Town Council Meeting

The Sykesville police chief wants to eliminate parking from a 78-foot stretch along the east side of Main Street, close to several town businesses.South of Sandosky Road, Main Street tapers in width from 43 to 33 feet and allows little maneuvering room for cars, much less larger vehicles, Chief Wallace P. "Mitch" Mitchell said at the Town Council meeting last night."

Residents will see a familiar face at the next Town Council meeting.After a two-year absence, Selby M. Black will rejoin the council,filling the seat vacated when Perry L. Jones Jr. was elected mayor."

Plan to link 88 homes to Manchester sewerageAs many as 88 Manchester properties may be added to the town's sewer system under a proposal to be discussed at the Town Council meeting at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the town hall.Most of the lots contain homes, but the proposal would also affect two businesses, a church and some vacant lots.Town Manager Terry Short estimated that the cost of joining the system would be about $12,600 for the average affected homeowner.He said he is looking into ways to help homeowners finance the cost, such as loans with interest rates of 4.2 percent to 4.6 percent, spread over 20 years.

Union Bridge will go to the state well once again and ask for help to renovate its aging water system.Several months ago, the one-well town learned that its applications for $900,000 in grants from three different sources -- Farmers Home Bank, Community Development Block Grant and Maryland Department of the Environment -- had been turned down.Brenda Dinne, county planning liaison to New Windsor and Union Bridge, said at last night's Town Council meeting that the town might have a better chance by asking for a "scaled-down version of what needs to be done."

A rash of small fires, deliberately set in trash cans, is plaguing downtown Sykesville, Councilman William R. Hall Jr. said last night.He said residents should keep their eyes open for anyone who might be setting those fires. He fears the problem will get worse, he said at the Town Council meeting last night."Someone is setting town trash cans and Dumpsters on fire," he said. "As a firefighter, I know it won't stop there. It will progress to something greater."Mayor Kenneth W. Clark said town police were investigating the incidents.

New Windsor's water problems may be ebbing.Work crews struck water on the Route 31 property the town bought for exploration, and that might deliver enough water to supplement the town's waning supply, Mayor Jack A. Gullo Jr. said last night during the monthly Town Council meeting."

For want of a quorum at a Town Council meeting Monday, Sykesville has no cable TV contract, no new dump truck and vacancies on several key committees. All official business must wait for the next council session July 10, provided that at least four members of the six-member council are in attendance. Mayor Jonathan S. Herman had his gavel ready, but even if he could have opened the meeting, he could not make a motion to adjourn. Herman broke his record for brevity, chairing a council session that never was. Illness and conflicts with work and vacation schedules kept four council members from the meeting, the only session scheduled for this month.

Though $80,000 higher than this year, the Union Bridge budget for fiscal 2000 "is still pretty tight" because the town needs to set aside money for sorely needed water and sewer improvements, Mayor Perry Jones Jr. said.Approved at Monday night's Town Council meeting, the operating budget for the town of 1,000 totals $556,688, up from $476,770 this year. The increase is based on higher water and sewer rates, which will go into effect July 1, Jones said. The rates vary according to usage.The property tax rate, 75 cents per $100 of assessed value, will not change.

Revising the town charter to keep up with changes and state laws wasamong the mayor's seven goals when he took office.Ten years and three terms later, Lloyd R. Helt Jr. will move toward the last of those goals tomorrow at 7 p.m. at the Town Council meeting.Among the issues to be examined are the number of council members, voter registration and nominations, how vacancies are filled, the passage of ordinances and new employee positions."The charter was adopted in 1964, and it's still basically the same, except for a few amendments here and there dealing with annexations, voter registration, infractions and compensation to town officials," he said.

As town officials embark on their annual journey through budget-preparation land this month, they'll have a new tool to guide them for years to come.The new tool -- actually an old one in dozens of political subdivisions throughout the state -- is a five-year capital budget, a device the town's projects administrator says will eliminate much of the guesswork in their yearly spending plans."