Maryland State Wire

Wicomico County Council met Oct. 16.

Here is the minutes provided by the council:

In attendance: John T. Cannon, President; Larry Dodd, Vice President; Marc Kilmer, Ernest F. Davis, Joe Holloway, and Matt Holloway. John Hall was absent.

Present: Laura Hurley, Council Administrator, Robert Taylor, Council Attorney, Lynn Sande, Executive Office Associate, Steve Roser, Internal Auditor, and Levin Hitchens, Assistant Internal Auditor.

On motion by Mr. Dodd and seconded by Mr. Kilmer, the Legislative Minutes from October 2, 2018 were unanimously approved.

On motion by Mr. Kilmer and seconded by Mr. Davis, the Open Work Session Minutes from September 18, 2018 - Stormwater Management Update, were unanimously approved.

On motion by Mr. Dodd and seconded by Mr. Joe Holloway, the Open Work Session Minutes from September 18, 2018 - Surplus and Sale of 9765 Barren Creek Road, Mardela Springs, MD 21837, were unanimously approved.

On motion by Mr. Dodd and seconded by Mr. Kilmer, the Open Work Session Minutes from September 18, 2018 - Amendment to FY19-2023 Capital Improvement Program -STARS Project and Runway 14-32 Extension, were unanimously approved.

A proclamation was presented to the Becker Morgan Group Inc. in recognition of 35 years of service.

Robert Taylor, Council Attorney

Public Hearing: Legislative Bill 2018-10 - AN ACT to repeal the current Article III and Article IV of Chapter 70 of the Wicomico County Code (S$ 70-7 through 70-16) entitled "Tourism Board" and "Youth and Civic Center Commission" respectively. Mr. Taylor said this was introduced on September 18, 2018 by the Council President at the request of the County Executive. Mr. Cannon opened the Public Hearing.

There were no public comments. Mr. Cannon closed the Public Hearing. There being no further discussion, on motion by Mr. Dodd, seconded by Mr. Kilmer, and by roll call vote, Mr. Kilmer, aye; Mr. Dodd, aye; Mr. Joe Holloway, aye; Mr. Davis, aye; Mr. Matt Holloway, aye; and Mr. Cannon, aye, Legislative Bill 2018-10 was unanimously approved.

Laura Hurley, Council Administrator

Public Hearing: Surplus and Sale of 9765 Barren Creek Road, Mardela Springs, MD 21837. Mrs. Hurley said a Public Hearing notice was published in the Daily times and posted on the County's website stating that a Public Hearing would be held this morning at 10:00 a.m. She said she would also like to mention that, according to Chapter 22 of the County Code, Council is to hold a Public Hearing today, and then at its next Legislative Session they will have the opportunity to vote on the surplus and sale of the property, so today is step one, which is the Public Hearing. Mr. Cannon opened the Public Hearing. There were no public comments. Mr. Cannon closed the Public Hearing.

Public Hearing: Resolution No. 112-2018 - To Amend the Fiscal Years 2014-2018 Capital Improvement Program and Capital Budget to Transfer $500,000 from Project #15104 (Lower River DMP Site) to Project #15105 (Middle River DMP Site), and to Rename Project #15105 to "Wicomico River DMP Site". Mrs. Hurley said a Public Hearing notice was published in the Daily Times and posted on the County's website stating that a Public Hearing would be held this morning at 10:00 a.m. She said Council had a Work Session on this request on September 18, 2018. Mr. Cannon opened the Public Hearing. There were no public comments. Mr. Cannon closed the Public Hearing. There being no discussion, on motion by Mr. Dodd and seconded by Mr. Davis, Resolution No. 112-2018 was unanimously approved.

Presentation from the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce and Fruitland Chamber of Commerce

Mr. Bill Chambers, President and CEO of the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce, and Mr. Dave Pfingst with the Fruitland Chamber of Commerce came before Council. Mr. Pfingst said one of the issues that came to his mind is something he is sure this Council cannot take care of today, but he found out that homeschooled and private schooled children are not able to take advantage of the great technical schools they have in this County unless they attend that school. He said, for example, his grandson who is now 16 years old is homeschooled, and he has to be enrolled in Wor-Wic Community College in order to go to Parkside at night to take auto mechanics. He said he thinks this County has done a great job in getting education geared towards the vocations, especially at Wor-Wic, and he thinks they are doing a fantastic job, but he thinks this is something where they are, basically, punishing people for wanting to educate their children differently than in the public schools by not allowing them to be able to take those classes without having to pay for them by enrolling in college. Mr. Dodd said, along the same line, he was asked this past week about homeschooled children not being able to play sports in the schools as well, to which Mr. Pfingst responded, that is not really an economic concern so much, but he agrees with Mr. Dodd, and he thinks that is a concern too. Mr. Cannon then asked Mr. Pfingst how the business climate is in Fruitland, to which Mr. Pfingst responded, he thinks they do pretty well. He said they have been very responsive to different things, such as building permits, in order to get things going. He said Fruitland loves the support from the Chamber because they do a lot of things that probably would not be done otherwise, such as putting up the banners on the streets, the Easter Parade, and the Christmas lighting, which is all done by the Fruitland Chamber. He said he thinks it develops a sense of community, and they are seeing some good stuff with different stores and activities, so he thinks they are doing well in Fruitland.

Mr. Chambers said he wants to bring Council up to date as to where they are at with the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce. He said he wants to reiterate that the Eastside Chamber and the folks out there are rehabilitating that Chamber. He said he has been to several events, and, in fact, Mr. Cannon reached out to him about a year ago when they were in the midst of starting to reorganize. He said they are supporting them, and have joined that Chamber, and are there in an advisory role as much as they can be.

Mr. Chambers said it is a pleasure to be at the Council meeting this morning, and he thanks all of Council. He said the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce's mission statement is that they are an organization of community-focused leaders dedicated to promoting economic development through networking, teamwork, and innovative thinking. He said the Chamber is a voice of resource for business, education, agriculture, civic and community organizations throughout Delmarva. He said he tells people all the time that they are really a regional Chamber as they have members of this Chamber from three States and twelve Counties in Maryland, and also members in Sussex and Kent County, and Accomack and Northampton County in Virginia. He said they really focus on three pillars, which are education, advocacy, and connection. He reported, they have 720 members and they are growing. He said they have renewed their focus as a Chamber to serve their members and offer more member services. He explained, their members told them they wanted more educational opportunities, so they have worked with members here in the local region, their educational partners, National and local experts, Federal, State, and local elected leaders on developing a wide array of educational programs for their membership. He said they work with the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, and do seven different workshops a year, and they work with the Comptroller's Office on workshops. He said they are lucky to have one of only two certified Google trainers Statewide who does a series of workshops for members on Google for Business, and those kinds of things. He said they work with their educational partners with Wor-Wic, and they have an expert in Social Security who will be doing a forum next week. He said they work with educational forums for Human Resource professionals. He said, as many members of Council know as they have been to them, their General Membership Luncheons in the last couple of years have featured just about every member of the Governor's Cabinet. He said the next one coming up in November will feature their State Energy Secretary, Marybeth Tung, who will be the speaker at the November General Membership Luncheon talking about what is happening in her Department and Agency, and he is sure she will touch on offshore wind as well. He said they have had speakers at luncheons talking about the medical marijuana business, and the Airport. He said they featured the Board of Education candidates in August at an introductory forum, and then most of this Council was at the County Council Forum in September. He said last week they had the County Executive candidates at Salisbury University in a forum, and tonight, which will probably be another packed house, they have a forum they are doing in conjunction with the Greater Salisbury Committee and Salisbury University's PACE Program on the State Senate race between Senator Mathias and Delegate Carozza, which will be at 7:00 p.m. at Salisbury University. He said they work with Dorchester, Caroline, and Talbot County on joint forums for Districts 37, 37A, and 37B, and those were held two weeks ago.

