Board of County Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Thursday, June 4th, 2026 open session for the Carroll County Board of Commissioners. As we always do, we'll begin with a Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silent reflection. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Hope everybody's doing well. It is a beautiful day outside. And even though I know that summer calendrically doesn't begin seasonally, it's definitely begun. So I hope everybody's doing well today. Commissioner Krebs, we'll begin with you for Priority Carol. Thank you.

I think I have some photos here because I'm Keep that one on for a second. On Sunday last week, we had the opportunity, my husband and I went up to Manchester Volunteer Fire Department's live burn exercise. I'm like, what's a live burn exercise? Well, this was unbelievable. We ended up staying for five hours. It was just an intensely impressive, um very time consuming to set this up it was a live burn of an older an old house 100 year old house um that the property has been abandoned so they wanted to have it taken down and they used the opportunity to practice and and train in um for for the volunteers and also for some of the young people in training it took months of planning for this because it you know needs to be very controlled but this is the attic and the showed us in the attic what things look like and it was interesting to learn that old homes actually are very very well built and can withstand fire much more than a new home that's made out of particle board but this is the attic and this is some things that they put in to actually start the fire in the attic and you'll see some other pictures later But Chief Andy Franklin was explaining the preparation. It took months to prepare for all this. A number of fire departments, over half a dozen, a couple from Pennsylvania, a couple from Baltimore County, then four or five from Carroll County, all coordinated with the trainers and bringing folks in and teaching them, setting things on fire, teaching them how to put it out in different situations. and i learned all about the equipment that's used the different hoses uh the pumpers and you know how they get water i mean learned a ton in that i mean we weren't going to stay long and we stayed all end up staying all day so you can move the pictures to the next one so we can see um this is when it first got started they boarded things up for safety reasons but you can see everything lined up it was a beautiful beautiful day and then the next picture shows when they they started the first fire up in the left corner and you could start seeing it coming out and you can see the buckle in the back the rear on the left the siding started to buckle because of the heat and then they have these heat monitors I forget the name of them where you can tell you know where the heat is in the house and it's a little piece of equipment so that they can tell where the hot spots are and then communicate that stuff with their someone that may be inside of the building Constant communication, constant coordination, you know, who shows up first and the different pieces of equipment that are needed for a different, they're getting hotter upstairs. But I was very impressed, and I'm always impressed with our whole fire EMS system, but these are mostly, they're all volunteers, and the training that's required, I mean, they were there, they got there 7.30 in the morning and were there well after we left, and that's their whole day. It was a beautiful day, but the professionalism and the training and the commitment to service of their volunteers just to be ready for anything is incredible. So there's that thing that shows the heat, how hot it is getting in the building. Flip the picture. That's Chief Robinson was there. That's John Krebs, the fifth, who's a 911 operator and also volunteer fire department line line borough. Many of these guys are professional professionals somewhere else and they still volunteer and many of our just volunteers. So kudos to all the volunteers and the amount of time it takes. And there's the roof going up. You can flip it again. That's it about a couple hours later. And then I didn't stay much longer than that. But it took hours and hours to get the whole thing burned down and a tremendous amount of coordination and time. Then we all went to graduations this week and went to Century High School. It was their 23rd annual graduation. It's hard to believe it's been 23 years. The impressiveness of the graduations we went to this year, I went to Liberty and Century. First of all, the students and the audience were impeccable. It's something to be proud of, how people maintain the dignity of the processional, the people that were there, and the number of students that are getting honors, tons of students, perfect attendance. One girl had perfect attendance from first grade. Now think about that, that's incredible. I chose you just showing up. Service recognition awards that had 300 or more service learning hours. Service learning has become much more critical with our youth to teach them what it is to serve. The National Merit, the number of kids with National Merit, AP Scholar Awards, Honor Society, the Completer Programs, Music, Art, Science, and Thespian, And also the number of students that are taking advantage of our community college program. And some of them have two years under their belt when they graduate. They already have their AA degree. So they have a good start. So it just impressed me so much. And it really starts with the parents, staff being invested. And our teachers, the number of teachers, staff members that show up. and are on stage and there for the students and to what because it's their day off too but they they spend their day because they want to see their kids and see them graduate so the investment of all the teachers and all the staff members at these high schools is incredible in Carroll County that's why we do well and we have very successful students so that was it's always fun to do graduations and see all the good we sometimes talk about bad things but there's so much good going on in our schools it's our future then the last thing i did last night was i got to go to um honor senator west who is retiring he's in the green shirt um senator west is from baltimore county but he's represented part of carroll county he was a delegate for eight years and i served with him in my committee there's senator reedy mayor nevin adam wood who's running to replace Chris West, Senator West, myself, but Chris has been involved, Senator West has been involved for 40 years within the party, and he's an attorney, very good attorney by trade. He's a professional, but he was there, they mentioned, for a recount years ago when we used to do paper ballots and had to have a recount, and he made sure it was done properly in the early 90s. But he's very well respected, and he is solution-oriented. And that's why he is so respected, because I served on the Health and Government Operations Committee for eight years with him before he went into the Senate. And he was about solutions and about finding solutions, finding consensus, getting everybody getting where we needed to be. And that's what he's known for. And I worked with him on many, many issues. And some of them don't seem that fancy, but they are to who they affect. But he was always very well-spoken and, again, solution-oriented. We don't have people like that a lot. They have bomb throwers, but that's not who he was at all. Let's see. What else? Oh, one more picture. I didn't want to forget. It wasn't there. Nope, that's not it. Okay, that's it. Thank you.

