Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Good evening everyone. Uh we are here for the meeting of the mayor and commissioners of the town of Rising Sun uh for January 13, 2026. May I have a call to order and roll call? Emily here. Pearson here. Frank here. Mayor Marian here. Let the record show you have a May we stand for the pledge of allegiance, please.

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. Commissioner Kleiner, would you please lead us in the prayer tonight? Sure.

Father, we thank you for this day. We thank you for this ability to meet and govern. And I ask that you would fill us with wisdom to discern good from evil. I ask that you would show us how to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth in this town. I ask, God, that you would bless each of our constituents. And I I take authority over all sickness and I speak a blessing of excellent health over everyone in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you. Uh the consent agenda, Mr. Town, administrator.

Yes. So what you have before you on the consent agenda is we published an agenda the other day and and then I realized that there was one piece of housekeeping that was not on the agenda. So part of the consent agenda tonight is one to allow us to revise the agenda and the revision is when you look at um down under UN on UN new business there's a resolution uh 2026-01 regarding so plus vehicle revisions and and I've spoken to some of the board members this this has to do with when we declare vehicles surplus to get rid of them. We had a list a couple months ago and we got rid of the vehicles, but at the last minute, one of the vehicles was decided that we wanted to hold on to it after all. And then there's another vehicle that we decided we wanted to go ahead and part with. So, you're going to see that's just going to be a resolution to take one vehicle and out of our inventory of working vehicles and add another one back into it. So, that's one revision. The other one is that I did not realize that at the last meeting on December 9th that because of of a variety of issues, we did not have the uh video summary sheet for the meeting on November 18th or the town meeting video summary of November 18th. So, those are the changes. That's what we're trying to do in the consent agenda is for you guys to approve changing the agenda. Um, so as a call of order, you would uh I know I have it in the consent agenda, but I would like it if you guys would make a

motion to accept the revised agenda. Uh, does anyone want to make a motion to cons to approve the re re the ratification of the new agenda for the uh public hearing, town hearing, town meeting, and the ratification of ordinance 2025-5. Do I hear motion? I make a motion to approve all I make. I second. All in favor say I. I. Eyes have it, sir.

Okay. Um, the upcoming meetings are February 10th, 2026, March 10th, 2026. you have

I'm sorry. The other the other thing in there um in in terms of what's actually in the consent agenda, one of the things I wanted to make sure we drew a highlight to is at that November meeting and I talked to some of the board members. We had the public hearing and there was a lot of discussion about a lot of items. And although the board at that time was fine with the uh with the ordinance creating the new conservation and zoological zoning district, there were some discussions and we realized in listening to the video that there was never a motion made to accept or to adop a motion to adopt the ordinance or a vote to adopt the ordinance. So technically what you would be doing would be now you would make a motion to approve the consent agenda which would then ratify that ordinance.

Okay. 2025. Do I have a motion to accept the consent agenda as is? So moved. Second. Second. All in favor say I. I. Now does that satisfy? You're good. Okay. You go from there. Uh public presentations we have none. Unfinished business we have none. New business we have resol resolution 2026-01 surplus vehicle revisions which you've already described in the consent. Yes. So uh would you like to bring us up to date on that?

Yes. So essentially I'm not going to read all the boiler plate that we have in there but basically we originally I'll go down to the one two three four five six whereas and I'll highlight it here for the audience. We originally had a 2006 uh Chevrolet pickup truck with the VIN number here that we were going to declare and we did declare a surplus uh a surplus vehicle. It was decided while it was sitting down there in the yard and we were figuring out what we're going to do that there was a benefit of keeping it for the collection of yard waste and a surplus vehicle. So, we did not get rid of it. So, this resolution is going to put that back into our fleet of vehicles. However, we went uh we also had a second vehicle which is a 2013 Nissan pickup truck with the VIN number shown here that we decided that we would want to go ahead and declare it a surplus vehicle. Um this would be included in a packet of vehicles that are being sold. So, let me uh that that have been sold. Let me back up and say we have a lot of junk vehicles. We have police cars that have been totaled um and they only have scrap value. And instead of us trying to get rid of those vehicles individually, which in the case of police or whatever would require us to take all the decals off the vehicle, buff it down because you don't want it ending up in the hands of someone who's then riding around in something that looks like it might be a police vehicle. There's a lot of time and labor in that. So, we decided to basically have the individual who offered to buy them after the public notice to say, "All right, you can't

