Claudio March 5th meeting of the City Council to order.

We will start with the Pledge of Allegiance.

Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands.

One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thanks.

That's really loud today.

So move.

Moved by Councilmember Shackelford, second by Councilmember Atkins.

All in favor.

Aye.

Seven zero.

Don't know what that was.

All right.

Any comments from Council members.

I think we started over there last week.

We'll start with Councilmember Shackleford.

No, no, no, no.

Okay.

No comments.

Uh, Council President, I'll be brief, but I just wanted to say that it is a honor, and it makes me very proud to serve with you as my council president.

And yesterday was no exception.

So thank you very much for everything that you do for our community.

Thank you.

Well, I can't follow that, so no comments from me.

Councilmember Bram.

Uh just a quick note to thank Lakeisha Wade and the Sir Her staff for putting together a terrific uh second one.

I attended the the uh Black History Month event, that was great, and the women's history month event this past week was also great.

So many thanks to them for coordinating that.

Thank you.

Now is the time for public comments from folks who want to make public comments.

Do we have a list, Ms.

Phyllis?

This is an opportunity for members of the public to address the council regarding items that may or may not appear on the agenda.

Please note speakers should first think you should give their first their should first give their name and address.

So first is Kelly Russell.

No?

Ah, you're on an item.

Sorry.

All right.

So Kathy Anderson.

Good evening, Council.

My name is Kathy Anderson, and I live on Fairview Avenue in Frederick for over 18 years.

I'm here tonight because I believe this new council, and congratulations to all the new faces, has a unique responsibility.

You have the chance to look at how the city operates with fresh eyes, especially and specifically regarding the way our boards and commissions are run.

Right now, the system is basically set up for the mayor to protect himself and push through his interests.

And to be blunt, it's not working for the community or the taxpayers.

The mayor's office acts as the gatekeeper for everything.

This creates a bias that touches every single board in the city from planning and zoning to the ethics commission.

The first issue is the appointment process.

Currently, the mayor hand picks every member of these boards, and the council is just expected to say yes.

That is how you end up with boards that are stacked to protect a single agenda.

We need to move to an open council interview model.

If someone wants to serve on the city board, they should have an interview in front of you, the council, in a public meeting.

You should be picking the best person for the job after hearing from everyone who applied.

This takes the power away from one person and puts it where we can actually see what's happening.

The second issue is the citywide lawyer problem.

Our city attorney is appointed by the mayor.

When the ethics commission or the planning board gets legal advice from that same lawyer, they aren't getting independent guidance.

They are getting guidance from the mayor.

We have seen this lead to quiet dismissals and ethic cases because the legal advice comes from a person.

We need a law that mandates independent outside council whenever there's a conflict.

You all have the power to change these rules.

You aren't just here to rubber stamp the mayor's picks.

You are here to make sure the system works for the people who pay the taxes.

I am asking you to schedule a leg legislative work session to discuss these reforms.

Let's use your fresh perspective to finally break the cycle and make City Hall accountable.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any additional public comments other than for specific items?

No.

We will move on to the consent agenda.

All items included under the consent agenda are considered to be routinely by the council.

They will be approved by one motion without separate discussion on each item unless a person requests present requests an item or items to be removed from the consent agenda.

Any item removed from the consent agenda will be considered separately at the end of the consent agenda.

If you would like to any of the items below considered separately, please say so when the council president announces each category.

We will start with request to serve alcohol on city property.

I have a motion.

Second.

Moved by Council Vice President Nash, second by council president or council member Bram.

All in favor.

7-0.

And second, um special ordinance S26-2.

Move for approval.

Second.

Moved by Council Vice President Nash, second by Council Member Shackelford, all in favor.

Aye.

7-0.

All right.

We'll move on to purchases.

The first is the approval of a contract with grindline skate parks in the amount of 1,688,766 for professional services associated with design, demolition, and construction of a new skate park at Hill Street Park.

Good evening, Council members.

My name is Jonathan Whitting.

I'm a project manager with uh DPW in the projects department.

