s budget woes and what may lie in
the future. He also emphasized the need for public feedback.
“What is it the citizens want the city to do in the way of
services?” asked Pecoraro as it was explained that in order to balance the
budget in the future, a reduction in services offered by the city may need to
be discussed.
Pecoraro lamented that if the city continues to provide all
the services it currently maintains, the future budget challenges mean that “we
are going to be able to do none of them well.”
City administrator Marge Wolf said that she expects the
state to withhold an additional $329,000 from the city in January.
Among the cuts approved by the Common Council were
cancellations of the paving contract, technology purchases and a police vehicle
which totaled $267,950 in capital expenditures; diversion of the $100,000 contingency
reserve to operating accounts.
Also, the city converted $215,000 of Union Street property
proceeds to operating accounts; reduced departmental operating budgets by
$155,086; revised the take home vehicle policy to institute a partial employee payback
of costs by $15,768; and captured $65,000 in savings from reduced tipping fees.
Moving on to brighter topics, city parks and recreation
director Ron Schroers talked about Fallfest in the final stages of the
meeting. He also described a series of state grants the city had already
received to make some infrastructure improvements.
Public Works director Jeff Glass gave a brief presentation
on ongoing efforts to work the Maryland Department of the Environment on future
mandated upgrades to the city’s wastewater treatment plant.
The city’s roadway overlay and improvements program was also
discussed. As a result of the state cuts, the city had to withdrawal
plans to re-surface certain streets in the city.
Wolf tried to put a bright face on a bleak picture at that
by remarking that “this is not the best of times, but it doesn’t mean we don’t
have good projects underway.”
As if on cue, Lori Graham, representing the business
community, gave a report on the “Midnight Madness,” downtown business celebration
held in conjunction with Fallfest. She also gave an update on plans for
the upcoming community ‘electric’ Christmas parade.
Also at the meeting, there was a presentation by the Kiwanis
Club of Greater Westminster as club vice president Lyndi McNulty unveiled plans
for raising money to purchase an electric three-wheeled “T-3 Personal Mobility
Vehicle” for the Westminster Police Department.
This was followed by Historical Society of Carroll County
presenting to the city with a copy of a new publication authored by Historical
Society curator Cathy Baty entitled “Images in America: Westminster.”
The meeting ended on a positive note as Graham and others
reminisced about “Fantastic Friday,” a new feature at Fallfest in which special
needs children were treated to an afternoon of carnival rides.
“The community has its share of problems but we still come
together to do good things,” said Graham.
