OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Frederick City Council Work Session: July 14, 2026 - Power Lines, Connectivity, Affordable Housing & Noise

City Council Committee Meetings — Tuesday, July 14, 2026
BodyFrederick, Maryland
SessionCity Council Committee Meetings
DateTuesday, July 14, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:39:05

Transcript — Verbatim
0:07

One nation under God.

0:09

Indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

0:14

Great, thank you.

0:15

And uh we're we're going to switch uh switch presentations.

0:20

One and two remain as advertised.

0:23

We're going to put the moderately priced dwelling unit ordinance discussion start uh as number three and then finish up with the noise ordinance.

0:31

So uh if uh if our power placement person could come up.

0:39

There we go.

0:40

Thank you.

0:43

Yes, please, I'm sorry.

0:44

And uh the microphone, you have to hit the button, the red light goes on.

0:50

Well, actually, you're your number two.

0:54

Okay.

0:54

Yep, sorry.

0:58

I'm sorry, we don't have a crazy.

1:02

And if you could introduce yourself and your company, and uh you because of the way the world works, we have to talk uncomfortably close to the microphone to make it.

1:11

Okay.

1:11

There we go.

1:13

My name is Dave Klein uh with Potomac Edison.

1:16

We're up at 421 East Patrick Street, and I manage external affairs for Potomac Edison in Maryland.

1:24

And uh I got the question to come and talk about burying power lines in the city.

1:31

And actually, I think we discussed that on the streets about six months ago.

1:35

And uh so I don't have a formal presentation with pictures and so forth, but I did come to answer questions and and tell you how the process works.

1:46

Um a little bit of history uh back in the 80s when I started at Potomac Edison, we were fully regulated from distribution, transmission, uh generation, power plants, it was all Potomac Edison.

2:00

And the way we worked, if a project whatever came up and there was something we needed to do to improve uh service, then we would do it, and every year we would go in for a road case to ask for a rate, you know, rate increase or whatever to cover whatever we did.

2:17

The world changed in the late 90s with deregulation.

2:21

Uh we divested uh the power plant division is a separate company, transmission became a separate company.

2:28

Actually, um, as point of fact, in 1994, we had asked, we had done a rate case for a rate increase, and we did not have another one, another rate increase at request until 2018.

2:44

So we went 24 years on the same race.

2:47

So we're pretty frugal.

2:48

We have a pretty good history of being frugal.

2:51

Um we deregulated in the late 90s, another thing happened before we were completely regulated in what we you know could or could not do, we did get permission then from the Service Commission from the Public Service Commission that we could do what we call premium service or customer requested work.

3:12

And the rules of generally of our tariff and of our world changed in that the philosophy was that uh uh a grandmother someplace sitting on a fixed income should not see her rate increase because of industrial growth or any kind of residential growth someplace else.

3:31

So the tariff was designed that for uh commercial industrial growth and development so forth, those customers paid basically to get the service and then they were on their rate.

3:42

Um so it's kind of pay as you go.

3:45

And that's the th uh the philosophy behind the uh premium service, the customer requested work.

3:51

We can do pretty much whatever you ask as long as it's not uh illegal or unsafe.

4:00

Um there are things that we can do, things that we will do, things that we cannot do, and things that we won't do.

4:08

I'll give you an example.

4:09

If you look down uh Patrick Street and Frederick, you know, you don't see any transformers, you don't see anything.

4:17

That was done many years ago, and we would never do that again.

4:21

Um the there are deep vaults there, transformers are buried in the deep vaults, everything is underground, and we have had some serious problems over the years because of that.

4:32

We won't do it again.

4:33

As an example, um I think it was 2002 when a hurricane came through, a lot of rain and flooding and so forth.

4:40

Well, those vaults fill with water.

4:43

And when the restaurants and people downtown are out of power, they want it back because it's their life.

4:48

You know, I am the first person that hears about that.

4:52

Um the issue we ran into there is when the when a vault fills with water and we have to pump it out, you can't pump it out into the street, it's got to be collected, hauled off, and and tested.

5:02

Well, the only company that could do that was out in Cumberland.

5:06

So we had to call and wait for a truck in the midst of all these storms, a special a specialized company to come to pump out the underground vaults just so we could get in to work on them.

5:18

Um and that happens actually all the time.

5:21

We discovered uh in without too many details, we discovered during one of the episodes that a vault was I don't want to say it was filled with grease, but the transformer was swimming in cooking grease.

5:36

Um one of the restaurants right up the street had been dumping its um deep fryer oil and so forth out in the street to let it run down into the grates and so forth, which actually ran into our uh transformer vault.

5:51

We charged them to have that removed, but it was, you know, you can't work on it.

