County Council - Regular Meeting

Correct.

go get ready to start the meeting. If everybody could go ahead and stand and we're going to say um the prayer and the pledge of allegiance of the flag. Heavenly Father, as always, we uh we begin this day with thanks. We thank you for uh for all your love, your grace, your mercy. We thank you for uh for looking over our county, all that we are, all that we do. We thank you for uh looking over our state. We thank you for also looking over our nation and our world. Father, please uh just continue to uh to show us your love in all the ways that you do uh day in and day out. Jesus most precious and holy name we pray. Amen. Amen. 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, liberty and justice for all. Okay, I appreciate everybody coming tonight. We've got a um agenda before us. Is um the agenda before us, is there any additions, deletions, or corrections to the agenda? Council, not that I'm aware of. So, Mr. President, if I could make uh one suggestion to possibly uh delay on the proclamation for National Public Health Week, I'll make a motion that we uh to uh put just delay on that proclamation piece. Okay. Is there a second? I could I couldn't hear what he said. He he wants to put Can you say that a little bit louder? Uh just that we delay the National Public Health Week uh proclamation to a to a later session. Is there a second? Okay. Amend the agenda so that we don't do it tonight. Correct. Right. Yes. Okay. Madam Secretary, could you do could you call the vote? Mr. I. Mr. Ste.

I. Mr. Lusher. Nay. Miss Milky. I miss nay. Okay. All right. Next is the minutes of March 10th of before us. There are any additions, deletions, corrections to the minutes? Okay. Okay. Hearing none, the uh chair moves that the minutes be accepted as unanimous consent. Okay. Dispersements of March 17th and 24th. Um we've going to look at them. There's any additions, deletions, or corrections to the dispersements. Council none here. Okay. Hearing none, the chair moves that dispersements be accepted as unanimous consent. Okay. All right. First up tonight. All right. Madam Secretary, could you go ahead and um update us on the board of health, please? Dr. F. Dr. Fami, come on up. Yes. Welcome, Dr. Fi. How you doing? Wonderful, sir. How are you? Good, good, good. We're we're we've got a long agenda tonight. So, we'd appreciate if you could try to keep us you about 10 minutes if we could. That'd be great. Super, super quiet, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. You want me to sit here and do this? I can do it. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, so my name is Fami Fami. I am the health officer for Talbot County. This is u a by annual presentation to the board of health. Um there is a lot of uh data that I'm going to skim over for the 10 minutes sake. Uh where I'm um dividing the the slides according to the categories of the departments and then I will go about the things that are happening that is

not been presented. The first section is about the senior uh services. Uh we continue to um serve our 30% plus of 65 and above. We're trying to add a new service lines. Uh we already purchasing a a van that has been modified to be accessible to people who have difficulty in uh ambulating so that we can take them back and forth. As you could see the numbers are um I'm very proud of the department abilities to do such a wonderful job in such a short six months from previous presentation. Um the the team continues to collaborate with Maryland Department of Health and this is a team of the senior citizens uh services. Miss Kerry Oti is the one who is leading the department. She's also actively participating with the senior citizens um um uh task forces whether for the housing or the homelessness and she's also working with mobile integrated health program which is a program whereby we are getting patients who visit the hospitals and we try to keep them uh more at home than to be in uh outpatient hospitalized setups. We are working through the MDH to uh revamp this program to a higher level because we are getting now something called rural health transformation funding which will be um a good chunk a good piece of it will be for the mobile integration mobile integrated health and this is very exciting for our department. Uh this is um the van that we have uh we we yet to receive it hopefully within the coming few weeks. It is being uh we already have it uh purchased but it's getting modified to accommodate the the ability to take uh people who are handicapped from the back. Uh we also got a new u electrical uh car to our fleet. It is free. It is a vault and uh we took it from Baltimore because they have a longer distance while our

county will be using it more uh efficiently because we don't have such a bigger coverage. Uh moving to a different department. Uh I will let you read this slides but I'm sorry because of the 10-minute crunch. I'm trying to be as quick as possible. So many wonderful things are happening within the last six months. Uh this is our family services program. We continue to doing uh training doulas. Doulas are the people who are helping um birthing mothers to get the last part of their pregnancy. coordinating with other departments whether the OBGYn or the hospital. Most a good significant part of them are not having English at their um first language and we are having already a certified doula u got certified very recently. Uh but we are adding hopefully a second one to our department beside the 23 we are already training for the whole uh community. uh on the early head start we continue to uh we're now developing a vegetable garden. Uh this is something that we are uh first time ever in the health department to be offered. uh we're already uh in talks with different gardener specialist um educators and we're thinking about early head start because that's part of the community I think will be um needing that kind of service from educational to giving them the right uh type of food that will be healthier and hoping those kids will get the hang of how to do that on their own as they graduate from that program. Again, that is also part of the rural health transformation. Sorry, I hope I'm not speaking too fast. I'm okay. Yeah. Okay. About we're also adding more more kids to the Midland and Children Health program and we're trying to get more teachers. Uh we know that one of our counties um have the program and move to a different

setup. So we're trying to get that manpower to our department. Uh we're al also working with the DDA to support 132 clients who are developmentally disabled and we are helping those as well. This is this is the this is the the community garden that we are hoping to to plant with. It's going to be um fenced. We're going to have educational sessions. We're going to be hopefully uh also with the ruler transformation. We're going to plan to give items that will help them to cook and to teach them how to u be cooking lessons and so forth, not just the planting item items only. And uh we have uh other counties that have done uh things that are more like venice meat and so forth. So we are working hopefully as we make along we might be purchasing deep freezers and whatnot and giving it to the community as we get the funding. This is a setup that have been made by the master gardeners. Uh so it will be the entrance. This is will be the shade. This is for the washing of the kids' hands and items. And this is where they could sit and get some educational. And we're going to divide it for kids beds as well as for the parents and bigger items so that the whole family can be participating. We're looking for um healthy food which is now important for the high blood pressure and the obesity and items that have high high heart disease issues. This is our health services through the CHRC which is another fund which helped in immunizations for people who do not have immunization uh coverage. Uh family planning and smoking sessation. This is always in the last six months. Beside um preventative diseases and for TB we do also um case uh tracking uh we also do rabies

and we uh do uh social determinance of health which is the last item and we try to connect those people to the needed items whether for the food banks or um social services and so forth. I'm now moving to the environmental. Uh we're trying to uh revolutionize our modernize our environmental department. We're trying to get it more um electronized and move from a paper to a digital digital format. So that will help in our manpower as well as accessibility. Uh we have a change of leadership and uh we have now an acting deputy u director there. We continue to be pushing for the season change for the rabies vaccination for the pets as well as for uh items that in include the pools and so forth through the environmental health. It's good that we are having somewhat of a better rain season. So that will help us when we do a well inspection for the table of the water table. Uh we were so lucky uh last time to be invited by the troops uh troop 190 uh sorry it's it's a typo. It's supposed to say troop 190 uh to uh teach them about food safety and um the lecture was given by one of our um um environmental um employee Miss Sara. Uh I for one have learned quite a significant amount of knowledge from her presentation. I found that the troop members were engaged were very engaging and were asking very valid and very uh smart and bright uh questions. Uh I think it was definitely something we're looking forward to do it again and again. It was an opportunity that we cherish and we appreciate the troop leadership for allowing us to do that. Uh by the way the one who invited us is

Mr. Leer son. So thank you sir. Yes indeed appreciate it. Environmental health continues to as I mentioned earlier where uh through the u rural health transformation there is a section for modernizing and increasing our infrastructure abilities. Um from the IT department we has we are revamping the whole software. We are moving our Microsoft to 365. Um this is being implemented as we speak for better security. We are very aware of the AI and we're getting um that aspect as well as for people who have hearing deficit and visual deficit. We're making our websites um um more um um friendly for uh those individuals and we're trying to get more more software products that can be serving the community not just from the environmental but also from the health department itself to make life easier. I'm now switching from uh IT to uh school health and preparedness. Uh we we this time we have done 39 kids for glasses and I would be begging the county soon to appreciate the partnership of the uh retinal specialist the optometrist and the people who made those glasses uh for the second time given to the school kids for free. This is the second time we're doing this service this product and I'm really proud of the people who are running this show. So I will be coming to the county for their uh helping me to appreciate these people. We're going through something called health uh healthy heart ambassadors through um the um volunte um American Legion. Uh this is a a program to help people with certain parameters of um BMI, blood pressure for healthy living. U it's just started recently and it's very very having a significant traction. Very proud of the people who

are doing it. uh yesterday we had a gentleman who is preparing his u um post-graduate degree from John Hopkins. He um I think this is also the first time we are having this level of cooperation with John Hopkins uh going to help us in streamlining and data dashboard for the whole department. We're continuing to have our academia with Stevenson and the University of Maryland that is a very successful program and the kids from Stevenson are presenting very nice u topics for the department. Uh our addiction program had two vending machines. One of them in front of the main uh lobby of the department and the other one is by the correction facility. Uh they're offering for free uh health item personal hygiene uh um protective u reproductive uh items and um we can hardly keep it stocked and the more we and naran and test strips for for medications that are addictive. we can hardly keep uh the vending machines full and we are hoping to expand them to the rest of smaller versions to different places of the county. We're hoping to add three more but they will not be as big and uh uh temperature climate controlled as the one you see. This is one of two and our PIO has been instrumental in dying out the information from the health department. I'm trying to go like a full season beforehand. So now we're speaking about ticks, we're speaking about pollen, we're speaking about the pool safety. So I'm trying to go one one season above. And we have a special program for the for the health health week. We're also going through significant changes in our emergency preparedness. We have now a special director which is making a big big impact on the

