Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Ladies and gentlemen, we call this meeting to order of the mayor and board of commissioners for December the 9th, 2025. Can I get the roll call, please? Emily here. Mayor Marion here. Frank here. Here. Let the record show you. Will you rise with me for the pledge of allegiance, please? Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. I don't want to put you on the spot, Commissioner Kleiner, but would you mind saying the prayer tonight?

Oh, sure. Father, [clears throat] we thank you for our town and for all those who work to support it and who live in it. And we ask that you bless them. Give them wisdom and protect them all. Protect our first responders, all those who um put themselves in harm's way on our behalf. Lord, we thank you for them and we ask that you would glorify your name in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Thank you. All right. Before you is the consent agenda. Town administrator, do you have that?

Yes. What you have before you is the approval of the last town meeting of November 18th, 2025. Just as a reminder, that meeting opened up with a special hearing for changes, proposed changes to the zoning code and then proceeded to the regular town meeting. And then you have the schedule of upcoming town meetings. The next one will be January 13, 2026, followed by February 10th, 2026. And then, as comes up every once in a while, we have two upcoming holidays that fall on a Thursday, which in accordance to the town's personnel manual, you do have the flexibility of um awarding the day after the holiday as an additional holiday. So that's on the consent agenda if that is something that you would like to consider doing. Also,

town administrator, we're actually going to push uh a the approval of those minutes to the next meeting due to uh extravaganza planning. Um there was a pretty lengthy meeting this morning. That kind of took time away from being able to get that done. So, we're going to push that approval to the next one. Okay. Um, but before you you can see the upcoming town meetings and the um holidays, I'm of the mindset that we go ahead and give them uh that one day off. Um, it's up to the board, though. I make a motion that we uh give the employees off the Friday after Christmas and New Year's. I second it.

It's been moved and seconded. Any discussion? All in favor? I. Now I just need a motion to approve the consent agenda. I make a motion to approve the consent agenda. I second it. It's been moved and seconded. All in favor? I I Thank you. All right. Moving forward into public presentations. Do you have that, town administrator?

Yes. So, it's time for our auditors to come in and uh give a presentation on the findings and general perceptions of this year's audit. Um Judy um and her staff did a phenomenal job of getting it done a lot quicker than um we've been able to get done in the past. So, if you recall, I think it was maybe around March or so of this year that you got last year's uh cumulative report. So, we're already ahead of the curve. And um what we have here is Stephen Rock from our auditing phone to give his assessment of the this year's financial records.

Thank Calvin. Um so, like Calvin said, my name is Steve Rock. I'm a supervisor with Zelen Cosby Acarrod. Uh we have been the town's auditors for four years now. The um deliverables that you would have received uh were the management representation letter and then also the audit report. I'll start with the management representation letter. This really uh kind of describes what we did as auditors, our responsibilities, what the town's responsibilities would have been, and then would kind of go into any findings that we may have had. Uh it then also kind of explains some of the significant estimates like the financial disclosures that would have really been presented during the audit. But in general, um we there were really no findings. Um nothing really that we need to report um to you as the board. I'll then kind of quickly kind of go into the financial statements here and really present um kind of like just general numbers for you and then also kind of like what our opinions on the audit would have been. The um financial statements really start uh the first real pages of it are our opinion over the audit and kind of gives our basis for the opinion. But um during our audit of both the governmental activities, the business type activities of both the water and sewer uh and then just overall the major fund um the general fund of the town uh we had we presented a clean opinion. Um we had no findings um in respect to our audits of any of um the aspects of the town's financial statements. Uh so that was that really starts on page one of the statements. Um then going to the page uh 4 through I believe 10 or 11. This is the management discussion and analysis. This is management's real way of really kind of explaining any changes during the year. This is a a good place um kind of as the board to kind of see how management describes any financial statement changes that would have occurred during the year. It's a good kind of way to

kind of review and kind of understand uh the just the overall changes that might have occurred in the um financials from 2024 to 2025. Uh then starting on page 12, this is really um where the financial statements actually start. Uh this is your uh um governmentwide financial statements. It really um provides a combination of both the governmental activities, the business activities and really provides a um a long-term kind of outlook um because it in includes your capital assets and any long-term debt that you really wouldn't see when it comes to your general um fund level financial statements. These are done on a on a cruel basis. So that means they include all long-term activities um for assets and liabilities. But when it's all said and done, you have about $8 million in assets. Uh liabilities come in about $2 million. And that leaves your net position. So the assets greater than liabilities of about $6 million. Of this about $2.8 million are really unrestricted or um really um not set aside for anything uh specific. Uh then when it comes to page 13, um this is your statement of activities. This uh will then kind of provide you um your revenues and expenses really broken out by their different functions and kind of shows you um any gain or losses that you would have on any of those um different functions. And if you really see it shows each governmental activity really has a loss by function in total about $2 million. But this is really where your general revenues, your taxes, um, and things like that come into play and why your taxes, um, really kind of support the overall town function. Um, because those general revenues then come in and really balance out what your, uh, your net position was during the year. And in in total, there was really only a change in net position of about 81 million or $81,000.