just take the good stuff. You got to take the junk with it." So, the whole thing was sold as a packet. That's how we got rid of the surplus vehicles. Um, so that the ordinance just or the resolution just goes on to explain that we're removing from the surplus list the 2006 Chevy pickup truck and we're adding to the surplus list the 2013 Nissan pickup truck. Okay. May I have a motion to accept resolution 2026-01 declaration of surplus property? Do I have a motion?

Make a motion to accept the resolution 20261. I second it. Okay. Moved and second. All in favor say I. I. Mot. The resolution has passed. Okay, next on the list, citizens input. Either of you fine ladies have anything to say? No, I'm just here for the for the for the show. You did say it. I was gonna say it, but you did say it. You're here for the show? Last month, so I just want to see where we were left off at. That's all. Uh staff reports, town administrator.

Um so we're into the new year. Um staffwise, we're going to begin getting ready for the budget. We always try to get a head start on the budget every year. Um just like in the years in the past, the town has had no significant growth. Um we are expecting a little bit of a spike in real estate tax revenue. Um, but it's most likely going to require what we've always done in the past, which is finding new creative ways to provide the services that we provide while tightening our belts. Um, we're not anticipating any recommendation of a tax increase. It's been years we've been able to maintain the services. Um that tide will change at some point in time because as you're aware in the whole land development process, we have two developments that have been approved for land development. Um those are expected to start putting shovels in the ground to move the dirt around and to put the pipes in the ground and the roads in the ground. Um they're supposed to start around maybe August of this year and then we might start to see new homes being built uh in September uh maybe January of 2020 2027 and then those houses as they are built will gradually come into the real estate tax role. So until that time we will continue to do what we've always done is with is to survive and provide services within the means um that we have currently um in terms of we um are also in our budget we do have um positions I want to I don't want to steal the chief's thunder but we do have open positions in

the police department and and I think it was important to bring that up because when I'm talking about do you know maintaining the services we do budget for the positions that we need but for a combination of reasons that doesn't come about number one is getting good candidates and the chief can speak to this further if he wants it's becoming increasingly difficult to get people who want to be a police officer in the day and age that we're living in right now um and We do have budgeted positions for a building inspector and a code enforcement officer, but I've been holding back on doing that until we get closer to the realization of development taking place. So, we're not, you know, uh we can survive without those positions right now. Uh but we're going to have to make a move here in the near future. So this year's budget will most likely have all those same positions in there, just waiting for the right time to pull the trigger to move forward with it. Um, and that's all I have.

Chief, um, again, like,

come on, um, like, uh, town administrator said, we do have openings in the police department. It is difficult to find qualified candidates. Um the unfortunate part is today a lot of people um believe that it's okay to do some things that are still uh still things that will eliminate you from the process. So u we have to find a way of getting around those to get the most qualified people here um and get them into uh into training. We do have the one candidate that is in training and all by all accounts that I'm getting from the academy staff. He is the shining star of the academy. Um we got the experience this chance of uh hanging out with him a little bit doing winter extravaganza and he seems like a very good young man and I think he will do well here. Um beyond that um we're at the beginning of the year. We have no significant trends that have come forward. Um there was an incident earlier today where uh um there were some robberies that occurred outside of town. The uh culprit was apprehended here in town and I believe the state police has handled that case. Um but beyond that, we have nothing additional to report unless you have any questions for me.

Hearing none, we'll go on to the assistant town administrator. Well, I do have have provided for you uh financial statements through today's date. Uh cash flow is very strong and both of our proprietary funds, the the water and sewer funds are performing well. U we do do have an opening in public works as well. So if you're out there and you want to uh apply, we're accepting resumes for public works. And other than that, I think that's it. We've got some small tasks we're looking at to try to get on the agenda to do, but other than that, we're good. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Do you have anything to to comment on? Can you hear me? Okay, Auggie. Yes.

