Town Council - Regular Meeting

The date is September 14th. I will now call this Town of Mount Airy Council meeting to order. If you would, please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

I 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.

All right, thank you. First up, We do have presentations. First will be a proclamation for frontotemporal degeneration, or FTD, Awareness Week from September 28th through October 4th. So I will move up to the pavilion and do that. Well, this is my first time up here doing this, so bear with me a little bit. All right, so proclamation for Frontotemporal Degeneration Awareness Week from September 28th, 2026 to October 4th, 2026. Whereas it is the custom of the Town of Mount Airy to recognize periods of time set aside to increase awareness of serious health conditions that affect the lives of citizens of Mount Airy, Maryland. On behalf of myself and the Town Council, do proclaim September 28th to October 4th, 2026 as Frontotemporal Degeneration Awareness Week in the town of Mount Airy, Maryland, in conjunction with the observance of World FTD Awareness Week. And whereas the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration reports that frontotemporal degeneration is a terminal and incurable disease, neurodegenerative disease affecting the frontal and temporal lobes, causing impairments to speech, personality, behavior, and motor skills. And that it takes an average of 3.6 years from start of symptoms to get an accurate diagnosis of FTD with average life expectancy of seven to 13 years after start of symptoms. And whereas FTD may strike people between the ages of 21 and 80, with the largest percentage of those affected being between 45 and 64. and that is the most common form of dementia for people under 60 years of age, rendering people in their prime of life unable to work or function normally. And whereas FTD imposes average annual costs associated with the care and the impacts of this disease that are approximately double those of Alzheimer's disease and is identified in the national plan to address Alzheimer's disease and recognized by the state of Maryland as a related dementia and included as part of the vision to raise awareness of the nation, the state of Maryland, and the town of Mount Airy. And whereas it is imperative that there be a greater awareness of this serious disease, and more must be done to increase activity at the local, state, and national levels. Now, therefore, I, Tim Warshaw, Mayor and Council President of the town of Mount Airy, Dubai, hereby proclaim the week of September 28th to October 4th, 2026 as Frontotemporal Degeneration Awareness Week. Sure. Just for everyone's awareness, I know that we are sending a lot of information in. If you go to our website, townofboundary.org or .gov, and also on our Facebook page, you can find all the information you need regarding FTD and how you can help and also what to look for with this disease.

Just to let you know, I'm Karen Hawkins. I'm a town resident, and I'm the FTD ambassador for the state of Maryland this year. since last year I've presented, but I will give all that information on the social media.

Fantastic. All right. Put on double duty here, sorry. All right, next up, we have Charitable Mount Airy Siren Project Fund through the Community Foundation of Carroll County. This is a donation for the weather alert sirens, so I will have Councilmember DeMotor, and I believe Mr. Hushauer, are you coming up? And yeah, Mr. Marks, yeah, absolutely.

All right, good evening, everybody. I think everyone's aware that the town of Mount Airy is is actively pursuing and we've committed to acquiring and operating a weather alert siren system to advance the safety of our Mount Airy community. And earlier this year, the town council passed a resolution committing to the weather alert siren system and also to the funding of that system. And one of the things we committed to was that, While the town has committed funding for the siren system, we made a commitment to try and raise 50% of the needed funds through donations and grants and private sector donations. And so Mount Airy is a great community. It's very, very strong spirit of volunteerism. And Mr. Josh Marks, who is standing with me, is a great example of community engagement and volunteerism. And Josh has worked really hard to go out and secure commitments and actual funding through private sector donations to go towards the siren system. So I wanted to turn it over to Josh and let him make some remarks. And then he will present to the town a check with the funds that he's raised. And then I'll also ask former Mayor Hushower and Acting Mayor Washabaugh and the town council to come up, and we'll all get a group picture. So Josh, thank you very much. You wanna say a few words? Yeah. Boy.

Long way, 15 months when we started this. First and foremost, I want to thank the Town of Mount Airy Council. It's not an easy thing to get everybody's ear when you see something and something strikes you so hard that you feel you've got to do something about it. Those kids that died in Hunt, Texas last year in early July with the flash flood, and the town administrators put their head in the sand without doing anything about sirens, really hit a chord. And that's why I wrote the letter to Baltimore Sun. Two weeks later, we had a loss. Hit hard. People saw the need. People saw that we needed. Public health, safety, welfare is what the government's function is. It's why I pursued this. Thank you, Mr. Larry Hushauer, for entertaining everything that I threw at you. And I throw a lot of stuff at you, and you know that. The community foundation of Carroll County were really great. I want to give a shout out to Amy, Melody, and Jackie Mathias. They really helped us. I have a list of donors that I'm going to furnish. Councilor DeModer has it. I think, Larry, you have a list of donors too. I'm going to provide it to the press because I've been talking to WJZ and WBAL, and I think they would like to do that. I'd like to honor those people that did make a donation. I collected $8,500 in 20 days. We had a donation from Sheriff DeWeese for $10,000 and the Mount Airy Disaster Relief Fund gave us $2,000. We have $20,500 collectively to put down a down payment on a siren system that they're gonna vote on tonight. And it's appropriate, it's giving back to the community. I firmly believe that giving is living and service before self always. It's what I do when I lobby for my veterans and you know that because I do a lot of legislative lobbying for our veterans. But this is my town and I believe that This town deserves it. And as I say, honor is simply the simple morality of superior men and women. And I got to tell you guys, these are superior men. They followed through on what they said they were going to do. And that's really important. So that's all I want to say. Yeah. All right. All right. So thank you. And can we get the council and the acting mayor up, please?

And Larry, could you come up? And maybe we should stay on the podium.

Or you want to move the podium back a little bit? Yeah, let's do that. Everybody good?

I know all the faces of the frame. Okay, we're all right. Thank you.

All right, thank you again. Next up, we have our Mount Airy Police Station and Command Center concept design with Mosley Architects. With this, what we are doing is there's no formal vote. We are going to look at the overall changes, the dollars and cents, and then just the overall layout of the building. And then basically what we need is a consensus from the council that we are in a point to move forward based on what we're seeing here budget-wise.

All right, so real quick, what we are looking for here from the council is

looking at the budget, what we approved, where they're at, and then overall layout of the building. Not particular details here and there, but what we need is basically a consensus, not a formal vote, just to move forward onto the next step from Mosley. All right, so with that being said, I will relinquish to you.

Thank you. Thank you guys for having us back for a second time. We're going to update you guys on, like he said, the progress that we've made since the last time we presented to you and hopefully update you on the budget. This should be a whole lot less contentious than last time, but we're going to go ahead and get started with our agenda for tonight. So like he said, we're going to look at the base design. We'll take a look at the future and the expansion plans and then a revised cost estimate. Taking a look at the base design, before when we presented to you, we were at about 6,600 gross square feet, gross meaning that we're including things like corridors, hallways, thickness of walls, things like that. And what we have actually pared it down to is That's the previous elevations. We've taken off about 1,000 square feet. And where that's come from is we've removed the interview suite that was in the corner of the building. It would have been, if you're looking at this, it would have been in the upper right-hand corner. And what it's done instead of just reducing the square footage of the overall rooms is we've kept the rooms at the size that they're supposed to be. That way, in the future, if you come in, the rooms are already sized for a future expansion. You're not shortchanging yourselves up front. Instead, we've just removed something in anticipation for future expansion. And what we've done is take one of the rooms and turn it into an interview room for the time being that will then become a different purpose once future expansion has occurred or you have the funding for that. So again, the layout's pretty similar. You have the entry vestibule at the front corner, duty desk, and the offices are all laid out just as they were before. along that front wall and then up towards, if you follow along that front wall towards the left, you go up towards the back. Those are all the same. The locker room layout and the changing rooms, those have not changed. We have incorporated a conference room into the rear of the station because we do feel that that is a need for the police. They have their duty calls every day. And then we also have our evidence suite that we have not shortchanged or changed any square footages on. And then the core of the building is the same as well in terms of officer workroom and any weapons storage, armory storage, things that are needed for our police. And as I mentioned, there's that interview room that was incorporated into the center. The dashed line indicates the secure perimeter, meaning that is where the public in general will stop and not go beyond the building. This is a basic site plan of what we would have in the first phase. So we're looking at number one, the station. Number two would be the parking that we would build in this first phase. And then number three is the secure parking on the rear, secure parking meaning it's for the entrance of the police. And then we would continue to include a dumpster enclosure, which will stay off of Candace Drive because that's gonna be the easiest way for the trucks to access that dumpster. And if we continue on, the base elevations, the building has changed. It has updated from what it was before. We've simplified it, actually. We had multiple materials in the last iteration, and this iteration is mostly brick, which actually does seem to match your context a little bit better, especially in terms of we're pulling from the historic train station that you guys have here. And we're looking at just incorporating two different tones of brick to provide differentiation in the facade. The two different colors is not going to increase the price. The only time that brick increases in price is when you're very dark or very light because you're adding a lot more pigment. And then you will have a standing seam metal roof, which is going to be incredibly durable and last just about as long as the lifespan of the building. And you will still have similar elements along the front, such as the vehicle barrier low wall that's going along the front. And you'll have that little bit of storefront to just point people to the correct direction of where you're supposed to enter this station. This is what it looks like if you do a 3D spin around the building currently. Now future plans and expansion. Because we recognize that there are additional needs of the police, we want to make sure that we're designing this building so that it's easy to expand in the future and that we can give you guys what the police is going to want in the near and then also in the far future. So in addition to the base building, what we're going to be doing is an alternate, a bid alternate, meaning if the contractor comes back and his price is low to bid the building, He will come in and then say, I can build one of these alternates for X amount of dollars. And if that's within your budget, then he can build that additionally. So we split it up into different chunks of what he can price. Alternate one would be your emergency operations center at the front. That is intended to facilitate public events. It would be a place for guest officers from your neighboring counties to come in and be able to use that space. because there's no other large space in the building, you would have an additional public toilet off of that and a small storage space. The alternate, which we're calling 1A, would be the interview suite, which we removed from the base bid. We're calling it 1A because with the way that this building is oriented, it's kind of just an extruded long form. And if you were to build at Alt 1 without 1A, then you would have a chunk taken out of that standing seam metal roof. So what the anticipation is, is that if you have at Alt 1, you would build the perimeter wall for both 1 and 1A, but you would not build out the inside. That way you can save money and you can build it out later when you have the correct funding. And then the Add Alt 2 is a sally port with associated storage in the back, canine storage and large things like bike storage or large item storage for evidence confiscation, and then future expansion off of the rear. The future site plan that we're looking at is you would have the base building in red, and then you would have Add Alt 1, which is your emergency operations center. That would be off the corner. With that, you would have additional parking and circulation. If you're gonna introduce a room that has more capacity for the public to come, then we need to increase the parking count. So that would be included in that bid. And then if you're looking at Alt 1, we would also include that as a security fence along the perimeter that is in the black dashed line. That way, it just protects people from entering the police area, the secure area. And then 1A is the interview suites. That's number four. And then number five would be your Sally Port location. And then number six is additional circulation for the police that would happen in the future. So that would not be associated with any actual building modifications. And then number seven would be that future expansion. Now because we would be coming off of the rear of the building, we anticipate that you would have a cross-sectional roof that would end in a peak off the back. And that would just tie in really nicely to your standing seam metal roof. It would allow for minimal modifications. Again, a 3D look at the building. And the revised cost estimate. So last time when we came, we were well over budget by several million. And now we're looking at the base cost of this building being almost $4,800,000. That is the cost up front. If you look at the alternates, then you would be adding about $1,800,000 for the emergency operations center. That would, again, include the parking and the additional build-out. The interview suite and fit-out, which would be 1A, is about $217,000. The sally port, which is at Alt 2, that would be about $535,000. And then the third, which would be the additional parking on the back, which is not associated with building modifications, that would be around $300,000. This is all under today's dollar value, and it assumes a 4% escalation rate. So where is the funding coming from? Of course, an important point. If we're looking at the 2026 estimate, additional reserves that we would need in order to build the station this year would be nothing. If we're looking at 2027 and we adjust for inflation, again, the extra amount that we would need to build the station from what's already allocated is nothing. In 2028, if we were to wait and build the station in 2028, then the additional reserves that would be needed is $210,000. This is, again, based on a 4% escalation or 4% inflation rate. That's the brief overview of where we have arrived at for today, and I would like to open it up to any questions.

