Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Ladies and gentlemen, we call this meeting to order. The Mayor and Board of Commissioners for June 30th, 2026. Can I get the roll call, please?

Emily Kleiner. Here. Mayor Marion.

Here.

Frank Dowling.

Here.

Augie Pearson. Here.

Let the record show you have a quote. Will you rise with me for the Pledge of Allegiance, please?

Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge of Allegiance.

light of a prayer this evening many of you have seen on social media for those of you who are watching this who may not have seen we were deeply saddened by the loss of Cecil County's first County Executive Terry Moore who was a very close friend of mine Terry passed away after a courageous courageous battle with cancer so I'd like to have a moment of silence in her honor Thank you. All right. First on the agenda is the consent agenda. Town administrator, do you have that?

Yes. You have the approval of the May 12th town meeting video summary and then the upcoming town meeting, which is Tuesday, July 14th, and Tuesday, August 11th.

Could I get a motion to approve the consent agenda? Make a motion.

Seconded.

It's been moved and seconded. Is there any further discussion? All in favor? Aye. Passes. Thank you. Moving forward into public presentations, the fiscal year 2027 budget. Account administrator.

So not much has necessarily changed since we last met with the budget back in April and May. We had two different discussions at that time. Generally speaking, this is another So when you look at the general fund, it has a projected total revenue of $3,736,722 and expected expenses of $3,729,832 for a positive cash flow of $6,890. In general, the budget holds the line With staffing and what I mean by holding the line with staffing We have vacancies in the police department and we have vacancies within our Public Works Department those positions are projected to be filled this year as we've done in the past we We budget for things in the past, but that doesn't necessarily mean that we go out and spend for those items. We're also projected to hire a replacement code officer or building inspector. That is something that we've been carrying since our last code officer retired back in 2022, I guess it was. And the reason why we have held up on doing that is because of the delay in the development in the community. So we didn't want to bring on any unnecessary expense until we get more of a confidence level of the timing of when the development is going to happen. This is not a matter of will the development happen, it's a matter of when will the development happen. And we're going to talk a little bit more you know, about it tonight and then in future meetings. There are some needs in the community that are popping up, which I know the chief can attest to this and the different commissioners can attest to it. The tolerance for bad behavior of certain property owners is getting old with their neighbors. And we're getting a lot of complaints about what I will call bad neighbors who might not be very courteous with their fellow neighbors and the impacts that they have in their respective neighborhood. So those are the kind of things that a code officer will be taking care of also. Let me also segue for a second and remind you folks that we were able to submit a grant application to FEMA under a program called Building Community Resiliency in which we are hoping to get FEMA to fund two building inspectors for the next three years. With all the expected development occurring in the community, there's going to be a very heavy workload in doing inspections. So fingers crossed that we will get awarded that grant. We have moved through the various levels of review and approval and the application is still alive. So with that said, our general fund, to some degree it's fairly vanilla of what we've done in the past. We do have some money set aside for street repaving. We've had previous loans in the past that have some residual funds left over that we can earmark for more street repaving. We were able to do some street repaving a couple of months ago, and there's a couple more projects. that we want to continue with. With that said, I know there are folks who ask questions about maybe certain sections of our town that are in need of street repaving or are getting very close to it. And one of the reasons why we are hesitating right now is that another grant that we submitted was to replace all the undersized water lines in the Buckley, Cooper, Mount Street, and Pearl Street area. That is part of our original infrastructure, And as we know, we've seen the pictures before, we get a lot of water main breaks in there. And when you cross-section the piping, we have seen four-inch piping, which is significantly undersized for a water system, have been reduced down to two inches in capacity. So we applied for grant money to replace those water lines. That is currently being reviewed by the Maryland Department of the Environment. If it is funded, repaving the street will be part of that. So this is another example of spending our money wisely. We don't want to be throwing money away by repaving a street now just to a year and a half from now tearing it all up again. So I wanted to segue into that. We have some replacement equipment that we talked about before in our public works department. We have a couple pieces of equipment that are getting old. We have some other pieces of equipment that have some resale value right now, and so now might be the time to trade those in for newer, better models. One of those is a skid steer. We might be doing the Bobcat skid steer that we purchased like in 2012, 2013. So that's got a lot of mileage on it also. And it still has some resale value, so we might liquidate that and upgrade. We, old Betsy, the big old red dump truck that's been around here for maybe 20, 25 years, that's on its last leg and the public works people, Josh and his group, they are currently kicking the tires on Whether or not we need a vehicle that big that the replacement cost on a vehicle like that is estimated to be about $135,000 right now and that's on a state contract so Maybe we could spend money more wisely and get, you know, some different pieces of equipment because right now the only thing we really use that truck for is hauling some blacktop in it and salt in the wintertime. But the truck is wearing out. Sometimes it's out of commission more than it's in commission. So we have a new loan in the budget. We've allocated annual principal and interest