Good morning, Carroll County. I Commissioner Krebs, thank you for for mentioning that, that live burn exercise. And I've attended a couple of those myself down in the southern part of the county. And the level of coordination is absolutely extraordinary. And you got to see that for yourself and the stations that are set up and the care that they take to evaluate firefighters when they're coming out of those buildings and making sure that they're okay, they're checking heart rates and all those types of things. So Great to see that happen, and yeah, it does take a long time to get that set up. I think it's easily a year in the making. And then Commissioner Krebs also mentioned that this is graduation season. I don't have any pictures, but I attended South Carroll's graduation yesterday morning. It's always a thrill to be there, not only as a commissioner, But I am a graduate of South Carroll High School as well. So is my wife, my sister, my kids all graduated from South Carroll High School. It's a real thrill, and it's a real privilege just to be there. And my favorite part of each graduation ceremony, and I can only assume they do this at every single graduation ceremony, is they recognize the students that are going into the military. They recognize people that are going to college and to trade schools. Everybody's going off to do something, hopefully bigger and better. But when they call those names out of those kids, they ask them to stand that are going into the military. I think it is the best moment of each of those, each and every one of those graduation ceremonies. So my congratulations to all graduates and my appreciation for people, for the students that are going into the active duty military or have enlisted. are going off to do things such as that from our Carroll County Public School system. And it's a real tribute to them, but it also says a lot about their parents and their guardians and their friends and family that they're willing to sacrifice right out of high school like that and go and serve their country. But once again, congratulations to the South Carroll class of 2026. Once a Cavalier, always a Cavalier. That's all for me.

Commissioner Gordon. Good morning. Just got a couple brief things. First, wanted to mention that Carroll Hospital has a new president and chief operating officer. Wanted to congratulate Brian J. Calling on that position. He also serves as the senior vice president of LifeBridge Health. Obviously, we have a very good working relationship and strong interaction with the hospital. So very happy to see him taking this position and just wanted to congratulate him and have everybody wishing him the best as he's now serving Carroll County in the region. Also wanted to follow up on my colleagues comments regarding graduations. I've attended Community College and Winters Mill was earlier this week and of course this afternoon after we're done session I'll be at my alma mater, Westminster High Schools. So always uplifting to hear the great stories, accomplishments, and future plans of just remarkable students we have in the community. uh on tuesday morning i was i held my chamber of commerce breakfast over at exploration commons always a great opportunity to speak to the community and also the business leaders uh discuss some of the uh things that came out of this year's budget business related topics and things going on in the district 3 community uh all five of us i know have breakfasts i believe i know commissioner krebs that had hers i've had mine and i think the other three are in the in the near future saturday at the farm museum from 11 to 5 will be the maryland wine festival so great opportunity to come out enjoy great weather and interaction with not only the local wineries but your fellow members of the community always a great time and also speaking of the farm museum last weekend myself commissioner vigliotti commissioner kyler we were in attendance at the farm museum for the lyburn pavilion uh event which was a great event to see uh some of the community turnout but definitely was a great opportunity to see uh jack lyburn recognized for all his hard work dedication and love of the farm museum not only by the county but more importantly his family and friends And it was just wonderful to see that type of turnout on an absolutely perfectly stunning day. One other thing I wanted to bring up just really briefly was last Friday I was over at the Public Safety Training Center and had the opportunity to attend the 2025-26 class for the incoming members of the volunteer fire and EMS so it was great to see that a lot of great young people that are definitely interested we had people from all the different fire departments wonderful turnout by family and friends and just it's it's nice to see that we have people that step up and volunteer it's it's tough I mean it really is becoming more and more difficult whether it's rec and parks whether it's volunteer fire but it's good to see a community that we recognize and continue to want to serve each other and that's all for me thank you thank you and and it's a hectic time of the year everybody knows that and and

I'm glad we split up and get to different events and hopefully we cover it and if we don't It's hard. I went to the Carroll Arts Center for the evening with Walter and Elizabeth Davis. Rhonda and I split up. She did flowers, wine, and conversation and brought home flowers for me. That was nice. But I went to the Carroll Arts, and I had no idea what to expect. There was an actor and an actress who played walter and played and the lady played both of his wives they were awesome it was a great evening and then they uh they played some stuff from like 10 years ago um soundtracks of people that talked about it then and it was just a great evening and they the arts arts center um the historical society they all do such a great job putting this stuff on and organizing it um Vince DePalmer, I mentioned last week that Vince passed and his viewing and mass were both this past Friday and Saturday. I want to mention, and again, he's such a great impact on rec and parks in general in Carroll County. And he started one of the first rec councils in Manchester. But what I want to mention, we did a proclamation and good information. And I took it to the funeral home Friday morning, because I didn't want it to be about us I wanted to be about him Lynn from the family happened to be there the Eckarts had a they had a proposed place to display it Vince's family took it home I don't know if they read it at the mass or not but they framed it they they made it so much better looking than we do. You know, it's just, they appreciated it so much. And it was, with the flowers and stuff, it was displayed. And Miss Vince already, and he's got a great family. And I think I mentioned it last weekend, one of the Walls and Stevie DePalmer, both were pilots and both buzzed Manchester And I joked with both of them at the viewing. They filed a flight plan. Their position would be that they did everything legal. And I said, I think you cheated a little bit. You were way too low. And they just kind of laughed. But just great families. And speaking of great families, I went to a ribbon cutting at Finksburg Plaza, little local town in Jim, and four generations of the owner's family were there. A good crowd was there, and it's one of the chamber's ribbon cuttings, which they do a great job with them, but... It's so great to see new businesses coming into Finksburg Plaza. It's a little tough, uh, entrance and exit wise, but it has some good businesses. A tire place is probably going to do a ribbon cutting next week probably. So it's a lot of activity down there, but this is just a great family and I wish them luck and success with this. Um, commissioner Gordon, Mentioned Jack's family pavilion and that was awesome. His daughter did a great. Great talk and it so many people there retired people from the state. young people old people it was just a great great crowd and like everything at the at the farm museum just was great we've already mentioned some graduations and yeah the community college was great i went to winner's mill and manchester valley the school board and superintendent were nice enough to let me give my grandson, and keep that picture up a second, give my grandson his diploma. And I gave another wrestler his diploma. So that was very nice. I've got to tell you, for those of you who think I look way too old, I think the Carroll County Times, and I know somebody on Facebook, said I was so fortunate to give my son his diploma. So I'd have been close to 60 when he was born, which is kind of biblical, but trust me, I'm the grandfather. But great graduations, and we've said a few things about it, but to me, you can't say enough for, and I've told people, Very well-behaved, very good crowds. The principal typically states the rules, maybe an assistant principal at the beginning. And you've got to look at this. For a lot of the families there, this is the most important day in their life so far. This is major. And yes, a lot are going to military, going to college, going to trade schools. they're transitioning to another step. But this is major for so many of them. And I want to congratulate every graduate in Carroll County and every parent and family of a graduate in Carroll County. I just think it was awesome. And yeah, I went to Commissioner Gordon's breakfast. He did a good job and got a few questions. We did. Yeah, they tested you a little bit. So that was pretty good. I do want to mention, Two personal things. I can't help it. Tuesday, June 2nd was Tommy Dell's birthday and we lost Tommy at age 36 and a great kid, great family. And I feel for them. it's it's been uh 15 years probably maybe more may it might be approaching 20. we've we've done tournaments in his honor it seems like for 15 or 16 years um as a parent as a brother um and another family member. I can't imagine you never get over that. You know, I just can't imagine how you feel so deepest sympathy to that family. On a good note, Manchester wrestling's having their annual party. Saturday from three o'clock on. Everybody's welcome. Friends of the family, family, past wrestlers, anybody connected with it in any way whatsoever. Free food, free drink, and from six to eight there will be free snowballs. And a couple have mentioned volunteer fire companies and different activities that they do and uh i've been blessed i have probably more volunteer fire companies than than any other district and they do a breakfast and uh i'm probably i need to confirm but i'm probably going that going to that uh next week and it's just great because uh it it It was traditionally in Manchester, but they're working on their auxiliary building. So it's been in Hampstead, it's been in Limber, but probably five, six different volunteer companies attend. And I just, I just want to mention we've got a hybrid system. We've got a great EMS paid system, but our volunteers are still handling the buildings, the equipment. A lot of this, like Commissioner Krebs said, that was mostly volunteers at the burn, and they do that stuff. We need to support them, and we need to respect them. And that's enough for me.

