Board of Town Commissioners - Regular Meeting

All right. Welcome to the 4.30 p.m., May the 7th, Bel Air Board of Town Commissioners Budget Work Session. I'm going to call the roll. Commissioner Foss? Present. Commissioner Chismar?

Here.

Commissioner Taylor?

Here.

And Commissioner Hanley?

Here.

All right. May I have a motion to approve the agenda?

So moved.

Thank you. Do I have a second? Second. All right. Mr. Krantz, when you are ready.

Thank you Madam Chair for the approval of this evening's Bel Air Board of Town Commissioners budget work session meeting agenda on May 7th 2026 Commissioner Foss Aye Commissioner Chismar Aye Commissioner Taylor Aye Commissioner Hanley Aye and Chair Eding Aye The agenda is approved First we have some presentations on our agenda and we are starting with the Rockville Foundation

are you guys doing today all right good we're looking forward to the garden mart tomorrow are we ready to go okay i don't have to say my name and all that stuff yeah you do oh thank you please My name is Kelly with the Rockfield foundation. Do you need my address?

You can just use the Rockfield address.

It's 501 Churchville road.

Thank you.

No problem. So I'm coming here today with two requests for Rockfield. This actually kind of started back in October. Myself, Steve, Eddie and Kevin Small all met to discuss some projects that are important that we both saw that was important and the main thing is always safety, security and of course keeping historic integrity of Rockfield. So in the meeting we both agreed that Things we need to focus on are adding some more lighting to Rockfield to our parking lots And I'm sure I know every single person in here has been a rock field, especially at night The top parking lot is pitch black. The only lights we had out there is what we get from route 22 so we did get with The contractor for the lighting what is it Dave I Yes, Dave. Dave also handles all the, is the contractor for the town as well too, to install four lamp posts in the top parking lot at Rockfield. That would help with some safety and security. for the estate as well as for our visitors at the at the events itself. That quote came in at $33,360 to install the four parking lot lights up top and We didn't get numerous quotes on this just because Dave has been a part of Rockfield and working in that facility for so many years. We're comfortable with him there. We're also comfortable with his work and he understands the wiring of something that's 105 years old when we're trying to add more stuff to it. So we are very comfortable with Dave's company and being there.

He is the on-call electrician for the town of LA herself. Yes. He's already been approved.

Yep perfect. I know sometimes we like to get multiple quotes on things but we were just very comfortable with him being there. The second proposal is addressing the concrete the I should say the stone pathways out front of Rockfield between the foundation and the town of Bel Air I know the foundation has spent close to eight thousand dollars in the last five years replacing and repairing the stone pathways throughout the front of Rockfield it's a constant ongoing thing we've talked about it for years about figuring out ways of what to do with this because we don't want to once again take away the historic charm of the property but since the new addition is now part of the house stamped concrete has been added all around the new addition and when we met we talked about incorporating the stamped concrete in the blue area that's on the picture that you guys see and keeping the original stone at the front of the house and then running the stamp concrete all the way down and around. Another complaint we get at Rockford a lot from of our ADA or any you know handicap disability visitors is our handicap is a mile long they are tired they are out of breath when they get to the top of that to the point that Rockford actually bought a wheelchair just to help people who really are struggling to get up there that will go out there with the wheelchair and give them a ride up so we talked about removing the red part that's around that goes around the front garden bed and then coming Straight from the blue line right to the handicap ramps to kind of take away the distance and the length That our visitors have to walk who may need to use the handicap ramp Of course we have to when horn concrete came out and did there you can see a little better in that picture when horn concrete concrete came out and did the measurements of of course we have to be ADA compliant the sloping percentage and all that fun stuff has to be taken in consideration and really dug into a little bit more just to make sure that the proposed route will work so that's something that if this is approved that myself the foundation as well as Steve will have to get involved in making sure that all that all can be done the route we want to take just to kind of ease the burden on some of our visitors but we are proposing putting in the same stamp concrete which I did send a picture The stamped concrete, that's what's around the new building right now. Adding that to the blue lined area in the previous slide just to kind of Blend and flow very nicely with what's already currently there We don't want to keep adding three or four different types of stones, you know and blacktop and things like that at Rockfield These are just pictures of what we're kind of dealing with right now They are being repaired next week because we can't wait and this is a this is a liability if somebody trips and falls so they are being repaired next week and this is throughout the entire path and we have areas like this that are just missing concrete and like I said we've been dealing with this for I know I've been at Rockford for almost nine years this is an every year repair just in the last five years like I said the foundation has spent almost eight thousand dollars in contributing to these repairs and the town also has been contributing to these repairs too so together we've probably spent the price of us putting an entire new sidewalk So those are the two things that I'm presenting. Like I said, our main priority at Rockfield, safety and security and just keeping the historic integrity. So we're trying to find ways to blend old with new for curb appeal. But yeah.

Is there anything else that? Nope. It's a beautiful property and I've been out there since the new wing has been opened. What a plus to Rockfield. It really is. It looks like it belongs there. It's a beautiful job.

It does blend very well together.

The price for the walkway is $18,550 and that is to add the new area and remove the old. The only thing that could possibly change that slightly is corn concrete gave us a quote to add straw

We can't do straw at Rockfield because I have to be ready to open, you know turnkey I got to go to with the next week for the next event So I'm not gonna be able to have straw there Trying to grow grass for weeks upon weeks. So we're gonna have to put sod in and they didn't account for that. I

I'm always amazed when I'm over there when I went to visit them how many people just kind of walk around like it is a park it's not just the the manor house but all of the I mean there's so many people that walk their dogs they're you know they're out it's just so beautiful and picturesque and I think it is important that it's safe.

Yeah we do have a lot of visitors I actually had Hello Harford just did an AI tracer for us just in our three almost four acres that the foundation controls and just from the time we open back up from the new addition which was mid-July till the end of April 23,000 people were in our vicinity of what we control which means the tracks that they spent more than three hours there it was 23,000 people in eight months that that have visited that property and stayed for more than three hours, which is, I was shocked by that number. I knew we were in like the tens of thousands, but I was like 23 and eight months. I was like, that's crazy. And I'm so glad that not just the town gets to enjoy it, but you know, people from near and far. So it's a special place for sure. That's only 4,000 of the 23.

And no one swings wine bottles. What page was their letter on?

for it and then on the cost we're splitting this cost or this is the cost we split the 33 for the lamps so it's gonna be like 17 and then another nine for the walkway okay is that it i think that's it anybody else have any questions for kelly all right all right thank you guys thank you so much i'm sure i'll see y'all

Alright, next we have the Boys and Girls Club. Lisa do you have a page number for that?

Page number, yes, 197 is their letter.

And you guys are welcome to step to the podium. If you could just give us your name and you can use your business address if you'd like.

Okay. Excellent. Well, good evening. My name is Evo Johnson. I am the Director of Advancement and Community Relations for the Boys and Girls Club of Hartford and Cecil Counties. I wanted to first thank you for allowing us the opportunity to speak to you and offer an update on what we're doing at our clubs. So the Boys and Girls Club continues to focus on our mission on inspiring and enabling all young people, especially those who need us the most, to realize their full potential as productive, responsible, and caring citizens. We continue to be the leading advocate for youth, and we are committed to ensuring that every child has access to a safe place after school and during the summer while they can build their knowledge, their skills and their behaviors to put them on a path to a great future. For more than 36 years now, the Boys and Girls Club of Harford and Cecil Counties has opened their doors to over 35,000 youth in our counties. We recognize that when young people have access to a safe place with caring adult mentors and enriching evidence-based programs, great things happen. Today we are serving more than 4,000 kids at our traditional clubs in Bel Air, Edgewood, Havity Grace, Aberdeen and in Elkton in local elementary before and after school based programs as well as neighboring communities visited by our club on the go program. In addition, we've expanded into Kent and Queen Anne's counties. We continue to offer a place to feel safe away from the pressures of the world outside, a place where friends can come together to laugh, share, and learn, a place to achieve and be recognized, to dream and inspire. Our kids' great futures start at the Boys and Girls Club, and we hope you will help us meet our goal of helping every child who needs us. I'd now like to turn it over to Kat.

