An informed electorate is the cornerstone of our government. To keep you current on the activities of your City Council, I will be posting periodic updates on matters before the City Council which impact on Ward One. The City of Annapolis maintains an excellent and extensive website and I have included links where relevant. Please feel free to contact me at 410.263.5607 or aldisrael@annapolis.gov with any concerns or comments on matters of concern to you.

Alcoholic Beverages: Approximately half of the one hundred or so alcoholic beverage licenses granted by the city's Alcoholic Beverage Control Board are for premises within the First Ward. Ordinarily I am opposed to the granting of additional licenses   in the First Ward. However, there are circumstances that justify an exception. At the request of two constituents, I have introduced legislation to create a new wine bar class. In the MX zone, this would be a permitted use, subject to standards set by the Director of Planning and Zoning member. (Click to here to view O-40-06.)

The proposed location would be the ground floor of the building on West Street which was formerly a fire house. I am persuaded that a wine bar would be an attractive amenity which would bring foot traffic to West Street in the evening and would not create the problems often associated with the "bar scene."  For those residents who are troubled by intoxicated customers of bars, please remember that the annual renewal of alcoholic beverage licenses is subject to protest. Among the grounds for protesting a renewal is the licensee’s violation of the Board's "good neighbor regulation." Protests must be filed by March 31st.      

Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance: Last year, the out-going City Council declared a moratorium on development in newly annexed territory until an adequate public facilities ordinance (APFO) could be enacted. (Click to here to view R-16-05.)

At the Council's meeting on May 8th, a resolution was introduced to declare a moratorium on issuing building permits for most development applications in the city until an APFO can be enacted. (Click here to view R-21-06.) The resolution, in amended form, was passed by the Council on July 10th.

On September 11th, Alderman Cordle proposed an Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance O-32-06 which was referred to the Rules Committee as well as the Environmental Matters Committee. (Click to here to view O-32-06.)  The Council held a public hearing on this bill on October 23rd and will have at least two work sessions to review the bill. The work sessions (tentatively scheduled for November 20th and December 4th at 5:30 PM in the Council Room of City Hall) are open to the public. Two important issues are how such an ordinance would affect the Historic District and who would pay for new or improved public facilities.                

Annexation:  In addition to passage of above-described moratorium on development in annexed territory, the Mayor appointed a workgroup on annexation. The work group recommended that each annexation be subject to an annexation agreement, which would include a detailed land use plan.  (Click here to read the full report.)  The only pending proposal to annex territory relates to the Samaras property at Georgetown and Bay Ridge Roads. (Click to view R-10-06 and O-12-06.)  

A public hearing on this was on September 25th. The crucial issue is what is the advantage to the city (i.e., the municipal government and residents) if the property were annexed.

Appointments: The city has approximately two dozen boards and commissions.
(Click here for a complete list of Boards and Commissions.) Although there is no compensation, there is the satisfaction that goes with public service. As vacancies occur, I make recommendations for appointment to some of these bodies. Upon my recommendation, these Ward One residents have been appointed to the following positions:

• Emily (Penny) Evans, Election Law Task Force
• McShane Glover, Commission on Art in Public Places
• Geoffrey Mitchell, Board of Appeals.
• Shelley Rentsch, Historic Preservation Commission

I urge Ward One residents who might be interested in a particular Board or Commission to get in touch with me at aldisrael@annapolis.gov.

Assessments: See Property Taxes.

Boat Show Leases: The leases for the boat shows provide for a transportation plan with a parking element.  Such leases are subject to approval by the City Council. Two months before the event, all affected parties should meet to review the plan and consider how it can be implemented. For similar events, like the Maritime Festival, there should be requirement for such a plan and a meeting to review same.  I plan to insure this is done.

Budget:  In the budget, the Mayor recommended no decrease in the tax rate which is 56 cents per one hundred dollars of assessed value. As assessed value of real property went up substantially during the recent State reassessment, applying the same tax rate would increase individual tax bills. 

I expressed my opposition to the use of operating funds for capital projects, whether they are the city's own projects and those of grantees which serve a public purpose. Capital projects with a useful life of more than 20 years should ordinarily be funded by issuing bonds so the financial burden can be shared by those who benefit.

The Finance committee recommended a three-cent reduction in the tax rate.  Since the budget must be balanced, quite a bit of time went into reducing the city budget to accommodate a rate reduction.  A vote on the budgets, schedules and tax rate took place on May 22nd and the three-cent reduction in the rate passed.

Ward One residents will be pleased to learn that the budget includes funds for more police foot patrols, the West Street shuttle and an education program by the Historic Preservation Commission. The budget as passed is on the city's website and can be viewed by clicking here.

