Commissioner - Regular Meeting

All right, good evening everybody. Welcome to the Queen's County Commissioners Meeting. This is a public meeting that is being aired live on our local cable television station QACV7. These media broadcasts provide county citizens an opportunity to watch and participate in our scheduled public meetings. In addition to our live audience this evening, we are providing remote options for citizens to watch and participate in county commissioner meetings. Citizens may watch our meeting live on our website at qac.org/live or on our public access governmental television channel provided by Breezeline Cable Services. Citizens may also participate by joining the live Zoom meeting by going to qac.org/public comment. And citizens may also email comments uh to public commentac.org or and all comments received will be summarized during the press and public comment period on tonight's agenda. We acknowledge everyone's participation and by attending you acknowledge that this session is both recorded and reaired. Press and public comment will be taken and is limited to three minutes per person. If you do care to speak, please sign up at the information table in our lobby. Comments longer than three minutes can be submitted in writing for the commissioner's review. We'll now stand to be led in the pledge of allegiance by Commission President Jim Moran. 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.

All right. Uh, do we have Commissioner Corkerino up there on the Yes, sir. On assignment. Okay. On assignment. I believe he's he's there. Okay. All right. I want to make sure he really is on there. There he is. Look at that face. Where do you keep the batteries for that? Keep it off. It's good. Scary. Thank you, Bruce. Okay, commissioners. Uh, first we have the agenda for today's meeting, April 14th. Uh, along with the regular session minutes, the close session minutes for March 24th. They've been circulated for your review. And in addition to that, we circulated the budget work session meetings from work sessions one and two from March 24th and March 31st for your review. Any additions or corrections? Nope. Motion to accept the agenda as submitted and the minutes as submitted. Second.

Second. Motion in a second. All in favor? I I All right. So, we just held a close session under the general provisions article section 3305 B7 to consult with council and section 3305 B3 for land acquisition. Uh, no decisions during the close session today. You don't have anything. But you want to do uh public comment? Yes. Anybody sign? We don't have any here. We have nobody signed up. Would anybody like to speak? Press public comment. Nope. We'll close it moving on.

All right. Okay. We can move into the regular portion of the agenda. So we have uh legislation is first and it is uh just after us exactly 5:40. So first up we have um the comprehensive solid waste management plan public hearing. So Mr. Thompson, Mr. Shane Moore, Chief Reds Engineer, come on up. Mr. Thompson will officiate the hearing. And this is for the tenure solid waste plan update. Where are we?

Uh, this is, I'm sorry, tab number seven, item one, pages 1 through 4. Tab seven under legislation, item one, uh, pages one through four. And then we also provided the link in your summary to the uh 194 page uh comprehensive solid waste plan for uh review and inspection. This uh that plan has also been provided um uh to our county libraries and it's been available for public review for some time now and our all of our municipal town members have reviewed it and provided their input in the plan. So Mr. Thompson

ready. This is public hearing being held by the county commissioner of Queen Anne County. 5:40 p.m. Tuesday, April 14, 2026 in the commissioner meeting room, Liberty Building, 107 North Liberty Street, Centerville, Maryland. Purpose of the hearing is to review and receive public comments on the draft comprehensive solid waste management plan. This 10-year P plan is required pursuant to the code of Maryland regulations set 26 subtitle 3 chapter 3 entitled development and county comprehensive solid waste management plans. This hearing site accessible to individuals sign action interpreters listening systems are available. Person who wish to comment on the proposed new comprehensive solid waste management plan may do so at the hearing. Speakers will be limited to three minutes each, but written testimony of any length may be submitted before the hearing date to director of public work 312 safety drive central Maryland. The proposed solid waste management plan has been available for public review on the county website or at any three county public libraries. Copies of the plan are have also been available at Department of Public Works 312 Central Drive safety drive. Part of the recording will be a step of the publication indicating that notice of the chair was published for three consecutive weeks prior to the hearing in the Bay Record Observer. There have been some public comments received and there in the record the part of the record and in the file.

No one signed up. Are there any public comments? Shane, do you have anything you want to

mean? Basically per section uh 9503A of the environmental article code of Maryland um we are required to submit a 10-year comprehensive solid waste management plan. Um to kind of reiterate what Todd said, this draft plan was submitted to MDE January of 2026. Uh we have received those comments and addressed all of MDE's comments. In addition, we have sent it to all the municipalities. We've received their comments and address the plan and that is the plan that currently everyone has has a link to or has a copy of. Um last week we had uh we present it to the planning commission on April 9th and we subsequently got approved with a consistency with the county's comprehensive plan. I have that letter as well. Um, in addition to the um advertisement, it was put in the uh it was available at DPW as well as the libraries and I believe all that was already stated.

None of you guys have any issues with it. So, it's public hearing. It's a public wait two weeks, right? Right. Yeah. Nobody public comments or Yes. Yep. Yep.

Yeah. My name is James Schroeder. Um I live in uh Shrewsbury Farm uh at 125 Grace Pond Lane. Um I live there for a couple years now. And the potential site for it that's back off uh behind our house. You can kind of see a little bit when in the in the winter when the when the foliage is off the trees, you can see and hear stuff as it is. So, I'm definitely uh um not in favor of uh that that location at any point. Um one uh I know we're grandfathered in, but um they would never have put wells that close to a a landfill, and we all have wells in that community. So, that's number one. Number two, um don't want the sightly uh smells and the uh unsightly uh uh view of the height of it and the noise and all that comes with it on top of just nobody wants it. At least I wouldn't think here in our in our town of Centerville. We already have traffic on, you know, mornings and and evenings just rush hour traffic. Now, you want to put dump trucks coming through and the infrastructure for it all. We just are I'm just totally uh against it. And uh I would encourage you all to try to uh find another option, kick the can further down the road if possible or to Taba County or maybe somewhere on 50 or 301 that has better access and can handle the infrastructure and and all the traffic and and what comes with uh all the dump trucks and everything that goes with that and that it's not in someone's backyard like ours. So, thank you.

Thank you. Any other public comments? Hello. You can lower that if you want. I can. Okay, there you go.

A little shorter than them. Um, hello. My name is Laura Schroeder. My address is 125 Grace Pond Lane, Senova Melon, Maryland. Um, so this is my testimony in response to the Queen Anne County's draft comprehensive solid waste management plan 2026 through 2035. Uh for the record, I'd like to state my objection to the exclusion of the detailed procedures for citing new solid waste. Um it's been in existence for at least 22 years since at least 2004. Uh has been expanded and remains relevant. Uh so that's the big part. And then the rest of my comments are related to page 98 of the plan item two and are related to the sighting of Midshore Regional Solid Waste Facility or Midshore 3. So, while Queen's County purchased the 124 acre farm adjacent to the Centerville Dropoff Center, Harper Road, 30 plus years ago, uh that was regardless of any complete evaluation by the Maryland Environmental Services for use as Midshore 3. So, the site is not suitable for use as a solid waste management facility. While the sighting criteria for new solid waste management facilities have not been carried forward to the plan from the past two plans, um it's instructive. I might run out of time. I'll speed up. Um the Harper's road site is not feasible because among other things proximated houses like my husband mentioned and portable animal and human wells, inaccessibility to distance from highways, and poor safety conditions due to insufficient county and town of Centerville feeder road systems and structures. Uh we don't have anything that would accommodate largecale truck traffic uh and including no way to avoid left turns across oncoming traffic. Um, I know that can be very dangerous as we've had several recent accidents. Um, and environmental factors including the presence of substantial wetlands on the site, the site's non-conducive layout. There's a stream running through

it, there's a large pond, uh, making the footprint inadequate in size, especially by the year 2032, projecting out 20 years. Um, and even with using today's number, the trash mount at Harper Road was expected to be as high as the bottom of the road service on the Bay Bridge. Um, so sports teams that come here to play at White Marsh for tournaments would be able to see it, smell it, probably hear it from White Marsh. Um, and those traveling along Route 213, the major thoroughway, a scenai would see it and smell it as well. Um, so it's just not a great place for Cville to put that. Uh, I guess I'll go to the end. Um, the permit process for Hopper Road is on hold because the county is in good faith working to locate and designate a different site for Midshore 3 as permitted by the amended and restated memorandum of understanding. Um, so I appreciate the county's willingness to work to locate and designate a different site for Midshore 3 and appreciate the opportunity to participate in the process. While we know it will be difficult, it's necessary and must be done by December 31st, 2028. Thank you.

Thank you. Any other public comment? We're going to go ahead and close press some public comment and hold this open for two weeks. Yep. Thank you.

All right, commissioners. Uh we have our second uh public hearing. It is uh 550. So this is county ordinance number 2512. This is for growth allocation in the resource conservation area and this is um growth allocation non-adjacent adjacency standard uh text amendment for uh the Gunston School. So Mr. Thompson has the u public notice. I'll turn it over to him.

Thank you. This is a hearing being held by the county commissioners in Queen Ans County. Uh, Tuesday, April 14th, 5:45 p.m. in the county commissioner meeting room, Liberty Billy, 107 North Liberty Street. Uh the purpose of the hearing is to receive public comments on county ordinance number 2512, a bill entitled an act concerning youth of growth allocation and resource conservation areas of Queen County for the purpose of amending growth allocation standards within the Ches Bay critical area to allow for the award of growth allocation within the resource conservation area non adjacent to an existing limited development area or intensely development area for the expansion of current nonprofit institutional uses as of June 29th, 1988 that provides secondary education or is used as a youth camp lawfully existing as of the date of enactment of this amendment. Provide the definition of secondary education including specific conditions, limiting sess water growth allocation to no more than 150 acres and generally dealing with and revising the growth allocation standards within the Ches Bay critical area Queen County. Copy of the ordinance have been available at the county commissioner's office prior to hearing and online at the county website. Speakers be limited to three minutes each individuals. Uh written testimony of any may be submitted long before the hearing date to the county commission's office. All hearing sites are accessible to individuals with disabilities. Silac interpreters and assisted listening systems are available. Uh

for the record of this proceeding will be a certificate of publication indicating that notice was published in the Bay Times record observer uh and a letter to the the critical area commission uh dated December 9, 2025. Five. I've got a couple people signed up. Ryan Showalter.