So I'll give a brief overview. I joined up with the meetings probably over the last, I'd say, about four months. And they were really good meetings. The one thing I think that we stuck with was that we are not interested in spending a dollar more than what we had approved. I think we can all agree that the original estimate that came in was very, very high, very over budget, and it was not something that we were willing to do. Through a lot of work, a lot of discussion with Barney, Chief Ginevra, Mayor Hushower, and John, and Jared, And the great work that Mosley did, we were able to come up with something that was pretty much suitable for everybody, including the chief, under budget. So the fact is the money that we are looking at was approved already. They're not seeking additional funding. Nothing else will be coming out of reserves. And that's kind of where we're at. So again, what we're looking at or what we're looking for would be just an overall consensus of the council of, are we good to move forward to the next phase or the next step of this process? You do see that if we can get shoveled a dirt sometime in 2027, it's not gonna cost us any more money. I'm not stating that we need to rush through this by any means, but if we get into 2028, it'd be about another 210,000 using a 4% escalation. So I'll open it up for questions, and we'll go from there.

I have a few questions. So thank you for the presentation. If you go to your MAPD total funding plan slide, please. So you've got the total project cost at $6,343,000. The total project means that's the building and the land, correct? Yes. Okay, so you're still $343,000 over what we told the community this project was going to cost. We told the community... many, many times this was a $6 million project for the whole thing.

That's not including the grants that have since been awarded to the county. I understand that.

The total cost of the project is $343,000 over what we told the community. I have a couple questions about the ad alternates. If you want to go to the ad alternates slide. You don't have any slide numbers on here, so. Add alternates, first the, I'm sorry, the plan layout. Yeah, future plan, it's titled future plan. Okay, so you've got your ad alternate one at 1,045 square feet.

Yep.

The presentation you gave us, I think, two months ago was 867,000 square feet. Why did you change the square footage?

The overall square footage was 8,000.

For the Emergency Operations Center. That was smaller in the last presentation.

Oh, sorry. The change, better? The change in the square footage was to reflect what was written into the grant. So the square footage that was written into the grant was closer to an 800 square foot emergency operation center, not including the storage and not including the toilet. And so the storage was reduced and the building expanded slightly just to better match what the grant was to the state.

Okay, and then the Sally Port in this design It's 1,265 square feet. The last presentation, it was 987. So why did you make this bigger?

It's the same reason. In order to meet the grant requirements, I had to expand that left side wall out. And so that left side wall, in order to maintain the shape and the squareness of the building, the more jogs in a building, the more expensive it's going to be. The more your structure is going to have to move around. So if I can keep it square, I'm going to actually save you money. And so I moved the entire wall, the entire left side wall out. And that's why it has more square footage. Your storage actually increased. And that's why it's larger.

Okay, I have another question about the Sally Port. And here's, it's a statement and a question. So I went back and I looked at the original request for proposals that went out for the police station. And in that, there's a table of specs. And I understand, I know for a fact that the town spent quite a bit of time with the chief and the engineers, the previous town administrator in arriving at these specs. These were the specs that the town thought they needed at the time when this went out for bid. And on the required list is a sally port. It wasn't an add-on. It wasn't an option. Some of the other things, like it was called a training room. Now it's called a community room or this emergency ops center. But a sally port was identified as being something it appeared that the town thought they really needed because it was in the

The RFP.

We need this RFP, okay? So right now our police station is out in a commercial area, semi-industrial area. This police station is going to be sighted immediately embedded within a townhouse and single-family home community. So it's going to be part of that community. So I have concerns that we're putting a police station in that kind of an environment with no enclosed sally port. In terms of what I would view as being needed for a police station, there are some core functionality that you're going to want. Evidence room, armory room, we've got a lot of that. But to me, it seems sensible that an enclosed sally port is something that you would want when you're locating a police station. embedded in a residential development. And I have concerns about not having a internal sally port and when I was part of the design team I believe Daniel it was you on one of the calls we talked about this and you're the one that made the statement as I recall that said you know if you don't have an internal sally port and you have an external sally port essentially where it's just a fenced in area all you need to do is lose one suspect into the neighborhood and you've lost your credibility. So I have great concerns in terms of what I would prioritize. I would prioritize a sally port over an emergency ops center, that type of thing.

I will say that in terms of an emergency, in terms of the numbering of the alternates does not indicate priority. It's just the number that was given in the estimate. So if you can afford the Sally Port and you would prefer the Sally Port, then I agree.

So I understand, Council President, you said you wanted to get consensus on this tonight. Let me be very clear. I have been a champion for a police station in our town. I think the funding plan that we're using in terms of the grants and other things, I think I came up with that funding plan that the town is largely following. So I'm a big supporter. I am not ready to give consensus on this this evening because I just have other questions about it. So if my fellow council members feel good about this, then knock yourselves out. I'm not saying it's problematic, but I have some concerns about it. And if I'm going to vote or give consensus, on a $6 million plus project, because we'll put more money into it if we add these other things, I want to be able to look my neighbors in the eye and say, this is what I think is the right investment for the town. And I'm not 100% there tonight. So that's kind of, those are my comments. Thank you.

Thank you.

Anybody else?

I'LL LET THOSE TWO GO FIRST.

I HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS.

COULD THE CHIEF OR SOMEBODY REMIND ME WHAT THE EXISTING SCORE FOOTAGE IS THAT YOU'RE OPERATING OUT OF?

SIR, I THINK IT'S 45. 500? YES. THANKS. YES, SIR.

IN PHASE ONE, DID I HEAR CORRECTLY THAT THAT WOULD NOT INCLUDE SECURE PARKING?

That would not include a fence around the parking. It would include a secondary parking entrance in the back. And part of the reason that this was determined that it should not be included in phase one was cost-wise, considering what the police station has today, and then comparing it to what we're going to be giving them, this was designated as something that could be included in an alternate or a secondary build.

Okay. Can you speak to the change of the exterior?

The design?

Well, the material. What's the difference in durability and cost?

Durability, pretty much, there's not much of a difference. What we were proposing before was a metal panel facade, kind of invoking the idea or the concept of brick, and then a flat roof because it was, again, cost prohibitive to do otherwise. And then we were having a brick water table base. When we tried to reevaluate what was going on with the building, part of where we saved costs is one, dove deeper into the systems of the building. So we were looking at mechanical, electrical, and structural systems to figure out what's going to be cheaper. So there are no jogs in the facade anymore. There were before. That square facade is, again, going to save you money because your structure is not going to be more complicated. We were looking at, OK, how can we support the roof? What's going to be the most durable long term? And we also picked something that was The brick is going to be one trade on the project. If you're paying for a metal panel installer, and then in addition to that a brick layer, you're going to have additional labor costs on the project. So really what you want to do is you want to get one person on the project, and you want them to stay there. So we changed it all to brick because that matched the Mount Airy context a little bit better. In terms of durability, there really isn't a difference. is a little bit more, we tried to stick with the warm tones to keep it friendly, a little less cold from the metallic. And then other elements that we decided to include were headers at the windows, and then we tried to repeat the same windows every time. and we minimize as much storefront as we could, storefront being the glass entryway, just to that corner. So it's kind of a glowing corner in case somebody comes to the station at the middle of the night and they're in distress, they know where to go, and it's more of a friendly beacon. So that was the main driver behind a lot of these, just trying to simplify and look at the cost. Other than that, durability, the durability of a, metal roof is a little bit greater than that of a standing, that of a flat roof. A flat roof can require a little bit more maintenance. So this shouldn't be a problem long-term.

But as far as the change of the brick, the dirt, negligible difference in durability from the previous. Negligible, yeah. And sounds like more efficient.

More efficient systems. Cost. Yes, yes. Labor costs.

Okay. Also, I think last, last questions. As we're getting closer here and you know, we've now got a more refined plan for the cost of the actual building. You know, as we're all looking to move into our new house, it's like, okay, what's it going to cost to furnish? What's it going to cost to move? So I guess my question is, have we looked at those phases of what's actually going to cost to furnish this building? And then annual maintenance on this building. Has that been...

Yes, so that was part of what we were looking at when I talked about we're looking at the systems. One, we took a look at what have you guys already got installed in your county that you guys will have parts for that you can easily maintenance in your building. And so we've designed the system around that. In addition, we've also taken a look at, so there's maintenance in the first half of your question was? Furnishing.

Furnishing.

Furnishing, oh, yes, sorry. That, as far as I am aware, we're planning on reusing what's in the existing station.

Right. I mean, there's going to be, you know,

Moving costs.

The capes and the blinds aren't the same size, right, from building to building. But there's obviously going to be additional equipment and furniture and things like that. But also, so I'm not hearing, I know it's not your thing necessarily, but I'm not hearing annual estimates in numbers, you know, for maintenance and upkeep. So that might be a little early, but I think we're getting there.

Right? I think we're a lot early. We don't even know what the size of the, you know, we still have to get through just this phase first and then we can get to that point.

So in general, We would, like, the fact that we've looked at the systems in a schematic design phase is already ahead of the game. Generally, we would look at that as a design development phase. Just with the progression of the phases, you start very basic. We're still in schematic design, and we're looking to get to that design development phase, and then we get to a construction document phase, which is even more specific.

So the next phase, will we start getting that annual maintenance estimate and...

