This evening marks the beginning of budget time in our fair county. At 7:00 the council will hold a hearing on the Board of Education’s operating budget. Do we see dead horse memes in our future? No doubt. Let’s just hope we can have a productive evening without having to yell this at our favorite undynamic duo:
We won’t listen to comments for three bills and the budget. We just can’t. However, if you would like to click here, or read this nice summary in the Frederick News Post. We already reported on the first half of the meeting, and now we will bring you what we know you’ve been sitting on the edge of your seats for: Council Member Comments.
Tony’s got nothing to say so we are off to Kirby, and oh dear Sappho. According to Kirby taxes have gone up 10%, and since he doesn’t know anyone whose income has gone up 10% the money doesn’t match up and everyone should move out of Frederick County. Because 10% of one number is always equal to 10% of another number, right?
Then there was a long winded diatribe, after he shuffled through his papers for awhile, about how he was lied to about payment to a lobbyist. He even referred to our pal Katherine Heerbrandt’s blog. And we encourage you to read the post he was referring to here. Instead of going through Kirby’s rant about how he was lied to and told things were none of his business, you be the judge of what really happened. All told, we really don’t think Kirby has a very good understanding of the charter and the powers allotted to the different branches of county government. We know, durh.
Jerry informs us that every member of the council was sent an email to make an appointment with the County Executive to discuss budget priorities. Shall we take wagers on who didn’t make an appointment, or is that too easy?
Billy, oh dear Mother Earth, Billy. He enlightens us to the fact that budget time is really interesting because taxes never go down. (Is that the only reason, pal?) He then asks some really deep rhetorical questions:
“Where does it stop?”
“Where does it end?”
“Where does it end?”
“In Frederick County it looks like it never ends.”
Jessica also reiterates the fact that on January 24th all council members received an email from the County Executive asking for a meeting regarding the budget. She also tells us about some very interesting things she learned on a tour of Ft. Detrick. We like science and knowledge and stuff so all of this was very fun to listen to.
M.C. is the gold star winner of the council member comments!
M.C. finds it concerning, as do we, that after two years of going through the budget process that is explicitly put forth in the charter, there are still questions about how it works! While she appreciates the effort in coming up with an alternative budget (we don’t!), according to the charter the council can’t do anything with it!! So, she encourages her fellow council members to put their efforts into making amendments to the CE’s budget AS IT IS SPELLED OUT IN THE CHARTER! She also reminds some of her fellow public servants that the charter states that when money is moved from one category to another it must come before the council. The County Executive, per the charter, is allowed to issue checks up to $20,000 without council approval. She then encourages Shrelauter her fellow council members, that if they don’t like these parts of the charter, then they should put some amendments forth next Spring. Until then, thems the rules! Stop wasting everyone’s precious time!
Next week there are a series of hearings and workshops on the budget. Stay tuned!
We are going to put forth a motion to re-name budget season! It will now be known as: “The time when the dead horses get their due!” We’ve been covering the council for two years now, and this time of the year is always the WORST. Kirby hasn’t trotted out his nonsensical budget thus far, but PATIENCE! For it will occur. Let’s get you up to speed on tonight’s beating meeting.
Tony pulls the 3rd reading of his bill allowing farms to host events. Recognizes it had many faults and the planning commission was not going to approve it. Plans to bring it back at a later date.
Kirby wants a budget adjustment pulled concerning new fire trucks, and what’s that we hear?! Billy wants one pulled as well! He wants the Veteran’s court adjustment pulled. More on those two in a minute. Billy wants to know who is running the meeting and he is ignored. All is right with the world..for a moment.
6-1 in favor of approving the agenda. Billy is not, even though he got his item pulled. 7-0 for the consent agenda. Which is curious because didn’t Billy say that he abstained from all budget votes because he didn’t have enough information?
Now, it’s time to talk about the fire trucks. You see folks, the fire department NEEDS a new ladder truck and four new pumper trucks. Turns out we don’t have any reserve vehicles in this county. AND the ladder truck they want to replace is 17 years old. This transfer needs to be approved as soon as possible because the prices will go up in June and they still need to secure financing. Local heroes, Rick Harcum and Lori Depies, along with representatives from the Frederick County Fire Department, explain the necessity of this. Well, well, well, you nice folks are going to get some Shrelauter and Tony treatment first! Kirby doesn’t think the old trucks are at their end cycle, and Billy doesn’t have enough info!! Tony says that it is “unfortunate” and “inappropriate” that they aren’t given all the information and they are just expected to “take one person’s word for it”. Ms. Depies explains, ever so calmly, that the info Billy wants was sent to the County Executive since she is the signer and executor of the lease. The council’s job is to simply transfer the money, that was already set aside for this exact purchase, to another part of the budget. You see folks, it had already been decided to buy these trucks last budget cycle! They’ve found an alternative lease program. Instead of getting an operational lease, that you have to pay taxes on, they will get a capital lease that will be tax exempt! So, they aren’t arguing over whether or not to buy these trucks, as that was decided last year. They simply have to move the ALREADY allocated money from one part of the budget to another to SAVE the county some money. What do these guys even believe in anymore? Also, lease seems to be another trigger word for Kirby. For when it is said, he goes on and on about how his school lease back idea could have also saved the county lots and lots of cash!