Hi. I'm Kat Butterfield. I'm the branch manager of the Bel Air Boys and Girls Club. And I'm just going to give you a peek about what we do specifically in Bel Air. This year we have had our highest teen population. We service 25 to 36th graders and up every day. We provide teen nights for them, which is a free meal. They come in on a Friday night with a friend and they can bring in any friend that they would like. And that's been a way that they can have a safe spot after school and after hours to be teens and hang out. In addition to our teen population, we service about 75 kids on an average day. We do homework help. We provide extracurriculars, art, STEM, gym, games room. And then we do secondary clubs. So we've done partnerships with I-9. Maryland Center of the Arts and Stevenson University, we got an intern from them who volunteered his time and taught our kids how to do a film. He brought in the equipment. They made movies. They did props. And they loved it. And we did that for our fourth and up. So we had a teen group and a middle school group. We do gardening club. We have Smart Girls Passport to Manhood. You name it, we have it. And if they want it, we'll find it. I tell them all the time, just tell me what you want to do as long as it's not on your phone and we'll figure it out. And it's been a great, it's been a pleasure this year to do that. Do you have any questions?

Kat needs to tell you that she was a club kid at one point and has worked her way up to becoming manager of the Bel Air Club.

Yes, and I spoke in front of you when I was 17. Don't know how many of you were there then, but yes, so long time. And again, opportunities that the Boys and Girls Club has provided, and I get to have the opportunity to give that to the next kid, which is honestly the greatest joy of my life.

What a success story and how impressive the things that you're doing with the kids at the Boys and Girls Club. I think that is such a fun place to be to do movies, get some help with your homework, hang out with friends, come to the dance. It's an amazing thing that you're doing. So thank you for that.

Thank you.

I know the McFall Center is busting at the seams for the senior activities and all that kind of stuff. How are you guys on having enough space?

So we actually have our separate side. So I always tell people, if you've ever been in the McFall Center, that weird door that says, don't cross, that's us. So we have an additional four rooms and then our main games room, so technically five rooms that are just designated to our things. The gym we share with the senior center and I've worked a strong partnership with them. So we share donations, we share time, we do what we can to help each other out because we're both just trying to help populations that need us. So they are done at 3.30 and we start at like, we start at 2 but we get the mass majority of our kids starting at 3.30. So it works out so that way if we did need to utilize that space, they're usually gone by that time. Gotcha.

Okay.

Any more questions? Well, thank you so much for coming and thank you for the work that you do in town. We appreciate it. Thank you.

Thanks for having us.

All right, our next presentation is Historical Society of Harford County.

112.

Thank you, Lisa. And you, too, can provide your business address at the Historical Society?

Sure. Our principal business address is the Hartford History Center at 143 North Main Street, Bel Air, Maryland, 21014.

All right. Lisa has told us all to turn to page 112 in our book, so I think we're ready.

Okay. So thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to come before you tonight, the commissioners and Ms. Mayer. I am Chris Potts. I'm the executive director of the Historical Society, and it's my great pleasure to introduce you to our new president, Dr. Charles Castoro, whose term began January of this year. So we've come tonight to just review the ask that we put forward in February. As we summarized here, we are enormously grateful to the town for its enduring contributions to our organization and partnership and us helping to enrich Bel Air and the surrounding county community. In addition to continued programming in Main Street, continued programming at both our facilities, which are the Hayes House Museum on Kenmore Avenue and then the newly named Hartford History Center on North Main, last year we also held the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Bush Declaration, which was a weekend event that included a number of Bel Air destinations and locations the armory lyria dendron Hayes house and our own Main Street headquarters this year we are celebrating the semi-quintennial anniversary or helping in the commemoration of celebrations around the America 250 through partnering with County the Historical Society and the press myself and the preservation planner Jacob Benson for Harford County have been co-chairing the America 250 at Harford County committee, which is comprised of some 20 people for three principal areas History civics and service in addition to tourism so we've been working to encourage all the destinations, museums, municipalities to create their own commemoration celebrations, and that has been an ongoing effort through this year and beginning last year. In addition to that, we are maintaining our own robust calendar of events at both Hayes House and the History Center and I brought a calendar for you to see. We are doing a lot of programs and exhibits that we are terming revolutionary harford but at the hayes house and we also have a lecture series um that we are calling the uh america 250 speaker series at the history center The celebration of America 250 is not confined to just the founding, but it spans the whole 250 years and before, actually. So we have been mindful of that and have been providing a variety of programming that celebrates and commemorates many different aspects of our history. One example of that is through sorry I'm getting too far through the Maryland 250 funding we were the recipient of some grant funding and we had a fellow a 250 fellow that has been helping with America 250 programming well she did her time as was her hours were completed but we also received a grant that we utilized to open in February a new exhibit on the history of Joppatown from old Joppa to Joppatown to tell the unknown history of 400 year history of pre-contact colonial old Joppa being this bustling port through revolution where they hung two spies from Joppatown. Lafayette hung two on his march across the Susquehanna to Yorktown for aiding and abetting the British. falling off thereafter and sort of languishing until it became Jabotown, which was one of the earliest planned communities in an air region, sort of synonymous with Columbia. So it was a post-World War phenomena. So we opened that exhibit.

Is it still open? Oh, it's open. It'll be on for five years.

Yeah, so it was one of the... intentions we had to show this grand history of the county and despite it being opening on super bowl weekend we even had a news crew come yeah so it was good we're very we're very proud that we were able to tell that history and and in addition to Many other stories of an air lobby museum that I know you all have heard about. Many of you have visited while we've been developing that. We continue to do so and it is our intention with that museum to sort of be like a tasting menu in a sense. where we invite people in, we give them the sense of this rich history, and then if they want to learn more, if we talk about the canning industry, if you want to learn more, go to Stepping Stone Farm Museum. We talk about the river. If you want to learn more, we literally have that in our, go to the Maritime Museum or the Decoy Museum. Go to Liriadendrum to learn more. So we are really, utilizing the museum space as a form of entertainment and education but also a locus of tourism here and beyond so that is sort of a is there anything else you think oh yes you want to say yeah sure jump in yeah well i want to thank you uh for your past support of the historical society i want to let you know if you don't already know but our building

at 143 North Main as the repository for the county records. court records, 250 years' worth of records as well as marriage licenses and a myriad of archives and artifacts and we have to take care of all of that, keep it in good repair. We have to take a lot of time digitizing all these collections, make it available to our community, people outside of our community as well. We're getting constant inquiries. We're primarily dependent on volunteers. We have a very small staff. I'm a volunteer. The entire board is volunteers. So we need your help and we thank you for what you've done for us in the past. In addition we have a very small budget. It's very tight. We barely make ends meet. We have an ask. And we had a hard winter. We incurred a lot of expenses for clearing snow. and we would like to ask that while your plows are loaded up and whatever if you would consider cleaning our sidewalk in front of our building in addition to when you clean your sidewalks in front of your properties and our very small parking lot it would save us thousands of dollars and really be a big big help to us so we ask that you consider that