payments for that. But we have some rough ideas of how we're going to allocate that money. but we're still making those decisions. It might be a skid steer, it might be the five-ton dump truck, it might be a couple different things. We're keeping our options open. Does anybody have any questions regarding the general fund? So I move on to the proprietary funds. And in the proprietary funds, we have proprietaries broken down into the water fund and the sewer fund. And right now, the water fund is projected to have revenue of $1,417,297 and expenditures of $1,396,641 for a surplus of $20,651. The sewer fund has projected revenues of $1,453,502 and expenditures of $1,453,224 for a whopping surplus of $278 there. Now, a couple notes on this. And you guys have done the budget with me for, you know, you've been doing it for 19 years. I'm not showing the depreciation. In your budget sheet, you see the depreciation higher up in the category. Said differently, the sewer fund expenditures would actually be $2,193,224, as opposed to what I read out, which was 1.4 and change. and that's because of $740,000 of depreciation that, based upon government accounting standards, we have to show that as an expenditure, even though it's not a cash-in, cash-out item. And we always structure our budget as cash-in, cash-out. The auditing folks, make sure everything else is good, but for the purposes of us planning going forward, we show what that depreciation is, but we roll it out of our totals because it's not a cash allocation. The Water and Sewer Fund, I think it's important to remind everybody years ago, when I first came here, we diversified how we do our budgets, and we figured out for certain cost centers, if you will, whether it be an employee, a piece of equipment, or the concept of street repaving, or operating certain things, we have come up with percentages of what each of the different funds should be paying towards that. So when I was talking in the general fund about dump trucks and things like that, the water and sewer funds pick up some of those costs also. The water and sewer funds help pay for some of the cost of Town Hall here, because the utility, you know, simply, the utility billing system and all the billing and the staff that does that is housed here in Town Hall, so you would want to have the sewer and water funds cover your insurances, your electricity, your fuel, oil, and certain administrative supplies. So although they are separate, they also share a lot of expenses at the same time. The biggest drain on our sewer fund, and I think I've said this before, Running a sewer plant is typically a losing proposition. A lot of governments try to get out of the business of operating sewer plants because they really can be a money pit that you just throw money into. And when you see our $278 surplus, you sort of get the idea why compared to the water fund, which has a more robust surplus in it. One of our biggest expenditures is just the licensing requirement to operate the wastewater treatment plant. We're using a third party vendor and that's costing us every bit of like $296,000 that we're paying that third party. And in the past, and we still have on the horizon, to potentially get into the area of hiring our own people to do that. But the workload at the sewer plants doesn't necessarily necessitate full 8-hour, 12-hour, 24-hour coverage. So, quite frankly, it gets a little bit interesting to hire somebody who has a wastewater treatment operator's license who still wants to go cut grass or fix potholes or hang up banners and stuff like that. It's hard to get that kind of diversity in your hiring. As the community continues to grow, and we are starting to pass the threshold now where the sewer plant does require more hours, I would predict maybe in another two to three years, we'll probably, if not sooner, be looking to bring in our own full-time employees to be able to fund that. And then hopefully we can start to realize a savings in that going forward. Does anybody have any questions on the sewer fund? There. So one of the other things that I've started to do here is I want to do more of a formal report to you guys on certain subject matters here. As you guys know, a lot of time I just sort of create this as I'm sitting here, as thoughts come to my mind. But it's not easy to put that out in social media world for people to understand unless they watch the video. So tonight I'm starting a couple hybrid reports that I just want to wrap certain things up in a bow. The first one is the fiscal year 27 annual budget adoption and financial outlook. And it's addressed to the mayor and commissioners and members of the public. This evening represents one of the most important actions the mayor and commissioners undertake each year. the adoption of the town's annual operating budget. The proposed fiscal year 2027 budget reflects several months of review, analysis, and refinement by staff and the elected body to ensure that the town remains financially stable while continuing to provide the level of services our residents have come to expect. The proposed budget is balanced and continues the town's longstanding commitment to fiscal responsibility. The general fund projects approximately 3.74 million in revenues against 3.73 million in expenditures, resulting in a modest operating surplus. Likewise, the water and sewer enterprise funds remain remain balanced with projected revenues of approximately $2.87 million between water and sewer combined and expenditures of $2.85 million. also producing a small positive operating margin. These projections demonstrate that the town continues to budget conservatively while maintaining adequate resources to respond to unforeseen circumstances and future capital needs. One of the most significant aspects of this year's budget is not what changed, but rather what did not change. The mayor and commissioners previously adopted a resolution maintaining the town's real property tax rate of 0.46 for $100 of assessed value, meaning no increase in the municipal property tax rate is proposed for fiscal year 2027. At the same time, the town continues to provide an unusually broad range of municipal services that in many communities are either reduced or funded through additional fees. These include daily police protection, weekly trash recycling and yard waste collection, extensive park maintenance, community events, code enforcement, planning services, street maintenance, and ongoing investments in infrastructure. Over the past several weeks, staff has also evaluated