Final vote: 5 Ayes, 1 No (Kirby) and 1 Abstain (Guess who?).
Not really sure why Billy pulled the Veteran’s court item, as it seemed to be because he wanted to let Judge Rolle talk about it. Couldn’t that have been handled another way? That budget item was passed 7-0. We did notice that Billy does use his manners around people he seems to like.
Constant Yield time.
Yes, it was horrible. The rate is staying the same. Kirby has some questions, no wait, not a question, a clarification. Wants us all to know that the concept says, well, he’s not going to read the whole thing but, blah, blah, blah, it’s a tax increase. When it’s not. The rate stays the same, but here we are again:
There’s a heated discussion between Kirby and Jerry about how the BOCC raised taxes back in 2013 when they applied the fire tax rate to all municipalities. To which Kirby first says is not true, but then says they were playing a shell game and had to do the most fair thing. So…even if it was necessary Kirby, you still raised taxes. Why can’t those words leave your lips? Approval to have a public hearing over keeping the constant yield rate the same was passed 5-2. Kirby voted with Bud and the Democrats! Is the world ending?
Frederick County Hazard Mitigation Plan is passed 7-0. Go to Frederick Alert and pick the notifications you would like to receive.
Last item before the break was the approval of transportation priorities. The top three are:
Passed 6-1, with Billy voting no.
Second half of the meeting begins at 7:00.
Besides a couple of utterances of yes, Kirby was as quiet as a dormouse last night. We know we should rejoice that no more dead horses were beaten, but we can’t help but feel that it may just be the quiet before the storm.
You can guess who wasn’t quiet tonight. You know what Billy’s behavior reminds us of? We’ve all come into contact with that person , be it young or old, who is confused about what is going on around them. And instead of asking questions or perhaps due to a serious mental issue, they lash out at everyone else like they are the idiot. THAT! Case in point, when Bud turns the meeting over to M.C. to run so he can introduce an amendment, Billy screams, “Why?!” To which poor Bud has to re-state what he already said about introducing an amendment. So tedious.
Billy is the only one who votes against the $100 million bond authority bill. No explanation, not even sure he knows why anymore, just no.
The discussion concerning the Farm Distilleries and Tasting Room bill was interesting. Lots of amendments made and some really good discussion from the 5 that appear to understand what their job entails. The vote for the 1st amendment to this bill is the most interesting we’ve seen by far:
Donald-Nay
Chemlik-Yay
Keegan-Ayre-Nay
Fitzwater Yay
Delauter-No
Shreve-Yes
Otis-Yay
So, as we said, interesting.
New bill with all of it’s amendments will have to go back to public hearing.
There’s a break until 7:00 to discuss Tony’s bill concerning events on farms. Not many people were for this, and there were quite a few against. It looks as though there’s going to have to be a lot of changes in order for this to garner public support. We cannot imagine living peacefully out in the country and then having our neighbor rent their land out for weddings every weekend during the warm months. It could be an intolerable living situation.
This we do have to say, and Council Members Donald and Fitzwater touched on this during their comments, kudos for Tony for trying to solve a problem. This is how a legislative body is supposed to work.
Chemlik and Delauter pass on their comments and how we wish Shreve did as well. His contribution to the discussion is that we need to define what a farm is and go out and get our feet dirty. No other legislation should be introduced until they define exactly what a farm is. Can you just imagine that discussion people? Everyone else had nice things to say and how sorry we are that those good points are often lost due to the noise of the absurd.
Tonight the County Council and BOE are having a joint meeting. Check out the agenda here.
It’s Legislative Day in Olde Fredericktowne!!! Billy was extra rude at the last workshop, so we’ll see if he steps it up this week. Remember to use extreme caution when following this game, as it is only for fun. Grab the agenda and fire up your FCGTV!
One budget adjustment on the list! If your favorite non-reader suggests you go to a now defunct bookstore to get your reading materials slam back a Taming of the Shrewdriver.
Next up is putting signatures upon the Urbana re-zoning decision. Zeus have mercy! We are going to hear it! To steady your nerves fortify yourself with a Sad, Alone on a Beach.
Next up is a financial report on Citizens/Montevue. So we’ll just leave this here:
Two bills are on their third reading, which means it’s time for the council to vote on them. We have General Obligation Bill Authorization and the Distillery and Brewing bill. If Billy cannot address people in a mature way, sip on your Idiot Box while pondering the fact that this fool thinks he deserves to be our State Senator.