To clarify the Council's authority to revise not only the operating budget after it has taken effect but also an adopted capital budget,  I  introduced legislation to expressly sanction revision of both of these budgets (O-16-06). This legislation has been enacted by the City Council and has taken effect. As part of the budget process and as required by State law, representatives of the city and county  conferred on the tax rate which the county will levy within the city. As the city provides various services for which city residents are already taxed, the county takes this into consideration and sets a lower tax rate for city residents than for residents outside the city. This difference is the "tax differential". Under a formula used to determine this difference, the county tax rate for city residents will be 37 cents less than the rate for residents outside the city.  See also Property Tax.

Code Revision: The City Charter requires the City Council to provide for the recodification of the city's ordinances at least every ten years. The Mayor asked me to chair a Task Force to review the Code for obsolete, redundant and invalid provisions.  The other members are W. Minor Carter, Kathryn Dahl, Jonathan Hodgson, Midgett Parker, Frederick Sussman and Otho Thompson. Any substantive changes are subject to Council approval. The Task Force, with the assistance of J.W. Spencer, has completed its review and is in the process of preparing a report on recommended revisions.

Crime: To deal with the problem of street crime in the Inner West Street corridor I organized  a public safety committee composed of residents and the business owners. Although these two groups have not agreed always on specifics, there is clearly a common interest in combating crime. (Although the committee is working closely with the Police Department, it is not part of the department.)

The committee met monthly to develop an agenda of specific actions. Subsequent meetings will assess progress on the agenda and add goals as needed. The co-chairs of the Committee are Pam Finley, owner of Sean Donlon’s Irish Pub and Dennis Deitch, a resident of Southgate Avenue.

As mentioned, the FY 2007 budget includes funds for more foot patrols.  To combat the prostitution problem on West Street, the Police Department intends to install surveillance cameras. I plan to discuss with State legislators the need to extend Maryland's forfeiture law to motor vehicles used for prostitution.

Electric Utility Rates: Caps on residential electric rates expired at the end of June. The caps were imposed as part of State legislation which deregulated the supplying of electric power. The legislation, enacted in 1999, was premised on competition among suppliers which would hold down prices.  Since that competition did not materialize, it was predicted electric rates could rise by 25 to 50% and possibly as much as 70%.  However, legislation enacted by the General Assembly limits the immediate impact of removing the caps. The city government is already part of a purchasing consortium for its own energy needs. Although the city could also purchase electric power on behalf of residents who do not "opt out" under a pilot plan of the Public Service Commission the city would have to enter a three-year agreement with a supplier. Given the volatility of the energy market, this would be too great a financial risk. However, it is my understanding that a cooperative of residential users may be organized.

Historic Preservation:  People who purchase property in the Historic District are often unaware of the special requirements that come with owning property in that area.  To address this problem I have introduced legislation providing that sales contracts for real property within the Historic District must advise potential purchasers of this fact so will be fully informed when making such a major financial commitment (O-19-06).

Lighthouse Shelter: It has been proposed that a larger homeless shelter be constructed on an acre of ground and that the shelter now at the corner of West St. and Madison Place be closed. As the West Street shelter serves a genuine need and has generally been accepted by nearby residents, I favor keeping this facility open. However, I oppose any expansion at the current site. If plan are developed for a second shelter in or near the city, I would be glad to consider a request for financial assistance.

Market House: The ten year management contract of the Market House by Site Realty was approved by the out-going Council (click here to view O-36-05), and did not reserve to the present Council approval authority over the selection of vendors.

It has been revealed that the air conditioning system is inadequate. At a meeting of the Finance Committee, I questioned continued use of company that made the miscalculation and urged aggressive pursuit of claim against those responsible for the inadequate equipment.

Naval Academy: The City enjoys a good, cooperative relationship with the Naval Academy and representatives of the Academy recently celebrated the re-opening of the pedestrian gateway to the Academy at Craig Street.  This sort of outreach to the community is most welcome.

Recently, the Academy has reiterated its policy of banning midshipmen under 21 from drinking alcoholic beverages. As the city licenses the premises at which such beverages are sold, the city has the responsibility to discipline licensees who serve underaged persons, including midshipmen.  

Parking and Traffic: The parking problem downtown results from the difficulties of reconciling a 17th century street plan with the motor vehicle age. Various plans and studies have re-iterated the need for those visiting or employed in downtown Annapolis who do not need to use their vehicle during their visit or employment to park them at satellite lots and ride a clean, efficient and timely shuttle. However, late employees often park their cars on the residential streets as the shuttle does not operate when late-shift employees at bars and restaurants leave work.  The employees know parking enforcement officers leave work in the late afternoon so parking transgressions will go unticketed. Until a long term solution can be implemented, I am proposing  that the city's parking garages and surface lots be made available at reduced or no charge to late shift employees and that parking restrictions for non-residents be strictly enforced.  

