The Town Council unanimously passed a budget Wednesday that includesno tax increase.
The county's decision to maintain the trash tipping fee at $15 per ton enabled the council to hold property taxes to the present 45 cents per $100 of assessed value.
In other business, Steven C. Horn, county planner, said the blockgrant request to address the town's storm water drainage problems had been forwarded to Annapolis by the April 30 deadline.
Mayor James C. Carlisle said he had received a letter of support for the application from Delegate Donald B. Elliott, R-Carroll, Howard.
Councilwoman Rebecca H. Harman added that she had sent letters to the state and to Sen. Charles H. Smelser, D-Carroll, Frederick, Howard, asking for support.
"We will just have to wait for the review process, which is competitive, to run its course," said Horn. "I'll keep you posted."
The council also voted to buy a $7,350 chipper to mulch its tree and yard waste.
"We will get mulch, a byproduct we can use, from this machine," said Councilman Terry Petry.
Councilman R. Kenneth Green said that since the town will no longer have to buy mulch, the chipper would pay for itself within about five years.
Micki Smith, president of the Heritage Committee, asked the council to consider putting the town on the National Register of Historic Places.
"New Windsor is worthy of recognition in the history of the state and the expansion of the county," said Smith. "Being on the register will allow the town to move forward on grants applications."
Harman volunteered to review the application with Smith and make a recommendation.
The town also voted to donate $50 to the Edgewood Church of the Brethren in memory of former Mayor Randall G. Spoerlein, who died April 26.
TOWN HELPS AILING CHILD
NEW WINDSOR -- The Pipe Creek Jaycees, town Lions Club, Volunteer Fire Company and Ladies Auxiliary combined efforts for an auction April 27 to benefit the Curfman family.
Paul Curfman, 6, is hospitalized with a liver ailment. The auction earned about $3,500, said Neal C. Roop of the Jaycees. The money will be used to pay for part of the child's medical expenses.
TALKS REACH IMPASSE
The school board and the association representing clerical and secretarial workers have declared an impasse in contract talks.
William R. Rooney, director of personnel and the board's representative in contract talks with the association, said differences on a proposal for changes in the sick-leave policy prompted both sides to declare an impasse.
The action comes on the heels of the CarrollCounty Education Association, which represents about 1,300 teachers,and the board declaring an impasse in those contract talks.
The associations and the board will ask state Superintendent Joseph L. Shilling to declare an impasse. If granted, the matter will go to the American Arbitration Association for mediation.
About 200 clerical and secretarial workers, assistants, and licensed practical nurses arerepresented by the Carroll Association of School Employees.
The board would not agree to language changes in the contract to allow workers to use sick-leave days to care for family members outside the home, Rooney said. Workers may now take four sick-leave days each year to care for family members at home.
A board proposal to add an additional sick-leave day was rejected by the association, Rooney said.
Negotiations between the board and the five associations representing workers began last fall. Current contracts expire June 30.
CCEA and the board declared an impasse after failing to agree on severalissues, including a proposal for a smoke-free work place and others regarding working conditions. The other associations representing custodial and maintenance workers, administrators, supervisors and food service workers have reached tentative agreements for fiscal 1992, which begins July 1.
None of the associations has been offered pay raises.
ROCK RAISES THE COST
Rock found during pre-construction work at the site of the future Friendship Valley Elementary School couldraise the cost of that project by about $500,000, Carroll administrators told the school board last week.
"If we had not hit the rock,however, we probably could have been OK with the project," said Vernon F. Smith Jr., director of school support services.
The $5.5 million school, near Gist and Kate Wagner roads in Westminster, will alleviate overcrowding at Robert Moton, Westminster and William Winchester schools when it opens in September 1992, school officials said.
In addition to unexpected costs associated with that project, administrators also reported that the Sandymount Elementary School renovation and the ongoing construction of Spring Garden Elementary in Hampstead could run as much as $1 million over initial projections.
Bidsfor the Sandymount project, for instance, have come in about $800,000 higher than expected. Contracts for the project are expected to be awarded at Wednesday's board meeting.
Spring Garden, slated to open in September, is running about $200,000 higher than the $6 million estimate, school officials said. That school is needed to alleviate overcrowding at Manchester and Hampstead elementaries.
However, Piney Ridge, which also will open in September in Eldersburg and is months ahead of schedule, could be about $1 million less than anticipated. That school is needed to ease crowded classrooms at Eldersburg, Carrolltowne and Freedom elementaries.
As a result of the cost overruns (minus the Piney Ridge surplus), the board approved the transfer of about $269,000 -- trimmed from instructional and special education salaries and transportation-contractor payments -- to the 1992 capital budget.
POWELL MULLS RETIREMENT
TANEYTOWN -- City Manager Neal W. Powell, a former city councilman and mayor, is considering retiringlater this year, city officials said.
Powell, 70, was appointed city manager in 1978. He was elected to council in 1957 and also served as mayor for 11 years. He is a former president of the Maryland Municipal League.
Powell, a Kansas native who has lived in the city since 1945, could not be reached for comment.
