Commissioner - Regular Meeting

All right, we're gonna bring this meeting back to order.

All right, good evening, everybody. Welcome to the Queen Anne's County Commissioner's Meeting. This is a public meeting that is being aired live on our local cable television station, QAC TV7. These media broadcasts provide county citizens an opportunity to watch and review 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 slash live, or on our public access governmental television channel provided by Breeze Line Cable Services. Citizens may also participate by joining the live Zoom meeting by going to QAC.org slash public comment. And citizens may also email comments to public comment at QAC.org. All comments received will be summarized during the present public comment period on tonight's agenda. We acknowledge everyone's participation and by attending, you acknowledge that the session is both recorded and aired. 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 the lobby. Comments longer than three minutes can be submitted in writing for the commissioner's review. We will now stand and 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.

Okay. And that brings us to the approval of the agenda and the minutes for this evening. Uh, so the agenda for today's meeting March or excuse me, May the 26th, along with the regular session minutes, the closed session minutes and the sanitary commission minutes for may the 12th have been circulated for review. We also circulated the minutes from the FY 27 budget informational sessions last week, uh, on may 18th, 19th and 20th. Any additions or corrections to any of the minutes or the agenda?

Motion to add one agenda item on tonight's agenda. Second. All those in favor? Aye. Motion to approve tonight's agenda as amended and all minutes as submitted. Second. All those in favor? Aye.

No session. Okay. Thank you, Commissioner. So we just had a closed session under the General Provisions Article Section 305.8 to discuss potential litigation and under Section 3305.1 to discuss boards and commissions. And I believe we do have one. Appointment to make for Boards and Commissions.

So we received a letter from our Board of Licensed Commissioners, our Liquor Board, and they voted unanimously to support the reappointment of Gene Ransom. So I move to reappoint Gene Ransom to fill the vacancy on the Board of Licensed Commissioners, our Liquor Board, and also reappoint him as the Chairman of the Board. This term will expire on June 30th of 2030.

Second.

We have a motion and a second. Any discussion on this topic? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? So moved. All right, thank you, Commissioners.

So next we have press and public comment. So this is the general press and public comment period. We have a number of hearings tonight, so I don't know if anybody signed up.

We have no one that signed up. Would anybody like to speak? Seeing none, we'll close press and public comment.

Okay, Commissioners, we can go into the legislation portion of tonight's agenda. So that would be... We have seven. So under tab 7, item 1, pages 1 through 2, we have the Comprehensive Water and Sewer Plan public hearing for the Marling Farms and Dominion Sewer Service Area designation. So Mr. Thompson, this is a map amendment to include the Marling Farms and Dominion Sewer Service Area map in the Comprehensive Water and Sewer Plan. This is an area of public health concern. It's been designated such since 1984, and this map amendment is required in order for

the public work staff to pursue a public health exemption from the smart growth coordinating committee for an extension of public sewer outside of a growth area mr thompson this is a public hearing being held by the county commissioner queen anne's county 5 40 p.m tuesday may the 26th 2026 in the commissioner's meeting room liberty building 107 north liberty street central maryland The purpose of the hearing is to consider amending the Queen Anne's County 2011 Comprehensive Order and Service Plan. In addition to the hearing, an informational presentation was made on Tuesday, May 12, 2026. The proposal being considered is the Marlin Farms and Dominion Sewer Service Area Map. The amendment seeks to adopt the service area map for the Marlin Farms subdivision and the community of Dominion. The map was removed from the draft 2011 comprehensive water and sewage plan due to political concerns as to the actual need to service these communities as were the Southern Canal and Sewer Service Area maps, which were subsequently amended back into the plan in 2014. The areas in question have been noted as areas of public health concern since at least the 1984 comprehensive water and sewage plan and every subsequent plan since. The text briefly defining the problem remains in the 2011 plan The service area would carry a sewer service designation of S3 to anticipate service in four to ten years and the project will require a subsequent map amendment to S2 should the project proceed. Copies of the proposed amendment have been available in the county commissioner's office or electronically through a request to alanquimby at qac.org. All hearing sites are accessible to individuals. Sign language interpreters and assistive listening systems are available. Part of the record of the proceeding will be a certificate of publication indicating that notice of the hearing was published for two successive weeks in the pay times of record observer.

Do you have anything?

You want to say anything? No, Commissioner, unless you have any questions.

Nobody signed up? nobody signed up nobody wants to speak on this okay I don't anyone have any questions up here we hold it for two more weeks that was quick and easy thank you Alan you got to go first all right thank you Mr. Quimby

Commissioners moving right along item number 2 on page 5. This is a public hearing on County ordinance 2604 uses allowed to occupy in excess of 65,000 square feet of gross floor area in the airport protection in Kent Island Gateway District. Thompson you got the legal and there you want to read that please.

All right. This is a public hearing being held May the 26th 2026 said. 8.50 p.m. Regarding a county ordinance 20 6, 0, 4, a bill entitled act concerning uses allowed to occupy in excess of 65,000 square feet. A gross floor area. In the airport protection and Ken Allen. Gateway. District in Queen Anne's County. For the purpose. of allowing boat sales and repair and marinas to occupy more than 65,000 square feet of gross floor area in the airport protection in Ken Island Gateway, APKIG District in Queen Anne's County by amending Section 18-1-34D3 of the Code of Public Local Laws of Queen Anne's County. This... The proposal received a favorable recommendation from the Queen Anne's County Planning Commission. All hearing sites are accessible to individuals with disabilities. Speakers will be limited to three minutes each, but written testimony of any length can be submitted all before the hearing date to the county commissioners. No one's signed up. Is there any public comment?

you all have anything you want to say i don't have anything specific to say in the amendment but i just want to introduce you to mary ellen our senior planner she's been on with us since june um but this is the first time in front of the board so i wanted to have her um introduced um but i don't think you've come do you have anything in addition to no unless you have any questions okay thank you

All right, we'll leave it open for two more weeks. Thank you. Stephanie, there wasn't no time censored with that, is there?

All right.

Nothing? Nothing?

Okay.

Two weeks is not going to hurt anybody.

I'm sorry.

Hold on. Is it okay to hold that out for two weeks or is there a time issue?

Are you here for Ryan?

So I'm here for Ryan, yeah.

Okay. Is there a time concern? Not that I am aware of, no. Okay.

Okay.

So we'll have a vote. There is.

Ask me a question. It's recorded now.

All right, Commissioners, item number three, then, is public hearing on County Ordinance 2607. This is for non-residential floor area in the Waterfront Village Center District. This is 2607, page number six in tab seven, item three.

It's tough. This is a public hearing being held. Tuesday May the 26th 2026 that 5.50 PM in the county commissioner meeting room. Liberty building 107 North Liberty Street. The hearings received public comment on county ordinance number 26 07 a bill entitled an act concerning non residential floor area ratio in the waterfront village center zoning district in Queen Anne's County. For the purpose of increasing the buy right maximum non-residential floor area, FAR, from 30% to 40% in the waterfront village center WBC zoning district removing the non-residential floor area bonus in the WBC district and generally modifying and addressing non-residential floor area ratio in the waterfront village center zoning district in Queen Anne's County by amending sections 18-1, 26-F-2 and N-1-A of the Code of Public Local Laws of Queen Anne's County. The proposed ordinance received a favorable recommendation from the Queen Anne's County Planning Commission. The copies of the ordinance have been available to the County Commissioner's Office and at the county website. The speaker has been limited to three minutes each. A written testimony of any length can be submitted on or before the hearing date to the County Commissioner's Office, 107 North Liberty Street, Centerville. All hearing sites are accessible to individuals with disabilities, sign language interpreters, and assisted listening systems are available. Part of the record of this proceeding will be a certificate of publication indicating that notice of the hearing was published for two successive weeks in the Baytimes Record Observer, as well as the recommendation of the Queen Anne's County Planning Commission. No one signed up for there. Any public comments with respect to county would 26 or 7.

Real quick ask a question so we're going through the the other moratorium. we're changing obviously commercial apartments and they're not going to be commercial apartments will that automatically if these were to pass through will that automatic will that language update automatically that they would be non-conforming at that point or how would that work if they're called commercial apartments but they won't exist in the road they'll be residential they won't be considered commercial any longer so they still would be applied in the same manner okay as the commercial apartments stand now in the code right okay yes any other questions

For the public, you should have done this on the other one, but for the public watching, what is the nuts and bolts of this amendment?

would be for changing the FAR to 30 30 percent to 40 percent which means what to the general public so the floor area ratio is the sum of all floors including basements and upper floors divided by the total floor area So that is pushing. So what that means that that regulates the floor, the building size on a lot. So by increasing the floor area ratio, the building mass, so to speak, can be larger on on on a building site. But also the the other regulations, the design criteria, parking regulations, and the other design guidelines critical areas stormwater requirements would still prevail on this site were you looking for a specific project well no I was looking for how that thirty to forty relates to the public If I also made for the public as well the there are other This is also consistent with many other commercial zoning districts if I may on the town center urban commercial suburban industrial light industrial Graysonville neighborhood commercial suburban industrial and and the airport protection Kent Island Gateway districts also have 40%.

They're all at 40%. So we're just bringing this up to where everything else is. Great. Thank you.

You're welcome.

Appreciate it. We're going to hold that for two weeks. OK. Two weeks. Moving on.