department for uh getting us ready for in cases of emergencies and we are doing uh pod trainings through the whole department uh and um we're going to we are attending more and more conferences and in May we have a full week of emergency preparedness in Baltimore and we have a subsequent one shortly in Ocean City again about uh emergency preparedness. I think for me it is a very vital important for the health department to be um fit for the emergencies that it might face. We also continuing to be educating people according to the season for cancers and for smoking and for addiction according for each week there is a national week for each and every item of those things. Uh something that I do not recall being happening I know that I just joined almost um um one year ago but I don't recall that this have happened recently. We are going now through something called the fiveyear strategic planning. We're hiring a specialist to uh go through the whole department to see what is our uh shortcomings, where is our deficits because um just hearing and listening to people I found that was not the objective methodology. So we're hiring specialized people to do in objectively what is needed and so that I can uh strategize the manpower and the uh the the budgets and the the um the the items that are available to me to be more strategically placed. We continue to have infection control items. Um we got um in the department in in our own county um our fair share of whatever it is TB or uh MS or uh so we are doing due diligence. Um luckily now the things for the influctions are seems to be dwindling. The whooping cuff happened in an elder more um somebody in above middle age but it was localized and um and the same uh with the moms.

Uh we we continue uh to be manpower strategizing because I think any any healthy department or any healthy business should always look at its manpower to shift it and move it according to its needs. Um this is the the presentation but I had a couple of things I want to u mention that was added uh in September 10 we have 33 units of blood been given as in our blood drive and this is our second time as a department to give a blood drive in December we gave 34 and in March we gave again 34 March a couple of days ago we did something called the lifesaver marathon few days ago where we participated ated with EMS to uh do Naran training, CPR and stop the bleed. Most recently, I said uh about the heart ambassadors from the American Legion. U it behooves me to say thank you very much for the council and the manager of the council. Uh they have been an instrumental. the department have like everybody else went through difficult times but your support meant a lot to me specifically and personally and definitely to the department. Your support was very instrumental in keeping us doing what we we should give to the people of Talbot who deserve it. Thank you for the opportunity. Okay. Thank you Dr. Fami. Council Dr. Fami, I just have um one question um that had come to light before we came into our council me um meeting. Can you tell me what is um national public health week and how um diversity, equity, and inclusion falls into that under national health because we were advised that there's an issue that DEI is connected to the National Public Health Week. So, can you explain that to

me, please, sir? Yes, I I'm I'm I'm a big a big time opponent for the in favor of the DEI being equitable. Uh when I joined the department, uh I said I'm not um pro political party or color or a gender or secular orientation or uh physical ability. I am here for the whoever makes Talbot County. We are as a department serving all Talbot County people. We're going to be um representing and advocating for all walks of life in Talbot County. Um our previous um national uh health was more focused on activities within the department. We are we are definitely we I've spoken with my PI PIO and we are going uh to work on um going to outer activities to be representing uh items out of the department. Unfortunately uh when I we had this discussion a week or two ago um the time factor was not in our best interest. So we're trying to expand outside and move from the previous inside house education inhouse dallying out information and using our uh media only. So we are trying to do activities out of the department. Yes, I'm very cognizant of um minorities. I'm very cognizant of uh and that's why we are actively engaged with trying to our best with BAM and TFN to to reach that uh section of the community. But your national um your proclamation is not connected to that particular uh those particular words or that particular acronym is my question. Wait, we can revise it. I mean, no, it's not. I don't see it in there. I I I don't see it in there. So I was just asking just to clarify to clarify that we we we are going to do something for the national health week. Yes. But um we're thinking it as a product.

We're not thinking it as a verbiage. But if the verbiage will reflect better for the community of being a proclamation um I don't see why we we shouldn't do it. But I you're welcome. It's a good that you're raising this point. But um I was focusing more on what what products or what items we're going to be dying out. But if the proclamation will reflect more and be understandable easier, we we can do that. That's not I think the proclamation speaks to this county and what you guys are working on. So I I I believe it's fine. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That's just no comments. Uh I just I just want to thank you. No questions for you, but uh for your engagement with the community. Uh you mentioned you put in a slide of of your staff's visit to my son scout troop uh and uh you you got to observe their engagement. What you did not get to observe was how that changed how how they practiced on their camp out this past weekend and and this commitment to education of the community in all that you do whether it is uh from uh from immunization and family planning services for those who could not afford it uh who might not have the insurance access to it. uh to uh to the the school health programs uh that you facilitate um to uh to the environmental health. You touch every single restaurant here and therefore keep us all safe every time we go out to eat uh anywhere in this county. Um your partnerships across the county uh clearly you don't operate in a silo, but you partner in school health with the public schools. uh you you partner with uh probably a program that's unique in the state, what you started out with with your senior care program uh partnering with our uh area agency for aging. Uh your your engagement with the community, your commitment to this community and and

services to it is is really is really uh extraordinary and second to none. And I just want to thank you. Thank you for the opportunity. Thank you for the words. add that. Oh, sorry. I just like to add that I agree with your commendation, Pete. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you. I'll add the u the one the one that really got me, Dr. F, the uh the vending machines. I look in there that uh you know, 263, so 526 doses of uh of the lock zone. That that could be equally the amount of amount of lives that were just saved here in Tula County because of that. So, uh, that would that really stood out to me just as well as, uh, you know, some of the other prevention you guys are doing around narcotics in our schools and and things like that. So, just thank you for taking those steps. I'm I I'm really proud that we don't have that amount of uh narcotic issues because I think I would agree with you 100%. that um the more we give Naran the lesser likelihood we get into fatalities and the rest of it's the I mean the more we naran we get the happier I get. Yeah. And we have some legislation later on in today's council meeting in regards to in regards to cannabis that uh you so we hope we can you know make sure we're in alignment to uh to try to help those uh those endeavors as much as possible. Understood. Thank you again. Thank you Dr. Fami. Did a perfect job. Appreciate it. Thank you for the opportunity. Okay, next on the agenda, um, we've got a presentation of the Delm Mar transit. You guys want to come on up. Good evening. I am Michelle Nichols. I'm

the interim uh chief executive officer of Delm Marbor Community Services. Thank you for the opportunity to come this evening. Just want to uh introduce myself as we are in a period of transition at Delm Marbor Community Services and Delm Marbor Community Transit. We're grateful for the partnership that we have with you as the council and to be able to serve Talbet County. And so I'm excited that we are uh just moving forward. Uh just wanted to reassure you that we continue to have the best interest of Talby County citizens uh at the forefront of all that we do at Delm Marbor Community Transit. We have an excellent team. Uh here at with me this evening is Samantha Parker who has joined us as our special projects consultant. She has immersed herself in transportation, all things transportation. And uh we'll be sharing some uh data with you in just a second. But also we have Henry Tetss who is our uh our uh transit director and Britney Baker our deputy director along with Andrea Waters who does an excellent job with all of our grants. You're very familiar with Andrea. And so just wanted to reassure you that we are continuing to uh move forward uh with uh new leadership but uh with a vision to continue to serve uh to county in the best way we possibly can. We're excited about uh the prospects of doing some new uh partnerships and and we've had opportunity to meet with Mr. Stamp and uh his team and so we're we're excited. So, thank you again for the opportunity. Samantha's going to talk to you a little bit about the uh annual transportation plan. Yes, I think Michelle covered it right there. We go. Thank you so much for having us here. Again, uh different administrative team but the same committed services. So, I want to give you an idea of what's happening in transit right now. Right. Everybody is aware fixed routes that uh are happening on a regular basis but also mobility on demand that occurs, senior transports, ADA services. Um mobility on demand is is a particular area of uh interest. Customers access this by calling the dispatch center the same way that they would to be able to do the route services. I have to give

such huge kudos to our dispatchers who really are um you know unfunded social workers when they are just figuring out a way to map and get people uh on whatever way to be able to to do so uh whether they are mobility on demand or ADA or a a general paying customer that it wants to use one of the those route services. Um the question comes then though what does that mean when I say the route services and such? It equates to uh 22,388 uh duplicated rides through the route services just themselves. In addition to that, another 20,600 ondemand rides. The on demand rides currently we are calculating them for all three counties at one time whereas the routes are specifically to Tolb. Um and when I looked forward to the future, what are some of the things that we could uh you know improve or do a little bit of better for you would be that data? We want to begin taking a look at uh you know how do we those out. What zip codes are being served? What zip codes are not being served? You know, where can we look at future planning and such. In that vein, uh you're going to see coming in the future invitations for an annual transportation meeting coming together. Not um somebody has complained about something, but we see an opportunity to advance in this area or there is another funding source to advance in this area. And so, kind of uh projecting forward in that way rather than reactively. So that'll be coming with an invitation fairly soon and then we're hoping uh to continue that every year before we come with this request so that we can actually know does this request equate to people getting transportation. Another thing we're looking forward to in the future is advertisement. Uh we talked about this one you know as as an idea. Unfortunately this MTA grant we use doesn't cover advertisement and people need to know what they don't know they can't access. And so taking a look at how can we work on that more creatively, make our uh bus routes even make more sense, right? It's a little bit difficult sometimes to read if

