Frederick City Council Public Meeting - March 20, 2025
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Frederick City Council Public Meeting - March 20, 2025
The Frederick City Council held a regularly scheduled public meeting on March 20, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. The meeting included public comments, approval of a consent agenda, and a series of public hearing items covering purchases, agreements, resolutions, and ordinances. Several votes were taken, with most items passing unanimously except for two that passed 4-1.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of minutes from the February 20, 2025 public meeting.
- Requests to serve alcohol on public property:
- Approval of a request by Bici Fitness, LLC / Reuben Kline to serve celebratory beer or wine to riders finishing the Gran Fondo Maryland Bicycle Race on Sunday, [date not specified].
- Approval of a request by Brewers Association of Maryland to sell and serve beer at its annual Maryland Craft Beer Festival on May 10, 2025, at Carroll Creek Linear Park, Amphitheater, Site C-2, and the MARC Lot.
- The consent agenda was approved by a 4-0 vote (Councilmember Shackelford was absent).
Public Comments & Testimony
- First round of public comments (before the consent agenda):
- Ian Thompson (Frederick resident) urged the council to adopt a ceasefire resolution, calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Palestine, full humanitarian aid, an embargo on U.S. military weapons, release of hostages, and just peace. He referenced the recent bombing and deaths of children, and criticized political persecution of pro-Palestinian activists.
- Tina Meadows O'Rearning (Shookstown Road) also urged a ceasefire resolution, citing the need for humanitarian aid and an end to U.S. funding enabling war crimes.
- Grady O'Rearny spoke about moving toward a more compassionate, nurturing side of humanity, referencing author Riane Eisler, and urged the council to pass a ceasefire resolution.
- William Mahone (President and spokesperson for the local NAACP, 129 Maryland) expressed condolences for Frank Wilson, then urged the council to adopt a ceasefire resolution. He criticized the council for inaction on previous calls and specifically noted the council's failure to expand voting rights and redistricting to include minority-majority districts.
- Public comment on the Independent Hose Company deed item:
- Jim Smursall (planner) supported the property transfer and trail construction, noting it would connect green spaces.
- Public comment on the restrictive covenants termination item:
- Monica Perez (owner of 22 West 7th Street) and her husband Chris thanked the council for their help in resolving the covenants issue.
Discussion Items
- Purchase: Sewer lining contract piggyback on Howard County – Approval to piggyback Howard County’s sewer lining contract with AM-Liner East, Inc. at a cost of $988,859.78, plus a 10% contingency, for a total purchase order of $1,087,745.76. The sewer superintendent explained that the project reduces infiltration and saves treatment costs. The contract was reviewed for small business reserve compliance. Approved unanimously (5-0).
- Purchase: Street and traffic sign inventory – Approval to use Montgomery County contract #1152448 to inventory city street and traffic signs, with a purchase order to O’Connell & Lawrence for not to exceed $150,000. The data will support maintenance planning. Approved unanimously (5-0).
- Purchase: Telephone systems and technology for Frederick Police Department headquarters – Approval of a $92,544.68 increase to an existing purchase order (originally $306,000) for network and communications infrastructure from Frederick County IIT. The total PO becomes approximately $398,000. Some council members expressed frustration with the lack of clear backup documentation. Approved 4-1, with Councilmember Kazimczak voting no, citing insufficient information.
- Agreement: Independent Hose Company deed – Approval of a new deed that removes restrictive language (fire/rescue use only) from Lot 1 and transfers ownership of Lot 2 to the City of Frederick. The reversion clause is removed, allowing Independent Hose to obtain financing for improvements, and the city gains land for the North Branch Shared Use Trail. Approved unanimously (5-0).
- Agreement: Termination of restrictive covenants at 18, 20-22 West 7th Street – Approval to terminate covenants recorded in 2006 on properties sold to Habitat for Humanity for the Hope VI project. The current homeowner, Monica Perez, wishes to sell at market value, and the title company requires removal of the city’s covenant. Habitat for Humanity had already released its covenants. Approved unanimously (5-0).
- Resolution 25-03: 2025 Municipal Election – Approval of the election process: mail a ballot to every registered voter, with one voting center at Trinity Recreation Center for early voting (August 22-23 for primary, October 24-25 for general) and on election day. Councilmember McShane expressed concern about the location’s accessibility and parking but acknowledged that mail-in voting is the primary method. He suggested future consideration of a more central location. Approved unanimously (5-0).
- Ordinance G-25-04: Adding caterer as a permitted use in mixed-use districts – Amendment to the Land Management Code to add “caterer” as a permitted use in MU1, MU2, and M1 districts, and to add a definition. The applicant, Canapace, wishes to relocate to a mixed-use zone. The ordinance was supported by the Planning Commission and Land Use Committee. Approved unanimously (5-0).