All right commissioners item for page 7. This is public hearing County ordinance 20 608 this is for commercial apartments in the waterfront village center zoning district and the objective here is to add additional provisions to allow commercial apartments within that district to locate the commercial apartment dwelling on any same floor, including the first floor, so not necessarily the top floor. It could be any floor. Planning Commission also sent a favorable report to the commissioners on this amendment. Mr. Thompson?

Thank you. This is a public hearing being held by the County Commissioner of Queen Anne's County Tuesday, May 26, 2026 at 5.55 p.m. in the County Commissioner's Meeting Room, Liberty Building, 107 North Liberty Street. Centerville, Maryland. Hearings have received public comment on proposed County Ordinance 2608, an act concerning commercial apartments in the Waterfront Village Center WVC Zoning District in Queen Anne's County. for the purpose of allowing commercial apartments on any floor, including the first floor in the Waterfront Village Center Zoning District, and providing such commercial apartments shall be located on the same floor by amending Section 18.1.26 . of the Code of Public Legal Laws of Queen Anne's County. The proposed ordinance received a favorable recommendation from the Queen Anne's County Planning Commission at their April 9th, 2026 meeting. Copies of the proposed ordinance have been available at the County Commissioner's Office and on the county website. Speakers will be limited to three minutes each. Written testimony of any length can be submitted on or before the hearing date to the county commissioner to 107 North Liberty Street, Centerville. All hearing sites are accessible to individuals with disability. Sign language interpreters and assistive listening systems are available. Part of the record of the proceeding will be a certificate of publication indicating that notes of the hearing was published for two successive weeks in the Baytown, as well as the recommendation of the Queen Anne's County Planning Commission. No one signed up for this either. Is there any, anybody have any public comment with respect to the county?

I'll take a stab at this one so just take a four-story building right now first floor has to be commercial this allows that first floor to be apartments but somewhere in that building the same amount of square footage would be considered commercial it could be the top floor the second floor the third floor correct correct there you go one for me So there's no, we're not adding more apartments than what the zoning is set at. We're just moving around where your open commercial area could be. correct it's allowing more flexibility and this would just be in in the waterfront village center district WVC is located where it's there's only one WVC in the county yes sir okay and this will allow them which I think is a good idea is use some rooftop space fourth floor space for the views so any other questions good guys OK thank you all just for 2 more weeks.

All right continue we have a few more of these and these are all citizen sponsor text amendments by the way so that's why it's taken a little time we have these all stacked up here. Item 5 on page 8 public hearing on County ordinance 26 or 9 this is amendments to the transfer development rights standards. The objective here is to amend the transfer development right standards to allow for a transfer parcel, which is designated as open space following the conveyance of development rights to be subdivided through the administrative subdivision process to accommodate lot line adjustments, but not to be reconfigured to create a new lot. All right, Mr. Thompson.

Thank you. This is a public hearing being held by the County Commissioner of Queen Anne County, Tuesday, May the 26th, 2026, at 6 p.m. in the County Commissioner's Meeting Room, Liberty Building, 107 North Liberty Street, Central Maryland. The hearing is with respect to county ordinance number 2609, a bill entitled an act concerning amendments to the transfer development rights TDR standards in Queen Anne's County, Maryland for the purpose of amending the transfer development rights standards to permit a transfer or parcel which is designated open space following the conveyance of development rights To be subdivided through the administrative subdivision process to accommodate lot line adjustments but not to create additional lots and generally addressing subdivision of open space in Queen Anne's County by amending sections 18-1-101A and 18-1-104A of the Code of Public Local Laws in Queen Anne's County. The proposed ordinance received a favorable recommendation from the Queen Anne's County Planning Commission at their April 9th, 2026 meeting. Copies of the ordinance have been available to county commissioner's office prior to the hearing and also online on the county website. Speakers will be limited to three minutes each. Written testimony of any length can be submitted all before the hearing dates. All hearing sites are accessible to individuals with disabilities. Sign language interpreters and assistive listening systems are available. Part of the record of the proceeding will be a certificate of publication indicating that notice of the same was published in the Bay Times Record Observer for two successive weeks prior to tonight's hearing, as well as a recommendation of the Queen Anne's County Planning Commission. Jeffrey Thompson.

You want to come up here? I thought I'd give Mr. Thompson a break without anybody testifying. You're wearing him out. This bill is really about being able to permit administrative subdivision, which is really just a lot line adjustment between two adjoining property owners for TDR open space. Important to note, there can be no reconfiguration of the open space, no additional lots, no changes or restrictions applicable. The only thing we're asking is to be able to change ownership. When you look at the map of the restricted lands that was attached by Ms. Jones on the staff report that went to the Planning Commission, nothing changes. It remains exactly the same. And we need, as she pointed out in her report on page three, flexibility. Because you never know where you're gonna draw that line. Back when these open space areas were created, nobody thought they might ever even sell their farm. Now we're trying to sell and where do you cut the line? And you might want to cut it along a stream bed. You might want all the farm field to go on one parcel and the woodland on another parcel. You might want to run down a hedgerow. You've got to take into consideration the roads on the farm. It's just a common sense amendment to allow people to subdivide their farms in a way that makes sense. I mean, that's really what it comes down to. I really came up thinking you might have some questions, but that's really it in a nutshell.

Anyone else sign up?

No one else signed up, eh? Any others?

Do you want me to stand and sit?

Wherever you're comfortable.

All right. By the way, commissioners, the sign-up sheet was taken away before we came in. I think Mr. Parker and I both wanted to sign up, but it wasn't there. Commissioners good evening Jay Falstead Queen Anne's Conservation Association my comments on ordinance 2609 are gonna mirror my comments on 2610 I'm gonna recommend a no vote on this for right now but with an asterisk behind it which I'll come to at the end I understand yeah and I'm gonna submit some additional things later on in any case I Both the TDR program and the NCD program represented an agreement between the landowner and the county when these landowners signed up for it. They knew what they were getting into. They sold their development rights or transferred their development rights, whatever the case is, and that's now included in their deed. And so I understand what Mr. Thompson wants to do by moving the lot lines, and I'm not necessarily opposed to that. But I also fear that you're opening up Pandora's box, because even though the open space may not be reconfigured, by moving the lot lines, you could open the door for land use abuse. in the way that you could open it up for not only farm uses which are already in our code but non farm uses. And if you look in our code it's just the non farm uses that could be allowed on farmland. You can have things like tennis courts uh... lighted tennis courts pickleball courts all this stuff that could ultimately be added and so you've got landowners right now who have purchased property in either one of these programs thinking that this is deed restricted open space and may end up having to deal with something later on uh... commissioner mclaughlin you'll know full well on this just with the landfill proposal over outside of center bill All those people knew what they were signing up for when they bought that property. And now, years later, they're saying, oh no, we don't want a landfill. Imagine something non-farm related coming into the equation at this late date. You're gonna have this room filled with people saying, a bunch of NIMBYs, and I'm always on the side of the NIMBY, saying, you know, we don't want this next to us, or we don't want that in our neighborhood. And so I just feel like you're opening up Pandora's box. the asterisks part I believe there's a way to solve this I'm not opposed to lot line adjustment and what I'd like is the opportunity to work with Mr. Thompson on both these ordinances and try and come up with a solution that takes away the non-farm the non-farm abuses that could occur if we're going to have lot line adjustments where does that end right now there's 10 000 acres in both of these programs divided by 128 landowners if you allow it for them you're going to have to allow for everybody and so with that i'll end it and unfortunately i'll have to repeat some of this on on the next uh the next ordinance yes

You want to come back up, Jeff?

Well, you've got Ms. Jones here, so she can answer him once and that's what he had to say, but you've got the same restrictions on the land before and after.

Just throw the microphone here. Get the chair so the mic gets you.

You have the same restrictions applicable before and after. Nothing different. Nothing changes. That's the whole reason we drafted it the way we drafted it. Whatever you can do now, you can do after. Whatever you can't do now, you can't do after. Just that period. It's just that simple. All we're changing ownership. We're drawing a line. Both sides of the line in the open space are subject to the same covenants. There's no change.

stephanie yes so i mean i'm i'm listening what what i heard from mr falstead is the uses and that is somewhat concerning is is there

So there's no change in the use that can be put on open space.

There's no what?

There's no change. When going through an admin process, if the text amendment was to succeed, there would be no change on the uses that would be permitted within that open space. So any acreage that is in open space is restricted to only the uses listed in 18.1-12.

Does that dash 12 have pickleball courts and lights?

It has recreational uses, but that's something if they essentially wanted to do now, they could. It also includes shooting clubs. It includes your standard farm, farm accessory dwelling units. Goes on to talk about also your... your mines up to five acres so there are uses that are not considered you know your traditional farming uses but they are inclusive included in that language where it does allow that use within the open space so basically all you're suggesting is that if that you kind of drill down into this and perhaps maybe eliminate some of those non-farm uses what i'm suggesting is this

I understand what Mr. Thompson's dilemma is. He mentioned a geologic feature on his land. That makes perfect sense to me because there might be a strip of land that is unusable for a farmer or whatever. And so I understand the need, the desire to move the lot line. All I'm suggesting is in circumstances where you're going to move the lot line, that some of those other uses of which Stephanie's mentioning, along with a whole long list of others which aren't mentioned, should be taken off the table because these landowners made an agreement with the county. The agreement's there. So let's just try and tighten things up so that there's no abuse.