Mr. Chambers said, on the advocacy piece, many Councilmembers know the House Bill won and was passed and then that veto was overridden on the mandatory leave law, which has had a significant impact to Shore businesses in general. He said they just reported back to the Maryland Chamber on some of the impacts that Bill has had on employers. He said the reporting restrictions are onerous, to say the least. He said they also work very closely with their craft beer industry here on the Lower Shore. He said those Bills, which were introduced and then reintroduced last year, HB1283 and HB1052, still need modification for the local craft beer industry. He said some onerous Legislation coming up in 2019 includes the minimum wage Bill. He explained, there were four Bills introduced last year which would raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, and some of those Bills had it occurring as soon as 2019, but none of them made it out of the Committee, thankfully. He said the scheduling Bill is another issue they will be working on in 2019 at the General Assembly level, and then the sewer Bill where they will still be working to try to find modifications to that, which, as they all know, adversely impacts their ability to grow residentially as well as other rural Counties.

Mr. Chambers said they started an event last year featuring the Wicomico County Superintendent, and she will again be doing that at Parkside on January 28, 2019. He said Council are all aware that the Greater Salisbury Committee and the Chamber have formed the Wicomico Education Foundation, and he wants to thank Council also for investing in the five new prekindergarten classrooms in this current year's budget, and they are hoping that the Executive will introduce money in his budget to add the six additional prekindergarten classrooms that are required to fill that need fully remembering that what they are doing with education in this County is investing. He clarified, they are not spending or funding, they are investing in the future, and it is the number one economic driver.

Mr. Chambers said there are several things they will be talking about in the coming year, and Council knows there have been discussions about the revenue cap, which are ongoing and will continue. He said they will work with their partners at the Greater Salisbury Committee, and the folks at Beacon to try to drill that down even further. He said they will be curious to see what happens in Talbot County as they have two ballot questions to modify the revenue cap. He reported, in the conversations he has had with folks in that County, including their elected leaders, they have pretty much assured him that one of those two versions is going to pass, and they see it as a real need up there.

Mr. Chambers said they connect members of business, and they represent their interests on issues they face in the City, and any issues they have on a County or State level. He said they are working with the Maryland Department of Environment on an issue with one of their members right now, and they have also worked with State Planning, Commerce, and Agriculture with members who have had some issues and questions. He said many have heard about the malting plant which will be arriving here in Salisbury shortly. He said they should be up and running in 2019, it will be one of the largest malting plants east of the Rocky Mountains, and it will be here in their jurisdiction. He said they plan to be producing malt in the first quarter of next year.

Mr. Chambers said he would like to again thank Council and the Executive for signing the PACE program that is now law. He said the first project that will come after that header will be 132 Main Street, and they are all familiar with that project where they are planning to add seven stories to that existing building.

Mr. Chambers said some current issues that are pressing here in the business community in their region are qualified, employable workers. He said that is number one. He said they had a sold out job fair last Friday with over 2,000 job seekers attending, and 70 businesses at the job fair. He said the issue with employable and qualified workers cuts across all sectors in the region. He said their businesses are concerned about inflation, and that appears to be something they really need to be concerned about in the next year or two fiscal year cycles. He said there are concerns about more State mandates, including the scheduling Bill and minimum Wage Bill. He said, in a region like theirs, bumping the minimum wage to $15 an hour could mean jobs would be lost, and that is just not something they can absorb. He said their businesses are just really concerned about their ability to continue to compete, especially with their neighboring States, in particular, Delaware.

Mr. Chambers said some of the things they do as a Chamber that are a little lower key and fun include last week they had a sold out Taste of the Town event at the Downtown Gallery, and they will do that again in April with Restaurant Week. He said they do multi-Chamber events, and they do one every August with Dorchester at Layton's Chance that has a couple hundred folks who attend. He said all of their Chamber Boards from Wilmington to Cape Charles meet two times a year, and that next meeting will be coming up on November 13, 2018 at Heritage Shores, and Council is invited to any of these as well. He said this is a chance for Board members from Northern Delaware, Central Delaware, and Virginia to get together and network, and talk about what issues they are facing within their own Chambers of Commerce and their own business sectors. He said they had a great golf tournament at Green Hill where President Cannon came close to winning, but not this year, so he will have to try next year. He said they are working closely in a lot of meaningful ways with the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES), who has a new president, as they all know. He said the Chamber supports them on Veteran's Day with a dinner gala they do on campus, and this one will be on November 9, 2018. He said they are getting the business community more engaged with UMES, and they already have, and will continue to have a great relationship with Salisbury University, and Wor-Wic as well. He said he hopes Council will all be able to make it on December 7, 2018 at Salisbury University for the Southern Delmarva Economic Forecast. He said they modified it to be more Southern Delmarva, and they will have the Economic Development Directors from all four Lower Shore Counties, and they will also have the Economic Development Directors from Sussex and Accomack Counties participating this year as well.

Mr. Chambers said he is happy to answer any questions or concerns, and he thanks Council for the opportunity. Mr. Dodd said he was going to ask about the Chamber's position on the minimum wage Bill as Mr. Chambers briefly touched on it in the beginning of his presentation, but he then answered his question. He said they get that question quite a bit, especially when they go to forums. Mr. Chambers said Montgomery County has their own minimum wage, and other jurisdictions do, and he is not going to comment on whether he thinks it is fair to put that on small businesses to absorb it, but, in this region, a $15 an hour minimum wage would most certainly cost not a few jobs but thousands of jobs. Mr. Kilmer asked if it would be even worse if they did it by County and not Statewide because their neighbors would not have something similar, to which Mr. Chambers responded, he thinks that is what has happened in Montgomery County. He explained, he has talked to his counterparts in Frederick and Prince George's, and they have seen a migration of small businesses into those jurisdictions for that very reason. He said it has started, though Montgomery County's minimum wage is relatively new, but he thinks if they look back on this in two or three years they will see what they do not want to see, and that is small businesses leaving a jurisdiction.

Mr. Dodd asked Mr. Pfingst if there is a Fruitland Chamber meeting tomorrow, to which Mr. Pfingst responded, yes there is. He said it is at Redman's at 12:00 p.m., and they are all welcome. He said they will have the Maryland Food Bank speaking.

Mr. Cannon said he appreciates these gentlemen being here today, and he has witnessed personally as far as what Mr. Chambers brings to the table, whether it is advocacy on a political basis, or whether it is education. He said Mr. Chambers mentioned he is working with the Board of Education, Wor-Wic, Salisbury University, and UMES, and he does that all the time, and as Mr. Chambers stated, it is important for business, and it is what is going to get them a highly educated workforce in Wicomico County, which is what they need. He said Mr. Chambers also advocates for businesses throughout the community, and they have both been to the Governor's Office talking about wind energy, and trying to move forward on initiatives for the Airport, so he would like to thank Mr. Chambers for that as well. He said he does not think they have seen such an active Chambers in many years, and they have always had a really good Chamber and a lot of great leaders, but what they are seeing in this day and time is over and beyond, and he compliments him for that. He said, as always, they enjoy the working relationship they have with the Chamber as this is a very pro-business Council, and if there is anything they can do to continue to help, they will be there.

Laura Hurley, Council Administrator

Resolution No. 113-2018 - Declaring that Pediatric Cardiology of Maryland, LLC, and PCOM Holdings, LLC are Eligible to Receive Enterprise Zone Benefits in Connection with Property and a Business Located at 560 Riverside Drive, Suite B102, Salisbury, Maryland. Mrs. Hurley said, in order for a business to be eligible for an enterprise zone benefit, they have to meet certain criteria, one of which is to create more than two fulltime positions since they have located in the zone, and to invest more than $50,000 in their property since they located in the zone, and both of these organizations have met both criteria. There being no discussion, on motion by Mr. Dodd and seconded by Mr. Davis, Resolution No. 113-2018 was unanimously approved.