All right. Uh, just a brief uh update. The state of Maryland did award uh through the Department of Housing Community Development funds for the demolition of the three properties that the town currently owns, one of which uh will become a parking lot for Main Street. Uh we're thankful for the partnership uh with the Department of Housing Community Development. They also added an additional facade grant uh which we will be uh releasing more information about as soon as the state sends us info. Um we're excited for that and the improvements on Main Street. We've welcomed quite a few businesses. We've welcomed uh uh Sunrise uh Grill, uh Lorie's Place, uh and now Bucks Tavern. Uh we are excited for them. Uh they officially opened today. Uh in addition, we all met and did a ribbon cutting for Tractor Supply. Uh they had their regional managers there. Uh and they talked to us all about the fact that they had initially thought that the the store would be a lower volume store and uh due to the uh people that live here and visitors that come, it's actually turned into a high volume store. Uh and uh for a new opening, it's actually breaking our record. Um, so we're super happy to have Tractor Supply join uh our Main Street area as well as um the new businesses that have come. We have a couple of other new businesses that are uh in talks with us to potentially come to the town and we're excited uh for them to uh join us. On behalf of Chief Peterson and the town's elected body, uh I went to the Delaware State Trooper um Police Troop 6 to honor uh Delaware State Trooper Tai Snook uh who lost his life in a senseless shooting uh in Delaware. I presented uh uh Tai Snook's family with a um challenge coin and flowers on his police

cruiser. uh we thank him and send our prayers to his family, fellow troopers and friends um and thank him for his service. Uh that is the end of my report. Thank you, Auggie. Thank you, sir. Uh Commissioner's comments. Commissioner Dalling. Uh none at this time. Commissioner Kleiner.

Um I'm equally as excited about the new restaurants that have opened here in town. Um they're very good. And there's another grand opening, the official grand opening for Lor's Place on Saturday. And they have a lineup of entertainment for that if you're able to come. Um, and the uh planning commission, we continue to have good workshop meetings, good discussions, and um the only other thing I wanted to mention is um for snow removal. When we have snow storms, just a reminder, depending on how many inches fall, we're obligated to um shovel our sidewalks either 24 or 48 hours after the snow stops. Um so or somewhere therein. So um I think that that information is typically included at least once a winter in your water bill and will be um probably online, right? Is that online?

I'm sure it is. Yeah. So anyway, that's all for me. Thanks. Thank you. Um, I have no report this month. Uh, Board of Zoning Appeals and Planning Commission schedule. Mr. Town Administrator.

Yes. Um there there's one thing that I wanted to bring up um here in terms of the demolition of the properties because I I'm being asked a lot of questions on it and we're all anxious to get those properties torn down to get the parking that we desperately need for the community. The problem is whenever you get grant money from the state, there's all kinds of hoops that you need to jump through. And one of those is we have to wait until the eyes are dotted and the tees are crossed and everybody even though they announce the award, there's still a delay in when it's it's not just when they issue the money, we're not necessarily allowed to take any action because if we do anything outside the scope of that, then the expenses that we put in for to get grant money disappear. So, for instance, if we go out and um get contractors and start, we're not even we're under the belief that we can't even put the demolition out to bid yet until the state officially clears it. We're hoping that that's going to occur in March. We are chopping it the bit to get it done. We just have to wait a little bit longer to get all the eyes dotted and the tees crossed before we uh make any moves. Otherwise, we would lose the grant money and it's a sizable chunk of grant money. Um, so that that's why we'll wait. That's why there might still be a delay even though we've been awarded the money.

Thank you. Uh, as Commissioner Kleiner explained, the upcoming town event, the grand opening of Lorie's Place this Saturday at 3 p.m. Upcoming holidays, town hall will be closed this coming Monday, January the 19th for Martin Luther King Day and then on Monday, February 16th for President's Day. The trash, recycling, and yard waste schedule are posted. Um, remember that the trash hauler only recognizes Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Uh, can I have a motion for adjournment?

I make a motion to adjourn. Second. All in favor say I. I. I. Motion is carried. We are in adjournment.