Well, thank you very much, Commissioner Kyler. I will begin by complimenting all of my colleagues, as always, for their comments and their participation and for their presence around the county and for everything that they do for the county. It really doesn't matter when we are able to show up to anything that we can to support our citizens. And so I want to compliment everybody for that. So very briefly, as Commissioner Gordon mentioned, I had the pleasure of joining him and Commissioner Kyler at the dedication of the Jack Liburn Pavilion Association. A very wonderful presentation and being able to get to say a few words about Mr. Wyburn. And of course, being able to talk to his family and friends and everybody who had been involved with him for so many years in making this county such an economically viable place. Second of all, as Commissioner Krebs led off with, had the opportunity and the privilege, as Commissioner Guerin describes it, privilege of attending the Francis Scott Key High School graduation this week, along with New Winter Mayor Kevin Kornick and Tawny Towns Mayor Chris Miller, Mayor Pro Tem Rachel Miller. and Councilman Alex Kelly. As always, CCPS does such an incredible job with the graduation ceremonies and as commissioner, as everybody has said, I wanna offer my congratulations as well as my prayers and best wishes to all of our graduates across the county from every high school for everything that comes next. And last but not least, a couple of MPRP related items. So first of all, the company PSAG behind the transmission lines is again attempting to alter the Public Service Commission schedule to benefit themselves. The county, of course, is going to be filing a letter with the PSC about this. And to anyone who has not yet filed a letter, please do so through the PSC as you have done before. uh... second of all with respect to the NPRP Jenny Teeter from Stop NPRP Incorporated uh... everybody knows her and in that group it's a phenomenal group and the job they do is incredible in their coordination in their opposition to the NPRP she reminded me and I'm gonna read a couple of things here briefly that uh... The Power Plant Research Program has formally issued data request number one in our case, number 9773, against the transmission lines, asking landowners along the proposed MPRP route to answer questions about their property, particularly potential farming and conservation impacts. PPRP's experts are building the factual record that the Maryland Public Service Commission will use to evaluate the project's impacts, on farms, forests, and conservation land, and your firsthand knowledge of your own land is exactly what is needed. So if your property is used for farming, livestock, agritourism, or is subject to conservation easement, your response is particularly important. And of note, you do not need to be an approved intervener to respond. Any landowner whose property is on or adjacent to the proposed route is eligible. And she also pointed out, please do not contact PPRP or file this response at the PSC. Stop MPRP Incorporated's attorney for the PSC is going to handle submission on their behalf once everything has been compiled. Please send your completed responses directly to, and I'm going to read the email address here twice. mprpcomments at stopnprp.org. Again, that's mprpcomments at stopnprp.org, no later than the end of day on June 9th. This gives them the time to compile everything and ensure that every response is submitted by the June 10th deadline. So if you haven't done so yet, please do so. And again, from our end, we're gonna be filing letters ourself on our own end as it pertains to the schedule as well. Did anybody else have anything you wanted to add this week for Priority Carol? All right, hearing nothing, we will move right into our agenda. So first up, we have approval to purchase PFAS Phase 2 Groundwater Remedial Investigation. Good morning, gentlemen.

Good morning.

The Office of Procurement and Cooperation with the Department of Planning and Land Management requests your approval to purchase the PFAS Phase II Groundwater Remedial Investigation from Tetra Tech Incorporated in the amount of $244,550. This purchase is being made via a competitively bid contract that was awarded to Tetra Tech Incorporated. The amount is approved in the FY26 budget.

Yes, good morning commissioners. So this contract is for Tetra Tech to finish out the on-site investigation at Public Safety Training Center and complete their report. So happy to answer any questions you may have.

Any questions or direction from the board?

We have the Board of Commissioners approve the purchase of PFAS Phase II groundwater remedial investigation from Tetra Tech Inc. in the amount of $244,550. Second. We have a motion. We have a second. Is there any discussion?

Will they be involved at the landfills and with other properties with Carroll County, or that'll be bid out?

That is not within their scope, so I'm not sure. I don't think it's really been discussed what the next phase is as far as any work on other properties might be. Okay, thank you.

Any other discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you, gentlemen.

Thank you.

All right, up next, we have approval to purchase Team Dynamics IT Service Management ITSM system. Good morning, ladies. Good morning. Hope you're both doing well.

You as well.