I'm here this evening to request approval with a contract with Grindline Skate Parks for professional services associated with the design, demolition, and new construction of a new state park located in in the Hill Street Park, which is in District 2, in the amount of 1,688,766.

In addition, the staff is requesting authorization to issue a purchase order in the total amount of $1,848,974, a difference of 160,208 will be allocated as contingencies to address unforeseen fill condition, design require uh refinements, and other necessary scope adjustments that may arise during construction.

This project is funded in part by a $1 million outdoor recreation legacy program federal grant administrated through the Mellon, Maryland Department of Natural Resources with the remaining project costs funded through required city matching funds.

Approval of this contract and course purchase order will enable the city to proceed in a timely manner, maintain compliance with grant requirements, and advanced replacement of existing facilities with a modern, safe, community-oriented skate park that will serve residents for years to come.

Thank you.

And I could answer any questions that the council may have.

Any questions from the council members?

Do you have an estimated date of opening?

The park.

So timeline was 247 days after approval, so that puts us early next year, probably.

I happened to be up there yesterday and just walked by it and it's in uh need of repair or replacement.

When was it built?

Was it 20 years ago?

It's been a while, yeah.

2004.

Yes, it is very unskatable, right?

Yes, it is.

Yeah.

Okay, thank you.

And with that being said, the length of this in terms of the careless project, 2004, we've got 20 years, this rebuilt or modification renovations, new skate parks will last how long?

Well, this is going to be like their marquee skate park because this is one of the larger skate parks that this company's built, so they're going to put a lot of effort in.

I would say 20 years.

Concrete usually lasts if it's placed correctly, 20 years or so.

Okay.

Maintain the correct way.

So this park is in my district, and uh it definitely is in uh need of placing or repair or probably replacing.

So the contract is for design and construction.

Yep, correct.

Okay.

So once the design process works, is there going to be opportunities for the community, not only in that area, but also the skaters to you actually have a lot of people.

Yeah, we're gonna we're gonna hold three uh meetings with the community to get their opinions and what they would like to see.

So, yes, there will be opportunities for the community to be a part of this project.

Okay, so that will be during the design phase before that's approved.

Okay.

All right, awesome.

Thank you.

Any other questions?

Thanks, sir.

All right.

Any public comments, Ms.

Russell.

Good evening, members of the council.

Just to note it's very difficult to hear you back here, and I know we have the sound just to let you know.

Um Good evening.

My name is Kelly Russell.

I live in Frederick.

Tonight I want to reflect on how we arrived at this moment with the Hill Street Skate Park because projects like this do not happen by accident.

They move forward.

Uh sorry, with deliberate advocacy and evolve step by step.

The skate park was originally built in 2004 and dedicated to Arnesto A.

Torres, a Frederick High School uh graduate and avid skater.

He was tragically killed in a car crash at the age of 20 while studying biology at Humboldt State University.

And of course, he remains in our hearts.

For two decades, Hill Street Skate Park has served thousands of young people and the young at heart in our community from the surrounding region.

But by the late 2010s, it was clear the facility was aging.

The concrete was deteriorating.

The design reflected early 2000s standards and usage had outgrown the original footprint.

The first step was acknowledging that reality.

We discussed the concept of a full rebuild rather than continuing to invest in short-term repairs on a failing piece of park infrastructure.

That conversation grew into a broader examination of Hill Street Park's overall needs, as well as the needs of other parks all over the city, and that work, which focuses on investments and equity emphasis areas, continues today.

In 2020, during a public workshop, the idea of redesigning Hill Street Park, including a rebuilt skate and art park, was formally discussed.

There was a presentation by community members for a modern skate park that incorporated family spaces and public art opportunities.

That was an important pivot point.

It moved the concept from an informal proposal to a policy conversation.

Pardon me, I'm not nervous.

I've just got dry tongue tonight.

In 2023, the board took concrete action when we approved funding and awarded a professional design contract to begin redevelopment planning process for the Hill Street Park improvements.

Community members, including skaters, were invited to provide input on what a modern facility should look like.

The project was incorporated into our capital improvements program.

Cost estimates were refined.

The skate park was evaluated not as a patchwork repair, but as a generational investment.

