Live Blog: Aug. 1 City Council Meeting

8:21 p.m.: Meeting adjourns.

8:18 p.m.: Charles Packard, president of the Susquehanna Hose Company, updates council on the activities of the local fire department.

Fire prevention week, including an open house, will be held in October.

The history of the Hose Company will be featured in an evening event in mid-October.

Packard said the Susquehanna Hose Company will be starting a new event this year—the Havre de Grace Duck Dunk, presented by the , will be held around Jan. 21, 2011. It will mirror the Polar Bear Plunge.

"All of you are invited to dunk," Packard said.

8:18 p.m.: Lori Maslin reports Laughing Crab Catering and The Snowball Experience have joined Bahoukas as local businesses on the Maryland Green Registry.

8:17 p.m.: Resident Bob Greene, sworn in earlier in the evening, follows Councilwoman Wagner's challenge with his own.

Greene asks all residents to carry a bag and pick up trash when they're walking through town.

8:15 p.m.: Resident Kevin Racine reports that he met with Cecil County's mayors last Thursday to discuss transit in the corridor between Havre de Grace and Delaware.

8:10 p.m.: Resident Lori Maslin, who organizes the Havre de Grace Seafood Festival, passed out lollipops to council members before giving information on the Seafood Festival and the Charlie Daniels Band concert.

Maslin revealed a special Havre de Grace Canvasback that was carved in Daniels' honor. The decoy is wearing a cowboy hat, in honor of the country-style fiddler.

8:09 p.m.: Public comment begins

8:04 p.m.: Council President Bill Martin reports that the city followed proper procedure in re-appointing William Jiles to the ethics commisison for a five-year term. After consulting chapter 67-2 of the city code, City Attorney Paul Ishak, passed a note to Martin during the meeting confirming the reappointment was handled properly.

Martin thanked Councilman Miller for his assistance in pointing out that the term should be five years.

Martin also reported that he visited a waterfowl exhibit in the Outter Banks in North Carolina, where he mentioned he was from Havre de Grace. An employee at the exhibit, in return, said: "the Decoy Capital of the World."

Martin took pride in the recognition of his hometown.

8:01 p.m.: Councilman Fred Cullum said Councilwoman Wagner "stole his thunder" on recycling. Cullum said he has been advocating recycling "for 16 years."

Cullum passed along praise from citizens on the efforts of the new public works secretary.

"It's always good to have positive comments on our employees," Cullum said.

He also heaped praise on the police department for their efforts in .

8:00 p.m.: Councilman Jim Miller takes issue with the amount of time it has taken Director of Planning Neal Mills to look into signs in the city.

He also raised concerns about the planning department's follow-through with a number of citizen complains that have come to Miller's desk.

"I shouldn't have to tell you. You have a staff that is paid that should be out there reporting what is going on," Miller said.

7:58 p.m.: Councilwoman Barbara Wagner challenges all residents to take advantage of the new and reduce the amount of waste they put out.

7:56 p.m.: Mayor Wayne Dougherty said there are openings on some of the city's commissions, including alternate positions on the planning commission and the board of appeals, and a full membership on teh board of election supervisors.

7:55 p.m.: Police Chief Teresa Walter reports the police department passed an audit from the criminal justice system. The audit recommended the Havre de Grace Police Department begins doing fingerprints via a process Walter called "live scan." The Chief said she will begin looking into costs and grants for installing the process.

Walter reminded residents that Tuesday is National Night Out, from 7-9 p.m. Walter said residents are urged to put on porch lights and visit with neighbors to "promote neighborhood unity, along with law enforcement, to fight crime."

7:49 p.m.: Director of Public Works Larry Parks reports the streetscape on St. John Street will be complete by Friday—the First Friday celebration for August.

Resurfacing of Canvasback Drive has been delayed due to approvals of the mixes used for repaving.

"It will begin within the next two weeks. We will provide as much notice to the residents as possible," Parks said.

Also delayed is the construction of a sidewalk at Tydings Park, due to additional approvals from the state, which granted money for the project.

Parks, at the request of Council President Bill Martin, reports that has been improved with large stone along the shoreline courtesy Vulcan Materials. Further improvements, including benches, picnic tables, and grills, will be in place by mid-September.

