Several items were discussed at Wednesday nights Work Session:
Discussion on Business license tax improvements.
The discussion was to add a minimum tax due of $30 and to make edits to the application process. Currently there is no minimum so businesses have to go through a complicated process for a few dollars in fees. Also many businesses pay less than the cost of processing the license so this change seems to make sense. I asked the town accountant if their were any other ways we could simplify the license further. She said she would look into it and get back to TC.
Discussion on storm water management plan review of fees.
Currently the fee is $100 but the actual cost of storm water engineers assessments is anywhere from $150 to $350. Any additional cost for the engineers is paid by the taxpayers. After town council discussion we all agreed that raising the fee to $325 would pass the cost onto the developer versus having taxpayers cover the additional costs. A public hearing will be set to discuss this issue and get public input.
Eleanor Park Hearing:
As many of you know there was a hearing on whether or not to accept a $387k grant for Eleanor Park placing an Open Space designation with lifelong restrictions on that land.
During the hearing it was announced this is no longer considered an easement like the original application stated.
Somehow the application converted to a “open space” designation, eliminating a supermajority vote (3/4) and ultimately allowing passage.
A large number of residents were in attendance and many spoke for and some spoke against accepting the grant.
Once all the in person and read testimonies were over the Town Council had a discussion.
I made a parliamentary inquiry to the town attorney as to whether this grant acceptance should be voted on at a work session because section 3-8 of our bylaws seems to limit work sessions to routine administrative matters. The town attorney said that it was not clear but agreed with Tom Moncure that a vote to suspend the rules would be in order to cover us to vote at a work session. It was 4 to 3 to suspend. I voted no because I believe this is a matter for a regular meeting.
During Council discussion I brought up several points:
People did not have enough time to look at all the details in this grant and the new open space designation.
The agenda was released to the public Monday morning shortly after it was released to Town Council members via email distribution and not added to the Town website until the day of the hearing.
I stated that I campaigned on doing a real survey or referendum and several residents testified to that same point.
The details, implications, open space designation and ultimately what will end up happening to EP is not clear.
once the debate was over I made a motion to table this decision until we could have more information and time to look over all the details. Tom Moncure seconded my motion and it failed 2 to 5.
The final vote to accept the grant was held and passed 5 to 2 with only Tom and I voting Nay.
There will be a later vote to designate open space and there are a lot of details in the grant terms that people should still consider reviewing because this process is not nearly complete.
In summary the meeting was over 4 hours (1 hour and 45 minutes of Eleanor Park hearing testimony). The majority of testimony was in favor but I was not convinced this is what the majority of CB residents want. During my campaign I spoke to hundreds of people and I believe the majority of residents agree that a proper survey should be done. Several residents asked for a referendum or survey and that’s what I would support. I did not have my mind made up on the future of EP but placing a lifelong easement on a $1.2M (2018 valuation) piece of prime water view real estate for a fraction of the value does not make sense to many residents. We as a council could have chosen to make it a park without this lifelong restriction. Our community may have a future need for this land that would benefit all but council just voted that option away.
Additional updates - County Property Tax Reassessments
During the 11/17/21 TC Meeting I asked our county representative when property tax reassessments would be going out and he said he would get me an update. The tax assessments will be sent out mid December. I do not know the impact on county taxes but people should be prepared for an increase.
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