transit isn't your isn't your, you know, every day. So how can we, you know, help and advance in some of those areas? So that's where we are with numbers. That's where we're looking at in the future. This is what made up our request for $178,424,000 for this year. Um so what that uh what that means um it is our operating uh which is our uh Andrea will be able to tell you what the numbers are. It is the operating of the routes and the mob and the ADA. Uh there are certain percentages that are required for that. It also is a capital allocation. We want to replace uh two vans and one bus. Uh we have found that for the most part we are able to move just as many people efficiently in the vans. Uh so we try to keep the larger buses for where it's necessary in those larger route areas but also move to the more efficiency of those vans. Uh so that is uh just some replacements that need are needed. Preventative maintenance. We have a vintage of bus that are having some motor troubles. So we are you know pre uh projecting for some changes there as well as a required transportation development plan. This is something Michelle and I have never participated in before. It happens every three years. And when I say required, MTA tells us when it's time and tells us how much it costs. However, we feel like there's an opportunity to fold this with our annual transportation conversation. What is it that they're asking? What is it that we need to know that we can kind of push into that plan? So, uh, I don't have a lot of detail on that yet. It'll be our first time, but we think there's a great opportunity to use that, uh, in our projections moving forward. Sounds great. Questions? Okay, that sounds great. What I'd love to do if there are no questions is to invite Andrea Waters to join us. She is the knower of all things. Absolutely. Sure. Um to be able to talk about what next year looks like. Okay. Sounds great. Thank you. Welcome.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I'm glad to be here this evening and once again submit our annual transportation plan for your approval. Um operating um for 5311 which is the fixed route buses. Um we the federal estate portion is $925,820. The local share which is shared by Tob Kent and Caroline County is $38,67 for a total of 1,234,427. um the SSP which is our um senior and disability transportation program. The uh local operating or the state um operating uh share is 421,768. The local portion is shared by tow kon and Caroline counties is $140,589 for a total of 5562,357. The Americans with Disabilities Act operating is um the state portion is $40,000. Um, only Tobac County receives ADA services and the local share of that is $4,444. Um, for capital, uh, our preventative maintenance capital cost of federal and state share is $65,557. The local share shared by Toba by Kent and Caroline counties is $11,569 for a total of $77,126.

Um vehicles, as Samantha said earlier, we are requesting um replacement for um three of our vehicles. Two will be minivans um little bit larger than a minivan, transit van, and one bus. Um the federal and state share of the vehicle cost is $261,641. The local which is shared by Toet Kent and Caroline counties is $46,173 for a total of $37,814. Um the transportation development plan um the federal and state portion is 85,000. The local portion shared by Toa, Kent, and Caroline counties is 15,000 for a total of $100,000. Altogether, um for all these programs, the federal and state portion is 1,799,786. The local portion shared by to Kent and Caroline counties is $526,382 for a total of 2,326,168. Okay. All right. Great. Any questions? Yep. I'll I'll just start just thank you guys every year. Um I don't think there's a time where I swing by Walmart and I don't see one of y'all's buses out there. uh just getting folks the access to uh to their daily needs or medications or whatever it is. So, uh thanks for doing what you all do. Yeah, you you have you have one of the toughest jobs which is providing transit in a rural area and and given the resources you have. I'm I'm I really applaud you for the job you do and particularly want to uh note the

mobility on demand services which allows some of our seniors to get to medical appointments that uh they might not otherwise be able to reach. you really facilitate, you help people age in place to stay in their homes, which is where they want to be. Uh that that service is is absolutely uh critical in the the the web of services that we need to support these uh the these citizens of ours. Uh I applaud uh your move toward uh smaller, more efficient vehicles uh where where uh where the demand will will allow for that. Um uh and uh I've certainly I've I've actually had the occasion to witness uh this this in in action uh when I was riding the St. Michael shuttle and the uh the the driver asked for permission to divert to do a mobility on demand pickup and I got to watch somebody board that bus with the wheelchair lift. Uh it is it is pretty incredible and the service that uh the professionalism of those drivers and the service they provide is um is absolutely critical to the community. So thank you. Thank you S. Thank you for keeping Tula County mobile and um continuing that for all generations and all ages. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. And I'll echo what my colleagues said. Thank you so much. And it's exciting to hear too what you project for the future and the goals and the um things that you're trying to do such as the annual meeting in the future and bringing everyone together as well and being proactive with that. So all great news. Thank you so much for all all that you do. Thank you all for your continued support. Thank you. Appreciate you. Look forward to the continued collaboration. Absolutely. Thank you guys. Okay. Do we need to be introduced?

Need to vote on the plan. We do need Okay. Okay. Madam Secretary, Mr. Callahan I Mr. Steppp I Mr. Leer I Miss Milky I Miss H I Okay. And that was approval of the plan. Correct. Correct. Okay. Next um introduction to um administrative resolution. Madam Secretary, administrative resolution. A resolution authorizing Tob County to file an application with the Maryland Transit Administration of the Maryland Department of Transportation for a section 50 5303 5304 5307 5309 5310 and 5311 grant under the federal transit act. Do you want me to keep on? I don't think so. Nope. Title should be sufficient. Yep, that's fine. You want to show hands to introduce? Yep. Introduced by Lester Callahan, Milky and Hith and Steph. Introduced by council. Yes, we can now vote on it. We can. Okay. We call the vote. Madam Secretary, Mr. Callahan. Hi. Mr. Stepp. Hi. Mr. Leer. I Miss Milky. Hi, Miss H. Hi. Okay, next up is Eastern Utilities. You guys want to come on up?

Well, good evening. Uh, my name is John her. I'm the president CEO of Eastn Utilities. Uh with me tonight is Ted Book, our vice president of Eastn Velocity, and we're here to share an exciting update on the Connect Talbit project, which many of you are familiar with. Uh this was a transformational initiative uh was set in place to ensure all the unserved residents of Talbet County had access to broadband. And as of this evening, we are proud to say that that mission is complete and we did that together. So thank you very much for that. Uh we'll provide you with a little bit more detail. So this slide here shows the status uh indicating 100% access and availability. Uh so not only was Talbet County the first fully funded county in the state of Maryland, uh it's also the first county to provide ubiquitous access. And I'm going to hold on to that word ubiquitous for a couple of minutes because it was coined by someone else in the room that I want to acknowledge here in a few minutes. Uh this means we completed 360 miles of mainline fiber throughout the county to all the nooks and crannies plus the drops on top of that uh the drops of the services to those properties that needed access. Uh we currently have 2,300 new customers who have signed up for service through this project. A quick timeline. Uh it all started in 2016 when the rural broadband task force was formed uh at the state of Maryland. In 2017, Tula County proactively issued an RFI for a partner to solve this rural broadband problem in Tula County. Uh in 2019, Eastn Utilities was identified by the county as an ideal partner and solution and the town of

Eastn approved Eastn Utilities to move forward with this project. We then entered into a formal agreement with Talbet County as a partner and Talbet County provided $3 million of their own money to invest in the project as matching funds to get us started. In 2020, uh, we were awarded a USDA Reconnect Grant, uh, in the amount of about $14 million, and we held a kickoff event at that time to get the project rolling. Construction officially began in April of 2022 after design was completed, and this was just after we started coming out of the pandemic. Additional grant funding became available due to the clear impact of COVID on those without access to broadband and as a result uh we were also awarded additional grant funding from the FCC uh additional grant funding from the USDA and several grant opportunities through the state of Maryland and even through you uh once again uh through your American Rescue Plan Act funding you provided additional funds for the project in 2023, we held a celebration event for our 1,000th customer and the USDA and all of you joined us at the Triple Creek Winery to celebrate. And in 2024, we celebrated the milestone of connecting our 1500th customer. Fast forward to this evening, we're here to celebrate having provided access to everyone in those grant-f funed areas and in Tal County. Uh the total amount of grant funding that we received was $35 million. The total cost of the project is around $45 million. And the county investment alone was well over $5 million in a combination of county funds and grants. With that, I'm going to turn it over to