Rising Sun's financial position relative to neighboring municipalities throughout Cecil County. Those comparisons continue to demonstrate that Rising Sun remains one of the most affordable incorporated communities in the county. Although every municipality structures its finances somewhat differently, our review found that Rising Sun maintains one of the lower municipal tax burdens while continue to deliver one of the most comprehensive and robust service packages available. When property taxes are evaluated, relative to home value using median affected property tax rates, Rising Sun remains below the Cecil County average and the state average and below the national average, reinforcing that the town continues to provide strong values for the taxes paid by our residents. So what I'm basically saying, and I've said this before, when you look at the assessed values of properties in our community, that are based upon the ebb and flow of our community, the amount of money that a homeowner has to allocate towards the real estate taxes compared to the value of the home is lower than the national average, it's lower than the state average, and it's lower than the county average. Said differently, people are getting more bang for their buck in terms of the value of their home in Rising Sun. The town also continues to benefit from a growing real property tax base. According to the Mallard Department of Assessment and Taxation, the town's taxable real property assessment increased by approximately 3.53%, representing more than $8.6 million in additional assessed value over the previous year. While that growth generates additional reoccurring revenue without increasing the tax rate, it is also indicative of something much more significant. Said differently, this doesn't just happen by chance that the values go up. The continued appreciation in property values reflects strong consumer confidence in the town of Rising Sun, and the desirability of our community as a place to live, invest, and raise a family. Demand for housing within the town remains strong, with home values continuing to appreciate at a healthy pace. This success is not occurring by chance. Every dollar appropriated by the Mayor and Commissioner should be viewed as an investment in the future of Rising Sun. Through strategic investment in our water and sewer infrastructure, street resurfacing, sidewalk reconstruction, downtown revitalization, parks, public safety, and other quality of life initiatives, the town has continued to strengthen the community while making Rising Sun an increasingly attractive place to call home. The continued appreciation of property value suggests that these long-term investments are actually producing measurable results, even though we know it can take so long for the wheels of government to turn, and we've talked about that. As property values increase, the town benefits from a broader tax base that generates additional reoccurring revenue while allowing the municipal property tax rate to remain unchanged. This is an example of sustainable financial management making thoughtful investments today that strengthen the town's economic position, enhance the quality of life for our residents, and provide lasting value for future generations. However, as with every budget, there remain several areas that the staff will continue to monitor closely throughout the fiscal year. Again, said differently, any business wants to have six months to a year, a year and a half, depending upon who you talk to, of reserve funds. We for 20 years have recognized that we just don't have enough mojo right now to generate those large reserve funds to build them up. That will come in the near future. And part of the reason is that we are investing in our town's future to grow those tax bases and to grow that revenue now. So we're sacrificing building the reserve fund at a faster pace by investing in the town's infrastructure now to build at a greater pace in the near future. basically trying to set the town up for long-term sustainability for the next couple of decades. The largest financial challenge continues to be the long-term sustainability of certain operating expenditures, particularly those affected by inflation, contractual services such as a wastewater treatment plant, cost of electricity, which has affected every property owner in this state, and capital replacement needs, public works equipment, infrastructure maintenance, and utility system improvements remain significant long-term obligations that require careful financial planning. While this budget addresses current operating needs, staff will continue pursuing grant opportunities and outside funding whenever possible to reduce future impacts on local taxpayers. As I've said before, we currently have about $15 million of grant applications in the pipeline right now, which said differently is $15 million we don't have to go to the taxpayers for over the next couple of years. Another area receiving particular attention is the use of reserve funds. Although transfers from reserves are budgeted this year to accommodate anticipated capital expenditures and project timing, staff believes these transfers should remain temporary planning tools rather than reoccurring operating revenue. For the last three years, we have been projecting transferring reserve funds into our daily operations funds, but we've never had to do that. This year, we are very close. We've got a month to go for our next real estate tax revenue to come in. We have plenty of reserve funds, to be able to keep the lights on. That's not an issue by any stretch of the imagination. We just pride ourselves on living with the cash in and the cash out, conservatively spending money. So we might have to dip in in the next couple weeks or so, but that will be paid back. when we start the next fiscal year. Throughout fiscal year 2027, staff intends to continue evaluating expenditures and available revenues with the goal of minimizing reliance upon reserve fund transfers whenever practical. The budget also reflects several accounting adjustments intended to improve transparency between funds including more accurate inter-fund transfers and improved allocation of revenues and expenditures. While these adjustments do not substantially affect the town's overall financial condition, they improve the accuracy and long-term consistency of the town's financial reporting. Guys, it's important to remind ourselves that over the years, we have balanced budgets on pennies, you know, 10,000, 20,000. Our staff, Judy and her