Good evening. Uh Ryan Shoalter, 100 Northwest Street East. I'm appearing on behalf of the Gunston School this evening. John Lewis, the head of school, would like to be here. He's he was committed to a board of trustees meeting this evening, so I'm I'm here in his place. But I I think the the title of the ordinance uh covers almost all of the substance of the ordinance. It's it's a short and and very discreet change. As you may know, growth allocation generally has a standard that requires the award of new growth allocation be located within an existing limited development area or adjacent to an LDA or IDA. Um the Gunston School is surrounded by RCA uh land. It's been uh in use for uh essentially um you know for decades long long long before the critical area laws were established. Uh it has uh improvements, parking lots, buildings, sidewalks that exceed lot coverage standards on some of the parcels and they have plans to expand their facilities. So we need growth allocation to both address the compliance of the current facility and to provide for uh additional improvements. But the county is not in a position to award growth allocation because it's not adjacent to an existing LDA or IDA. The the county uh created an exception to that adjacency standard once before for the standalone emergency room in Graysonville that that required growth allocation and was all RCA. So your code already has a non-adjacency exception. Uh this adds a second exception and it's limited to secondary education facilities and youth camps. Uh and so we worked with the county staff on this concept. This is essentially a revision that was going to be brought forward by the staff as part of the comprehensive county critical area program update. Uh Gunston needs it sooner than that update was proceeding. So we applied uh for this text amendment to advance this. The planning commission reviewed this text amendment uh and issued a favorable recommendation. It then went to the critical area

commission and received favorable recommendations from both the critical areas uh commission's program subcommittee as well as the full commission. So we appreciate your support. We'd be happy to answer any questions. Thank you. What are you looking to add to it? I'm sorry. What what are you looking to build on it? Just out of curiosity. Uh so additional parking area and then additional uh academic buildings, science or Yes, science. Uh longer term, there's also plans for some additional athletic facilities and then general hearts sidewalks uh connecting the buildings, all of which are lot coverage that require that LDA or IDA designation.

Stevens. Good afternoon, Commissioners. Joe Stevens. Um, Centerville, Maryland. Um, I represent the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang Camps,

uh, which has acquired the Aspen Institute a couple of years ago, as you know, and the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang Camps, um, has, uh, renovated the former H Hotton House down there, and, uh, will be beginning this summer with their programs. You're familiar with them. I believe that's the camp facility that, um, provides for a camp experience for seriously ill children. They also provide medical facilities right there and so on. Uh when this amendment was proposed and I had reviewed it, I considered that it would also apply to the hole-in-the-wall camp gang camps because they'll be coming in for growth allocation at some time to go to their phase two, create infirmaries, create cafeterias, create dormitories, rooms, so on and so forth, recreational facilities for the kids. And they'll be using uh growth allocation. uh the way that it had been drafted was a was a bit unclear whether this adjacency because as you know the Aspen former Aspen Institute isn't adjacent to any IDA or LDA um would have applied and and it was the intent I believe from talking to the planning office that the hole-in-the-wall gang camps would be included. So when we went to planning commission um we suggested on behalf of hole-in-the-wall gang camps a couple of amendments, minor amendments to it which you see bolded in that text. Um and the um planning commission uh with the consent of the applicant Ryan uh in included those provisions. They clarified that this would also apply this adjacency um deviation would also apply to the whole wall gang camps. And um and so we're pleased with it. um we support it um as probably being the only other entity, maybe there's a couple others, but it's only going to apply to educational and um and youth camps. Um so, uh it will allow for this youth camp to expand uh seek growth allocation and be before you um for for what we consider a pretty important use. So, we encourage you to act favorably. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Anyone else have any public comment with respect to county ordinance 252? Go ahead and close it and hold it for two more weeks. Well, I'm going to make a motion. Why? Why not? Cuz we normally hold them open for two weeks. If you want to make a motion, go ahead. Thought we had already talked. Wait, we should follow the rules. Okay. My apologies. All right. Is it is it okay? So, thank you. Okay. All right. Thank you.

All right. Commissioners, um item number three and four in your books, also tab seven. Item three is on page nine and 10. This is amendment number one to county ordinance number 261. This is for um red light cameras and this um this amendment uh can be introduced and voted on and this basically sunsets uh county ordinance number 2601 which is for the implementation of red light cameras in Queenians County. So the sunset provision uh would sunset this particular ordinance uh on July 31st, 2028. So item three is the uh amendment that was discussed uh last meeting and then item four is the original ordinance that can be um voted on as amended if you so choose.

I'll make a motion to adopt the amendment uh number one to county ordinance 2601. Second. We

have a motion to second. Any discussion? you I mean it's my whole thing was and I think I stated it last meeting but I'll state it again is that a lot of these things when it comes to fees and taxes one of the things people get mad about and what you see every years is something comes up 10 years from now and people wonder where it came from I don't want anybody to wonder where this came from in two years we look at it if the whole concept of people are aren't speeding anymore and are not running red lights then we don't need it anymore and that's the only reason I put this amendment out there so it'll force commissioners do their job these things. I want more time to study it, but go ahead. Let's vote.

Okay, we have Well, we we have a motion. And we have a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I I opposed. I He's a He's a yes. Patrick's in that four. 41. Ready? I'll make a motion to pass county ordinance 2601 as amended. Second. We have a motion to second on 2601. Any further discussion on that? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed. I. He's 4 to one. There's a delay. So, just put your thumb up, Chris. Y.

Okay. All right. Thank you, commissioners. Um likewise items five and six are are together as well. Uh item number five on pages 14 is amendment number one to county ordinance 2602 and this is for speed monitoring systems uh within school zones. Uh the first amendment number one is the same sunset provision of July 31st 2028. And then item six on pages 15 through 17 is the county ordinance 2602 for speed monitoring systems for school zones only. uh applicable Monday through Friday 6:00 am to 8:00 pm and um so that they are available for u decisions tonight as well.

Make a motion to uh for amendment one be adopted for ordinance 2602. Second. So you introduce it and you're and you're making a motion to approve it. Correct. But add the amendment. Add in the amendment. Correct. at the amendment. Correct. That's what I'm saying. Okay, we have a motion in a second. Any discussion? Yes.

Um if if we can I would like to put in the amendment that this is only for schools. I know you're going to tell me it's only for schools, but at any time the state can change it and you can put it everywhere on every corner. So, I would just like that to be put in there that it's only specifically for schools regardless of whether the state changes the law and they will at some point. Well, this is a this is the count Hold on to to clarify. This is the county ordinance. So, the state can't change this. We would have to then adopt the state's new law. They can't supersede this. So,

because it says only schools, it's a simple sentence. I'm not in favor of that in my first off. Okay, Patrick, you you need to make a motion to be in writing. If you're going to propose an amendment to an ordinance, it has to be in writing. So, I'm willing to hold it over if you want to put another amendment for I would like to do that. No problem. Okay. So, we'll hold amendment number one for county orders 2602. Then we'll table 2602. Yep. So I'm sorry. Did we we t you tabled the Yeah, the amendment is tabled, right?

The amendment is tabled. Okay, which means the ordinance is tabled. Okay. Y So that's it, right? Yeah. Okay.

Y to be continued next meeting. All right. All right, commissioners. Moving on. Uh item number seven is on pages 18 through 20. This is um uh from a previous hearing for the 2011 comprehensive water and sewer plan. This is amendment 1126. This is uh submitted on the town on behalf of the town of Centerville. They were requesting a text amendment to revise or replace the current requirement on the ownership of lands used to spray irrigate treated wastewater effluent. Currently, the plan requires the land used by a government for effluent disposal to be owned and fe simple and the town has requested that this provision be modified or replaced to allow for spray on leased agricultural land and where appropriate public open space, passive parklands, etc. So, those are the um that is the purpose of the amendment. And we have Mr. Alan Quimby here, director of public works. You have any questions? I think the town of Centerville has some representatives here as well. If there's any questions for the town, this is available for us.

Give us your elevator. What you got?

I think you should approve the amendment for the lease portion and both portions because far as the county lands, which is the only land owner impacted, they're still going to have to come back for an agreement. So, approving the allowance of parkland is just like the first step. So, you've got a whole another agreement that you'd have to to uh map out with the county. So, I don't see any harm in that. I do think the lease option, while it has some potential pitfalls, I I like to I admire the fact that they're trying every avenue to keep the new effluent out the Corsko River. I think it's the best solution. And frankly, NBE has the right to veto it anyway. So, let them be the bad guys. So I guess the bigger question is I remember the when we had the um when you guys came in I guess almost a year and a half ago now and and they had the discussion that even with the spray fields though you still had that deadband time frame where you wouldn't be able to flow at the higher rate because of the temperatures that still

yeah I'm sure they will not be able to just ground water discharge in the winter. Yeah, you probably would see some increase in the winter, but not in the summer because when the biologics is more prevalent, the damage could be more prevalent. So, you figure this will get you past the the MDE for that flow or is this just like a first step to try to get this very first step? Very first step. Okay. Even if MDE doesn't deny the amendment because they always have veto power over these amendments, they still have to go back and get a discharge permit, right? Identify or field whatever. Okay. Is uh is leasing still in the option for you?

Yes, very much so versus purchasing. Yeah, we have been unsuccessful with purchasing. So, break the bank. Okay. So, you need a motion, right? Yep. We need a motion. Where was that one? the third one down. Did you find it? Well, the other issue is whether the county gets to review the lease or review and approve the lease. So, that's that's your call. One of the top two. I think we should be a part of approval process anyway. Approval of the lease. Of the lease. You guys get what that review of the lease.

Review of lease. I mean, yeah. Yeah. We're okay if the county wants to review the lease. We would prefer the county not be an approval process. Right. Right. Right. No, I'm meant review. Yeah. Sorry. Okay. So, that's motion number one, right? I don't have number. That would be number one on both of those. Yeah. Yeah. Excuse me. I move to approve the amendment allowing the use of long-term leases to secure lands to allow for the disposal of treated wastewater spray of fluent on the condition that the county review the term of the lease. Second. We have a motion in a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I I

opposed. So move 5. Motion on the parks one, please. Roll Phil first review. Yeah. Yep. Um

but it doesn't say review. Well, they'll have to come back for another agreement anyways. All right. Because it's the parks. All right. I move to approve the amendment to allow the use of passive parklands for the disposal of treated wastewater spray affluent. Second. We have a motion to second. Any discussion on this item? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed. So move 50. Thank you, Commissioner. Thank you very much. All right.

All right, commissioners. Um, we're a little ahead of schedule, which is good. So, next we have uh item eight in your books on pages 21 and 22. This is the um the annual tax set off hearing with our incorporated towns. We have a lot of our incorporated town representatives here with us this evening. So, the commissioners are required to provide for tax offsets for the municipal governments in the county. Two options are available for the determination of the tax set off, a tax differential rate or a direct payment, aid payment to the to the town. Um, for FY27, we have a list of proposals for the following tax differentials um for each of the um each of the towns and that that were reviewed and agreed to at a recent uh council of government's meeting on July the 14th. So, um, do you want to call each of the towns up um in um

Well, we have in order. Are we going from Well, let's just start. Barkley. Yep. Come on up. Yep. You didn't bring You didn't You didn't bring that big You didn't bring that big check with you. I could have. Trust me. Yes. It's in my bedroom. There you go. Good evening, Commissioner Stephanie Todd. How are you? Good. Great to see everybody. um working on our budget. We've had to increase some things this year. So, a tax cut off little every little bit helps. You know, we did get this million1 million44,000, but it's earmarked for our building. It's so exciting. I guess you could say I work for a million-dollar town now.