Ted to talk a little bit more about the project. Thank you, John. Thank you for having us here tonight to share this good news with you. Um This here is a time-lapse video showing our connections over time starting we actually started hooking up customers a little bit before the actual funding got started. So starting from 21 up to current, you can see the properties being filled in that we've connected. So this is a really cool slide. Takes a little bit to get to the end. So you can see we've got got customers spattered all over the county now. And then the blue areas was our existing service territory that we had prior to starting the project. I want to do that again. Get out of here. There we go. Um this is a a map showing the actual fully covered service area. So, what this is really showing is um all of those properties that you saw being connected fall within all the gold areas here where we where we have service available. As John stated, we have service available to all properties within the county that are considered unserved. However, we don't have every property covered or connected because not every customer has reached out to us, which is really the important message that I want to get across tonight is that there is still some grant funding available. Um it is running out. Um, we we anticipate having funding at least to the end of this year. Can't really say if it's going to go past that or not. So, we're urging anyone that feels they have that they're eligible for service to reach out to us to see if if they go to our web page on eastern velocity.com, go to the connect to page. We used to have a map there that basically showed that coverage map. We have taken that map down and now if you scroll to the bottom of the page, there's just a quick box that says, "Am I eligible for service?" put in your address, hit the button, it'll say yes or no. So, so if a resident goes there, sees that they're eligible for service,

they should call us immediately and we can get them on the schedule to get them connected. So, that's really the me, you know, that's my message tonight is to, you know, to all those residents who may may be eligible for access but aren't aware of it or just haven't reached out yet, um, you know, please reach out to us so we can get you connected while we still have funding. With that, I'm going to turn it back over to John. One one question, Ted. If if they're not eligible, does that mean they have to pay to get it? Yes, that would means they have to pay for their drop. Okay, that's what I So, they have we have to go to the closest point of access to get it to them. So, there will be a cost involved and we would come out, we would evaluate that and then discuss that with them. That's fine. Correct. So, so really everybody's eligible just if if you're eligible for the grant money. Correct. Gotcha. Okay. Uh, another way of answering that is if you're not eligible for the grant funds, you're probably already served by another service provider in the Gota. Okay. So, tonight really is about a thank you and about gratitude, especially to the county for their support of this project over the past several years. Um, partnerships are the key to success. Uh the logos of our great partners are shown up here on the slide and uh this this has helped solve a significant issue in the county and ultimately it's made life better for our community. Uh we want to recognize some of the important people and groups who were instrumental in the vision for this project. Um for Tal County, everyone in this room has had their fingerprints on this project. Uh, President Callahan, Vice President Leer, uh, council members Mr. Steppp, Miss Milky, uh, Miss Hay, uh, certainly county manager Clay Stamp, uh, the director of economic development and tourism, Cassandra Vanhuser, has been there since day one, and Mark Cahoun, another name that was on the project

team early on, actually developed the first set and map of unserved properties in Toba County. Past Tala County Council members Corey Pack, Laura Price, Frank Dilio, and former county manager Andy Hollis, USDA Secretary Sunonny Purdue, Deputy Administrator Laurel Leverier, and General Field Representative Richard Jenkins been heavily involved in helping make this project successful. Governors Larry Hogan and Wes Moore, Department of Housing and Community Development Secretary Jake Day, uh, Office of Statewide Broadband Directors Rick Gordon and now Ronnie Hammond and Deputy Director Ray Bargie have been very instrumental in making this successful. And most importantly, very very early on, uh, former Senator Addie Eert and current Senator Johnny Mounts that was then delegate Johnny Mounts worked together with Hugh Granon. our former president CEO. He's here with us this evening. I wanted to make sure that Hugh was here to enjoy this recognition. Uh they were the ones that really put together the rural broadband task force in 2016 and they pushed for legislation to prioritize rural broadband at the state level. Uh Hugh very much pushed this project and was a champion for the partnerships. He realized this couldn't happen just with Eastn Utilities alone. and um and really work together. Even when our first round application was denied, uh helped pursue a bipartisan letter from Congressman Harris, Senator Van Galand, and Senator Carden uh to the USDA asking for a site visit. And uh we we all got in their vehicles and drove down to meet with them uh to make sure that they really understood the importance of this project to Talby County. and uh and and

very soon thereafter we were served we received our first grant award. Certainly also need to recognize our past east and utilities commissioners and elected officials at both the town and county level and then the original team uh that really put together that first application and those from Tula County included Andy Hollis, Cassandra and Mark Cahoun. This is truly a legacy project. that happens once in a career to be able to do something like this. And each of us should be proud to have made life better for our community. And uh it was Hugh that coined the phrase we need to find a way to get to ubiquitous access uh for everyone in Talbet County. And uh it's just a thrill to be here tonight and share that with you and thank you for all of the work that you did to help make this happen for Tula County's residents. So, in closing, just to echo what Ted said, we're going to do a huge media blitz. We're going to be talking to real estate uh agents and the Midore Realers Board will be on the radio uh sharing that if you're one of the remaining uh 2,000 or so properties in the county that now has access to uh broadband and have not called to sign up and use those grant funds to get that service installed, um please do so. Uh even if you don't take our service, take advantage of the grant funds to get it from the curb to the side of the house. Um because you can do that now. Even if you don't sign up for service, uh that at least allows you to have the access later without having to uh uh to pay for that service drop uh once the grant funds are closed. And finally, uh you know, I mentioned Hugh, but I really need to thank Ted. it was his team and Ted that really uh made this happen. Uh certainly Hugh was uh incredibly pushy as Ted would say and

only the way that Hugh can be. Um but Ted and his team pulled it off uh in less time than we expected. We didn't expect this project to be completed from a mainline perspective until probably the middle of next year. Uh so really within less than four years of construction time, we're ready to say that the job is done. So thank you, Ted. Thank you, John. And uh congratulations. Any questions? Yes. Yep. No questions. Just a huge congratulations to you and your team, Ted, John. I mean, you really do have a great team over there at Easting Utilities, all the partners. You are indeed correct when you said this is a legacy um project. the the previous council that had the you know foresight to see this and provide the necessary um partnership and funding with you guys to make this happen. This not only benefits the residents of Talet County, but also those that have small businesses and and you know may have their business from home as well. So kudos to you and your team. Um you pulled it off. You've done it. It's amazing. It's great. Um and just thank you for all your hard work and thank you for your continued partnership. Thank you. Um, thank you very much. Um, when I first came on the council, I had a lot of, um, constituents say, "When are we going to get broadband? When are we going to get broadband?" And so, they're all happy today because of you. So, thank you so much. Victorious. Thank you. Uh, you you've you've delivered this. This for me, this is this is possibly my my proudest moment on this council to see this this come to not only a conclusion but a a conclusion ahead of schedule. Um you've you've really delivered uh so that we don't have to have digital halves and have nots in this county. No matter how remote your property, no matter how long your driveway, you've made you've made

this accessible. You've broken down that wall. You have opened up these economic possibilities for our residents and our businesses in a way that rural electrification did back in the in the 1930s. This is fully as transformational as that rural electrification program was back in the Great Depression. Um, congratulations and thank you. And we are we are proud to be uh to be first to be able to offer this service in a ubiquitous fashion. So my map is loading right now on my iPad to check my address. So for what that's worth. So um so I'll echo the thanks. I will ask one question because this has been asked of me uh to to kind of parlay off of a previous one. So, now that we're complete and everyone's considered served, can those who were considered served previously, but the line went right in front of their home, can they now call in and uh and request a drop? So, that's a great question, Mr. Steppp. Yes. Awesome. Uh, everyone should call. The answer might be you're not in the grandfunded area, but we are keeping track of everyone who is interested in service. Okay. Uh and we are proceeding with uh a design for the entire county to be able to take a look at whether or not um and how much the cost might be for those residents that are interested in service but were declared served um by another internet service. Because keep me honest, we were we had to have completed and consider everyone served before anyone else could request access to the line. Correct. We we because it was use ARPA funds. We we need to be about 95% complete and we're very close to that. So we will be able to start exploring um how we can connect certain parts of the county that are you know we're not part of the grant funded areas. Perfect. Uh so while we can't make any

commitments or guarantees, some customers uh may or may not like the cost of the service extension. Certainly if it's right in front of their house already, you would imagine that that service extension would be less than if it's several miles away. That's where I'm on the map right now. Okay. So, so John and Ted and Hugh, you you've basically pulled off one of the most positive situations to put this council and us in in history of these meetings. And I really appreciate all the positivity, all the hard work, all the leadership. I mean, it took leadership to do this. And and that's that's what's fascinating about getting us together and get and serving this community. That's that's what it's all about. And Hugh, you're back there hiding. Okay. I can't thank you enough. You worked hard. We've been doing it for 11 years in the makings. And you know, and and Ted, all your guys and stuff, not only the leadership, it's it's the guys are out there in the wintertime digging and it's a team. It's not It's a team. Absolutely. It's a team. So, you know, um you know, you you took it over, John, and and you and you you brought it to to the end here. And um what what a what a phenomenal positive end to um and really not necessarily the end, but but you know, you got you got it done and other people got options now. And not only that, it's it's what you've brought to the community as far as safety, um, you know, illness, people needing that service. It just it it just it just never ends what you've actually allowed people to have and maybe have a life and save lives. You know, the the aspect of saving lives is there. So anyway, I won't go on and on, but man, thanks so much for all you've done and

um putting this council and this county in a position to to um to be one of the first like like Pete said, first in the in the state um putting us in this position to make us look that good. And thanks for all the towns and um all the the eastern I should say for for helping out. So really appreciate your your great job. Thank you. Congratulations. Okay. Um, next on the agenda would um, Cursa. Okay. It's a big deal now. Come on up, Sandra. Okay. How are you? Wonderful. Okay. We got a lot of people out here. We got some friends here. We got some friends here. They're just ready to get in business, aren't they? Yes. So, Mr. President, members of County Council. Yep. It's a proud night. It is a proud night. I mean, we are seeing on full display the results of the investments you have made in broadband which serves our residents and our businesses and uh it's just a really exciting night. Um but not just for that because we are here to celebrate too. Uh so tonight we are celebrating 12 entrepreneurs who are graduating from cohort 4 of the Talbet Works Business Academy. Those are 12 individuals who invested their time and made the decision to grow their businesses. They represent the diversity of Talbet County's economy, healthcare, retail, hospitality, marine services, and professional services. Different industries, different paths, but a shared commitment to building a stronger foundation. Growth doesn't happen by chance. It happens by design. And that's exactly what this program is built to