people, they do a great job of getting down to the cost of pencils, as ridiculous as that sounds. We track everything that we can so that we have a good feel of where the finances are going to go. And that's why we're able to continue to have good staff, provide Winter Fests, the Tractor Parade, all the activities that we do is because we really have it down to a science. of where all those expenses go, and Judy and her team are going to continue to get into the details of that. Overall, I believe this budget positions the town well for the coming fiscal year. It balances responsible spending with continued investments in public infrastructure, maintains stable tax rates, preserves the central municipal services, and continues preparing Rising Sun for anticipated residential and commercial growth. Equally important, it reflects the financial philosophy that has guided this organization for many years. Spending taxpayers' dollars carefully, planning for the future, and making decisions that strengthen the town's long-term financial health rather than simply addressing short-term needs. I would like to thank the mayor and commissioners for their guidance throughout this budget process, our department heads for carefully reviewing their operational needs, and our finance department for the considerable work required to prepare this year's budget documents. Therefore staff respectfully recommends adoption of the fiscal year 2027 annual budget and the accompanying budget Resolution as presented. So the last thing we have to do is look at the budget resolution I'm going to skip through all the boilerplate stuff because it's all pretty much been stated in the summary letter and And I'm gonna get down to the last whereas, and this is what we're approving for the next year. So the last whereas says, this budget will be based upon the following already established tax rates and service charges as follows. The tax rate for all real property not otherwise exempted and located within the corporate limits of the town of Rising Sun shall remain at $0.46 for each $100 of assessed value as approved in Resolution 2026-03. Number two, the Cecil County Department of Finance will continue to collect the real property tax and the debt service and utility tax listed on the annual real estate tax bill on behalf of the Town of Rising Sun. The Town will continue to provide a 2% discount upon payment in full of any real property tax if taxes are paid in full by the end of July 2026 and a 1% penalty each month for any payments received after October 1st of 2026 and until the balance is paid in full. Such taxes on land and improvements shall be computed on the valuation of said properties as certified to the Town of Rising Sun by the Mallard State Department of Assessments. Number four, the tax rate for all tangible personal property of business, utilities, or contract carriers operating in the corporate limits of the town of Rising Sun shall remain at 0.90 for $100 of assessed value of all tangible operating personal property, including commercial inventory. I just want to let you know there are some communities in Cecil County that charge well over a dollar and close to $2. for every $100 of assessed value in personal property. So again, we have one of the lowest rates in the county. And computing and levying such taxes on tangible personal property, the valuation of said properties are certified to the Town of Rising Sun by the Mallard State Department of Assessments shall be used as the assessed valuation of tangible personal property. Number six, the town shall maintain one flat $384.36 debt service and utility tax assessment on all real property tax parcel that is currently developed, who is vacant, not developed, but can be developed in accordance with the town zoning codes unless such property is declared non-developable and currently exempt as spelled out in Resolution 2016-10. The charge is assessed against an individual dwelling unit and or independent commercial space with the intent to have each unit cover a portion of the cost related to debt service financing of the town's buildings, parks, and property, past utility upgrades, vehicle streets, and sidewalk restorations, and regardless of the types of services provided, the level of services or the lack thereof. This assessment shall be reflected on the annual real property tax bill issued by the county and will be subject to the same discounts and penalty fees as real property tax. If a new dwelling unit or business space is built, rented, or otherwise discovered after July's tax bills are issued, It won't be charged the debt service fee on the county bill that year. Instead, the town will issue a separate prorated bill to the property owner for that year and include it in the following year's county tax bill going forward. Number seven, the town shall collect on a regular schedule without extra charge. All normal household originated trash and recycling from single family dwellings in accordance with Chapter 7 of the town code. In addition, certain commercial properties and locations with multiple collection points may also be provided services in accordance with Chapter 7. with the cost for these services to be assessed in accordance with the town's fee schedule as adopted and modified by the mayor and commissioners. Number eight, some revenue projections as shown in the budget are related to fees as indicated in the town's current fee schedule or set by resolution from time to time by the board of commissioners. Number nine, the town's utility rates will continue to follow the prescribed Proforma plan for water and sewer is adopted by resolution 2016-13 and as modified from time to time by resolution of the mayor and commissioners with the rates to match the projected charges for the calendar year 2027 as shown in the town's water and sewer rate table. Discount number 10, discount for early payment of utility bills, failure to pay utility bills, building permits and other service fees due that the town will continue to be spelled out and the town's fiscal policy and adopted fee schedule which can be amended from time to time by resolution of the mayor and commissioners. Therefore being enacted and resolved that the mayor and commissioners of the town of Rising Sun wish to adopt the proposed fiscal year 2027 annual budget to include the tax rates and service charges as set forth above. Now, therefore, it be further resolved that the mayor and commissioners shall have passed, approved, and adopted this resolution on this 30th day of June 2026.