Yeah, you'll get a life cycle cost analysis is what we call it. Yeah, it will determine, you know, like how much bang for your buck are you really going to get in your equipment? How much bang for your buck are you really going to get in, say, like your roof, your gutters, your stormwater management system, your AC unit? You're going to get all of that in your life cycle cost.

Yeah, and I guess just to put it more plainly, I'm more concerned of... what is the long-term commitment for the town and the citizens for the upkeep of the building, right? I mean, we know there's the $6 million-ish. We know we're putting the $500,000 a year into our own reserves, but once that's done, what happens then? That's what I'm concerned with, so. Lastly, I guess I just wanna echo Councilman DeMotor's comments about, I think, I mean, a Sally port was a big deal. The fact that we don't have a Sally port. I think that was sort of a state requirement that we have a Sally port. It's not? Okay.

We checked. We went back and we checked.

If I may, just briefly. Please. And I know that was a question and it was a concern of ours to have a want of that Sally port. But currently, if an individual is arrested, they're transported by the officer to the appropriate facility. either Frederick or Carroll County, to be processed. We do not currently do any remote booking from our facility. So having that Sally Port as a future alternative, that could be a potential process for us to process prisoners, suspects, any individual there. The only individuals that are processed there is if there is a DWI and they refuse to do the breathalyzer exam, they are taken to the station, and they are put in the interview room along with the officer, the appropriate paperwork is filled out, and then a ride is contacted or the officer transports that individual back. And I will say that, again, to address certain things, let me remind everybody that across the street there is a jiu-jitsu facility that is there. There are numerous children of all ages and adults that litter the parking lot right next to the police station. There is an alternative way of getting into the building, which is a stairwell. And then there is the front entrance. Most likely, if anyone is transported or needs to be interviewed, they are going to come in through the front door. So during the time frames that they are running their classes, there are numerous people waiting in the parking lot going to and from their classes. Not only that, if it's during the day, Anyone of the other tenants that are there from elderly getting blood drawn from radiology Anything else that are going through there? So to say or just that it's going to be in one area because of townhomes that haven't even been constructed yet I think that's getting a little too far when currently in the nine years that we've been in that building we have had no escaped prisoners and No injuries with any individual that's brought in at station, officer or individual, and no Mount Airy resident has ever been injured by any of the prisoners at any time that we've been at that facility. I just want to make that clear. Thank you.

So you wouldn't be processing anybody there until there is a sally port, until there is gated parking, et cetera, et cetera? That could be. We would still be going through the same process we do now?

Yes, sir. That could be a potential in the future because we don't currently do any remote booking. Okay.

Yes, sir. Thank you. Yes. And I guess the secured parking was part of that. So it sounds like you're not too worried about that in phase one.

No, sir, because currently we don't even have secured parking. We share that parking lot with numerous tenants. So even though that it's posted in Mark, it's not like we go outside and tell somebody to move their car because they're in police parking. We don't operate like that, sir.

Yeah. I was thinking of just secure for you guys. But, you know, obviously we're looking to – I like to have an upgrade here, right? I think that's all of our goal here is an upgrade for you guys and gals. So that's all the questions I have. Thank you.

Thank you, Council President. I was just going to be like, no, it sounds like, I mean, I live up that way and I'm not, I mean, while a Sally Port would be a nice little feature right now, it doesn't, does not indicate that we need it at this time. And it can always be added later as long as, let me say alternate one and alternate two are done. And if I understood Congresswoman Elfrith properly, at the time capsule ceremony, she has gotten approval, or at least on the House side of the budget, for the alternate one emergency operations center funding has made it through the House side. We're waiting on the Senate. If it stays in the Senate, we have funding for the EOC, which is a good thing to do. And so therefore, It's not that urgent to have the salary report. I'm not afraid of a criminal escaping. You do not currently process any bad or hardened people, a drunk every once in a while that refuses the thing which happens now. It's not any worse than what you go through now. As you indicate, there's Taekwondo, there's children, there's other things of that nature. and there hasn't been any problem. So I'm not concerned. While Sallyport would be nice, if it is an urgent need, I think this council should seriously consider if there's an urgent need to add 500,000 more from reserves to put it there until that time. I think we're good without it and just put it on the, enlist as the first thing to add on to the building. I do like the brick and everything. It's much more better than the commercial aspect. of what it was before. It fits into the neighborhood much better than what it is. The steel roof is long lasting, brick is 100 year plus exterior maintenance type deal. So I'm not concerned with the cost of maintenance on the exterior of the building. The new equipment for the refrigeration, the AC and everything, it's like buying a new house. cost of maintenance is less, because everything is newer. There will always be cost of maintenance. It's just the way it is. How much, don't know. But then again, we currently pay a contract for maintenance for the HVAC of, I don't know, 20,000 a year or whatever, plus the rent. So there's the cost of maintenance, basic interior maintenance moving forward there. So, I mean, And then for the next two years, there's nothing extra. If we go out till fiscal year 2028, which I hope we don't, you've shown that we need to start taking money from reserves to fund this and to do this and to move forward. So I'm ready to at least give the permission to go to the next level on this tonight to get it moving and to see because as we all know, things don't seem to stay the same price forever right now. So that's what I have to say, town president. And thank you for sitting in on the meetings.

Sure. Just a couple quick thoughts. I mean, we were very firm a couple months ago, so much so that I even said sell the land if we had to. We're not going to just dump money into a building. So if we need to back out, we back out, we sell the land. I was just as firm in these meetings in saying that we will not budget another dollar into it. We got lucky that we have a fantastic grant writer on staff and YOU KNOW, WE GOT AN LBI GRANT OF $100,000. WE GOT ANOTHER GRANT OF A HALF A MILLION DOLLARS. WE ACTUALLY DID NOT BUDGET $6 MILLION FOR THE PROJECT. WE BUDGETED $6,050,575 TOTAL DOLLARS INTO THE PROJECT BECAUSE WE ALL VOTED TO APPROVE $1,550,575 on top of a $4.5 million DHCD loan, which does exceed $6 million. When you add in the two grants, our biggest concern as a council, from my memory, was we will not pull a dollar out of reserves more than what we voted on and more than what we agreed to. And if that can't happen, then we don't move forward. Well, we're at a point now to where we got grant money at about $600,000, and we are, at least for the next two years, not pulling a dollar out of reserves. I do 100% agree with Councilmember Kelly that we do want an upgrade. The upgrade is the fact that it's ours now, if we do this. The upgrade is the fact that we own a building, we own land, we are not dumping money in rent into a building that, to be quite honest, is still also receiving, I want to say, how many exemptions because it's not fit to be a police station. What we have is a building that is fit to be a police station that is not going to require exemptions from the state, to which time the state can pull those exemptions at any time. I mean, we've already exceeded what they said we should over the course of the last couple years because no council before us could figure this out. So we chose to bump up taxes a little bit. We chose to get this loan, and we chose to pay Mosley a certain amount of money that, to be quite honest, is running out, and it's running out quick. So I understand you want to do details, and I understand we want to do this, but We got to a point to where we have a building that will not need exemptions, that is 1,000 square foot bigger, that can be added on to as we get through. If future councils want to add that stuff on, we have that capability. But the biggest thing for us, from my at least perception, was the fact that we weren't going to dump another $3 million into it. And so through many meetings with Mosley and a lot of Obviously, there are wants that we wanted, sure. But if you can't afford them, you can't afford them. What we did is we got down to what we needed. The chief explained that he already takes criminals to either Carroll or Frederick County. So there is no danger to anyone that's around until we do eventually put on a sally port. And then they can bring them and do it in-house. But until then, nobody's going to be escaping and breaking into townhomes or anything like that. We're at a point, and I don't have a vote on this. Tom will explain why once we get through this. But we're at a point on this to where Mosley did what we asked them to do. They gave us a functional exemption-free police station that Won't have to have evidence shoved in a bathroom, won't have to have bikes shoved in where the police officers should be sleeping. It is an upgrade. Is it everything we want? No. But when is your first house everything you want? You gotta step up to it. And what we agreed to was a certain amount of money, and this is what you get for that money. And it is absolutely an upgrade. And we own it, and then we can continue to build on it as future councils and mayors see fit, and as the town grows accordingly. So I will always relinquish to Chief Ginevra to state that I think we have everything we need, and then we have maybe even the capability of building a plan out in the future to also get what we want to keep making it better. Right now, we don't have what we need, and we have no way of getting it, except for just keeping dumping money into a building that is, to be quite honest, not fit to be a police station anyway. So I want to keep everyone on track that this is an upgrade. Unfortunately, this is something that should have been done years ago, and it would have cost a lot less money, but here we are.

So I hadn't heard until you just said it. So just to be clear, so this is exemption free?

Yes, meaning you will not have to pull any additional money out of reserves, everything that you've already voted on.

No, meaning it's a fully functional police station.

Oh, yes, yes. So part of the upgrade that he was talking about, when you have a police station, police stations need to operate as emergency facilities, meaning that they have to operate under extreme weather conditions, everything like that. If the power goes out in the whole town, The police station needs to continue to operate. So they're considered a risk category four building. You have an exemption right now for your current station. It is not fit to operate under an emergency state. This building, at a very basic level, will operate as it's intended to. So that in itself is an upgrade as well.

And that's what I meant by upgrade. So until you just said that phrase, I hadn't heard that yet. So this plan is exemption free. Correct. We're good to go.

And I think that's what a lot of people, I'm not going to say they don't understand or question what they do, but certain things have to go into a police station. And they cost money. We're not building just a pole barn and calling it a police station. All right, there's certain things that cost a lot more than your average house and your average building. And so when you look at the cost per square foot, don't compare that to your normal commercial building or your normal home. You can. But your point is apples and oranges. So I suggest you really kind of go in and see what has to go into a police station per state and what the requirements are before you start questioning the money that's being spent based on the square footage. So again, I do see a lot of upgrades. I do see a lot of potential in the future that right now is not going to break our bank. and also break the bank of our citizens by having to raise taxes a ton more to get a sally port or a fence. We have an alternate plan to make those things not needed at this moment, but it can be planned and budgeted for in the future. So that's kind of where we were at when we left the last meeting. And I think we were all feeling pretty good coming to the council meeting saying, hey, for the next two years, We got what we wanted. We got zero dollars coming out of reserves. We got land that we own, a building that we own. It's exemption free. It can operate as a fully functional police station. You know, is it everything we want? No, but it is absolutely every single thing that we need. And it's coming in at budget. which is far from where we were a couple months ago.

Ms. We heard you.

Mr. I hope. No, it was a pleasure working with you two.

Ms. Oh, thank you. Mr.

So, I'll open it up for any thoughts. Mr.

I have another question if I could ask.

So, one of the rate-limiting steps here is going to be, this is getting plopped into the green tree development. And so, my question is, When is the green tree development going to be site prepped to the point that construction of this building can start? Are we actually going to be able to start construction of this next year or two years?

