August 17, 2021 Commissioner Update:
Today’s meeting started off with the Invocation and Pledge followed by approval of the Consent Agenda. The Consent Agenda included a letter to the school system identifying our Blueprint for Education Implementation Coordinator and a letter to the Maryland Department of Housing explaining the termination of the Rogers Drive extension project. We then presented proclamations for National Aviation Day and for the 185th Anniversary of the Piney Point Lighthouse (that’s one old lighthouse!).
We then adjourned as the Board of Commissioners and reconvened as the Board of Health for a presentation from Dr. Brewster on the status of COVID, especially the Delta variant.
Reconvening as the Board of Commissioners we moved immediately into County Administrator time and our first item of business was review of upcoming meeting agendas. Second we approved the Adult and Family Recovery Court Award on behalf of the Circuit Court for $269,000 (with county funding of $186,211 for a total of $455,211). Third we approved the sub-recipient agreement from the Health Department for $84,607 for Project Chesapeake and the Adult Drug Court Program with no county match required. Fourth we approved a Child Support Grant Application for the Sheriff’s Office for $490,375 (with $297,728 County match)—these funds go to pay for the Child Support Unit of the Sheriff’s office and these services are mandatory regardless of grant amount. Fifth we approved the FY2022 Program Open Space funding for Cecil Park Athletic Lights for $202,500 and the Land Preservation, Parks and Recreation Plan for $25,000. Sixth we had an information only update on the Airport Innovation District from our Director of Economic Development—if you have time, go onto the County BoardDocs site and skim through the presentation, all of the work being done there is very impressive! They also presented the new branding plan for the innovation district and the new logo and name “AeroPark”. Seventh we approved a budget amendment for $75,000 that will allow the county to receive and pay the lease obligations for the TechPort—NAWC-AD and the Naval Aviation Systems Consortium will be covering that portion of the lease and the county will continue to fund the remaining $20,000 of the lease. Eighth we reviewed the Solar Energy Task Force Report and their recommendations. Ninth we approved an MOU between the National Center for Applied Transit Technology (N-CATT) and the St. Mary’s Transit System for technology strike team technical assistance in developing a plan for transit software—there is already $446,000 in the budget for technology upgrades and there is no cost in receiving this assistance for identifying the best fit technology. Tenth we approved a grant for the St. Mary’s Airport for $59,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act—these are funds designated in the ARP for airports. Our final item of business was to approve a resolution to designate the County Treasurer to issue Bingo Licenses—this came from legislation passed in Annapolis last session at our Sheriff’s request so that the Sheriff’s Office is not the body issuing licenses and enforcing the law governing gaming.
We ended our regular session with Commissioner’s Time where I discussed Afghanistan, the Lawnmower Races at Bowles Farms, and the great work by our County IT Department, Department of Social Services, SDAT and our County Treasurer to get the ERAP Rental Assistance Grant Funds distributed. And I recognized Nicolletti’s for 40 years in business and the great pizza!
After Commissioner’s Time we entered into Closed Session to discuss Personnel. After Closed Session we re-entered Open Session and made two motions: first, to increase the grant funded salary for the Drug Court Case Manager and second to appoint Stacy Clements, Planner III as the St. Mary’s County representative on the Patuxent River Commission—thank you for your willingness to serve! For the rest of this week I will be attending the Maryland Association of Counties Conference, so look for updates from there!