We go to break and reconvene at 7:00 for a public hearing.
Tony’s bill on Limited Private Event Venues is the subject for the evening. We’ve been hearing some rumblings about this so we’ll see how it goes. But kudos for the 1/3 of the Republicans up there who actually wrote a piece of legislation.
Lastly, public and council member comments. Surely, we will be lectured about how terrible everything is. And how since we didn’t let Kirby do his unrealistic, expensive lease back idea, and as a result of not compromising with every law breaking business in the county we are all going to hell in a hand basket. Maybe Billy will even accuse a county employee of hiding something because he can’t get an advance copy (that he surely won’t read) of some plan. If these unfortunate events occur, cue up Bloodlines on Netflix so you can see that things can always get worse.
We were first reluctant to advertise the Second Amendment Bait and Tackle Raffle Kirby cooked up to fish for funds, but things got Good Ol Entertaining. Follow along to see what happened next.
Since our copy is blurry, here is a bulleted list of content:
This became irresistible, even though free publicity for Kirby’s Bake Sale makes us feel all icky inside, because two “all ickies inside” make a positive. It’s just how integers work. And our favorite skeevy former politician decided to endorse Kirby on Facebook in the Klassiest of ways. I can’t even. You can’t even. We can’t even.
Unsure about changed behavior. That post gives every impression that it was written by a drunk person, but maybe he is just incredibly stupid? Since the ladies are supposedly the reason Blaine lost, please be sure to grab these Good for Nothin’ Good Ol Boyz by the ballot. Local elections matter, yo.
The first part of our reconvened meeting is beautiful. The ever diplomatic and articulate Rick Harcum explains the bill that is up for a public hearing this evening. You see folks, back in 2010 the BOCC re-allocated the Recordation tax fees from agricultural preservation, parks and school management and put it into the General Fund. At that time, they added a Sunset Provision that said this would all end in five years time. Mr. Harcum praised this act as one was necessary in lean financial times, and as a result of having a Sunset Provision, also recognized that times wouldn’t always be tough.
Fast forward to 2014, the BOCC amended this bill to deter funds from the nursing home to the General Fund and according to the county attorney, wiped clean everything in the 2010 bill,including the Sunset Provision. This proposed bill will re-allocate those funds back into agricultural preservation, parks and the schools. Jerry later remarks in his council member comments, that he believes that all this was done so the BOCC could say they achieved the constant yield. The people who came to speak were in favor of re-allocating the money back. The only naysayer was Tony. He implied that Mr. Harcum was being dishonest in his characterization of these funds as since they were placed in the General Fund they could be allocated to parks, agricultural preservation, and schools if the County Executive so wished. Mr. Harcum then replied that puts them in competition with everything else in the budget.To which Tony still says is misleading. I think we all know that when money is specifically mandated for a purpose in the budget then we recognize as a community, how important that purpose is to us. But kudos Tony for trying to muddy an issue that was crystal clear.
Now it’s time for the sad time of the meeting…council member comments.
Lots of head shaking from Kirby tonight. It’s his Night O’ Apologies! He wants us all to recognize how sad it is to be in business in Frederick County. He tells the sad tale of a business owner in New Market, salt of the Earth people, who after 27 years of selling mulch and top soil are having their lives ruined by the county. Just like the wedding venues and Mr. Natelli. RUINED. He also laments the fact that for the past 7 months or so the county hasn’t been able to find someone to fill the empty Emergency Management Position. “Everyday”, says Kirby, “things get worse and worse around here.”
Billy claims that there are billboards throughout Coal Country PA that state: “Thank you Frederick County for voting against Solar!”. We think this is probably a huge lie, but hey snap a pic Billy so we can see the evidence. We’ll admit it if we are wrong! If it is true, then the billboard owners have been misled as the solar bill has been tabled pending amendments. Billy also laments the sad state of affairs that business owners have to put up with in this county. He’s also sure that Bud is corrupt because he won’t fall into any of Billy’s question traps.
Jessica,after saying some nice things about the Girl Scouts and county staff, lists all the ways Frederick County has been friendly to business. Namely:
She also reminds Billy that we have not voted against solar power. Which is a curious thing for him to be confused about.
M.C. has to spend her time refuting the bookends. Says she would rather find the right person to fill the Emergency Management Services position then to just hire the first person off the street. And that New Market business that Kirby is claiming the county has ruined? Well, a neighbor of theirs filed a complaint with the county since they have been operating outside of proper zoning. And when the county receives a complaint, they have to investigate and uphold county law. M.C. says that the county is looking for ways to work with the business. So perhaps things aren’t as dire as Mr. Negative would lead us to believe. She also reminds us to lock our cars, as the police say most car thefts are a result of unlocked vehicles.