Submission of an Appointment to the lower Shore Workforce Investment Board - Mrs. Hurley said, in accordance with Charter Section 315, the Director of Administration is submitting the reappointment of Tony Nichols to the Lower Shore Workforce Board. She said this Board is responsible for overseeing the Workforce Investment Act funds and programs in the local community.

Resolution No. 114-2018 - Confirming the Reappointment of Tony Nichols to the Lower Shore Workforce Investment Board. There being no discussion, on motion by Mr. Kilmer and seconded by Mr. Matt Holloway, Resolution No. 114-2018 was approved. Mr. Dodd was absent.

Submission of an Appointment to the Board of Electrical Examiners - Mrs. Hurley said, in accordance with Charter Section 315, the Director of Administration is submitting the appointment of Robert S. Simmons, Jr. to the Wicomico County Board of Electrical Examiners. She said this Board is responsible for issuing licenses for electricians to do work within the County. She said the Board also hears complaints and oversees State license testing for master electricians, general electricians, and limited licensed electricians.

Resolution No. 115-2018 - Confirming the Appointment of Robert S. Simmons, Jr. to the Wicomico County Board of Electrical Examiners. There being no discussion, on motion by Mr. Dodd and seconded by Mr. Joe Holloway, Resolution 115-2018 was unanimously approved.

Resolution No. 116-2018 - Approving and Publishing the Dates of the Official Holidays for County Employees for the Year 2019. There being no discussion, on motion by Mr. Dodd and seconded by Mr. Joe Holloway, Resolution No. 116-2018 was unanimously approved.

On motion by Mr. Kilmer, seconded by Mr. Matt Holloway, and unanimously approved, the Legislative Session was adjourned to convene as the Board of Health.

Board of Health

Ms. Lori Brewster, Health Officer, and Mr. Bob Culver, County Executive, came before Council. She said she has a few things on her agenda to bring to Council's attention. She said the first is their every threeyear Community Health Needs Assessment that is required from their crediting body, and, again, they are one of seven local Health Departments in the State of Maryland that is accredited. She said the hospital has to do a Community Health Needs Assessment every three years as well, so they decided to enter a joint venture with them as opposed to going on their own because it just made more costeffective sense to do it that way. She said they have been working on this since April. She further said they have had key informant interviews, and there were ten of those that were done, and over 500 surveys were completed both online and paper, and that exceeded the last Community Health Needs Assessment. She said they conducted focus groups in the community with community members to get their feedback on what the needs are for the health of the community. She said they will begin later this month doing some strategic planning on identifying the areas of concern so they can develop a plan moving forward, and that plan should be released some time the first part of next year.

Ms. Brewster said her next item is a COAT update, which is the Community Outreach Addictions Team. She said they have been moving forward with that program, and, actually, operationalized it in June 2016. She reported, they did have a slight increase in overdose deaths for the first quarter of 2018, but the second quarter of 2018 has been released since she submitted the agenda for today, and she is pleased to say that their overdose deaths have gone back down, and they are below 2017 data. She said the State as a whole is up on overdose deaths, so she is very pleased. She said their two neighboring Counties also have seen a little bit of an uptick in their overdose deaths, so they are still moving forward with the response from their COAT team members. Mr. Cannon asked what the trend has been in other Counties throughout the State, to which Ms. Brewster responded, there have been a couple that have had some decreases, one of which is Allegany County, but most of the Counties have seen an uptick in their overdose deaths. She said those that have seen a decline in their overdose deaths have also seen a decline in their emergency department visits, and Wicomico has also seen a decline in their emergency department visits from 2017 as well. Mr. Cannon asked if she has coordinated with other Counties. He said he knows she has shared Wicomico County's program and their success with the State of Maryland and the Governor's Office. He then asked if she has worked with other Counties, to which Ms. Brewster responded, there are similar programs throughout many Counties in the State, one of which is in Worcester County where they did their own changes to their program. She said Salisbury University's new President went to their Social Work Department after hearing about the County's program at the Greater Salisbury Committee, and they wrote a HRSA grant for a consortium to look at replicating these types of programs. She said HRSA funds rural Counties, but Wicomico is not designated as a rural County by the Federal Government, and they have asked her to be a part of that consortium. She said they have multiple Counties sitting on that, so there will be some work on looking at developing some more programs.

Mr. Dodd asked if the decrease in overdose deaths is a decrease from the first quarter of 2018, or prior to that, to which Ms. Brewster responded, there is a decrease in the first half year of 2018 versus 2017. She said there was a little bit of an increase during the first quarter, but they saw that all across the State.

Ms. Brewster said they also have seen a decline in the number of children born with neonatal abstinence syndrome. She explained, these are the children who stay in the Neonatal Unit for long periods of time just trying to wean them off the drugs their parent has used.

Ms. Brewster said they also are continuing to train individuals in the use of naloxone. She said they have a training session the second Tuesday of every month at the Library, and that is going well. She said they also have been training people at their forums. She said President Cannon and herself were on the phone the other day, and they were talking about speaking engagements related to their COAT team. She said at the end of September she went to the American Association of Case Managers and spoke at one of their conferences on their integration of peers into the opioid response. She said she is also attending a Health Quality Indicators meeting on election day to speak on their COAT program, and their COAT team program has been nominated for an award from Health Quality Indicators, so she can update Council after election day. Mr. Kilmer asked, with the COAT team, who does she partner with in the County, to which Ms. Brewster responded, they partner with any willing entity. She said they initially had the State's Attorney's Office on board, and they are still on board. She said they partner with the Sheriff's Department in providing law enforcement time to work with peers in the community. She said they partner with the hospital because their peers are called into PRMC, which is a little bit of a unique situation in that a lot of the other hospitals hire their own peers. She said they work to have their peers respond to the hospital. She said they also have partnered, to some degree, with the City of Salisbury, who provides a small amount of funding toward their COAT team members. She said they also reach out to any community organization that wishes to be of assistance, such as the Recovery Resource Center, and the local churches in the area.

Mr. Cannon asked how they are structured as far as the opioid program is concerned in reference to funding that came in. He said he is wondering how they coordinated that, and whether they have a separate Department that deals with it, to which Ms. Brewster responded, that is their Opioid Intervention Team for which they get State funding. She said it is a very small amount of State funding, and that is funneled through the Health Department. She said the Opioid Intervention Team has three components. She explained, there is a Senior Policy Group that consists of the Executive's Office, the Health Department, State's Attorney's Office, and the Sheriff's Department, and they look at what the needs are in the community. She said they also have a Strategic Planning Group, which includes all of the public departments within the County to identify and improve some of the issues related to what the Senior Policy Group has determined is needs. She said then they have an operational arm, which is made up of a Prevention, Treatment, and Enforcement Group, and they all meet at minimum once a month. She said their Senior Policy Group meets every other week. She said the dollars are funneled through the Health Department, and based upon the Strategic Planning Group, they have used those dollars to hire an Opioid Coordinator for the entire County, who is hired through the County. She then thanked Council for approving that. She said they are doing a lot of work with media campaigns, and looking at prevention activities with the school system, and they are doing a lot of work. She said they are also involved with secondary education with Wor-Wic and Salisbury University. She said they, actually, had a small decrease in funding, as is typical when a County does well as they get less money. She explained, their dollars went down a small amount this past year, and she anticipates they will go down a small amount next year because they base the funding on a base amount plus a percentage of overdose deaths for each County. She said, with Wicomico's numbers declining, she anticipates a decline in that funding as well, and that is unfortunate. Mr. Cannon asked who the Opioid Director is, to which Ms. Brewster responded, her name is Crissy Bowie-Simpson, and she has been on board for about six months. She said she is a recent graduate from Salisbury University in the Social Work Department, and she did her HOPE Corp internship with the County's Opioid Team, so she has the background and they were able to hire her. Mr. Cannon said it would be interesting if they could get the State to consider funding when they have a proven track record, and they have proven that their program is a success so that they can maintain that program, to which Ms. Brewster responded, they have tried, and they will continue to try. Mr. Cannon said it is sort of upside down when a County is failing and getting worse and worse, and the State is throwing good money after bad, but he knows he is preaching to the choir, to which Ms. Brewster responded, yes, he is. Mş. Brewster said Mrs. Bowie-Simpson is actually attending the Opioid Operation Command Center meeting in which they are doing a swap of ideas, and she is presenting on the COAT team at that training again. She said this will be the fourth time they have presented at the Opioid Operation Command Center, so they are getting press. She said they, actually, are mentioned in one of the press releases that just came out about the Opioid Operation Command Center and the good work that is being done with their COAT team.