That's not a question that I can answer. I understand, but I. Anticipating right now, based on the last conversations we had, I'm anticipating 27. But don't hold me to that. Yeah, so just for a bit of context, green tree development will grade the majority of the site for those that are not aware of that. They will grade the site for us for the majority and bring utilities to the edge of our site. We will be responsible for then incorporating the utilities directly within our site. But that saves us money.

Okay, and then just, I have many other questions. I'm just gonna ask one. No, sure, go ahead. I was gonna ask. The... The grade of the site, I recall the grade of the site being to where the building was almost appearing to maybe sit down in a bowl. It was almost, because of the lay of the land there, is the building going to be like at grade and LEVEL OR IS IT GOING TO BE LIKE YOU DRIVE THROUGH SOME COMMUNITIES AND THERE ARE SOME HOMES THAT ARE KIND OF IT'S GRADED DOWN AND THEN YOU HAVE THE HOMES AND I REMEMBER THAT WAS A LITTLE BIT OF A THAT WAS BROUGHT UP IN THE CONVERSATION SO HOW IS THIS GOING TO LOOK AS PART OF RELATIVELY FLAT IT MIGHT SIT UP A LITTLE BIT IF YOU'RE LOOKING AT IT FROM THE ROADWAY BUT OTHERWISE IT'LL SIT RELATIVELY FLAT OF COURSE WE'RE ALWAYS GOING TO SLOPE SO THAT WATERSHEDS AWAY FROM THE BUILDING SO

And if you're coming at it from the rear, there's going to be a stormwater management pond. That will have a bit of a bowl, but that's not going to be in the parking on the site. Otherwise, it's just going to sit up just a little bit from the street and from the residences.

All right.

Thank you. I'm going to go ahead just for the sake of time. Yeah. JUST KIND OF POLL THE COUNCIL REAL QUICK. WE'LL JUST DO A QUICK YAY OR NAY. IT'S NOT A FORMAL VOTE. IT'S JUST A CONSENSUS THAT WE CAN MOVE FORWARD FROM THIS PHASE. I'LL START WITH COUNCILMEMBER DE MOTER.

I'VE ALREADY GIVEN MY INDICATION. I JUST HAVE TOO MANY OTHER QUESTIONS I'D LIKE TO ASK. I DON'T SEE THE RUSH IN MAYBE TAKING ANOTHER MONTH AND ACTUALLY HAVING MORE TRANSPARENCY WITH THE COMMUNITY. SO I'M A NO AT THIS POINT. ALL RIGHT.

THANK YOU. COUNCILMEMBER MUNDER.

I'll say, as I said earlier, yes, I do not have a problem moving forward to the next phase in the design and everything. Council Member Evans.

I do have some security questions as well, but I'd like to see this move forward. So I'm a yay.

Council Member Kelly. I'm at the point where I don't want perfection to be the way of progress. So I'm a yay. Okay. All right.

I don't have a vote. So right now we do have a consensus to move forward. Oh, the three to one. So we will. just move forward with the next phase and see where that goes. Thank you.

Thank you.

All the time and effort and everything.

Absolutely.

Sorry to be so firm on the money.

That's not a problem. You're not the only one.

Yes, thank you for doing that. Thank you. Council President, just to cover your butt and our butt, the reason why you do not have voting is because you're...

It'll be explained.

Okay, I just wanted to make sure.

You don't need to cover my butt. I'll cover my own butt. Okay, all right. I just wanted to make sure. Thank you, sir. We'll take care of that. Okay. I appreciate you. all right now we're gonna move on a public comment if we could we'll just limit it to about two minutes or so anyone that would like to get up just please state your name and your address for the record we can just get in line or you guys can just pop up either way thank you guys good evening

My name's Jim Molesworth, and I'm here on behalf of the Man Area Historical Society. We would like to thank the council and former Mayor Larry for including lots of items in the time capsule, three specifically. One being the Rails to Rolling Pins cookie cookbook. 150 cookie recipes sprinkled with a lot of manary history that you won't find any place else. $35 on sale in the museum. Second thing we put in the time capsule was the 2026 ghost tour script. It was significantly revised in 2025 to include new murders, mayhem, geography, history, and of course ghosts and their stories. It's been refreshed again for 2026 and even includes some town council mayhem that probably nobody in this room remembers. So, even if you've been on a tour in the past, we think you'll enjoy the new script even more. Tours take place each weekend in October. Details and a QR code are on flyers, which are posted around town. They're on Facebook, and you can also find them on the Historical Society website. Tickets cost $20 and can be purchased by scanning the QR code. Each tour is limited to 25 guests. Last year, all tours were sold out, and I understand there might be some tours sold out already. The third item to go in the time capsule is the script for our Tuesday, November 3rd Historical Society meeting. The topic will be Little Known, Forgotten, or Unknown Stories of Mount Airy and Ridgeville with some fun geography and a bit of history. And it's free to attend. If you're not a member of the Historical Society, we invite you, the audience, and listeners to attend a meeting. If you decide to join, dues are $25 a year or $250 for lifetime memberships for you and your immediate family. For that, you get a monthly newsletter and an invite to monthly meetings, which are held the first Tuesday at 7 o'clock in the firehouse. with programs each meeting on topics of interest involving our town's history. We have some talented researchers. There's a lot of talk about small town charm. If you live in or around Mount Airy, you should join the Historical Society. One more thing. In this box, I have two 500 million year old fossils. That's twice as old as the dinosaurs. If you'd like to see them and learn how they relate to Mount Airy, come to the November Historical Society meeting. Thank you for your time. Thank you.

Good evening. Wayne Evans, 16473 Old Frederick Road, Mount Airy. I am also here certainly shorter than everyone else. I'm also here representing the Historical Society tonight. I have a couple of different things we wanted to make you aware of. This year we're beginning our History 101 again, which we've done every year, and that'll begin on Monday night, October 5th. And the first presentation is going to be at Pine Grove Chapel, which is where we generally have the first ones. And that's going to be talking about the Battle of Manassas, or excuse me, Monocracy. Very important too because we have old residents of this town that fought there on both sides. So it'll be an interesting discussion. Tuesday night we're going to be at the library as we will be for Wednesday and Thursday as well. That'll be hosted by the Maryland 250 Commission and the Historical Society of Westminster and the attendees will be able to tour a revolutionary era tavern through interactive elements. Wednesday, we'll get together also at the library. The speaker will talk about the railroads of Maryland during the Civil War. And the last evening, Thursday the 8th, at the library, our speaker will be discussing the plot by John Wilkes Booth and his fellow conspirators to kidnap Abraham Lincoln and how it morphed into an assassination. My second announcement tonight concerns our Mount Airy Hall of Fame. As you know, that's something we do every fall. We now have available... the forms to fill out if you have anyone that you think deserves to be brought into the Mount Airy Hall of Fame. We will start taking nominations. Not to be confused with what we do once a year when we do the Volunteer of the Year Award. This is not a Volunteer of the Year Award type of deal. This is reflecting a person's body of work through years and years here at Mount Airy, whether they be working for the town. They could be businessmen that have helped different commissions in town. They could be people that have served on commissions in town. And we will take these and they are considered by a committee of historical society members. Many of them are Mount Airy natives and all the others are long-term residents. They consider people that have worked in the fire service, non- the service clubs, things like that, and we look at your body of work. That will happen. We will take the paperwork up until November. We'll then sometime in December make a call as to who will be accepted. Also, additionally, if someone had been nominated in a previous year, the previous year. If they did not make the cut to get in that year, they will be considered again this year. Last year, I think there were something like 15 or 16 people that were being considered. I would assume there will be that many again this year. The committee is a secret. Nobody knows who they are. They change every year. We try and keep everything above board. Again, this is an honor. Get the information out to your friends, workmates, service groups, fire department, police department, local businesses, and get those nominations as quickly as you can. Any questions about that?

Just a quick one, Wayne. You might have mentioned it or I might have missed it. They're open now until when?

Actually, I have some applications with me now that I'll leave out front. The applications are available at the museum. which is open Saturday and Sunday afternoons, or you can go online, the Historical Society of Mount Airy, and you can request the forms from them as well. When does the nominations close? The nominations close the end of November.

Okay.

Thank you. Thank you. You got it. Thank you. Mr. Gitt?

Council President Ralph Kent, I'm a town resident on Kings Forest Trail in the neighborhood of Nottingham. Looping back to the proposed police station, just a quick suggestion at whatever task you have in the next level of your examination of the proposal. And that has to do with some of the comments that a couple of council members made. And I'll count you in the terms of suggesting optimal harmony, and what I'm getting at is if we can take a look at the facade materials and the roofs in the context of the existing residential pattern work that has been developed for the 60 dwellings that are now approved for the green tree residential side, I think we have an opportunity to make sure that as we go down North Main Street, we don't suddenly go, oh my gosh, it looks like a white elephant. I'm being extreme here, but I think you get the gist of what I'm saying. It looks like brick is a good idea. It looks like a standing seam steel roof is a good idea. But the tone of the brick could be perhaps optimized for the tone and the facades and the elevations of the approved 60 dwellings. That's kind of the point I'm making. And in doing that, there could be actually some efficiencies gained. For instance, we're talking about a fence around the police station. There was fencing approved of a particular style for the dwellings over in the green tree. Perhaps we would want to make that in harmony. And lastly, as another example, as you know, off of North Main Street, Greentree will have a double lane boulevard entry with a median in the middle. There will be a monument sign announcing Greentree as that community. I would imagine it would be reasonable to have a part of that sign also saying, this is where the police station is, because you're probably gonna have some signage for the police station. And so working together with the developer on that sign, because they're there already to build it, would be just an example of maybe taking that step, taking that opportunity. And again, the bottom line, we don't want to go down North Main Street and go, oh, there's a building and it doesn't fit with everything else that we've worked so hard on. That's all I'm saying. If you need help with the pattern broke, you know, kind of apples and apples with the proposed materials, I'd be happy to work with the staff and work with you on that. Thank you.

I won't make a habit of this.

But there were a few things. Just say when I was the mayor.