Can I get a motion to approve?

I make a motion to adopt the 2027 budget. 2026-04.

A motion's been made. Second. HEARING NONE, ALL IN FAVOR? AYE. THANK YOU, TOWN ADMINISTRATOR. MOVING FORWARD INTO ORDINANCE 2026-01, WHICH IS THE SOIL EROSION SETTLEMENT AND CONTROL ORDINANCE.

SO BASICALLY WHAT YOU HAVE, YOU REMEMBER WE HAD ENTERTAINED GRADING permit ordinance back in April. And with the postponement of our June meeting, it's carrying forward to tonight. So again, I have generally a report covering this. Chapter 16 soil erosion and sediment control ordinance. Mayor, commissioners, and members of the public, as everyone is aware, the town's development program has made significant progress over the past several years. The Planning Commission has been actively reviewing major residential development projects. The town has adopted comprehensive stormwater management ordinances updated various land development regulations, implemented new development review procedures, and established the framework necessary to responsibly manage the significant growth that is anticipated within our community. This evening's emergency ordinance represents one of the final major components of that overall regulatory framework. The proposed adoption of chapter 16 soil erosion and sediment control establishes the town's local grading permit program and formally implements the procedures necessary for regulating land disturbance activities within the incorporating limits of the town. The ordinance is intended to protect public health, safety, water quality, and neighboring properties by ensuring that soil erosion and sediment are properly managed during construction activities. This ordinance is not intended to replace the role of the Cecil Soil Conservation District. Rather, it establishes a coordinated review process where erosion and sediment control plans continue to be reviewed and approved by Cecil Soil Conservation District, as provided for by Maryland state law, while the town assumes responsibility for issuing grading permits, coordinating development approvals, conducting inspections where authorized, and enforcing compliance with approved plans and permit conditions. From a policy standpoint, this ordinance continues the town's long-term effort to exercise greater local oversight of development occurring within the town of Rising Sun. We don't want to leave it up to other influences to determine what may or may not good for our community. We want to keep all that approval process in-house. For many years, the town has worked towards creating a more integrated development review process, one that allows us to better coordinate planning, engineering, stormwater management, grading activities, infrastructure construction, and ultimately building permit issuance. By establishing a local grading permit process, the town gains an additional level of accountability throughout the construction process. The ordinance provides clear permit requirements, establishes inspection procedures, authorizes stop work orders when necessary, requires financial surety for applicable projects, and creates enforcement mechanisms to ensure that approved erosion and sediment control measures remain in place throughout construction. The ordinance also better aligns the town's permitting process with Merrill and Law's COMAR requirements in the State Stormwater Management Act, while allowing the town to coordinate grading permits with stormwater approvals, land development approvals, and building permits under one comprehensive process. Members of the Mayor and Commissioners may recall that this audit was originally presented during the April Town Meeting. Since that time, the document has undergone final review and refinement with the Mayoral Department of the Environment, Town Attorney Jay Gullo, and our town engineer to ensure consistency with state requirements and the town's recently adopted stormwater management regulation. Because several development projects are progressing towards construction, staff is recommending adoption of this ordinance as an emergency ordinance, which is provided for in our code, so that the grading permit program becomes effective immediately. Doing so will ensure the town has a necessary regulatory authority in place before significant site work begins and will complete one of the final pieces of the town's comprehensive development management program. Therefore, the staff respectfully recommends approval of Chapter 16 as presented.

Can I get a motion to approve ordinance 2026-01 as an emergency?

I make a motion to approve ordinance number 2026-01 as an emergency.

Second. There's a motion and a second. More discussion?

No.

I think the town administrator laid it out. All in favor? Aye. It passes. Thank you. All right, town administrator. A few more new business items. Fee schedule amendment resolution 2026-05.

So as part of the adoption of the grading ordinance, there's a provision in there that we are able to charge a fee for receipt and processing of those applications. So you have our standard boilerplate fee schedule amendment language. I'm not going to get into all the details of it. It gives you the whys and why we're doing it and the authority to do it. But if you go to... page two of the document, all we're basically doing is creating a new letter at H, as in Harry, for article six. It's gonna have the heading of grading permit, and item number one is mass grading permit, we will charge a $200 application fee for handling that application and ensuring that the engineering firm reviews everything and that it matches up with the soil conservation district. Said differently under state law, we can't issue a grading permit until Cecil Soils reviews everything and they sign off. on the features that a developer or person has to put into place to control sedimentation and erosion. So said real simply, when you see a construction site with the orange silk fence in there, we're talking about those types of things. And when they do grading, they can't grade in a manner that forces large volumes of water to go off into a neighboring property. And then when the development is done, they have to grade it to what the elevations call for. So as you can imagine, when you're building a new home, you're tearing that building lot up and you're putting mounds of dirt all over the place. So we just want to make sure that we have, we're charging a fee for that. So that's basically what this is. Item number two, under the stormwater, under chapter 16 that we just adopted and according to the state law, a developer has to present a performance bond or guarantee on that. So said differently, if a developer comes in and takes a couple hundred acres of ground and starts doing the grading and for whatever reason they go belly up, they decide they don't want to do it, we have money to restore that to mitigate any of the damages that are created. So we're just letting the applicant know that they do have the performance surety. And then we're also reminding them that they are going to pay our town engineer or town attorney our cost for reviewing their application. And believe it or not, I just want to say that we recently had one of the developers question why the town was passing along the fees of our town attorney and our engineer to review their land development applications, almost like suggesting that the thousands of dollars that are spent to review their plans for their benefit should somehow be paid for by the taxpayers of Rising Sun. So that's a little odd for someone to take that position. So we're just once again reminding them in here that they're on the hook for all of those reviews. So that is Resolution 2026-05.

