EMMITSBURG,
Md. – Emmitsburg Mayor Jim Hoover has asked the Emmitsburg
Ethics Commission for an opinion on whether an investigation
needs to be opened concerning a member of the Emmitsburg Planning
and Zoning Commission.
“The
issue was brought to my attention and I’m looking
into the matter,” Hoover said. “I definitely
have some concerns there.”
During
the Sept. 19 planning and zoning workshop, consultant Chris
Jakubiak made some recommendations to the commission about
properties that should or shouldn’t be annexed into
the town based on the town’s water capacity.
Some
of recommendations concerned annexing properties to the
southwest of town, which could potentially use up much of
the available water capacity as the town serviced development
on those properties.
During
the ensuing discussion, Planning Commissioner Patrick Boyle
made arguments against the recommendation.
“This
is personal, I mean I can’t see taking [properties
for annexation] off the books to satisfy Mount St. Mary’s,”
Boyle said during the meeting.
However,
he failed to note that he is the part owner of the Silver
Fancy Farm, one of the potential properties for annexation
that Jakubiak didn’t recommend for annexation.
“[Jakubiak’s]
saying we have enough water for southwest and northeast
but we don’t have enough for anyplace else,”
Boyle added later.
If
the Silver Fancy Farm is annexed into town it would be able
to be developed with more homes than it could be now. The
town’s ethics ordinance does not allow for town officials
to use the power of their office for
personal gain.
Boyle
said he did nothing wrong. “I know right from wrong
on that subject.”
He
said he recuses himself from any votes having to do with
that property. During the Sept. 19 workshop, however, he
said he wouldn’t be able to vote on the recommendations
because he didn’t have enough information from Jakubiak
not because he is a part owner of a property in question.
Boyle
also announced at his first meeting as a commissioner that
he owned property. He made a similar declaration on Sept.
24 because there was a new member on the commission, according
to Boyle.
Earlier
in the summer, Boyle complained when former Planning Commissioner
Catherine Forrence was in a similar situation. She recommended
shifting development on a parcel that abutted her mother’s
property away from the shared border without acknowledging
the property was owned by her mother. Boyle said during
the meeting that she was making the recommendation to benefit
her mother.
Once
the ethics commission meets, they will decide whether an
investigation needs to be initiated. Hoover pointed out
that he had not made an ethics complaint against Boyle because
he hasn’t seen the meeting in question. He is requesting
an opinion because more than one person has made mention
of the possible conflict to him.
“The
ball’s in their court now,” Hoover said. “Neither
the town staff nor I are going to file an official complaint.”