do. When we launched the Talbet Works Business Academy three years ago, the goal was simple. Give small businesses the tools, the confidence, and the support they need to compete and succeed. The results are real across the program. Now, I want you to make note of these numbers. 50 businesses will have graduated after this evening. Members of the first three cohorts have invested nearly $600,000 back into their operations into equipment, inventory, marketing, and expansion. They've created jobs full-time, part-time, apprenticeships, and contract work. Six of them have launched new businesses in addition to the ones they already own. Four graduates report securing the largest contracts in their company's history. And I'm going to make that five because I was talking to a gentleman who works here at the courthouse and he told me tonight that he's gotten one of his largest contracts as of today. So, um, one of those businesses has got a contract that's nearly $1 million. Uh, so, uh, again, this does not happen by accident. It happens because someone had the preparation and the confidence to say yes when the opportunity came along. This is what we're building in Tula County. We're building businesses that are stronger, more resilient, and more competitive. I want to offer a special thank you to Scott Warner and the Mitchore Regional Council for their financial support. Their investment is helping make this work possible and is directly fueling the small business growth here in Tala County. and to you, our Talbit County Council members. Thank you for your continued support of this program and your commitment to the small businesses that power the local economy. And a special thank you to Councilwoman Kesha Haye who uh shared this idea and helped uh water it and bring it along.

And we now have this full bloom of a beautiful program with 50 graduates. And uh it's just um a special thank you to you uh Kesha for bringing the idea to to county and help making it come to fruition. Uh small businesses are not just part of our economy. They are the backbone of our communities. And tonight we celebrate 12 more who are now part of a story a part of that story in a bigger bolder way across the industries that keep Toba County working every day. Now I'm pleased to invite Mr. Holmes, Mr. Will Holmes the program facilitator to share what the journey looks like from his side. Mr. Holmes. Thank you, Miss Vanhuser. First, greetings to the members of the county council of Talva County. My name is Will Holmes, founder of WHC and facilitator of the program, Tva Works Business Academy. I want to thank you for your continued support. Tonight we celebrate cohort 4 graduates and I can tell you I can attest that they have spent the last eight weeks working very diligently on growth plans that will ensure the growth of their businesses but also the creation of jobs here in the county. The purpose of the program is to have not just an immediate economic impact but a continued economic impact. It has been an honor to work with these incredible graduates and we look forward to future cohorts and to serving the Talbert County region. Thank you so much. Thank you, Mr. Holmes. And then I always like for you to hear from one of our students. So, at this time, I'm going to invite Mr. Kevin Rosenthal uh to join us up here and uh talk about what the experience has been like for him. Welcome. Thank you. Thank you to the Tal County Council, Mitchore Regional Council, Dr. Vanhuser and her team at the Economic Development

and Tourism Office, Mr. Holmes and his team at WHC, and my fellow cohort members for this incredible experience. I am Kevin Rosenthal. My wife Allison Bayard and I, we own and operate Night Andale Health, located at 6 Southwest Street, just half a block from here, next to Roma Pizza. Great slice. I cannot recommend this program highly enough. Uh, Tob Works Business Academy is for any business owner who is seeking to scale and expand their operations. And the remarkable thing about this program is that it's not for a grade or a certification. What you put into it is what you're going to get out of it. The deliverable of this program is your expansion plan. And the knowledge, tools, and the access to experts and consultants that WHC and Dr. Van Huser helped cultivate empowers business owners like us to produce a scale and expansion plan that's implementable for Night Andale Health. This plan includes a new larger clinical space this summer so we can hire staff by next cold and flu season. It also includes a marketing campaign, a new financial analysis platform, and operational training and documents. Top Works Business Academy not only helped me create our expansion plan, it also provided me with the confidence I need to implement it. Business involves risk and expansion, frankly, is really intimidating. My experience with the Tall Works Business Academy equipped me with the knowledge and tools necessary to overcome the challenges that our expansion will present and I look forward to what we can all build thanks to this program uh for your support of the Public Works Business Academy. Please accept my gratitude. Thank you. Thank you. See,

thank you, Kevin. Thank you so much. We've had a fantastic group this time and uh they have brought their friends and family members to celebrate with them and so at this time I will call out u the name of the person and the name of the business and have them join you up here. Okay. And receive their certificate. Miss Elizabeth Kelly, Sanctuary Interiors. Congratulations. They're not going. Yep. Joshua Richardson, Richardson Marine Repair. Dylan Matias Matias Marine, The Loft at Dover Station. Von Topshinian. I think it's worth noting that Van is a high school student who's working in his family business and he's taken over a portion of the business. So, Von, we're very proud of you. Dustin Good, CJ Whismann, balancing Sandra Mayor, Roma wedding updos, Stephanie Dler, Allinthe Mix Bake Shop. Patricia King, gluten-free bakery girl.

Dr. Michael Meyer, the Snugery Inn and Sweets and St. Michael. Margarite Speed, St. Michael's Winery, Lelle Lewis, Shel's Passionate Care, and last but certainly not least, Mr. Kevin Rosenthal, Nightingale DPC. That's why I saw my student Okay, we're all in the frame. Let me see. I see all the heads. Um, person behind you. Just scoot just a little bit. There we go. There we go. Perfect. All right, you guys ready? One, two, three. I think we are good guys. Anybody else?

Good job, Josh. Well done. Yes, indeed. Yes, indeed. Congratulations. Oh, thank you for all you do. Thank you. Thank you. Congrats. Okay. All right. Awesome. Yeah, that's what it's about. Okay. All right. Uh, next on the agenda, Madam Secretary, we got what's eligible for vote. Would you mind going ahead and reading bill um 1624 in the record, please? Bill number 1624, a bill to amend chapter 190, zoning, subdivision, and land development of the Talbert County Code for the purposes of providing that cannabis growing and the processing of cannabis grown on site shall be permitted by special exception in the agricultural conservation, countryside preservation, and western rural conservation zoning districts, providing that the processing of cannabis grown offsite shall be permitted by special exception in the village mixed, general, commercial, and limited industrial zoning districts. And providing that cannabis dispensaries shall be permitted by special exception

in the limited, commercial, general, commercial, and limited industrial zoning districts, each subject to certain conditions and defining terms associated therewith. Okay. Thank you, Madam Secretary. Okay. council. Um, do we want to discuss anything or or or Mr. Thomas, you want just give a a brief on this? Yes. I know we've talked about this at length over the the past several months and I mean just I guess touch on a few key points. Y so one you this bill would allow the growing processing of cannabis as well as uh cannabis dispensaries in the county. All these uses would be only permitted by special exception, which means they would need to go to the board of appeals to get approval. Um the the uh requirements for growing and processing uh are are much stricter than they were in the uh original version of the bill uh that the council considered previously. So that u for example the setbacks for growing and processing have to be a thousand feet from any property containing a pre-existing residential or institutional use which institutional uses include things like schools, libraries, houses of worship. Uh the minimum lot size for growing and processing is 75 acres. They require major site plan approval which means they have to go to planning commission. So these there are a lot of safeguards and oversight in this legislation if it passes that you know any of these uses have to undergo quite a bit of review before they're allowed to move. Yes sir. Yes sir. Okay sounds great. Um any other discussion from council or a little bit because we I'll just say it's it's been a uh It's been some work to get it to where it is. Um I will be in support of the of

this as it is. It's hard to believe that we even have to do something along these lines. Uh especially with what we heard from our you know from our health director earlier today, but uh I'm glad we're doing it in the fashion that we're doing it and uh you know keeping our uh you know especially our children safe uh getting this as far as way we can from from schools and churches and things like that. So I agree Mr. Stepp on that. We just um it it was hard to do it because in spite of having to do this because of the state, being forced to do it because of the state, it's still, you know, hard to um accept to a certain extent, especially if you don't ne necessarily agree with it. Um but I do think that we have um a strict bill here and um we have guard rails in place through the planning commission. Um, and so I I think it's um it's a it's a good bill the way we work together to to create and write it here. Here. Sure. Sure. I'm I'm sorry. Go ahead, Mr. Yeah. So, I apologize. I just want to make two more quick points. Um, no problem. One is that with regard to the dispensaries, the the restrictions in this bill are the maximum that the county can do under state law. Um, state law, they set the parameters for things like um the um distances um schools, child care centers, places of worship, things like that. You counties and municipalities can weaken those, but they can't go beyond what the state allows. So, these are as strict as we can go under state law. And and why we're doing this, just to kind of go even further back, there was a constitutional amendment that passed uh I think at the 2022 election um that where this is put into the constitution that that don't use cannabis is is now legal. state of Maryland and the general assembly spent an inordinate amount of time developing a bill providing all these rules and regulations for the use. So all these jurisdictions now are having

to grapple with this very same issue and how they do how they want it to look in their counties and I you know I think this this legislation is about as as stringent as it can be. Thank you. Okay. Thank you, Patrick. Um so so I I will comment a little bit on it. I've been struggling for a while with this and I've told I've told council a little bit. I've struggled with this, you know, especially when we have people like Dr. Fabi in front of us and you know, deal with the addictions and stuff like that. Um, and you know, I just I've been thinking long and hard about it. I think this council has done a a really good job to to create what's here and and and I I really um really commend you guys what you've done and in trying to be as strict as you can. I know it's law, but this is this is one time where I feel like um I can't get on board on this. I I really can't. And good conscience of of of people growing um marijuana and we're walking down the streets. I know it's law. I just I just can't get on board with it. And um um you know, we could sit here all night and debate it and everything, but and we got to move on with this, but I just want to let you guys know that you've done a great job, but I can't be on board on this one. So, any anybody else? I'm on board because if we if we if we don't do this, you know, then it you know, then it would just default to, you know, state parameters. So this being we have the opportunity to to strengthen it. That's why that's why I'm on board. It like you said, I'm with you. It's a struggle because I can't believe that, you know, all counties in the state except for Garrett County decided that this was a good idea, but uh yeah, the best we could do under the circumstances. It is indeed. And like I said, this is for the county portion. Now, there's going to be municipalities that can come up with their own zoning laws, too, but this is for this is for the county. And I'm I'm, you know, glad we're able to to strengthen it as as much as we have.

