january 18 2024 meeting minutes

Town Council of Centreville January 18, 2024 7:00 p.m.

M I N U T E S

The January 18, 2024, Town Council meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by President Ashley H. Kaiser at the Liberty Building located at 107 North Liberty Street, 2nd floor meeting room. The following members and staff were present: Ashley H. Kaiser, President; Daniel B. Worth, Jim A. Beauchamp and Jeffrey D. Kiel, Members;

Carolyn Brinkley, Town Manager; Sharon VanEmburgh, Town Attorney; Krystel Ebaugh, Human Resources Manager; Karen Luffman, Finance Officer; and Betty Jean Hall; A/Town Clerk

• Following the Pledge of Allegiance, Mr. Beauchamp made a motion to approve the January 4, 2024,

meeting minutes, as presented. Mr. Worth seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

Closed Session Statement

(i) The Town Council met in closed session on Thursday, January 18, 2024, at 6:15 p.m. at the Liberty

Building, 107 N. Liberty Street, 2nd floor meeting room to discuss the acquisition of real property and consult with Counsel regarding a legal matter in accordance with the Maryland Open Meetings Act. (ii) Four members of the Town Council voted to close the session. (iii) The authority to close the session is found in Section 3-305 of the General Provisions Article.

(iv) The Town Council discussed the following topics:

• The acquisition of real property – discussed acquiring a piece of property in town.

• Consult with Counsel – discussed legal options for code enforcement.

Actions: No actions taken.

The following members and staff were present: Ashley H. Kaiser, President; Daniel B. Worth, Jim A.

Beauchamp and Jeffrey D. Kiel, Members; Sharon VanEmburgh, Town Attorney, Carolyn Brinkley, Town Manager; and Karen Luffman, Finance Officer.

The meeting was adjourned at 6:44 p.m.

Appearances a. Oath of Office – Elizabeth Pearo, Board of Supervisors of Elections

• Mr. Beauchamp provided the oath of office for Elizabeth Pearo to the Board of Supervisors of

Elections for a three-year term expiring April 2026.

Citizens Comments No citizens offered comments.

New Business a. Disposition of Excess Town Properties

• Mr. Worth stated rather than selling outright any town owned properties, in particular the Pennsylvania

Avenue property, some members of the Planning Commission would like to work on a Request for Proposals to see what can be done with the property. There would be no obligation to accept any of the proposals.

• Mr. Worth explained the property is due to be changed to Central Business District (CBD) zoning.

Changes to the CBD zoning are also forthcoming which would allow multi-family dwellings without the need for a storefront.

• Mr. Beauchamp stated his vision for the property would be to mirror what is across the street on the

other side of Pennsylvania Avenue.

• Ms. Willis, Planning Commission Chair, gave background information on the town owned property.

b. Trash Contract

• Ms. Kaiser stated the town staff are requesting consensus from the Council to approve preparing

documents for a new bid or to continue with a one-year extension with the current contract.

• Ms. Kaiser would like to know the current volume of complaints and stated we need to continue to do

more education on what is and what is not recyclable.

2024-01-18-TC-Minutes Page | 1

• The Council came to a consensus to put the contract out to bid.

c. Resolution 01-2024 – Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

• Mis Ebaugh discussed Resolution 01-2024 for the purpose of establishing procedures for the Family

and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) to permit eligible employees to use FMLA leave in accordance with Federal law.

• Ms. Ebaugh stated FMLA was in the personnel manual in 2013 but was removed during one of the

updates. She is requesting to reestablish it at this time.

• The employee requirement for FMLA is 50, the Town currently employs 42.

• Ms. Kaiser stated she certainly wants to protect employees’ jobs when they are on medical leave.

• Mr. Worth stated the Town would be covered under FMLA but is exempt.

• Ms. Kaiser suggested creating a Town of Centreville Family Medical Leave Act giving additional

flexibility that FMLA does not provide.

• No action was taken.

d. Resolution 02-2024 – Classification Plan

• Ms. Ebaugh discussed Resolution 02-2024 for the purpose of amending the Town’s Classification Plan

to revise the Police Officer entry and lateral starting base and to include the Code Enforcement Officer position.

• Ms. Ebaugh stated when the compression study was conducted for the law enforcement officers,

discussion took place to remove four of the entry level officer positions to simplify the chart making them either uncertified or certified.

• The Code Enforcement Officer position would also be included in this round of changes.

• Mr. Beauchamp made a motion to approve Resolution 02-2024 as written. Mr. Kiel seconded the

motion, which passed unanimously.

Reports of Boards and Commissions a. Maryland Municipal League

• Mr. Beauchamp attended the Maryland Municipal League reception where he enjoyed meeting new

members of the administration.

• The MML summer conference will be in June which he plans on attending.

• The Eastern Shore Association of Municipalities (ESAM) dinner will be held Tuesday, January 23rd.

b. Council of Governments

• Mr. Kiel reported Katherine Hagar, Clerk of Court for Queen Anne’s County, thanked the Town of

Centreville for being up to date on e-filing for deed transfers of properties.

• The Town of Barclay is 42% complete with their sewer project.

• Church Hill has a new cell phone tower and will be installing a new speed camera on Walnut Street

that will have the capability of picking up traffic in both directions.

• The Town of Queenstown had the State Highway Administration install new signage on Main Street to

help alleviate the speeding problems there. The Town received funds from USDA to run water to the Wheatlands project on Rt. 50.

• Queen Anne’s County is actively trying to acquire the property that housed the Eastern Shore Pre-

Release Center to open a tri-county pre-release center.

• Accessory Dwelling Units were also a topic of discussion during their meeting.

• The next meeting is scheduled for March 13th.

c. Park Advisory Board

• Ms. Kaiser reported the draft of the annual report has been completed. She will forward the final to the

Council.

d. Planning Commission

• Mr. Worth stated the Planning Commission meeting for the previous evening was cancelled due to lack

of a quorum.

• There is currently one full-time member vacancy and two alternate member vacancies on the Planning

Commission.

2024-01-18-TC-Minutes Page | 2 Reports of Department Heads a. Town Manager

• Ms. Brinkley stated the staff has been interviewing candidates for the position of Town Clerk. She is

hopeful to have an offer within the next couple of weeks.

• The County Commissioners met January 9th to decide on the Town’s request to amend the County

Comprehensive Water and Sewer Plan. The upgrade of one million gallons was approved. The Commissioners have deferred their decision on year-round stream discharge until more information from Maryland Department of the Environment is released.

Citizen Comments:

No citizens offered comments.

Council Roundtable a. Council Member Worth

• Mr. Worth expressed interest in allowing medical cannabis dispensaries in other commercial zones

within town.

b. Council President Kaiser

• Ms. Kaiser stated code changes were made to strengthen enforcement ability, action by the new Code

Enforcement Officer is needed in addition to enforcing parking too close to stop signs by the police department.

Motion to adjourn There being no further business, Mr. Beauchamp made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Kiel seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 7:47 p.m.

Respectfully submitted, Betty Jean Hall A/Town Clerk Council Action Items:

1. Approved the meeting minutes of January 4, 2024, as presented.

2. A consensus was reached to place the trash contract out for bid.

3. Approved the adoption of Resolution 02-2024 for the purpose of amending the Town’s Classification

Plan to revise the Police Officer entry and lateral starting base and to include the Code Enforcement Officer position.

2024-01-18-TC-Minutes Page | 3