And we want to invite you to something. So as you know, the 4th of July around the America 250 celebrations is going to be really special this year. And I want to make you aware of we are currently with grant funding from the state. We've put out a call for a public art exhibit that we're building along Gordon Street. We're on Main Street in Gordon. So we have that very picturesque chain-links fence along Gordon Street. So what we want to do is make a fence art exhibition. And we have the funding to do so. It's going to be celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. seven extrapolated statements from the Declaration, putting out a call to artists to interpret those statements. We have a designer who is going to do an introductory panel. She is a cartoonist, so she'll tell the story with these cartoon characters of the first reading in Philly of the Declaration on July 8th, and then you'll see these interpretive panels with the little critters making comments. So it's a family, you know, appropriate, and we're, given that we're right around the elementary school in St. Margaret, et cetera, we have traffic there. So we're excited about this. We're gonna pair it up, and we have at present a call for art and artists, which I'm gonna leave with you if that's okay, Michael. In addition to that, the History Center is going to be taking part in a nationwide program, which I think is really kind of beautiful and exciting. It's called Sharing the Spirit, and across all 50 states D.C. and the little municipalities, people are going to stage on July 8th public readings of the Declaration of Independence and so we will be doing a public reading of the Declaration of Independence at the History Center and we're also going to be reading the Bush doc the Bush declaration and so I we invite you any of you the commissioners who'd like to participate in that we would love for you to come we're going to be If we as we're making the public art habit, we're going to have the public art pieces, which will be big, like five by nine panels on display inside for that reading. We're going to be opening up on 4th of July for people to see that because the parade ends right at us. And then we will install and unveil the public exhibit on the fence on the 9th when we'll have a reception. So please be on the lookout for that. And I'd like to leave you information about the exhibit so that you can read more about it. the many events that we'd love for you to come and also know that at any time that any of you would, okay, events that any of you would like to come and or request a private tour, I am more than delighted to take you on a tour of the Center or Hayes House either. and that's basically what we have also just to thank you as ever for the town's generosity we are delighted to partner with you thank you for all the written information I'm sure we will be

putting this out on our social media so everybody is aware of it and I will look at my calendar and certainly hope to make the readings and look at the exhibit thank you for everything you do welcome Dr. Castoro I know you're new to this role but it is a really cool building I have had a behind-the-scenes tour yeah And it is really the basement I could be in there for a long time with all the things that are down there, all the artifacts. There's uniforms and clothing from years gone by. A lot of cool stuff. Documents, all sorts of cool stuff down there. My basement looks similar to that, but not quite as full. You've got a really great stock of things to work with. And I've been very impressed with the renovations to the building. The windows are like a work of art. The guy that did those renovations was, I had to touch one to really believe that it was wood and not, you know, some kind of vinyl product. They were just absolutely gorgeous. Yeah. Thank you.

Thank you so much.

People really don't know the import that Joppa and Joppatown played in the very early history of Maryland. And I was shocked to learn, myself, a couple years ago, that it had served essentially as the county seat of Baltimore County when Baltimore County included Harford County. The two had yet to be split. A big storm came through and wiped out a lot of it, similar to what knocked Havre de Grace out of the running for being the national capital. We seem to have a pattern of that here in Hartford County, of these big, important cities, and that it's one of only a handful of municipalities in Maryland history to actually be disbanded. Joppa would you know it's no longer a municipality Ellicott City is another one that was disbanded although that was for a different reason that was because their their bar scene was a little bit too rowdy and the General Assembly saw fit to disband the city of Ellicott City but anyway I the point of me saying all that is it's wonderful to recover these these nuggets and these stories about our path and they teach us so much about where we're going and so I appreciate the work that you do to that end

Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you.

All right.

All right. Next, we have our continued detail review of the general fund expenditures, starting with the Bel Air Armory. And I see Miss Julia Potler, the wedding wire queen there. There you go. There you go.

Can you hear me now? Can you hear me? All right. So I'm here to advocate for continued support to have a marketing budget for the armory. Backstory, when I started here seven years ago yesterday, there was no marketing budget for the armory and the schedule was not very busy either so the goal was to obviously bring in you know more events and more fun things for the community to do and Then our beautiful building was renovated during COVID. Floors refinished, painting, curtains changed out, all the good things to make it look more elevated. So when that all happened, I requested that we have a small budget just to do some marketing. So I think that budget was around like $5,000 or something. And that was based on the wedding wire Website that is too large. It's called the knot and wedding wire calm They're two separate sites, but people can basically find us on either one And that of course has just raised over the year and years in pricing I think my budget last year was around ten thousand dollars and my request for this year is eleven thousand five hundred That will cover About 9,000 will be the wedding wire portion and the balance of about, let me look at my notes here. About 1,800 will go to Zola, which is a new site that I started advertising on last year. So just some little details just so you know what we're getting out of this. I got 311 leads, which are people who actually reached out and I messaged back and forth with on WeddingWire throughout this year up until now. There were 3,500 people that actually looked at our storefront. So they put in parameters, what their budgets are, what they're looking for. So if we're a good fit, they'll reach out. So that's WeddingWire. That's the more expensive piece of the budget. Zola, I've had 140 conversations back and forth, and that's only $1,800 for the year. for Zola and I know I've booked more recently actually with Zola it's a new upcoming site so between the two of them we're getting a really nice chunk of weddings the rental revenue that I've brought in up until today is about a hundred and eight thousand dollars just rental and 43% of that is weddings So that's definitely increased even more from last year. Doesn't mean we're still not doing all the community events and fundraising events for all of the local nonprofits. We are super, super busy. We have no Saturdays open in 2026 now, and I'm booking into 27. So we're just really busy. So that's where I'm coming from. In addition to that, there's also about $20,000 in revenue that I've brought in between some fitness classes, dance classes. So we're at about $128,000 in revenue that I've brought in for this fiscal year so far. So I know it's the most that we've had since I've been here. So hoping to continue having that marketing budget.

Seems like the Army's got a lot of things going on every week.

Very much so. And we're not consistently ever double booking things, like doing stuff in the morning and then doing stuff in the afternoon. And we are doing that occasionally. Have to be careful. This Saturday we have an event in the morning and then an event in the evening. So it just depends on how things work out.

It's a great venue and that's where my son had his reception and they wanted to do it on Saturday but there was some pro wrestling. They are still with us.

Four or five times a year they come.

And then you had Crack the Sky there at one point. Paula, you remember Crack the Sky, don't you?

I do remember that band yes and tomorrow of course they've got the Garden Mart in the morning at the Armory a very popular event so any other questions for Julia so I guess the big-ticket item this year are the floors is that currently being done or is it going to be done soon

Yeah, I've requested it physically be done at the end of December, mid-January in that window because we just don't tend to have as many rentals. It's around the holidays, you would think, but really people are not looking to do much of anything. They're with their families and doing other things. They're going to Winter Wonderland. but that early January especially we're always quiet so I've kind of just pencil held that time frame because even in the winter February March we get busier with all the different fundraisers that groups we have a lot of repeat people that come back to do bull roasts for their organizations and that kind of thing

It's a multiple day project. It's like nine to 10 days, maybe 12 days.

Yeah, I need to let the smell dissipate too before I have a group come in.