Most recently, the city issued the request for repo proposals for the design build contract in front of you this evening.

Each of these steps, recog recognizing the deterioration, elevating the policy discussion, funding design, conducting public engagement, aligning capital funding, and issuing procurement reflects a deliberate and responsible process.

Tonight you're being asked to close the circle on this long anticipated project, and I could not be more excited to see our community stream coming true.

We thank you for your support.

Thank you.

Any other public comments on this specific agenda item?

Hi, my name's Winston, and I'm an 11-year-old, and I'm super happy that the skate park is going to be built.

And it's nice for my training and also a lot of new people that are trying to get into the sport.

I'm so glad that everybody agreed and got the money to build it.

So everyone can progress.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Winston, was that your name?

Thank you.

Any other public comments?

Hi, my name is Isaiah Rosser.

I work at uh in uh Embark Skate Shop, and we are thrilled to be moving through this process.

We're so excited.

Uh all the skaters in the area, thank you guys.

And we can't be happy enough to have something new brought to the new generation of skaters who are coming through and want something, you know, incredible to skate, and that'll leave an impression on a kid or you know, uh teenager, adult, you know, grandparent, doesn't matter.

Uh having a uh safe and enjoyable skate park that you know is unique to the city is something that um we can all be on board with and we just want to thank you from the skate shop and all the skate rats that are like you know downtown.

We're we're here and we're so thankful for you guys.

So thank you.

Yeah, thank you.

Any other public comments?

Any comments from council members?

Just briefly because Councilmember Shackled and I have had the opportunity to see many familiar faces over the years.

So just wanted to thank you for your ongoing advocacy uh and for the work of the council members uh that have started the work and uh very privileged to continue the work.

So thank you.

There are no public comments or council comments, looking for a motion.

So move.

Second.

Second.

Motion by Councilmember Shakaford, second by council member Bram.

All in favor.

Aye.

7-0.

Next.

Approval of issuance of a purchase order in the amount of $113,346 to Muscle Sports Lighting LC for the replacement of athletic lighting at McCurdy Fields.

Good evening.

Scott Gesey, Park Superintendent.

I'm here on behalf of the Parks and Rec department to request uh the purchasing approval for uh $113,346 in issuance of purchase order to Muscov Sports Lighting as part of our ongoing efforts to uh renovate the 102-year-old facility at McCurdy Field.

Um this project would uh complete a full uh full removal replacement of the athletic field lighting system that dates to 1973.

Uh we would replace everything uh with high efficiency LED fixtures, uh significantly improving the efficiency and the safe lighting for youth sports.

Um if you have any questions, I'd be glad to try and answer this.

Any questions from the council?

Yes, Scott.

Um so we're replacing the lights now.

What's next for McCurdy Field?

What's the next improvement project?

Uh well, we just finished uh renovations to the playing surface, uh, full sod replacement, addition of an irrigation system.

Um after after successful lighting replacement, we're continuing uh bleacher replacement, spectator seating, uh, as well as uh concrete and and ADA approaches to the entrances for spectator.

I was hoping was next was the seating, so thank you.

Yep.

Any other questions?

Um baseball season is coming soon.

Are will these lights be in place for the upcoming season?

No.

Uh our fields technically opened March 1st uh earlier this week.

We haven't had cooperative weather.

Uh so we haven't had great playing time just yet.

Um not available for this spring season, but uh if we do get approval by the time the orders placed and parts and everything arrive and we get on an install schedule, we're hoping for uh late June, early July.

Any other questions?

Um I don't know if this is a lot of money or a little money for for something like this.

How many quotes did you receive?

How many quotes?

How many quotes?

Uh Moscow is one of the industry leaders.

Uh we currently use our lights at Hill Street Park, Max Keen Park.

Uh they have a patented uh control link system where we can remote in anywhere with in the world with internet connection to control and monitor the lights.

Uh so this would stream streamline our lighting system and keep it in line with existing other locations.

Okay, along that were any other vendors considered?

No, they were not.

Okay, thank you.

So was this part of a ongoing contract?

Yes.

We were proposing to ride um the excuse me, I got a find it in here.