And they're not changing the agreement. That's the whole point. We're not trying to change the agreement at all. And if you want to change the uses that are permitted in the open space, you should do it for everybody. I mean, if it's that important, if you don't want it when I cut the line, why would you want it now? If you weren't going to allow the subdivision, they could do it now. I'm just cutting the line. No greater use, no lesser use, exact same use. If you really want to change the uses in the open space, then do it, but do it for everybody. I don't see why you would isolate on the subdivided piece. Would it apply to both pieces subdivided, or does the person that keeps half of the open space that say he could still do it, he could always do it, it's only the person that was granted the ... It doesn't make any sense.

So Stephanie, this could be over for two weeks. Could you bring back, has this ever happened where one of these uses has actually gone in to come to fruition on one of these particular spaces?

Just in general, for the entire space in the county.

Just curious.

The non-farm uses?

Correct. Could you bring that back?

Yes.

All right.

That's all I had.

All right.

All right. Is there any other public comment with respect to county ordinance 2609?

I feel like we're going to get the same comments. It's going to be like Groundhog Day on the next one, right?

Well, with this, like I said, we're going to leave it open for two weeks. You're going to look that up for us. And if you guys wouldn't mind talking to each other within the next two weeks.

No, and he actually did call me, and I suggested he talk to Stephanie and Amy. because I just don't see, and I still don't see, you know, why special conditions would go before that.

But you make a good point, and I don't disagree with that, is that maybe some of these uses should not be permitted because the whole point of you move in somewhere and you think this is what you got for life and then you turn around, I get that. And that's what I'd like to see is how often does that happen to where is it a problem, is it not a problem, is it something we should look at?

The one that struck me was you said five-acre mining?

But that's there now, so that's how they did up there in Rice. The solar, five at a time. Oh, boy. But it's maxed at the five acres, if I remember.

Until you go to a major. Right. But I don't know that you could do a major. No, you cannot do a major in open space. You cannot do a major on the open space. Very good. All right.

Since we're both going to be speaking on the next one.

So this is actually a first, too, by the way, because we've never had two commenters sitting at the same table together.

We have another commenter.

We have somebody else? Could I get you guys something to drink while you're here?

He's on the next one. That's Barry Parker.

I'm on the next one, but it might help if I comment on this one as well. There you go.

Thank you. Are you ready to start?

Do you want to comment on 2610, or do you want to comment on 2609?

It's going to be the same thing. It addresses the same issue and concerns that have been raised.

You want to put it on 2609, his testimony? It's up to you all. We can readopt it for 2610, maybe.

I'm Willard Parker from Parker Counts in Easton. I represent Anne Goodman and her husband, Jamie, who own 14 acres of land adjacent to 150 acres of open space in the Meadows Edge subdivision on Dean Road. They wish to buy a portion of that property. An organic farmer wishes to buy the remainder of the property. They can't do it currently under the ordinance without the amendment that we're proposing in 2610. It's open space on a non-contiguous subdivision. Mr. Volstad's concerns, I think, are unfounded when you actually read the deeds of easement between the landowners that created these open space areas on non-contiguous subdivisions and the county. Passive recreational uses are permitted, such as arboretums, hiking, nature areas, wildlife sanctuaries, public and private parks, garden plots, beaches. Surface mining is not listed here in the document. And the document says where there's conflicts between the ordinance and the document, the deed of easement that's a perpetual easement on the land, The stricter document applies. So the county has anticipated the possibilities of more intense or less conservative conservation-oriented uses on these open spaces by the creation of the deed of easement. The administrative subdivision process is an exhaustive, multi-agency input into that process. And they can certainly put restrictions, additional restrictions, if need be. But I suggest to you that the area of dirt that's covered by the deed of easement is not going to change. The restrictions are not going to be changed. Mere ownership of portions of that dirt will change. so that adjoining landowners can share in the ownership of the land. Happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. Can you submit the information you have? Because I don't have that.

One of the recorded needs of easement? Yeah. Can I give it to Mr. Thompson?

Yeah.

Perfect.

I guess we'll start with 2610 and let you Stephanie. Yeah.

So in your books, commissioners item number six, page nine, this is County ordinance 2610 amendments to the non-contiguous development and CD standards.

Yeah. This is a public hearing being held by the County Commissioners of Queen Anne's County. Tuesday, May 26, 2026 at 6.05 p.m. in the County Commissioners' Meeting Room in Liberty Building. Orders have a North Liberty Street Center bill. The hearing's on Proposed County Ordinance Number 2610, a bill entitled An Act Concerning Amendments to the Noncontiguous Development, NCD, Standards in Queen Anne's County. for the purpose of amending the non-contiguous development standards to allow a non-contiguous and developed parcel which is designated open space to be subdivided through the administrative subdivision process to accommodate lot line adjustments but not to be reconfigured or to create new lots, and generally amending and addressing the subdivision of open space created on non-contiguous and developed parcels under the Queen Anne's County Zoning Ordinance by amending Section 18.198 of the Code of Public Local Laws This proposed ordinance received a favorable recommendation from the Planning Commission at their April 19, 2026 meeting. Comments to the ordinance have been available to the county commissioner's office and on the county website. Speakers will be limited to three minutes each written testimony. If that ain't length, may be submitted all before the hearing date. To the county commissioners, all hearing sites are accessible. The individuals with disabilities, sign language interpreters, and assistive listening systems are available. Part of the record of the proceeding will be a certificate of publication indicating that notice of the same was published for two consecutive weeks prior to tonight's hearing, as well as the recommendation of the Queen Anne's County Planning Commission. Jeff, you've signed up. Do you want to have anything else as I...

Yeah, I'll speak. And Mr. Parker asked if he could come up. The way this particular version came about was Mr. Parker filed on behalf of the Goodmans a proposed amendment that would have permitted the subdivision of the developed parcel open space. I then, on behalf of Shirley Schaffer, filed an amendment of the same section in order to permit the subdivision of the non-contiguous parcel, which is the transfer parcel, and then you transfer the rights over to that parcel. Clearly in conflict. So then I drafted one on behalf of the Grays, trying to incorporate both of our wants and needs. And then Ms. Jones corralled us all together, and we tweaked it. And it became what I ended up calling the reconciliation language for three competing text amendments. And that way, she didn't have to deal with what's good and what's bad. We all kind of agreed this was the best solution. And that's what we're here to consider tonight. really what mr walker said about it is a deja vu because it's it's the same thing except for of course tdrs are about critical area and ncd is about upland that's the only difference so we're trying to make the same amendment that i've proposed for tdrs for non-contiguous both the transfer parcel and the receiving parcel But it's the same pitch. We aren't reconfiguring. We aren't creating new lots. We just want to be able to subdivide it only administratively with an adjoining lot owner, so it's a lot line adjustment. No real change other than that, to be honest. It's the same pitch. I could give it to you again, but there's really no need. It's just one's critical area and the other's up to them. But it's to allow, and Stephanie again, Ms. Jones again, in her report for the noncontiguous point, it's about flexibility. It's given us the flexibility to cut those lines on a farm in areas where it makes sense to cut those lines. On our personal farm, there's literally a branch with a ditch that's 50 feet deep. Barry Waterman owns the adjoining property. He can't get across there, not in any vehicle, and he's going to have a lot of guts if he goes down and tries to get up the other side. So back when we did our subdivision 25 years ago, his predecessor didn't pay for the land. I created an easement that gave us all the use of the land. So right now I have all the use. Hunt, fish, timber, till it, do anything we want to do on it. I just want to fix it. I mean, so for my personal on the TDR, it's a fix it question. Same for people with the NCDs. I mean, they need a reasonable way to carve those lines between their respective parcels in a way that makes sense. This use issue, Burry did point out, I mean, those covenants I've written, God knows how many of them, they talk in terms of passive recreation. So I'll depend on Ms. Jones to report back to you what that really means, because I don't think it includes pickleball, fortunately. I don't think it includes that at all. Well, whatever it is, it's allowed now. If you want to address it, you ought to address it in total, not piecemeal as a result of this legislation. This legislation is doing nothing but allowing parcel person a to buy from person B. And he's got the same rights, responsibilities and obligations as as the original person that coveted the property. It's just we're not asking to change anything other than ownership. So when you look at those maps over what's eased in this county, nothing changes. The restrictions don't change. We can't move the lines. It is what it is. And other than you're allowing to adjoining property, there's transfer parcel by parcels back and forth.

Did you want to comment?

I only want to say to complete the record on this public hearing on 2610, if you can incorporate my comments on 2609, I'm happy with that.

You got it. I'll just reiterate some of the comments that I made earlier without going through the full pitch. I'm opposed to it. I believe it does open up Pandora's box. There's 128 landowners between those two programs. If we allow it here, we're going to have to allow it for everybody. And maybe that's OK. But what's the end game of this? Are we going to allow landowners that enrolled in these two programs to just routinely change their lot lines? I mean, is this something that was already agreed to by the county mr thompson wants to renegotiate those terms a few years a few years from now are we going to renegotiate it again like what's the ultimate end game here so i just i think there's some unintended consequences here that i hope we can try and figure out Yeah, and I'm glad that you leave the record open because I think what I'll do is try and draft something up over the next couple days that address both Mr. Thompson and Mr. Parker's comments and submit that for the record. I just have one last comment on that comment.