You mean people wouldn't want to have a wedding with the odor of the floor refinishing? I know. It's a good plan. Anything else for Julia? all right okay thank you thank you so much thank you for uh pitching it as the best place to have a wedding in uh town it's a great venue all right so next up we have the town buildings and the hydrant rental

I think we're going to get back to Armory, Steve, for Steve's portion of the budget. Okay. We'll stick with Armory. All right. We'll stick with Armory then. Yeah, Julia. Nope, nope, nope. You're good. Thank you. Julia was just here just to talk about that one piece of the Armory budget. All right.

they were still about page 21 or so wherever steve is yes so um thank you very nice uh much uh go over my budget areas uh tonight uh mike you can turn the page this is the fy27 work public works budget Thank you. The agenda for tonight is the Bel Air Armory, Town Buildings Hydrant Rental, Public Works Administration Shop, Streets, Refuse, and Appearance and Beautification Committee. So the Bel Air Record Armory, if you could turn to pages 23 and 24, I will go over some of the items in there. This is a little looser. So I'm pleased to present the proposed budget for the armory for the fiscal year 2027. The total proposed budget for the operation of the armory and armory marketplace amounts to $299,428. Maintenance and utilities for the armory marketplace, a portion of the budget $22,500 has been earmarked for general maintenance and the utilities. And of course, there are items 1400-0452 and 1400-0607. On the utilities, we do get reimbursed from the different shops that are in there for their utility usage of electricity. regular operating expenses for the armory this is the everyday operational expenses for the armory that includes salaries benefits for the events manager and part-time staff event the utilities and the overall maintenance for the entire facility total 276,928 dollars each year that's what we're proposing the capital projects there are none this year no no planned projects for 2027. we've really knocked a bunch of those out in the last several years you might ask is why is the flooring not a capital project well it's a maintenance item it's it's not something new so it's it's a maintenance item that we'll discuss in a little bit So the conclusion, there are many, any questions or discussions regarding this? The one thing that we are planning to do that I did not read is we are planning to spend $5,000 for, or excuse me, $10,000 for installing new commercial grade toilets in the actual public restrooms. What we've found, especially during like Winter Wonderland and some of the other larger events is the toilets just cannot keep up with the capacity and they get clogged and then we have a big mess on our hands. So we're going to upgrade those toilets in an attempt to not have that happen. It's a very non-good sanitary happening when it occurs. And also, again, we talked about the... the floor being redone, and we're gonna do that probably in January. And like I said, it is a pretty complex process. They strip down, they sand it all down, get all the little nicks and things out of the floor, and then they resurface it. Are there any questions with regard to the armory? Two days ago when it was raining and it was really ugly weather I said I'm gonna take about 45 minutes to an hour to present my budget tonight. When it's so beautiful out tonight I think I'm gonna try to make it now about 20 so we can all get home. Unless you guys wanna sit around and talk about it more and I'm happy to stay here.

We're setting the timer Steve.

Okay I can't read as fast as Jake but I'll try. Okay going on to the next it's the proposed 25 I have that wrong it should be 27 I'm sorry about that town buildings budget pages 38 to 40. And I don't usually go over the salaries and workers' compensation and all that kind of stuff. I just go over to the things that I'm really responsible day to day. So the town building's budget for FY27 is $643,592, which includes $250,910 for capital projects. So the regular everyday expenses to operate and maintain all town owned facilities except for the armory total 392,682. This includes the salary and benefits for the two custodians, utilities including gas, electric, and water. And all the other routine maintenance including electrical, plumbing, HVAC, carpentry, masonry, fire safety, roofing, and other miscellaneous maintenance to operate the buildings. The capital items that we have planned or proposed for this year include, and they're located on page 40, replacing a shop bay door at number five. It's number five door at the shop. And that's 16,000. And this will basically, we've been working on this for about three years now I believe I don't think it's four I think it's three of replacing all the garage doors at Public Works rather than do them all at the same time we we've broken them out to make it easier on the budget so I believe this is the last door in Public Works that we need to replace to make them safe and operable This is an item that I'm happy to provide to both Jeff and Todd, who are our two custodians. We built this new building, the police department, and we have some very nice floors. And we want to purchase a walk behind floor scrubber that will really help them keep the floor shining on a regular basis. This floor scrubber will also be able to be mobilized up to the armory, so it will be able to be used at both the armory and this facility to keep the floors looking really good. And we estimate that the price for the unit that we're looking at, the one that they think would best serve their needs, is $8,000. As Kelly previously talked about earlier, replacing the handicapped walkway to Rockville Manor House, $18,550. She also mentioned installing the parking lot lights at Rockville Manor, $33,360. And then in the budget, the mom-pop comfort station contribution has been put in the budget for $175,000. So the total requested capital items in town buildings for the proposed FY 2027 budget is $250,910.

And are these being funded all capital or some current year revenue as well?

The only capital one is the Montauk comfort station.

Okay, the 175? Correct. The rest are current year? Yes. Okay.

So and just like Steve had asked of Kelly, the two Rockfield projects, that's the total cost that's shown. And then 50% that would come from the foundation is included as a revenue.

Steve we're sharing that cost of the mom-and-pop comfort station with the county right indeed and and I don't know Eddie was spear handling this project with the county so I don't know the exact total monies that they were talking about this was just a portion I don't I don't think it's a half I don't know what the breakdown of that was I just know was a contribution of 175 Lisa might know better on that

this was the estimate that's been in and out of the budget for years and that's that's part of my question is how accurate is this estimate well i think i think because it's been on and off for years yeah i think the idea is that was our commitment and we're not going to pay any more than that okay you know that's the maximum maximum amount of our contribution was my understanding yes

So do we know if the county has that in their budget for this fiscal year or not?

I do not. I can pull the latest emails that I have that Eddie had included me.

Because I know it's been in and out of their budget as well, depending on. I'm not sure if it made it in this year.

Yeah, I honestly don't remember that last email as to the conversation between him and Paul. Yeah, I guess it was Paul. Thanks. Yeah, Paul, but I can see if I can find that email for you. Sure. Sure.

That about does with the town buildings. Does anybody have any questions with the way the town buildings are being proposed to be handled next year? no questions okay moving on page 125 our beautiful fire hydrant rental program yes it did

It increased close to $9,000 because of the increases that were approved at the Public Service Commission. Because we are renting hydrants from Maryland American, we're not renting hydrants to anyone. Just for those that are listening at home and are wondering which way that money's going.

I did say page 125. So the town, we currently maintain 304 fire hydrants, each subject to an annual rental fee of $186.24, payable to Maryland American Water. Additionally, property tax surcharge instituted by Maryland American Water several years ago in the amount of $7,926. As a result, our allocated budget for the fire hydrant rental stands at $64,543 proposed for FY27. I did put a little, not foot mark, but a little note to the bottom left, as you can see what Paul just was referring. In FY26, the total cost was $55,584 instead of the new $64,543. Any questions on that?

I forgot. I didn't read that section of the Public Service Commission thing, but did Maryland American Water get what they asked for, or was it reduced? Because I know some of the other rates were reduced.

I believe it was reduced somewhat, Steve. I don't think they got exactly what they requested. I could be wrong there, but there was so much information when I started reading that, and it was kind of confusing with the different variables in the fire stuff. That's all right. I'll look it up just for my own purposes.

It's only about a 100-page document. Things sprinkled through it here and there. I wish they would have just a list of last year's rates and this year's rates so that the people that are paying the rates could figure out what's going on.

I think that's done on purpose so you lose interest in it after the third page.

I'm not sure you're not wrong. We're not right about that.

Yeah. Okay. Any questions on the fire hydrants?

Not a big thing.

Now we move into the Public Works Administration. And if you can please turn to pages 159 through 161 in your budget books, that we'll be talking about. Okay, what a good looking bunch.

I like that town green that's in there.

Yeah.

Okay.