I make a motion we accept resolution 2605. Second it.

It's been moved and seconded. Pretty self-explanatory. Are there any questions? Hearing none, all in favor? Aye. Passes, thank you. Moving forward into the Cultural Performing Arts Street Lamp Productions Initiative. Yes.

So now for this, I'm going to go up to the podium because this is more of a report. I think it's just a little bit better for me to come up to the podium because we have the display over there, and there's a couple items the mayor and I have been talking about, and we wanted to formally address the community on some of these items. So another one of the reports I have is titled Creating Opportunities Through Community Investment, Strengthening the Town's Economic Ecosystem Through Restored Preservation, Arts, Culture, Tourism, Community Engagement, and Downtown Revitalization. So the purpose of this report, in recent weeks, many residents have become aware of discussions involving street lamp productions and the future use of the former Presbyterian Church property located at 19 East Main Street. As interest in the project continues to grow, questions have naturally arisen regarding the town's vision for the property, the role street lamp productions may play in that vision, and how the facility could benefit the community. The purpose of this report is to provide background information regarding the town's investment in the property. the long-term objectives that guided its acquisition, and the reasons why Street Lab Productions has emerged as a promising partner in helping transform the facility into a community destination focused on arts, culture, education, recreation, tourism, and community engagement. Why the town invested in the former Presbyterian Church a couple years ago? When the town acquired the former Presbyterian Church property, the decision was driven by much more than the desire to preserve a historic structure. While the preservation of an important community landmark was certainly a significant consideration, The town also recognized a unique opportunity to invest in property, property capable of generating long-term benefits for residents, businesses, and future generations. The former Presbyterian Church property occupies a prominent location within the heart of our downtown. and contains one of the most architecturally significant public spaces within the community. The former sanctuary provides a unique setting that cannot easily be replicated today and offers a significant potential for educational, educational, cultural, recreation, civic, and community-oriented uses. The Town also recognized that preserving the building would ultimately require identifying a sustainable long-term use capable of generating activity, investment, and public support necessary to maintain the facility for future generations. Simply preserving the structure itself was not enough. The building needed a purpose that would allow it to remain active, relevant, and beneficial to the community that it serves. To help guide that vision, the town has conceptualized the facility as a rising sun cultural and performing arts center, a multipurpose destination designed to support arts, cultural, education, history, recreation, tourism, and community engagement while preserving one of the community's most historic landmarks. The property's downtown location also creates a unique economic opportunity. Unlike many community facilities that are isolated from surrounding business activities, businesses, activities that are hosted within the cultural and performing arts center have the potential to bring hundreds of residents and visitors directly into the heart of Rising Sun. Those visitors do not simply attend a performance or event and leave. They dine in local restaurants, purchase goods and services from local businesses, attend other community activities, and contribute to the vitality of the downtown district. In this way, the facility can serve as a catalyst that helps generate activity and investment beyond the building itself, strengthening the interconnected economic ecosystem that supports a vibrant and sustainable downtown. From the outset, the town viewed the property as an opportunity to preserve an important part of Rising Sun's history while creating a sustainable destination capable of generating economic activity supporting downtown revitalization and serving future generations. Achieving that vision requires identifying uses that not only generate that activity, but also complement the unique character of the building itself. The former sanctuary, as we know, was designed as a large assembly space capable of bringing people together, and many of the features that make the space architecturally significant today are best preserved when it continues to serve as a venue for these educational programs, performing arts, concerts, lectures, and everything we want to bring to this center. The facility also provides an opportunity to expand and enhance the town's preservation efforts. Plans for the building include housing the town's historic preservation museum and incorporating local history exhibits and educational programming into the broader activities taking place within the facility. By combining arts, culture, education, and history under one roof, the facility has the potential to create a unique destination that celebrates both the community's heritage and its future. In many respects, the most successful long-term use of the building is one that both protects its historic character and allows it to remain. Said differently, we've had folks that have wanted to move into that church. We had people who wanted to buy that church before we did. It would have been drastically modified, and it would no longer maintain that historic benefit that it has to the community. So what we're looking to do is to create an initiative that best provides those services. So what we're looking to do is partner with Street Lamp Productions. As the town has explored opportunities for activating the former Presbyterian Church property, Street Lamp Productions has emerged as an organization that is positioned to help advance many of the objectives that originally motivated the town's investment in the facility. Funded by Rising Sun native Laura Woods, Street Lamp Productions has grown over the past decade from a small local youth theater initiative into a respected regional nonprofit organization serving children, families, and audiences throughout Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey. They have several satellite locations that they operate out of. Laura's connection to the community and to the former Presbyterian church property itself extends back decades. Just like a lot of residents in our community, she attended Rising Sun High School, participated in activities within the church as a young person and was married in the sanctuary nearly 30 years ago. What began as a local theater camps and community performance has since evolved into a year-round performing arts organization offering educational programming, youth theater, community theater camps, workshops, private instructions, and full-scale events. theatrical productions. Street Lamp has demonstrated that meaningful arts programming extends well beyond theater productions. What makes Street Lab particularly attractive as a potential partner is that its mission aligns closely with the town's long-term vision for the former Presbyterian Church. The organization is not simply seeking a larger performance venue, it shares the town's desire to create a vibrant destination that supports arts. So what is our path going forward with street lab productions? The long-term vision for the Cultural and Performing Arts Center extends beyond any single program, event, or organization. The goal is to create a sustainable public resource that strengthens downtown activities, supports local businesses, preserves an important historic landmark, expands educational and cultural opportunities, enhances the overall quality of life through rising life within Rising Sun. We're having a lot of discussions with street lab productions and they are going to be able to bring basically for lack of better way to describe it a 365 day a year recreation outlet to the town of Rising Sun where large both small groups and large groups could use that facility for various events, and then those people then dump out into the downtown area and go to the local businesses. You can tell by the image that we have up there, the town successfully secured a grant to build a new patio around that area. This, again, is another example of what I always talk about. We get the grants. It takes a while for the grant money to be released. We've had that vision for going on three or four years, and maybe we jump the gun at times saying, hey, it's coming. It's because we're excited by it, but we have to wait for the ink to dry on the funding issuance there. So we are hoping to be breaking ground on this deck towards the end of July and the early part of August to build that deck. That deck is designed to be a public space for local businesses that maybe if you go to Rise and Grind and you can't find a seat in there, you come in here and you sit on an outdoor patio. Events could be held there, street lamp productions can hold different shows and that's where the parents and the kids can gather after the wonderful shows they're gonna provide and people can unwind there. So there's just a lot of amazing things that can take place. in this church, and after several years of working on it, we are right on the cusp of having it happen. So there's a lot of information here. A lot of it I did not cover in the report. I am going to put it out on my social media page so people can get a little bit more details on what exactly we're looking to do. Our goal is to enter into a public-private partnership with Streetlamp Productions, which would mean they're not just going to be an entity that's renting space from us. This is what I think is important. You look at some communities in Cecil County, and we talked about it with our budget restrictions that we have here and how we're trying to bring more services. I think there's a wonderful opportunity through public-private partnerships to create a very robust park and recreation element to our community. That as opposed to having the higher quality staff and pay lots of salaries and multiple staff people to provide park and recreational activities, which might be summer camps at the parks, things like that. Those are great programs, but what if under a public-private partnership with Streetlamp Productions, where they come under the auspices of the Town of Rising Sun, so that we can get grant monies in the future for them to grow their programs and they occupy the space. They will be paying us rent on the building that will cover electrical and insurance and different things. But the benefit we're going to get from them is providing that 365-day-a-year hypothetical calendar of things that people can come to and enjoy through a park and recreation program that's not going to require the town of Rising Sun to hire multiple staff. to have to do that. So that concludes that report.