There you go. I was going to retire the end of the year, but I've got to see some of this through. Yeah, that's for sure. Absolutely. But it's very exciting for the town. There's a lot of morale. Um things are moving anyway. We have this, you know, the sewer system in and it's running smoothly. So, we have a lot of interest in the town anyway. Good. Sounds great. Sounds good. How's the planning going for the building? Is it underway? The No, we have to get it have a feasibility study done. We're literally start starting from the ground up.

So, we don't even know where we're going to put it yet. We have a couple couple parcels that we own, but um you know, we like that little building there in the corner. That's kind of an icon. So, but thank you for attending. Um, Commissioner Corporino attended as well. He's up on the big screen. Jack's always supported us at COG meetings and Todd. So, we have a bunch of gold shovels, too, when you're ready. So, let us know when you're ready. Yes. Yes. That'll be next. That'll be Well, thank you. Thank you for coming. Thank you. Best of luck. Nice to see you. All right. Thank you, Virginia. So, we have an aid payment for Barlay in the amount of $22,183.

Sounds good. And we'll go a million dollars. Todd, that that's chunk change. Centerville. Don't Don't leave that on the desk for a while. Good evening. Good evening. How are you? No seat. I know. I know. Um so I believe with Centerville um the um county's tax rate is reduced by um 13 13 cents. Yes. For our residents. So I remember I said why I remembered that I don't know. I'm glad you did because I forgot what the rate was. That's not a bad thing. So you guys are great then. Yeah. Good.

Well, thank you then. Thank you. You didn't have far to go though, right? No. Street Church Hill. There he is. Good evening, sir. All right, John Paul Griffin from town of Churchill.

Um, thank you guys for having me for giving me the opportunity to speak. Um, back in January at the COG meeting, the um proposed amount that of the aid payment um we discussed and it would be very helpful. is going to account for about 12% of our overall um general budget for this year. So, it will definitely be a big help for us and we'll use it wisely. And that your number the same as mine number $78,416. That's correct, sir. There you go. Very good. Yeah. All right. Well, thank you. Yep. Thank you guys. Appreciate it. Thank you, JP.

The town of Millington. All right, there's no one from Millington. Their differential rate is 0.085 per 100. Queen anne $5,532 in aid payment. Queenstown here.

Hello. Hey. Hello. Me again. No, it's always a pleasure to be here. First of all, I'd like to thank you for my other hat, which is the Reads Across America program, and I'd like to thank you for your ongoing support and participation. Um, it's really a wonderful day. I would invite you all to come on that day because it's really spectacular. Awesome. To see every veteran's grave um have its own individual wreath. Awesome. Uh when this program first began, we had one for every six graves. And I don't know, I didn't feel empowered to be the person to say this veteran doesn't get one.

So, I'd like to thank you for that. Um now, I'll put my Queenstown hat on. And um it's been a really um a bittersweet year for us because we lost our long-term commissioner uh Tommy Willis. Um he's also my neighbor. Um and so the town really feels the loss of knowledge and legacy and camaraderie and um just a way of bridging between people who have been in Queenstown for multiple generations and someone that just walked into town and doesn't realize why they have to put their dog on a leash. So sometimes that talent is missed.

Um so we're trying to bridge this. We have a new commissioner um who has jumped in and he isn't going to have a honeymoon period because the issues in front of us are large and substantial. So um he's going to go do the budget and I'm going to try to explain to him what the county tax offset is

next week. Um so I'm glad to be coming out of this meeting with some tangible things um to talk about. Um I always make a plea for more money for parks. Uh we do have three facilities in Queenstown. They are used extensively by non Queenstown residents. We have two docks and they're not exclusive to Queenstown. So we have a lot of watermen who rent the docks in Queenstown and use our services. Um and they're not Queenstown residents, so we don't derive revenue from them. Um, we have a community park where on the day before Easter Sunday, our bunny had 120 people, children. Now, we don't have 120 people in Queenstown. So, it may we I don't know if we have 120 adults. Um, so, you know, that facility is used repeatedly for other things. So, I make this plea every year and would if you have any wiggle room there, I'd make a plea for Queenstown.

My third thing is we're having the 250th anniversary this year. Um, I'm glad you're the county seat. At one time, we were the county seat. So, historically, there are a lot of events planned in Queenstown. I'd ask your help for fireworks funding. I don't want to compete with everybody else, but at the end of the year after Labor Day is the last fireworks of the season, and if you could be a partner with the town and help us out with fireworks funding, I would appreciate that. So, right. Well, I make a motion to approve. Excuse me. Excuse me. Uh I hope you have at least 120 people because you're getting $164,922. I know.

So, thank you very much. You're welcome. Thank you very much. And I'm sure we'll get someone to make some sort of motion here. Right, Patrick? Roll on. I'm trying to remember what we did last year. It was a good one. Go for it. Was a good one. That doesn't help me. What did it begin with? I make a motion to approve uh $15,000 for fireworks for 2026 for July of this year for Queenstown. Yours isn't in July, though. It's in September. September. September would be fine. We've got a motion. Second.

Yeah. Second. I agree. All right. We got a motion and a second. All those in favor signify by saying I I opposed. So move 50 for the 15,000 for Queenstown. Thank you. Last to ride. Thank you. Thank you. I know Caroline's over there going, "I need another bite at that apple." I'm watching her. She's like, "Can I get back up there? I forgot all about the fireworks." Can't miss those commissioner meetings, right? Subtler'sville.

You already got your fireworks, right? You guys already did yours, right? Oh, we have lots of fireworks. Yes. If you'd like to give us any more money towards our fireworks, our festivals, the real ones, the ones that go in the sky and explode. That's what it's called. We appreciate that.

I really do need to thank you all for all the time and energy that you and the staff have put towards helping us navigate. And uh we're continuing to do that, but we're getting there. We've uh we have a budget. next uh the meeting in May, uh we're going to have a budget presentation and then they'll forward, you know, what we anticipate the budget will be. Um and as far as the offset money, we would just prefer that our money be put towards a balance that's due to the county as a result of the transition of the water and sewer. And we would also ask that we get some sort of an accounting for that, like what we're starting at and then how much is deducted each year so that we know the balance.

Sure. Okay. So, that would be helpful to us. Absolutely. Perfect. All right. Well, this year's will be $55,48. Very good. Good to see you. Thank you. Nice to see you as well. Yeah. Thanks for straightening it out. We're not there yet. We are work in progress. Templeville. Nope. I don't think the last time Templeville was even I've never met anybody from Templeville. Were there $1,839 in aid payment? All right. And now we need a motion.

I move to set the differential rates and aid payments amounts for and to the municipalities for fiscal year 2027 as shown in the attached schedule. Second. Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion on this? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Opposed. So move. 5. All right. Thank you, commissioners. Um, that takes care of all the legislative items for this evening. We can move into the presentations portion of the agenda. So, if you want to flip over to tab number six. First up, we have Mindy Ray, character counts coordinator for an update for character counts. No presentation this evening, so uh, come on up, Mindy. Hi.

Welcome. Hi everyone. Hi. Hello. Um, first of all, yesterday was my third year in this position. So, I want to thank you guys again for trusting me with it because I absolutely love it. I'm enjoying every second of it.

Um, so I want to give you our quarterly update. Um, in March, we actually, um, planned a pretty big campaign, which is the first time we've done anything like that. Um, based on digital responsibility. So, we called it Click with Character. It was all over our social media. We had lessons for our coaches. They presented them to all the elementary school students. The middle school students got lessons. There were parent brochures about how to keep their kids safe online. Um we had posters in all the schools. Um it went over really really well. Um we even did two presentations. I did two presentations um one at Foxtown and one at Terrapin for our senior community um on digital scams and how they can tips on how they could protect themselves. So we did like a whole blast last month which was really successful. So we hope to do more of things like that. Um, school-wise, we are getting ready for the end of the year. Um, we've had another really great year. It's the third year in a row that we've had 100% of our K through5 classrooms um, matched with a volunteer. They've all had coaches, which is really exciting. Um, we are looking forward to the field days. Um, and the end of year surveys will go out soon. Um, those go out to the teachers, they go out to our coaches, and we send them out to third through four uh, fourth and fifth graders. Um, so we can kind of get a feel on the impact that we're making. last year um the responding teachers 95% um told us that there was a positive impact by having our coaches in their classroom. Um so that is something we're hoping to kind of match again. Um something I did last year that I'm hoping to do again this year is I did focus groups with um fifth graders, those kids who've had character counts now for five years um before they go off to middle school to kind of get their feedback from the student perspective. So we're hoping to do that again because I I really enjoyed talking to the kids. as a former fifth grade teacher, sitting down with fifth graders is a lot of fun for me. So, um that's we're hoping to that to do that again as well. Um switching focus to next year. Um obviously I'm pushing for volunteers as always. So, anyone in the community that

is interested in volunteering or anybody in front of me, um it's a lot of fun. The um commitment is just an hour a month. It's 20 minutes in a classroom twice a month. Um, and I'll give you all the lessons. Um, so anybody who is looking for something fun to do and spend some time with some really great kids, um, reach out to me because I'm happy to get you in a classroom. Um, I am working on some new curriculum for next year. Um, I just finished writing, um, a series of 10 children's books geared through kindergarten through 2 grade. We're calling it the character corner crew. Um, and each book focuses on a different pillar and there are going to be lessons that go with it. So, um, those kids when the coaches use those, will get to follow the same characters throughout the year, um, and learn the lessons through the characters, which is really exciting. Thank you, Canva, for illustrating and printing my books. I don't say I'm published author, I'm printed author because I just printed it myself. Um, but it's it we're really exciting about them. They're very cute. Um, I'm also going to be working on some new lessons for our fourth and fifth graders. Um, it's no secret our students are suffering from some mental health issues this year. Um, and so we as character counsel, we kind of want to maintain our role and our know our place, but we feel like we have a position where we can be in and talk to kids about self-esteem and just um their own self-worth and and things like that. So, some of my fourth and fifth grade lessons are going to be geared towards that and really helping kids just through the pillars of um character um recognize that, you know, they're pretty good. We've got some great kids in our county. So, that's my hope for that. Um, as always, please follow us on our Facebook and our Instagram. Um, we are doing monthly focuses. This month is trustworthiness, so you'll see our trust grows here community challenge where we're reflecting on what trust and honesty looks like within the community. And then truth bomb Tuesdays, which are always fun little just tidbits about telling the truth. In May, we're going to do which is our month of caring. We're going to be doing caring and action. So each week we will highlight different roles in our community um and

the ways that they show care for our community. So look for those and share them. Um and in addition to looking for volunteers for next year, we're always looking for new members for our advisory council. Um we meet like every other month. Um and it's really great for me because I'm the only one who does character counts in the county. I'm the only one who runs all of it. We had 112 volunteers I managed this year. So um that's a lot of work. So when I can pick other people's brains and get feedback on what we're doing or ideas that they directions they think we should take, that's always beneficial to me. So, anybody who would love to sit on our advisory council, I welcome everyone. And how do they get a hold of you to do that?