So in FY27, the proposed budget of $1,680,869 includes the salaries and benefits of the administration department. Additionally, the proposed administration budget covers all the various everyday administrative expenses, pens, paper, everything of that nature by the public works department. Another significant component of the administration budget is the MS4 stormwater management line item as detailed on page 160. For FY27, we have allocated $357,000 to this category. It's worth noting that this item is financed through the Stormwater Funding MOU with Harford County. what exactly is that called again Lisa is it it's not an enterprise fund but what do we refer that banking of money the reserve so the stormwater management reserve okay

and just for people that might be listening at home the stormwater management reserve can only be spent on stormwater management projects that is correct we cannot take that and use it for salaries or a building or whatever else this has got to be spent on stormwater management and this whole MS4 program is dictated by the state of Maryland

and we are working hard to make sure we stay current with our credits and our storm restorations Once again we are really in good standing with our commitments with MDE I do have to make one correction though Paula we are able to help pay for salaries of people who work on MS4 stuff all the time so a portion of Josh Politi's salary is paid from this fund because He primarily works on the MS4 stuff.

Good point, I did miss that, thank you.

You're welcome. So one thing we're really excited about this year, and we have budgeted $275,000, is we would like to design a stream restoration project that's located over along Gateway Drive and English Country Manor Drive. It's actually between that little shopping center and English Country Manor, there's a creek that goes down through there. It goes all the way down to Tollgate Road. and it's really starting to erode the banking, could jeopardize English Country Manor's walls in the future if not stabilized now. So we would like to design a project there that would really benefit us and get a lot of credits towards our MS4 obligations moving forward. The goal here would be to spend this $275,000, design the project, then go out and try to get grants from Maryland to pay for the actual construction of the project. and really there's not much stuff going on in in administration with accounts and so forth but one additional item of note is the mowing contract listed as item 14810364 on page 161 this involves the engagement of a mowing contractor to maintain the larger parks and grounds uh with an annual cost averaging around forty six thousand one hundred dollars which In my opinion being in the industry for as many years as I have is a really good deal of all the grass that we get cut in town for the whole year for that amount. One thing we will be doing is this is the last year of the contract so next year we will be rebidding this project out so hopefully the monies don't go up greatly and we stay in the same ballpark. Right now we're piggybacking on Hartford County because Hartford County has such a vast amount of properties and they're able to get a really good price. So maybe we will look at that direction or we'll bid out just our properties ourselves, whatever we think will give us the best bang for our buck. And that's it for our administration. Any questions?

The MS4 credits, what is the incentive behind those? What do we get? The more credits we earn, what do we get with those credits?

How it works is when originally, I can't remember the exact year, I would just say seven years ago, we were approached by MDE and we were mandated to treat 20% of the town's impervious surface. So impervious surface, of course, is roads, parking lots, roofs of buildings, anything that does not allow water to enter into the ground. They mandated that the town treat 20%. We have six hundred and eighty eight acres in the town of impervious surface and we needed to treat 20 percent of that which we did three years in advance of when we were supposed to have it done. So we did really good. We are still waiting on our second permit. we should have had it about a year ago but mde has not gotten that to us yet so we're still actually working under the the first permit and we have already started going for an extra 10%. So our next permit will require that we treat another 10% or 30% total, which we feel very, very confident that we'll be able to do easily. So that's how that works. it's going to be that they'll probably want to treat all the impervious surface in town at some time, which is going to be very, very difficult. Right now, we're really picking the low-bearing fruit, if you will, with stream restoration projects and some other, they call them BMPs, best management practices. You see them at some of the Like at the bottom of the courthouse parking lot, it's a little pond. You see the ones out back here. So when we redevelop projects, when the mall redevelops their project, of course, all that is is a huge parking lot. But when that mall was built, there was no such thing as the, you know, stormwater management. Now they have to treat 50% of their stuff when they redevelop, which is good because that helps our baseline. So we're gonna require that they treat now a lot of that asphalt and that's gonna go to benefit us, which will be good. Did that answer your question, Gavin? It's really complex. I learned something new every day. I got a great team that does it, Charlie Dawson and Buddy Haight and Josh Polites. I mean, I couldn't be more thankful that I got such a dedicated crew on this stuff. I really feel that our town of Bel Air is advanced comparative to other towns and municipalities and counties throughout Maryland where we are in our preparation. We've got some good things we're working on. I've talked to Steve and Paul about. We're currently trying to do a project, an initiative alongside of Hartford County to do a nice stream restoration project over behind Jake's house over there. It's called Upper Fernandez Branch. And if we can get this accomplished, it'll be a win-win. It'll put us above are 30% right away and will be good for the next 8, 10 years. So we're really crossing our fingers that MD will look at it the same way we are and approve it. Yep.

And that would be a real win-win because everybody will, the stream will get taken care of, the town will get credits, and so will the county.

And the county will get a lot more credits than they were originally going to get. If they did it without us. We're talking millions of dollars of benefit that if we get this accomplished, it'll be a great win-win for both the town and Hartford County.

So everybody cross their fingers that the state blesses this joint project.

Any other thing on administration? Okay, let's go into the shop. And it's pages 167 to 168. And I gotta kinda laugh at this slide that I've got presented there for you. Last year I came to you and asked for $35,000 for a new toolbox. And you kinda looked at me like I was crazy. You see my three shop guys. They're standing in front of the old box that we had in 2025. You can see the size of it. Now we got Mr. Big. It's actually called Mr. Big. We purchased it this year. It's now in the shop. The guys, as well as I, would just like to thank you for allowing us to get that. Our tools right now are in much better organizational shape, and they're being maintained in a lot better manner, and appreciate your support with that last year.

That right side looks like it could be a flat top grill. Is that what you just pull that out?

It's a little workbench is what it is.

So you wouldn't have to leave to have lunch. There you go.

They got that around the back of the curtain. Their little grill. And actually, we repurposed the red toolbox that you see that they're standing in front, and now that is utilized as the welding and cutting toolbox in the garage. They have all their welding supplies and gloves and everything of that nature and cutting tools in that at a separate location in the garage.

I'm always amazed at how much work you do in-house on things.

Yeah. Yeah, I'm really proud of this group. So in FY27, the proposed shop budget includes the operational and maintenance expenses for approximately 70 vehicles and over 60 pieces of equipment, totaling $518,480. This budget provisions are made to cover the expenses associated with three employees in the shop department, ensuring adequate staffing for efficient operations. On page 167 and 168 in your budget books, you'll find various count line items including expenditures for gasoline, diesel, supplies, parts and repairs. These line items are integral to sustaining the operational efficiency and longevity of our vehicles and equipment. So last year we asked for a new toolbox. This year the guys asked me if I could request $10,000 to replace some parts cabinets. And I've shown two pictures of the parts cabinets. The one on the left in the white is a 30-year-old office cabinet that was repositioned for the shop when the new public works facility was built 30 years ago. The bottoms of the drawers are almost like a cardboard type thing. And when you put tools and heavy things in them, they fall and they break. And then you can't open up the drawers and everything. The one on the right are the new ones they were able to purchase with a little extra money in their tools budget last year. Very sturdy, very organizational, and they would like to purchase a couple more of them and replace where you see that white one. In these things, each vehicle has basically a drawer, and in that drawer includes the filter for that vehicle, the spark plugs, windshield wipers, Anything pertaining to that vehicle is stored in a separate container for that particular vehicle. And this will really support a good maintenance and keeping everything on track. And that's it for this shop.

And is that coming out of the capital reserves?

No. No? Okay.

Moving on. Is there any reason we chose not to take that out of capital? Is it just a small amount?

We just, we chose not to. We didn't need it. It is a smaller amount. We felt that the total amount that was coming out of capital reserve was sufficient.