The Office of Procurement and Cooperation with the Department of Technology Services requests your approval to purchase Team Dynamics ITSM system from Software House International for $95,504.64. This purchase will be made via an Axia Cooperative Baltimore Metropolitan Council contract that was competitively bid. And awarded to SHI, the cost includes $50,504.64 for year one service charge and $45,000 for implementation and training fees for year one only. This amount is approved in the FY27 budget.

Good morning, commissioners. Team Dynamics would be a complete ITSM, which is IT service management system for the county. It would replace our current track it ticketing system. This new system is a very robust ticketing system with reporting that we really don't have today, analytics, asset and software module. So we'll be able to track all the assets and software. project management module. We'll be able to do change management and problem management, so we'll be able to track what's going on in the county. A very robust self-service portal for the end users to use outside of IT. There's a knowledge module as well as support from Team Dynamic and a release schedule. So we'll be able to get regular updates and keep enhancing the system along the way. uh this platform the current platform is very basic it's just really a ticketing system it does not do all those other items so this is to um have a complete basically an i.t service management system for the county any questions or direction from the board we have the board of commissioners approved the purchase of teen dynamics itsm system from software house international for 95 504.64 second

We have a motion. We have a second. Is there any discussion?

Oh, you got one. What? You have a second. Oh, yes, we do. Didn't hear it.

Do you have any discussion from anybody? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion carries unanimously.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

Up next, item number four, approval to purchase pipelining. Good morning. Good morning to you both. How are you today?

Well, thank you. And yourself?

Doing well. Thank you very much. Morning. Morning, commissioners. How y'all doing?

The Office of Procurement and Coordination with the Division of Roads Operations requests approval to contract with ProShot Concrete Inc. to line a 24 inch by 322 feet pipe utilizing their thermoform pipe lining. The total project cost of $99,320 includes Mobilization, debris removal, maintenance of traffic, and full circumference lining funding for this work is available within the approved budget. These services will be procured through a competitively bid state of Alabama cooperative contract.

Good morning, Commissioners. Once again, we're lining more pipes, and I brought a sample of what the product looks like. This is a new product from ProShot. They've always done our concrete lining, and now they've enhanced their program to do this PVC lining. We went with ProShot because our other contractor couldn't do the pipe, do the configuration. It has a 45-degree bend in it without an access point. So this product has the ability to go around a 45 degree bend, and then they have some really skinny guys that can actually cut and repair at the 45 degree mark to be able to get the entire 322 feet lined in one one pool. It's in Commissioner District three. It's up on Colton Road. The the outfall is in a gentleman's yard, which is why we chose not to replace the pipe. It was a lot less invasive in the guy's property to do it this way. any questions do they line at um the flow line or a hundred percent or it depends on it this is a hundred percent when they it's the full circumference it will be this material all the way around the entire inside of the pipe and they do it with a steam machine i went down into baltimore county and watched this process be done it was very impressive and they they they plug both ends and then run steam in it and it blows it up and expands it and then it gets hardened

Any other questions or direction from the board?

I have a question as well. It's interesting. So I know we're doing this to extend the life of the concrete. Are we doing that proactively on new things so that we don't have to go back and

no no so most of the the storm drains in carroll county are a lot that what we're repairing are samps everything now to specs from my understanding is hdpe which is the plastic pipe so when you put galvanized metal in the ground after 25 and 30 years it rusts and it deteriorates and that's what's creating a lot of these failures and these the dips in the road so if we have the opportunity to line them so we're not ripping roads and yards up that's what we'll do sometimes it's more cost effective to go ahead and replace the pipes in house but when you're talking 322 feet it's more um citizen friendly i want to say because this would tear this guy's entire yard up because it's not just the the um dimension of the pipe, you have to step back to the depth and things like that is to the depth of the pipe. So anything new that's being constructed has HDPE for the most part. So we don't do anything with new stuff. This is just old 25, 30-year-old CMP pipes.

And when I meant new, I meant like new, the reason I'm asking, because a project was done in front of my home last year, and I realized how time-consuming and expensive it is. to recreate something from 30 some years ago. And now there's a lot of new products. So the new stuff getting built, I'm hoping that they're making them use the newer products so that we don't have to go back

I do believe that is correct. That would be probably a stormwater management question because they're the one that do the plans for those, but I'm pretty sure that everything designed these days has HDPE.

I do appreciate the amount of work it is to replace it. All these new products are going to hopefully extend the life and expend many things, also just time and effort, and it's a lot of work. So hopefully we're requiring that. Thank you.

When you replace with HDPE, it changes the flow characteristics. This does also, but you can't change the size. Is that an issue, or do you try to consider that on your decision?

Because these are just, this isn't for live water. This is just water run off the road. So changing the diameter of the pipes in this situation doesn't make a difference because it's just run off. out of in road inlets if we were using live water we would get engineering involved and sometimes we would actually have to replace them due to the the velocity reduction with during a storm if this increases the flow characteristics so it could cause flooding or not cause flooding it could affect stormwater management like you

Well, with this lining, it conforms to the corrugation of the pipe. So it'll still have. Correct. Yes.

Yes. It still has its ribs in it. That is correct. Yes. I'm sorry. I didn't understand what your question.

It looks a little more thick than that there, but yeah.

Yeah, this was an end that didn't get in the steamer. So this is a piece I pulled off of Baltimore County. Right. that when they cut the ends off so this isn't a fully exposed the steam grown up correct this is just the material i brought good so you lifted it from baltimore county yes we did yeah i asked if i could and they said yes i didn't steal it i asked any other comments or direction from the board

Move the Board of Commissioners approve the purchase of pipelining from ProShot Concrete Inc. in the amount of $99,320. Second.

We have a motion. We have a second. Is there any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Have a good day.

You too. You too. Up next, item number five, spending authority for change order for waste transfer and disposal.

morning commissioners morning how are you start one second uh to commissioner krebs question about the hdp pipe it's the same material made out of the landfill liners are made out of so you're talking hundreds of years of life versus concrete that can fall apart and you know 30. so i just wanted to build that from the back of the room and unless it's out in the sun yeah unless it's uv protected yeah yeah if you if you store it too long before you use it you can jeopardize that

Thank you.