You can reach out through our website um which is www.peopleofcarer.org or you can email me. It's really simple. It's m r aqac.org. Very simple. Very good. But we're doing great. So, thank you guys for your time. I'll see you in three months. Have you been involved in any of the meetings the last few weeks about the mental health here? um um the school some so I sit on the safety net committee um committee with um at the board of ed so we actually meet tomorrow morning so I'm hoping to get an update on what's going on there because at 10 o'clock yeah sits on my heart so yep so I'll be at that great thank you guys good job thank you

all right commissioners uh next up we have our uh feature presentation for this evening we have item number two under present presentations tab 6 pages 2 through9 also up on the big screen this is the moratorum task force uh update this is an interim update that is um from the established moratorium task force on their research activities and preliminary recommendations concerning resolution 2512 which expires in August of this year August 12th the evaluation is intended to target long-term strategies of the implementing policies and plans to best manage the remaining sewer capacity and to evaluate school capacities with the KNSG wastewater service area. Uh public facilities um manager Steve Kahune is going to lead the presentation here this evening. We also have a distinguished cast of characters here that are with us tonight. Uh from our department of public works, uh director Alan Quimby and Matt Lucas, the uh chief sanitary engineer from uh planning and zoning. We have Amy Morock. Also participating on the committee was uh Stephanie Jones and Rob Gunther. uh economic development and tourism. We have director Heather Tanelli. From our board of education, we have Daryl uh Barlo. He's been participating on the committee. Also from community affairs, Beth Malaski and um I miss anybody. And Patrick Thompson from county administration and yours truly as well. So, we've been putting a lot of time into this um presentation and evaluation of this u uh these charters. So I will turn it over to Steve and anybody else that wants to come on up as part of the committee can certainly do that if they like or they can stay there and

ber anyone. Looks like they're hanging you out the driveway. No, they they they're here to answer all the questions answer.

Again, this is a this is a interim update. You know, we are looking for some feedback on some of the preliminary uh ideas. Um I think uh primarily we want to make sure that the allocations that we have are going to uh see us well into the future. You know we have a limited amount. We want to stay open for business um as well for commercial development. We want to address our public health areas in the county and we want to also evaluate other ordinances uh for public school capacities and our APFO going forward. So we have a lot information here and uh so you can digest that and give us any feedback that you want. So I'll turn it over to Steve. All right. Thank you very much uh for having us here this evening. And um as you know um the purpose of this uh presentation is to review the moratorium object objectives why the uh county went into a moratorum, provide an update on task force activities, um share updates to the county water and sewer plan with the commissioners. Uh present proposed allocation policy changes for your consideration. Um these are just uh work that the um task force has been looking at to provide you some ideas for your feedback. Um and then we want feedback from uh the commissioners either tonight or as we move forward. Um this is just the first presentation. This is a first update and we'll be bringing more materials to you in the months to come while the moratorum is still in place. Uh the moratorum resolution 2512 was enacted August 12th, 2025 and it applies to all major residential developments. So major residential being um projects that need more than 1,750 gallons, more than seven units. Um, and this is a temporary pause so that we could look at uh the sewer allocation policy, look at how much sewer allocation we have remaining and come up with a new sewer

allocation policy and in the in the same time review the comprehensive water and sewer plan um get that updated and adopted. And also the resolution for the moratorum raised concerns about the school capacity specifically at Ken Island High School u which is at 100% state rated capacity now. Uh the moratorium resolution raised traffic concerns um in southern uh in the southern part of the county on Ken Island. It also uh uh made comments on the bay crossing study which is in process which has some uncertainty as to the outcome um when the resolution was adopted. And then um there's been talk about the rerating of the sewer treatment plant. We have a 3 million gallon a day sewer treatment plant and we're asked that it be rerated um to 3.3 million gallons through MDE and we've applied for that. They've held a hearing on that, but we have not yet received that actual permit for the rerating of the plant. So, that's uh in process. Uh the task force, as Todd went through, is made up of representatives from public works, planning and zoning, county administration, community affairs, economic development, and the board of education. We've held four meetings to date and had a lot of other additional conversations um related to the um moratorum and the task force is really looking at um how to manage the biggest issue is the limited amount of sewer capacity that we have and how can we best manage that moving forward so that we don't run out and end up in a sewer moratorum right away at you know how can we ration out sewer over time. So we have a limited supply and we're going to talk to you about how how one option on rationing out that limited supply of sewer allocation. Uh we have

how we also talked about are there ways we can limit demand for sewer. Um you you'll recall in the when the 20 uh 2022 comprehensive plan was adopted, we actually downsized the growth areas as a result of the limits on sewer allocation to limit some of the demand. Um there's also recommendations in the comp plan about looking at zoning districts and consolidating some zoning districts and there might be some opportunities there to limit demand for for future sewer requests. Um also looking at creating new capacity um is you know we have a a sewer treatment plan. Are there options to increase capacity beyond the rerating? Um that was something that the task force looked at and discussed and there's really no practable way to get additional sewer allocation. Um the the different alternatives that that may be out there um really don't fit with the location of our sewer treatment plant and um we we don't see a reasonable way that we can get additional sewer capacity at this point in time. And as you recall, we're capped not by the size of the plant, but by the pollutant discharge that comes out of the plant. With with the pollutant discharge being the cap, that's the constraint. We can't just build a bigger plant and build our way out of this situation.

Um I know you asked for 300,000 more. How much do we have left when you take

Good question. We we'll have that in the three three more slides. So this is um the Graysonville sewer service area. Uh the green is the existing service area to give you an idea of how built out our growth areas are. Our growth areas pretty much follow our sewer service areas. The sewer service area maps here um show green as the areas served with sewer. Um the tan or or color is is S2 which means that has pending sewer or sewers available at those locations. And then the purple um color S3 is more of a long range and it's the properties are not currently served. It's more of long range and um they do not have sewer at those at those sites. So if we look at this is the Graysonville um area. Um, we look at the Kentonas, Chester, part of Stevensville. As as you can see, the vast majority of the sewer service area shows up in green. It has sewer service. It has sewer accounts. There are connections and and most of our growth areas have uh are built out. And we have few tracks, large vacant tracks of land for future uh residential development. Um, Mayor Stevensville as well. Um so one of the um goals of the of the moratorum was to update the comprehensive water and sewer plan and that's in process and uh draft of the comprehensive water and sewer plan will be coming to the county commissioners uh fairly soon. Uh the the new um water and sewer plan will have all the amendments like you just considered. All the previous amendments are wrapped into the new water and sewer plan. It meets all the requirements from U. Maryland Department of the Environment and it's

also consistent with the 2022 comprehensive plan. So the the comprehensive water and sewer plan um has to go through several steps to get approval. It has to go to the planning commission, the county commissioners um and both um both bodies will review and hold public meetings or public hearings on the pro on the plan. We expect that to begin in June. We June um is likely the plan the draft comprehensive water and sewer plan will be in front of the planning commission and then to the county commissioners in July and it'll be adopted um near the end or right after the end of the moratorum in August.

So um to your question commissioner um we currently have a 3 million gallon a day plant. The plant has approximately 150,000 gallons of capacity remaining. The existing flows plus the the sewer allocation reserve for other projects totals about 2.85 million gallons of of of that plant. So with the um 150,000 gallons remaining, the task force is recommending that 50,000 50,000 gallons per day be set aside for residential. 22,500 gallons per day be set aside for commercial. And that's an existing set aside for commercial. That was that was a previous decision made by the commissioners. And then we have 77,500 gallons per day set aside as a climate resiliency buffer or wet weather buffer. Um when we get uh rain and heavy downpours and water gets into the sewer system, our flows go up. This provides a buffer for those types of situations and instances. Um and then administrative allocations continue to be granted um um up to the the 1750 gallons per day. That's a existing practice and it'll continue. So that's what we have currently out of the 3 million gallons. With the rerating we get an additional 300,000 uh gallons per day. But we also recognize that there's no ability for plant expansion. This is it for the foreseeable future and beyond at this point. Um so what's what the task force was recommending is that the um that we take a look at the 300,000 gallons and

put it in categories as as we discussed um with the existing amounts with 125,000 gallons per day going to Marlin Farms in Dominion. We want to reserve that capacity or recommend that that capacity be reserved so that we can go down there and fix failing septic systems in those areas. We also recommend that uh 25,000 an additional 25,000 gallons per day be set aside for other areas that may have unidentified failing septic systems. So we the 125 should be adequate to take care of Marlin Farms of Dominion, but if there are other areas that we need to address, we think we should reserve capacity for that.

Um the 50 thou we recommend 50,000 gallons per day reservation for commercial, institutional, and government uses. And to get put that in perspective, over the last 15 years, we've allocated 71,000 gallons of sewer for commercial uses. So, um it's a fair amount of sewer for commercial uses, but we believe it ought to be reserved in that in that category. So, it's not consumed by residential.

And of that 71,000, two projects consumed about over a third of it. So if you take out the two projects, one of which is Canal Cross, which has not broken ground yet, the other one being John Wilson's complex on hotel complex on Pier 1, that was like 20ome, thousand. So honestly, if you took those two big out, the amount of allocated to commercial over the last 15 years is not much. We just it's just the demand's just not there. Thank you. Well, you don't have any commercial businesses that are using processes that would require. Most of your stuff's just along the bathroom here.

Absolutely. True. Hey, so so I I wonder if it would help the public if you explained how why why there's allocation. Why is this 300,000? Why why why does you know every different sewage treatment plant have limitations on it? What's the purpose of it? Make sense? Sure. Makes sense to me. Sure. Perfect sense. He left you hanging for a couple seconds there. I mean, we we we mentioned that we, you know, we we're going to get rerated and we're going to pick up this little bit, but

you know, uh what holds us back from picking up even more. And I guess I'm trying to throw a soft ball here, but you're not.