The uh the source well.

It's a national cooperative purchasing agreement.

Uh so this was bid cooperative through the source well.

Uh and they've awarded this contract to Muscow, and they're offering that uh base cooperative pricing to us and via piggyback contract.

Any other questions?

Thank you, sir.

Any public comments?

If there are none, I'll look for a motion.

Motion to approve.

I'll second it.

Motion made by Councilmember Brenton, second by Councilmember Hempel Rani.

All in favor?

34567.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

And next, approval of issuance of a purchase order in the amount of 131,065 to Muscle Sport Lighting for the retrofit of athletic lighting at Lotus Field.

Good evening again, Scott Gesey, Park Superintendent.

Um, on behalf of the parks and recreation department to request purchasing approval uh in the amount of 131,065 uh again to Muscow Sports Lighting.

Uh this project would retrofit the existing lighting at Lotes Field.

Um as part of the ongoing renovations at Harry Grove Stadium.

Um that project's currently removing 110 lighting fixtures from the stadium.

Uh rather than send them to the scrap heap, we're trying to salvage 68 of those fixtures and repurpose them and have them installed on Lotes Field for youth sports located directly behind the stadium.

Uh the lights currently in place at Lotes uh are the original lights that date to approximately 1990 when Lotes Park and the stadium were originally built.

Um so the lights coming down off the stadium uh are currently 18 years old.

Uh they were originally installed in 2008, uh but yet they're half the life as as and as old as what we currently have in place.

So this would again significantly improve the the sports lighting at Lotes Field.

Um they have less than 5,000 hours of use on them currently.

Uh and this improvement would we anticipate would give us another 15 years of life inspectancy out of the out of the lights before we needed to consider major upgrades or further replacement at Lotes Park.

Um it's uh a significant cost savings to us, and again uh we propose to piggyback on the National Source Well Cooperative contract through Muscow.

If I can answer any questions, I'd be glad to try to try.

Uh understanding that the current lights on Lotes Field aren't probably LEDs.

Are are the replacement lights coming from uh the other field?

Are they LED?

No, the these are metal halide uh in can high intensity incandescent.

They're uh not LED, the the new lights actually going up on the stadium R, but these are not and and I assume they can't be retrofitted to be LED.

No, that would require more wiring replacement and more of a renovation than we were willing to take on at this time.

And I applaud the reuse of those lights.

That's that is a nice cost saving, so thank you for thinking that.

That's it.

Thank you.

Scott, for the new lights at Harry Grove, is that part of the requirement for affiliation with the keys?

Yes.

Uh major league has their own lighting standards, and um, if I'm not mistaken, those are also uh color changing options which uh enhance the visit visitor and spectator experience too.

Thank you.

Any other questions?

Any public comments?

Look for a motion.

So moved.

Second.

Moved by Councilmember Epkins, second by Council Member Bram.

All in favor.

Seven.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Next is the approval of a second amendment to lease agreement with Cell Co Partnership.

Good evening, everyone.

I'm Mark Lawrence.

I'm the facility manager for the city of Frederick.

And uh I'm here tonight to present a uh lease amendment on the tower lease agreement that we have with Verizon at Mercury Field.

The uh amendment or the original agreement dates back to 2009 when uh we we entered into an agreement with Verizon to erect a tower that would serve the dual purpose of providing lighting or supplementing the lighting for the stadium while at the same time you know giving them a tower to mount their communication, their cellular communication equipment on.

And that that arrangement it came into question because after after some time in in 2021 when I first came to join the city, Verizon had contacted me or American Tower was representing Verizon contacted me and said they they were considering withdrawing their agreement because they felt like the cost of the site was too much for them for them to justify staying in that that location.

The uh at first I didn't know what to do, but uh ATT came to us and said they were seeking uh tower space in the city of Frederick.

So I I linked them to the representative for for Verizon or American Tower, and and we reached a three-way agreement that gave the opportunity for for them to sublease space on the tower.

The city's contribution to it was just finding space in McCurdy field for their ground equipment.

