29 March 2017 Crystal Spring Update
Dear Neighbors,
Thanks to all who attended the meeting last Thursday held by Crystal Spring developers National Lutheran Communities & Services (NLCS) to inform residents about their plan. If you weren’t able to make it, please consider attending their second and final meeting this Thursday, March 30th, at 7 p.m. at St. Martin’s Lutheran Church, 1120 Spa Road. If you have concerns about traffic, forest destruction, polluted stormwater runoff or any other issue, this is your opportunity to raise your questions directly with the developers.
NLCS, one of three developers involved in the original proposal for Crystal Spring, announced earlier this year that the partnership had dissolved and that they would be submitting a plan to build only the continuing care retirement community. The most current numbers released by NLCS show their plan would clear 27 acres of forest to build 393 senior residences and 48 assisted living units. Click here to see more details.
While the NLCS proposal does not include the commercial, retail and non-age restricted housing included in the original plan for Crystal Spring, there is no guarantee that more development won’t be sought later after the senior development is approved. NLCS is only purchasing 48 acres on the eastern part of the property, which leaves 66 acres on the western side open for further development. Aside from this major concern, there are still many remaining traffic and environmental issues that NLCS has not addressed in their plans. We are hoping these public meetings will be an opportunity for them to share more details.
Sincerely,
The Stop Crystal Spring Team
City Council Meeting Agenda Monday 27 March 2017 in Council Chambers at 7 PM
CALL TO ORDER Mayor Pantelides
Invocation Alderwoman Pindell Charles
Pledge of Allegiance Mayor Pantelides
Roll Call City Clerk Watkins-Eldridge
Approval of Agenda City Council
CEREMONIAL ITEMS
Proclamation – 150th Anniversary of the Annapolis Police Department
PETITIONS, REPORTS AND COMMUNICATIONS
Reports by Committee
Comments by the General Public: A person appearing before the City Council with a petition, report or communication shall be limited to a presentation of not more than five minutes.
Update from the Mayor
CONSENT CALENDAR
A Consent Calendar is a category of the City Council Agenda whereby routine committee reports, meeting minutes, and non-controversial items not requiring debate or independent action are voted upon as a single group; and is an efficient procedure to save meeting time by allowing the City Council to approve a single group of items under one motion and one roll call vote. Any Council Member can ask that any item on the Consent Calendar be removed from same and placed on the meeting agenda for routine processing. Please let me know if you wish me to remove any item from the Consent Calendar.
Consent Calendar Items
First Readers
O-18-17 Personal Care Establishments in the PM District – For the purpose of removing restrictions on the operation of a personal care establishment in the PM, Professional Mixed Office zoning district.
O-19-17 Removing Dock and Market House Enterprise Funds – For the purpose of removing the requirement that the annual budget shall contain separate Dock and Market House enterprise fund groups.
Second Readers
O-7-17 Removing Archwood and Smith from Parking District 3 – For the purpose of removing certain blocks of Archwood Avenue and Smith Avenue from Special Residential Parking District 3.
O-9-17 Lease of City Property: Fall 2021-2026 Boat Shows – For the purpose of authorizing a lease of certain municipal property located in the general harbor, Dock Street and Edgewood Road areas to United States Sailboat Shows, Inc. and United States Powerboat Shows, Inc., for certain periods of time from 2021 to 2026, to conduct boat shows.
R-11-17 Itinerant Merchant Sales in the Historic District – 2017 – For the purpose of authorizing hawker, peddler, and itinerant merchant sales in the Historic District in conjunction with certain special events during calendar year 2017.
R-12-17 City Sponsored Special Events in Fiscal Year 2018 – For the purpose of identifying City Sponsored Special Events and waiving certain related City Fees during Fiscal Year 2018.
End of Consent Calendar
BUSINESS AND MISCELLANEOUS
Transfer from Salaries, Benefits, Rent & Leases, Vehicle Replacement Transfer to Purchase of a Patrol Boat
PUBLIC HEARINGS
O-14-17 Lease of City Property to Chesapeake Marine Tours, Inc. – For the purpose of authorizing a lease of certain municipal property located in the City Dock in Annapolis, Maryland to Chesapeake Marine Tours, Inc. for certain periods of time from FY2023 to 2027.
O-16-17 Market House Tenant Solicitation – For the purpose of establishing a public process for selecting a Market House tenant.
O-17-17 Market House Amendments – For the purpose of amending the Market House policy to reflect a tenant and sub-tenant relationship, clarifying Market House product and service policies, and removing the requirement for an enterprise fund.
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
SECOND READERS
Below are the items on the Second Reader or the voting part of the legislative agenda for the meeting. Each ordinance or resolution has a brief description and I have added comments in italics and underline after the legislation. I indicate my likely vote with my comments, but send these email blasts out to give you a chance to let me know if you think I’m headed in the correct direction or should change my mind. I only comment on legislation that has had a public hearing and has gone through the Council Committee process and is up for a vote by the Council.