I understand. Yeah, I understand. Y and the work that's been done with the planning commission too and and their feedback um has been instrumental in getting us to the place that we're at right now. All right. Do we need to entertain a motion? No, we just uh the president just needs to ask the Madam Secretary to call the role. Okay. Madam Secretary, call the role, please. Mr. Calhan, no. Mr. Stepp. I. Mr. Leer. I. Miss Milky. Hi, Miss Hate. I Okay, good job. Okay, Madam Secretary, could you go ahead and on the on the next uh I think uh Department of Transportation Ray, you guys and Josh want to come on up. Thank you, council. I'm Ray Clark, county engineer, and I'm here with Josh Elliot, the assistant county engineer. And ultimately, we met with the public advisory board last Wednesday on March 19th, and I'll just turn it over to Josh to give you Okay, Josh. Good evening. Uh, we've got a largely unchanged priority listing from last year. Uh there have been some updates uh especially in the uh airport uh airfield modernization program project. Um they just update us to where we are on the project currently. Um and there's a change we do need to make to this listing. Uh on page four, we've got the US50 Norris Taylor Drive traffic signal as part of the town of East's uh projects and that's been completed. So it's no longer a priority to be done.

And then if you would like I can give a quick run through of each project. Um, so priority ranking number one, we have the Maryland 322 US50 intersection north. Uh, of course, this is where you cross 50 and then have to make the turn into the lefthand side of Route 50. Um, I think everyone here has experienced some issue with that and we've had considerable safety issues in the past. Um Maryland Route 33 capacity, safety, and evacuation improvements. Uh as we continue to get increased population down St. Michaels, uh not Oxford, sorry, Tilman, Belleview, uh two two lanes in, two lanes out continues to be a priority for us. Uh 329 safety improvements on Royal Oak Road. Um this is where we have of course two-lane narrow road with flat drop off ditches either side. Um the Oxford Causeway uh right there when you make that sharp right into the town of Oxford uh it's flooding issue there um continues stay on the priority list. Ray, did we shuffle any of these? No, I didn't think so. And again, council, just so you're aware too in the public, um these are actually state highway projects. They're our priorities for having the state do that. But yeah, we uh the next items were for the town and uh we did not have any change in that order. So I'll let you Yeah. Uh US Route 50 improvements at several intersections, Goldsboro Street and Dover Street, uh as well as Chapel Road. Um, of

course, those are the three major crosses across Route 50. And as we all know, during summertime, it's uh, I think, as Clay would like to say, the Great Wall of China. I think I've heard I think I've heard Clay put it that way before. Uh, US Route 50 309 662 intersection. So, this intersection, uh, it got some discussion at the public works advisory board about moving it up. We decided to keep it down at number six, uh, because the state's not going to be able to do anything until the hospital's done. Once the hospital's done, this might move up. Uh there's going to be increased traffic to this intersection u possibly necessitating a second traffic light at uh Airport Road in 662. And there's going to need to be some serious coordination there if there are two traffic lights side by side. Idle Wild uh Avenue merging into Route 50. This is there at Wishing Well, where you get long queuing. I believe the Ray, do you know if the town or if State Highway put the block the box? Um I think State Highway did that. Okay. So, State Highway has addressed that slightly, but it's just it's a marginal improvement. And then we go on uh we've got the Eastn Airport uh updates um going to read through these real quick. Eastn Airport continues to advance its airfield modernization program. um

for runway 4 by 22 uh 1,00 shifting the runway 1,900 ft southwest of its current location to bring the airfield into full compliance. All enabling objectives have been completed, including major earthwork and site preparation. The airport is now finalizing electrical infrastructure upgrades to support the new airfield configuration. In fiscal year 27, Eastston Airport will begin construction on the pavement sections for the new runway for and taxiway alpha. Key steps that will enable the opening of the new runway. This is designated by the FAA as a national general aviation airport. Eastn Airport plays a vital role in supporting both state and national aviation system by connecting the region to domestic and international markets. Completion of the airfield modernization program is essential to ensuring the airport's long-term financial s sustainability and maximizing the benefits it delivers to Tula County and the broader region. And then we have the town uh listings for the uh state priority listing. Uh the 322 Glennwood intersection. Uh this is kind of the last busy intersection along 322 that doesn't have a uh any signalization or crosswalks. The US50 Goldsboro and US50 do these are in our priority listings from the county. The next one has been taken off or will be taken off the US50 Chapel Road dedicated uh acceleration deceleration lanes. Um

so the town has added the turn lanes on to US50 or the turn lane coming from in town. Uh this would be a dedicated acceleration lane for that turn lane. US50 improved cross traffic for summertime traffic. That goes to the other projects we've already got listed. Uh same for the next project. Uh Matthewstown Road sidewalks rails to trails east west trail. Um so this is over US50 at east to club east Chapel Road dedicated right turn lane that can come off as that has been added. The town of Oxford bikeway project um this is a tool thrive uh suggestion for a rail to trail concept town of Queen Anne. Uh there's We have no contact with the town of Queen Anne um and no projects on the list. Town of Trap, they have no projects. Town of St. Michaels, uh they've had a longunning project to extend the their nature trail and then a sidewalk extension for the Perry cabin sidewalk to the Perry cabin end. And then finally, we have our state transportation improvement projects. Uh, Black Dog Alley. This is, or actually, I do want to bring up one more uh, project that's been discussed a few times this week. It was brought up at the public works advisory board by Tolbet Thrive and uh it was also brought up uh by Cassandra today um

for us to bring up the Frederick Douglas Rails to Trails project was on the uh listing in 2024. It was taken off last year. Um, and it's been suggested to us to add it back to the listing in case funding opportunities arise. Um, I believe it was a council decision to remove that project from the listing. Clay, do you recall? I was under the impression that it was inadvertently dropped from the uh the project listing. I do not uh I do not remember any action to remove it. Okay. So, that can be put back on the listing. Um, we have no issues with that. Uh, it belongs belongs on the listing, especially if it'll help provide funding for the project. The only comment I would make, council, and just I don't know anything too much about that rails of trail project, and that's one of the things that just lay it out. I think there has been, I think, a work group on this, if I'm not mistaken. I know that the Um there was a meeting a couple years ago and I think the um farmers bureau was came out or the top county farm bureau and they were a little bit against it. I don't know anything that's happened since that that one meeting that was held. So I just let the council know that as well. Fair enough. I I attend monthly update meetings uh from the state project team. Um Okay. They're early in the project. Good. Okay. Is that is that it, Josh? Uh, yeah, pretty much. That is it. Yeah, we can go real quick on the state improvement projects. Black Dog Alley, South End. This has been a longunning project for us. We're still currently working on it. Airport Road, uh, I went to this on the priority listing. And

then Goldsboro Neck Road is also priority listing. That sounds great. Good job. Okay, any other questions, council? No. Well, I I thank you for for highlighting uh all of these and and the the progress. It's nice to actually see a couple of these taken off. So, uh I'll move adoption of this with the deletion of the the two projects from Eastston's list uh as uh noted by Mr. Elliot were completed and the addition uh back in of the Frederick Douglas Rail Trail project uh so that we can uh pursue options there. Second. Second. Second. Okay, we got a motion second. Madam Secretary, could you call the vote? Mr. Callahan. Hi. Mr. Steppp. Hi. Mr. Leer. Hi. Miss Milky. Hi. Miss H. Okay. Good job, guys. And I just want to recognize Josh for being at the um St. Michael's Library expansion um opening of the um the library on Saturday and for all the work that Public Works did to help them with that project. So, kudos to Ray and to Josh and and staff for working with them. It was a great um reopening of that facility. So, I agree. It was a great reopening. There was probably what 200 people there. And I hope you got your son ice cream, too. He He got ice cream. Okay. Good. Good. Good. Good. Okay. All right. Now, we're coming winding down to Clay stuff. Yes, sir. Thank you. Good evening, council. Under county manager report this evening, we have several items under board and committee appointments. The first one is for the adult public guardianship review board. The Department of Social Services is recommending the appointment of William Chapman as the board's attorney and Christine Montichu uh to complete Carrie Engles Roberts term on that board. Motion to approve the request. Second. Okay. Got a motion second. Madam Secretary, could call the vote. Mr. Callahan. I. Mr. Stepp. I. Mr. Lusher. I. Miss Milky. I.