Clean Water Act, which was adopted in 1972, one of the provisions was called total maximum daily loads. And what that does is the scientist somewhere figures out how much how many pounds of nitrogen can go into a receiving body, how many pounds of phosphorus can go into a receiving body, how many pounds of sediment can go to a receiving body and not impacted negatively. So in our case, they decided we are allowed 36,547 pounds of nitrogen to discharge in the bay forever. No matter what we flow, that's the most we can put out there. So we were at 3 million gallons. We had the 36,547 pounds of nitrogen. That allowed us to have an average concentration of 4 milligs per liter of nitrogen going into the bay up to up to the 3 million. When we rerated the plant, we got 10% more volume, but we did not get any more nitrogen. So now our maximum limit is 3.6 milligs per liter, which we felt comfortable we can meet. So yeah, nitrogen is the constraining factor. I I named three, but nitrogen is the constraining factor. All plants have this issue. It's just that we hit that wall sooner than the other ones.

So, we've we can't get any more allocation once that this is done. And this is all due to uh federal regulations, right? The EPA saying how much pollution can go into the bay and and it stays healthy, relatively healthy, right? and and and that this whole TMDL spans anywhere the Ches Bay wershed is. Yes. Federal. It's federal. You're talking Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia. I think even West Virginia's included in it if I'm not mistaken. It's federal. I mean, yeah, you're talking about the Bay Wershed, but Pujian Sound has a TMDL as well in Washington State. But we are the first that have come up against in this region that I'm aware of. Yes. For the nitrogen, we are for sure. Yeah.

All right. I just I mean I think the public doesn't understand some of this and that's why there isn't uh a bottomless bucket here. It's it's not an infinite supply of correctation, right? So we're just trying to do balance balance how much allocation we give to which group and and hope that it's a good mix for the entire community. So sorry to interrupt. No, no, no. It it brings up the good point. Um many years ago we dealt with this with the septic bill. Mhm.

They changed the regulations on how much nitrogen or how many septic systems could be installed which all the jurisdictions in the state had to respond to and and they had to adjust their growth management programs. So the um septic bill reducing the number of septic systems that could go in the ground was a nitrogen cap if you will um just and they did the same thing with the sewer treatment plants. Now they put a cap on the nitrogen um that can be discharged. So, the septic bill as well as how they're regulating the sewer plants end up being a a bay cleanup initiative, but what it ends up doing is is capping the nitrogen and we have to work within those limits. And speaking of, you know, bay cleanup and the TMDLs, I mean, this the southern K Island project, you know, we have a we have our pollution diet in Queens County on how much nitrogen and phos phosphorus and sediments we're allowed to get into the bay. And that project, your Southern K Island project, it's my understanding, is taking care of almost 60% of our nitrogen reduction that we need, give or take.

I'm not a big uh don't know much about the whip program. That's what you're referring. You can't help me with that. Okay, very good. They think you know about the whip program, Jim. Who? The states still don't know what the whip program is. Well, you know, they gave you they said we'd have your reduction numbers by 20 25 No, 2025. 2022. They were supposed to give us our numbers and then you were supposed to hit that by 2025, right? We'd have to see that number. To your point, the Yeah. Southern Kent Island sanitary sewer project is one of the biggest bay cleanup projects in the state. Absolutely. Yes. It gave us like 80,000 whip credits for some reason. Let me go back a slide. Whip credit. And for the folks listening, the whip is a a watershed implementation plan, which everybody in the Ches jurisdiction had to come up with a plan to hit those reduction numbers.

Let me Okay, so I'm going to add one more thing. The TMDL only applies to surface waters. If we had decent soils, we could probably spray irrigate those soils, but we have no decent soils in Ken Island. So then you're you're restricted to 10 milligrams per liter of nitrogen because that's a drinking water limit. Very good. So, ju just to follow up from the commissioner's question for for the audience, if we don't get the rerating,

but even if we do and it's a year or two from now as it stands right now or for the rest of the year, we have um 150,000 gallons per day of the 3 million left. And of that, 50,000 is for residential. Is that correct? So, so, so that's the recommendation of the task force that that we have 150. These are the suggested categories um to put without getting the the the re and the rerating has gone through a significant part of the process and we are down to the only thing remaining is for MDE to issue the permit and it is pretty eminent.

Yeah, they're going to issue the permit. Um, somebody could adjudicate it, but it's in it will be issued. So, at 50,000 gallons for just residential for Ken Island, at 250 gallons per day, that's 200 homes roughly. And and we're going to talk about an allocation policy that is very restrictive that is more in the category of 40 to 50 homes a year for people who want to put on additions or you know in-law suite or something like that. If additions and in-law suites, if people are already hooked into sewer, they have the allocation to do an addition,

right? This this really is allocation for new development and major. So about 200 homes. So this is actually our allocation portfolio and those categories there are the investment.

So um so the 150 is what's remaining We are um waiting for the permit for 300,000 additional gallons. Um so the task force discussed how to how to um manage this and ration it out so it's not a first come first serve and every all the allocation would disappear very quickly which would result in the county being into some form of a sewer moratorum for the long term. So um so We're recommending an application process for sewer allocation so that the commissioners have in front of them four times a year the projects requesting sewer allocation, major projects requesting sewer allocation. So, um right now at any given meeting, the county commissioners could get a sewer allocation request. We're recommending that um those requests be grouped and come before the county commissioners um each quarter. So that would be um the fourth Tuesday of January, April, July and October. And we would recommend that that process would begin at the beginning at once the moratorum is lifted that um process would be in place. And so any project that's out there that's pending and is looking for allocation would be in front of the county commissioners in um October of 2026. and then the county commissioners would have the ability to see all the applications in for allocation at one time and and weigh them or consider them.

So So it would come to the commissioners in in a in a batch and say this is what is being requested. What is the criteria? Is it again recommendations for planning and zoning? Is that for approval? I mean, how's that or do we just

That's that's the ongoing discussion. Part part of that these are just recommendations for your consideration for public input. Um but coming up with criteria or also um um you know we let me back up. We'll get to the next part. Let me go ahead and move to that and we'll have some discussion. All right. So this is um the recommendation

that we go to quarterly requests so that projects are batched and the commissioners can consider the multiple if there are multiple projects vying for allocation. We would know that at that time. Um the next part of it part of the allocation uh policy would be trying to ration out the remaining sewer allocation. So, if we get a 100,000 gallons for residential out of the 300,000 gallons of the rerating, um we're recommending that a a limit of 10,000 gallons per day be put or 10,000 gallons of sewer a year be put in place. And the commissioners would um for residential would be able to allocate up to 10,000 gallons every year. Um

so 10 years. So that would give us 10 years of allocation. Jim, what's our build out on the bridge right now? Are we 10 years out? We're inside of that. Think so. 2032 build out start in 2032. 2032 and 31 31. So, three years. So, 34 to start. Start. No, it's finished. You're driving 34. Okay. So, Steve, so backing up, backing into your other number of 50. So, would you where did the task force go with that other 50? If the rerating, this is obviously dealing with the rerating. Did that other 50 get rolled into this 10? How did that That's coming up. Yes. did. Okay.

So, um the the last bullet on this slide, if if we have any remaining allocation left out of 3 million gallons plant, we would roll that into the the categories of the 3.3 million gallon of the rerating split equally or I mean or just by you guys are going to come up with what that number by category. If if we have um so with a three 300,000gallon rerating, we're recommending 100,000 gallons of that go to residential over time 10 years. Right now

if there's 25,000 gall of residential sewer capacity left at the end of the year, that would move into that category and you'd be working with 125. Yes. There's no limit on this October's allocation amount, but that'll be the last time if you adopt this policy. Then starting January, your the restrictions kick in. Kick in. Okay. And anything that's left over, like Steve said, gets rolled into whatever pot it's goes to residential to residential commercial.

So with for commercial, as an example, we had 225 um in remaining of commercial allocation. Out of the 3 million gallons, we have 50,000 gallons. If nobody requests allocation in October for commercial uses, we would have 775 rolling on an average time where we don't have these larger communities being built out. What is our typical ask per year out? Any idea? 10,000 would handle most of them. I mean, Spire was a big one obviously, but that's an outlier. I mean, yeah. And like Steve alluded to earlier, there's just not that much vacant land out there.

Right. Right. That's what I'm thinking. So, you could even go a lower rate and give you more flexibility through next comp plan and all that if it's trying or leave a trigger to re-evaluate it and six years or whatever to look at actual build out to gauge it.

This is a sewer allocation policy. It'll be adopted as part of the comprehensive water and sewer plan. But it's a policy that these discussions will have to happen as as the amount of allocation uh diminishes as the amount of capacity gets limited again these cons discussions will continue. The whole you know a big part of this this effort is to make sure we have sewer allocation for when we need it in the future. So um so the recommendation of of a 10,000galon per day residential cap um an annual aotment that would be considered four times a year. Um and it would depend on what projects are coming through the system. you know, the first quarter you may um you know, it it all would all depend on what projects are moving through the system. Um as to but larger projects, it's going to be hard for them to secure any large amount of sewer allocation. You know, if if we're limiting it to 10,000 gallons per day,

I think there'll be some robust uh meetings coming up. Yes. Well, I'm just thinking of permitting too when you do that quarterly. If you do get a larger one that's then permitting gets inundated right away because they're going to want to be shovel ready when they get their allocation I would think. So these are major projects that are going to be going through the development review process and they're were going to be requesting allocation in order to get you know their final plaque signatur final site plan signatures. I'm saying you got like six or seven of them bunched up and then they all get that go at one time then poor Amy. Uh, not really because they're going to come in as soon as they can to see whether they have a project or not. See if they have allocation or not.

Right. But right after that though, no. And the way the policy is written right now is they have to go through one review of planning and zoning and then they can request allocation. But they still got a lot of engineering to do before they start pulling building permits. Okay. Um and and the goal is to manage demand over time, extend the uh lifespan of the remaining capacity. There was also in the moratorum resolution discussion about um APFO issues, school capacity.

Um Ken Island High School is at 100% capacity currently. Um and one of the issues is um with the APFO that's been brought up before the commissioners and brought up many times is the student generation rates. Um we are going back and looking at new student generation rates or actually current generation rates. Uh we're working with the board of ed to look at the um number of school kids we have in the school system, where they're located, and come up with generation rates by community and by types of communities. Um so we'll be presenting that information to the commissioners in the future um in policy updates for APFO. So we're going to recommend some policy updates to the APFO which will have to come before the commissioners for approval. So, so one of the things with this though is right now that the towns are not subject to the county's APFL. Correct.

Correct.