Cal, the only thing that I would add in there is we originally had money that we were going to use through a federal grant, and we repurposed it, and then we were able this session to get an additional amount of money from DHCD. I definitely want to put something in there about the relationships that we built to try to get those funds.

Yes.

All right, moving forward into the sustainable community update.

So this one here is, I think, a very important report to talk about building a sustainable future for Rising Sun. And this report aims to try to tie together all the things that we have talked about over the years and why the town has made certain investments. And when I gave you the budget report, I talked about how every dollar that the elected body invests in the community is what's growing the tax base. And I think it is fair to say that there is a very healthy consumer confidence, if you say it that way, in the town of Rising Sun. We have houses that are selling for just tremendous amount of more money than what they were built for back in the 2005, 2006 range. We have good quality housing that's not even staying on the market very long. before people are buying it. People want to get into this community. They want to send their kids to our schools. And there's a methodology of everything that we've been doing over the years that is designed to lead us to that. And a good way to put a ribbon on it is as the Mayor just talked about, when you apply for grant monies, there are certain obstacles that any local government will run into. You have to check a box. And for instance, when we go for infrastructure financing through MDE, it has to be in a priority funding area. and I talked about this before, the state of Maryland, like a lot of states in our union, they don't want to be pumping out a lot of money to local governments that don't really have a good game plan on how they're using that money. And one of those is suburban sprawl. And we've heard in the past of what suburban sprawl is. So to put that in a nutshell here, suburban sprawl for the town of Rising Sun would be for us to annex a whole bunch of land, let's say out by 272 at Calvert Nursing Home, and build a 500-home subdivision, and that becomes part of the incorporated limits of the town of Rising Sun. It's sprawling, it's going out uncontrolled. And so the state wants to make sure that any money that is being given to local governments is in a priority funding area, it's in the comprehensive plan, which we talked about in the past is a roadmap of what we have to do. And then the other box we have to check is a sustainable community designation. And the town has had this sustainable community designation in the past, but we had to update it recently. So I'd like to take a few minutes this evening to provide... Cal, can I please ask you to just summarize it?