Miss H. I. Next is a commission on aging requesting the reappoint of Kate Stinton, citizen, Wendy Palmer, citizen, and Sandra W. Wheatland, nursing home, mental health consultant. Motion to approve. Second. Got a motion second. Madam Secretary, could you call the vote? Mr. Callahan. I. Mr. Stepp. I. Mr. Lusher. I. Miss Milky. I. Miss H. I. And the next is a Tobat County Property Tax Assessment Appeals Board requesting a letter of recommendation to the governor for the appointment of Tom Costigan, alternate member moving from an alternate to a regular board member. It would necessitate a letter from council to affect that. Show mot. Okay, we got a motion second. Madam Secretary, could you call the vote? Mr. Callahan, I. Mr. Stepp. Mr. Leer. Hi. Miss Milky. Hi. Miss H. I. Finally, Uppershore Aging Board of Directors. The Upper Shore Aging Upper Shore Aging is requesting the appointment of Judy Simons to serve on that board. Motion to approve. Second. Second. Motion second. Madam Secretary, could you call the vote? Mr. Callahan. I. Mr. St. I. Mr. Leer. I. Miss Milky. I. Miss Hayes. Hi. Like to invite Dina Kilman forward, executive director of the waterfell festival. Foundation. The Waterfoul Festival is seeking a letter of support from the Toa County Council for their grant application to the Maryland Heritage Area Authority to restore their historic stage. No county funds will be required. Dina, that that's the that's your favorite part right there. Yeah. Basically, we are requesting uh for the MHA grant, just a letter of support. We we'd love to have your support on that. As you know, many many organizations would love to see that stage put back into place. So, we're trying our best for the community. Motion to approve the request. Second. Madam Secretary, could you call the vote? Mr. Callahan. Hi. Mr. Steppp. Hi. Mr. Leer.

Hi. Miss Milky. Hi. Miss Hay. I. There you go. Thank you guys. And thank you for the MHT uh request. I don't know if you heard, but we are starting construction on the roof in April, and we are thrilled. So, thanks for that letter. Congratulations. Congrat. Thank you. Thank you for having us in for tours, too. Just see how well this is needed. So, thank you. Watch the video. Thank you, council. The next item is uh the department of the department of parks and recreation is requesting council approval to renew a contract with Marshall's Professional Property Manage Management Company LLC for the 2026 season in the sum of $89,500. The contract allows for four one-year renewal options upon council's approval. Parks and Recreation has been pleased with the services and has sufficient funds in their budget for this comprom. I'll make a motion we approve. Second. Have a motion. Second. Madam Secretary, could you call the vote? Mr. Callahan. I. Mr. Stef. Hi. Mr. Lusher. I. Miss Milky. I. Miss H. I. Thank you councel. We have a request from the town of Eastn to enter into a deed of rightway and easement with the to with Toba County Maryland for the extension of the town's rails to trails over through across and under county property located in the town of East Talbet County Maryland described as tax map 104 grid EA parcel 1367. The town of East is requesting an easement over this property which is known as the Motton School property. Patrick here can answer more questions about this. Okay. Any any questions, council? Are we good? Yep. Okay. There's a motion. It's just it's just great to see that project to be able to move forward uh and connecting connecting the pieces of of their rail trail. Uh they still have to get across Route 33, but this is an important step in that process. I'll move for the uh uh for the request. Second.

Okay, we got a motion. Second. Madam Secretary, could you call the vote? Mr. Callahan. Hi, Mr. Ste. Hi, Mr. Leer. Hi, Miss Milky. Hi, Miss H. Hi. Thank you, councel. And I'll ask Josh and Ray to come forward again. It's an exciting evening. We get to move forward finally with the preserve at Y Mills. Uh, taking over and upgrading, moving toward upgrading their uh sewer system solution up there. Uh so they're here this evening to recommend the ward of bid 2515 to county region for wastewater treatment plant improvement plans for the preserve at Y Mills Rustling Oaks Drive and Y Mills. This is the first two-part ask. The first one is contract and scope adjustment and commissioning. I'm going to hand it over to them and I'll fill in when necessary. and council, I'll just inter and I'll I'll turn it over to Josh, but I want to just highlight that with the county did enter into a consent order back in January, I'm sorry, November of 1st, 2022. So, basically, this is our effort to try and move forward, replace that wastewater treatment plant with a new MBR wastewater treatment plant, and it's against spray irrigation. And uh one of the things we worked with MDE on we did get a a grant through the Bay Restoration Fund and ultimately I think it's up to about 75% grant funding that's being allocated and MDE through negotiations with Gan and Josh. Ultimately um we've received about 75 or a little you know around 75% grant funding for both these change orders that we're looking at. So, as Ray stated, uh, all of our project monies, uh, is at 75% grant. Uh, the base construction contract for the project was $1.8 million that's been awarded. Uh, this is for a contract addendum to add in the commissioning of

the wastewater treatment plant. And so that is uh the startup equipment calibration testing bringing actual wastewater into the plant and uh having representatives from the this is a package treatment plant. So it largely is comes in in pieces and is put together on site and uh representatives from the manufacturer of the package treatment plant will be there for an extended amount of time to ensure the plant is started up and running correctly. This is a change order in the amount of $110,000. Um and that's what we have here first. um questions and that would be covered that this portion of this would be covered um let's see through $83,160 in grant funds and $26,840 in state revolving loan funds yes SRF funds and just so the council is aware too this is actually the first MBR um you know within the county it's a treatment process it's a membrane technology and so ultimately our our staff have never operated an MBR. So, this is one of the reasons we're trying to move forward with this commission is to provide them with some insight in how to do this. And and when you when you're saying that change order, you I mean we're putting a whole new plant and we're doing everything. That is correct. I think when we came to uh we were wrapping things up uh one of the questions I think prior to award was to try and have a a startup package, right? So, our guys would be trained on how to operate this wastewater system. So that's where the commissioning comes in that you know we requested a proposal from premier services group to provide us that you know their the manufacturer to come in and train our guys on this on the operation. But so in this pro overall project the

change order would reflect contracting with premier services group LLC for the amounts that were discussed. Right. Sounds great. So it' be added to the 100 $1.8 million which is now 1.92. Okay. Motion to approve the request. Okay. Second. We got a motion. Second. Madam Secretary, could you call the vote? Mr. Callahan. Hi. Mr. Ste. Hi. Mr. Lusher. I. Miss. Milky. Hi. Miss. I. Okay. And the next item would be u a request from the department of public recommend recommendation to award bid number 2515 uh for construction and engineering inspection. Um and this is a request um for change order. Another change order. This one with RA Incorporated for construction engineering inspection at the new preserved Hawaiian Mills region for wastewater treatment plant in the amount of $62,350. Uh this will be covered through $47,137 in grant funds and $15,213 in state revolving loan funds u through department environment. Again, Josh and Ray can fill in where necessary. I don't have much to add. uh RAW Incorporated did the uh pre preliminary engineering report as well as the design for the and bidding for the project. Um I I don't have any anything other to add. Motion to approve the request for RA. Second. We got a motion second. Madam Secretary, could you call the vote? Mr. Callahan. Hi. Mr. Stepp. Hi. Mr. Leer. Hi. Miss Milky. Hi. say I I'd just like to recognize Rey especially for all his work on this. It's been a long time coming. Uh this is going to give us the opportunity to try

new technology in the county and uh just it's you know and I also just a shout out to the folks that led the effort up at the preserve at YM Mills to help us with this Mr. Jackson in particular. Yeah. So thank you always good relation. This has been a long time coming. that was started by the previous council or under the previous council and um with uh state foot dragging I don't think we would be this far if it weren't for the persistence of our staff and so I want to give you guys credit for driving this project forward thank you took patience right just Ray Josh just a real quick question too if I could so this technology is how does this compare to the I guess ENR that we're you know accustomed to is this equivalent oh yeah so it'll fall into ENR treatment limits. Um it's just a different way of getting there than we have at the St. Michael's plant. Okay. Yeah. I think the the other thing we look at this is going to be actually a higher level of filtration type treatment. So you probably are going to be able to get a higher total nitrogen and phosphorus removal as well. Also, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And council, I just have one final piece of business. It's an announcement. I want to announce Household Hazardous Waste Day hosted by the Maryland uh Environmental Service will be held on Saturday, April 11th from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Queen Ans County Public Works uh 312 Safety Drive in Centerville. The event is open to residents of Caroline, Kent, Queen Ans, and Talbit counties and will be held rain or shine. With that, that completes your county manager report for this evening. I thank you for your ongoing support. Thank you. Okay, sounds good. Good job. Okay, next on the agenda is public comment.