I'm not going to say that. You're doing an excellent job, by the way. The fact that you learned how to say frontotemporal, and I still can't say it, is pretty impressive. Just want to wrap up a few things. I appreciate what you did with the police station tonight. If I were sitting up there, I would have advocated for it as well. I think if you support the police department, then you give them a home. And that's the least we can do. I want to talk about the food truck ordinance real quick. I travel around the country. Several of you have gotten pictures as I go around and look at hideous looking food trucks. I send it to you because I want you to know that when things go bad, They can really go bad. And why do you need it? Right now, there is nothing that would stop a beat-up old van that is able to get a county permit from parking anywhere on Main Street and just starting to sell hot dogs out the window. We don't have anything that would stop that. We're fortunate in our town, and we look down at Walker's, and we look at Food Truck Monday, and we see beautiful food trucks that come in and provide quality food. Very happy with them. The problem is that not every food truck is going to be like that. We're a municipality. We shouldn't let the county come out here, pass something through their code, and then have them show up on our street. We should have higher expectations for our town. That's why we need a food truck ordinance. Because when it goes bad, It'll go really bad. If you get a property owner that owns an acre and says, you know what? I could have 10 food trucks in here every day and the town can't say no. That's the truth right now. If somebody wanted to do that, they could do it right now. And you don't know what those food trucks are going to be. So I hope you guys consider passing that. If not tonight, smooth it out. Even passing something that's not perfect. which I'd love to pass something perfect, but even something not perfect, it's better than doing nothing at all. The other thing is the Stroh property is up on the agenda tonight. That's a property swap up there on the traffic circle. I hope you guys approved that. It's a little bit of money, but Brian Stroh and his family put up with a lot of inconvenience while that traffic circle was being built, and this squares it off, makes it very clean for the town to take care of the property Makes it very clean for the Strohs to be able to take care of their property as well. And the last thing I'll do is advocate for the storm sirens again. Town raised money for this. People on the street came in for this. And I'll admit, when we first started talking about it, I wasn't a strong proponent of it. But I am now. And so I hope you guys approve the rest of the money. It's already in the budget. Please approve the money for the storm sirens.

Thank you.

and I will leave.

Thank you. Good evening. Steve Semelsberger, 213 Troon Circle, and a couple of comments about the food truck. It seems like it's the never-ending ordinance, but I think we're getting a whole lot closer and almost to the end here. Couple things I saw in the new proposal. Personally for me, semantic-wise, if something, if one of these qualifying food trucks, trailers, tents, pop-ups have permanent utility connections, I don't know how they can be considered mobile. That's just me personally. But anyway, going back to chapter 73 under definitions, it says recurring seasonal mobile food units, the third line, kind of ends nowhere. It says provided that's a food truck, and then there's a period. It ends. So I'm not sure what is supposed to be following that sentence. Under public property, it should say shall instead of small in the definition. 73.2, number 5, which is, I guess, the red line section that was just added, talking about... the different exemptions and things like that. I would also suggest maybe adding that if a change in ownership occurs, then the exemption is no longer valid in addition to the things that are already listed. The phrasing of 7325 about, where is it here? except as respects the permitting requirements. That to me was kind of confusing. So I'm not sure if you can maybe rephrase that or clear it up as to whether that means that those food units that were in operation prior to 1126 are exempt from A and B but must meet C or whether they must meet A and B and are exempt from C. That's a little confusing to me personally. 73.5 Restrictions Operating Standard A1 says no mobile food unit may operate within town without a valid permit. But if you go to B, it says if you carry that down, they cannot operate with a valid permit more than two times within the week or more than three times within a month. Well, does that mean that if they're two times or less or three times or less in a month, they don't need a permit? Just depends on how you read that. So that might need some clarification. 735A2 says that there's no annual or seasonal permits without a utility connection. So does that mean that somebody who has an ice cream truck that wants to ride around every day and sell ice cream on the street cannot get a seasonal permit, they're gonna have to get individual permits because they don't have a utility connection? Just a question. Going back to enforcement, I think I brought this up at previous meetings. Municipal infraction proposes $408 fines. The current town code says that the municipal infractions are $100 and $200, so I don't know if that has to be cleaned up to match. And 735 under O, it says unless an operation prior to 1126... A permit may not be granted to operate in the downtown zone for more than three days within a seven-day period unless approved by the town. And it doesn't really give any parameters as to what the requirement to be approved by the town is or associated with a special event. And the only reason I mention that is because, for instance, if Cryin' Johnnies decides to put a food truck in their parking lot and they want to operate it similar to Walker's, According to this, they couldn't do it unless they had approval by the town, and I don't know what that approval is going to entail, and that might need to be listed as to what the requirements are for that. And that's it. Thanks. Thank you. Any more for public comment?

All right, we're going to move on to speakers. We actually don't have speakers, but what I am going to do is... make our attorney, Tom McCarron, a speaker. Just so he can explain, obviously I've stepped into a dual role as council president and mayor, so I just want him to explain the code and the charter as to basically what you can expect from me over the next three months as we move forward. So, Mr. McCarron, it's all you.

Sure, so obviously the position or the office of mayor is currently vacant. OUR CHARTER SPECIFICALLY SECTION C-26 ADDRESSES THAT AND IT STATES IN RELEVANT PART THAT THE PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL may vote on all issues coming before the council except while serving as acting mayor. The president shall serve as acting mayor in case of the emergency absence or disability of the mayor or vacancy in the office of mayor, during which time the president shall have all the powers of the mayor as set forth in this charter. The president shall have no vote on the council while serving as acting mayor. And that last sentence and sort of a clause before then was enacted by Charter Amendment, February 5th, 2024, Charter Amendment 2024-1. So basically, again, while acting mayor, the acting mayor slash council president will exercise all of the powers of mayor, including veto and things of that sort, however, shall have no vote on the council while serving as acting mayor, as per our charter. I believe the intent there is that to remedy the condition previously, which allowed a council president to both vote on the legislation and then turn around and be the entity that either approves or disapproves, as the case may be, the very legislation, one way or the other, that the same council president had voted on. So that's the reasoning behind that charter amendment from 2024, and that essentially outlines how things are going to work. That means that if, unless, say, a vote achieves three votes, on four members voting, then it will not pass. So a tie vote, two to two, does not pass. Does not pass. We will need a... Does not pass a motion, does not pass. Right, so we would need a three to one. Act of a council.

Yeah, you need a three to one, a two to two. I have no vote. The funny part is I'm actually the one that brought forward 2024-1 because I didn't feel like any one person should have executive and legislative rights. So... I kind of tied my own hands here. But I just don't want anyone to think that I'm bowing out of any kind of difficult votes or that I'm not willing to make a vote. It's just the way the charter was written. I do think it's correct that one person should not have executive and legislative privilege. So we will need a 4-0 or a 3-1 to pass. A 2-2 or anything less will not pass. I do not have a tie vote. There's nothing... that will happen. So at least until we get a new mayor, that will be kind of how we move forward.

Any questions? No, so basically simple majority vote still takes the win per se. And no, I agree with you, Council President, about the executive and legislative.

And I, just to be clear, I can't bring forth a motion, second a motion. Say that again? I can't bring forth a motion on a... Well, I think you can.

Sure. Okay, so I can still bring forth a motion or... It simply says you may not vote.

Okay. Okay. All right. Well, thank you very much for the clarification. And then we'll move on to approval of council meeting minutes and closed minutes. First up, we have our August 2026 town council meeting minutes. Do we have a motion?

I cannot motion to vote on the minutes because I had to leave the council meeting earlier. So someone else is going to have to do this part of it.

I'll make a motion to approve the meeting minutes from August 2026. We have a second.

I'll second.

All right. Any discussion? All in favor of approving August 2026 town council meeting minutes, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed? No opposed, but abstain. August 2026, public hearing minutes, ordinance 2026-22 for mobile food units. Do we have a motion?

I make a motion to approve the hearing minutes for ordinance 2026-22 in August 2026. All right, we have a second?

I'll second.

Any discussion?

Hearing none, all in favor of approving the August 2026 public hearing minutes for ordinance 2026-22, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed? All right, thank you. Then we have our August 2026 closed meeting minutes. Subject was just code. Do we have a motion?

I'll make a motion to approve closed meeting minutes from August 2026. All right. Don't need to read the whole thing.

No. Second.

Second.

Are there any discussion? All right. All in favor of approving the closed meeting minutes for August 2026 under code, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? All right. Thank you. I do not see Hall of Famer Matt Hurd in the audience, so we'll skip the fire company report and we'll move on to Chief Ginevra with the Monterey Police report.

Yes, thank you. Good evening again. Calls for service, excuse me, 706 calls for service for August of 2026. Almost a 31% increase from calls from 2025 at 541. For citations, 108. Repair orders, 175. Traffic warnings, 194. Four DWI arrests, 14 traffic arrests, 159 traffic stops, and 11 criminal arrest. There were no overdoses to report either on the Frederick or Carroll side. That's excellent. That's what we want, zeros. For K-9 deployment, K-9 Officer Everton Paisley had zero scans. Officer DeAngelis and K-9 Yuri had one scan. Currently still processing one applicant through the Maryland Police Training Commission as a lateral. For some upcoming events, the Farmers Market is continuously open through May 23rd at Watkins Park. This September 16th is MAPD Hometown Night at Watkins Park from 4 to 9, so hopefully you all come. That takes place of our National Night Out. We, by Mount Airy, we We're a little smaller, but we're going to be a lot bigger, and it was a wonderful event that we took place next year, offsetting it from National Night Out. So come out and see us. We've got a lot of vendors, and again, it's incorporated with the farmer's market. It's a great event. October 3rd, we have the Oktoberfest, downtown Main Street in the Historic District. That's from 12 to 6. Again, another nice event held by MASMA to raise some funding and stuff like that. October 17th, We have the Fall Fest at the Carnival Grounds. That's a free admission. That's a great event for some kids and some young adults. That's hosted by the Delta Home Group. Mr. Dan Hasbadi puts on a great show there. They do a wonderful job in a lot of events here for the town. So definitely come out and see him and his folks. October 18th, I'm a big supporter of this. This is that Making Strides Against Breast Cancer at Watkins Park. You can either join the Marlin Area Police Department, one of our team members, You can create your own team or you can just support somebody and make a donation for that. And again, just let some people know. And I wasn't aware and some wonderful people at the event for team leaders and stuff like that, that men can get breast cancer. So I've obviously learned that through the years and stuff like that. So there is screening and stuff like that. So make sure that we all take care of each other. That will be my report, sir.

Any questions? All right. Thank you very much for everything.

Sir, thank you.

Moving on to mayor, council, and staff reports. First up is the mayor's report. Surprise on the mayor.

Amen.

Been about two weeks in, so still kind of getting my feet wet. So you'll have a better report from me come next month. Really just kind of learning the lay of the land. And I've got a couple meetings set up with Jared and Department of Heads this week. So you'll get a much more detailed report from me moving forward. Then we have Water and Sewer Commission, Beautification Commission, and Inclement Weather Task Force, and the 250th Semi-Quincentennial Committee with Council Member DeModer.