And we we we came across you know after after after some debate, you know, the the we managed to find 396 square square feet of ground space for them to to put their their uh ground equipment and it's tucked away so it's not doesn't create any intrusion onto the playing field.

Uh so after after that agreement was worked out, you know they uh they we signed an agreement with ATT to lease that ground space.

Uh Verizon signed an agreement with ATT to supplement their income on the tower and that stabilize the the relay relationship with the city.

So at that point we uh we we signed an agreement with with Verizon to extend the the lease term for five uh six five-year terms and and these are optional terms.

So after at the end of each five-year period, if if both parties agree to continue, then it just automatically continues.

Okay, so so it's but but if either party wants wants to terminate the lease at the end of one of those five-year periods, you they would still be able to give notice and and uh it requires a hundred and eighty days notice to to terminate the agreement.

So again that comes around every at the end of each five-year period.

So the lease we're approving tonight or I'm putting before you tonight proposes uh extending the Verizon lease so that it runs concurrent with with the lease term that they signed with AT.

So it does would make sense to have one without the other.

So that basically this you know this provides about sixty thousand dollars a year of income to the city.

So I I think it's well worth doing and hope that you will support my effort.

Think is there any questions?

Mr.

Lawrence, just a couple.

Uh one is do we do we spend any money maintaining the tower?

No, no, the the maintenance of the tower is uh is on uh American Tower.

Great, thank you.

And congratulations on what I think is a nice job negotiating between three parties, so that's good.

Uh just a separate question.

I've had feedback from uh residents in Councilmember Atkins district about terrible cell phone coverage up at Warman's Mill, and I'm wondering, again, separate from this discussion, but uh what process would we use to evaluate that and see if we can't induce getting cell tower a cell tower up there.

We can take that offline if you want, but the you know what I would recommend we do is is contact you know one of the tower companies that we're currently working with and and and have them do a a technical analysis of you know area coverage and everything and have them you know make a recommendation to us as to where we can have a tower that would supplement what else is going on in the area.

Perfect.

I'll follow up with you separately.

That's great, thank you.

That's it for me, thank you.

Any other questions?

Mark, is anybody here from either one of these companies tonight?

I have a feeling not.

No.

Yeah.

So we have in our backup I we have the lease that you're proposing as the new as the next document that would be signed, which makes sense.

I'm tracking that because that's not signed yet.

That's easy for me to follow.

We have the original 19 2019 2009 document.

Right.

But we don't have any of the other backup that you're referring to.

Any of the other back and forth that happened in that time frame.

And I think you didn't include that because from your perspective.

I didn't think it was fair.

It's hard for me to make a decision that $60,000 is an appropriate number.

And I think you've I think you're negotiating against ATT, American Tower, and Verizon.

I think you're doing a fantastic job.

I think that for so long, companies like ATT, Comcast, Verizon, and the issue that my colleague is talking about has nothing to do with this at all.

But in my world it does, because in my mind, they don't they don't send anybody to this room.

They don't care about our poor cell service in Whittier.

They don't care about our poor cell service and Wormensmore, Worm and Smell.

They don't care that every time I'm in Tasker's Chance I get a call dropped.

And they sure as heck don't care that we're negotiating this lease tonight.

So it has nothing to do with your work, but has everything to do with the fact that these companies just continue to do work in these small, what they consider small towns and they don't show up.

And it just it irritates me, Mark.

It has nothing to do with you.

So I don't know enough to know if I'm making a good decision because $60,000 sounds like a lot of money, but they've had the same contract since 2009 with a 3% rent increase.

So I hope I mean I just trying to explain where I'm coming from.

It's not your work.

I think you're trying to get the best deal that you can.

I know that you're trying to get the best deal that you can for the city.

Um I think you probably heard some of the same debate back probably in 2021, but I just it's a hard one for me, that's all.

Okay.

All right.

One thing I will say about that is that you know we we entered an agreement with uh Milestone Tower to for them to build a a tower site in uh West Side Regional Park.

And they manage that tower site and you know to me all the expertise that's needed to to to get the absolute best deals available would come from people that are in that business.

You know, so with with the milestone tower uh in the uh Westside Regional Park, we more or less contracted them to to manage that tower and get the best deals they could get, you know, and then we split we split the proceeds with them.