It's not really opening Pandora's box. We're here for a tax amendment. I'm asking you to allow all those people. We aren't here about my property. It was Goodman property. We're just saying it's the right thing to do for everybody. So he suggested it could open it. I'm asking you to allow everybody to do that. That's why I'm here. It's not a Pandora's box. We got all this open space out there. Why shouldn't those landowners be, as long as they're not reconfiguring, changing the restrictions applicable to it, what difference does the county have in who owns it? Some of the same restrictions. Nothing changes.

And again, I agree there are circumstances where those lines could be adjusted. I'm not disagreeing with it. I'm just saying that there needs to be some restrictions so that we're not ultimately creating an abusive practice here.

We're going to put that on Stephanie's shoulders. I think we have a good idea of what we don't want to see. With the intent of open space before and with the changes, we don't want to see certain things that you wouldn't have seen when you first made the open space. So that's a concern. Did you have one last comment?

A very quick comment. What the landowners agreed to and committed themselves to when they signed these deeds of easement for open space was the restrictions on land. They did not enter into some agreement with the county that said, only I can own that property or only one person can own all of it. That wasn't part of it. In fact, some of the deeds of easement actually allow for subdivision, but ordinarily, approval is needed to do that. This is the process to gain the approval. So we're not changing any commitment that landowners made with regard to how the land is restricted.

Thank you. We're going to leave it open for two weeks. Stephanie's going to vet this for us and bring it to us, and we'll go from there. Thank you, gentlemen.

Just to confirm, you want the same for the TDR and the NCD open space? Yes, please. Correct.

Yeah, I suspect the TDR is even more restrictive. Just because you're in the critical area. All right, thank you, gentlemen. Thank you. All right, thank you, everybody.

All right, commissioners, item number seven on pages 10 through 15, we have public hearing on County Ordinance 2612. This is the Queen's County Forest Conservation Act, Chapter 18 to the Code of Public Local Laws. This particular amendment has been prepared by staff. We have a presentation here. This is a fairly comprehensive update. So I'll let Mr. Thompson read the legal ad and we can do the presentation to advise and inform the board and the public at large.

So Patrick. This is a public hearing being held by the County Commissioner of Queen Anne's County Tuesday, May 26, 2026, 6.10 p.m. in the County Commissioner's Meeting Room, Liberty Building, 107 North Liberty Street, Centerville, Maryland. With respect to proposed County Ordinance 2612, a bill entitled An Act Concerning the Queen Anne's County Forest Conservation Act, Chapter 18.2 of the Code of Public Local Laws, for the purpose of repealing and replacing Chapter 18 of the Code of Public Local Laws of Queen Anne's County, the Queen Anne's County Forest Conservation Act, bringing the Forest Conservation Act into compliance with Senate Bill 526 and House Bill 1511, which articulate numerous changes to the Maryland National Resources, Title V, Forest and Parks, Subtitle XVI, Forest Conservation, Section 5-1601 through 5-1612, provided for definition and rules of interpretation and purpose, Provided for application of the provisions, amendments there too. Provided for qualified professional general requirements and declaration of intent. Provided for forest stand delineation, forest conservation plans, preparing buffers for retention, afforestation and reforestation. Provided for local conservation funds, fee in lieu and payments by credits into an approved Forest Mitigation Bank provided for native tree species, financial security, protective agreements, and standards for protection of trees. providing for variances, inspections, and commercial timber harvests, providing for violations and penalties, and generally addressing, regulating, and protecting forest resources in Queen Anne's County by repealing and replacing Chapter 18 of the Code of Public Local Laws of Queen Anne's County. Copies of the ordinance have been available to County Commissioner's Office, 107 North Liberty Street, General, Maryland. during regular business hours and on the county website. Speakers are limited to three minutes each. Written testimony at any length could be submitted on or before the hearing date to the county commissioners. All hearing sites are accessible to individuals with disabilities. Sign language interpreters and assistive listening systems are available. For the record of this proceeding, there'll be a certificate of publication indicating that notice of the hearing was published for two successive weeks prior to the lights hearing and the Baytown's record observer. No one has signed up to testify. Do you have anything you want to?

First, I'd like to say thanks to our entire department. This is kind of a full entire department kind of work, so I'm going to let Doug give the presentation, but everyone I think in the office deserves credit on this one.

All right. Good evening, Doug Summers, county planner. This evening, I just want to provide a brief presentation on proposed Forest Conservation Act update and the text Amendment 2612. A very quick background between 2019 and 2022. Several state level legislative measures and directives resulted in a comprehensive statewide forest analysis and study. Out of the study, two bills were passed by the Maryland Legislature in 23 and 24. The legislation led to a policy shift for the state from no net forest canopy loss to a net gain of forest canopy. These goals are to be met through a combination of initiatives that include strengthening of the Forest Conservation Act and several other forest-oriented programs monitored at the state level. The deadline for implementation of the Forest Conservation Act code updates has been set for July 1st by the state. For Forest Conservation Act, applicability will remain the same as it applies to site plans, subdivisions, and grading and sediment permits. There are some changes to exemptions that have been introduced to include a reduction in the scope of intravamily transfers. There's an exemption from AFAR station requirements for solar projects. And there's a few new exemptions related to stream restoration and residential housing. One of the biggest changes is a one to one reforestation rate. So essentially, if you cut a tree, you have to plant a tree. The only exception to this standard would be within the growth area and with multifamily housing projects in which the rate is reduced to one half to one. Another substantial change is riparian buffer requirements. Any unforested riparian buffers on a property that falls under the Forest Conservation Act that has a forest or reforest requirements would need to completely plant the unforested length of their buffer. Well, there are additional changes include the county must now approve any clearing within priority forest areas. There have been new areas added to that list. Public notification is required for all forest crop plans. The forest and delineation types have been expanded. Judicial review process has been introduced at the state level, and there's been a proposed fee and loo rate increase to ensure the county meets state mandated canopy requirements. This rate has been aligned with the current critical area rates. So in preparation for these changes, the planning department has been busy reviewing and updating documentation on all forest conservation easements in the county. We have collaborated with our DIS team to create new environmental layers and to map all existing easement areas. The department has revised worksheets, checklists, and other related legal documents, and the team has worked diligently drafting county code language based on the state's ordinance and annotated code. DNR has provided essentially approval on our language, and it received a favorable planning commission recommendation. The last thing we did was evaluate those current fee and lieu rates, which have remained unchanged since the mid-'90s. to ensure they generate sufficient funding to meet state mandated canopy goals. While fee in lieu is typically only accepted when all other priority measures have been exhausted or cannot be reasonably met on site, it's important that the rate accurately reflects the amount needed to achieve the program goals. This includes the presentation at this time we were seeking adoption of 2612 to include a new technical manual and approval of any updated fee and lieu rates.

Are there any public comments? Anybody have any public comment with respect to County Rule 46-12?

Okay. Any questions? Great work on this. All righty. We'll hold it open for two.

I can note we are the first probably on the shore to get this moving. So that's also, I think, a thing that should be mentioned.

Well done. Very good. Yeah, very good. We typically win. We've always expected that. I mean, yeah. I just assumed.

It'd be disappointing if you came in and said we're ninth.

Thank you.

Yeah, we never want to be behind Taliban. That's true.

thank you commissioners thank you all right we have two more legislative items for consideration tonight item 8 pages 6 through 18 we have county ordinance number 2605 supplemental standards for gas stations the objective of this ordinance is to amend the required distance and point of measurement from which entrance and exit from a property that contains fuel pumps underground fuel storage tanks and islands Canopies and canopies are required to be from the intersection. So that's the intent of this ordinance. Another citizen sponsored text amendment. It is here for your introduction. And I will say that the planning commission did not have a favorable report on this particular amendment.

I'll introduce that one.

Okay. Thank you, commissioner.

And I'll take the next one.

Okay. All right, moving on. Number nine, item nine, pages 19 through 21. This is county ordinance 20606 maximum impervious surface ratio in the suburban commercial district. Also, this is for introduction. The intent of this text amendment is to increase the maximum impervious surface ratio for commercial and industrial uses in the SC district that were operating prior to December 31st, 2025 from 0.45, 45% to 0.80, 80%.

I'll introduce 2606.

And also I'll mention that this also did get an unfavorable recommendation from the Planning Commission, those two. So we'll have hearings for those two bills. June 30th. June 30th.

Okay. All right.

Thank you.

All right. Thank you both, Stephanie and Mr. Thompson. Excellent. So that concludes all the legislative items for this evening. We can move into the presentations portion of the agenda now. Absolutely. All right. So if you want to turn over to tab number six, tab six, item one. Item one, page one, we have our friends for the Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month. Gentlemen, you want to come on up. We have Ken Eaton, Executive Director of ABAID of Maryland for Proclamation 2609. And please, Ken, introduce your guests here.

I have with me today Gloria Calley, a longtime member of A Beta Maryland and resident here of Queen Anne's County, and Mark Kershner, also not quite as a longtime member, but a while, and a resident here in Queen Anne's County. Excellent. I'm also a resident, but it's kind of like the hair club for men. I'm also the executive director for the state.

As a resident of Queen Anne's County, you would expect nothing less from me. That's right.

Do you want us to proclamation first?