Ms. Brewster said they also have a Walk Wicomico initiative. She said they have launched a website that is walkwicomico.com and she encourages Council to go on the website. She said it will be listing all of their walking trails, biking trails, and the whole nine yard. She said they have worked with a large number of community members to get that developed. She said they are also working on a phone app with Salisbury University so people can click on their phone and pull up where the closest area is that they can walk safely.

Ms. Brewster said, regarding the Breast and Cervical Cancer Program, unfortunately, the State lost funding for that program. She said they lost over a million dollars in funding, and they decided to regionalize those services to the women in Wicomico, Worcester and Somerset. She said they identified Wicomico as the lead, so they will be providing those services in Somerset and Worcester, as well as Wicomico beginning April 1, 2019.

Ms. Brewster said she has an update on sexually transmitted infections. She said this is always a concern of hers, and she brings it to Council every time they meet. She reported, they continue to have an uptick in sexually transmitted infections across the County, and there is an uptick across the State. She said they seem to have a little bit of a handle on chlamydia as that has declined, but their gonorrhea and syphilis numbers have gone up over the past year, so they are getting out there and doing some work with the University and with the community. She said they have a task force that meets to try to address some of these issues. She said their syphilis numbers are up because they had such few numbers in the past that even one will increase their rates, so she just wanted to lay that out there.

Ms. Brewster said she understands there was a request for data regarding asthma and cancer, and she is not sure who that request came from. She said she pulled up the data related to asthma and cancer rates, and she wants Council to know that the State is behind in their data collection. She explained, it is always behind several years because they have to go through a series of washing and scrubbing the data, so what they are looking at is a measurement period of 2014 to 2016 for cancer mortality. She said Wicomico County is down from the previous period, which was 2013 to 2015. She clarified, they are still higher than the State, but they have been seeing a decline in their cancer rates. She said their emergency department visit rate due to asthma did see an uptick in 2016, but it is a very small uptick, and not necessarily statistically significant. She said they are working with the hospital on developing a coalition to address some of the asthma associated admissions to the emergency department, as well as admissions to the hospital. She said that coalition is just now beginning, so they are looking at the potential of going out into homes and looking for some of the triggers related to, particularly, childhood asthma in the home, whether it be smoking, or other things in the environment, such as dust, and those types of things. She said they are hopeful they can get that program on the ground. Mr. Kilmer asked if she sees cancer concentrated in certain geographic areas, and how cancer and asthma are distributed throughout the County, to which Ms. Brewster responded, it is all over the County. She said they have not seen any cluster of cancer, nor have they seen any significant clusters of asthma-related illness. She clarified, it is all across the County.

Mr. Cannon asked how the Environmental Protection Service is doing as far as inspections of wells and septics, to which Ms. Brewster responded, they are moving. She said, as Council knows, there was significant rainfall during the spring and summer, so they have had numerous replacement systems that have had to go in. She said septic failures are their priority, of course, because they do not want those to continue, so they have been moving forward with those, and they have been able to hire a few additional employees. She said environmental specialists are hard to find since Salisbury University's program shut down, so they have just brought on board three additional environmental specialists, and they are in training mode with them, but it is on the job training. Mr. Cannon said he knows in the past with that particular Department there have been concerns as to whether there had been delays, and Ms. Brewster is familiar with all of this before she was even in charge of the Health Department as a whole, but he was wondering if she thinks that has progressed substantially whereas they have eliminated delays. He said he thinks, in a lot of instances, there was a contradiction of reports. He clarified, there would be one report in one month, and then a couple of weeks later another test would have to be taken, and he is just trying to get a feel from Ms. Brewster whether she thinks they have gone beyond that, to which Ms. Brewster responded, she will say that there are delays, but that is, in part, related to the volume of failing septic systems they have been dealing with in the past few months, and the fact that they had a decrease in their staffing, but they are getting that back up to speed and moving forward with getting those processed. Mr. Joe Holloway said a lot of that has to do with moving up to the State level, such as MDE, to which Ms. Brewster responded, MDE comes in and does approvals of innovative and alternative systems (1/A). She said they are required by law to approve those systems, so a lot of their failures have resulted in 1/A systems. Mr. Culver said the County was able to have a meeting last week between local realtors and builders, and had MDE and the Health Department there, and a lot of the concerns were aired, and that gave them a great chance to see what things they need to focus on. He said it was a very productive meeting, and he appreciates the realtors bringing that to their attention, and sitting down with them at the Civic Center. Mr. Cannon said the one thing they want is the housing industry to get a jump start and get back in full force, and he thinks everyone is doing everything they can to try to make that happen since this is usually step one before anything else. He then asked if the failing septic systems are at a critical juncture. He said a lot of what they talk about, and this Council has reviewed it themselves, is a Countywide wastewater authority, which is a huge, astronomical undertaking, and he does not think it could even be done without State assistance. He said he is wondering what Ms. Brewster's perspective is on that, to which Ms. Brewster responded, they saw a record rainfall, and she attributes a lot of the failures to that. She said, in her tenure with the State over 34 years, she has not seen this much rainfall, so she thinks that is part of the reason why they are seeing some of those systems failing. Mr. Dodd asked what the demographics are on the failing systems in the County. He said he is hearing a lot about systems on the Eastside of the County, to which Ms. Brewster responded, the smaller properties are of concern, and those are the properties on the Eastside, but they are seeing systems all over the County and not targeted to one individual area. Mr. Dodd said they just had a significant rainfall, to which Mrs. Brewster responded, yes they did. Mr. Joe Holloway said Ms. Brewster mentioned the smaller properties, and what that entails is that there is not room to put another system. He said, off Ocean City Road, and some of those areas, they have a real small lot and they do not have a reserve area. He said something else he noticed the other day on a piece of property that somebody built a building on was that where they built the building, they just eliminated a reserve area, so, in the years ahead, they might have issues. He said he thinks that is something that needs to be followed up on too.

On motion by Mr. Dodd, seconded by Mr. Davis, and unanimously approved, the Board of Health was adjourned to reconvene as the Wicomico County Council in Legislative Session.