As a result of dealing with various facets of the parking problem, I have asked the Office of Law to draft comprehensive parking legislation which would:

• Codify current parking principles
• Establish an advisory commission with representation from residents and businesses
• Provide for a parking coordinator
• Escalate fines
• Subject the vehicles of repeated offenders to towing
• Require enforcement from 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM
• Establish a Parking Fund to provide money for enforcement and the shuttle service to the stadium lot.

After affected parties have had an opportunity to review the draft and suggest changes, I will introduce the bill for Council consideration.

Property Taxes:  At the beginning of the year, property owners received notice of the new assessed value of their property from the State's Department of Assessments and Taxation. Owners wishing to contest this value had until February 13th to file an appeal. All property is assessed at market value.  For residential property, this value is determined by comparable sales or cost. In the First Ward, the average increase in residential assessed values was 80% over the values of the reassessment three years ago. Under State law, the increase will be phased in over three years and capped at 10% per year. Although State law allows local governments to lower this cap, the city did not do so by the Nov. 25th deadline.  In contrast, the county’s cap is 2%.  None of the caps are applicable to income-producing (rental) properties.

In the May 22nd budget meeting, the budget was approved with a three-cent reduction in the city rate.

Public Schools: Under State law, municipal corporations, such as Annapolis, have no formal role in governing or supporting the public schools. However, the city is responsible for public safety, including crossing guards, and may be able to assist in providing after-school recreation programs. The Council enacted an ordinance (click here to view O-10-06), introduced by Wayne Taylor, to create an Education Commission to act as a liaison with the public school system.      

Public Library on West Street: Although the Library Board for Anne Arundel County is understood to be interested in relocating the West Street Library to the Annapolis Town Centre in Parole, the county government has declined to provide the funds for this purpose.  Under State law, the city has no formal role in governing or supporting public libraries.  Funding for capital expenditures of this nature would need to come from the County.

Post Office: The Post Office on Church Circle is a civic building which should be used for civic purposes.  The most recent plans call for preserving the 1901 structure which faces Church Circle. The Postal Service would continue to use the lobby floor to provide postal services. The current proposal is to remove a 1930 addition and replace it retail space on the ground level and residences on the second floor.  Underground parking is included and accessed from Northwest Street.  This addition at the back of the building would not substantially alter the front of the building.

Recreation Center: In the FY2006 capital budget, the outgoing Council expanded the scope of a proposed recreation center for Truxton Park to include a competitive running track. However, no concurrent increase in funding was created to cover the expanded plans. Earlier this year, the Council approved a revision in the capital budget to divide the project into two parts.  One would be to construct a community recreation center, as originally proposed, at Truxton Park. The other would be to join with the county to construct a regional facility (at a site to be determined) with a competitive running track.

Regulations: Legislation has been enacted which provides that a department, board or commission which adopts a regulation having the force and effect of law must have express authority to adopt such a regulation. Moreover, except in emergencies, proposed regulations must be posted on the City's website. Adopted regulations must also be posted on the City's website. (Click here to view O-06-06.)

Roof-top Dining: A  special exception application has been filed by Jerry's Seafood to operate a restaurant with roof-top dining at 4 Dock Street. The application is under  consideration by the Board of Appeals. In a hearing before that Board, I pointed out that existing law requires that a business be conducted within a building. Indeed, this requirement is the reason legislation has been introduced to permit roof-top dining. As to the proposed legislation, it is important to know how other cities with historic districts, such as Charleston, S.C., handle this issue.

Undergrounding of Wires: The fire on Main Street in November reinforced that the undergrounding of wires in the Historic District is not just an esthetic issue but a question of public safety.  Firefighters experience significant difficulty providing timely service in the Historic District and overhead wires can prohibit use of ladders needed to effectively fight fires.  At the Mayor’s request, I worked with Minor Carter, the City lobbyist, to obtain State funding to assist with this project.

West Street Development: The number of monthly passes for Knighton Garage is currently capped at 75. (Click here to view Ordinance R-5-05.) If the Knighton garage is not generating for the relevant sufficient revenue to pay the debt service on the construction bonds, I favor increasing the number of monthly permits but only for the next fiscal year.  In the long term, Inner West Street employees who do not use their vehicle during the hours of their employment need to be parking at the Navy stadium and using the shuttle. Increased parking fees must, as represented to the Council, be used to improve the shuttle to make Stadium parking a more appealing alternative.

11/3/06

Best Wheels in the 4th of July parade! Dick and Richard Kibbe, the car's owner, accept the award from Mayor Ellen Moyer and the Girl Scouts