Um, so it leaves your again ending net position of about 6 million. Uh, then moving on to page 14, these are really your fund level financial statements. And again, this is it doesn't go into long-term. It's more like a one-year snapshot of your financial statements. Uh the assets again of your general fund being about $3.8 million. Liabilities is about a half million. Uh this leaves about 300 three $3.3 million um of fund balance that uh again assets that are greater than your liabilities. And again with the the unassigned not really put to any uh spec specific purpose. Um about $2.8 million. Uh then page uh 15 will then kind of describe some like kind of what I was kind of explaining the difference between those two different statements. Uh being that your uh your capital assets and depreciations and then um your long-term debt capital assets long-term borrowings leases um all kind of being the difference between the two. um the statement of u um statement of fund balance, your uh statement of net position and then statement uh page 16 um uh your statement of revenues, expend expenditures and changes in fund balance. Uh these are shown kind of like your revenues and expenses that you would kind of receive in a in a normal budget report um that you would probably get presented to the board. Uh it really just kind of breaks down your revenues and expenses by their type. Um and so u total revenues being about 2.6 million, total expenses, uh being uh 3.3 million. So it it shows your revenues actually or expenses exceeding revenues by about $650,000 for the year and then your overall decreasing your fund balance during the year. Uh and then I'll kind of move on um after that to the statements for both your um the water and sewer. And I'll kind of just provide a real brief one for that one. But in

total net position um when it came to water um about 2.2 million uh for uh sewer um it's actually a negative uh $270,000. Um and then after that really goes into your notes to the financial statement starting on page 21. And so this will really kind of explain more of your um any really uh different aspects of different numbers throughout the financial statements. Um, starting in note one kind of just describes the ba the basic summary of accounting policies um of the the town. Um, note two um will go into talking about um all your cash deposits um and any um restrictions that there might be on any cash um balances. Uh note three um includes um descriptions of the town's investments and their fair value. Uh note four will provide you more specific details um pertaining to your capital assets um and changes that might have occurred with purchases and then also depreciation of your capital assets for both the governmental and the um the business type activities. Uh note five really gets into your long-term debt. describes each type of long-term borrowing that you have when whether it comes to the the town's mortgage for the town hall or um any leases um that they might have for any uh vehicles or things like that. Um so it describes each one of those and kind of will then show at the end of note five really the change again um in your u your borrowings um leases compensated absences so increases and decreases that may have occurred there. Uh note uh six then kind of goes into again some more more in depth into the leases. Um note seven is about any unearned revenue. Um note eight property taxes. Um note nine is just the risk management of the town. Note 10 being the employee

benefits um and any uh the 401A plan or the 457b plan that the town would have. Note 11 kind of describes inner fund balances that would have been uh so due to due from any funds or any transfers that may have occurred between uh the different funds. Um and um I guess we go through 112 there more not as um as much that I won't really want to touch on but I guess the last thing I kind of want to touch on note or page 39 and this is your schedule of revenues expenses and changes of fund balance. It's really a budget to actual schedule. Um, so it shows the the town's budget um in comparison to actual revenues and expenses that uh were seen. Um, total revenues were uh budgeted about 2.5 million. Um, actual revenue ended up being about 2.6 million. Uh, total town expenses were budgeted about 3.1 million. They ended up being about 3.3 million. And so that really shows that um that there there were a little bit of additional things or um expendit budgeted during the year. um and really shows that that difference um that may have occurred for the year and uh just kind of wanted to touch on that as well. Um I guess at the end of the report um would be our opinion over the town's um internal controls during our audit. We also do test internal controls of the transactions that we're testing and we uh do additional testing work over both um receipts and dispersements during the year to really get an understanding of the town's internal controls. And um during the year we ended up not having we did not have any findings when it came was related to the town's internal controls as well. Um so overall on both the financial aspect and then on an internal control aspect we provide a clean opinion over the town's financial statements. Um and I also want to say I it kind of like uh Calvin said it was it was

wonderful and uh great working with Judy and her staff this year. Um and as well with Calvin as well. uh we did uh end up uh finishing this report probably two months ahead of time in comparative uh previous years. Um so it was definitely uh a good effort um with both her her staff and us to kind of get all this done on a timely manner this year.

Any questions? No questions. Thank you so much. Uh looks like our town continues to be in a strong financial position and uh we appreciate all your work on this. Thank you very much. All right. Thank you, Steve. Yeah. Thank you.