M.C. ends her comments reminding the naysayers to respect their fellow council members. She gently tells them they we all spend a lot of time working on these issues and to disparage people just because they come to a different conclusion just isn’t right. While we agree with you M.C., we don’t see that happening from that bunch any time in the near future.
Right now our collective blood pressure is through the G.D. roof. If you were following our Facebook updates of tonight’s meeting, you would have seen that things were NOT going well. Because of our collective parenting duties, we were not able to turn in until around 5:30, about thirty minutes in. The hour that we were tuned in for caused this Lady Yokel to have to pour a glass of wine.
So we joined the discussion about whether or not the application for the Urbana rezone should pass. Now, we did not hear some of the comments before 5:30, however, at some point Jessica used the word challenging. The main problem some of the council members have is with the word contiguous as it applies to this property and the opinion that this motion should have been three separate applications instead of the one.
Billy, who was absent from the second hearing of this issue mind you, is trying, in his most condescending voice, to explain some things. He used the word “challenging” every time he got a chance just to try to stick it to Ms. Fitzwater. Had the nerve to say that if this was “too challenging” for them to figure out then how would they construct a 20 year comprehensive plan? Went on rant after rant about how this council never does anything, he can’t get questions answered blah blah blah. It was horrible. He even goes after the legal staff, deriding all their fancy law degrees since they can’t answer his leading, dishonest questions. And hey there Urbana parents, Billy claims y’all are just fine with the overcrowding in your district. Tis not an issue! Billy also tried to goad Bud into explaining his reasoning. To which Bud states, “I am not responding to any of your inquires.” You know what is challenging Billy? Having to listen to you!
Kirby, who was quiet for a very long time, tells us that the reason he is being so quiet is that if he said what he really thought he would be kicked out of the room. But please don’t confuse his silence for him not standing up for what he believes in! That’s right folks, just because his fellow council members had a difference of opinion concerning some aspects on how this application was brought forth Kirby has to muster up all the stoicism he can to contain his rightful outrage! How very brave of him! He does eventually succumb to his baser nature and calls his fellow council members corrupt! Billy then echos: Yeah corrupt!!!
To this Jerry cannot not keep quiet!! Nor should he!! We are all sick and tired and sick and tired of fools throwing out accusations without any proof. So our hero of the evening, the esteemed Mr. Donald, tells the idiots to define what exactly is corrupt. Because all he sees is people trying to make decisions based on their understanding of the law! He tells them to “back it up or stop talking!”
We then hear:
Tony’s motion is voted down. M.C. puts forth a new motion stating why she’s against the application in its current form. States that she would like it to be resubmitted in three separate applications. It is at this point that we must address Tony’s behavior and tone this evening. He’s very upset that this application isn’t going to get approved and tries time and time again to pin M.C. in a corner. He calls her motion “convoluted” and says that the last time she made a motion it landed them in court. Real mature, huh? We think that Tony is really used to getting his way, so when someone challenges him he doesn’t know how to handle it in any kind of constructive manner. Kinda like the bookends. Great job Mr. Chmelik, you are now officially one of them.
We are going to have to watch the second half, which reconvened at 7:00, tomorrow. Those three have put us over the edge tonight.
It’s March y’all! And even though we haven’t had much of a winter this year (thanks Al Gore!), lions and lambs are still on our mind. Maybe it’s because Kirby pulled this out when describing Trump last week:
Or perhaps we just like sweet little lambs:
As always, this game is just for the chuckles. Be responsible and stay informed.Away we go:
We start at 5:00, which is not the norm, we suspect it’s due to Billy’s whining about start times. We know he’ll shoot down the minutes, so we won’t bore you with that. How Shrelauter will act when the Finance Department asks them to extend the contract with the outside audit company is up to debate. If they don’t see the value in an outside company checking the books, let’s all encourage them to pull the Lion’s Tail.
A decision will be made concerning the rezone request for the Urbana application. The last two council meetings were devoted to this issue. You can read our coverage here and here. We are all hoping for smart, responsible growth in our fair county. We need adequate roads, schools, police, fire and rescue, libraries, and retail to make life good! Let’s toast to smart growth with our Smarty Pants cocktail. We can figure this out together!
On break until 7:00. We may hear a squeak out of Billy depending on the end time of the first part. Oh, he’s become so tiresome to us.
After the council reconvenes, there is a 2nd reading on a bill to reallocate the county recordation tax. Read all the details here. If this is in any way, shape, or form painted as some kind of tax hike, slam back a pitcher of Red Lion.
Onto public and council member comments. Our crystal ball isn’t giving us a real clear signal this week. However, we can posit that since Billy was absent from the last meeting he’s going to have a thing or two to say. When he and the yin to his yang, start a yapping, sip on your Warm Wooly Sheep cocktail, since we all need some comfort by this stage of the meeting.
frederick local yokel 