Alright, thank you. Beautification Commission met on August 18th. The Commission's done a lot of work the past two months or so. They've completed the mulching and weeding of all the gardens and all of our town's parks. The Commission will not meet in September. The next meeting will be on October 20th. Water and Sewer Commission met on September 2nd. The commission discussed water allocation approved versus subsequent usage issues, reviewing how the town calculates water allocation to development and redevelopment projects, and then discussing what actions should be taken when actual water usage far exceeds estimated water usage after a project's approval and the project coming online. The commission is continuing to explore a framework for this. We also understand that the town of Hempstead is working on a draft ordinance on this topic. So we look forward to seeing what the town of Hempstead is doing and looking for lessons learned and how that can inform our efforts. The other main topic was centered on PFAS and other capital projects. The Commission is exploring recommendations regarding more detailed and transparent PFAS remediation capital project management. And the next meeting of the Commission will be on October 7th. Inclement Weather Task Force, we met on August 27th to thoroughly review, discuss, and arrive at a formal recommendation on the preferred weather alert siren system to be purchased and installed by the town. Considerations included weather alert siren types, associated software and hardware, warranty information, siren decibel output, and installation for a set of four candidate systems. The task force voted and there was a unanimous approval on the recommendation of a preferred siren system, which is on the council's agenda later this evening. You heard earlier during the presentations that there's quite a bit of private sector donations going into the SIREN system effort. And that's a very positive thing. And we have a good 20% of what we think the total cost will be for the SIREN system. So that's positive as well. So we look forward to talking more about this during that agenda topic. And then the America 250 task force as part of the America 250 celebration, of course, we created and installed or buried the community time capsule to preserve everyday life in Mount Airy during this historic year. with gratitude for the people, places, and moments that make our town home. So we did this on August 29th as part of our Celebrate Mount Airy festivities. I want to thank everybody who came out. I think everybody had fun. We had several county and state elected officials on hand for the celebration. I did wanna give a shout out to Ashley Collier. I believe Ashley, I think, conceived the idea for the time capsule. She nurtured it along and made it happen along with a host of other town staff members. So it was a good event. And just lastly, as we move into the fall season, of our America 250 events. Just a reminder to keep in your hearts and your minds the focus of Mount Airy's 250 celebration You know, our slogan for the whole year has been together in gratitude, proud, and our heritage. So I just ask everybody, I know it's a busy time of the year. Kids are back in school. Everybody's very busy. But just take a few moments, count your blessings for the beautiful town that we have, our shared town life experiences, and more broadly, our national heritage. So that concludes my report, and thank you.

All right, thank you.

Next up, we have our Planning Commission with Councilmember Kelly. Thank you, Council President. The Planning Commission met on August 31st. There are a few items of note. First, signage was approved for Maha Mediterranean Cuisine, a new restaurant opening in Twin Arch Plaza. The final site plan for Twin Arch Business Park lot 15C section four was tabled after a very long discussion. There were changes to buildings in the plan and there were multiple sets of water allocation numbers from staff and none of them matched the applicant's numbers. So we'll try again next month. The preliminary plan for Buffalo Ridge subdivision was approved in a five to one vote. And there was an introduction to the discussion of possible amendments to the town's signage code. The commission is compiling their thoughts for discussion at the next meeting. The planning commission will meet next on September 28th at 7 p.m. And with Council President's permission, the most charming, brilliant, beautiful race director, J.D. Kelly, was supposed to be here tonight to make a statement during the public hearing. She was unable to make it, but I do have a statement from her expressing thanks regarding the success of Mount Airy Mile, so I just wanted to read this. I would love to thank everyone that came out to the Mount Airy Mile. Huge thank you to the Civil Air Patrol, the volunteers that assisted, the Mount Airy Police with their brief road closures, and to the citizens for understanding. Thank you, Troop 829, for the presentation of the colors, and Mayor Herschauer for emceeing the event. Big thanks to Liquidity Aleworks as they hosted the finish line and gave us all pours. Walkers on Main, Mount Airy Inn, and Chick-fil-A for sponsoring the delicious breakfast sandwiches. Thank you to the participants, a new record, 366 of you. Thank you to donors and supporters such as, I'm gonna mess this up, SELAIC auto detailing. SELAIC, thank you. Auto detailing and the upper deck for door prizes. Also thank you to Rehab to Perform for your race day support, as well as Health Unlimited and Flying Feet for your generous donations. This event couldn't be possible without the hard work of my fellow Rotarians that showed up to support all of you. So I've got a figure here. So with the new record participants, 366, all the generous donations, That event netted over $6,300. That's going to go right back into this community to help those who are in unforeseen circumstances and financial difficulty due to unforeseen medical bills. So big thank you from J.D., and this is very near and dear to our heart. So we really want to thank our community here, and we love you all. Thank you.

All right. Thank you. Council President, just a quick thing for Council Member. If anyone needed assistance from the fund, who would they contact?

They could contact the Monterey Rotary Club, or there is a specific site that I don't know off the top of my head. No problem. Yeah, I just want to get that information out there. There's a foundation set up through the Rotary Club.

Okay, cool. Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up, we have the Streets and Roads Commission. Cole in the Flatiron Task Force with Council Member Munger.

Hi, that's me. I'll start off with the Commission on Aging and Livability, better known as COLE. We met Wednesday, August 26th, 5 p.m. here at Town Hall. We started discussing. We had a public comment person, Martina Hadley, came and talked and discussed regarding a community medical needs survey. We also talked about Frederick County Rides for Good project. They are a private company that will provide rides for Mount Airy residents on the Frederick County side and Carroll County side. So please do a web search for Frederick County rides for good. Our former mayor is a volunteer driver for them. A general announcement that there is a Aging Your Way Expo being sponsored by Carroll County government. September 23rd at the Carroll County Ag Center from 9 to 2. So please go online, look for that, and attend if you would want to figure out how to age in place and for other information related to that. The next meeting will be held September 23rd here at Town Hall at 5 p.m. There was no streets and roads meeting last month. The next meeting will be this month, 929 at 7 p.m., here at Town Hall, which is the last Tuesday of the month. Just would like to say you would start to send schools back in session. Please slow down for your hometown and do the speed limit. Just not now, but every day here through town, it helps a lot. And just a general announcement here for a couple of things. Councilman Kelly and I attended the Eagle Scout Court of Honor ceremony for Turner Seibel of Mount Airy Troop 829 last month on Thursday, August 13th. It was a great time. It was nice to see another Mount Airy child or young man, young person obtain the rank of Eagle Scout. Also that me, the town administrator, And the Director of Planning attended the Carroll County MML chapter during the last week on 9-10. So that was it.

Thank you. All right, thank you. Next up, we have the EDC and Recycling and Sanitation Commission with Council Secretary Evans.

Thank you, Council President. Recycling and Sanitation did not meet in August. Our next meeting is this Wednesday at 7 p.m. right here at Town Hall. The EDC, we met on August 26th, and we have solidified the interviews. The first one for the business spotlight interviews is September 17th, and that is Jake's Barbershop. Our business roundtable is this Wednesday, 4.30 to 6.30, so in between your night out with the police officers at Watkins Park. We will be at the roundtable, unfortunately. Everything's happening on Wednesday. So our business roundtable is this Wednesday, 430 to 630. This Saturday, we have Liquidity is doing live music, and it's a little thing they call Here for the Cure. Well, they'll be making some money for the Rotary Club, and it's... Live music by eight musicians, I believe. So go down there and check them out. It'll be a good time. And Oktoberfest is on October 3rd. And that is always a great time. So please come out and support all our local businesses. That is everything I have for my report. Our next meeting is on September 23rd at 7 p.m. right here at Town Hall. And that is all I have for my meeting.

All right. Thank you. Next up is the Board of Recreation and Parks and Sustainability Commission. The Sustainability Commission did not meet. For the Parks and Rec, pretty light month the last couple months. But there are several upcoming events that we wanted to share. The Monterey Police Department, as Chief Ginevra stated, is hosting an annual hometown night at the Farmer's Market this Wednesday, September 16th from 4 to 9 p.m. at Watkins Park. Another plant swap happens in Watkins Park at 9 a.m. On September 26th, all are welcome. We do not have to bring plans to swap. As part of activities to celebrate the nation's 250th anniversary, a craft beverage festival will take place from 3 to 7 p.m. September 30th in Watkins Park. Many of the farmer's market vendors will be on hand along with local vineyards, breweries, and distilleries. You must have an ID and please drink responsibly. History 101 is back with four fascinating presentations, one each day from October 5th to October 8th. History 101 is sponsored by the Historical Society of Mount Airy. Please visit their website at www.historicalsocietyofmountairymaryland.org for details. Lastly, the Historical Society also runs the popular ghost tours during weekends in October. Please visit their website again for details on how to purchase tickets. and that's all I have for mine, so I will now move over to our town attorney report with Mr. Tom McCarron.

I attended the planning commission meeting at the end of August. I think it was there mainly for the commission's beginning of discussion about changes or updates to the signs ordinance, which probably needs some updating. Number two, worked on the Stroh property ordinance and contract, which is coming up a little bit later on the agenda. I've assisted on a number of Maryland Public Information Act requests that the Mount Airy Police Department has recently received. Worked a little bit on the loan matter that will be discussed in closed session and otherwise provided general advice. That is my report.

All right, thank you. We all have copies of the town administrator report, the code enforcement report, and the zoning administrator report. Anything to add? Jared? No? No? And then I'm gonna go ahead and turn over to Ms. Holly McCleary real quick, just for a brief announcement.

That's McDaniels, sir.

I'm so sorry, Jay. It is now Holly McDaniels. It sure is.

I don't normally have anything, but we actually do have our first nominations meeting here at Town Hall tomorrow evening at 7 PM. And this is the nominations for the Office of the Mayor. Because as you all know, we will be having a special election November 17 at the American Legion. But the first nomination meeting is tomorrow at seven here and that's where individuals can nominate themselves. You can nominate somebody. The nominee does have to accept that nomination in writing. Nominations remain open from the 15th to the 22nd. The 22nd is our second nominations meeting here at town hall at seven. At which time all nominations will be read and that'll close nominations. So I just wanted to say that tomorrow here at seven.

Somebody better be nominated. Because this is not a role I would fill. Thank you very much. Real quick, the website, if you do need assistance, is rotarycares21771.org. Again, rotarycares21771.org. You can reach out for that. JD just texted me. All right, so now we're going to go ahead and move on. We're under new business now, so we'll start with street closing on Saturday, October 24, 2026. from 5.30 p.m. to 9.00 p.m. from Prospect Road to Center Street for Mount Scary. This is for approval. Do we have a motion?

I make the motion for approval for the road closure on October 24th as described in the application. Do we have a second?

Second. Any discussion at all? All right. Hearing none, all in favor of the road closing on Saturday, October 24th, 2026 from 5.30 p.m. to 9.00 p.m. from Prospect Road to Center Street from Mount Scary. Please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

Thank you, and please come.

Did you want to add anything? I mean, there was no questions on it.

I decided to save all the information about Mount Scary until next month because I felt like you had enough to cover.

Okay, thank you. All right. Next up, we have a PWA for approval. This is Lot 14B, Twin Arch Business Park. Sorry. Go ahead. I was going to relinquish to you.

STANDARD TERMS HAVE BEEN APPROVED ON ANY NUMBER OF THESE. IT REQUIRES SECURITY FOR CERTAIN PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS. THE SECURITY AMOUNTS HAVE BEEN REVIEWED BY OUR TOWN ENGINEER AND APPROVED AND AS TO STORM WATER MANAGEMENT BY THE COUNTY AND APPROVED. OTHERWISE, AGAIN, FAIRLY STANDARD TERMS. That's it, would require a motion, second, and vote to approve.