The Office of Procurement, in cooperation with the Bureau of Solid Waste, requests spending authority to cover waste tons transferred above the FY26 budget in the amount of $2,500,000 to Modern Landfill. Modern Landfill is contracted by Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority to perform these services. Funds for this scope of work are approved in the FY26 Solid Waste Enterprise Fund Operating Budget.

commissioners through carroll county's membership in the northeast maryland waste disposal authority municipal waste is transferred from northern landfill to republic services modern landfill in york pennsylvania for fiscal 26 we budgeted to receive a total at the landfill of 140 000 tons of waste with 110,000 tons of those transferred by Republic Services at a cost of $7.15 million. At this time, coming up on the end of the fiscal year, we conservatively are projecting to receive approximately 180,000 tons of waste through the gate. That's through the end of June 30th. likely requiring transfer of an additional 40,000 tons over our budgeted forecast. Transferring the additional tons would result in an increased cost to the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund of approximately $2.5 million above that line item approved in the budget. It should be noted, though, that our landfill tip fees per ton are greater than the cost of waste transfer per ton. So the receipt of the 40,000 additional tons of waste would increase revenue sufficiently to cover the additional waste transfer cost. Again, I'm trying to stress that it is a conservative estimate. Prices that we're estimating is a little higher per ton. The tonnage might be a little higher. But we don't want to come back again after the fiscal year and ask for more. So we're trying to be conservative now. Therefore, we're respectfully requesting spending authority for the additional cost of waste transfer above the fiscal 26 budgeted amount.

Any comments, questions, or direction from the board?

I've got a question. I'm just trying to understand the whole thing. So our tip fees are greater than the cost of the waste transfer per ton. Correct. So we think we're going to get it back. So why do you need to transfer it? And then why can't it just wait if it's an enterprise fund to get to recapture the money?

If I hear you correctly, it's at the end of the year with the enterprise fund itself. We have to physically transfer the waste away because we don't really have the room in the landfill at this moment to be able to put that extra tonnage in the ground.

But if we're charging more in tip fees anyway, why didn't that accumulate to be able to pay for this? And then why wouldn't it accumulate again to cover it?

It has. Without budget being here, I can't say exactly where we are right now. But we probably already have enough already in the budget itself, revenue side, to cover the cost.

So we don't anticipate the TIP fees would have to be increased anymore, since they're already covered.

The TIP fees aren't being increased. It's just the dollar amount of the TIP fee, which is at the low end of $70 a ton. And it costs us about $62 a ton to transfer.

And do we have any, is this like a normal thing at the end of each year that we have?

It has been, because we've been budgeting a certain way. We've changed that for next year. So the fiscal 27 budget. really is about where we're going to end up with this year with a little bit of a cushion.

I just know people getting rid of more trash than they used to. We have been.

Yeah, I've got stats back to fiscal 22. And from fiscal 22 to today, we've seen an increase of 48% of volume and tonnage through the gate.

And it'd just be interesting to me to find out what that is. Some of it, I think, is packaging. A lot of it's packaging. The amount of packaging increases of what people get now at their doorstep, it's a ton. Welcome to Amazon. It's interesting to know why, because it's not like a big increase in population, but a big increase in packaging.

It's both. And we've also seen, and we have meetings with other counties and other organizations A lot of it also is post-COVID. Consumerism is up. Wastefulness is up. So unfortunately, this is the result of a lot of that.

But does this go back to pre-COVID? Is it normalizing itself?

It was increasing. You always see about a 3%, 4% increase a year. We've been 15%, 10%. one and a half, 13 and six. Those have been the increases in tonnage year to year.

No, it's just interesting because we're supposed to be recycling everything and doing everything. But I don't do much on Amazon. But even what we do, the amount of packaging that comes with this little thing that you get, it's like it's a lot of a lot of trash.

We had a part of a seminar I was at the other day. We had a regulatory update for next year, legislative update for next year, too. And there will be additional we are hearing additional efforts on producer responsibility coming up next year. Some of its packaging mattresses, perhaps, and a few other things. So efforts to keep the material out of the landfill going somewhere else.

The thing that's interesting to me, and I went through the bag tax, allowing a bag tax. And on one hand, you pay a bag tax so you don't use a bag to take your stuff when you physically go to a store. But then when you order somewhere else, you get like three times as much stuff to package the same thing that you're paying a bag tax for. But it just seems like conflicting policies of people that, whatever. We don't do the bag tax, but you understand what I'm saying. Absolutely. Thank you.

Ted, you look like there's something you want to share with us.

On the question of why are we doing this at all right now, it's not a question of will there be enough money to cover it. It's that we'll be overspent relative to the budget. So this is just to make sure that budget and expenditures match up when we do our financials at the end of the year. And the last thing you were just talking about on the jump, the jump is not as dramatic as it seems. This is really In budgeting this, Cliff just talked about what the last three years' increases have been. We didn't catch up budgeting to this as quickly as we should have. So the increases have been on one line, but we weren't budgeting to match that. But we think we've caught that up for 27 now.

Thank you. And we also have some flexibility in landfill versus transfer, depending on what's going on at the landfill, how much cell we have built. We're opening up a new section here this month. So if we can landfill a little more to keep this reduced by the end of the fiscal year, we will do that. Going forward the next couple of years, we'll have some flexibility. A couple of years after that, maybe not. So that varies year to year. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Ted. Any other questions or direction from the board?

Move the Board of Commissioners grant spending authority in the amount of $2,500,000 to cover waste transfer above the FY26 budgeted amount to modern landfill. Second.

We have a motion. We have a second. Is there any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion carries unanimously.

Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you.

All right. Up next, item number six, contract approval for medical director for the Department of Fire and EMS. Good morning, Chief. Good morning.

Good morning. Good morning.

The Office of Procurement Cooperation of the Department of Fire EMS request your approval to contract with Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Department of Emergency Medicine as an independent contractor who will serve as the medical director for the Carroll County's EMS operations. The Department of Fire EMS is requesting to an increase and working hours for the medical director bringing this year's FY27 amount to exceed, not to exceed $213,000. The funds are approved in the FY27 budget.