Okay. So, all the growth areas are supposed to be the towns. The county then loses control of that entire process of the schools is has always been the concern. Um, you have a community in Sosville getting ready to go in 250 some homes. Nowhere is that accounted for in the APFO. those students are going to go to Sullivville Elementary, Sullivville Middle, and Queen Ants County High School. I've said for a long time, we've got to start looking at a broader plan. If the state, and again, this is a state problem because they're the one that forced it on us. If the state's going to say you can only grow where you have the infrastructure, which in this case is the towns, we have to have some ability to be able to capture because it's not fair in my mind for the citizens of Kent Island to pay for the citizens in Centerville to have kids in school. And that's ultimately that's what you're having with no recourse back because they all pay they all have to go through the entire process and you know for the APFO and all that but on the backside in the towns they can build as many homes as they want without any kind of recourse for the schools.

Correct. They or oversight. Right. They they the the county APFO does not apply in the towns. You're absolutely correct. The towns do pay impact fees to capital. I'm talking strictly on the fact that they could build as many as they want and and the county as a whole is going to make up that having to build a new school because it went unfedded and it didn't get scrutinized the way it is if we put more homes on Kent Island. Yes. That that development could not be stopped by an APFO move through the city. That's my point is we don't have anything to stop that and the state is saying you need to build there and giving us no way to make sure that we don't get stuck with having to build three four more schools in the next you know 5 10 years of growth.

So we'll be bringing the those we'll have these policy discussions with the APFO and part of it is you know maybe we can come up with some ways to um reach out to the towns and work with them more closely when their projects occur. Tom was at a meeting where I brought this up at the Cog meeting and brought it up to the towns and I said, "Look, there's there's an awakening. It's got to be coming and you guys need to be prepared for it." So, they know something's got to happen with it because again, there's no way the county would survive if all the growth went in the towns right now from a school standpoint. Yeah.

So, we Yes, we'll be bringing that um updated generation rates. Um prek, as you guys know, prek is almost mandatory now. It wasn't in the past. We're going to start including that in our calculations differently. It's going to be required. Uh now um we also down to three year olds or three year olds or four? Yeah. Where are they cutting that off right now? PreK, not what they're calling 3K. 3K. Okay. All right. PreK is mandatory. Pretty much mandatory four-year-old, right? That's a pre 3K is the what they call the three-year-old mandated yet. It's income driven still.

Okay. There's also acknowledgment that um high schools operate differently and a high school at 100% capacity has uh different operating um uh things going on than say a middle school or an elementary school. They have dual enrollment. They have um the CTE. They have um um kids moving around a lot different. So capacity isn't as rigid in the high schools as it is in middle school and elementary school. And I think we need to have that reflected in the APFO or considered. Um any any changes to the sewer allocation policy will need to be updated so that the APFO matches the sewer allocation policy. We don't want somebody moving through an APFO and then not being able to get sewer commitment. Um and then uh we are looking at um the summer traffic and the bay crossing study. We are um tracking um those those things. The bay crossing study there's been a lot of activity as you guys know you guys have participated and are well aware. Um since the moratorum started they've selected a preferred alternative. Uh we know what that preferred alternative is. we have an idea what the traffic pattern and a as much of a schedule as they can provide. Um so we are um we do understand what's going to happen with the bridge and when it's going to happen to the to the extent that information is available. So uh that's occurred since the beginning of the moratorum. So um so looking for feedback we we've gone through a number of different things but looking for feedback on the sewer allocation policy mainly. um

li looking at having sewer allocation requests four times a year is one of the big major changes and then also limiting the amount of residential sewer um that would be available um each year and rationing that out is another big part of the policy that's consideration. Um we weren't recommending um any limitations on um commercial. You know, we don't have a whole lot of commercial as Allen went through a whole lot of commercial allocation requests. So, we didn't see a need to ration out that uh commercial allocation the same way as residential. Residential consumes the vast majority of the allocation. Something I'd like to see a little more thought put into, and I think Phil was heading down that rabbit hole, is you're basically given all of the subjective uh projects that come before Amy or, you know, planning, they get 40 projects come in for the first quarter, and then you're going to dump 40 projects up here for the commissioners to pick winners and losers.

I think we have to come up with something a little bit more refined than that. I mean, last time we had to do that was the lot consolidation ordinance, you know, creating something that was going to be defendable in court because we knew when we instituted that proclamation that there was going to be folks saying, "Wait a minute. How come I'm I don't feel comfortable sitting up here and doing that." Honestly, I mean, because that's I mean, I go on go on Facebook anytime. We're taking money every day according to Facebook. And then that's just another reason to bring it up, right? That oh, this developer got this because he got money. And I I don't want to hear it. I mean it's we we we have to think about that in my mind. You agree 100%. It's just Yeah.

Listen, I don't how do I say this gently? I don't think you can. This job doesn't pay you enough to be able to take that kind of No, I like I said, we need to think it through that one. At least in my mind. This is just an update with where things are right after our first. I appreciate it. This is good. What you guys came back was really good and we want to hear that. So, we will go back and consider that and come back to you with

And I know there was a lot of questions that that um developers that have been providing commercial tax base and and and places for people to live in this county have big question marks when we instituted that moratorum. Some of them have a fair amount of money already invested in their projects that are just sitting there. So, I mean, we understand. So, I appreciate you guys putting this together, presenting something to us. I'm sure it's going to address some of the issues and questions that have been out there. I know it's certainly going to help me if if uh you get the likes of some of the developers who are saying, you know, what about my project? But there's still a lot of question marks

and and again it's is you can almost use a queuing system where somebody because it takes a while for some of these guys to check all the boxes and that I mean Amy can speak to that that they not all will get to the finish line at the same time but getting them into a queue and then that queue being the okay when you're in the queue and all the boxes are checked and then that's when it come in that quarterly range. So that I just feel like I see how this merrygoround goes and people are going to in that last minute they're all going to be lined up at the planning and zoning door trying to get in there to get approved so they can come to us the next month or whatever. So but again thank you for everything you guys did. I mean honestly no it's

that's a great start up there. It really is because that's that's looking out 10 in my mind. You're looking out 15 years with the capacity you're going to draw back in on the residential probably um in October or whatever you're saying. So, yeah, I'm going give you perspective. There's three projects that that are pending. The one in Chester for 82 units, one in Graceville for 34 units, and the one that's not ripe yet, also in Chester for 19 units, but I'm not aware of anything else on the horizon. Right. No, I agree with you. That's I know that's what I'm saying. That's why I was asking you. What is it when you take all that's going on now out where you at average wise and sounds like you're far below that 10,000 that the 50,000 that's left over

if we don't get the rerating that includes the Hubanian property in Graysonville. They they have received their sewer that 50,000 gallon does not include them. They've already got it. They've already That's correct. Aspire. Yeah. Aspire. No, we we have, as Alan mentioned, three projects that were working their way through the system, residential projects that were working their way through the system that um are awaiting the outcome of the moratorum. Th those are the ones we would expect to request seer allocation pretty immediately. Uh whatever 82 and 34. Is it 34? 426.

Sorry. 46. 46. 82 and 46. 28. Well, that's not what I'm doing. Sorry. No, I was tiny. It was perfect picking up my phone. Say it out loud. 128.

So, the next steps, um, we're going to, uh, finalize the comprehensive water and sewer plan, and that's going to start its way through the process. We're going to um start to work on the or refine the policies for APFO and we'll bring them before the commissioners for a policy discussion. Um and then I'm sure there'll be a lot of um input in the next week or so as a result of this presentation that we'll be listening to hearing um you guys will be relaying to us. Um, and we'll continue our work um, as a task force updating this information to bring back to you um, in the next probably 60 days.

A lot of work. Thank you.

All right. Thanks, Steve. Anything else? Thanks, Mr. Appreciate it. And members of the task force committee task force that are here. Most of the audience left is in the task force. Yep. Thank you all. All right. You're going to stay right there, right, Alan? Mhm.

Because next up we have uh uh Department of Public Works. We have a couple action items for uh public works this evening. So, if you want to turn to tab number two, tab two, item one, pages one through three. Um this is a um surplus lot we have in southern K Island. Actually, it's in uh Ken Island Estates. As you know, we acquired many uh vacant properties down there through donation uh for zero dollars. Uh public works has assessed these properties for drainage and other needs that the county may have. But uh this particular lot on um what is it? Talbert Road

uh is not needed for public purposes. And we have offered the um that particular lot for sale by the adjacent land owners. They would have to join the lot with their property. they can't put another house there, but they could purchase it from the county and then we would give that money back to the uh community for community improvements. So, we have a contract sale for lot 66 from the owner of 561 Tolbert Road in the amount of $10,000 for your consideration this evening.

Oh, sorry, Mr. Kumb. If you have any questions about this, I mean, we had uh I think a total of 11 or so lots. correct donated. And these are the only two so far that have had any interest. We've that we've we've sold two in 2023. This will be the third lot for sale. I think Commissioner Cororino actually um recommended that we um have this program and then let those funds go back to the community. We've done, you know, some community uh improvements down there. I think we had a big check one time for uh we gave to the roads board or right 17,500 17,500 to the community down there for community park.

I moved to find and determine that the property known as 557 Talbert Road, Stevensville, Maryland, is no longer needed for public purposes and approve the contract of sale for this property in amount of 10,000 and authorize the chief property manager to execute this contract and direct proceeds of sale to the Ken Island East States Community Association with community specific improvements. Second. Second. We got a motion second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I opposed. So moved. Three 0. What? There's only three of us have voted. Oh yeah. So 30 Z. Well, the zero. He's not abstaining and he's not absent. Yeah, he's absent. You're right.

All right. Thank you, commissioners. Item four, we have a proclamation 2610 for flood awareness month, which is April. Would you like to read the proclamation, Mr. Any Commissioners? Oh, there it is. There it is. Here we go. Flood awareness month. Flood awareness month. All right. Oh, good. It's a short one.

