The Aberdeen City Council will vote Monday night on an ordinance providing procedures for the repair and removal of unsafe buildings in the city, when those buildings have been deemed able to endanger the health and safety of others.
Ordinance No. 12-O-06 would require the securing, repair, removal, or demolition of a building that is damaged by fire, wind or flood, dilapidated, unsafe or abandoned, or unfit for human habitation and is thereby a hazard to the public health, safety, and welfare. Also included are buildings that, regardless of structural condition, are unsecured from unauthorized entry to the extent that it could be entered or used by vagrants or other uninvited persons as a place of shelter or could be entered or used by children; or any other boarded up, fenced, or otherwise secured building that constitutes a danger to the public even though secured from entry or is not properly secured to prevent entry.
After such a designation has been determined, the Department of Public Works would notify the ownwer, lien holder or mortgagee and schedule a public hearing to determine whether a building is unsafe. If a building is found by the Director of Public Works to be in violation of standards, the city may issue a notice that the building be vacated, secured, repaired, removed, or demolished by the owner within a reasonable time. If the building is not secured, repaired, removed, or demolished within the allotted time and as ordered, the city may, by the application of its police power to curb or abate nuisances, secure, remove, or demolish the building at its own expense.
Also Monday night, the city council is scheduled to introduce and vote on adoption a resolution supporting and acknowledging the capital campaign proposed by the Humane Society of Harford County, Inc., to raise $50,000 to fund the cost of furniture, fixtures and equipment for the proposed new Humane Society shelter. The Humane Society of Harford County has applied to the Department of Housing and Community Development of the State of Maryland for approval of the project and an allocation of tax credits for business entities that contribute to the project, under the Department’s Community Investment Tax Credit Program.
Similarly, the city council is expected to introduce and vote on adoption of a resolution supporting and acknowledging the comprehensive, community-wide campaign entitled, Health & Fitness Boosts Academics, proposed by The Highlands School, Inc., to teach children with dyslexia, Attention Deficit and language-based learning differences the health and fitness skills they need to facilitate academic success. The Highlands School, Inc. serves students county-wide including those located in priority funding areas; and to achieve this objective, the goal is to fund $500,000 of operating expenses related to health and physical education, speech pathology, and occupational therapy. The Highlands School has applied to the Department of Housing and Community Development of the State of Maryland for approval of the project and an allocation of tax credits for business entities that contribute to the Project, under the Department’s Community Investment Tax Credit Program.
The city council will also vote Monday night to approve a building construction standards ordinance, by which the city adopts all building, mechanical, plumbing, electrical, and fire protection codes that are currently enforced by Harford County, including the International Building Code and/or International Residential Code, National Electrical Code, National Standard Plumbing Code, and the International Mechanical Code.
Also on the agenda Monday, the city council is expected to appoint members of the Planning Commission, discuss surplus vehicles and equipment, introduce the Planning Commission Annual Report 2011, and receive a presentation regarding the Harford County Department of Community Services Annual Action Plan (CAPER) by Tiffany Robinson.
The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in Aberdeen City Hall.
The full agenda is listed below:
CITY OF ABERDEEN
COUNCIL AGENDA
MONDAY, August 27, 2012
7:00 p.m.Call to Order – Roll Call
Opening Prayer – Pastor Robert Clipp, Grace United Methodist Church
Pledge of Allegiance – Councilwoman Elliott
Approval of Minutes: Council Meeting, August 6, 2012
PRESENTATIONS:
Harford Co. Dept. of Community Services Annual Action Plan (CAPER), Ms. Tiffany Robinson
Planning Commission Annual Report 2011
PUBLIC HEARINGS: None
PUBLIC COMMENT: Maximum of five minutes per person unless authorized by the Council.
LEGISLATIVE SESSION:
Resolution No. 12-R-10, Humane Society of Harford Co. Project (For Introduction & Adoption)
Resolution No. 12-R-11, The Highlands School Project (For Introduction & Adoption)
Ordinance No. 12-O-06, Unsafe Buildings (Adoption)
Ordinance No. 12-O-10, Chapter 210, Building Construction Standards (For Adoption)
BUSINESS OF THE CITY:
1. Unfinished Business
2. New Business
Appointments, Planning Commission Members
3. Business from Director of Planning & Community Development
4. Business from Chief of Police
5. Business from Director of Finance
6. Business from Director of Public Works
7. Business from City Manager
Surplus Vehicles and Equipment
BUSINESS OF COUNCIL:
1. Business from the City Council
2. Business from the Mayor
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Next Council Meeting: Monday, September 10, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.
Next Council Work Session: Monday, September 17, 2012 at 4:00 p.m.
Aberdeen Farmers Market, Every Friday through September 28, 2012, 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
ADJOURNMENT
I would love to see the town do something about the abandoned houses on Route 22 between I 95 and Long Drive. They are an eyesore and attractive nuisance not to mention the rodents and other animals they attract. If II find them a depressing way to enter Aberdeen what must out of towners think of our town? Since no one will be living in them again it would look better if they were razed and the land sold.