All right. Moving forward into new business. Uh at the last town meeting, we had a lot on our agenda and I forgot to make the appointments. So, uh I'm going to ask for a motion to approve the following appointments. Uh, Commissioner Emily Kleiner will now serve as water and sewer commissioner. Commissioner Frank Dowling will serve as streets and sidewalks commissioner. Commissioner Auggie Pearson will serve as public safety commissioner. And then the open spot will remain for parks and recreation. Can I get a motion to approve those appointments? I make a motion to approve. I second it. It's been moved and seconded. All in favor? I.

Thank you. Moving forward, citizens input. Would anyone like to speak this evening? Anyone? Okay, moving forward into staff reports. Town administrator. [clears throat]

Yeah. Uh, a couple things to update you on. Um, we all participated in the grand opening of the Rising Rising Sun Grill uh this past weekend. Lor's Place, the seafood restaurant that's opening up in the old Bog Turtle, is tenatively scheduled to have a soft opening on December 19th. Um, so I'll keep everybody up to date on any updates on that. Tractor Supply is still doing very, very well. I've heard a lot of positive comments from people in the community. Um, when you go down there during the daytime, um, the parking lot is is pretty well full down there. I I think I had said this at the last meeting. I know I said it at the planning commission meeting. The thing that I relate to is the fact that we had to have a discussion about granting a variance for the number of parking spaces that were required. And unfortunately in our world of land development, sometimes the people who figure out the parking requirements, there's there's a lot of variables and it's not a one-sizefits all. And I've always said, you know, if you look at a Home Depot or a Lowe's and you go there at the busiest time of the year for them, they're lucky if 50% of the parking lot is actually covered. When you when you think about it, when you go into a Lowe's uh you know big warehouse store, do you ever really see more than a hundred people in there at any given time? And a 100 people, if you have one or two to a car, that's like 50 to 75 cars, it hypothetically would be needed, but you go out in the parking lot, you see maybe

three, 400 parking spaces out there. So sometimes we have a tendency to overregulate parking and there's a lot of studies that have been done on that. So there was there was some trepidation I guess when they wanted to put the propane tanks in the center of the shopping center that it would you know really become a parking issue. And as I said before, the planning commission did a great job of looking at that impact and granted the variance. And I feel, you know, stronger than ever that that was the right decision to make to grant that variance. That our existing code was a little bit too restrictive for that. They're still operating under a provisional because the uh the black fencing that's supposed to uh go around the propane tank is on back order. And I just want to be clear that black fencing is not a safety barrier in the standpoint. It's not designed to stop somebody from running into the propane tanks. That's what the ballards there are for. It was to basically sort of soften it a little bit the appearance of the big tank and the yellow ballards pocket popping up in the parking lot there to number one sort of soften it uh decorated a little bit and then also to not make it a place where you know on a Saturday night or whatever people are wandering into that area. So, we want to have a little bit of security where the propane tank area would be uh secure without, you know, being really gaudy with it. So, I think that's going to clean I think that's going to make that look uh more attractive, too, once that fence uh gets delivered. Um some updates

on the land development process. Um, Stevens Preserve is still, you know, dotting some eyes and crossing some tees on a lot of the documents that they had to get final approval for from the engineering firm and uh, storm water management. And then uh Palm Valley um they are also Palm Valley which is the Kudson uh development they received their preliminary and final approvals and they are beginning you know probably a couple of weeks you know maybe not or one or one or two more months of getting their final documentation in order. And I want to be clear, the documentation that I'm talking about is when you submit the plans to the planning commission, there are there's a lot of engineering and technical stuff that has to get done. And your volunteer members on a planning commission don't necessarily come with that skill set to be able to do that. So the planning commission's job is to make sure that generally speaking these developments, you know, uh comply with the aesthetics that are required in our in our subdivision and zoning code. But it's the engineers to make sure that all the piping is properly noted, storm water drain, street width, uh curvatures, um access and intersections to make sure that fire trucks can get down the street and make uh turns. Um so there's a lot of engineering work that gets done here. So, even though the approvals on Stevens Preserve were granted, I'm going to guess maybe five or six months ago, it's just a testament to how much additional review work is done uh by the town

before that is finally approved. Um, I guess another thing I want to remind people of is we're starting to get closer to snow and ice on sidewalks. We do ask people to be proactive about clearing the sidewalks in front of their properties of snow and ice. As a general reminder, if somebody slips and falls on your sidewalk, you most likely will get sued. And unfortunately, so will the town of Rising Sun to some degree. And you know, I always like to say this because I think it gets lost when you follow the money trail. The town getting sued is every resident and taxpayer in this community getting sued because any payouts on a lawsuit one way or the other are either paid by increased premium payments for insurance coverage or they could potentially be out-ofpocket payments that the town has to make. So, property owners that I guess I'm just encouraging property owners to say to keep your sidewalks clear, not only for the protection of your own family and loved ones walking on the sidewalk, but of those your neighbors that might be walking down the sidewalk, but also protection of your own financial liability and the town's financial liability. So, I just want to encourage people to be proactive about that. And as always, if you run into an issue, it's the same as cutting grass in your yard. We'd rather know that for whatever reason you're having a problem cutting the grass and see if we can find a solution to help you with that. It's the same thing with the snow removal. We're not looking to make, you [clears throat] know, $25 uh get paid $25 citations. That's not

the issue. It's not about the money. It's about making sure that there's compliance and everybody's protected. as I just mentioned there. So that concludes my report. Thank you, town administrator chief.