Morning. As you all are aware, our operational program under Code of Maryland Regulations Title 30 requires a medical director in order for us to operate. Since we have begun, and I guess this is about the fourth year of the contract, we've contracted with Johns Hopkins, and we have Dr. Stephanie Kemp assigned to us. As you all are also aware, in the last year we have significantly increased our clinical activities, including the whole blood program, ultrasound, and we just had our contract approved. We're going to begin training for what we call rapid sequence intubation. All of this requires additional physician oversight, so we're going to increase Dr. Kemp's hours to 20 hours a week. This funding also pays beyond Dr. Kemp for the additional services that we get from Johns Hopkins in terms of other physicians that are able to come in. When she is gone, we have a backup physician. And again, the accountability and responsibility of our providers has gone up significantly.

Any questions or direction from the board?

Move the Board of Commissioners approve the contracting for medical director with Johns Hopkins School of Medical, Department of Emergency Medicine, the amount of $213,000. Second.

We have a motion. We have a second. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion carries unanimously.

Thank you. All right. Thank you.

Item number seven, contract award for background checks for volunteers. Morning, questioners. Morning. Morning, Bob. How are you? Good.

The Office of Procurement and Cooperation with the Department of Fire and EMS and the Department of Rec and Parks request your approval to award a contract for background checks for volunteer services to Versant Media LLC in the amount not to exceed $88,000. The amount includes $43,000 for Department of Fire and EMS and $45,000 for Rec and Parks. The county solicited proposals on its e-procurement platform public purchase and received 15 responses. An evaluation committee was formed to conduct technical and financial review for all proposals. Proposals were evaluated using criteria detailed in the RFP. After evaluating all the proposals, the evaluation committee recommended award to Versant Media LLC as the highest ranked firm. This contract will be for a period of one year with four additional renewal options available pending fiscal availability and vendor satisfaction. The first year's cost has been approved in the FY26 budget.

Why did you pick them, and have you had any experience with them?

This is a company that we have been using, and with procurement, we went through a pretty extensive process. We had a committee. We looked at everybody. We did background and reference checks and looked at the services for each of our respective agencies.

Any other questions or direction from the board?

I just have a question for Bob since you're sitting there. So does the county cover the cost of background checks for all volunteers? Correct.

That's any volunteers that work with youth or deal with money.

And the county covers that? The right councils don't cover that?

Actually, the counties do, or the councils reimburse us for those background checks.

They do? Correct. And do you know how much that is? I mean, there's just per... person.

Morning commissioner at least a Carol with a division of recreation. So we invoice them per check per rec Council for the youth councils and the current cost is $15 per check. But that will be increasing with this new contract.

And how much do you anticipate that?

I don't have it in front of me, but was it $18? Is it going up to $18, I believe?

I believe so.

Per check. I don't have the financials in front of me.

And the only reason I ask, because I know all that gets passed through to the. Yes. It is passed through to the rec councils. It gets passed through to the registration fees for the students. Correct. And the kids. The reason I'm asking that is because my kids used to pay like $15 to sign up, and now I'm finding out they're paying like $175 to pay something. things have gone up. We have to you want to make sure everybody could participate. I know you have to do this now. They changed that a number of years ago, but um, we gotta help them out a little bit so kids can afford their parents can afford that. They can actually participate.

Thank you, Lisa. While you're there. Um, can can you tell us a little bit the process? Do they still need to go to state police to get fingerprinted or all that goes away with these people?

A true volunteer does not need to be fingerprinted. They do the online check through NCSI, which is the company that we use underneath. That's the parent company the contract goes to. We have been using them since 2016, so we are very familiar with this company. However, if they are an independent contractor and they're being paid to do anything, then they do need to have that CGIS background check and be fingerprinted.

Thanks. Any other questions, comments, or direction from the board?

Move the Board of Commissioners award a contract for background checks for volunteer services to Versant Media LLC in the amount not to exceed $88,000. Second.

We have a motion, we have a second. Is there any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you all very much.

Thank you all.

Up next, we will move into public comment. Roberta, do we have anybody here for public comment?

I have a gentleman in the back that wants to make public comment. Kevin Dayhoff, Mr. Kevin Dayhoff.

Oh, the good councilman from Westminster.

Thank you.

Good morning, councilman.

I would have a seat. good morning commissioners good morning ms whitman good morning mr burke and you're not allowed to bring a sign for i know you like well that's right i have a and if i had planned this a little better i would have been more than happy to bring the wyndham sign against signs as long as it's not the wyndham memorial sign oh my word in heaven above I wanted to be sure to stop by this morning to thank Commissioner Gordon and the commissioners and everyone with the county for all your help with the Townsend Cook memorial work. We put the poll in the ground this morning at 8 o'clock. At 1 o'clock, we're going to put the marker on. If you want to stop by, Mr. Gordon.

I'm going to stop over after the Westminster High School graduation.

Oh, OK.

The staff's been keeping me in the loop. My word.

And they're going to send me some photos. Well. But I really appreciate it. And I want you all to be aware, of course, you all know that I farmed for a living, so I have a special place in my heart for Public Works. But your Public Works folks have just simply been phenomenal, because this has been a work in motion for quite some time, and as a matter of fact, we were really concerned that we would get the historic marker in time for the services this Sunday. The services for the dedication of the Townsend Cook historic marker will be at 1 o'clock this Sunday. To refresh your memory, Mr. Cook was killed June the 2nd, 1885. He was an African-American gentleman who was accused of a crime and did not benefit from a court proceeding. About 50 folks came to the jail, overwhelmed the sheriff, and dragged this individual about one and a half, two miles down below Westminster and hung him and shot him. It was a horrific crime. My grandfather would tell me about this crime in the late 1950s. It was such a horrible crime. But Public Works has just simply really gone out of their way to help. And as a matter of fact, if it's okay, I'd like to read into the record the folks that came to put the marker in the ground this morning. Mike Hockensmith, Floyd Welty, John Thompson, Dave Goodwin, Eric Zepp, Moses Ettinger, and of course, Mr. Green, Jason Green, and Doug Brown have been a huge help from the very beginning. And from the bottom of my heart, I really appreciate it. It's just wonderful to work with you all. Are there any questions?