Do we have a motion? Make the motion for approval of the Public Works Agreement for Lot 14B, Twin Arch Business Park, as described. Do we have a second?

I'll second.

Any discussion?

All right, hearing none, all in favor for the Public Works Agreement for approval for Lot 14B, Twin Arch Business Park, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed? All right, thank you. Next up, we have a purchase and sale agreement for the Stroh property. I'll relinquish to Mr. Tom McCarron real quick.

So, I believe former Mayor Husher referred to this earlier in his public comments. This is, before you, the terms of the purchase and sale agreement. Again, fairly standard from other purchase and sale agreements that you have, or at least the council, not you, but the council has approved in the past, essential terms. THE STROE PROPERTY. THE STROES WOULD DEED THAT THE STROES WOULD DEED THAT THE STROES WOULD DEED THAT PORTION OF THE PROPERTY TO THE PORTION OF THE PROPERTY TO THE PORTION OF THE PROPERTY TO THE TOWN. The town would then deed a portion of neighboring town property to the Stros. And in addition, there would be monetary compensation from the town to the Stros in the total amount of $6,000. Those are essentially the terms of the agreement. I will say that the terms have been reviewed and approved by the Stros attorneys.

Do we have a motion?

I'll make the motion for approval of the purchase and sale agreement for the Strode property as described by the town attorney and as written.

Do we have a second? Second.

Any discussion? I just want to put it out there. This is just like a cleaning up type agreement. It does not mean there's going to be any more construction of the traffic circle or anything else. Correct? It's just a squaring up of the property lines. Correct. Okay. Thank you. All right. Any further discussion?

Hearing none, all in favor of approving the purchase and sale agreement for the Stroyer property, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed? Aye. All right, thank you. Now we have a purchase of a budgeted police cruiser. This is for approval. Do we have a motion?

Make a motion for the approval of the purchase of the police cruiser as described here.

All right, do we have a second?

I'll second.

All right, any discussion? All right, hearing none, all in favor of a purchase of a budgeted police cruiser for approval, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All right, thank you. Now we have purchase of a budgeted body-worn cameras. This is for approval. Do we have a motion?

I'll make the motion for the approval of the body-worn camera agreement between Sourcewell Cooperative Contract and Axiom, or as described here in the total purchase price, five-year cost of $77,615.80. All right, do we have a second? I'll second. All right, any discussion?

Just a quick note that I think it's clear in the memo, but we are committing to funding this for the next several years in subsequent budgets for the five-year agreement. So that's just a note.

Yeah, it's approximately 77,000 divided over five years of about 15,000.

Correct.

Okay. And maybe a question for the Chief here. This is, or else, in general, this is a state mandate for the most part, right?

Correct. Yes, sir. We're required to have body cameras.

Okay. And nine times out of ten, it's an unfunded mandate from the state.

Correct.

Okay. Thank you.

Chief, was this the... THE SAME SYSTEM I GOT AN IMPROMPTIVE DEMO ON LAST YEAR?

YES, SIR. FROM OFFICER WRIGHT.

IS IT AI-BASED?

IT CAN BE, BUT WE'RE NOT UTILIZING THE AI SYSTEM FOR THAT. THAT WOULD BE ANOTHER UPGRADE.

OKAY. BUT THE INTELLIGENCE OF THE TRANSLATION AND ALL THAT, THAT'S

That's part of the hardware that's equipped with the Axon camera system currently.

I'm not doing it justice, but this is pretty high-tech. Yes. It's pretty mind-blowing, so thank you. Sure.

All right. All in favor of the purchase of budgeted body-worn cameras for approval, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed? All right, thank you. All right, recommendation for procurement. installation of a weather alert siren system. This is for approval. We want to make a motion.

I will make a motion to approve the award of the weather alert siren system contract to American Signal Corporation.

Do you have a second?

Oh yeah, I'll second. I was waiting for you to ask.

All right, we're in the discussion portion now. Any discussion?

Just a quick, I'm sorry, council member. May I ask, so this is a joint initiative between the inclement weather task force and town staff, the town engineer. And I think what we'd like to do is give the task force members an opportunity to just give a couple remarks about their recommendation and they can answer questions and the town engineer can answer questions, if that's acceptable.

Absolutely, please, you can come to the podium. Hello, it's short.

No problem. All right, Mayor Washabaugh and members of the town council, thank you for the opportunity to present the inclement weather task force recommendations for the town's new weather alert siren system. Following a thorough review of four siren systems, the task force unanimously recommends purchasing the ASC, American Signal Corporation, T130 sirens. They offer the best range and most effectively meets the town's needs. After consulting with ASC, we recommend installing the sirens at two town-owned sites with existing electrical service. That would be the town water tower on Century Drive and the water treatment facility on Prospect Road. It will be optimal coverage for 99% of the town. We're asking for approval on this tonight. And as you heard earlier, we're pleased to report that town citizen Josh Marks has successfully raised $8,500 towards the purchase of the sirens. That amount combined with the previous donations Josh has coordinated brings the total amount raised to $20,500, which is approximately 20% of the funds needed. And we will answer any questions that you have.

I'll just have one question, I'm just not, I'm not knocking anything, it's not gonna be a question of a gotcha, but I believe, I can't remember if it was January or sometime before when we were discussing it, there was one of these companies that said something about a reduced price if we went with them or something, was that American?

American, yeah, it was American Signal and they actually, put one, they covered the cost of one siren.

Okay. All right, so that was still in effect, that agreement, okay. All right, now that's just a question, thank you. Any other questions, conserves?

Yes, so we had a goal of obtaining 50% through fundraising and grants. What does this vote lock us into tonight?

I can, I'll attempt and answer this. Because we haven't raised 50%.

It locks us into the total cost minus 20,000. Yeah.

Okay, so, right. Before we've raised half of the, okay. Correct.

Okay. I mean, that's what you guys will be voting on.

Yeah, I mean, there's nothing saying that money cannot still be raised for the sirens and just what I'd like to call backfill the budget for that cost. So Josh and other people can still raise money earmarked for the sirens. So we can still, you know, I get what you're saying, but we can still... you know, obtain that 50% cost share eventually. I'll let Steve explain. I know there's a website that's been.

Yeah, no, that's fine. That's all good. Recall that we passed the budget. And in the budget, we did commit $100,000 of town money in the budget. We also did commit that we would try and get 50% towards the purchase of the system through donations and grants. So we all passed a resolution, I think it was in February. Here we are, early September. The town has applied for grants. We don't have answers back on those grants, and we'll continue to apply for grants. and the task force and other citizens will continue to reach out to private businesses around the town, because I believe there are more businesses that want to donate. But I think we're in a pretty good place for just the short amount of time that we've been working on this. You've got $20,000 towards probably about a $95,000 cost. So I think that's pretty good progress. And we'll continue to work towards collecting private sector donations and applying for grants. I think the thought process here was, this is a safety issue and we don't want to just wait. We could be waiting another year, another two years, if we're really trying to meet that 50% match. The thought was, We've done the research. We know what system will be best for the town. We budgeted the money in the town budget. Let's move ahead. Let's make the selection for the procurement, and let's get that system installed. In the meantime, we can continue to collect donations. But the town did make a commitment in the budget for the full funding, but that's not what we're working towards, obviously. So it's to take action now.

So to answer your question, the bid that you're voting on is for $94,836.14. You take the money that was already raised, and the difference would be $74,836.14.

Just to be totally clear, we would be committing $74,000 of taxpayer dollars tonight?

Correct. In the budget that was approved, there was $100,000 earmarked for that. That's correct.

Any further questions, comments, concerns? Just question, comment, not knocking, but the thing, the announcement of the budget, the memo here says there will be additional allocation or request for 20,000 to hook up electric. Is that still good?

So the cost in your pamphlet on the grid for 94,000 includes the 20,000 for the electric. That is not given to the company. The company's bid was actually $74,000. Okay. But we included the $20,000 for the electric into it to make it

94.

Clear across the board.

Okay, so there basically will not be another request for 20,000?

Correct.

Okay.

That's just an allowance.

Allowance, I mean.

That's an allowance that we'll hire an electrician and move forward with that. It's under the 30,000 to come back to the council for that amount.

Okay, thank you. I'm sorry, so that's not included in the 94? It is. It is, right? It is. That's what I was trying to get at, Sean. Thank you.

It's line four. It's line four. The 74 and the 94.

All right, so, yeah, absolutely. What's the turnaround time on the installation once, if this is approved?

If it's approved, we are hoping we can get this in by December.

Yeah, it sounded like we would be able to get this done this calendar year, yes.

All right. All right, so we have a motion to approve a recommendation For procurement and installation of a weather alert siren system, all in favor of the approval in the amount of, I guess it's going to be the 94,836.14. That's including the electric, but the bid was 74,836.14. So all in favor of approving, please signify by saying aye. Aye.

Aye.

All right, thank you. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much.

Just make a quick comment. The task force members did a lot of research and did a lot of good work. So thank you for all the volunteer work and to the town engineer, thank you.

All right, next we have a recommendation of approval to award the EECBG decarbonization study. But we're going to have to come back to this. We need to adopt an emergency budget amendment first in order to approve this. So after we adopt the emergency budget amendment under ordinances resolutions, we will then return to this particular item under new business. So now we are going to be at commission appointments and reappointments. First up, we have Jason Brown appointed to the Water and Sewer Commission. Do we have a motion?

I'll make a motion for the appointment of Jason Brown to the Water and Sewer. Do we have a second?

I'll second that.

All right.

Any discussion? All right. All in favor of appointing Jason Brown to the Water and Sewer Commission, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All right. Then we have, surprise, surprise, Larry Hushauer appointed to the board of Wrexham Park. Do we have a motion?

I'll make a motion. Sorry. Sorry, Council President. Make a motion for Larry Hushower to be appointed to the Board of Recs and Parks. All right. Do we have a second?

I'll second.

All right.

Any discussion?

I just want to thank this Mr. Hushower for completely filling out the application so we know exactly who he is and how involved he is with the town. It was a big help. Thank you. Yeah. All right.

In favor of appointing Larry Hushauer to the Board of Parks and Rec, please stand by by saying aye. Aye. And then reappointments, we have a Dwight Mullinex to be reappointed to the Beautification Commission. Do we have a motion?

I'll make a motion to reappoint Dwight Mullinex to the Beautification Commission.