Robert Taylor, Council Attorney

Legislative Bill 2018-09 - AN ACT to repeal the current Chapter 133 of the Wicomico County Code entitled “Dogs and Other Animals" and enact a new Chapter 133 titled "Animal Control.” Mr. Taylor said this is the second reading of this Bill. He said this Bill was introduced on August 7, 2018 of this year by the Council President, and he will give a quick recap as that is an awfully long time as most of their Bills do not normally go that long after their introduction. He said, actually, this Bill superseded an earlier Bill that was introduced earlier this year, but they just could not get it done in time, so it was reintroduced on August 7, 2018, as he just said. He said Mrs. Hurley and himself have spent many hours and days meeting with people discussing this, and drafting it, and what they have in the draft Bill right now is an amalgam of a Bill that was presented to Council by the Committee that Council appointed for the purpose of revising what is now called the Animal Control Law, and their research and additions to what the Committee presented. He said there has been a turnover within the last couple months, as Council knows, in the directorship of the Humane Society, which is, essentially, their Animal Control Authority, and that has delayed things a bit. He said they have met with the new interim Director, Kevin Usilton, who has made suggestions which have been added in there too, so this is an amalgam of all of those things. He said, in addition, at the last meeting of Council, there was a Work Session where they discussed further amendments, some of which came from these meetings, and others from research and readings Mrs. Hurley and himself have done. He said, in addition to the draft Bill that is in the Briefing Book, there are also three pages, as Council has probably seen, of proposed amendments, many of which, and he thinks all of which, were discussed at the last meeting, and it is as a result of that meeting that most of those amendments are being proposed, one of which was specifically asked for, and is an additional item on dog licensing. He said there is one additional amendment that is not on that list, and he has written it out in hand and given it to Mr. Matt Holloway, who he understands is going to be the reader in terms of these amendments. He said if he wants to read them, he thinks the logical thing to do would be to introduce the Bill and do whatever is needed to get it before Council, and then let Mr. Matt Holloway go through the amendments, and he might add after each one why they have done it, or if there is some aspect of it that he thinks would be worth presenting to Council, and he will try to be as short as he can on that.

Mr. Cannon said they will start with the recommendations of amendments through Councilman Matt Holloway, and any other discussion can follow suit.

Mr. Matt Holloway said there are twelve amendments, and after each one they will stop and vote on each one individually.

Mr. Matt Holloway said the first amendment is Section 133-4 titled "Dog Licenses" to be amended to read as follows:

A. A dog older than six months must have a County license, and its owner is required to obtain such license, provided that this requirement does not apply if the dog that is licensed elsewhere has been present in the County for less than 30 days. The County Council may set a fee for the license and provide for exemptions from the license requirement and/or the fee in specific instances.

B. In order for the license to be issued, the dog must have a rabies vaccination that is both current and valid under Maryland law. The license shall expire on the date when the dog should be vaccinated again, as noted on the vaccination certificate ("next vaccination due date," etc.). Unless the County Executive shall specify other license documentation, the current vaccination certificate shall serve as the license documentation, provided that if any information thereon (owner's name, etc.) is or becomes incorrect, the correct information must be furnished by the owner to the licensing agent or to the Animal Control Authority.

C. As a condition of the license, a tag in the form provided by the Animal Control Authority or such different form as may be specified by the County Executive must be immediately available whenever the dog is in the presence of persons other than its owner. For that purpose, the owner of a licensed dog or person having custody thereof shall attach the tag to a substantial collar and keep the collar and tag on the dog at all times except when it is confined in a kennel, home or building providing secure confinement, being used for hunting under the charge of an attendant or for law enforcement or public safety under the control or supervision of a person duly authorized to perform the particular function. If the tag is lost, a replacement tag may be issued by the Animal Control Authority for a reasonable charge not to exceed the license fee set by the Council.

D. The license may be issued by the County, the Animal Control Authority, or by any licensing agent designated by the County Executive or Animal Control Authority, who or which shall (1) obtain from the person requesting license a legible copy of the dog's current rabies vaccination certificate, together with any more accurate information regarding the owner, and the license fee and (2) provide to the owner or person requesting the license a tag of the kind described in this section unless it has already been provided and such licensing documentation, if any, specified by the County Executive. At least monthly, the licensing agent shall provide to the Animal Control Authority for each dog licensed: a legible copy of the vaccination certificate (and additional information mentioned above), the tag number if it is not listed on the vaccination certificate, and the licensing fee, which shall be paid by cash or check drawn on the agent's bank account.

E. Under the Maryland law currently codified as Section 13-107 of the Local Government Article, a lawfully licensed dog whose ownership can be proved is personal property of the owner.

Mr. Kilmer said he does have a little heartburn with this, but he sees where it says that it would allow the current practice, which is that the current vaccination certificate shall serve as the license document, so it would not require a new one. He said since an additional licensing document would not be needed, he is okay with this. There being no further discussion, on motion by Mr. Matt Holloway and seconded by Mr. Dodd, the amendment as read was unanimously approved.

Mr. Matt Holloway said the next amendment is to Section 133-6 to be amended to add “Conduct" to the title, so it reads "Prohibited Conduct". There being no discussion, on motion by Mr. Matt Holloway and seconded by Mr. Dodd, the amendment as read was unanimously approved.

Mr. Matt Holloway said the next amendment is to Section 133-16 titled “Impoundment and Redemption Provisions," letter A, to be amended to read as follows:

A. An animal control officer is authorized to impound an animal found running at large until the matter is resolved in accordance with this section and applicable state law (see Section 133-10);

provided that if the animal is wearing a current rabies tag or has a microchip with owner identification, the waiting period for disposition to other than the owner shall be at least six business days and an animal may not be euthanized within ten business days after being impounded, except under the conditions specified in Section 133-17.

There being no discussion, on motion by Mr. Matt Holloway and seconded by Mr. Dodd, the amendment as read was unanimously approved.

Mr. Matt Holloway said the next amendment is Section 133-16 titled "Impoundment and Redemption Provisions," letter B, to be amended to read as follows:

B. The animal control officer, upon impounding an animal, must record the breed, color, sex, and license-status of the animal. Within 24 hours after impounding an animal, this information shall be posted on the Animal Control Authority's website. If licensed, the officer must record the name and address of the owner and the number of the license tag and attempt to contact the owner as soon as practicable.

There being no discussion, on motion by Mr. Matt Holloway and seconded by Mr. Dodd, the amendment as read was unanimously approved.

Mr. Matt Holloway said the next amendment is Section 133-17 titled "Confinement and Euthanization of Certain Animals," letter C, to be amended to read as follows:

C. If a female dog or cat in heat or an unneutered male dog or cat belonging to the same owner is impounded twice within 12 months, the dog or cat must not be released to its owner and will become the property of the Animal Control Authority unless the owner pays for the spaying or neutering of the dog or cat BY THE animal control authority within one week after notice.

There being no discussion, on motion by Mr. Matt Holloway and seconded by Mr. Dodd, the amendment as read was unanimously approved.

Mr. Matt Holloway said the next amendment is to Section 133-19 titled "Adoption" to be amended to read as follows:

To adopt a dog or cat from the Animal Control Authority, the adopter must pay or reimburse the animal control authority to neuter or spay the animal (if not already done), and other reasonable charges and fees. In addition, the adopter must certify in writing under penalty of perjury that he or she has not been convicted of animal cruelty or neglect by a court of law.

There being no discussion, on motion by Mr. Matt Holloway and seconded by Mr. Davis, the amendment as read was unanimously approved.

Mr. Matt Holloway said the next amendment is to Section 133-21 titled "Abandonment of Animals" to be amended to read as follows:

It is unlawful to leave an animal on a road, in a public place, or on private property with the intent to abandon the animal, unless the animal is a community cat being released as part of a trap-neuter-return program approved by the Animal Control Authority. There being no discussion, on motion by Mr. Matt Holloway and seconded by Mr. Dodd, the amendment as read was unanimously approved.

Mr. Matt Holloway said the next amendment is one that has been inserted and was not on this printout. He said it is to Section 133-33 titled B "Animal Care" in subpart B after the word "Wind" to add "Wind

Chill Factor" and also in subpart B add after the words "Direct Sunlight" and "Heat Index."

