Noise Ordinance & Permitting -
I don’t think I need to say how disappointed I am with the whole noise ordinance process. It took us eight months to get almost right back to where we started. There wasn’t a whole lot of compromise in the final outcome and I’m sorry I couldn’t lead this Council to a quicker, more practical solution. But, “we are where we are” and I will do the best that I can to make this situation work as well as possible for everyone.
Budget/Finance -
With the economy in a serious downturn it’s obvious that we’re not going to get as much income through the State and County for this coming year and it’s going to affect our 2009-2010 budget. With all our reserves depleted by free spending in the past, this Council is looking forward to another very conservative fiscal year. Going with a .005/100 increase over last year’s tax rate will help make up for some of the difference.
Valerie and Lee have done a good job this year tracking our income and expenses. With the reports they’re making available to the public anyone can see just exactly where we stand. Up to the end of April we have received about 89% of our income but have only paid 66% of our projected expenses. This is not good, but with a couple of months to go there are some places that we expect to come in under budget to help make up some of the difference. Even with that, it looks like we’ll still have to carry some bills over into next year. Last year it was over $100,000 and we expect it to be a lot less this year.
Water & Sewer Rate Increase -
I hate to say it but there is another Water/Sewer rate increase this year. With the additional $27,000 loan payment that we are now committed to and the cost of our ageing systems we are supplementing the Water/Sewer Fund with the General Fund. The rate increase will not get us out of the red but will help this situation. There are still a lot of adjustments to be made.
The W/S Committee has done a good job on the Operation/Maintenance Contract with Artesian and the Council approved it at the May meeting. The transition to Artesian from our current operator, MES, is expected to take place at the end of June. The interconnection contract with Artesian to provide water to Chesapeake City is next.
Canal Day – 6/27/09 -
The CCDCA is well into the planning phase of Canal Day. The Town, Civic Association and Sheriff were involved in a meeting which addressed police coverage. Discussions started with last year’s coverage and then evolved to how we could do it better and cheaper yet still get the coverage that is needed this year. Although Canal Day is actually only from 9am to 5pm, it is in our best interest to see that the activities before and after are adequately policed. The Sheriff has submitted what he thinks is a realistic cost for additional coverage and the CCDCA and Chesapeake Inn have agreed to pay the bill leaving only the normal week end cost for the Town to cover. We’ll see if it works better this year.
There will be a 5k run the morning of Canal Day sanctioned by the Town for the first time this year. Frank Vari is the Race Coordinator and has spent a lot of time and energy rounding up sponsors and participants for this first annual event. He still can use some volunteer help for the morning of June 27th so if you’d like to donate a little time please get in touch with Frank at 410-885-2161 or drop a note or e-mail to the Town. Let’s see if we can make the first one a good one.
Election Day – 6/01/09 -
The Town election is always on the first Monday of June. If you are registered to vote mark your calendar now. The polling places are on the north side at the firehouse and on the south side at Town Hall.
There are four candidates for three Council positions. The top three vote receivers will take their seats in July. The candidates are:
Lee Collins (Incumbent)
Rebecca Mann (Incumbent)
Harry Sampson
Rich Taylor (Incumbent)
Come out and cast your vote on June 1st between 1:00 and 7:30 p.m.
Please feel free to stop in or call Town Hall any time if you have a question, comment or suggestion that may help us serve the citizens of Chesapeake City.
Frank Hill, Mayor
Chesapeake City, MD