We've got a lot more to go over tonight, and since this is going to be posted on your website, that they could read it. Okay. Thank you.

Basically what this is doing is it's outlining all the things that we plan on growing in the town of Rising Sun. It mentions street lamp productions. It mentions why we made investments in sewer and water in the past. It explains the investments we made in the Chester Water Line, the wastewater treatment plants. It explains some of our investments that we're looking to make through state subsidies and running Water to West Nottingham Academy. The efforts we're trying to do with Plumpton Park Zoo. It basically lays out a roadmap that when we apply for funding for these projects in the future, the state has confidence that there is a rhyme and reason to why we are doing that. So that concludes my report.

All right. Moving forward into staff reports. I'm going to move this around just so the town administrator has a break. Chief, you go ahead and go.

Okay, a couple things I wanted to cover. I'm not going to be long. We've got the 4th of July coming up, and as with every holiday, we have the issues of fireworks in the community. You've got to remember that in Maryland, ground-based fireworks are the only legal fireworks unless they're put on by a major production company and permitted through the state fire marshal's office. So setting them off in our communities, This weekend is going to put a lot of people in danger because we are still in a drought. We still have a tremendous amount of dryness and you can start and will start brush fires. So let's not do that this weekend and also the noise. I know people complain and Others don't really care about it, but there's a lot of animals, for one, that fear fireworks. There are a lot of veterans that are triggered by fireworks, and we have a great deal of both in our communities. So let's be courteous to those guys. And remember, you are putting a lot of people in danger when you set off fireworks this weekend because it's extremely dry out there. Even though we've had some rain, we're still in a drought. And it's extremely dry. The next thing was, let me gather myself since you were out of order. Our new guy, I'll just give you a brief update on the new officer. He's out and about patrolling on his own. And he's, I'll refer to it as baby steps. In the law enforcement field, it takes quite a while before you really get, and I can't just say law enforcement, but any field, it takes you a good amount of time to actually get a good feel as to what you're doing out there by yourself. And we're getting him there. Again, it's baby steps. He's out patrolling on his own, answering calls on his own. but you don't really have that 100% feeling of, I know exactly what I'm doing, so we're still guiding him and teaching him. And he's doing a great job. He's going to be a tremendous asset to this community. We have identified another candidate for an academy. He has two more steps in testing, physical agility and a proficiency test. that he has to undergo and I'm confident that he will pass both of those and we should be looking forward to having him in the academy very soon within the next couple months. It depends on where one starts. And I guess I'll end with that since I kind of lost track of where I was unless there's any questions. I did give you a couple things. I gave the board a couple things. The calls for service that we had for the last three weeks since we canceled a meeting and the numbers from the speed cameras. You can see exactly what types of speed come through and so forth from those reports I gave you. And that's my report unless there's any questions.

Thank you, Chief. Town Administrator.

The only two items I wanted to bring up is we've had residents I talked earlier about property maintenance issues that are popping up, and I think there's two things that are very important for residents to understand. One is when it comes to abandon or people who just disconnect themselves from their property and walk away, as much as we would like to think that the town could just go do something, there's a process that's involved in that. And we have to do our due diligence, if you want to look at it as due process. We have to go through a lot of due process. And even when we go through that due process, although codes say that you could go and we say we're going to go on the property and we're going to mitigate the issue, there's a lot of roadblocks and booby traps, if you will, in doing that. So... We have one particular property, 107 Mason Run. We've had a heck of a time notifying the past property owner that's walked away. We've sent certified letters. We've posted. We've done everything. And the backyard is out of control, and we're going to get aggressive about going on the property tomorrow. getting that cut and then we're also going to put it on a reoccurring schedule to have it cut if not every week every two weeks going forward. The other item that I wanted to talk about is Pierce Road and yes the town recently took ownership of Pierce Road And there are a lot of potholes in there that the county never fixed in there. But the issue that we're running into is that road is probably gonna see upwards of maybe a thousand cement trucks over the next three to four years with the Knutson development kicking off. So I could give you an example of A road that's not even as long or wide as Pierce Road, that's going to cost us every bit of $115,000 to $120,000. So I would imagine that Pierce Road would probably be $300,000, $400,000, $500,000 to repave it. We're just going to end up throwing money in a pit because of the construction that's going to take place. With that said, we are... bringing in a contractor in about another two weeks to take the most