There being no discussion, on motion by Mr. Matt Holloway and seconded by Mr. Joe Holloway, the amendment as read was unanimously approved. Mr. Matt Holloway said the next amendment is to add a new section 133-34 titled "Entry onto Private Property" to read as follows: A. Animal Control Officers, the Sheriff and Deputy Sheriffs may enter onto private property

1. As permitted by law, provided, however, that consent to entry by an Animal Control Officer shall be effective only for the specific purpose(s) of which the owner of the property or other person consenting to entry has been informed by the person requesting to enter, or

2. In the absence of such consent, if the Animal Control Officer, Sheriff or Deputy Sheriff has actual knowledge that there is an ongoing violation of this Article by (a) abuse or neglect of an animal, improper tethering or failure to provide adequate care or shelter or (b) failure to satisfy a requirement issued for a dangerous or potentially dangerous dog; such entry shall be limited to causing such violation to be terminated by appropriate action, including removal of animals for impoundment by the Animal Control Authority. However, entry under those circumstances is not hereby required.

B. The Sheriff or a Deputy Sheriff and, subject to approval by the County Executive, an Animal Control Officer may request the County Attorney to seek in a court of competent jurisdiction a search and seizure warrant to allow entry onto private property and entry into any building or other enclosure thereon subject to appropriate legal procedure and limitations for the purpose of enforcement of this Article.

C. This section does not limit or proscribe any lawful entry.

Mr. Kilmer asked Mr. Taylor if Law Enforcement already has the authority to go on property with a warrant if they suspect there is a violation of the law, to which Mr. Taylor responded, there is a State Code provision right now, and that is in 133-9 "Care of Mistreated Animals" that is out of the State Law. He said it does allow entry under certain circumstances. He said the reason they put this in was because of comments that were made in the meetings he mentioned that they had with various people that, for some reason, the Animal Control Authority Officers have been made to understand that they could not enter onto property under various circumstances. He said this would make it very clear, and, secondly, to provide in there about going into court to get a warrant, and that happens to be, more or less, out of the Baltimore County Ordinance. He said, in fact, this whole section is modeled pretty closely on the Baltimore County Ordinance. Mr. Kilmer said, if they already have the authority, his thought is that he does not know why they would need to put a second granting of authority in there if they already have the general authority under State Law. He said perhaps Animal Control needs to be educated better as to what State Law allows. He said that is his objection to this. Mr. Taylor said this goes a little bit beyond State Law. He said, for example, Part 1 about entry onto the property with the consent of the owner specifying that would be limited only to what the Officer tells the owner why he wants to come onto the property. He said, in other words, he could not come in and write up a bunch of other citations when he has come on for a specific purpose. He said that is not provided in the State Law.

There being no further discussion, on motion by Mr. Matt Holloway and seconded by Mr. Dodd, the amendment as read was approved. Mr. Kilmer opposed.

Mr. Matt Holloway said the next amendment is to add a new Section 133-35 titled “Disposal of Dead Animals” to read as follows:

A. The owner or person in possession of property is required to promptly dispose of following if present on the property:

1. Domestic animals and animals being maintained for the production of food, food products or fiber, or breeding that have died or been killed by accident or otherwise; and

2. Other (including wild) animals, if killed by poison, hunting or other means by the owner or other person in possession of the property or a guest, invitee or licensee of such owner or other person.

B. Appropriate disposition may be made by the following means, in accordance with applicable requirements:

1. Cremation,

2. Deposit in the County's landfill,

3. Burial or composting if done in a manner that will substantially prevent odor emission and attraction of vermin, insects and scavengers (see Maryland Extension Service Fact Sheet 537 (poultry) and Fact Sheet 717 (animals]) on any property with the consent of its owner, or

4. Otherwise as authorized or required by law.

C. A dead animal or carcass thereof may not be deposited or placed in any public street, highway or right-of-way or, except as permitted in this section, on any private property.

D. Failure to dispose of dead animals as required by this section is subject to the obligation to reimburse the County for disposing of such animals as well as the monetary civil penalty stated elsewhere in this Article.

There being no discussion, on motion by Mr. Matt Holloway and seconded by Mr. Davis, the amendment as read was unanimously approved.

Mr. Matt Holloway said the next amendment is to renumber all other sections accordingly. There being no discussion, on motion by Mr. Matt Holloway and seconded by Mr. Kilmer, the amendment as read was unanimously approved.

Mr. Matt Holloway said the last amendment is to add a Civil Infraction fine of $100, $250, and 500, for disposal of dead animals in the Section titled "Civil Penalty". Mr. Taylor said he would like to make one remark on this. He said the $250 and $500 items would be for the second or third violations within one year of the first violation, just to make that clear as part of the amendment. There being no further discussion, on motion by Mr. Matt Holloway and seconded by Mr. Dodd, the amendment as read was unanimously approved.

Mr. Dodd said this has been a lot of work and everyone who served on the Committee should be commended, to which Mr. Kilmer added, as well as their legal counsel. Mr. Cannon said they appreciate the work of all staff and the Committee as a whole.

Mr. Joe Holloway said they started this back in 2007 where they had a young man mauled by a couple of dogs in Willards, and they saw that it was needed to strengthen their laws to protect people, and, of course, that moved into laws to protect the animals too, which is a good thing. He said there are a lot of things they have put in here over the years, and it has been changed a number of times, but he thinks in the future this law could be looked at again if there needed to be any changes made.

There being no further discussion, on motion by Mr. Dodd, seconded by Mr. Davis, and by roll call vote, Mr. Kilmer, aye; Mr. Dodd, aye; Mr. Joe Holloway, aye; Mr. Davis, aye; Mr. Matt Holloway, aye; and Mr. Cannon, aye, Legislative Bill 2018-09 was unanimously approved as amended.

Mr. Taylor said, before he moves onto the next item, he would like to make one further remark, and it has nothing to do with what is in the Bill itself. He said the Animal Control Authority/Humane Society operates under, essentially, a contract with the County, which he thinks now is several decades old. He said it certainly goes back before this Bill, and probably before the last Animal Control Ordinance. He said he thinks it would be a good idea once the Humane Society has their Director in place and knows who that is going to be going forward, which he would say, roughly, the first of the year, to reexamine that contract because of its age and because of the turnover. Mr. Cannon said that is a very good point.

Introduction: Legislative Bill 2018-11 - AN ACT to add a new Chapter 60 titled "Contracts and Purchasing” to the Wicomico County Code to provide conditions, including Council approval, on certain leases and other contracts that by their terms impose or might impose an obligation upon the County for payments of funds in a future fiscal year. Mr. Taylor said this is being introduced by the Council President. Mrs. Hurley said they can schedule the Public Hearing on November 6, 2018 for this Bill. There being no discussion, on motion by Mr. Kilmer and seconded by Mr. Dodd, Legislative Bill 2018-11 was unanimously introduced.