Ah, proclamation 26-10. Whereas Governor Lawrence J. Hogan Jr., former governor of the state of Maryland proclaimed April 2021 the first Maryland flood awareness month and commended the observance to se to observance to all citizens and whereas just one inch of water in a home can cause up to $25,000 in damage according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and floods are four times more likely to occur than fires. Taking steps now to be prepared will make a difference when a disaster arrives. And whereas since circa 1970 there have been an increase in Atlantic hurricane activity. The 2021 hurricane season was the third most active season on record, having produced 21 name storms. And the 2024 hurricane season was, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the third costliest season on record, producing 11 hurricanes, five of which were of major classification. And whereas with nearly 500 miles of shoreline and 3,000 structures within a regulated flood plane, Queen Ans County is no stranger to the effects of flooding. Be it storm surge, title, riverine, or mere nuisance flooding, thousands of residents from Ken Island to North County are routinely exposed to risk and dangers associated with flood events and may be unaware, uninsured or un underinsured against flood hazards. And whereas spring and summer weather with increasing incidents of nuisance flooding requires residents of the eastern shore in Queens County to take extra precautions to ensure being safe at home during severe weather or while traveling which includes always being up to date on weather forecasts and having an emergency kit at home and in their vehicles. And whereas the commissioners of Queen Ans County joined the Queen Ans County Department of Emergency Services, planning and zoning and public works to encourage all county residents to reach out and learn more about the different flood hazards faced by individuals and communities across the state. Now therefore, we the county commissioners, Queen Anands County do hereby proclaim April 2026 Flood Awareness Month in Queen Ans County. Signed, County Commissioners,

if if I can just add real quickly uh for all the folks that are here and watching on TV, make sure that if you have a flood insurance policy on your home that you clearly understand what your coverages are because it is different than a homeowner's insurance policy as far as what's covered. So, reach out to your insurance agent and or the carrier who has your flood insurance policy on your home and make sure you clearly understand what you're covered for. That's the end of my public service. That was your PSA for my PSA for the I like it. That was good information and thank you for reading the proclamation, Commissioner Wilson. All right.

Okay. Uh item three uh on page five, um Town of Suttersville, Fox Farm sewer and water allocation request. This is the very first water and sewer allocation request in our new service area in the town of Suttersville as for Fox Farms. I believe the applicant is here this evening and also representatives from the town. Uh I'm going to let Mr. Quimby and Mr. Lucas cover this. This is a little bit complicated, but it is uh the first allocation request for a new 247 unit subdivision in the town limits of Sersville. So, uh, gentlemen coin,

they're doing rock, paper, scissors over here to see the glasses like I'm not touching this one.

Commissioners, Fox Farms is a 247 dwelling subdivision proposed in the town limits adjacent to the middle school. Uh, the site has no allocations and would require 61,750 gallons per day of water and sewer allocation at a current cost of 3.8 million. The waste wastewater treatment plant has the has adequate capacity as it did. It's permitted at 200,000 gallons per day and current flow through was 72,500. Excuse me. It's a tie. Um the public works agreement was under negotiation before the county took over. So we honored it to large degree of the parameters. They really don't have a sewer allocation. Thank you. and really don't have a sewer allocation policy. So, the provisions of the public works agreement is currently drafted within three days of today. If he's successful in being granted allocation, he must make an initial deposit of $100,000 prior to recommendation of any phasing plat. They do intend to do it in phases. I think it's five phases, but don't hold me to that. they would have to give another $2,000 per lot for the number of lots that are going to be recorded on that particular plat. And prior to issuance of permit, the balance of allocation fees must be paid, which will have to be closely coordinated with the town. We're not issuing building permits,

right? Excuse me. As I noted, these payment provisions are considerably more favorable to the developer than we would do on Ken Island, just simply because the the demand is so much greater on Ken Island. don't feel we have to be that favorable and that's the situation.

Any questions?

Yeah. No, I'll read the motion in a second, but I I wanted to ask one question about so that the bill that went through Annapolis and I think it's in part of the housing bill, right, with the impact fees. We need to get the clarification on how that's going to affect us from fire emergency services because if my understanding is right, they're going to the impact fees are now going to have to be and this is coming through down through the state are going to have to be spread out. You can't ask for the impact fee all up front anymore. You got to you're going to allow so much now then you're going to have to defer so much. And my argument when it was coming up was well we have um volunteer fire departments. I can't wait for you to build a house a year from now to get the impact fee to support that fire department because that fire department, if that house while it's under construction catches on fire, that fire department's going to have to go put the fire out. So, there's an issue. But, we need to I want to while I thought about it, we need to definitely look into that and see how that's going to affect any of this other stuff that's going on with allocations and things just to know where cash flow is going to be is more what I'm looking at.

So, you're so you're saying the bill states that they have one year from construction? It's it's a percentage like um how it's how the impact fee is going to be allocated in the future like normally now you got to get it all you get all like a third third a third like how it's going to be done like you know when you apply for permit it's going to be X when you're going to you know you got a halfway build it's this and then when you go for your CFO it's this we got we do need to know but anyway I'll make let me make that motion um I move that we grant 61,750 gallons day sewer and water allocation to Fox Farm LLC for their proposed 274 unit residential development at a cost 3,834,675 for which a $100,000 deposit will be required within three calendar days.

Second. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Opposed. So moved. All right. Great. Would you like to share anything? Well, I I was uh in talking with you today, I was intrigued about the lower prices, the 325 range for the Patrick, Glenn, come up here. Yeah. Yeah. Come on up. Come on up. Come on,

Jim. Jim. So, if you could, you know, share how long this has been going on for and why Slersville and

Sure. Lindsey Dixon, Graysonville, Maryland, Fox Farm LLC. Uh, we've been working on this job roughly four years. Uh, it's 247 lots. It's approximately 171 single family, 76 town houses. Uh, it's going to be built in phases. The first phase will be all the town houses and a good uh portion of the singles running along the school. Uh we're going to be building in there along with Ryan Homes. We're going to be doing basement homes, single family in the back. They're going to be doing single family homes on slabs. Um starting off in there. Town houses will be somewhere in the low 300 range. Their singles will start somewhere in the low 400s and we'll probably be in the high 400s. Um, and it's uh right across from the park right next to the middle school. And we hope to uh track as many people uh that can't find a living on Ken Island that's affordable.

Thank you. as as we were chatting on the group call today with the housing uh uh commission, we were or I was saying how the the the folks the the firefighters, the EMTs, the teachers, you know, the nurses, the DPW folks, the watermen, the farmers, they they they can't qualify for four, five, six, 700,000 ousand home. So the fact that you're investing in Sidersville in the 300 range is is still high, but it's a lot better than say Ken Island. So sure,

we uh hoping that Queen Ans County folks can have a first dibs at that if you'll work with them somehow. We'd appreciate that.

Absolutely. One of the things we discussed in the meeting today was the fact that whether it's uh one of our kids' friends that we coach growing up and we know them or whether it's a teacher, firefighter, police officer, any of them that come to us, we'll go find uh the best rate, the best grant, the best opportunity to get them in. And if they can't afford it today, we even help them come up with a program that maybe they can get in a year from now, right? Because the reality of when you sign a contract to get a house built, it's probably 10 months no matter what by the time you get your permits, build your houses, and whether people have to save money, do staggered deposits, or come up with some kind of uh financing arrangement, or pay off debt, it can happen in that time frame. People just have to reach out, ask for help, share their situation, and we'll do our best to get them in a home.

Yeah. Yeah. We don't want our teachers to leave. We don't want our EMS for or the kids that grow up here. Come home, right? What a mistake. So, u we have to uh read the We're going to reread yours. Yeah. So, I'm going to make a motion that we uh convene as the sanitation division. Second. Sanitation board. All in favor? All right. Now, let's say this again. I move that we grant 61,750 gallons per day of sewer and water allocation Fox Farm LLC for their proposed 274 unit residential development at a cost of $3,834,675 for which a $100,000 deposit will be required within three calendar days. Second.

We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I opposed. Some move 40. You got another secretary coming up. I think we still have to stay convened as sanitary, right? Yeah. Alan's got another one. All right. Any other questions? Thank you very much. All right, sir. Thank you so much. Yeah. All right. So, uh, continuing as a sanitary commission, we have the FY27 sewer and water rate increase. That's on page six. And Matt's covering this one. He says the our chief sanitary engineer, Mr. Matt Lucas, is going to cover this

increases. Al's like, he's done with those. He's done enough of those. Good evening, commissioners. Uh, so as you know, in 2011, the sanitary commission adopted resolutions that cap the annual rate escalator at 6 and a half% for sewer and 5.5% for water fees for all subdists. The resolution had language indicating that these increases will take effect automatically on July 1st unless county commissioners determined by resolution prior to July 1st of each year that the rates will increase by a lesser percentage. Note this resolution preceded the creation of the ski subd district and if you'll recall the intent was not to rate raise ski rates until phase 4 was completed were constructed unless absolutely necessary. Also note this provision also preceded the recent acquisition of the Southernersville and Barkley sewer service areas. So they are too unaffected by this issue. So, in order to keep the rate increase at two and a half percent for both water and sewer fees for the upcoming FY27 budget as it was submitted accepting Ski, Southernville, and Barkley, the board must pass motion similar to what is provided below. Uh, note that the county attorney has indicated an approved motion will satisfy the resolution requirement.

Is it losing money? I move to set the annual sewer water operations and maintenance rate escalator for all sanitary district rate schedules for FY27 budget year at 2 and a.5% with the exception of the subdictions of Southern K Island, Sersville, Barkley which shall see no increase in rates as a result of this action. That's my 12th time reading that.

I second the motion. Uh any other discussion? Are we losing money? don't want to increasing. We're getting ready to reach a plateau of development. We're not there yet, but all discussion we just had about limited capacity. So, new growth is generating some revenue, but it won't for many more years. Any other? All right. Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I

I've been abstained because I'm the only one that's actually the only commissioner exactly on county city or county sewer and water. So, I'm going to accuse myself from the vote. Two yes, one no, and one abstension. I'll get it. Okay. So, I don't know what that means. With that being said, well that that pass is two. It was two to one. We have a quorum and we had two one two against one. We're good. Thank you. Thank you.

Yep. Thank you, commissioners. Um, okay. So, we can uh proceed to our action items this evening. Uh, so this is under tab number three. Tab three, item one, pages one through three. This is the uh semianual property tax payment service fee. Um annually the county tax collector is authorized to bill a service fee for the loss interest and administrative costs associated with the semiannual tax billing process. Um and uh again this year like last year we didn't charge a fee and we're recommending that we do not charge a service fee this year for folks to take advantage of the uh multi-payment option for their property taxes for the 2026 2027 tax year. I move to submit the Department of Assessments and Taxation and an approval form for the establishment of the county and municipal service fees for semiannual property tax payments a service charge in the amount of 0%.

Second. Have a motion to second. Any other discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I opposed. So moved. Thank you, commissioners. Item two on pages 4 through 21 is a conservation reserve enhancement program crepe easement agreement of sale and project agreement for Madison Mitchell Grey Quillin. We have um 107.5 acres of a 340 acre farm owned by Miss Quillin ready to be submitted to the uh Maryland Department of Natural Resources for review and final approval. And this includes the agreement of sale project agreement uh to be signed by the county commissioners. Uh no county funding is involved with this uh easement.