I can speak real quick. Why don't you do your presentation? I can speak real quick. I don't have a formal presentation for you, but May is Motorcycle Safety and Awareness Month across the country. So we joined together with organizations like ourselves who are state motorcycle race organizations or other clubs and riding groups that go throughout the country requesting proclamations such as this and awareness events throughout the country so that we can raise awareness and safety concerns about motorcyclists and it's really not just about telling the car drivers to look for us it's about telling the motorcyclists to make sure you're ready for your ride and make sure that you follow all the rules and regulations as well as the cars so we all want to just share the road tomorrow we'll have our last MBA branch awareness event we did three across the state one in Hagerstown one in Salisbury and tomorrow will be in Southern, Maryland Having the MBA officials Chrissy Neiser will be there and we'll have some of the local just a brief description of That that event one of them really what we do is show up at the branches. The motorcycle safety program from MDOT is there and has some literature that they can share with people to raise awareness for motorcyclists and motorists. A Beta Maryland will have a table there so that we can share what we do throughout the state. Like I said, Chrissy Nizer will be there and present some awards to basically Abate and other organizations. We'll have some regional politicians show up. There's been a new law passed this year that we helped with that added a question to the pool of questions for driver's licensing exams in Maryland. So previously, there's I think 130 plus or minus questions that are available in the pool of licensing in general, not just motorcyclists in Maryland. The law that got passed this year requires that at least one question that shows up on everyone's exam is about motorcycle safety and awareness. So at least we got one in there.

And there's no sense in trying to remember the other ones because it probably won't appear on the test again.

You're right. But thank you very much for once again recognizing May as Motorcycle and Safety and Awareness Month here in Queen Anne's County. We really appreciate it. Awesome. All right.

Well, I have the privilege of reading the proclamation 2609. Whereas safety is our highest priority for the streets and roadways of our county, and whereas Queen Anne's County is proud to be a supporter of motorcycle safety, education and awareness, and whereas motorcycles are a common and economical means of transportation, that reduces fuel consumption and road wear and contributes to a significant way to the relief of traffic, parking, congestion. And whereas it's especially meaningful that the citizens of county Be aware of motorcycles on the roadways and recognize the importance of motorcycle safety. And whereas the members of the mid-shore chapter of ABATE of Maryland Incorporated continually promote motorcycle safety, education and awareness to the general public in our county and state. And whereas all roadway users should unite in the safe sharing of roads throughout Maryland. And whereas we encourage all motorists and citizens to join together and an effort to improve the safety and awareness on our roadways. Now, therefore, we, the county commissioners of Queen Anne's County, proclaim the month of May 2026 to be known as Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month.

All this up a little bit here for you real quick.

My dentist is not watching. this just kind of helps secure it in your folder i think it's important um you know you get this warm weather you're going to see more riders out there and unfortunately you have situations where somebody made a bad decision one way or another and somebody gets hurt so somebody used to ride i appreciate your efforts statewide There you go. Thank you.

All right. And my normal PSA, do not put your grass clippings in the roadway. Oh, my God. It's against Queen Anne's County law.

I just wrote through some of them.

I yell at my neighbor all the time and he goes back out and puts them out. We don't get many motorcycles down the road, but it's important. People don't even realize it.

You want your cuttings to go back on your grass anyway. It's healthier for the grass.

i've stopped probably just the last two weeks three or four times telling people you know it's against the law you know so we can give give me their address i can send them a letter thank you very much you guys for your efforts thank you have fun be careful out there thank you okay commissioners our next presentation is uh from katie dilly it's your behavioral health she's the ceo sarah fagan Midshor Behavioral Health. She's the BHC. That's our update. I believe we have, yeah, here it's up on the screen, presentation. It's also in your books on pages 2 through 36, tab 6, item 2.

Oh, we can click. Okay, great. So come on up. Welcome back. Hello. Yeah. Good evening.

Good evening.

Thank you for having us. Hello. As you said, my name is Katie Dilley. I have the pleasure of serving as the Chief Executive Officer at Midshor Behavioral Health. And I'm joined this evening by Sarah Fagan.

Hi everybody. Sarah Fagan behavioral health coordinator child adolescent young adult population.

So we have presented a very involved PowerPoint this evening. We will move through it swiftly. So. And if you have questions along the way we're happy to take them. We just appreciate the opportunity to be here. This is our. annual presentation I'm excited that we could get on the calendar for the month of May given that it is mental health awareness month which this is the 77th year of mental health awareness month so it's really an honor to be here during this time to give you our annual update and also ask for your support with our letter of agreement to continue to serve as your core service agency in the coming year So just a little bit about our organization. I'm actually going to kind of move through these quickly. One of our newer installments into our sort of organizational infrastructure is really identifying our core values. So just in the last couple of years, We worked with our board of directors to enhance not only our mission and vision, but to identify integrity, collaboration, progressive leadership, and advocacy as our four real pillars of our organizational values. This year I wanted to include just a snapshot. Sometimes folks get a little confused in terms of what exactly Midship Behavioral Health does and where we fit in the system of care. We are not a direct service provider. We are a regional organization that oversees the providers in the network of care of mental health and substance use services. We have the pleasure of receiving oversight and guidance from the Maryland Department of Health, the Behavioral Health Administration, and we also work very closely in collaboration with all five of our health departments in the region to procure and oversee that system of care. So we thought it'd be helpful to bring that image to you all just to give a little bit more context to kind of where we fit into the system of care. Annually we have grown fairly significantly over the years with the amount of funding that we procure and oversee that comes through our organization and comes back out into the community. So we have this past year we are right around close to 26 million in grant funds both a combination of state and federal dollars. that we are responsible for overseeing and monitoring that comes into the community of care. So the services that are supported by those grant dollars, this is a nice snapshot, there are several. that we oversee. We've tried to break it out to be a little bit more kind of easy to digest. So just some pockets of overarching services that we manage are the crisis and wellness and recovery services in the region. We have funding that's specific for our adults and our aging population. We have funds that support our specialty populations, for example. individuals that require interpretation to receive behavioral health services. We procure those dollars to clinicians in the region that can provide that service. We also are the regional core service, in addition to being the core service agency, the continuum of care. So we oversee funding for homeless services for all five counties. And we manage the round table on homelessness. So we do receive funds from the Department of Housing and Community Development, as well as the Housing and Urban Development Federal Organization. We have expanded significantly in the last few years our funds to support our child and adolescent and young adult population. And then one sort of niche program that Midship Behavioral Health does have, and most of the local authorities in the state do not, is we have a specialized forensic mental health program where we work with individuals that are involved in the criminal justice system that have behavioral health needs. And some of these services are not just five counties. We do procure and oversee all nine counties of some funding. For example, our state opioid response dollars, we oversee that for all nine counties on the shore, as well as funding for our crisis response system. and those program services. So that's a little bit unique. And we do closely work with all nine counties to make sure that those services are doing what they're supposed to in the communities. But we are the primary responsible entity to oversee them. A lot of opportunities to get involved for those of you here in the room and those of you watching online. We have several spaces to to convene our providers as well as community members and individuals with lived experience. Our work groups are something that we're very known for. We've added several over the years that really kind of are specific to a population or a need. A couple of newer groups that we've brought into the fold recently is we have a group specifically for our autism providers and autism resources, and a group that is on the horizon for the coming year is we will be establishing a veterans work group as well.

All righty. I'm going to go through some regional highlights. You can go to the next.

I'm going to start with crisis response highlights.

Eastern Shore Crisis Operations Center, they provide frontline crisis support for nine counties. In fiscal year 25, there were 8,435 calls that came in. And then for fiscal year 26, just the first six months, there were 3,671 that came in. There was a crisis intervention training that was facilitated. And in fiscal year 25, 23 individuals were trained. And then in the first six months of 26, 30 individuals were trained. We're also pushing out the 988 initiative a lot. And this is through SAMHSA. It's the suicide and crisis hotline. You can receive, you can text, you can call. It's really convenient for the youth especially.

What's the response time on that?

It can vary. We're working on that.

Is texting faster.

I don't know the statistics on the text response if it's faster necessarily. There are some hot the hotline averages can vary. I know that we have had some issues with how swiftly calls have been responded to and we're working with the administration and also at the federal level to make sure you know try to work out those kinks I don't know the answer in terms of the text versus call but we can follow up on that I do know that one thing that recently was reintroduced to the 988 hotline was the press 3 option that had been removed it is now back which is the the option for our individuals that are LGBTQ or and have a call that's more in that nature that they can press 3 that that option had been removed temporarily and it is back. So that's a positive thing to remove the survey.

The survey survey request at the end.

I don't think they'll be removing that necessarily. But that is, you know, 988 is something that is governed primarily from our federal partners, and then we are, at the local level, work with hotlines that are the provider of that service. So we have two providers on the shore. Our primary hotline on the shore is Life Crisis, based out of Salisbury, and then Affiliated Sante Group manages the backup 988 lines for the shore.

So now we're going to look at the mobile crisis team dispatches. That's a five-year comparison. The bottom line, the green line, is Queen Anne's County specific. Fiscal year 25, there were 70 dispatches, and so far for fiscal year 26, there have been 60. And then there's also the mobile response and stabilization services, which is a little different from the regular, if you just call it a regular crisis number. So this team is approximately eight weeks in duration. They provide intensive services to children, adolescents, and their support networks. And this is available in six of the Eastern Shore counties.

