[0:06] Uh good evening everyone. Thank you uh so much for being here. It's a beautiful

[0:09] evening. I really appreciate you being here inside. Um this this microphone and

[0:15] this microphone don't do anything to make you hear better what we're saying

[0:18] or what you're going to be saying to us later. This is for the recording. The

[0:23] folks from Rundle TV are here recording this meeting tonight. It helps the

[0:28] Department of Recreation and Parks with our note takingaking and make sure that

[0:32] we accurately record the comments that you provide us tonight and uh it'll give

[0:38] you an opportunity to see yourselves on uh YouTube on the Rundle TV channel. So

[0:43] uh anyhow again, thank you so much. I'm Bruce Bruchcci from the Department of

[0:48] Recreation and Parks and we are here tonight to talk about the department's

[0:53] 2027 Land Preservation, Parks, and Recreation

[0:57] Plan. And the little logo down here at the bottom, uh you'll see it on the

[1:03] literature and the the signs advertising things to do with the the 2027 plan. The

[1:10] focus is the your wreck and parks. That's us. Your future. And why we're

[1:16] here tonight is to hear your voice into what goes into the future of our our

[1:21] recreation and parks system. So, with that, let's get uh let's get started. Uh

[1:30] let's start with what is an LPPRP? And I won't keep saying land

[1:37] preservation, parks, and recreation plan. We we typically just say LPPPRP.

[1:42] It's a whole lot easier and in the next 15 minutes you're going to hear it more

[1:46] than you you care to. But the LPPRP is an important part of the county's

[1:53] overall planning process. This is the county framework and there are all kinds

[2:00] of county plans, very specific management plans. There's storm water

[2:06] plans, there's transportation plans, there's a bicycle plan, there's the

[2:11] county code that governs everything, but the largest cog that you see here that

[2:16] that makes it all work together is the general development plan, what Annaundle

[2:21] County calls plan 2040. Plan 20 240 meshes with these other plans, various

[2:30] functional plans, regional plans, small area plans, and one of the one of the

[2:36] things that it works with is the land preservation, recreation, and parks

[2:40] plan. Now, the the uh plan 2040 establishes the vision, the goals, the

[2:47] policies, and strategies that guide development of the county as a whole.

[2:52] Uh, plan 20 240 sets the policy framework to protect our environment, to

[2:58] shape the development of things in Anaonda County to provide services to

[3:03] promote healthy communities and support a diverse and resilient economy. There's

[3:09] there's four key parts of plan 2040. And if you're not familiar with plan 20 240,

[3:15] I would encourage you to spend some time online. It's a very informative plan.

[3:19] It's very easy to flip through. But there are four key parts to it. Focused

[3:23] on the natural environment, the built environment, on developing and

[3:28] maintaining healthy communities, and promoting and maintaining a healthy

[3:33] economy. Plan 2040 drives zoning decisions, public policy, just about

[3:40] everything. As I said, it's the framework for the county.

[3:44] Another one of those incremental plans that meshes with the overall county

[3:50] general development plan is the green infrastructure master plan. And the

[3:55] green infrastructure master plan focuses in on green infrastructure. And what is

[4:01] green infrastructure? Green infrastructure is the connection of

[4:06] natural features, conservation easements, parks and natural areas, our

[4:11] preserved agricultural lands, and the trails that connect all those green

[4:16] spaces. Again, the green infrastructure master plan is posted on the Office of

[4:23] Planning and Zoning's website. If you're not familiar with it, I'd encourage you

[4:28] to take some time and go look at it. Uh some very interesting things in there.

[4:32] You can see the plans for our county and how we're going to maintain our our

[4:37] healthy green environment. As I said tonight though, we're here to

[4:41] talk about the most important plan in the county. And that is the land

[4:45] preservation parks and recreation plan. Why do I say it's the most important

[4:51] plan in the county? Because it's the one that drives the department of recreation

[4:56] and parks. The LPPRP

[5:00] serves as the advisory master plan for the county department of recreation and

[5:06] parks. The plan evaluates the demand for parklands and recreational facilities

[5:13] and it makes that evaluation on the need for those facilities or the demand for

[5:18] those facilities based on three things. What we call need, proximity and equity.

[5:26] the the demand based on need is is actually fairly straightforward. It's

[5:32] it's counting and measuring. We count how many how many people enroll in our

[5:37] recreation programs. How many people visit our parks? We count the things

[5:43] that make up the recreation and park system. How many pickle ball courts? How

[5:48] many basketball courts? How many softball fields? So we use the demand

[5:55] for based on need to measure very simply do we have enough? Do we have enough

[6:00] according to national standards? Do we have enough to respond to the needs of

[6:06] the people of Anaundle County? The second demand that we analyze is called

[6:12] proximity. And that is when we have all of those baseball fields and basketball

[6:16] courts and swimming pools, are they in the right place? The proximity, the

[6:22] location of parks and recreation facilities,

[6:27] are they in the right parts of the county? Are they where the people are

[6:32] and where people can get to those facilities? And then the third demand

[6:37] that we analyze is equity. Are the parks and recreation facilities

[6:43] and the individual amenities that you find in our parks distributed equitably

[6:50] around the county? Do we reach communities of need? Does everyone have

[6:56] equal access to those facilities? And so the analysis of the demand for those

[7:04] those three kinds of needs need, proximity and equity, those form the

[7:10] outline for the policies, goals, objectives and priorities for the next

[7:16] five years and actually for the next 10 years and even 15 years from now.