All right. Do we have a second? Second. Any discussion? All right, all in favor of Dwight Belladix to be reappointed to the Beautification Commission, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All right, thank you. And a real quick thing, too, about me being the interim mayor. I will not be appointing any sworn positions to commissions, whether it's ethics or planning commission. I don't think there's any others. Board of Appeals. Board of Appeals. I wasn't elected to do that. I am currently just holding this role temporarily. So I'm not going to be appointing anybody to those commissions. That'll be up to the new mayor in three months when he chooses to. I don't feel it's right for me to have that impact when I didn't run for this position. So if you don't see anything under those positions, that's why. And the new mayor can put people or request people that they see fit. All right, so now we're down to ordinances and resolutions. We have ordinance 2026-22 for mobile food units or food trucks. This is for adoption. Do we have a motion?

I'll make a motion for 2026-2022, but I believe I want to, do I have to make the motion for adoption first or reintroduction to the amended version?

Well, so let me ask this. Is there going to be a motion to defer the vote until next month or no? Okay. If there is, then I would do that first.

Okay.

And then I would reintroduce to reset the 75-day time clock because come October from July when this was last reintroduced, we'll –

be more than 75 days so to have this eligible for voting in october and then reintroduce i'll make a motion for the deferral of the vote on 2026-22 until the october meeting we have a second i'll second all right any discussion um

Yes, a couple comments here. So what are we doing now? We're just moving this document as it's currently written forward for a vote in October without any further refinement? Is that what we're doing?

Well, it depends on what gets introduced. Right now, the ordinance before you is the one originally introduced, which was reintroduced July. Okay. That is not the one you have with the red lines. but it depends on what gets produced. Moved, yeah.

Okay. So, multi-step process here.

Yeah, so the motion was on what had been previously introduced.

That's correct, and deferring the vote on that to October. As I understand the motion. Yes.

That's step one.

Step one, yes.

At some point on this topic, I think it's important that we have some discussion about the version that's before us and our thoughts about what might need to be refined to have something eventually be successful. So whenever the time is, discuss that.

As far as I'm concerned, we need to reintroduce an amended version, correct?

Yes. The motion before you is a motion to defer. You've got a motion and a second. Then somebody can do one of two things. They can either reintroduce again the original ordinance that was reintroduced in July. And then come October, you could make amendments to that when you go to enact table amendments. or someone could take the red lines hypothetically and say, I am reintroducing this ordinance, but with the amendments reflected in the red lines, then that will be the version of the ordinance that will be before you in October, subject to further table amendments at that time, potentially.

All right. I'm good.

Okay, so we have a motion and a second to basically push this vote till October for the MFU. So all in favor to push this till October, please signify by saying aye.

Aye. Opposed?

All right.

Okay, I'll make the motion to reintroduce ordinance 2026-22 as amended, shown here. Is that?

With the proposed amendments shown in red line.

Okay, with the proposed amendments shown in red line.

All right, do we have a second? I'll second. All right, now that'll come back next month. Correct. There's no discussion on this right now.

That's up to the council president when you want to have that. Typically, that would happen when you go to adopt, but it's up to you.

Yeah, we won't go. We'll go ahead and just use that as an introduction. It's been seconded. It'll come back to us next month. I would think that if we have any issues, stuff like that, I would suggest talk amongst yourselves, obviously not in a quorum. Get some ideas together, and then we'll kind of hammer this out in October. All right, next up we have Ordinance 2026-24, Transfer of Real Property, STRO, for Introduction and Schedule of Public Hearing. Do we have a motion?

Motion for the introduction is scheduling a public hearing of ordinance 2026-24. All right, do we have a second?

I'll second. All right, so that'll go basically to schedule a public hearing.

Yeah, so because there is a component of the town transferring its own property to the Strohs, you must do that by ordinance. which will be before you next time. Okay. So that's really the only purpose of the ordinance is just because the town is, as a part of the deal, transferring property owned by the town.

Okay. So we want to schedule that for just the next council meeting at 7.15?

Well, I just want to verify that we have time to advertise because I'm not sure the requirements for this. Because here we are, we're at September 14th.

Right, so it's just reasonable notice. What's critical is to hold a public hearing at least 20 days in advance of the transfer of the property, so you will have plenty of time between next month and closing. That's many more than 20 days.

So we'll be able to meet our advertising requirement too then?

That's correct.

Thank you.

All right, so we're going to look at, what's the date of our October meeting? October 5th, 715. Good for everybody? I don't see it. All right. Thank you. Next up, we have ordinance 2026-25, alternate dwelling units. This is for introduction and referral to the Planning Commission. Do we have a motion?

I'll make the motion for introduction and referral to the Planning Commission, ordinance 2026-25. All right, do we have a second?

I'll second.

All right, this will go to the Planning Commissioner. All right, next up we have ordinance 2026-26. This is an emergency budget amendment to add $135,000 for the EECPG decarbonization study. This is for adoption. Just so nobody panics, this is 100% grant funded, $135,000, fully grant, no town money, no taxpayer money. Let me say it again, $135,000 fully grant, no taxpayer money.

So do we have a motion? I'll make the motion for approval of emergency budget ordinance 2026-26. All right. Do we have a second?

Second.

Any discussion? I'll just second what the Council President said. This is 100% grant funded. It's just being introduced this late and it's just due to timing issues when all the grant and budget and everything happened. But I know that this is a wishlist item per se, I believe, for the Sustainability Commission and a couple members of the Sustainability Commission. So again, there is no town money associated with this. It's reimbursable. All right. Yes, Barney.

If you don't mind, I just want to state a couple things. The consultant did request 13 weeks initially for this. 13 weeks actually gets us past our due date, and we actually need it by November 20th because we have Thanksgiving. That's the Friday before Thanksgiving. That gives Ashley just enough time to get this submitted by December 2nd as required time. That date is nine weeks, three days from now, or from tomorrow. So four weeks less than the 13 weeks. If we wait it to the October 5th, if you only introduce it now, wait till then, they'd only have six weeks to work on it. So that cuts them in half of what they initially started. But the emergency budget amendment does require four votes, and you only have four votes. So just wanted to make a couple things clear.

All right. All right. So we have ordinance 2026-26, emergency budget amendment to add $135,000 for the decarbonization study. This is for adoption. Do we have a motion to, or we have a motion to adopt? All in favor of adoption, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed? All right. Now we're going to go ahead and circle back, if you would please, to new business. And now we have a recommendation of approval to award the EECBG decarbonization study. I'll go ahead and relinquish to Barney real quick. Number one, what does EECBG stand for?

It's on here.

It's the energy efficiency. I read it, but I just wanted to make sure everybody else knows what it is.

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant. All right, thank you. Maryland Energy Administration. All right, thank you.

So if you want just a brief overview of kind of what this is that's being grant funded.

Yep, and so we do have a detailed schedule of the municipalities, municipal facilities that they're gonna address for energy efficiency and decarbonization study. It's town hall, public works facility, water stations one through five, the waste treatment plant, all buildings down there, flat iron building, and the train station. But this will help us identify a number of things. And we did have a pre-award meeting today that we discussed some of this stuff. Lot involved with it. It's actually going to help us with our capital planning. It's going to help us with our award, I mean, our grant planning. There is an MEA grant due December 9th, one week after this is due, that Working through this will help us give us information on what we can actually apply for, where this is kind of headed. A few things that this will help us with.

Just a quick question for you, Brian. This grant or the report or whatever, the final product, it does not commit us to doing anything recommended in the report, correct? We have competencies. It's just a report saying what could be done. Yes. Okay, thank you.

And I'll add one more thing. It also goes towards our sustainability designation as well. And when Ashley has to reapply for that, these types of projects can go towards our point system for that as well.

All right, any further questions, comments?

Yes, some questions. So this energy efficiency and decarbonization study, did you conceive of doing this? I don't remember hearing about this during the budget process. When did you decide that you might want to do this type of study?

So we actually received this grant, something was applied for ahead of time, but we didn't receive the grant until I think it was May. So it was after the budget timeframe. Budget was already approved before we even knew about this, that we would get this.

Okay. I guess my point here, I'm just trying to make a point, is what we should be doing is looking to our future fiscal year and saying strategically what kind of studies, what kind of capital improvements do we need to make, why, and justify those. I'm saying this for effect, but it's partially true. It's almost like We look at a list of grant opportunities that are floating around out there, and we say, oh, these look interesting, and then we apply for them. Then if we get the grant, we say, oh, let's do that study, you know, because we got the money, and it's not going to cost us anything. That doesn't seem to me like the way to do business. If this was important to do, you would have identified this need and put it in the budget or at least been looking for those opportunities before this grant opportunity came up, if you know what I'm saying. That's my only comment, is it seems like we hunt for grants and apply for whatever we can get, and then we justify how that grant's gonna help us because it's at no cost to us. That's just a comment. That's a comment. Thank you.

There are a number of items on this list that are in our capital plan already that it could help us with. So, I mean, a lot of these things are already identified, but having a consultant come in and help look at where there might be opportunity to improve even further, that's what this study's about.

I guess I just, I don't recall seeing any ask for a decarbonization study associated with any budget items during the budget review process.

I can delve into that a little more. A lot of times, especially with grant funding, we may be looking at specific, in this instance, we were looking at uh grants to help us with uh energy efficiency specifically it started off with the police station so we start so it was part of our budget search we were looking for uh uh grants that could possibly help with that and we came across this particular program and we thought uh as we like barney said a lot of these projects were part of our overall capital plan uh being able to um uh UPGRADE SOME OF OUR BUILDINGS, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO ENERGY AND THINGS LIKE THAT, OUR WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT, FOR And we came across it. When it comes to grants, a lot of times, we have a great grants management plan here, and it's getting better, and Ashley and I are working on that. But a lot of times with grants, sometimes when you go searching for funding for a certain project, you come across other funding possibilities. And that's kind of what happened with this. We were kind of lucky to come across it, and the dates fit what we were trying to do, and so we applied for it. So you are correct that it was not planned for this funding, but we were lucky enough to come across it and put a good application in, and we were awarded. So that's kind of the backstory of how we kind of came across this grant. It actually had to do with other energy efficiency grants we were going after, and we kind of stumbled upon it, luckily.

Okay. I just got one other quick comment, if I may or not. Just let me know.

I just don't want to keep going back and forth on this. That's all. So it's something different than that's what.

It is on this topic.

Yeah, I mean, they explained it. I think we're good.

Okay.

All right, thank you. All right, so we have a, any further discussion at all from anybody? All right, so we have an emergency budget. I'm sorry, we did that. We have a recommendation for approval to the award of the EECBG decarbonization study. We have a motion, we have a second. So all in favor of approval of the recommendation for the award of the EECBG decarbonization study, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed? All right, thank you. All right, we do not have any unfinished business, but we will move into closed session. Statutory authority to close session general provisions. Subject matter is a loan, and we also have subject matter of lawsuit. I will roll call out to closed session at that time. At the conclusion of closed session, this meeting will be adjourned. Council Member DeModer? Aye. Council Member Bunder? Aye. Council Secretary Evans.

Aye.

Council Member Kelly. Aye. All right, the ayes have it, and we will see everybody next month. Thank you.