And that that's that's a uh that's a method of of or an approach to doing business in a field where the city has very little expertise on board, you know, to assess and evaluate whether or not we're we're we're getting the best yield that we can.

So we may want to consider if that's your concern, we may want to consider you know subcontracting, you know with organizations like Milestone.

And Milestone has approached me asking if if we would be interested in in getting them involved in managing more of our sites for us.

Yeah.

And I I think that would that would be uh an idea worth considering.

I guess the other relevant I don't want to know this question of how many contracts we negotiate.

But I'm sure when they negotiate contracts, they negotiate contracts from a legal means and not from the salesperson's correct.

Because it's legal language and it's contractual, so I'm sure they're negotiating ATT and these corporate corporations are negotiating with their attorneys.

Yes.

Uh I would assume so.

But there's also technical advisors that would be involved to assess coverage areas and that sort of thing.

Yeah, I'm sure I'm sure they're doing that from a technical, I'm sure from a contractual though.

It's more legalese attorneys or probably or negotiating these contracts and not the technical people.

They may be offering the advice in terms of the parameters.

But the negotiation piece are probably through the attorneys.

But the negotiation piece are probably through the attorneys or legals.

Legal.

Yeah, but I think the salespeople, you know, would would be the ones that are thinking about you know how to maximize the dollar income.

The salespeople are probably one offering, but I think.

And then you mentioned one at Westside Regional Park.

Are there other towers where the the city leases?

Yes.

The city the city has 11 towers.

Okay.

All right.

Thank you.

Any other questions?

Is this a comparable price to the other 11 that are currently leased?

This is actually on the high end of the spectrum.

Any other questions?

Digzer.

Any public comment?

If there are no further comments, I'll look for a motion.

Motion to approve.

Second.

Motion by Councilmember Brem, second by Councilmember Taylor.

All in favor?

Against two abstain?

Opposed.

Okay.

So pass four five to two.

I can't count.

Thank you, sir.

Hey, Mark, before you step down, I think you've heard from several of us.

Um we are concerned about cell service in specific areas.

But I think when you follow up with Verizon, talk to them or send them a letter and say we have concerns and see start the conversation with them to see what we can do to better the service in the areas that are deficient.

Okay.

Do you can you uh allow me the lead way to talk to more than just Verizon?

Uh would would it be Sure?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Because again, rather than talking to Verizon who who you know obviously wants to promote their product and everything, I think it might be better to talk to to somebody like Milestone who offers expertise but yet can represent any service they want to.

See what it would take and you know just start the conversation for us.

Yeah, I kind of echo uh Councilmember Atkins' statement.

The reason I asked how many towers we have is if we have 11 towers and we start talking to some providers, is there some sort of negotiating leverage or something that we can use?

And I don't know, um, to maybe get better service and address some of the issues that uh Vice President Nash brought up.

So I I think that that's very doable.

Thank you, sir.

All right.

Uh up next we have several uh tax-related ordinances.

Um Ms.

Bartal is presenting, Ms.

Gray.

I'm gonna present the first one.

Okay, all right.

So first one is approval of ordinance G five D 257, updating the City Code section concerning a disabled veterans property tax credit.

Thank you for the record, Rachel Gray, City Attorney.

Um as you said, Section 8-10.3 of the City Code establishes a property tax credit for disabled veterans.

Um after this section was enacted, the General Assembly revised the definition of a disabled disabled veteran to include those who have a non-permanent service connected disability of 100 percent that results from from certain things.

Um the purpose of this ordinance is to amend our definition and some corresponding provisions to incorporate that change to state law.

We are not required to make that change.

We are permitted to do so.

Uh Frederick County has also made that change.

Um that's about it.

Happy to answer questions if I can.

Any questions?

Do you have any idea how many veterans are currently using this program?

I believe Ms.

Barkle said nine.

Nine, yes.

As a follow-up to that, is that um because not enough people are qualifying or people don't know about it, or uh why aren't there more people taking advantage of it?

I'm not sure if we have any way of knowing that for certain.