- Ordinance: Amending parking regulations (Sections 13-26 and 13-28) – Amendment to better define parallel parking (no more than 12 inches from curb, no wheels on curb) and to add obstructing pedestrian traffic as improper parking. Captain Henneberry explained the need for enforcement tools. Councilmember Kazimczak opposed, arguing the ordinance fails to address vehicles that stick out into the travel lane and that the real danger is from speeding, not curb parking. She also noted a prior experience where police could not act on a vehicle blocking her driveway. Approved 4-1, with Councilmember Kazimczak voting no.
- Introduction of Ordinance G-25-10: Master Schedule of Administrative and Regulatory Fees for FY2026 – First reading of an ordinance to establish fees for city departments for fiscal year July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026. Referred to the Government Operations Committee.
Key Outcomes
- Vote tallies: All consent and public hearing items passed unanimously (5-0 or 4-0) except the police department phone system purchase (4-1) and the parking ordinance amendment (4-1). The no votes came from Councilmember Kazimczak.
- Next steps: The fee schedule ordinance (G-25-10) will be considered in committee; the election resolution, caterer ordinance, and parking ordinance are adopted. The Independent Hose deed and restrictive covenants termination are approved. The sewer lining and sign inventory contracts are awarded.
- Council comments: Councilmember Russell honored retired police officer Frank Wilson and another colleague, and noted Women’s History Month. Councilmember McShane highlighted the groundbreaking of the Arch Museum on West All Saints Street. Council Vice President Shackelford reported on a trip to Annapolis but gave no specific outcome. Councilmember McShane joked about the need to teach parallel parking again.
Meeting Transcript
Motion carries three zero. Good evening, you are welcome to tonight's regularly scheduled meeting of the city of Frederick's City of Frederick City Council. If you wish to offer public comment, please be aware of the following guidelines. Each speaker will be allotted three minutes to share their comments. When it is your turn to speak, please begin by sitting your name and your general address for the record. To ensure you have an uninterrupted opportunity to s to speak, this will be your time, so that means members of the council will not be answering questions nor engaging in any discussion. We are often willing to answer questions after the meeting, or if you would like to email us, you can email us all of us at City Council at City of Frederick Merlin dot gov. Also, if you have written materials to accompany remarks, we encourage you to email those as well, or you can leave those with our legislative clerk, Miss Phyllis Hain. The City Council uses rules of procedure, which most recently passed by resolution twenty-four-twenty-seven, pursuant to our rules of procedure. Conduct disrupts the meeting or that interferes with the rights of members of the public to attend observe the meeting is not acceptable. Please take notes of the exits for your safety, and please silence all electronic devices. He worked for the police department, uh, retired, worked for the sheriff's department for 15 years, retired, and then came to work here at City Hall and was the face of City Hall for a long time. And uh he was late to rest today. So I just wanted to say I had the opportunity and the honor to work with both of those men in my early career as a police officer, and it was my honor to to know them and um may they rest in peace and may their families find comfort. Thank you. Thank you. Councilmember Kazanchak. Thank you for that, Councilmember Russell. Um, I think we all agree with you. Um I'm gonna talk very quickly about Women's History Month. We are in women's history month. Um honestly. So today you're just gonna get a simple in my office. I have a picture, and that picture is from a newspaper from when I very first took office in um I took office in 1998. The newspapers from 1999. And it's a picture of a clubhouse. And that clubhouse um says alder and then bold men on it. Um that was the first time that I had asked to be called an alder woman instead of an alderman. I was refused that. I refuse was refused that for three terms. When um I came back in 2013, I went in, and any of you who know me know that I can be confrontational. Um I went into the mayor and I just said, listen, I'm gonna be called Alder Woman this time. And um Randy McClellan, lovely man, looked at me and said, Well, of course, why wouldn't we? I was like, I just went through how many years of fighting this, and you just handed great, thank you. And then since then, of course, we've become a city council. So I I just think that that is for me the journey. The journey from um being misgendered for years, um, and in my mind that's exactly what it was. I'm not a man. I was never been a man. I don't want to be called a man, um, to have a group that really has um a designation that is non-gender specific. And I appreciate that for us. I appreciate that for all women. Um, whether born one or not, I certainly appreciate that. So, again, for women's history month, um, just wanted to give you a little bit of history that maybe most of you don't really know. Thanks. Councilmember McShane. No comments. Thank you, uh, Councilmember Russell for uh the recognition of the persons you mentioned. Uh Frank Wilson did work here, and we did see his face, and we do send condolences uh to his family as well as um your other colleague who you mentioned previously. Thank you, all uh Councilmember Kazimczak for highlighting women's history month.
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