Pages 176. And this is the streets budget. This is the guys that take care of the streets and sidewalks in town. A lot of the plowing and things of that nature. Potholes. A lot of setup for the events like Barbecue Bash. All those extra events like First Fridays and things of that nature. So the streets budget is proposed at $2,079,701 for FY27. then I just just listed a few of the more noteworthy items tree work by others we just approved the contract for that the other night not to exceed 75 but the budget is 50 and as I said in there normally we don't go above the budget but if we have a storm or something like that we have the capability to do it with the not to exceed the 75 And that's on page 176. Street lighting. To light all the streets in town with the street lights that you see, it cost $117,000. And I say this every year since we probably did the turnover, but this used to be up into the $150,000, $160,000 before we changed over to the LED. So we've saved thousands and thousands of dollars since we switched over to the LED. Traffic control, this basically is signs, painting of the lines down the road, stop bars, pedestrian crosswalks, and things of that nature. Curb and gutter repairs, 65,000. That is like when usually is done when we are ready to resurface a street. We go through and if there are any really bad sections of broken up curb and gutter, we replace that before we do the actual resurfacing of the road to kind of have a nice project. Street maintenance materials, this is the stuff we do patches with. And the crack ceiling, I don't know if you've ever seen our crack ceiling, where we go and put the black wiggly lines all over the street, which basically keeps water out from preventing freeze and thaw scenario that breaks up the asphalt. Sidewalk maintenance materials is $60,000 and that's on page 178. A good portion of this, I believe it's $42,000 or $43,000 is for the sidewalk cutting that we do on a regular basis. And I'll be bringing that before you at the next meeting for approval for this year's contract to proceed and do that sidewalk cutting. last but not least on this snow and ice removal this is the cost to purchase the uh rock salt and also the potassium chloride to do the sidewalks and that's at 35 775 that is a another piggyback scenario where we piggyback on hartford county along with aberdeen and avida grace we all four go in and have a buy a big bulk amount of the salt and that's how we obtain a really good price Any questions on any of those items or any other other things that I did not address?

I hate to divest back, but when the Historical Society was asking for funds to help with ice removal, I thought we were giving them already some like $1,000 for ice for snow and ice removal.

I think I was shoveling sidewalks down at Hay Street.

Yeah, we we do. There's $1,000 this fiscal year. 26 is the second year. So 27 would be the third year. That's what I popped over to talk to Chris about because I had asked her to bring the receipts with her. It's a maximum of $1,000 for their snow removal. So yes, we're already we are reimbursing them reimbursing. We're not doing it for them. We were not in favor of that. And Steve can write

I can understand that this year a thousand dollars didn't probably cut the cake you know but I mean it wasn't enough for them this year to pay for all of it. The problem we have is it's just another thing added to the list we usually don't get to the end and then we start getting calls it's not done yet and things of that nature. it's just it's a little bit out of the way to get there and then uh it's usually the last thing we get to so and i'm not really sure about the liability on that either i'm sure that could be addressed somehow but you know but was chris aware that she does we do reimburse them a thousand so

Oh, yeah, she brought the receipts with her. Yeah, she's aware.

Right, okay. For sure. I think it was the new gentleman who brought that up. Yes, it was. He may be less familiar with that. Right. But, I mean, I completely understand. And as much as I love the historical society, and as you can probably tell, I'm a huge nerd for it, I mean, if we give one nonprofit that privilege, everyone else is going to be at our door asking for it.

That's exactly where I was just heading. Yeah. Jake, that's exactly what I was just ready to say. Oh, the town's doing theirs, they can do ours too. Yeah, so I would prefer not to get into that business. Okay, next thing is, next page is 1483-0806, and it's a vehicle capital still in the streets, and it's for a new 550 mini dump truck to replace existing vehicle number 18, which is a 2012 Ford F550 mini dump truck with 35,000 miles. The bed and chassis are rusting badly, and the vehicle's ready to be replaced per the department's vehicle replacement plan. The old truck will be sold at auction with an estimated value of $6,000. We hope to get more than that, and we figure the cost of the vehicle will be about $150,000 when it's all said and done with the plow, the salt spreader, and all the hydraulics that are needed to provide a functioning vehicle.

And that, I believe, ends the street section.

No, it does not. I'm sorry. Now we get to talk about the streets that we plan on doing the next year in FY27. These are the ones that we are proposing. And 2701 is West McPhail Road. It's from Route 24 to Tollgate Road. It's about 90,000 square feet, and we estimate the cost to be about $140,000. 2702 is George Street from Atwood Road to Eastern Avenue. It's a two inch mill and overlay. It's about 25,000 square feet. And it's estimated at 55,000. I could tell you, When we were doing the Thomas Street and the George Street project last year we got some feedback from the people in Western Alley that were concerned that the alley was in really bad shape. The George Street from where they're talking about too is in fairly bad shape and a lot of the curb in that area is in bad shape. We really feel that we can complete Thomas Street and George Street and make it all look nice and combine it with the connection of the Western Alley and really clean up that whole entire area in town. And that's why we've proposed this area. And it'll make some of the residents really happy that we're concerned. And Western Alley is in really bad shape with some deep potholes. Richardson Street is a two inch mill and overlay. It's about 11,000 square feet. It's from Broadway to Gordon Street, and that's about $22,000 too. It's really an alley. Comer Square Richardson Street is not an alley. I'm sorry, Richardson Street is the street. It's not Richardson Alley. Richardson Street is the street that goes from exactly Broadway to Gordon. And there's a big section there right when you go past Richardson Street when you're on Broadway heading towards the Lear Dendron. There's a big section there with no curbing and gutter. And we plan to install curb and gutter in that location and tie it up and make it a lot nicer. And that's that project right there. Comer Square, which is.

Most of Richardson Street doesn't have curving, does it?

No, it's just a single section down towards the end by Broadway. Just down the end toward Broadway? Yes.

Okay. I thought that whole side on the Lyriad Endrum side didn't have.

I would say no more than a quarter is absent of a curb.

The curb picks up where the house begins, but up until that point, there's no curb.

Yeah, okay. So Comer Square is a townhouse street located in Majors Choice, and we plan to resurface that, and it's gonna cost about $72,000. And finally, Hayes Street from Alice Ann Street to Thomas Street, 35,000 square foot job, and it's about $67,000. So the total funding that we're requesting to do the resurfacing for FY27 is $378,000.

Any questions on those projects?

This comes out of highway user revenue. Yes.

And another item that I'll be bringing to you before you at the next meeting will be the street resurfacing for the FY26. We just did a really nice bid. Got some really good numbers. Actually, a Bel Air firm, Banks, got the project. And Barnes, excuse me, Barnes got the project. They were the low bid, so we'll have a... town contractor doing the work which is good they were there on Ellen do yes yeah yep I think we had like seven bitters on that project it was good we get some good numbers Steve can you speak to the curb ramps that are going in in Comer they're just they just need to right now they're not handicapped accessible okay what they need to do is when they were put in the law did not require that they be at certain angles or certain angles and also they need the dimples put on them so whenever we work on a road that does not have current handicapped accessible ramps we have to put them in per the law that's that's what's happening there

Yeah, I was only asking because I was just over there two days ago and I was curious about- They probably have them, but they're just not up to the current codes right now. That makes sense. Yep.

They're probably the plain concrete. Yes. No dimples, not that red stuff that goes in, so.