Linda Hess, city clerk-treasurer, said Powell has not made up his mind about retirement.
"He's still thinking about it," she said.
ANNEXATION ON AGENDA
SYKESVILLE -- The Planning and Zoning Commission will discuss an annexation request at its monthly meeting 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Town House, 7547 Main St.
Eight residents of Oklahoma Road just outside the town limits sent letters to town officials in February asking to be annexed. The property is 23.5 acres at the west end of Oklahoma Road and extending south to the railroad tracks.
The property ownersalso are proposing to subdivide the property into three-acre lots and build single-family homes on them.
The annexation is being requested to benefit both the residents and the town, the property owners wrote.
The meeting is open to the public.
SCHAEFER SIGNS BILLS
Gov. William Donald Schaefer signed three bills sponsored by the Carroll General Assembly delegation into law Tuesday.
The new laws authorize the County Commissioners to do the following:
* Sell up to $23.4 million in bonds to finance public facility projects, such as new schools, Carroll Community College, roads, libraries and landfill expansions.
* Contribute $200,000 annually for five years to Carroll County General Hospital to help finance the facility program to improve services and equipment. The contributions can begin in fiscal 1993.
* Establish and operate public farmers markets on county land, to be used as an outlet for county-grown produce.
The governor has yet to act on two other bills sponsored by the delegation. One clarifies language for volunteer fire companies and service organizations concerning the type and frequency of raffles they are permitted to conduct.
Another requires owners of land in the county that contains a cemetery to record the burial grounds' location in Carroll Circuit Court. The legislation is intended to preserve small, family cemeteries typically on farms or church grounds from development.
The governor also has yet to sign a bill that presumes quarry companies liable for water supply damages within a scientifically determined areaaround their operations.
Schaefer has scheduled May 14 and May 24as additional signing or vetoing days.
BUDGET MEETINGS SET
The County Commissioners will have two public information meetings Thursdayon the proposed fiscal 1992 budget.
The meetings will take place from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Room 300A of the CountyOffice Building in Westminster.
The commissioners have proposed keeping the tax rate level at $2.35 per $100 of assessed property value. The $115.3 million spending plan represents a $2.3 million reduction compared to this year's operating budget. The proposed capital budget is $35 million, reduced from this year's $50.5 million budget andslashed from $93 million in project requests.
The public hearing will take place at 7:30 p.m. May 16 at Westminster High School.
Budget books are available at the Department of Management and Budget.
Information: 857-2082.
GUESTS SET FOR MEETING
MOUNT AIRY -- Three state legislators will attend tomorrow's Town Council meeting to deliver a review of the 1991 session of the General Assembly.
Sen. Charles Smelser, D-Carroll, Frederick, Howard, and delegates Thomas Hattery, D-Frederick, and George Littrell, D-Frederick, will be present at the council's regular monthly meeting, which starts at 8 p.m. atTown Hall.
The legislators will offer an overview of the recentlycompleted General Assembly session, focusing on impacts on municipalities in their districts.
The council also will review progress ofthe Twin Ridge Elementary School and will discuss an Adopt-A-Street road-cleanup program.
PLANNERS TO MEET
WESTMINSTER -- State administrators will unveil a draft Tuesday of revisions to the East Main Street reconstruction plans.
The presentation will come during the second meeting of an eight-member task force charged with assisting state planners in the redesign of the $2.8 million project.
The meeting, which is open to the public, is set for 7 p.m. at the Volunteer Fire Co. on Main Street.
The City Council decided to review the project after citizen complaints over plans to widen a portion of the street to 40 feet.
At a task force meeting last month, state planners said they would work on plans to make the desired improvements without widening the road.
PE SEEKS RATE BOOST
HAGERSTOWN -- A proposed rate increase by Potomac Edison Co. would mean a $12 a month average increase for residential customers in western Carroll and six Maryland counties, a company spokeswoman said Thursday.
Potomac Edison wants the Maryland Public Service Commission to approve a 9.8 percent base rate increase for its 172,000 customers living in Garrett, Allegany, Washington and Frederick counties and parts of Carroll, Howard and Montgomery counties.
The utility said it needs the extra $27million in annual revenue for more upgrades to provide more power and for changes mandated by the new Clean Air Act.
"We're hoping that our customers will realize that we have not increased our rates in 5 1/2 years, but with the cost of inflation, the cost of providing the service and Clean Air Act compliance it is necessary to raise rates," said Cyndi Shoop, a PE spokeswoman.
If the rate increase is approved, average residential customers using 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month would see bills rise $6.74, from $59.29 to $66.03, she said. Customers with electric heat who use an average of 2,000 kilowatt hours a month would pay $12.81 more. Their monthly bills wouldincrease from $114.25 to $127.06, Shoop said.
Potomac Edison wants the Maryland rates to go up on May 30. But Shoop said the utility expects that rates will not go up until Nov. 26 to give the Public Service Commission six months to conduct public hearings.
The largestshare of the new revenue generated by the rate increase, $11.6 million, would be used to upgrade the system to handle rising demand, Shoop said.