5:55

You can't go down into a vault and work in a situation like that.

5:59

And then tragically, it was 2000 um I should remember, it was around 2012.

6:07

It was either that hurricane or the Dray Show, but we we had a lot of outages, and we had to bring crews in, and we had crews in from New Jersey, and uh it still chokes me up to talk about it.

6:19

But a young uh apprentice lineman was down in the heat of the summer working in the vault vault, and it's very hot.

6:27

And lines were grounded dead and grounded, supposedly, and he took his gloves off and touched you know, a connection and it killed him.

6:38

Um it was an uh uh an eye opener for the entire company because miles away the line that we had dead and grounded traversed near a high voltage transmission line and through induction it it had an induced current in it, and it was enough to kill the guy.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Noise Ordinance████████████████████████████28%
Engineering And Infrastructure████████████████████████24%
Technology and Innovation███████████████15%
Affordable Housing███████████████15%
Procedural█████5%
Public Safety████4%
Community Engagement███3%
Budget Equity Analysis██2%
Economic Development██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Frederick City Council Work Session: July 14, 2026

The Frederick City Council held a work session on July 14, 2026, covering presentations on burying overhead power lines, enhancing wireless connectivity, updates to the moderately priced dwelling unit (MPDU) ordinance, and a proposed noise ordinance revision. Presentations were given by Potomac Edison, Milestone Towers, and the City Attorney's Office, with public comment heard on the noise ordinance and previous items.

Potomac Edison Presentation on Burying Power Lines

  • Dave Klein, External Affairs Manager for Potomac Edison, presented on the feasibility, cost, and challenges of burying overhead power lines in the city. He estimated a cost of roughly $500,000 per block for Potomac Edison's work alone, with additional costs for trenching and conduit, potentially totaling $50 to $70 million citywide.
  • Klein described historical problems with underground vaults in downtown Frederick, including flooding, grease contamination from restaurant dumping, and a tragic 2012 accident where a lineman was electrocuted by an induced current.
  • He noted that underground lines are not a panacea: faults are harder to locate, repairs take longer, and customer service entrances must be changed at the owner's expense (approx. $15,000 per property).
  • Tracy Coleman, Director of Public Works, confirmed that new residential subdivisions are required to bury utilities, and that city utilities in those areas are typically buried. She noted that full-depth road reconstructions (which occur one to two every five years) do not easily lend themselves to burying lines, but conduit could be installed under sidewalks during such projects.
  • A councilmember asked about using a hypothetical $60 million grant for burying lines; Klein deferred the question to the city's priorities.
  • No decisions or votes were taken on this informational item.

Enhancing Wireless and Digital Connectivity

  • Len Forkas, founder and president of Milestone Towers, presented on improving wireless infrastructure. His company has built 10 sites in Frederick, including a recent tower at Butterfly Lane generating $30,000 in net revenue annually (growing to $43,000), with over $100,000 generated since construction.
  • Forkas explained that densification—adding new facilities in coverage gaps—is the primary tool for keeping up with data demand, and that the city can encourage investment by being "open for business" with transparent processes and pre-vetted agreements.
  • A staff member noted the city already has a contracting vehicle from the 2021 Butterfly Lane site agreement; the council directed staff to explore expanding that agreement and identify potential sites for future towers, with public hearings to follow.

Moderately Priced Dwelling Unit (MPDU) Ordinance Update

  • Jody Astoich, Housing Policy Advisor, presented preliminary recommendations to revise the MPDU ordinance. The city's Housing Fund currently has approximately $4.5 million, funded by developer fees in lieu of building MPDUs (currently 12.5% of units for projects of 25+ units, priced for 70–90% AMI).
  • Since 2017, Housing Fund awards have supported 628 affordable units, including projects like 528 North Market Apartments (59 units), South Street Center (96 units), The Junction (179 units), and others.
  • Recommendations included: streamline eligible uses into broader categories (e.g., health/safety, accessibility, energy); add flexible language for responsiveness; set AMI restrictions (e.g., 30–80% AMI); and create a separate ordinance for the Housing Fund to distinguish it from the MPDU requirement.
  • A councilmember requested data on how the Fund has been spent historically; staff agreed to provide that analysis. One project—the Himes Avenue project (about 125 units)—is currently in the pipeline for gap financing.