I move to execute the conservation reserve enhancement program crep easement agreement of sale and project agreement for the property owned by Madison Mitchell Gray Quillin. Second have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I opposed. So moved.

All right. Thank you, commissioners. Item three is uh from our department of emergency services. ite on pages 22 through 24. This is a management and consultants inc billing agreement and the department of emergency services requesting authorization to enter a service agreement uh for emergency medical services billing. Essentially, they want to change um vendors. County's current vendor is um not doing such a fantastic job up here. You've been here the whole time and you sat through all that.

Here comes Raymond. So they want to, you know, revise that, go with a new vendor for the uh for the billing. I believe our FEC folks are making an adjustment as well in that sense. And we are going to see a reduction in the fees from 9% to 5 a.5% resulting in a savings of over $173,000 a year. So yeah, that's this is a no-brainer, right? You want to say anything about it, please? He he just said $172,000 savings. That's enough says it all. You can't really follow that with anything. K. We'll make a motion on that one. Well, we uh have been directed by the county administrator to find ways to cut cost. So, we found a way to cut cost.

That's good. Actually, Zach's crew initiated this uh we started having issues 12 to 18 months ago with a current contractor we've had. We've given them opportunity to fix their issues. uh the final straw basically which uh somebody's a member of but they basically notified Queenstown that they don't have enough service uh provided that uh they're just going to cut them off and not do their not do their billing for us not do their billing anymore. They just drop them out of the blue. They just cut us. What's just not doing enough business

apparently. So, so the problem is the nine volunteer fire company, actually eight volunteer fire companies that that provide EMS service through the county system. Uh, and us did a package deal way back when when we did the original building contract and were all as one basically. So, when they got rid of one of us, they got rid of all of us. Boy, that was a managerial decision. Um,

so at the end of the day, uh, we found that Harford County, Dax Group actually found Harford County did a competitive bid process. Uh, we watched the process that they did, uh, monitored the contractor they secured and, uh, we've had a good couple months of evaluations and they're extremely satisfied with who they picked. We interviewed them on our side. We liked them. We turned around and uh did a presentation at FEC meeting recently and all eight companies I believe uh voted in favor of switching and we're just the last hold out right now to switch over is basically that one person who I mean that that one account out of nine is going to cost them all nine accounts.

Yes, pretty much. Well, wait till the owner of that company finds out someone made a bonehead move like that. Well, like I said at Scott before a meeting is what's more disturbing is that $176,000 was going in their pocket. Yeah. This is savings which means they were pocketing that $176,000 for years. So great great job you guys. I mean even the ones that we just did with the other stuff on your side. I mean a lot of good savings there. Almost half a million dollars total in my Yeah.

And this is a good uh company for word of customer service. You know, lady that came to us and presented fantastic. So, there's a lot of options that we don't currently have that we will have and we're saving money. Well, and I read in the write up, too, that the customer service, I guess, when they switched companies or whatever was horrible, right? Or something like that. Yeah, they got purchased by a larger conglomerate and since that's happened, we've seen a stark decrease in customer service. There's a lot of calling the finance office and our office because they're not real happy with their end of the billing process. So, this should result in a win for everyone.

Good. So, I will move to authorize director of Department of Emergency Services to execute a contract for the EMS building and collection services between the Commissioners of Finance County and EMS Management and Consultants Incorporated. Second. Got a motion in a second. Any other discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed? So move. Commissioner, thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thanks. Thank you all. Well done. Here. Way to go. Just paid for a couple of those uh couple of cardiac couple of those cardiac monitors. Just got paid. Yeah, I like it. Yep. Just taking off your ledgers. Tally on you. We got it.

Commissioners, item number four on pages 25 through 29. This is a housing bond allocation transfer for 2026. And in order for the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development to utilize the Queen's County Housing Bond allocation, the participating local government always transfers must transfer its allocation to uh DHCD in writing. This has been an annual practice in which we've always participated. Um no county funds are involved. If you have any other questions, um this is pretty much housekeeping every year. We do pretty much every year. Yeah. Yes, sir. I move to execute the transfer of allocation letter to the Maryland Department of Housing Community Development. This transfer will allow the department utilize local government housing bond allocations for housing programs. Second. Got a motion and a second. Any discussion?

It does. Does the motion have to be that that since it's only Jim that signs it? Does it make a difference that the motion says execute um a transfer of allocation letter? Wouldn't we just say what we're executing as the body? It doesn't matter because I know sometimes we do say Jim has sent it, but I think legally we're fine. All right. All right, seeing no further discussion, all those in favor signify by saying I. I opposed. So moved.

All right. Thank you, commissioners. Item five is u follow up to some previous discussions we've had on the variance to the aviation obstruction regulations um at the under Komar uh resulting from MAA. So we've prepared resolution number 2604 and this was generated from Hinckley Yachts. O proposing to expand their existing facility down there at the Bay Bridge Marina property adjacent to the Bay Bridge Airport. Uh there are some penetrations into the airspace uh as a result of that particular building. So the commissioners um uh developed a process to address Komar and uh they uh adopted resolution 263 I believe it is to set that process in place. Excuse me. 04 excuse me. And then um so we've um we submitted the application that came forth from Hinckley to the uh Baybridge airport board and they had a favorable recommendation which we attached here too. Um they agreed to Hinckley agreed to several proposed mitigation strategies consisting of additional lighting on the structure and and the other improvements that would be needed for the um AWAS if there's any impacts there. So it is ready for uh consideration for the variance and um we have drafted the uh the attached resolution for your consideration if you wanted to grant

I move to adopt resolution 26-04 variance to the aviation obstruction regulations Hink BB Holdings LLC Hley Yachts second got a motion to second any discussion seeing none all those in favor signify by saying I opposed so move all right thank you commissioners our last item is uh item number six budget Amendment CC9 for the housing authority for Riverside Estates. Uh this amendment increases the budget authority by 102,000 for the River State Riverside Estates capital project which is being funded with prior year fund balance uh to continue renovations and improvements down there at uh that particular public housing project.

I move to approve budget amendment CC9 Housing Authority Riverside Estates. Second. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I opposed. Four zip. All right, commissioners. That is all I had this evening for you. Um, press and public comments. That would be a no. No. That's the last man standing. Got anything to read? Emails? Nothing. You got nothing. Okay. You should make him do improv. Yeah. All righty. He's a pretty good singer, too. We'll go to round table. Jack, you're up first.

All right. So, um, just a couple things. First, uh, I was before I came here tonight, I had to the pleasure of being the host at the startup, start one up at Washington College, which was sponsored by Regional Council. And since I'm the chair this year, I ran the um, the business resources panel. So we have they have 10 startups um or 10 companies that are in in all entrepreneurial companies, single dual person owners compete with pitching their ideas. It was a $4,000 first prize for um the company that was picked by the judges was a panel of three judges. And I'm happy to report of the 10, five were Queen Ans County, three were uh Kent, and two were Cecil. Um the first place went to Humble Hearts from right here in Queen Ans County who is also and I'm going to preface this is also one of our graduates from the um

what's called just Catalyst Q to Catalyst Q was a graduate. Second place went to Garden Warriors, who was also a Catalyst Q graduate that we just heard from. And third place went to Brackish Books, which is a startup that they do. Um they have a mobile book mobile that's in a horse trailer that they've retrofitted out to be a mobile book. It's Yeah, it was pretty good. So,

congratulations to all of them. Proud that they're all Queen Ans County uh winners. And our other two did a fantastic job. And the other two uh one was the um the young lady who did the uh that we all said we were going to get on board with the stress relief thing where she has she does like the holistic stress relief and all that. She was one of the presenters did a fantastic she was actually had to go first so it was she she had a lead off which is always tough but uh and then trying to remember what our fifth one was but anyway they all did a great job and you could tell they were all catalyst Q except for one um but and just really polished uh in their presentation. So cool. Which is one of which is one of the things that they they learn to do is is pitch their business. Sure.

So and then the only other thing I want to bring up at round table is something for you guys to mull over and I'd like to try to get some action on it probably in the next meeting if we can or to think about. Um I'd like to go back to we did it years ago. I'd like to go back to a the first Tuesday being a 9:00 a.m. meeting. Um, and and there's a reason I want to do that is I feel bad when I'm sitting in here in the evening and I got to look out and our staff has to be here till 7 8:00 at night when they've been here all day to sit around and wait for the public part of the meeting to get done in some cases. So, what I'd like to do is present it or propose that we do the first meeting where possible as a 9:00 9:00 a.m. meeting that we bring in all the staff business, you know, county business, bring that before us so we can get through that stuff and then have the second meeting, the night meeting, be more for the presentations, the public to come in, hearings and things like that. So, just throwing it out there, think about it.

I'm I'm with you. No problem with that. Okay. Well, we got to I understand. I'm just saying, you know, I think it's a great idea. Yeah. We used to do that one. It's been It used to all be in the daytime every week. Then we went to two meetings a month, day, night, everyone complained they had to go to work and so if you make it on a non-legislative day or something. I think that's that's what I'm thinking. Yeah. I I And if that actually part of that came from my travels around the state and watching the other counties how they do it and they typically do it that way for for that biggest reason why you keep staff here till 7 8:00 at night is it's not right. Okay, Patrick.

Uh, I concur with everything that I was at the start uh show today and I I really enjoyed the AI presentation. How uh she was from Kent County though, Patrick. Yeah, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. I I actually home team. You can't you got to root for the home team. You know, Jack, I got to one up you. I actually am hiring humble hearts.

Oh, there you go. for the 23rd uh for 150 breakfast prayer breakfast. Um anyhow, that was a great um entrepreneur um competition. It' be nice if more people actually uh applied for that, but it it was great. Uh that's it. Um I know we're doing a lot with uh mental health and uh more to come on that.

Okay. uh hazardous materials recycling event was this past weekend and it was a huge success. Uh the boat shrink wrap recycling event is still going on. Dumpsters at the Graceville transfer station and bags can be picked up for free at the library, both locations, West Marine and Chester Ace Hardware in Stevensville and Centerville Town Hall. Dumpters will be on site till June. This week is National Public Safety Telecommunicator Week and we are honor and thank our 911 specialists. Stay tuned on dees social media as we honor these folks each day. We're gearing up for a lot of spring and summer events. Follow Quaintance County Parks and Rec on social media for all your upcoming events. K9 garden party, Church Hill yard sale, summer concert events and so on. There is a senior summit. This is a reminder May 15th at the 4 park and you will receive notifications coming out in the future in the near future as paving operations are underway. So stay tuned to those social media announcements and that is thanks to Beth for sending this information to me the Reddit round table. What you do is amazing. So thank you Beth.

Bing. All righty. I I got nothing motion. I make a motion to adjurnn.