Public Comments:

Ms. Joan Maloof came to the podium and said she is currently a resident of Worcester County, but she lived in Wicomico County for 35 years, and for 30 of those years she lived on the property known as Pirate's Wharf that Council will be discussing in the Work Session today. She said she is a professor emeritus at Salisbury University, and she is the Executive Director of the Old Growth Forest Network, a nonprofit organization that represents, among others, 95 Wicomico County families. She said she is also representing the 388 members of the Friends of the Forest Salisbury Group. She said she has written four books about forest ecology, and she then showed one of them to Council. She said she congratulates the County on getting potential grant funding for the development of Pirate's Wharf, and she encourages Council to vote in favor of the grant. She said, however, she is here today to talk about the forest section of the park, which is the majority 240 acres on the other side of the road from the river. She said the way the forest is represented in the grant application is inaccurate, and has never been open for discussion from general residents. She said, on the National Park Service Grant application, the County lists comments in the 2014 Forest Stewardship Plan. She said the Plan states that the property as a whole has been declining in growth, and that long-term harvest scheduling should begin now, which is cutting. She said it goes on to note that failure to harvest could damage the long term health of the forest. She said the County's National Park Service Grant application goes on to note that the County would pursue the recommendations outlined in the Forest Stewardship Plan. She said they are concerned because the Forest Stewardship plan is completely inaccurate, and there is no evidence to support the statements about forest decline. She said, in 2016, another registered forester provided input to the County's Natural Resource Advisory Committee. She said he sampled growth rings from the trees and found no evidence of decline, and the trees are healthy and growing strong. She said her decades of experience in this particular forest from hiking through it for 30 years, and her academic research also confirms the inaccuracy and inappropriateness of the 2014 Forest Stewardship Plan. She said they are asking that there be Public Hearings before any actions are taken in the forest. She said they are opposed to any logging or thinning of the forest. She said, however, they are in favor of recreational trails through the forest, and they recognize that some cutting of trees will have to be done to create those recreational trails, including the boardwalks. She said they recommend the County Council should preserve the forest with a forever easement so it will always remain the wonderful park resource that it is today, and it will just be a fantastic place for residents to be able to hike through that forest, and see it in its natural condition without any logging or clearing going on.

Mr. Don Voss came to the podium and said he is a Wicomico County resident. He said he is very much in favor of everything Ms. Maloof presented, and he would strongly suggest, and urge Council to consider Ms. Maloof as a resource. He said he knows Council has not always been in agreement with her, but she has preserved forests in several states throughout the Country, and this is something where they should be setting the trend rather than bucking it, so he urges Council to ask Ms. Maloof to be a consultant on this issue. He said he was drawn to this land and will tell a story they might not be used to hearing. He said years ago he took a ride down the river with his father just to show him around the river, and he stopped at this one particular place where there was a steep bank that just grabbed him and screamed Native American. He said they sat there for a few minutes, and then moved on. He said several years later he was invited to a meditation group at Ms. Maloof's house not knowing that this was the place he had stopped at. He said, during this meditation group, there was one particular instance where he had a very clear vision of a Native American man that looked like a medicine man dancing in the living room, so he took note of this. He said he was later told that is in Quantico and what that word meant, which is a dancing place. He said also at this place during these sessions there were three instances where there was a man of presence standing next to him, not with a body, but was stronger and more palpable than anybody else in the room. He said sometime later he was shown a picture of Ms. Maloof's husband who had passed away, and that is who he was seeing. He said he felt benevolent, and like something was being asked of him. He said he did not know whether he was going to tell this story today, but there it is. He said that led him to see if there was any empirical data on this, and, as a matter of fact, there is. He said his impression is that this site was more than just a place that Native Americans would have just passed by. He said it is on a hill, there is a breeze there in the evening, and it is a unique site. He said, back in 2009 during the period where the County was considering dredging a certain area and putting in a marina, a fellow named Edward Otter, an archeologist who does work for the State, was asked to do a survey, which Council will get copies of. He said there was a survey done on the delineation of the cemetery there, which Council already has. He said he had to ask for a Freedom of Information to get this, and Council should already have it. He said, according to Ed Otter, there is reason to do what is called a Phase I survey, but the only thing that has been done so far is a walkthrough. He said he also has spoken to a few indigenous folks in this area, and they would like to, perhaps, see a little more of this and have it looked into. He said he also has a call out to the Maryland Historical Trust to see what their thoughts are on this. He then asked Council to please consider this when they are moving forward. He said he does support the grant, and he hopes that goes through, but he does not want to see the woods cut down. He said he has some other thoughts on the area that is now farmed, and monarch butterflies come to mind, but he may have more to say about that in the future.

Mr. Joseph Chisum came to the podium and said he is a Wicomico County resident, and he has a serious concern about Perry and Gates Barber Shop. He said he lives across the street from this business, and what he sees is drug activity, gambling, shooting dice, and urination on the property. He said he spoke with the owner of the property several times, and he and the owner got into an altercation. He said the owner told him there is nothing he can do, so he is coming to Council this morning to urge them to do something about this property. He said he has called the Sheriff's Department numerous times that they now know his voice, and he is just tired of the activity. He said he took off work today to do this, but yesterday he was off work, and there were a couple of guys just urinating publicly, and that is crazy, and he wants something to be done about this. He said maybe they can do something as a Council about this because he is just tired of the drug activity. He said sometimes there will be 20 or 30 people who come up and buy drugs, and just leave, and he is just tired.

Mr. Cannon thanked Mr. Chisum for being there and bringing this to their attention. He then asked what the address was he was speaking about, to which Mr. Chisum responded, he thinks it is 806 West Road. Mr. Davis said it is at the intersection of West Road and Booth Street, to which Mr. Chisum responded, yes, and he stays right across the street on Corner Street.

Mr. Norris Howard came to the podium and said he has been a resident of Wicomico County for the last 60 years, but he was born and raised in a suburb of Crisfield. He said he is here to speak on the Pirate's Wharf project that has been brought to his attention. He said he first learned about this from Mr. Voss several months ago when they were doing some Native American demonstrations near Vienna during the Hansel Restoration Project, which they normally refer to as Chicone. He said Mr. Voss later supplied him with an assessment that was done by Dr. Edward Otter, and he reviewed that some months ago. He said he learned about this project being brought up today, and has not had a chance to refresh his mind that much from when he reviewed it last. He said, up until this point, he has not had any experience of walking on this property, or to make any personal observations of it. He said, as he mentioned, he was born and raised in the Crisfield, Maryland area in Somerset County. He said, as they all know, Somerset

County was a much larger area than it is today because it included what is now Wicomico and Worcester Counties. He said Worcester County was taken out of it in 1742, and Wicomico was taken out of Worcester and Somerset in 1867. He said he represents the traditional descendants of the Pocomoke, which includes a number of bands, villages, and towns that extended all up the Pocomoke River in this area. He said his English ancestors were the first residents of the old Somerset, which extended, as they know, even into the current Sussex County, Delaware. He said, in 1988 his older brother organized the Remnant Bands of the American Indians of the Eastern Shore, which he still serves as President of. He said that is a little bit of background about himself and where his interest lies. He said he is a traditional, and by tradition, a descendent of the Pocomoke people. He said the indigenous people, as they are referred to, lived, hunted and foraged the eastern side of the Chesapeake Bay since millennia. He said, as noted in the assessment by Dr. Otter, artifacts seen on the site indicated the presence of past occupation, and a high potential for the restoration of this property being on a burial site. He said Dr. Otter noted certain artifacts in the assessment, and he also found that this site was synonymous with a site that had been found recently at Harbor Point that is located in a setting similar to this where there were Native American burials. He said he feels that this assessment, while it is important, leaves a number of questions about what needs to be looked at. He said, obviously, more information and data should be collected before any decisions are made that will affect the future use of the site. He said he does not know if this particular enterprise would fall under the NAGPRA, which he thinks represents Native American Graves and Protection and Repatriation Act, or Section 106 provisions. He said these Acts were, primarily, for Federally owned land, but they do extend to other properties that have State and Federal funding. He said he does not know whether this has also been brought before the Maryland Historic Trust. He said the State of Maryland has a historic preservation roster that usually gets involved with properties that are sensitive as far as Native American points that need to be looked at. He said he just wanted to come today and introduce himself. He said he is available for guidance, and his interest is to protect and preserve the historical and traditional assets that are available.