Okay, moving quite along. Next one is our refuse budget at page 186 and 187. Got a heck of a group of men here to tell you the truth. So in FY 2027, the proposed budget for the collection of the town refuse and recycling stands at $1,395,713. The bulk of this allocation amounting to $842,738 is designed, excuse me, is designated for salaries and benefits, incapacity and compensation of personnel involved with the nine collection people. 249,475 will probably be the last time you see this item on the budget and we have to have it in there because we just won't have the equipment that we need to start this new program the start of the year but it is for condominium trash and recycling contract We are under contract with Casella to collect the trash. Condominiums generate approximately 1,140 tons of trash a year, which we are required to pay Harford County, again, the $117 tipping fee per ton, or $133,380. And we pay Casella $116,000 to provide the dumpsters in service of collecting the trash. We've been ordering those vehicles you approved, so hopefully we'll be able to get going on this towards the end of the year or the beginning of next year. Next page is line item 1484-0806, vehicles. This is for a new refuse truck to replace existing vehicle number 12, which is a 2019 heel demolition body refuse truck with 94,000 miles. The vehicle has reached the end of its useful service life for the town and has experienced increased maintenance costs. And the old truck will be sold at auction with an estimated value of 15. And again, hopefully sometimes you can get some good value on trash trucks. So hopefully we can increase that 15 up to 20. And the truck cost is proposed to cost $300,000. And that's one of the four residential rear-end loading trash trucks that we have. Any questions on refuse? And the final item that I've been asked to speak to you tonight regarding is our Deer Appearance and Beautification Committee. And their budget is located on page 203. And the Appearance and Beautification Committee is seeking a budget allocation of $41,265. Excuse me, I made an error here. There is no increase in this year's budget. So there is no increase. It's $41,265. I got a call yesterday from the grower. The hanging basket should be going up any day. And the begonias and the impatiens are looking very good. So we're ready to rock and roll with the planting here in the next couple weeks. So our town should come to life real quick. And of course, tomorrow. You are tomorrow. Jake's favorite group. Any questions on the ABC?

Those tulips are just beautiful. I've seen them when I've been walking around town and they really are just gorgeous.

I don't know if I want to jinx it, but the ABC is considering a new initiative in town. I wasn't going to say it because I wasn't going to jinx it. Okay, well then I won't say it either. No, no, no, no.

Director Klein brought up an excellent thing that a lot of towns across the mid-Atlantic, and especially in Michigan do, in Michigan and northwestern Iowa, due to their heavy Dutch heritage, which is an insert name of town in Bloom, so Bel Air in Bloom, which is a mass planting of tulip bulbs that would bloom in the spring. We have some of our newer members who I think are looking for maybe a pet project to start for them and this is something that they're looking into and I think we're slowly but surely getting some traction on this and I think it would be a real incredible way to step up our game in terms of beautifying the town.

I agree 100%.

And the way that it would work, it would be financed by donors. So, for example, Harper Mutual would donate, and they would have a bed that would be Harper Mutual's bed. And we might have, like, a little brochure board that says, this garden here has been donated by Harper Mutual. This bed is on copyright, you know, and it might be in close relation to their store. But, you know, that would pay for buying all the bulbs each year, and everybody would really look forward to seeing Bel Air include these strings. So it's a new initiative.

It's a lot of work, but they're starting to talk about it and starting to prepare for it.

I think that's a great idea, and I will, if it gets off the ground, I will participate at my house and plant some bulbs so I can be part of Belleair and Bloom. I love them because you can depend on them. They come up, and they're gorgeous, and you don't really have to do a whole lot for a year to get them started.

Sign me up.

i know i saw the ladies um taking down the christmas decorations when i was in town hall one day and they do a great job they're such a nice group and it makes the town look so beautiful to have their the baskets in the spring the christmas decorations at christmas time um i really appreciate everything they do great group of people they really are yeah Anything more for Steve on ABC? No? All right. Discussion by the commissioners on budget issues. And here they come.

So tonight completes the general fund. We have one more budget work session on Tuesday. That'll be the two enterprise funds and the special revenue fund. And that's typically the work session that we, you all kind of hash out if there's any changes to the budget so that I can prepare for the final budget during the rest of the week. So this is the updated list of outstanding items. Two and four are done. I will have three for you all on Tuesday. Five is, again, discussion tonight or Tuesday, your call. And then you'll have to make a decision on number one. But that's all I have

listed unless there was something that i missed this evening other items that you want to add the one thing i noticed this evening when we're going through the budget the boys and girls club asked for 15 000 on like page 197 but it's a few pages it's 188 where the the numbers are for what they requested they got fourteen thousand one hundred sixty two dollars in twenty twenty six they asked for fifteen we're giving them sixteen but the christmas parade has been 5,000, 5,500 for a long time. They asked for seven and got 5,500. So I'm just thinking that maybe since the Boys and Girls Club only asked for 15, to give them 15 and take that other 1,000 and maybe move it to the Christmas parade or some other, and I haven't really, looked at all of them to look at what they asked for, what they got, what they've been getting for years. But that is just one thing that I noticed today.

I can shed some light on that. I actually made a note while they were doing that presentation on another piece of paper. So you are correct. They requested 15. I had it in the budget as at 15. Eddie asked for the additional $1,000. because of some discussion that he was having with management of the Boys and Girls Club that we would provide a thousand dollar contribution towards a sign at the McFall Center I don't have any other information than that so if you all want to take it back down to 15, that's what that additional $1,000 was for?

If we do decide to go that route, I'm just going to throw out that I would like to use $500 of that to fully fund the request of the Army Alliance to bump them up from $2,500 to $3,000.

And that's why we sort of soft overlaid where we would move it. That's just me.

That's just me. The other, the Hartford, the Historic Society ask was for five, and it's in the budget of six also. That's another one.

That's right.

Oh, that was for the...

Yes, that's correct.

Okay, that's what the extra K is for.

Yes, it is. And the Army Alliance is funded at three already. Oh, it is? Yes, sir. I apologize. That's okay. I thought it was.

I wasn't sure if I've missed any other, Lisa, if you know of these smaller groups that asked for something and weren't fully funded.

No, and the reason the... Christmas parade was not funded because I was showing a profit so okay make any sense more money I agree with you then so is there a consensus to take the Boys and Girls Club back to the 15,000

And we can spend that on other things.

The $1,000?

Yeah. Any general fund sort of thing. It might need to be thrown into the kitty then for.

I know when Eddie and I met on the budget, and he told me about that I do remember him saying that that was something during the budget process that he felt he would probably still have to confirm with with them so I can I can try to do that I don't know who he spoke with or yeah what the conversation was or we can just Right. Take it to 15. Your call.

All right. And it looks like they're already getting a bump up of around 900 anyway. Correct. Yeah.

Yeah, this was above and beyond because they were, they were.

I figure if we're fully funding somebody's ask, that's, you know, great. I agree. Got what you asked for.

And then there's also on page 71 that the requested $10,000 for the disc, the golf disc.

what it's called a disc golf holes yes on page 71 I don't know I don't think too many people are that is being my understanding is it's being quite it's used quite often I mean a lot it's very successful I can send you all a copy of the email that was sent to Eddie, who forwarded it to myself. And I'm sorry, I don't remember who the gentleman is, but it was in direct support of this $10,000. Again, this is,

And this $10,000 is coming out of capital projects, right? No. Capital reserve, it's not?

No. Okay. No, it's not really capital. It's baskets and some signs. It's not really capital.

I just have to check because it says a capital project, but I know that some of them do not come out of capital reserve. So this would also be general fund money.

Kevin's budget, planning budget rather, sorry, habit with Kevin, Michael's budget, planning's budget is a little unique because You know, we we kind of use that other capital account for items that really don't fit anywhere else. So we don't have to have a separate line item for every single one of those. So it's mainly from an accounting perspective. We don't want five or ten accounts for every one of these. So we put them in here. Most of them are capital in nature, like the plum tree park and the homestead park, you know, portable restrooms. You know, the $5,000 a piece, yes, it's in the other capital, is a capital. Do you really want to start nickel and diming capital to that degree? That's really not what that funds for.