Noise Ordinance Proposal

  • Mike Fry from the City Attorney's Office presented a draft revision to the noise ordinance, noting it was developed in consultation with law enforcement and aims to balance downtown nightlife with resident quality of life.
  • Key issues: the current ordinance does not cover outdoor special events (e.g., Carroll Creek Park, parades) with amplified sound, but state law sets maximum decibel limits (e.g., 62 dB daytime, 52 dB nighttime). The city cannot allow higher levels without state legislation (as Howard County did for Merriweather Post).
  • The draft includes a "plainly audible" standard (100 feet from source) for enforcement when officers lack sound meters.
  • Public comment included concerns from business owners: Greg Brown (Brewers Alley) argued the language is subjective, could target hospitality unfairly, and would force owners to bear costly sound studies ($12,000–$15,000) without clear decibel limits. Eric Schultz (Jojo's) said his professional system operates at 90–92 dB indoors, well below outdoor limits, and feared penalties (fines up to $5,000 and 30 days in jail) could put businesses out.
  • Kara Norman (Downtown Frederick Partnership) emphasized the importance of entertainment for downtown's health, urged balanced language, and questioned the impact on special events.
  • Councilmember Hempel noted the distinction between occasional joyful events and persistent noise; member Shacklford suggested convening all stakeholders for further discussion.
  • No votes or decisions were taken; the draft is expected to be revised after public input.

Key Outcomes

  • Staff directed to explore expanding the existing 2021 Milestone Towers agreement and identify new potential tower sites, with public hearings to follow.
  • Staff agreed to provide a historical analysis of Housing Fund expenditures and return with more detailed MPDU ordinance revisions.
  • The noise ordinance draft will be revised following public comment; no formal action was taken.

Meeting Transcript

One nation under God. Indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Great, thank you. And uh we're we're going to switch uh switch presentations. One and two remain as advertised. We're going to put the moderately priced dwelling unit ordinance discussion start uh as number three and then finish up with the noise ordinance. So uh if uh if our power placement person could come up. There we go. Thank you. Yes, please, I'm sorry. And uh the microphone, you have to hit the button, the red light goes on. Well, actually, you're your number two. Okay. Yep, sorry. I'm sorry, we don't have a crazy. And if you could introduce yourself and your company, and uh you because of the way the world works, we have to talk uncomfortably close to the microphone to make it. Okay. There we go. My name is Dave Klein uh with Potomac Edison. We're up at 421 East Patrick Street, and I manage external affairs for Potomac Edison in Maryland. And uh I got the question to come and talk about burying power lines in the city. And actually, I think we discussed that on the streets about six months ago. And uh so I don't have a formal presentation with pictures and so forth, but I did come to answer questions and and tell you how the process works. Um a little bit of history uh back in the 80s when I started at Potomac Edison, we were fully regulated from distribution, transmission, uh generation, power plants, it was all Potomac Edison. And the way we worked, if a project whatever came up and there was something we needed to do to improve uh service, then we would do it, and every year we would go in for a road case to ask for a rate, you know, rate increase or whatever to cover whatever we did. The world changed in the late 90s with deregulation. Uh we divested uh the power plant division is a separate company, transmission became a separate company. Actually, um, as point of fact, in 1994, we had asked, we had done a rate case for a rate increase, and we did not have another one, another rate increase at request until 2018. So we went 24 years on the same race. So we're pretty frugal. We have a pretty good history of being frugal. Um we deregulated in the late 90s, another thing happened before we were completely regulated in what we you know could or could not do, we did get permission then from the Service Commission from the Public Service Commission that we could do what we call premium service or customer requested work. And the rules of generally of our tariff and of our world changed in that the philosophy was that uh uh a grandmother someplace sitting on a fixed income should not see her rate increase because of industrial growth or any kind of residential growth someplace else. So the tariff was designed that for uh commercial industrial growth and development so forth, those customers paid basically to get the service and then they were on their rate. Um so it's kind of pay as you go. And that's the th uh the philosophy behind the uh premium service, the customer requested work. We can do pretty much whatever you ask as long as it's not uh illegal or unsafe. Um there are things that we can do, things that we will do, things that we cannot do, and things that we won't do. I'll give you an example. If you look down uh Patrick Street and Frederick, you know, you don't see any transformers, you don't see anything. That was done many years ago, and we would never do that again. Um the there are deep vaults there, transformers are buried in the deep vaults, everything is underground, and we have had some serious problems over the years because of that. We won't do it again. As an example, um I think it was 2002 when a hurricane came through, a lot of rain and flooding and so forth. Well, those vaults fill with water. And when the restaurants and people downtown are out of power, they want it back because it's their life. You know, I am the first person that hears about that. Um the issue we ran into there is when the when a vault fills with water and we have to pump it out, you can't pump it out into the street, it's got to be collected, hauled off, and and tested. Well, the only company that could do that was out in Cumberland. So we had to call and wait for a truck in the midst of all these storms, a special a specialized company to come to pump out the underground vaults just so we could get in to work on them.

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