Village of Thurston

Council Meeting Minutes

February 10, 2005

Meeting called to order at 7:30 pm by Mayor Barber. Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

Roll call: Robert Ortman – Present

Roger Aubery – Present

Warren Simpson – Present

Ed Vanek - Present

Kevin Ety – Present

Rita Leiendecker - Present

Mary Barber – Present

Aaron Reedy – Present

Mary asked if any visitors wanted to speak. No one did.

Rita made a motion to approve the January 2005 minutes. Kevin second. All yea.

Ed made a motion to approve the January 2005 financial statement. Robert second. All yea.

Second Reading of Ordinance 2005-6, An Ordinance Establishing a Review Policy for the Hiring and Discharge of Fire Department Employees.

Report from Fire Chief – Acting Chief Mike King was present. Mary announced that Mike King has accepted the position of “Acting Chief” of the Fire Department. Mike advised Council of the following items:

· SOP’s are being updated and passed out every month

· An SOP for Drug & Alcohol Abuse and Sexual Harassment is being drawn up

· Fire & EMS Reports are all up-to-date

· They will begin implementing duty crews

· They are in process of updating personnel files

· They are going to start assigning jobs to all volunteers

· Flagpole has been fixed

· Radio Room door has been fixed

· Furnace has been repaired

· One of the overhead doors has been repaired

Aaron advised Mike that he needs to get Purchase Orders for all purchases in the future.

Report from the Service Committee: Robert said they mostly discussed the Street Building and the Municipal Building. He said Bob Black, Steve Reedy & the Mayor were at the meeting. Robert said the furnace at the Street Building was reported bad by Columbia Gas, and they wouldn’t hook it up. Ed said a valve broke in a water pipe in the Street Building, and he repaired it. Lowell Hite had helped. Ed said the furnace is okay, but that the cold air return needs to be moved a few feet away. Columbia Gas tech said the furnace was fine for a garage, but not an occupied building. Ed said the roof is in terrible shape. They also discussed re-designing the Council chambers. Robert said the cemetery was also discussed. Council agreed that we should try to get easement the entire length of the parking lot.

Report from the Safety Committee: Rita said they gave a copy of the Basil Joint Fire District’s Procedures to Mike King. He will look to see what they can adapt to use at Thurston. Rita said they discussed parking issues, sidewalks needing kept cleared and an alley issue. They had a former Fire Dept. member bring up issues with sexual harassment and received a couple of complaints about behavioral problems. Mike King said he would put SOP’s together regarding those issues. Steve Reedy brought up that all the catch basins in town should be checked and cleared out regularly, that’s why we keep having problems. Rita said they also discussed if there was an actual need for a new squad, and if it was necessary to keep the station car.

Report from the Finance Committee: Roger said they hadn’t met for the month, yet. Committee agreed there was no need to meet this month, and not until further notice.

Report from the Rules Committee: Didn’t meet.

Report from the Regional Planning Representative: Robert said it was announced at the last meeting that the State was going to update Village garbage pick-up rules. It will be the first time in over 30 years.

Old Business

Mary said she didn’t get to the Walnut Creek Sewer District meeting about the land for the park because they changed the day on her.

Robert said that Terry Prather said the alley off of Wilson Ave. is sinking bad and he’d like to see some gravel put down. Council agreed to have Michelle get some bids – and coordinate with Roger for details.

Mary said she spoke with Bob Kalish about getting auxiliary police. She also asked if Baltimore police would cover Thurston under some sort of agreement. Bob said to put a proposal together and submit it to the Baltimore Council.

Ed shared his concern of heating the Street Building just to keep that pipe from freezing. There is no shut-off valve for the building. He said we should bet some estimates to have one installed. Michelle will work with Lowell to get some estimates and possible contractors.

New Business

Council discussed repairing the roof on the Street Building. They reviewed some proposals. Dan Roberts - $4,500; Gang Roofing - $4,226.25; B.W. Roofing - $3610.00. Ed made a motion to accept Dan Roberts’ proposal @ $4,500 to repair the Street Building roof. Rita second. All yea, except Warren Simpson voting no.

Mary showed pictures of the Richard Gould property, 8260 High St. H has a carport erected on the sidewalk. Mary said she’s told him before to remove it to clear the sidewalk, but he put it back. She’s been dealing with this for several weeks. Mary said he also has a dirt pile that needs to be moved. It is on other people’s property and it’s blocking the alley.

Mary announced that the street sign at Fourth & High Streets was removed. The sign is bent up, and the concrete pulled out. We need to purchase a new pole & sign for Fourth Street. Ed said he will work on picking up the old sign.

Roger announced that he would like to thank Ernie Harter for all the hard work he has done for the Village.

Roger made a motion to adjourn. Ed second. All yea. The time is 8:30 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

_______________________________

Aaron L. Reedy, Clerk