Rather like the President, every January the Mayor gives a State of the Town report — and the latest assessment of Chestertown may be summed up as not too bad, pretty good, can complain.
Unlike when the Obama speaks, Mayor Margo Bailey does not enjoy, or suffer, standing ovations, twittering, celebrities in the background and rude calls. This being merely a Town Council in a rustic place, and not Congress, at the end of it Monday night there was polite applause from the throng of 11.
No one rose to their feet except, soon after, to go home.
Here, though, deserving of cheers, are some highlights:
*For the 15th year in a row, Chestertown received an “unqualified” audit that shows “excellent” financial condition. Total net assets in a terrible year were $15.7 million – an increase of $555,000 over the year before.
*The town is in negotiations and soon will buy 11-plus acres of land abutting Radcliff Creek on the western gateway, appraised at $385,000 and currently used for storing truck trailers. The site will provide water access for recreation at the head of the creek and space for any future roundabout at the intersection of Rts. 20 and 514.
*Chestertown has $540,000 in stimulus funds that will pay to pave and mill High Street from Cross to Rt. 291, College Avenue from High to Campus, Campus from College to Rolling Road and Spring Avenue from High to Rt. 213.
*The Maryland Municipal League named Chestertown the Greenest Medium Size Town in the entire state.
*Delmarva Power has chosen Chestertown as the test town for conversion of streetlights to LED lights.
*The town is happy with the selection of Robert Edler as chief of police for having “proved his merit,” being “responsive to the public” and having done an “excellent job” of bring the force together this year.
*Thanks go to Utilities Manger Robert Sipes, contractors David Bramble and Rodney Spring for having “averted a major environmental nightmare” when the sewer system’s force main broke and spilled into Radcliff Creek in late October.
*The completion of the Living Shoreline at Wilmer Park, including a kayak launching ramp, plus budgeting for another kayak/canoe floating launch ramp at the foot of Cannon, leaves only a floating observation deck to be built a third of the way up Radcliff Creek that is still unfunded.
And now, time to boo the Maryland Department of General Services. Some bureaucrats there, seeking favor in a time of budget crunch, are trying to hold up Chestertown for millions of dollars.
As the mayor explained it, Maryland promised that the National Guard Armory would be turned over to Chestertown for the amount of debt remaining in the Army’s loan. That loan has shrunk now to under $400,000.
But, says Bailey, that promise “has been forgotten.”
Instead, before transferring the armory to the town, Annapolis is demanding that the town also pay $6,000 for two new appraisals, plus the amount of the appraised value which it claims is $2.5 million.
“In one of our meetings with the Army,” reports the mayor, “they told us that no Armory in Maryland had ever really been sold to a town, let alone for a starting cost of over $2,000,000.”
As Bailey put it, “This issue must be resolved this coming year.”
Gibson Anthony says
Regarding the land purchase, it will eventually provide access to one spur of the rail-trail. This location is identified in the Comprehensive Plan as an important gateway location. The eventual rail-trail spur (as currently planned, but not yet funded) would end at Rt. 20, immediately across the creek from the land being purchased.
Here are references in the Comprehensive Plan that support this purchase:
page 10
“The intersection of Flatland Road and MD 20 will be developed as a gateway,”
page 12
“There are five principal gateways into Chestertown and all are priorities for redevelopment and improved
design.”
“The Town supports increased transportation by bicycle as a quality of life issue, and encourages the strategic
placement of bike racks. Development of the proposed rails-to-trails project, the Radcliffe Creek water trail
and a Parkway Bypass trail would also support increased bike use and pedestrian traffic.”
page 17
“New Initiatives – High Priority
• Foster conservation corridor mapping to identify areas that should be preserved as open space, target
resources toward protection of Radcliffe Creek,”
page 25
“Maintain viewscapes to and from town with particular attention to National Scenic Byways and
gateway areas.”
“Natural Resources, Conservation and Sensitive Areas Protection Goals
• Conserve the environmental quality of the planning area through measures which protect
natural resources and environmentally sensitive lands.”
“Integrate an efficient comprehensive transportation system consistent with an overall area-wide
development pattern that includes walking, cycling and other human-powered forms of
transportation.”
“• Build greenway trails to provide linkages among housing, employment, educational and
recreational facilities.”
page 44
“Designation of a water trail along Radcliffe Creek has also been recommended. A
suitable upstream location near the proposed “Gateway” on MD 20 is proposed to provide a source of
access. Linkages from there to the Radcliffe Creek stream valley park and the rail trail should also be added.”
Here is where you can download the Comprehensive Plan as a PDF:
https://www.chestertown.com/gov/comp_plan.php