Live Blog: Westminster Common Council Meeting

The Common Council meeting was called to order at 7 p.m. with about eight community members in attendance. 

National Preservation Month: Mayor Kevin Utz presented a Proclamation to Kristen McMasters, chair of the Westminster Historical Commission and Dean Camlin, vice chair. Mayor Utz read from the Proclamation, "Historic preservation is an effective tool for managing growth … historic preservation is relevant across the nation…it is important to celebrate the role of history in our lives… celebrating America's history..."  The Mayor called on the people of Westminster to recognize this proclamation that National Preservation Month be the month of May 2011.

Emergency Medical services Week: Mayor Utz proclaimed that May 15-21 is Emergency Medical Services week in Westminster. Mayor Utz presented Bob Cumberland, president of the Westminster Fire Company, with a proclamation stating that,  "emergency services is a vital public service...members of the team are ready to provide care 24 hours a day, seven days a week….I think it's appropriate to recognize the accomplishments of emergency services providers."

Cumberland was at the meeting to accept the proclamation. He said he wanted the ambulance crews to accept the proclamation but they were all out working.

"The dedication of these people means a lot to us--the fire department and you the citizens--as they provide you the care you need," Cumberland said.

Updated 7:50 p.m.
Public hearing for FY2012 budget
Westminster resident James Smith asked the Council if they intend to balance the budget without increasing taxes.

"It's getting to the point where we can’t afford to live here. My taxes are up over $1200, and my house assessment went down, my house has lost value," Smith said.

"There are vacant businesses on Rt. 140, in the mall and on Main St. I can’t afford the taxes here any longer. I'm just voicing my opinion that we’re driving people out of this beautiful area," Smith said.

Mayor Utz responded that the Council will not raise property taxes this year.

Westminster resident Jody Leidy said that she agreed that residents are getting taxed out of what is affordable. She said she wants to understand why the city's taxes are so high and why City residents bear the burden of maintaining roads that people from outside the City use regularly. 

Councilman Tony Chiavacci said that Leidy made good points when it comes to bearing the burden of paying for the roads.

"Part of your tax dollars are supposed to come back to us to help us maintain roads, but state legislators saw fit to take almost all the funding away, they told us to take on that burden," Chiavacci said.  

"You pay taxes at the pump for road maintenance but that money doesn’t come back to us. In that regard, I’m with you. But we can’t do anything about that. We have no ability to affect anyone’s taxes outside city limits," Chiavacci said.  

Chiavacci added that in comparison to similar sized cities, (specifically Cumberland, Hagerstown and Frederick) that Westminster residents pay a lower tax rate. 

Councilman Robert Wack added that the City is making progress in catching up on capital projects, which was the purpose of increasing taxes last year.

Updated 8:03 p.m.
The Common Council approved the FY2012 operating budget. 

Adoption of Budget Ordinance No. 825
Director of Finance Gary Ehlers explained the goal of the ordinance. Councilman Wack followed up to explain that this ordinance creates a line item for capital projects to ensure that the tax money the City receives as a result of last year's increased tax rate go towards specific projects.  

"We want to make sure the money we raise as a result of last year's tax increase only go to the capital projects, to make sure that money doesn’t bleed into the general fund," Wack said.

"We have created a separate fund and we will carry a reserve in that fund and that’s how we’ll know that we’re caught up. When we get to the point where we’ve reached a stable maintenance program, we can bring those taxes back down again. That’s how we’ll be able to do that, we have a plan," Wack said.  

The Common Council approved the adoption of budget ordinance no. 825. 

At 8:11 p.m. the Council took a recess to get the election results. 

Updated 8:29 p.m.
Common Council Elections
There were 719 votes cast in the Westminster Municipal election. Seven candidates were running for three seats. Dennis Frazier, Robert Wack and Paul Whitson were voted into the three seats on the Common Council. 

The election officials reported the following results:

Suzanne Albert, 249 votes

Dennis Frazier, 366 votes

William Gill, 284 votes

Darcel Harris, 99 votes

Greg Pecoraro, 257 votes

Robert Wack, 295 votes

Paul Whitson, 356 votes