Today we started off our meeting with the Invocation and Pledge followed by the approval of the Consent Agenda. The Consent Agenda included appointments to the Human Relations Commission—thank you all for your willingness to serve! We then had an introduction to our newest judge, Amy D. Lorenzini—congratulations on your appointment!
After that we presented commendations to Lanny Lancaster for his retirement and to the organizers of the Run for Hospice: Jim Dicus, Jamie Thomas, Jeff Thomas, Jennifer Overstreet, John Richards and Ann Richards—thank you for the incredible work you do for our community!
Our one Main Agenda item was approval of Public Hearing on the proposed ordinance to update the county’s zoning regulations for Medical Cannabis Growing Facilities. This is the ordinance that the commissioners requested the Planning Commission to create. There will be an evening public hearing for the community to provide input on Tuesday, July 26th.
Moving into County Administrator time, our first item was review of upcoming meeting agendas. There will be no commissioner meeting next week because of the July 4th holiday. Second we approved the FY2023 School Resource Officer/Adequate Coverage Grant for $204,369 (with a county match of $114,581). Third we approved the grant application for the FY2023 Police Accountability Community and Transparency Grant for $76,796 with no county match required. These funds will be used for purchase of a Virtual Reality Simulator and subscription service that will be used for Use of Force and De-Escalation Training. Fourth we approved the FY2022 Cooperative Reimbursement Agreement Application for Child Support Enforcement for $490,375 Federal funds and approximately $297,728 County funds. The services provided by the Child Support Unit are mandated by law and must be provided and this grant provides a portion of the funds to cover the expenses. Fifth we approved the annual Memorandum of Understanding with Visit St. Mary’s MD—this allows for them to market and promote tourism in the county in return for 38% of the Accommodation Taxes collected by the county. Our approved budget keeps their funding flat at $400,194. Sixth we approved the renewal of the Memorandum of Agreement with the College of Southern Maryland to continue business counseling services with the Southern Maryland Small Business Development Center. If you are planning to start a business or have a small business and would like some professional help and guidance, reach out to the SBDC—they provide some incredible resources and help! Seventh we approved the transfer of bond allocation authority back to the appropriate state agencies—this is a routine measure taken every year. This bond authority comes to the counties from the Maryland Department of Commerce and we return the authority to the Department of Housing and Community Development to be used for housing bonds or mortgage credit certificates in St. Mary’s County. Eighth we approved the Senior Care grant award from the Maryland Department of Aging for $130,925 (with $1,007 in County Funding)—this grant assists seniors with remaining in their homes. Ninth we approved other Department of Aging and Human Services Grant Awards in the amount of $83,003 (with $8,493 in County Funding)—these grants including funding for Older American programs, Guardianship programs, Senior Nutrition programs and Ombudsman programs. Tenth we approved a Resolution that prohibits compensation for more than one public office in St. Mary’s County—this keeps our County in line with State Law. An example is if a person serves on the Planning Commission and the Police Accountability Board—both positions provide a stipend, but by state law they are not able to be paid for both offices at the same time. Our final item of business was an informational update on the Police Accountability Board and Administrative Charging Committee.
During Commissioner Time I spoke about several recent events and wished everyone a Happy Fourth of July. We ended the morning in Closed Session to discuss Personnel and Real Property.
We will reconvene this evening at 6:30 pm for a Public Hearing on the Snow Hill Park Master Plan. Come in person or call in to voice your thoughts!