And we recently have applied for it to be in all of the counties. Here's some grant dollars, yes. Okay, so this is a newer program to Mitchell Behavioral Health as well as to the state of Maryland. So the community support partnerships is funding that has come through the out of Maryland's blueprint dollars, dollars to be earmarked specifically for our consortium on coordinated community supports, which is funding for behavioral health service expansion in our public schools. So Queen Anne's County has benefited significantly from these dollars. We've been able to grow your provider networks substantially that's serving your youth. And I have to say Rachel Stoyanov is here. Rachel is our hub liaison. So she is part of a two person team that is responsible for overseeing and implementing this program. We have a wonderful governing structure to make sure that the services are doing what they have signed up to do, as well as an advisory council, which is comprised of families as well as youth that have lived experience and have received services. So it's just remarkable. We're very pleased that we've been able to secure our grant moving forward this year. So we're getting ready to be contracting with our provider network. And we do represent all five mature counties with that funding.

I apologize.

So what is the one thousand twenty five students in the tier one through three meaning the severity level.

Those are the individuals that were served.

A thousand. Students in. Queen Anne's County. So they. Met with counselors.

Providers. Yes.

Provided by.

No, no, we're not not we're not a provider. We have provider provider work that is funded Who's our provider in the county? We have multiple I think there's not nine in Queen Anne's County nine different groups serving the county provider groups Not all of them are funded through these dollars there were some in place that were had contracts with the schools or already before these dollars became available. This is just allowed for those takes those services to expand greatly and also include substance use services as well. So it's been it's been tremendous to show.

So this portion.

how long have has it been available i mean is it we're going into our third year of services these dollars had been earmarked in the budget for several years it took a long time to figure out how to get them pushed out and available into the counties we were selected as actually a pilot group so we were one of the first groups in the state to be able to have these funds come into the counties which is great So we're a little ahead of the curve with that, which has been wonderful. The challenge is that the need is so great, and the funds are somewhat limited in the budget climate, so we have had to do quite a bit of advocacy to preserve this funding, because the last thing we want to do is to see services that are working well go away, just because of the funding source.

So I'm just trying to wrap my head around this. So the nine different, they're not nine different.

I think there could be more than, I think it might actually be 12 total. I would like to get the exact numbers for you.

So not 12 clinicians, but 12. Different provider groups.

Yes.

So it could be 50, 25, or I mean.

He's talking about the number of clinicians.

I don't know how many clinicians that speaks to, but there are several that providers can provide services by way of telehealth, so it really opens up a spectrum of a lot of different providers to be available. How many individual clinicians that supports, would have to look into that. I don't know if we know that off the top of our. No worries.

So a lot of the thousand students could be weekly. So they have it like a weekly session at the school. Am I understanding.

It could be. Yeah. Yeah it varies.

So Tuesday at 11 o'clock that. That's actually good.

It's very good. Yeah. So it provides three tiers of services. So there's sort of broad tier one which is more community and kind of educational and sometimes can involve families. And then as we move to up to tier three, which is really that one-on-one more enhanced clinical support. So we have in several different models of care, evidence-based practices are supported under these dollars and are actually required to be provided, to be eligible for the funding. So there's been a lot of investment from the National Center to make sure that what these dollars are supporting are going to very quality providers with refined skills that are expected to be delivered.

So tier three is one or intensive.

Yes.

And it could be virtual or in person.

Yeah. Yeah, and this is done in very close collaboration with your leadership in the schools. All the providers are vetted through your superintendent and your mental health team. And then we make sure to do all of sort of the ground level monitoring and site visits and ensuring that these providers are actually doing what they've set out to do in their proposals. but it's a pretty complex procurement process. They make us apply year over year for these dollars and a lot of administrative lift to just make them available. But that's our job and it's okay. That's what we do. I will say out of the first group of dollars through the consortium funding we were able to earmark money to have a formal needs assessment done for the region across the lifespan. So that was wonderful because those dollars would not be available given the current budget climate. So we did contract with an organization called Do East Partners to partner with our organization to do a full spread assessment which actually was this time last year coming to a close end. We wrapped up that needs assessment at the end of June of fiscal year 25 and wanted to highlight just a couple of things that came out of that assessment that are maybe of interest. So no surprise that top two things that showed up really across the board were our top three housing needs, mental health services and transportation, which we know is a very complex issue. on the shore. Lots of concerns just around mental health and substance use. Most counties in the midshore reported concerns around alcohol consumption as a primary substance use concern. So mind you, this is information that was reported by community members. So that voice is so critical to inform our work. So really you're hearing straight from your community members with these survey results. We pulled out a couple of things specific to behavioral health that came up out of Queen Anne's County residents. So as I mentioned, that piece around alcohol was brought up, also just concerns around depression and just mental health in general. One thing that I think we're on a path to see our provider network starting to grow and get a little more traction with infrastructure in the county, but that really the ratio of residents to provider availability in the county is challenging. So we find that a lot of members are going to neighboring counties to receive services like Talbot County. so we're working on that we've actually had quite a bit of movement in the last year especially with substance use providers of different forms different levels of care coming into the county so that's positive movement all right so suicide prevention we have a mid-shore suicide coalition and this is in partnership with channel marker

The goal is to provide education and awareness. A few events and... Events, we'll just start with events. So we had Kevin Hines, if you guys have ever heard of him, he had a Stay Alive presentation. We've established the Lethal Means Subcommittee out of the Darkness Walk. And then we're having a community event at the Queen Anne's County YMCA on June 5th, and that's from 4 to 7, bridging our community, building hope and connection. It's going to focus on youth wellness, and there's going to be a presentation by Matt Runnels, if you've ever heard of him.

He's an internationally known speaker, a gentleman with lived experience, actually a survivor of suicide.

Same with Kevin Hines.

Right. And his niche is really working with students. So we're excited to welcome him here at the Y here in Centerville next week. That's great.

And there's some more on suicide prevention. This is in regards to gun safety. During fiscal year 26, Midshore Behavioral Health initiated a firearm safety and awareness campaign. I mentioned earlier crisis intervention training. There's been over 900 gun locks and safes distributed. And then there's some data right there comparing deaths by firearms versus other lethal means. And in Maryland, there were 599 suicide deaths 45% of those involve firearms, and that's up 1.8% from 2022. And then Going Purple Together, we host this every year. We switch around the counties to try to include everybody and make it accessible. This past year, September 27th, it was at the Churchill Park here in Queen Anne's County. There was approximately 40 community resource vendors and 150 attendees. This is a really, really fun event that families and kids are invited to, and it truly, really is fun. It's a great way to bring awareness to this topic.

yeah okay so the rural advancement of Maryland peers this is a new program that we just received grant dollars through the Department of Labor to support this is really highlighting our workforce in our peer support network getting them trained and certified to be able to get into the behavioral health workforce since this they are recognized incredible work and the training is off often cumbersome and expensive so We have secured these dollars for the next two years to hopefully train 15 individuals to become certified peer support specialists, which is great. We are also working closely with the Eastern Shore Area Health Education Center. They also received some dollars through this grant opportunity, so we'll be doing some things in close partnership with them. I'm gonna jump through a couple of these just because I'd like to get to more Queen Anne's County specific highlights one thing I will share these are sort of high-level highlights we've been doing a lot of work with your leadership in the judiciary space here in the county in partnership with Kent County we meet monthly We're looking at doing potentially a pilot diversion project, which we actually just submitted a grant for hopefully getting funding for that today, that would support individuals that are in a need of mental health support that are in detention to have an alternative location to either complete their sentence time or just have some stabilization during their detention. So fingers crossed. Karen Hollweg, we've done a lot of great work, I know that judge credible and judge night we're also piloting a project, where we are receiving with the permission of the petitioners on anyone who is. filing for an emergency petition for a loved one or a person in their neighborhood or a friend that we are getting a referral to follow up with that support network to offer our services when someone is in need of that level of emergency petition intervention. So that's a new initiative we started within the last quarter and it's been very successful. Okay, just a couple of our signature events. We annually host a sequential intercept model mapping conference. We have done this for the last 14 years. That's looking at how individuals move in and out of the criminal justice system and where we can divert them from incarceration. We just hosted our guess it was our 15th annual across the lifespan conference and this year's focus was suicide prevention across the lifespan and as Sarah mentioned we are looking forward to our going purple event which of course is coming up in September This year we had a couple of new signature events that we're folding into our other events that we put on. We're doing good Samaritan law training in the counties. We just got some funding to do this specifically in the coming year in Caroline County. This year we did it in Talbot. And we have a workforce excellence program that we started out of our continuum of care leadership that has another class coming up here in Caroline County. We started down in Dorchester. So we're moving that program through the counties. And of course, we love a good visit from our state partners and colleagues. So this is just kind of highlighting a couple of visits we hosted over the last year. We had the leadership of the consortium, which we just touched on, and the National Center for School Mental Health came in August. We had our partners through the Office of Prevention and Promotion through BHA visit us at our Across the Lifespan Conference. We have strong relationships and partnerships through the Maryland Office of Overdose Response. And that work we've touched on, the Governor's Office for Crime Control and Prevention and Policy, that's something that the state is really putting a lot of attention behind is just how we're meeting the needs of individuals that get involved in the criminal justice system.

um so some queen anne's county highlights um already mentioned the going purple um each county has a local care team i attend queen anne's county local care team um katie is the board president of the queen anne's county local management board um let's see we work very closely with the queen anne's county local addictions authority um i already said that The Forensic Mental Health Team participates in the Queen Anne's County Problem Solving Court, and we just did a volunteer day at Queenstown Landing, which was in Queen Anne's County, which was really fun. We did bingo, karaoke was a hit, veterans group, all sorts of stuff. We tried to alternate counties with our volunteer day too, so.