Well, thank you, Councilman, for your own passion and your dedication and your service as a councilman as well. And thank you for the kind words about the incredible people who work for the county. And I certainly got to compliment Commissioner Gordon, as always, for his investment in Westminster and history.

It is a team effort. I'd be inappropriate to not state that, given that the board significantly all agreed to this, as we felt this was a...

needed uh piece of history to be uh recognized well it's it's just speaks well of all of you i mean this historic marker is going to go uh right by the historic jail this is an ugly moment um in our country and in our county um but uh we're blessed to be in the greatest nation in the world that we can address things like this. That sets us apart from anyone else. We have these moments in history, but it gives me goosebumps, but we have the ability as Americans to do something about it. And for that, we should be extraordinarily proud. I mean, we're putting an historic marker right by the historic jail that calls to everyone's attention that we, as a greater community, messed up on June the 2nd, 1885, and we're doing everything we can to make it right. So I really appreciate it. God bless. God bless you.

Thank you so much. Very well said.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And I'm going to go back to work. One o'clock?

I'm at the graduation, but I will stop by after.

Well, then I'll talk about you. That's fine.

You do anyway. It's good. It's a 250-pound marker. I heard about it with the transportation of it.

With this weather, you need to be bailing.

Well, yeah, that's true, too. I've been asked to help with hay a lot this spring because after the rains, it got a little hectic. All right. God bless. Thank you all.

God bless you. God bless you.

Thank you so much.

Roberto, do we have anybody else here for public comment? No, not here. Chris, do we have anybody on the line for public comment?

Yes, we have two callers. Caller, with the last four digits, 6467, if you could use star six to unmute, you'll have three minutes to make a public comment. If you could just identify yourself and tell us what address you're calling from this morning.

Yes, hello. Andrew Manning here. My address is currently not far from you guys, right outside the police station right now. And even though I couldn't be there with you guys in person, my IBS still kicks up, you wouldn't believe it. Real quick, I was so inspired by the morning opening comments this morning. I know I couldn't be there with you guys in person, but I still wanted to partake in the activities If you don't mind, I actually forgot to start my stop clock here. Okay. All right. Sorry, I was a little unprepared. I wasn't sure if you guys were going to take my call or not, but like I said, I can't be there participating in the activities with you guys, so I can still do it virtually if you could give me one second. Oh, that smells real good. Yeah. That's a good one. It smells good. So basically, the reason I'm calling this morning is I just want to remind everybody, you know, I'm out here running my program around the courthouse, the police station, and the government building here. And believe it or not, I'm getting catcalled by the Carroll County Police as I'm trying to do my job. And I want to remind everybody, you know, The irony of the situation is, you know, I was raised by the system. At about 14, 15, like I said, I went through the entire juvenile justice system, mental hospital, group home, both block up, Hickey, Sheltonham. And then I was on probation as a juvenile, probation as an adult. And I also spent time in the jail here in Carroll County. And the ironic thing is now is I'm turning 40 next year. You know, I make my appearance at the commissioner's meeting to share my story and give my public comment and sit quietly until it's my turn to speak, and yet I still have been barred from attending the public meeting. So just to make things clear, you guys are going to have to tell me when my three minutes is up. Just to make things clear, you know, we're doing the work. We're not out here putting up signs in the ground. We're not out here taking pictures of people confusing geese. Baby geese and mothers as they're trying to cross the road. We're doing real work. We're going to Kohl's. Buying things we don't need. Getting to Kohl's cash. Using our Kohl's cash to buy the brassieres. Put them on. Still our representation as we're running around for the soccer moms of Carroll County. While my hair is too short, I'm buying the wigs. The colorful wigs. The blue hair. The pink hair. I'm showing my support for the LGBTQIA+. uh community as we're running around this is no um this is no game this is real so i'm going to go ahead and begin the end of my public comment i want to thank you guys uh i'm working on getting back in there don't you worry and uh hopefully i'll be seeing you guys real soon thank you thank you chris who else do we have yes we have another caller if you could use star six to unmute and please identify yourself

Yes, good morning, Commissioners. Catherine Adelaide, one of nine members of the Carroll County Republican Central Committee, a resident of Carroll County. I'm not sure if it's better to go before Mr. Manning or after him, but I'm glad he's still alive and kicking. Anyway, it's good for, he's a poster boy for why we should keep drugs, including recreational pot, out of Carroll County. Anyway, our last meeting was Thursday, May 28th. Our next meeting for the Central Committee is June 25th, Thursday. We finished up our first and only carnival before the primary, the Gamber Carnival. I might have missed a few of you. I did see Commissioner Krebs out there Friday night, which was my last night. It was great talking to her. We had a great week at the Gamber Carnival. We didn't give out as many signs as I had hoped, but we're there to support our primary candidates. And let's see, several candidates did show up to meet and greet. I'm going to skip my pro-life report this morning just because the election integrity, excuse me, it's one, oh, I'm sorry, I didn't put my timer on. Somebody will have to let me know. Early voting begins one week from today. I can't believe it. We've been waiting and waiting, and here it is. A week from today, early voting begins June 11th. I will be there through June 18th, good Lord willing, of course. And so I am still the chair of election integrity subcommittee for the Carroll County Republican Central Committee. And I did attend the first of six public events on Friday. What day was that? It was Friday, May 29th at the... brand new, much upgraded Board of Elections, the Logic and Accuracy Public Demonstration. Kelly McIver, who's also a candidate for Central Committee, did also attend. So I had a couple of concerns about this first public event. It's 10 o'clock in the morning. Nobody can show up. Two years ago, I was literally the only person there. So I reminded them, I was not picking on them, that The board gets picked on regularly to try to do these public meetings, you know, when the working public can actually show up, not just a few retirees. And the second problem was, well, there's a PowerPoint, and I asked if this PowerPoint, you know, if it could be printed out for people, if it was online, and they said no. And they are, you know, checking to see if there's any legal reason why. My argument, of course, is that If it's a public event and the entire public had come to the event, why can't the public access the PowerPoint to explain it? Because logic and accuracy public demonstration is extremely technical. So it's basically how the voting machines are working and to show that they're not being rigged, they're not broken, there's not a problem with them. So I think we all know that we have paper ballots and that gives us reassurance. But the minute you insert a paper ballot into a machine, Well, there's a whole lot of things that can go wrong. So some people, some conservatives, are very much in favor of having paper ballots that are actually counted by real people with checks and balances. Please do wrap up your comments. The number of checks and balances on a machine-counted ballot is beyond your wildest dreams. So there's some issues with that. Again, we need poll watchers. You can go to the Board of Elections and download the poll watcher certificate. And I look forward to seeing everybody out there next Thursday. Go Carroll County. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Chris, do we have anybody else on the line?

