Regular Meeting Minutes The meeting of the Pocomoke City Mayor and Council was held in Council Chambers on Monday, June 2, 2025. The meeting was called to order at 6:30 pm. Present: Mayor: Todd Nock Council Members: R. Scott Holland, S. Tull, C.L. Marshall, Diane Downing, Brooke Cottman Interim City Manager: Brandy Matthews Attorney: Andrew Illuminati City Clerk: Melinda Stafford Pledge of Allegiance, Prayer by Councilmember Downing Approval of Minutes from Meetings of May 19, 2025, May 19th Closed Session Statement Motion to approve the minutes by Councilman Marshall and seconded by Councilwoman Cottman. Motion passes. Motion to approve the closed session statement made by Councilwoman Downing and seconded by Councilwoman Cottman. Holland = aye Cottman aye, Downing - aye, Marshall = aye, Tull - aye Review and Approval of Current List of Bills for Payment The bill list was presented for payment. Motion to approve the bills as presented by Councilwoman Downing, seconded by Councilwoman Cottman. Motion passes. Holland = aye Cottman = aye, Downing = aye, Marshall = aye, Tull - aye Public Works Invoice Approval There were 4 work invoices for approval. Wastewater management department is requesting the mayor and council approval of a payment over $5,000 for invoice 200066 in the amount of $8,84255 to Shorite Controls LLC was due to the rehab of the pump of the pump at Jenkins Orchard the public works department is also requesting approval of payment over $5,000 invoice 056480 in the amount of $5,346.35 to Tapman's truck repair was due to repair required on the yellow dump truck in order to pass the DOT inspection. The motion to approve by Councilman Marshall and seconded by Councilwoman Downing. Motion passes. Holland = aye Cottman = aye, Downing = aye, Marshall = aye, Tull - aye World Sickle Cell Awareness Day = Shanda Ward Presentation by Shanda Ward explaining what Sickle Cell disease is. They are the founders of the Eastern Shore of Maryland Sickle Disease Association and we are ultimately trying to raise awareness to the community to identify any families affected by sickle cell disease and fill in the gaps of services here on the Eastern Shore. Her family wants to advocate for research and policy that and push for more funding especially now. Mayor Nock stated that he is willing to do a proclamation in September for World Sickle Cell month. Councilman Marshall then asked about blood drives and a possible one in Pocomoke. Discussion of Beautification Commission The Mayor believes that it is appropriate for us to bring our beautification commission back to help design downtown and adjoining neighborhoods for the seasons and to make sure that the town is beautiful. He picked names from each district to serve on the commission and he realized that some of the problems with the committees is there are not any alternates sO as well as those five I wanted to appoint seven people. Discussion of Economic Development Commission Councilman Marshall will be taking over the Economic Development Commission and the Mayor also had two names to submit. Councilman Marshall submitted names from each district and he also wrote up a tentative economic plan. It identifies the population, it identifies areas of potential growth, it identifies what the strong points are and it also identifies the way he sees things. There are areas that improvement and it is a beginning point and he strongly encourages council members of the city staff, planning and zoning, and everyone else involved to please take a look at it. Second Reading of Resolution No. 2025-R-12; Surplus Vehicles and Equipment Hearing and Vote Mayor Nock holds the second reading of the resolution. The floor is open for public comment. Hearing none from the public and the council, the floor is closed. Motion to approve made by Councilman Marshall and seconded by Councilwoman Cottman. Motion passes. Holland = aye Cottman = aye, Downing = aye, Marshall = aye, Tull - aye Second Reading of Resolution No. 2025-R-13; Approval of FY 2025-2026 Fees, Charges, and Rates: Hearing and Vote Mayor Nock holds the second reading of the resolution. The floor is open for public comment. Hearing none from the public and the council, the floor is closed. Motion to approve by Councilman Holland and seconded by Counciwoman Cottman. Motion passes. Holland - aye Cottman - aye, Downing aye, Marshall - aye, Tull - aye Second Reading of Ordinance No. 2025-0-6; Amending General Provisions; Vehicle & Traffic; Hearing and Vote Mayor Nock holds the second reading of the ordinance. The floor is open for public comment. Hearing none from the public and the council, the floor is closed. Motion to approve by Councilman Holland and seconded by Councilwoman Cottman. Motion passes. Holland = aye Cottman - aye, Downing = aye, Marshall = aye, Tull - aye First Reading of Resolution No. 2025-R-14: Approval of FY 2026 Pocomoke City Budget Mayor Nock holds the first reading of Resolution 2025-R-14. A public hearing is scheduled for Monday, June 16, 2025. Comments a. Comments from the City Council Members 1. Councilman Holland = There's a lot of grass on sidewalks and in the streets that needs to be sprayed 2. Councilwoman Tull - None 3. Councilman Marshall - Thank you to the Mayor for his participation in the shopping cart races during 4th Friday. 4. Counciwoman Downing - None 5. Councilwoman Cottman = None b. Comments from the Mayor Reads the summary of the Closed session from May 19th. He gives the public an update about where we are in the city manager search. From the six interviews the mayor and council will narrow our search down to two finalists once the two finalists have been selected, we will have a public meet and greet for both of the finalists. He appreciates the community's input when he posts on the mayor's Facebook page. I want that to be a space where we can come up with ideas and can think of everything. Wants to show gratitude and appreciation to the finance director Miss Brandy Matthews. The budget does not get complete by the mayor and council we just look over it and change some stuff but it is Miss Matthews who is at the helm of getting our budget done and this is probably the first year where our budget will truly be done before the last day of the fiscal year. The planning and zoning commission meetings have been moved to Thursday nights and they will stay on Thursday nights, economic development and beautification will be on Wednesdays, and would like to provide stability before they're allow them to start meeting as a body. They will have some sort of training session for them on how things are supposed to go when they're in a public meeting. The city is going to pull in the fair board. The Mayor and Miss Stafford had talked about that before is that one person on every committee has to have taken the open meetings act course. It is just to make sure that the committees are in line and everybody is trained the way that they're supposed to be trained. The Mayor and Mrs. Matthews walked the trail at Cypress Park and he would like to make a recommendation that GMB engineering look at the nature trail for hazards. The hazards that are there for people and pets alike. C. Comments from the Interim City Manager Mrs. Matthews wanted to reiterate the mayor's comments about the nature trail. It is not walkable and no one should be allowed there. The first time she's ever walked the trail and one of the most beautiful sites that I saw was when you got to the bridge was the heron that was just sitting there. That is what visitors should see when they come to Pocomoke. Center street is done. Everybody's been on it. Also, the community gardens concrete work is still being done. Right now, they've done about half where they've actually dug up all the stones SO they're still working on that project. Some things that need to be addressed have been sent to code enforcement just to make them aware of some things that do need to be addressed through the city. d. Comments from the Audience 1. Shonda Ward, Salisbury - Wanted to know if the City would shine a red light on one of the buildings and then if she could take pictures. 2. Nola Tullar - Expresses that the Mr. Brandewie needs to forward that information to the planning commission to make sure that they are available on Thursday nights permanently. Motion to recess to Closed Session at 7:30 pm by Councilman Holland, seconded by Councilwoman Cottman M Approved: City Clerk Agenda items may or may not be considered in sequence. This agenda is subject to change to include the addition or deletion of items, including executive/closed session.