Completely understand. Just wanted to confirm that I was, you know, because usually it says this is coming out of capital reserves.

Correct.

I just want to make sure that it was not coming out of capital reserves so that we know.

That's correct.

So Commissioner Frost, what was your point about the?

I just thought it was something to consider.

Okay.

I might be able to add something a little bit. The last couple days I've received several people concerned about the additional nine holes in the park. Okay, I see. And it's noisy. It's not some way where you can go take a nice walk sometimes anymore.

Is this where you throw the Frisbees at the chains?

So we already have nine holes in the park, and they want to do an additional eight holes. Nine more.

And where is this coming from, the request?

Well, the request is coming from the group of people who play regularly. Okay, so the disc golfers. Yes, yes, yes. I just saw. I know that, excuse me, I'm sorry.

I was gonna say, I just saw some semi-viral footage of a town in, I think it was Northern Virginia, although it wouldn't be a town in Northern Virginia, it probably had to have been a county in Northern Virginia, who has one of these, and the neighbors, I guess, were deeply concerned about the noise generated from the disks clanging on the metal chains that they do. I'd never even heard of it until I came across this video. I, to tell you the truth, didn't even realize that this was going on. So that's interesting.

I know one of the complaints is, or maybe not a complaint, maybe that's a little too hard, or concerns is from the Rockville Foundation is that during their weddings and things of that nature, a lot of times the noise that's generated from the people in the woods playing and stuff like that becomes an issue. Oh, I can certainly understand that.

think we all have recently gotten an email about this issue and I cannot remember if it was from a neighbor or Rockfield or what but just like today I read this that it is an issue so it is you know if we're looking to fund something else it is $10,000 that you know why while people are you know playing and it's it's it's great we have a really tough budget year so

i agree with commissioner foss that it's something that should maybe be on our list of things to think about whether we want to go forward with it or not i'd like to get more information about it if we can uh i'm not concerned so much about the noise i've i've walked around at the one in churchville when people are playing it's it's sort of like golf where you where you hit where you know you get all you go for the whole one time so it's not like you're sitting there you know banging the thing on a chain or something it doesn't make i don't think it makes a ton of noise but also they have weddings there you want a beautiful picturesque setting in the background you have these metal cages not the most aesthetically pleasing so that would be a concern but if it's tucked all the way back in the woods towards the stream that way i i don't really see how it would be bothering people i'm not sure where they are i don't know either i have no idea i know they're there but i'm not sure where either where precisely are they it's in the woods at rockfield park okay

But in relation to the manor, let's say, in relation to the manor house.

Straight back? If you go straight down towards the barn, you can look in and see one of the holes right there in the woods right on the other side of the pathway. That's one of the holes. If you go over onto Ewing Street Field, you can see a few right there along the side. Ah, I have seen those. Okay, now I know what you're talking about. And there's a box there that actually frisbees, if people find frisbees that they lose, they put them in there.

Okay. So in terms of... Alright. You can see them... Can you see them from Linwood anywhere? Or is it too obscured by the trees? I think it's too obscured by Linwood. Alright. But you can see them from Ewing.

Yeah. Okay.

They're spread out through in the woods. They have like a course made up.

Actually, you can see one cage right when you're going around the

The turn on Churchville Road at the S turn right before you get to Rockfield Manor, you can look in the wood there and see one of the cages right up there in the middle of the garden area. So it goes up into there as well. That one's pretty close to the rock. It's right by that Rose Gazebo Garden. All right, I'm going to have to take a look.

Yeah, it's not that I'm completely, but just something to consider for sure.

In a top budget year, that's a thing that we should consider whether we want to go forward with it this year or wait till another time. And I guess the big thing that Lisa needs to know about is the 2.9% COLA for the budget. Is that time sensitive today or week Tuesday? Okay.

Well, and the other thing that was, the other thing talked about was the trenching for the H-man redundant. And in talking with the chief, he didn't feel that that was needed. He feels that there's a sufficient backup that doesn't degrade their capabilities that much. And that's 96K out of the capital budget. Redundancies are great, you know, and you need them, but it doesn't, to me, all redundancies don't have to be at the same capability level as the primary. You have to take some degraded capability and the likelihood or the frequency of that thing going down is very low. Again, they've had it, I understand, 12 to 14 years in that one case that happened.

um you know it doesn't say you can happen every 12 years or you know but anyway it's just a very infrequent event to spend 96 000 on i tend to agree with you but mostly because my understanding from the chief is that if that goes down the department can still work there will be no um loss of services to residents it will be dispatched out of eoc rather than out of out of ours So nobody is going to be there with no 911 capability, and that the guys in the cars are actually on patrol. The officers will also still be able to communicate. They may have to go a little old school with radios and getting the information that they could get out of their computers right in their cars from the police. eoc or someone else but they wouldn't be completely in the dark and lost and that that was my main consideration if town hall can't get phone calls it's not good but it's not the same i mean i've i've had that happen when i work for the county that somehow there's you know some problem and we're like and we have no phones for the afternoon so you know it's it's not the best of all things but

Plus, we also purchased, or we are having the budget there to have the Starlink, which is an added internet capability, and we're also having the team's phones so that if it does go down, we still have service, phone service, within the town, not necessarily for the public because those would be different phone numbers. but at least we'll have capabilities. And that's what I mean by we'll have a degraded capability for a short period of time, hopefully, and I think that's adequate. We'll still have a capability. It's not as great as the primary capability, but we still have a capability.

And Christine and I, when it went down on New Year's Eve, we were very concerned because there was something that was time sensitive that needed to be filed with the Public Service Commission, and we were going to find a way. We were either going to file it at my house on my internet, or I was gonna come up here with it on a USB key, and we would make it work. But we were going to make it work. It's not the best thing, but in the short term, you can find a workaround for something that is truly mission critical. So I'm comfortable with considering taking that out. But it is a capital reserve project. So it is not money that we use for the general fund costs.

Correct. Along that line. Was there any discussion about the redundant secondary fiber optic connection for the armory and the DPW with with Josh? I just, again, just asking along the same line.

Is that part of the trenching? I thought that was all part of the trenching. No?

Michael, I think you can probably speak to that. I cannot.

I know that connection is for the armory and DPW, whereas the trenching was for the town hall and the big the big one that you were talking about is I think we should definitely do the one for DPW.

I'm just asking because of the conversation we were having. I don't know. I didn't know how different it is.

Maybe we need more information from Josh about Josh specifically to see if they're tied into the trenching or not.

There's two separate projects, from what I understand, and the most expensive one would be the one to connect Town Hall, which includes what you were just talking about for the, basically provide the backup for the dispatch. The less expensive option should certainly do it whenever it's available, would be my recommendation.

okay so you're telling you're saying that the DPW and the armory are separate they don't need a trench right and they're still go without the trench and it would still work yeah I know I don't I don't believe that trench connects them I think they they are I'd have to verify but I believe they're connected to each man right through different

Connections for lack of a better term, you know Josh because Josh says we can't It's a spider web of it's a spider web of Fiber throughout the town and great that fire on that pole didn't happen to find a single point of failure so it's a and the discussion also is that perhaps this might be on the county's radar and

already you know so uh correct if it's all already on the county's radar we might be needlessly talking about it right now and josh was going to check in yes yes sir so right now we need more information from josh about the armory and public works as far as what we need to do there yeah all right so yeah mike go follow up with uh josh thank you all right is there anything else that's mission critical for this evening no not for me okay I was is there anything else I just needed to know if you needed direction on anything like tonight just wanted to check but thank you for asking all right in that case is there any further discussion any budget items tonight in that case may I have a motion to adjourn so moved do I have a second second all those in favor aye