Today I led the Invocation and Pledge at the start of our meeting. We then approved the Consent Agenda. The Consent Agenda included our appointments to the Police Accountability Board and the Administrative Charging Committee—thank you to everyone who was willing to serve on these new boards! We then presented a Proclamation for LGBTQIA Month.
After that we presented a Commendation to Arthur Shepherd for his retirement after serving St. Mary’s County for 37 years! We then presented the 2022 Safety Matter Employee Awards—congratulations and thank you to Nick Earhart, Larry Eberhard, Eugene Chip McGolrick, and Anna Bussler.
Entering into our Main Agenda, we began with approval of a zoning ordinance that will allow a homeowner to apply for a Critical Area Variance to build a swimming pool in the Critical Area Buffer. This opens up more flexibility for homeowners and brings us in line with state law. We then approved a zoning change from Rural Preservation to Rural Commerce for 26470 Three Notch Road, Mechanicsville.
Moving into County Administrator time, our first item of business was review of upcoming meeting agendas. Second we approved the FY2023 Sex Offender Compliance and Enforcement in Maryland grant application for the Sheriff’s Office—if awarded, this grant will provide $13,603 and will have a $7,083 county match. Third we heard updates for the Snow Hill Park Master Plan and approved a Public Hearing to provide time for public input. Fourth we approved the revised St. Mary’s County Land Preservation, Parks and Recreation Plan—this update is required for us to receive Program Open Space funding in the future. Fifth we approved an operating agreement with RCS Services, LLC for daily operations at the St. Mary’s County Regional Airport—this is a yearly review and update, with the only change being the change in name from AIRtec to RCS Services. Sixth we approved four Option Contracts for acquisition of property and easements needed for FDR Blvd Phase 3 for a total of $15, 750. There was a motion that would have given the Commissioner President the authority to approve the remaining land acquisition contracts if they were at appraised value, but I argued against this because of the lack of transparency it would create and the motion failed for lack of a second. Our final item of business was approval of a FY2023 grant award for $268,811 for the St. Mary’s Transit System (STS) under the American Rescue Plan Act.
We then entered into Commissioner Time—I spoke about several events over the past two weeks, including the high school graduations and the Spring Ridge Middle School Rhythm Club Concert and how it cost over $100 to fill my truck up with gas. Reminder that the Crab Festival will be happening this Saturday! We ended the day in Closed Session to discuss Personnel.