Several things that I want to summarize very quickly. Um, again, my name is Phil Rian, 29736 Sullivan Drive here in Easton. Um, and I want to talk to one one comment to all those hundreds of people out there right now who are watching this by video, residents of the county. You picked a great meeting to watch because you get a pretty clear view of the breadth and width of your responsibilities. I mean, this agenda has been all over the place. Yeah. And truly has been and none of them are insignificant issues. So, uh, anybody who's watching got a tutorial today. Um, I would like to say, uh, thank you for supporting the, uh, the initiative to, uh, upgrade the armory, as I would call it. It's the water foul building or whatever, but I, it's one of these National Guard Armories across the state of Maryland where they're built exactly the same. and and the fact that Eastston has taken the responsibility and opportunity to to to recycle that building or to make a continued use out of that building is a is a testament to whoever was involved and certainly is a is a a gift to the to the residents of the area. Um Mr. Leer, I have to say I agree with you uh your comment earlier that um rural broadband was akin to the Rural Electri electrification act of whatever it was in 1930s. Having grown up with two grandparents who were still reading by candle when I was a little kid and didn't have access to electric electricity, I know what we're talking about. So, um, thank you for making that analogy because it's it's very appropo. I'm I'm actually here to for the first

time since I've been attending these meetings to actually speak on behalf of my community, Eastern Club East. Um, I I'm going to I want I want to make a very quick statement about an issue that is very serious. I think has to do with Dutchman's Lane and access to Dutchman's Lane. And specifically, it has to do with the left turn lane as you go east on Route 50 toward Cambridge and the issues that are created by how difficult it is to make that left turn because of the length of the turn lane itself, particularly in the summertime as traffic volume increases. So, I guess I'm adding, you know, a an item to the list of which you've already you've already described all the other places or many of the other places along Route 50 where there's a problem. And we all know that there are multiple problems that should frankly have been dealt with by predecessors of yours and the town officials years and years and literally decades ago, you know, for cross traffic purposes. Dustman's Lane uh has an annual vehicular traffic volume of 7,000 cars a day, which is interesting. Other intersections like um along Route 50 have even even more. Uh on behalf of um those 1,300 single family housing units along Dutchman's Lane, I'm asking for some kind of consideration to lengthen that left turn lane as you go east on Route 50. I realize that we're not on the list of uh of projects that you've just been presented, but I also realize that that and and and those were all very important projects. No question about it. every one of them are extremely important and will be. But I do think

that maybe our our project could be thrown into the mix and when compared to the cost of some of these other projects that are that are um road road efficiencies and improvements um we would be relatively cheap. You just cut a you cut a cut out a section of of the median strip another three three or 4 hundred feet straight back and it would meet our needs as long as you paved it also. Um so I I I you know I again you're left with you're left with you're left with having to deal with things that should have been dealt with by your predecessors. I fully acknowledge that and I will and I will you know if you want to back away from that statement I don't care. Yeah, I believe it. I always have. So, um I would ask you to consider that and consider the fact that it would be one of the really great fixes along Route 50 that wouldn't necessarily cost an arm and a leg. I have had to turn off into the median strip itself to avoid traffic hitting me from the rear as I get off on that turn to get on the Dutchman, particularly in the summertime when those light cycles are a lot longer and traffic gets backed up. Um, so it's it's it's an accident waiting to happen. And on behalf of our community, please um uh do whatever you can talk to your friends and neighbors, talk to the state delegates to try to throw some money at that. I would deeply appreciate it. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you for your patience all night long. Okay. You've had some interesting stuff here tonight. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Rian. Uh if if I may, Mr. stamp. Could could you uh ask our engineering staff to sort out uh obviously that's a county road turning onto a state road to to sort out uh county responsibility versus state

responsibility for making a change like that. If I might, just a point of clarification. We're talking about the turn lane on US Route 50. I'm talking about Route 50. Yes. Going eastbound at Dutchman. We're turning left onto Dutchman. You want to extend the state highway turn length. That's exactly right. to add to our list to state highway for consideration to extend their turn lane, which we can do if council so desires to do. See why we couldn't. Yeah, let's do it. I'd support that, especially with I know I'm only I'm only presenting this to the current audience. I realize I think I probably go 10 other places to make a good job and I'm getting some shaking of the head. So, you may have made progress. Thank you, sir. Has it increased? Has the traffic increase because of the housing development on that road. Did it make it worse? It's just starting people just starting to move in. So, it's going to it will get it will continue. Okay. Behind the Yeah, we've got another community going in. Yeah. Yeah. you know, our neighbors think, you know, but I'm it's uh it's remarkable, but other intersections are I'm just I'm just throwing this out because I think it's cheaper to do. Okay. Yeah. Well, thank you for that. We'll work on Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Yep. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Any anybody else want to come up? Okay. All right. Um, we didn't have we didn't have anybody sign up out there. I I don't think we did. Okay. All right. Do what? I don't want to leave anybody out. Go ahead, Mr. Thomas. Can I have uh a just a procedural question uh for us to amend that? Is that something that we can do

at this point in the meeting or do we need to put that onto our next agenda in order to achieve that that change? Uh obviously the agenda item has been passed. We've acted on it. When is it due to be submitted? It's due at the state April 1st. Yes. So we would need to amend it now. We can't wait until next meeting. Um so would that require just a motion and a second and then a council vote being that we're still in a public session in order to add that to that list? And I'm just I'm not familiar with the the process. I mean the the the what the state requires for that. I mean if it's simply a consensus of the council then I don't think there's I think just we don't need a formal motion to do that record. I that's I'm not sure. So I think you just adopted this. Did they adopt it by administrative resolution? There was no So you can you can make you can take a vote to add this to that list. Yeah, I think it's still it's still within the it's the same meeting. It's still within your your authority. So I think you could just Should we do a motion in a second just to just to be extra cautious? Right. Just do a motion. I'll do I'll do the motion then. And that's that's a motion to add to the state high uh or state department of transportation priority listing to add this left turn lane from eastbound 50 on to Dutchman's lane. Yes, you got it. I'll second. Okay, we got a motion. Second. Madam Secretary, could you call the vote? Mr. Callahan, I. Mr. Ste, I. Mr. Leser, I. Miss Milky, I. Miss I. Well done, Mr. Good job. Good job. All right, so we've we've gone through that. So, um, we'll start off with

council comments. Mr. Good here. Good. Um, several of us, uh, I were, uh, Miss Milky, Miss Haven, and I were at the, uh, the opening for the St. Michael's Community Center, uh, new facility, uh, right on the corner of Railroad Avenue and, and Talbet, South Tob, uh, Talbet Street. I guess actually that's North Tobat Street there. um great turnout from uh from the community uh for what's really a vital community institution that now will be able to serve the community even better with its expanded space. We were in the space that is going to be that is now the new consignment shop u significant fundraiser but they are that building will have uh youth activity area. It will have food storage area. It will contribute so much more uh to the capabilities of that organization and it the way it serves the community. One of our major food banks uh for this uh for this county is uh is hosted by St. Michael's Community Center. So, congratulations to them and and thanks to all who came out to support them. Good. Um, I just have to give a shout out to um Eastston High School and their production of The Wizard of Oz, which was outstanding. Um the the sets, the costumes, the everything the particularly all the all the the kids that had so much talent. I mean they were right up there with Judy Garland and you know Ray Bulier and all that just incredible. And um I'm just so proud of what they did and and the direction that they got and the support that they get from staff. And I mean they they even had the um students from

Eastern Elementary School playing Munchkins which was so sweet. It was Anybody who missed it, you really missed it and I hope maybe they made a a video recording of it and they'll show it sometime because it's just fabulous. Thank you. I just want to Congratulations to the St. Michael's Library again for their opening of their expansion. That place is really um remarkable. It looks great. Um and the libraries are the very backbone of of any community and having that social space. But um President Callahan um Councilwoman Milky and myself were able to attend that event on Saturday. Um and it was it was great. It was a great um community gathering. So just congrats to Dana and her staff and her team on that. Yelcome. And and to add to that, um like I think Josh said, Josh was there and I think I think you come later, didn't No, I was there for the uh for the for the the construction tour. Were you? Yeah. I made sure to thank Dana and uh but I told her the the heart thing when she all handed us our stack of hearts. That always that always helped. But the whole community, it seemed like the whole community was there. There's a couple hundred people there and so appreciative, so happy. I mean, it's a phenomenal job and I think um Josh and and and Ray and their services really did a really good job running that thing. It really went smooth. The contractor was great. So, it was it was a home run. That was that's for sure. So, all right. The county council's next meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 14th, beginning at 5:00 p.m. The council will be convening in open session at 3:30 p.m. and then adjourning into close session as listed on the statement for closing that meeting. On Thursday, March 26th and Thursday, April 5th, the county council will be holding meetings at 4:30 p.m. via Zoom with Provident Strategies for a briefing on the Maryland General Assembly. The meetings are open to the

public. The council will also be holding a fiscical year 27 budget work session on Thursday, March 26th at 5:00 p.m. and Tuesday, March 31st at 2:00 p.m. Those meetings are open to the public. Finally, on Tuesday, March 31st. At 5:00 p.m., the county council will be meeting with municipalities in the meeting room of the Talbert County Free Library Eastn Branch. That meeting is open to the public. Therefore, is there a motion to adjourn this meeting and reconvene as noted? So moved. Second. Okay, we got a motion. Second. Madam Secretary, could you call the vote? Mr. Callahan, I. Mr. Ste, I Mr. Lusher, I. Miss Milky, I miss. Okay, thank you.