That's all I have, sir.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Chris. Next, we'll move into administrative session open. Does anybody have anything today for admin open?

I have two things I'd like to mention. One, and I just thought this was a more appropriate phrase than priority, Carol. It is campaign season. The last commenter mentioned that. Make sure you have property owners' permission to put signs on their property. The people that are not doing that make everybody else look badly. and that goes with state and county property. And then I wanna make a comment about public events and public hearings. We keep talking about you can't do it at 9 a.m., you can't do it at 11 a.m., whatever. Carroll County has a great, farm community i work construction all my life i couldn't make a six or seven o'clock meeting without leaving work early when we had black and decker and some other companies in carroll county or three shifts somebody that works four to twelve can't make an evening meeting either we need to make sure we have various times and various opportunities for people to make public comment which is why I encourage him to send emails or text or call me because it's it's we keep forgetting that people have different schedules and and and and I understand her comment and I'm not not disparaging that but I don't I don't care what time of day you have it you're excluding people in in Carroll County

All right, well, thank you very much, Commissioner. Does anybody else have anything for admin open? All right, hearing none, we will move into agenda review. Wanda, how are you?

Good.

Doing well, thank you.

And thanks for the e-mails. You're keeping us up to date.

Oh, you're welcome.

Up first, week of Monday, June 8th, 2026. On Monday, June 8th, 2026, in the evening, Tawny Town City Council meeting awards presentation. I will be present at that. Tuesday, June 9th, law enforcement torch run presentations and lunch. Commissioner Kyler will be present at that.

And I'm not running. It's a presentation. I'm not part of the torch run.

They're not giving you the actual torch? No, no. I really think one year we should do that. Maybe we should have Roberta do it. She's got a motorcycle. Have her drive into McDaniel with the torch.

Yeah.

Also that day, Leadership Carol Class of 2026 Commencement at Wakefield Valley. Wednesday, June 10th, Farm Museum Advisory Board meeting. Commissioner myself, I was going to say Commissioner Vigliotti, myself. Thursday, June 11th, Board of County Commissioners closed admin at 8 o'clock a.m., followed by open session at 9 o'clock a.m., Item number one, in priority, Carol, Mr. Glenn Edwards' retirement, followed by the Daily Perks Challenge recognition, followed by World Elder Abuse Awareness Day proclamation. Item number two, presentation on self-service storage facilities. I'm going to get it right one of these days.

What?

Oh, that's 11. Never mind. Yeah.

Okay, so it's not just me who got a little confused. Item number three, self-storage, deferral ordinance, and possible modification.

Just to be clear, that presentation is by the consultant.

Okay.

And then the next is the continuation of the conversation the board had.

All right.

Three weeks ago?

Yeah, two weeks ago.

Wanda, could you make that little change for item number two to make sure it says consultant presentation on it? Thank you very much. And thank you for – see, I was confused about it too, so thank you. Item number four, grant approval to submit application and acceptance of award for the FY 2027 transportation and land use connections grant program preliminary design of Finksburg bicycle and pedestrian facilities. Item number five, possible extension of temporary deferrals on retirement villages and retirement homes on the freedom in the freedom designated growth area. Item number six, approval to purchase pavement condition survey and analysis. Item number seven, spending authority for substance use recovery treatment services program oversight and monitoring services. Item number eight, grant approval to submit application and acceptance of the award for the FY 2027 supporting older adults with resources. followed by public comment, admin open, and agenda review. Friday, June 12th shows nothing on the formal calendar. Saturday, June 13th shows nothing on the formal calendar. And then Sunday, June 14th, Commissioner Guerin has the podcast. Does anybody have any changes or alterations for our first week? Hearing none, we'll move into the second week, the week of Monday, June 15th. Monday, June 15th shows nothing on the formal calendar. Tuesday, June 16th, Planning and Zoning Commission with Commissioner Gordon and then the Veterans Advisory Meeting that afternoon with Commissioners Gordon and Kyler. Wednesday, June 17th, Alcohol Retailer Seminar Opening Remarks will be delivered by Commissioner Kyler at the Public Safety Training Center. Then that afternoon, the Carroll County Community College Board of Trustees meetings with Commissioner Kyler. And then at 7 o'clock PM, the Emergency Services Advisory Council with Commissioner Guerin. Thursday, June 18th, 8 o'clock AM, Board of County Commissioners closed admin, followed at 9 o'clock AM by our open session. Item number one, Priority Carol and Park and Recreation Month of July Proclamation. Item number two, FY 2027 Program Open Space Allocations to Municipalities. Item number three, Approval and Acceptance of the Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness 25-27 Year 2 Grant. Item number four, Proposed Amendments to Chapter 150 Forest Conservation. Item number five, Public Hearing for the Community Development Block Grant Family Shelter Construction. Item number six, update on engaging neighborhoods, organizations, unions, governments, and households, otherwise known as the Enough Program. Item number seven, briefing and discussion and introduction to water resources elements. Item number eight, briefing and discussion decision on proposed text amendments to chapters 155 and 158 for planned commercial centers, followed by public comment, admin open, agenda review, and then that evening, Habitat for Humanity's 25th anniversary family party night at Island Green in Westminster. Friday, June 19th, shows nothing on the formal calendar. Saturday, June 20th, shows nothing on the formal calendar. And Sunday, June 21st, Commissioner Krebs has the podcast. Are there any alterations or corrections for our second week? Hearing none, is there anything else for the good of the order today? Hearing nothing there, we need a motion to adjourn. So moved. We have a motion, do we have a second? Second. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Unanimously, we are adjourned. Thank you, everybody.