Okay, some new initiatives on the horizon. You may have heard that Maryland passed legislation to adopt an assisted outpatient treatment program. The Eastern Shore is part of a pilot one group or phase one group, I should say, for rollout of this program. So it's all nine counties of the Eastern Shore, along with Anne Arundel County and Baltimore City, are scheduled to go live on July 1st with implementing assisted outpatient treatment. There's been a lot of work that's gone into this, but there's still a lot that we don't know until the program really gets off the ground. This would allow for an additional opportunity for family members or loved ones or concerned community members to file an order to have an individual be engaged on their outpatient treatment for their serious and persistent mental health. just for adults there's a lot of requirements and criteria to be eligible to receive an order the shore we are hoping to have at least two care coordinating teams we haven't gotten confirmation on that from the administration but as soon as we know who our care coordinating teams are for individuals that have an assisted outpatient treatment order we will certainly be working closely with them And our World Health Transformation Program, so the competitive funding for the behavioral health service expansion dollars were due today at 2 p.m. And I'm glad to say that we submitted. So we put in a few, I think, really interesting, transformative partnership requests. So holding hope there. Those dollars have a lot of different initiatives tied to them but of course behavioral health is the one that we're focusing on so we have some three priority areas around mobile mobile treatment expansion suicide prevention and as well as our diversion initiative so we'll see hopefully here over the summer if we've been able to have those dollars be awarded

OK. And then here we have some statistics. These are Medicaid claims. So mental health consumers was 1,655. Queen Anne's County represented 16.2% of the mid-shore individuals. And then for substance use, it was 769 consumers. With the highest utilization areas, mental health, it was outpatient services, 95%. And then for substance use, it was labs, which was 68%. And then this is the point in time count. This is through the continuum of care, the homelessness prevention services that Katie mentioned earlier. So the point in time is a count of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January. HUD requires that they do an annual count. So this year it was 27 sheltered, which would be emergency shelter or transitional housing, and then one unsheltered, which is a place that's literally not meant for a person to live in.

And we just thank you for your support. And this is how you can get a hold of us if you have any questions. We're happy to take additional questions as well.

That was very comprehensive. Thank you.

We didn't even read it all. That's the crazy part. No, it's a lot of information. We appreciate your time. It is a lot.

I don't know how you keep it straight.

We also have the fiscal year 2027 letter of agreement for your consideration tonight as well. It's an action item. Oh, yeah. Yes.

Great presentation. Oh, thank you. Very good. $168 million Rural Health Transformation grant that was due today, or the paperwork was due today. Is that?

That's for the pillar two. The 168 is broken up into some clumps. Only 16 million of it is for behavioral health.

Is any of that going towards can be used for the $5 million match for the USDA?

No. It can't be used for that.

It's federal. It's federal funds. Yeah.

I know. You can use federal to match federal.

So are you speaking? You're just addressing your email from the other day? Yeah, come on up, Bryce.

Yeah.

Can you kind of lay that out for us?

I'm sorry?

Could you kind of lay that out for us, what your thoughts are on the crossroads in Dorchester?

Oh, so short. So Katie and I have been talking about what other options there might be for use of this USDA funding for youth services. I had met with the USDA team and also had discussions with the Congressman's office on what truly the parameters of that funding are, if there's any flexibility in there, if the PHP stuff doesn't work out. Katie and I had a meeting with the CEO Kara what two weeks ago Kara Morris couple weeks ago they are looking to build a outpatient center per se for mental health services out of Cambridge and they were looking for additional capital funds to complete that facility and there's a number of services that will fulfill services across the lifespan to include youth services and according to the USDA team that sounds like it's a possibility as long as we're addressing youth mental health needs in the region and they would start serving I think around age it was five years old enough so is it essentially a it's it's is it it's not a php it's more of a

you go in for an hour and then you you have therapy it's not partial hospitalization no but they would have multiple levels of care available there but partial hospitalization is not one of them and and what would they be what would be the the care i don't have the full list but it was what prp outpatient mental health. I think some education and training. They're going to have an industrial kitchen there and hopefully do some sort of life skills.

Does it have to be built in Cambridge? Could it be built in Eastern or Queen Anne's County?

That's something that's been in the works since before COVID.

To do it there? In Cambridge, yeah. Do they have another facility that way?

They have a facility right here in your backyard in Centerville.

Is it being utilized as well as the new place could be?

Oh, yes. That's a provider that serves all five counties. I know there's a lot of specific information that's provided in the correspondence as well. I didn't bring any of that with me.

That's OK. It's just an option for your consideration.

And other things to consider is maybe looking at extending it to more than one provider if that was an option, or if there's a provider that might need vehicles. And then we talked about that.

Yeah, the USDA team was pretty clear that the capital funding could be used for vehicles, any capital equipment tied to that if there was specific, for example, on a lab equipment that you might want. There was a lot of flexibility there, but the key is the operational piece. And of course, the match is still a concern. Can a provider or somebody else meet that match, the 25% match that's required by USDA?

So is... Is University of Maryland completely out of the picture for the second floor of the E.R. at Cambridge to be a PHP.

That is my understanding that they're they're exploring how they can expand their outpatient services to also support the entire lifespan but the partial hospitalization is not something that right now they're looking at. They're looking at expanding their intensive outpatient treatment program, as well as reestablishing, the hope is to reestablish their bridge clinic, which I don't want to speak on behalf of Shore Regional, but why I understand.

So when you say intensive, do you mean inpatient?

No.

You mean intensive outpatient?

Yes, intensive outpatient, to include providing that for children and adolescents. Right now they have intensive outpatient, but it only serves adults. Adults. but they are looking to expand it to serve youth. But that's not partial hospitalization. The complexity with partial hospitalization is the requirement to provide education, to have school provided while youth are attending the PHP. So youth PHP is a much harder service to lift up. So right now my understanding is that's not what they're entertaining.

it's not the priority and to add to that they don't need capital funding for that the facility in Cambridge is set up to accommodate something like that where our hands are kind of tied with this USDA funding for capital funding of course there could be creative ways to put it out for interest so providers could respond I think we were just trying to

provide you some options of current capital projects that we know are underway thank you sure appreciate it yeah appreciate all you do seriously so it's a tough job well we have good partners and we appreciate your support thank you thank you thank you appreciate the presentation

All right. We get a motion to sign the letter.

Yeah. I make a motion to sign the letter for FY27.

Great.

Support?

Second.

Got a motion and a second. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? So moved. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Commissioners, we can move into the action items for this evening. First, we have from the Department of Public Works under tab number two. We have one item, pages one through seven, item one, pages one through seven. This is for the Board of Education Administration Building over at the Vincette, on Vincette Street, lot 19B. And this is a plat and a deed of dedication to transfer that particular 4.7 acre parcel of land where the new Board of Education Administration Building is now occupied by the Board of Ed over to the Board of Education members, and that's a traditional thing. So Lee Edgar's here if you have any questions about that, but that's a transfer. I'll also mention, too, that we did just receive notification from the Maryland IAC. They voted to approve the transfer of their former headquarters down on Chesterfield Avenue back to the county commissioners. So they're working through some miscellaneous details, but that'll be coming back our way here in the next month or so.

That's right. I move to execute the deed transferring ownership of lot 19B adjacent to 115 Vincent Street, Center for Maryland to the Board of Education of Queen Anne's County.

Second.

We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? One absent.

Thank you, Commissioner. All right.

Thank you, Commissioner. Thank you, Lee. Thanks for being here. Next meeting will be daytime, right?

That's right. That's right.

All right. Commissioners, we got some action items to cover here this evening as well. They're under tab number three. So if you want to flip to tab number three, Item 1, pages 1 through 10. This is a petition to intervene in Maryland Public Service Commission case number 9868. So there's been an application filed for a certificate of public convenience to construct three co-located solar biotech generating facilities totaling 9.98 megawatts. This is on 674 acres of property just outside here of Centerville, adjacent to the 301-304 interchange. It is within the town's growth area and the town of Centerville's Tier 2 growth area. This is... clear attempt to circumvent standards found in both Maryland code public utilities codes and our zoning code and our planning staff has recommended that we intervene in this particular case because it's inconsistent with the spirit of all of our objectives here with solar projects

I move to file a petition to intervene in the application TPE MD QA 15A LLC TPE MD QA 15B LLC and TPE MD QA 15C LLC for a certificate of public convenience and necessity to construct three co-loaded solar voltaic generating facilities totaling 9.98 megawatt in Queen Anne's County Maryland case number 9868 second

We have a motion and a second. Any discussion?

Oh, where do you begin, right? Yeah. Yeah, Amy, give the Reader's Digest version of what's going on here broadly, but this case specifically in Queen Anne's County, if you could.

