Denton, Maryland

The regularly scheduled meeting of the County Commissioners of Caroline County, Maryland, convened at 9:30 AM in the Hearing Room, Courthouse, Denton.

John W. Cole, President

John S. LeGates, Member

Charles C. Cawley, County Administrator

Franklin W. Prettyman, Vice President

On motion by Mr. LeGates, the minutes of August 10, 1999 were approved. Vouchers #47702 – #47829 were approved for payment.

On individual motions by Mr. LeGates, the following purchase orders were approved and signed:

On motion by Mr. LeGates, the Commissioners approved and President Cole signed the Standard Form of Agreement Between Owner and Contractor, AIA Document, dated August 17, 1999, between the County Commissioners and C & S Ornamental Iron Company, Inc., for construction of the Caroline County Animal Control Center, Ridgely, which outlines the scope of work.

On motion by Mr. LeGates, the Commissioners signed a proclamation declaring Friday, August 20 through Sunday, August 22, 1999 as Caroline Summerfest Days in Caroline County, as read aloud and presented by Sue Simmons, recreation and parks director.

John Cambardella, Administrative Office of the Courts, discussed with the Commissioners a new program in Caroline County Circuit, the Family Services Program which provides information and procedural assistance regarding family law actions such as divorce, custody, visitation, support, adoption. Mr. Cambardella gave a brief background on the inception of the program stating that as of October 1, 1998, the five most populous jurisdictions in Maryland were mandated by law to establish a family division in the Circuit Court. Jurisdictions with fewer than eight Circuit Court judges were excluded from this mandate, however, the legislation provided for certain services and personnel, subject to availability of funds. Mr. Cambardella works in Kent, Caroline and Talbot counties as family law case coordinator. Delaware and New Jersey have a separate family court system, however, the legislature decided not to create a separate family court system in Maryland but to include those services in the current system. Last year was the first year of the program and a grant in the amount of $15,000 was granted to be used among Kent, Caroline and Talbot Counties. The program has proven to be needed and has grown as Mr. Cambardella has instituted a court-ordered parenting seminar to minimize the disruptive effects of separation and divorce on the children involved. The program is a "how-to" parenting education program to build parenting skills. To date, 150 parents have been ordered to attend the program. This is one of many services that are hoped to be implemented through the much-needed program. The legislature has increased the budget for the three-county program from $15,000 to $45,000 of which the majority of funds will be used for services and implementation of new programs. An additional program, effective September 1, 1999, will be a clinic held in the Caroline County Courthouse every Monday evening for financially-eligible citizens to receive legal advice services through the Maryland Volunteer Lawyer Service. This new service will reach a large population and assist people in actions they are involved in through the court system. Mr. Cambardella will continue to provide family law services to the three counties which will address the availability of the following family support services: (1) compiling, maintaining, and providing lists of available public and private family support services; (2) coordinating and maintaining referrals in actions assigned to the family division; and (3) reporting to the county administrative judge concerning the need for additional family support services and the modification of existing services. Mr. Cambardella is hopeful that the program will continue to grow and additional services will be implemented. The program makes the court system more user-friendly and the programs can be customized to provide services to suit the each jurisdiction’s needs. The Commissioners thanked Mr. Cambardella for the informative presentation of the program.

On motion by Mr. LeGates, the Commissioners approved the reallocation of FY 1999 unexpended Public Drainage Association cost-share funds in the amount of $3,628.52, as presented by John Shepard, Caroline Soil Conservation District. Mr. Shepard said that each association received 29% of the reallocation they were eligible for within the cost-share limit. Mr. Shepard advised that Caroline Soil Conservation has allocated the $21,000 granted by the Commissioners for public drainage association maintenance for fiscal year 2000 to the organizations participating in this year’s program. A list of allocations by organization for FY 2000 was distributed to the Commissioners.

Bryan Ebling, director of emergency management, gave the Commissioners an update on Countywide Y2K Preparedness. Mr. Ebling said that there have been two different teams working toward Y2K preparedness: the County Y2K Committee and the Emergency Management Y2K Planning Team. The County Committee has been addressing departmental issues whereas the Emergency Management Planning Team has been addressing the "big picture." The two committees will put together a contingency plan, which will be updated as needed. The County Committee has also been working on: assessment of departments; promotion of awareness issues; identification of remedies; development of and assurance of implementation of departmental contingency plan; preparation of department to implement contingency plan, and to review and comment on County Contingency Plan. The Emergency Management Planning Team has also been working on: general assessment of critical systems; promotion of awareness of issues with the towns, public, and volunteer fire departments; identification of weaknesses resulting from potential Y2K problems; development of and implementation an Emergency Management Contingency Plan for county government; development of public awareness campaign; revision of the contingency plan as new information is developed; and testing and exercising the contingency plan. Mr. Ebling stated that the outstanding issues include: staffing recommendations for 12/31/99-1/1/2000; citizens information telephone hotlines; identification of compliance of certain equipment and systems; preparation of all departments for electronic back up; and updating systems in certain departments by December 15. Mr. Ebling acknowledged the following participants that comprise the two committees:

The following Y2K Preparedness Timeline was discussed and updated:

Complete Department Contingency Plans August 31, 1999

Submission of Draft County Contingency Plan September 14, 1999

Adopt/Approved County Contingency Plan

And Submit to State to meet

October 1 Deadline September 28, 1999

Develop Public Awareness Campaign October 31, 1999

Test and Verify Electronic Backup Systems December 15, 1999

Brief Commissioners December 14, 21, 28, 1999

Mr. Ebling advised the Commissioners that a federal Y2K team is in Caroline County today performing an informal assessment of Y2K preparedness and procedures in rural counties. Mr. Ebling will have a debriefing later today and will report the outcomes to the Commissioners.

Tammy Holden, agricultural planner, met with the Commissioners regarding land prioritization for Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation Easement Sale Program. Ms. Holden advised that Caroline County submitted 39 applications to the state, the most applications submitted from one individual county. On motion by Mr. LeGates, the Commissioners approved and President Cole signed a letter to the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation designating the easement applications ranking in order to be appraised in the FY 2000 easement cycle.

On motion by Mr. LeGates, the Commissioners approved and President Cole signed a letter to the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation expressing the Commissioners’ intent to participate in the FY 2000 Matching Funds Program for easement acquisition regarding those Caroline County district applicants who submitted an easement application prior to July 1, 1999, as presented by Tammy Holden, agricultural planner.

On individual motions by Mr. LeGates, the Commissioners approved and signed the following sublease agreements for the county departments and agencies occupying the Health and Public Services Building, Seventh Street, Denton, effective retroactive to July 1, 1999 until June 30, 2000:

• Caroline County Health Department – approximately 17,269 square feet in the rental amount of $249,019 annually ($20,752 per month);
• Caroline County Board of Election Supervisors – approximately 1,214 square feet in the rental amount of $17,505 annually ($1,459 per month);
• Caroline County Department of Recreation and Parks – approximately 1,571 square feet in the rental amount of $22,654 annually ($1,888 per month);
• Caroline County Planning and Codes Administration – approximately 1,695 feet in rental amount of $24,442 annually ($2,037 per month); and
• Caroline County Upper Shore Aging, Inc. – approximately 4,048 square feet in the rental amount of amount of $58,372 annually ($4,864 per month).

On motion by Mr. LeGates, the Commissioners approved and President Cole signed an engagement proposal with H. C. Wainwright & Company, Inc., Baltimore, Maryland, in an amount not to exceed $7,500, excluding expenses such as telephone, reproduction, computer and miscellaneous communications, for financial advisory services, in connection with the offering of County bond anticipation notes.

On motion by Mr. LeGates, the Commissioners approved and President Cole signed the Grant Agreement for FFY 1999 Emergency Shelter Grants Program (ESG) in the amount of $39,000 from the Division of Neighborhood Revitalization, Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development to provide homeless assistance, administered by St. Martin’s Ministries and supervised by Interfaith House Development Corporation.

On motion by Mr. LeGates, the Commissioners approved and President Cole signed a Letter of Intent to the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development indicating the Commissioners’ interest in participating in the Maryland Housing Rehabilitation Program for rehabilitation of single family homes and residential properties, administered by Interfaith Housing Development Corporation.

The Commissioners confirmed a dinner meeting with Dr. Roger Stone, Caroline County Medical Director, and Robert Schoonover, Director of Caroline County Advanced Life Support, on August 31, 1999 at 5:30 p.m at the Penn House.

On motion by Mr. LeGates, the Commissioners approved and signed a Design and Maintenance Agreement between the County Commissioners of Caroline County and BayLogic Internet Marketing, LLC, for the design and maintenance of a County web page, in the amount of $3,600 and authorized Mr. Cawley’s signature on purchase order #16763.

The Commissioners accepted with regret the resignation of Rev. Joseph Craig from the 1999 Ad Hoc Caroline County Education Study Commission and agreed not to fill the vacancy due to the nearing completion of the study. The Commissioners expressed their appreciation for Rev. Craig serving on the Commission.

The Commissioners accepted with regret the resignation of Dr. Carol Baker from the Caroline County Board of Library Trustees and from the Caroline County Ethics Commission and instructed staff to prepare a letter of appreciation.

Mr. Cawley informed those in attendance that he, Ms. Sands and the Commissioners will be attending the Maryland Association of Counties Summer Conference on Thursday, August 19^th and Friday, August 20^th in Ocean City, Maryland.

There being no further business, the meeting of the County Commissioners adjourned by unanimous consent at 11:55 a.m.

Vivian L. Anders

County Commissioners Office Coordinator