I don't know if Katie has more information.

Hi, good evening, Katie Bartle, the Chief Financial Officer for the City.

Um we we don't know the answer to that, honestly.

Um Frederick County handles these credits for us.

Um I don't know if they would know either.

Um I know that they do have a um tax credit navigator, I believe is their title.

I could have that wrong, that you know, aids and assists um people looking for different tax credits in the in the county helps them apply and things like that.

Um so I know that they make every effort that they can to ensure that people are uh getting the tax credits that they're qualified for, but why we don't have more use of this is not something I I know offhand.

I I wonder if it has to do with eligibility, and I saw that there is an income cap, so it has to be under 100,000.

So I would assume it's something to do with that.

Any other questions on this particular one?

No.

Any public comments?

Look for a motion.

I move to approve.

Second.

Second.

Moved by Councilmember Taylor, second by council member Hempelani.

All in favor?

Next is approval of ordinance G 2524 to establish property tax credit for the surviving spouse of a fallen emergency worker.

Thank you.

Good evening, um, council members again.

Katie Bartle, the chief financial officer for the city.

Um this item is an ordinance that would establish a property tax credit for their surviving spouse of a fallen emergency worker as authorized under Maryland Tax Property Article 9-20.

Um, under this ordinance, a surviving spouse who has not remarried can receive 100% credit against city property tax on their primary residence.

To qualify, the home must have been owned by the fallen emergency worker at the time of their death and and purchase within two years of the worker's death, or be a replacement of a previously qualifying property.

Um the credit would remain in effect for five years without requiring an annual reapplication unless the eligibility changes.

Frederick County offers a similar tax credit, and historically the county treasurer who is just an amazing um partner with the city has administered these types of property tax credits on our behalf if we pass an ordinance that directly mirrors a county tax credit program.

Um structuring an ordinance in the same way that they have allows the city to rely on this existing administrative process.

There's one criteria, there's one application.

Um I think that you know it's super easy for you to qualifying people to take advantage of all the tax credit programs that are offered.

Um we expect, or at least we very much hope that the number of eligible cases that qualify for this tax credit will be very small.

Um so we believe that the fiscal impact to the city will be minimal.

And I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Any questions?

No.

Any public comments?

I will look for a motion.

Motion to approve.

I believe there is a public comment.

Oh.

I apologize.

I was probably blocking.

Sorry.

Sorry, Donica Zemchak, it's more of a public question than a public comment.

Um I was reading through the backup on this, I had a couple of questions.

Are we only talking about emergency workers who work for the city of Frederick who are getting this tax break?

Or emergency workers who live in the city of Frederick who get this tax break.

Um how did we choose emergency workers over things like um school teachers or anything else?

And the way I read this is it is while in active service, but not necessarily while during the course of employment.

And I'm not sure how that works in other places also.

So those were my three concerns slash questions on what's been presented.

Thank you.

So I can answer.

So it would this credit would be available to anyone that lives in the city that follow that meets the criteria, not necessarily works for the city.

Um this, like any tax credit has to be authorized under state law.

So this specific statute allows for this very specific tax credit in kind of this narrow scope of who is eligible.

Um to my knowledge, there is not a tax credit available for any other type worker that um sex, sorry.

Former council member, um, because I'm check has cited.

There is the eligibility is uh she's asked a good question, and I knew the answer, and I just want to make sure.

Um I believe the credit is intended to the emergency personnel would have died in the line of duty.

That's what it says.

In the summary in the in the line of duty.

I just want to glance through the ordinance to make sure that I'm not.

Um it says while in the active service of fire rescue or emergency medical service.

So the fallen emergency worker is a result of the course of employment as a law enforcement officer, or while an active service of fire rescue or emergency medical service.

So that would be the distinction there.

And that distinction is also one of the things that has to match the county one in order for them to administer it?

That is correct, and that is actually cited in in the state law that to offer the credit.

So that same criteria is listed in the state law that authorizes us to do this.

Correct.

Okay.

Thank you.

Any other questions?

Or any questions.

All right.

Now looking for a motion.

I move to approve.

Second.