The concern with this case and the reason that I've come before you with this request to intervene is the fear of the precedent that would be set by not directly interacting with the CPCN process at this point. 931, the Renewable Energy Act was passed last year, and we had to accordingly update our solar provisions. We all kind of came in line with the siting standards as outlined through that legislation. Basically, utility-scale solar is permitted to be cited in accordance with those standards and community solar projects have a lighter standard. Since the update of our code and since the approval of renewable energy legislation, we've predominantly seen community scale solar projects. We have not seen utility scale projects like we had seen prior to Senate Bill 931. This bill, rather, this proposal is located at the intersection of Route 301 and 304, and it is in the town's designated growth area, Tier 2. During the negotiation of that legislation last year, we successfully put a prohibition on major solar development within the town's growth areas. What this project is is a combination of three co located community solar projects that in its entirety basically constitutes a major utility scale. project so what I did was put that in writing to the Public Service Commission that I found that the application as submitted was a pretty clear attempt to circumvent some of the key standards that were negotiated and very long and hard fought battles during the previous legislative session. And I really called upon hopefully the Public Service Commission to make some kind of a determination as to whether or not they also were going to deal with what looked like a clear circumvention of the standards.

I mean this is blatant.

I felt that it was and I felt that I had enough legal ground through consultation with our planning attorney to put in writing that when it lands in the county we would treat it as one comprehensive major solar energy generating system rather than three separate community solar projects. in an attempt to get a determination on that very interpretation that would be applicable to any other project that we might see in any of our growth areas. And also wanting to make sure that we're following the letter of the law as was dictated to us through the last legislative session. We want to make sure that that interpretation is also going to be supported. because my concern is that we might see other applications like this or other applications that I haven't thought of yet that are also circumventing some of those standards yeah you take a 400 acre farm and you just do 40 10 acre solar projects you still have a 400 acre farm of solar at the end of the day but like we

It circumvents our personal property tax on utility grade solar, which goes back to farm preservation. Not to mention, Kent County has a project over there that was developed into solar that was their last piece of priority growth area that had water and sewer to it so they had so they lost it they put solar there this is a priority growth area for centerville we're having all these conversations about moratoriums and we won't be able to build on the island we're going to have to build into towns but then we if we take that town land and put solar on it we can't build on it which is where we would have to build so there's a lot of things going on here that are just bad about all this honestly

And the town did submit a letter so we submitted a letter and the town of Centerville did likewise in accordance with the completeness determination deadline which the public utility law judge established the application was found to be complete but as a result of the letters that were submitted there was a request that the applicant submit a brief that addresses the points that were raised in our letter and this intervention is meant to if we intervene we will have an opportunity to also submit a brief in the deadline that is established by the public utility law judge so I think it's important to be engaged in that conversation and the town of Centerville is considering intervening as well. But their council does not meet until next week.

Very well. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Abstained? So moved.

all right thank you amy thank you commissioners uh our next item item two pages 11 and 12 we have drafted a resolution number 2607 for your consideration this is to initiate a temporary moratorium on the approval or processing of applications for data centers This has been a big issue around the state of Maryland. I think there's at least six other jurisdictions that are considering similar pauses for development activity for data centers for obvious reasons. Their energy usage and necessity for large areas and farms. So this would be an effort for us to... work with the zoning team and draft and craft appropriate designations and standards for this type of use in Queen Anne's County. We really don't have anything that fits the mold currently for data centers. So, for your consideration. This is 12 months.

I move to adopt resolution 26-7, temporary moratorium on the approval of processing of applications for data centers. Second. Second. Got a motion and a second. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye.

Opposed? That counts as an aye. Okay. 5-0.

All right. Thank you, Commissioners. Thanks, Amy. Thank you, Amy. Put that on your list as well for new assignments. All right. Thank you.

We've already been working on this.

All right, commissioners, we have next we have a series of conservation research, conservation reserve enhancement program agreements of sale. Mr. Joe Pittman's here from as well. He's prepared these so we can I'll try to summarize these. But these are all ready to be submitted to the Department of Natural Resources for review and final approval. That includes agreements of sales, project agreements, and all those have to be signed by the county commissioners. All the funding for these programs are provided by the program open space. No county funds are being utilized. So with that brief introduction, item number three on pages 13 through 27 is an agreement of sale and project agreement for the Big Oak Farm LLC. This will add 97.5 acres to the CREP totals that we have in Queenians County.

All right, so... I'm going to change your agenda up a little bit. I move to execute each of the conservation reservation enhancement program easement agreements of sale and project agreements for the following properties owned by Big Oak Farm LLC, the agreement owned by Robert and Dean Roushey and Catherine Roushey Eastman, successors to the co-trustees of the trust created by the last will and testament of Robert E. Dean and the one owned by Mardell View Farms LLC and the one owned by Alice M. Kirby and Brenda Sheryl Kirby. Second.

We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Well thought out. Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye.

Opposed? Good night, Joe. Good seeing you, Joe. Good seeing you, Joe. Great job.

Thanks for coming by. Keep them coming. That's right. All right. Well, that concludes action items 3, 4, 5, and 6. Okay. Moving on. Item number 7, pages 76 through 88. We have the Bay Bridge Run 2026 MOU between us and the Maryland Transportation Authority for the event on November 8th of this year.

I move to execute the memorandum of understanding with the Maryland Transportation Authority for the annual Bay Bridge run scheduled for November 8, 2026.

Second. Got a motion and a second. Any discussion here?

I hope they can get it in. The weather cooperates.

I hear you. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Abstain? 5-0.

Thank you, Commissioners. Item 8 on page 89 is a request for economic development incentive funding for Tidewater Direct. This is for the EDIF Commission recommended the approval of $1,599 in grant funding for forklift training for Tidewater Direct.

I move to approve the disbursement of $1,599 from the Economic Development Incentive Fund Workforce Fund for forklift training to Tidewater Direct LLC. This disbursement of funds is contingent upon a signed agreement between the Economic Development Incentive Fund Commission and the Tidewater Direct and will outline the conditions of the agreement and performance of the project.

Second.

Got a motion and a second. Any discussion?

the uh so i i have a question regarding this this ask and the one after the ask uh please come on up heather you were that close you were that close so i know that originally um when we introduced this program years ago it was obviously uh one of the main drivers correct me if i'm wrong was job creation Yes, OK so. I mean I'm just I'm simply playing the devil's advocate. I mean anything that we can do that helps businesses that already employ Queen's County citizens and so this first ask of the $1500 for the training. Again is an easy ask. I don't see all it does is really just take Queen's County

employees that work there already and just train them to operate a forklift right so we have two portions of the economic development incentive fund i think it was in 2022 after covid lightened up we had some money that we were unable to get out the door related to job training So the commission voted to move that into the Economic Development Incentive Fund specific to workforce training. And the goal of it is it can be an existing employee, but to skill them up so that they are able to make greater wages because they have a certificate or some sort of skill. So some of the things, we haven't done a lot of these, so I understand your confusion. Some of the other ones that we've done, we've done one for PRS and that was like management training. And then we have another one in play for like human resources and management training. So those then provide them with a skill, a certificate that they could stay employed there and receive more in wages and or they're more marketable should they leave that organization. Not that that's what we're advocating to do, but so there is about, it was 250,000 that was allocated to this workforce training.

and we have slowly but surely little bits at a time given out okay that's a good explanation and i appreciate it that's all i have okay seeing no other discussion all those in favor signify by saying aye aye opposed 5-0

All right. Thank you, commissioners. Thank you, Heather. Stay right there. We have a number item number nine on pages 90 and 92. This is another request for EDIF funding for aging stronger, and they are purchasing a body composition device that provides precise body composition and bone health assessments that support early intervention and healthier aging. This is a total cost of this project is $55,000. They're requesting $50,000 in EDIF funding. to support the purchase, and they currently employ one full-time staff member, three part-timers, and they're gonna hopefully get another additional full-time position sometime over the next three years to support their business down there.

I move to approve the Economic Development Incentive Fund conditional loan up to 50,000 to the Aging Stronger for their purchase of the DEXA device, the disbursement of funds, is contingent upon a signed agreement between the Economic Development Incentive Fund Commission and Aging Stronger outlining the terms and conditions of the funding and the project's performance as submitted in the Economic Development Incentive Fund application.

Second. Got a motion to second. Any other discussion? So me again. So we're committing up to $50,000 for this business to purchase a piece of equipment. Loaning. It's a loan. Okay. Conditional loan. Okay. I understand that component of it. With the hopes that in the next three years they're going to be able to hire one person. All right.

That's all I have. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? No. Abstained? 4-1. 4-1. All right. Thank you, Commissioners. Thank you, Heather. Thank you.

right commissioners item number 10 on pages 93 to 103 this is the termination of open space easement and amendment of deed of forest conservation easement for mr clifford higgs this owner is requesting approval to dissolve cluster lots two three four and five and a private road garretson lane and he's proposing to create a slide lot number two at six acres So this is all permitted within that zoning district. And they're allowed one slide lot based on the acreage. So the cluster lots are being dissolved. The slide lot technique does not require open space. That would get terminated as well. And all the open space that was required with the original cluster lot subdivision. So that's where we are.

I move to execute the termination of open space easement and the amended deed of forest conservation easement for the Clifford Higgs Minor Subdivision Plan.

Second.

We got a motion to second. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? So moved.

All right, thank you, Commissioners. And our last item tonight, we have a desk item. This is from the Y River Oyster Program. This is a letter from Mr. Bruce Abel.

The last man standing.

Last man standing. Requesting continuing funding support of the Y River Oyster Program. Their request currently is for $55,000 to match funds they have raised by the community and to increase the SPAT plannings by an additional 15 to 20.

So far, year to date, how much have you raised?

Year to date, about $110,000.

110,000. This plan aligns with the MDOT consolidated transportation