7:45 p.m.: Director of Finance George DeHority said the updated tax bills will be sent out by Wednesday at the latest.

7:43 p.m.: As a downpour calms down outside, the Mayor asks, "Are everybody's windows up?"

Council President Martin leaves the dias to check if his vehicle's windows are closed, returning moments later with a thumbs-up.

7:42 p.m.: The ammendment is approved by a unanimous vote.

7:39 p.m.: Council President Bill Martin introduces an ammendment to the budget.

account will receive $10,000 from the general fund via real property taxes.

The $10,000 is what is projected to be above current budget.

"Normally, we receive more than what the state has told us in February," Councilman Cullum said. "That's where this $10,000 comes from."

Councilman Jim Miller estimates that "60-to-70 times that amount" will surface eventually.

7:39 p.m.: The resolution is approved by a 5-1 vote, with Councilman Cullum voting against.

7:36 p.m.: Councilman Craig raises concerns with where traffic will become one-way.

City Attorney Paul Ishak said the language of the resolution allows for the judgment of the police and department of public works to determine the best place for traffic to be stopped.

7:34 p.m.: Council President Bill Martin moves to introduce a resolution (2011-11), that would prohibit a right turn from Erie Street onto Route 40.

The western-most portion of the 800 block of Erie Street would become one-way if adopted.

Councilman Fred Cullum said he has "a problem with adopting the resolution as it's written."

Cullum cites a survey of residents conducted by two city employees to support consideration of making Erie Street one-way, serving traffic from Route 40 to Juniata Street only, and closing traffic from Juniata Street attempting to access Route 40.

Cullum's ammendment, to follow the vote of the residents of Erie Street, failed by a 4-2 vote, with Cullum and Miller voting for the ammendment.

7:14 p.m.: Public comment begins.

Resident and former Councilman Joe Kochenderfer expressed concern with the process in which Council ammended the term for ethics commission member William Jiles. Kochenderfer said the membership to the commission is covered by ordinance, and that council didn't follow proper procedure.

Patrick Vincenti of the Havre de Grace Decoy Museum expressed a need for $10,000 from the city to finalize a $50,000 project to replace the second-floor observation deck overlooking the Chesapeake Bay.

Vincenti said $40,000 has been raised for the project.

Mayor Wayne Dougherty said the $10,000 requested would help cover decking, supports, the roof under the deck (to be covered with a 20-year-warranty), railing on the deck and the first-floor patio, telescopes, and a vent in the elevator shaft.

"This will also expand other functions that you can do to permit what you can do on the second floor in terms of attendance," Mayor Dougherty said.

Resident Charles Packard expressed his support for finalizing the project, noting safety and the benefits for thousands of potential visitors.

7:12 p.m.: Robert Greene takes the Oath of Office for his newly-appointed position on the historic preservation commission. Greene will serve a term beginning today through Aug. 1, 2014.

7:08 p.m.: William Jiles is reappointed to the ethics commission by a 6-0 vote.

Councilman Jim Miller proposed an ammendment to the appointment to make it a five-year term, rather than a four-year term, in order to stagger the terms of members of the commission. Miller's motion carries, 5-1, with Councilman Randy Craig voting against the ammendment.

7:07 p.m.: Robert Greene is appointed to the historic preservation commission by a unanimous vote.

7:06 p.m.: Chaplain Frank Roth of the Susquehanna Hose Company delivers the opening prayer.

7:05 p.m.: Public hearing closes, council meeting begins with all members of council present.

7:01 p.m.: George Wagner, of Union Avenue, said he has done his own studies on parking.

"There is no parking problem in this town. It’s a parking of convenience problem in this town," Wagner said.

Wagner said the biggest issues with parking are the enforcements of wrong-way parking, backing into angled parking places, parking over sidewalks and parking in marked "no parking" areas.

7:00 p.m.: Meeting begins with public hearing on proposed changes to fines regarding parking violations.

6:45 p.m.: Welcome to our City Council live blog, where we will be updating the news coming from City Hall at it happens.

Check back regularly. We will be adding nuggets of news immediately. Feel free to e-mail sean.welsh@patch.com with any questions. For our council meeting preview, including a PDF file of the agenda, click .