CA-1-17 Collection of Taxes – For the purpose of removing the 3-year limit for the City to collect property taxes; authorizing collection of taxes in the manner prescribed by the Annotated Code of Maryland; and removing the 3-year bar to recovery for taxes not timely collected. There is a conflict between Article VII, Section 5 of the Charter and Section 6.04.150 of the City Code concerning collection of taxes. Article VII, Section 5 states: “All property taxes shall be collected by the finance director within three (3) years after the levy. If the taxes are not collected within three (3) years, the parties from whom such taxes may be demanded may plead this section in bar of any recovery.” Section 6.04.150 states: The Maryland Code allows for collections within seven (7) years.
This legislation revises the City Charter to be consistent with the Annotated Code of Maryland allowing for collections within seven (7) years. Pending comments from you suggesting otherwise, I plan to vote in favor.
O-38-16 Forest Conservation Reforestation – For the purpose of prohibiting certain development projects from cutting or clearing certain forests within the City of Annapolis unless the applicant offsets that loss with newly planted acreage; and providing for an appeal process. “No Net Loss” (NNL) is a concept that, under the recently enacted Forest Conservation Act (FCA), will allow some removal of forest acreage, but would require the applicant to fully offset that loss with newly planted acreage. The Attorney General’s Office has issued an opinion that NNL is permissible under the state FCA in that local jurisdictions may enact forest conservation programs with requirements and standards that are more stringent than those set forth in the state Forest Conservation Act. Amendments to this legislation will keep provisions that give property owners incentive credits to limit that amount of forest cut down. The legislation also requires any replanting to occur, first on the property being developed, and then replanted within the City. In my view, this legislation is an important complement to the City’s FCA and a major step forward in protecting forest area and maintaining or increasing our forest canopy with all the attendant environmental benefits that brings. Pending comments from you suggesting otherwise, I plan to vote in favor.
O-10-17 Lease of City Property: Spring 2021-2026 Boat Shows – For the purpose of authorizing a lease of certain municipal property located at the City Dock, surrounding areas and boat moorings in Annapolis, Maryland as more fully described in the Lease Agreement with Cruisers University, Inc., t/a Annapolis Spring Sailboat Show, for certain dates in 2021 through 2026, to conduct boat shows. Currently the City renews the Spring Boat shows each year, even though these leases rarely change and have become institutionalized. In addition to being time consuming, annual renewals introduce a certain amount of uncertainty for the Boat Show owners for select dates from Spring 2021 through Spring 2026, which consists on an initial term of one (1) year plus five (5) automatic 1-year renewal periods provided that there are no defaults or other material changes. Also provided that there are no defaults or other material changes, this lease allows for a one-time extension by the lessee/tenant for any additional four (4) years, which would make the total length of the lease ten (10) years. Rent shall be the greater of either: (i) fifty percent (50%) of its gross receipts (after deduction of admission taxes) from the sale of tickets for admission to the shows or (ii) a specified minimum payment. That minimum payment shall be increased annually based on a Consumer Price index escalator. In addition, the Shows shall be required to pay a specified sum to cover all costs associated with City services (utility, police, fire, and trash/recycling) for these Shows, and that sum shall also be increased annually based on a Consumer Price index escalator. Pending comments from you suggesting otherwise, I plan to vote in favor.
O-12-17 Compensation of the Mayor, Aldermen/Alderwomen and City Manager – For the purpose of specifying compensation and allowances to be paid to the Mayor and Aldermen/Alderwomen for the term of office commencing on the first Monday in December, 2017; and for specifying compensation and allowances to be paid to the City Manager. In accordance with the provisions of Article II, Section IV of the Annapolis City Charter, the City Council appointed a Council Compensation Commission via R-26-16 to review the compensation and allowances to be paid to the Mayor and Aldermen/Alderwomen. The Commission also reviewed the compensation to be paid to the City Manager. The majority/minority reports were submitted to the City Council via Resolution 3-17.
The Commission recommended that:
1. The Mayor’s salary remain unchanged; and
2. The salary of each alderperson be increased from $13,500 to $15,000; and
3. Each alderperson’s annual allowance of one $1,500 should be used exclusively for education and training [currently the Code states that the stipend may be used for copies, postage, and miscellaneous expenses]; and
4. The base salary of the City Manager should be increased from $120,000 to $140,000. The effective date for changes in compensation/allowances to be paid to the alderpersons is for the term of office commencing on the first Monday in December, 2017.
It is always awkward for Council Members, or any elected official to vote for a pay raise no matter how small. When this legislation came forward four years ago, it was to have included a base pay of $13,500, plus a training allowance of $1,500 and plus an expense allowance of $1,500. Somehow the latter never made it into the City Code. The Compensation Commission, with its recommendation, is folding into the base pay an increase to allow for the costs of buying the supplies used the year. I can tell you that I spend more than $1,500 each year for paper, printer ink and other supplies. So, pending comments from you suggesting otherwise, I plan to vote in favor.
ADJOURNMENT
Anyone needing reasonable accommodation to be able to participate in a public meeting held by the City of Annapolis should contact Regina Watkins-Eldridge at 410.263.7942, by MD Relay (711), or by email at cityclerk@annapolis.govat least five days prior to the meeting date to request assistance.
As always, you can call me [443 745-2901] or send an email to [EastportRoss@aol.com] if you have questions or concerns.
Ross Arnett, Alderman, Ward 8
eastport defined 