Um [clears throat] there are no significant trends that uh occurring in the uh the town limits. As everyone is aware, the winter extravaganza is this Saturday. Um, what that leads to is a high volume of pedestrian traffic. So, it's a wonderful parade. It's gorgeous out. The lights are great to see, but just remember there's a lot of kids, a lot of families that are walking in our community this coming Saturday. Um, please be mindful of that. Please be mindful of those that are out directing traffic. Uh, they're trying to help you get to your destination as safely as possible. um getting frustrated with him and spreading you know things other than tear will uh not help you get there any faster. So that is all I have for my report unless there's any questions.

Thanks Chief Assistant Town Administrator. [clears throat] I don't have anything to report. Financials were reported and I do want to thank the staff because it it takes dedication to process and to have things come together the way they did was really outstanding.

Thank you. All right. My report's pretty brief tonight. Uh a few things going wrong. So, um I wanted to uh thank the board for coming out for a great ribbon cutting at Sunrise Grill. As the town administrator uh mentioned, it's great to see another resurgence of businesses within our main street area, especially this historic district. Um the mural is moving along. He has only one day left uh to finish it up. I think it looks fantastic and it's added um really nice aesthetics to our our main street area. So, I thank Sean for all his work on that. Uh, I also want to give a huge shout out to our public works team and, uh, our town staff for their work on our town float. Uh, we participated in the, uh, Cecil County Christmas parade and they did an excellent job on our float. It turned out amazing. Um, so thank you so much to them for doing that. Uh, as chief mentioned, our extravaganza is uh, this Saturday. Uh, it is going to include lots of uh, new things. This year we are having a ice carving demonstration which will be on Main Street. We also have a mechanical bucking reindeer that we're inviting folks to uh take a chance at. We have our Christmas market that'll be going on as well as ice skating in Center Square. Uh we will end with a tractor parade that this year has close to 85 entries. Uh we are going to be announcing that we're going to start the parade at 6:30 instead of seven due to the amount of entries uh this year. Uh it's going to be a great event. And then at 8 o'clock we will light our town Christmas tree. Uh so we're very excited about that. Moving forward into commissioner reports. Commissioner Dying. Um nothing specific. I was just uh reflecting we had the um the uh ribbon cutting for Sunrise Grill. But just in the past two or three months, how many small businesses have opened up in town? And I think it's just important um to, you

know, remind people to support those small businesses. We'd rather see them successful than those businesses empty. Uh Rising Sun Market, uh Rising Sun Wellness Counseling, Color Coven, Rising Sun Spa, of course, Sunrise Grill, Tractor Supply, and I know there's a bunch others on the way. So, I think it's a an exciting time for them. Most of the employees and and many [snorts] of the owners of those businesses are Rising Sun residents and our neighbors. So, it's good to um support them when we can.

Thank you, Commissioner Kleiner. Um, I echo Commissioner Dowling's encouragement to support our small businesses in town. Um, all of the businesses in town, large and small. And, uh, I definitely enjoyed the rubbing cutting and breakfast at Sunrise Grill. Um, everything that is supposed to be crispy was crispy and that is an A+ for me. Um also our planning commission met um last Monday and it we were not hearing any cases but it was a lot of good discussion and um just wanted to comment on how um how good a team we have and I'm excited about um meetings moving forward. So

thank you Commissioner Kleiner. Commissioner Pearson.

Yes. I have just a [clears throat] few things that are my speech every year at this time. Um, remember that it's the holiday season. Don't forget to water your live tree every day. Uh, do not let them get to the point where they dry out. Uh remember a heater cannot be put on a regular type of extension cord. You really shouldn't have a heater on any type of extension cord. But that if you do make sure it is sufficient. Uh as Chief Peterson said, there's people out on the street now. Uh let's be careful in driving and uh look for things where you least expect it. Um hopefully everybody have a safe holiday season and I wish everybody a merry Christmas and a happy new year. That's it.

Thank you, Commissioner Pearson. Before you you can see the Board of Zoning Appeals Commission schedule, our upcoming town events and holidays, uh the trash, recycling, and yard waste schedule. Is there anything else to come before the board this evening? Hearing none. Could I get a motion to adjurnn? All right. Commissioner Klein or Bogi. Um, all in favor? I see you in the new year.