Mr. Gary Trice came to the podium and said he owns some property in Parsonsburg in the Walston Switch area. He said his area of concern that he would like to bring forward to Council is about the Beaver Dam Branch. He said he owns some property along the branch along with his brother, and they continually have this problem of flooding on this property. He said it would not be too bad if it just flooded the property, but they have a shop on that area that has some very valuable equipment in it, and every time it floods it goes inside this shop and they have to pick up all this equipment, welders, milling machines, motors, and a number of different things. He said every time they turn around it is a continuing problem, and this problem has been arising for a number of years now, but, of course, as of Hurricane Michael, it has gotten pretty bad again. He said two or three times before that it did the same thing. He said he contacted the Ditch Association, and they have assured him some of this area of this ditch will be cleaned out. He said they also have another problem that nobody seems to want to address where there are some culverts on Route 346 and the Walston Switch Road area. He said these culverts were put in there a number of years ago, and years ago he had a meeting with Mr. Sharma when he was with the County, and he concluded they needed some more culverts in there. He said Mr. Sharma put one more culvert in there, if he remembers correctly, and that is not enough to control this ditch overflooding and going over across into the other ditch areas. He said those culverts need to be changed. He said nobody pays attention to it, but he does because he keeps getting flooded every time. He said he has taken some pictures to show if anybody would like to look at them. He said, on the other hand, he has had meetings with Lee Outten, the engineer for the County, and some other public officials. He said everybody sees the problem, but nobody seems to be able to do anything about it. He said the other side of this ditch needs to be cleaned out by somebody to prevent these problems from happening. He said it is a continuing problem, and if anybody would like to look at these pictures, that is fine. Mr. Cannon asked Mr. Trice to give the pictures to Mrs. Hurley to make copies for Council to review. Mr. Trice said he would like somebody to consider this, to which Mr. Cannon responded, they will certainly review this, and it is part of their comprehensive overview of the stormwater management throughout the entire County. He said Mr. Baker has been working very diligently to try to come up with a game plan throughout the entire County, and they had meetings in each quadrant of the County. He thanked Mr. Trice for putting this on the radar, and they will be sure to include this when they have their regular discussions with Mr. Baker. Mr. Joe Holloway added, Council is going to be speaking with the folks from the State Level about the tax ditches next on the Agenda.

Council Comments:

Mr. Davis said, to address Mr. Chisum's concern, the Sheriff is aware of the problem over there. He said it is not going to happen overnight, and it is going to take time, but he has been working on it. He repeated, it is just going to take time. He said it is not the barber shop owner's fault, and he has been a victim just as Mr. Chisum. He said the Sheriff is well aware of this and is taking steps to take care of it. Mr. Joe Holloway added, he knows this has been an ongoing problem for a number of years.

Council President Comments:

There were no Council President comments.

On motion by Mr. Dodd, seconded by Mr. Matt Holloway, and unanimously approved, the Legislative Session was adjourned to go into Open Work Sessions.

Following the Open Work Sessions, on motion by Mr. Dodd, seconded by Mr. Matt Holloway, and unanimously approved, the Open Work Sessions were adjourned at 1:00 p.m. to reconvene in Legislative Session.

Laura Hurley, Council Administrator

Resolution No. 117-2018 – Bond Award Resolution. Mr. Wayne Strausburg, Director of Administration, and Mr. Joe Mason of Davenport came before Council. Mr. Strausburg said he will preview with Council where they are with regard to the sale. He said, as Council knows, they went to the market to sell $10.5 million in bonds, they had seven bidders, and that is a fairly broad market. He said they are proposing to award the bid to Citigroup Global. He said the true interest cost being offered is 3.09360 percent. He said, actually, they are paying $585,000 in premium that the County will immediately use for the transaction costs and part of the projects they have proposed, so they are borrowing $9,915,000. He said, just to give Council some perspective on the interest rate, last year for issue of about the same size, their true interest cost was 2.44 percent. He said the Federal discount rate at the time was 1.75 percent, and the Federal discount rate today is 2.75 percent, so one would have expected they might be in a range of 3.5 percent on this borrowing cost this year. He said, in essence, the County, because of its credit rating and its performance, has really beat the market in terms of the spread on interest rates. He said they are very pleased with the interest rate. Mr. Dodd asked how much they are borrowing, to which Mr. Strausburg responded, they are actually borrowing $9,915,000. He said they are obtaining what is called a premium of $585,000, so they will use premium to pay the transaction costs and to pay for some of the projects that are included in this borrowing with a true interest cost of 3.09360 percent, which is about half a percent above last year. He said the Federal discount rate moved 1 percent over last year, so, in essence, they beat the market, and they will be borrowing less money than they had anticipated to borrow, so their P&l is going to be lower than they had anticipated. He said he thinks when they did the budget he asked Mrs. Parks to put in an assumed interest rate of 3.25 percent, so they are on the full ten of five, so they are going to be a little bit better on P&l moving forward.

Mr. Cannon asked Mrs. Hurley if an amendment will be necessary to update the Resolution with the actual figures, to which Mrs. Hurley responded, no. She said what Council is looking at is a redline version from what is in the Brief Book, so the redline actually will show the changes of the numbers that have already been updated, and then the black line would be the final version that Council is adopting today. There being no further discussion, on motion by Mr. Kilmer and seconded by Mr. Joe Holloway, Resolution No. 117-2018 was unanimously approved.

There being no further business, on motion by Mr. Dodd, seconded by Mr. Matt Holloway, and unanimously approved, the Legislative Session was adjourned to go into Closed Work Sessions followed by an Administrative Closed Session pursuant to the General Provisions Article, Section 3-305(b)(1)(7) and Section 3-104 to discuss a personnel matter, consult with legal counsel, and to discuss Internal Auditor project updates.

The Wicomico County Council met in a Closed Work Session on Tuesday, October 16, 2018, at approximately 1:30 p.m. in Council Chambers, Government Office Building, Salisbury, Maryland.

In attendance: John T. Cannon, President; Larry Dodd, Vice President; Marc Kilmer, Joe Holloway, Matt Holloway, and Ernie Davis. John Hall was absent.

Present for the first Closed Session: Laura Hurley, Council Administrator, Robert Taylor, Attorney, Lynn Sande, Executive Office Associate, Steve Roser, Internal Auditor, Levin Hitchens, Assistant Internal Auditor, Wayne Strausburg, Director of Administration, Bob Culver, County Executive, and two job applicants.

The purpose of the first Closed Work Session was to discuss a personnel matter.

The Wicomico County Council met in a Closed Work Session on Tuesday, October 16, 2018, at approximately 1:45 p.m. in Council Chambers, Government Office Building, Salisbury, Maryland.

In attendance: John T. Cannon, President; Larry Dodd, Vice President; Marc Kilmer, Joe Holloway, Matt Holloway, and Ernie Davis. John Hall was absent.

Present for the second Closed Session: Laura Hurley, Council Administrator, Robert Taylor, Attorney, Lynn Sande, Executive Office Associate, Steve Roser, Internal Auditor, Levin Hitchens, Paul Wilber, County Attorney, and two members of the Audit Committee.

The purpose of the second Closed Work Session was to consult with legal counsel.

The Wicomico County Council met in an Administrative Closed Session on Tuesday, October 16, 2018, at approximately 2:00 p.m. in Council Chambers, Government Office Building, Salisbury, Maryland.

In attendance: John T. Cannon, President; Larry Dodd, Vice President; Marc Kilmer, Joe Holloway, Matt Holloway, and Ernie Davis. John Hall was absent.

Present for the Administrative Closed Session: Laura Hurley, Council Administrator, Robert Taylor, Attorney, Lynn Sande, Executive Office Associate, Steve Roser, Internal Auditor, Levin Hitchens,

The purpose of the Administrative Closed Session was to discuss Internal Auditor project updates.

On motion by Mr. Dodd, seconded by Mr. Kilmer, and unanimously approved, the Closed Work Sessions were adjourned at approximately 2:15 p.m. The legal authority for the Closed Work Sessions is General Provisions Article, Section 3-305(b)(1)(7) and Section 3-104.

http://www.wicomicocounty.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_10162018-494