Move by council member Taylor, second by councilmember Brem.

All in favor.

One, two, three, four, five, six, and one abstention.

Thank you.

Passes six to one establishment.

And would we do that?

No.

Approval of ordinance G 2525 concerning a property tax credit for real property improvement used as a daycare center.

Thank you.

Good evening again.

I'm Katie Barkell, the chief financial officer for the city.

Um this item is an ordinance that would establish a property tax credit for improvements used as a licensed daycare center within the City of Frederick, um, as authorized under the Maryland Tax Property Article 9-13 and 9-3, I'm sorry, 9-213 and 9-214.

Um this credit applies to improvements to real property completed after July 1st, 200 2025 that are used exclusively for licensed daycare operations, including family child care homes, licensed child care centers, and daycare centers serving the elderly or adult populations.

The credit would be the lesser the lesser of 10,000 or the city property tax attributable to the portion of the improved um of the improvement on the property.

And it may be claimed for five consecutive years.

Um recent changes to the Maryland tax property article expanded the program to allow property tax credits for child care centers located on business property.

Um this would be kind of applicable to if an employer built a child care center on site for their employees, if that makes sense.

Frederick County adopted those changes earlier this year, back in January.

Um based on current estimates.

So I I contacted the county treasurer's office.

Currently, no one in Frederick County is has applied or received this tax credit, so we can only sort of guess how many people or how many businesses would apply for the tax credit.

But you know, if four to six providers participate, then the annual fiscal impact to the city would be between 40 and 60,000.

Um I don't expect it to be a material amount for the city, but you know, it is a you know, a a tool in the toolbox, as they say, to incentivize um the expansion of daycare capacity in the city.

Any questions?

Or any questions?

Uh a couple things.

The historic uh tax credit uh gets a lot of publicity through the Historic Preservation Commission and and staff.

And I just wonder if we don't we need to figure out how to do that with this particular credit.

I I don't know if there's a database of child care and adult care facilities that we could draw upon and make sure they know about it.

And uh Childcare Consortium.

Great, all right, thank you.

And and then on top of that, I know that organizations such as the Asian American Center of Frederick are trying to set up training programs for child care.

They they certainly would want to know about this because that would be a big benefit.

So I I just wonder through the city's communication staff if we can't figure out how to get the word out about this so that we don't end up the way the county has.

But this is a great program.

Thank you.

Sure.

Any other questions?

Any public comments.

Look for a motion.

M MFT approved.

Second.

Second.

Moved by Councilmember Taylor, second by Councilmember Bram.

All in favor.

Thank you.

All right.

That was the last item of business.

We this is an opportunity for council members to make any additional comments that they would want to.

No?

No.

Yes, March is women's history month, and so we recognize and celebrate the significant contributions of women, as I shared previously before in my committee hearing.

Secondly, I'd like to acknowledge and shout out Noah Grove, who will be starting the Paralympics tomorrow.

So all the best to him.

And lastly, um the more things change, the more things stayed the same.

I think it's so important that no one in our community lives in fear.

And it's incumbent for us as advocates and to use our voices to ensure the protection, particularly our children, that they live in a safe and welcoming community.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Shockerford.

Um along those same lines, there was an incident uh in the city in in my district yesterday at the entrance to Hill Street Park, which happens to be two minutes from my house, where uh there was a law enforcement action by uh immigration enforcement.

Um I'm not sure.

I'm not here to discuss immigration enforcement, uh at least not at this time.

Um but there was a serious impact to our community.

This happened about 200 feet from a school while kids were walking to school.

Um regardless of what was actually happening, there was a huge impact.

Kids were scared, kids were running, um, parents were scared, the school was uh uh dealing with that.

So this is not an issue about the enforcement action, but the impact to our community, like Councilmember Shakafer said, nobody in our community should live in fear.

I want to thank all the members of the council who at some point or another reached out to me uh yesterday to express our support um to be there uh after school, Councilmember Atkins was there uh to help support the community.

And it's important that as advocates we speak out and let the community know that we hear them and that we know that what they're dealing with, and that we're gonna be there to help them.

Any public comments with that we're adjourned.