[7:23] Why we're here tonight? Because the insight that you provide

[7:29] gives planners and county officials a clear understanding of the goals and

[7:34] priorities of county residents for improving parks, recreation facilities,

[7:40] and open spaces. This is why we appreciate you being here so that you

[7:45] can tell us the kinds of things that are important to you.

[7:52] The LPPPRP is required by the state department of

[7:57] natural resources and the Maryland Department of Planning and it's required

[8:01] from each of the 23 counties in the state of Maryland to be updated every

[8:06] five years. The last time Anna Rundle County and all the other counties

[8:11] updated their their plan was in 2022. This is the 2022 LPPRP.

[8:19] Again, this document is posted on the Wreck and Parks website. You're welcome

[8:24] to go look at that, but we're here to talk about the replacement plan for

[8:29] that, which is the 2027 LPPPRP.

[8:36] Talk about this 2022 plan for a minute. And just to give you some examples,

[8:42] we did public meetings similar to this. Although in 2021, as we were preparing

[8:47] the 2022 plan, we were all locked inside the dark days of the pandemic. So

[8:55] meetings like this were held virtually. They weren't in person. We couldn't we

[8:59] couldn't all go in a meeting room like this. So we had similar meetings. We

[9:05] conducted similar public engagement and these were the needs that were

[9:10] identified. These were are the top four needs that were identified in the 2022

[9:15] LPPRP. Need for trails, need for more

[9:18] multi-purpose fields, need for water access, and a need for recreation

[9:24] centers. This plan has guided the Department of Recreation and Parks for

[9:28] the past five years. And so when we look at at these kinds of needs,

[9:34] we see that that the trails needs well, the department responded by completing

[9:39] the Broadneck Peninsula and WBNA trails, and we're in planning and design for

[9:44] more trails and trail spurs and connectors.

[9:48] when the need was identified for more multi-purpose fields. We've been working

[9:53] on designing and building new multi-purpose fields at Brooklyn Heights

[9:58] Park, at Tenard Springs Park. We're under construction at Millersville Park.

[10:03] We're in design for an multi-purpose field at the North of Rondo Aquatic

[10:07] Center. And this year, we we bought additional land to expand Bell Branch

[10:13] Park to accommodate more multi-purpose fields.

[10:17] the need was identified for expanded water access for the people of Anna

[10:22] Rundle County. So, some of the things that the department has been involved in

[10:26] over the past five years, improvements to Spriggs Farm on the Magathy Park,

[10:31] Cartop uh boat launch, kayak launch, water access, repairs to Cars Wararf and

[10:38] Dealswarf Park. Construction is already complete at Cars Wararf except for the

[10:43] living shoreline and soon we'll be starting down the street at Deal Wararf

[10:47] Park and planning and design continues for a new West County swim center.

[10:53] Again, responding to the need for expanded water access. And finally,

[10:59] recreation centers were identified as a need. So, we are in the process of of

[11:05] planning, designing. Actually, Deeprun Recreation Center in Hanover is already

[11:10] open and operational. We'll soon be starting construction on a new community

[11:15] center in Brooklyn Park. And yesterday, we started construction on a new

[11:21] community center in Edgewater. So, those are the kinds of outcomes that come out

[11:27] of the plan. So, tonight is part of our public

[11:32] engagement. We want to we want to hear from the people of Anaundle County about

[11:38] what you want to see in your parks and recreation system in the coming years.

[11:45] So, what have we heard so far? Well, our public engagement, we we have a

[11:51] couple of surveys that I'll talk about here in a second. We hold listening

[11:56] sessions like this one tonight where we're here to listen to you folks and in

[12:01] a couple of months when we get a draft of the plan put together and that will

[12:05] be by the end of this calendar year. So in January there will be a draft plan we

[12:12] will post that we'll put a copy here at the library as we've done previously.

[12:17] We'll put physical copies out in a number of places and we'll post it

[12:22] online and we'll ask you folks to please look through it. Give us more comments.

[12:28] Does the plan respond to what your thoughts were? The does the plan reflect

[12:32] what you think is needed in the county recreation and park system.

[12:38] We start each of these LPPRP efforts conducting various surveys.

[12:46] this the the major survey, our online survey was conducted back in the spring.

[12:52] You may have seen signs in the park, ads on Facebook, postings like this on our

[13:00] social media sites asking you to please scan the QR code, log on to the website,

[13:07] and participate in the survey. We also looked at a couple of different

[13:14] surveys. So this was our primary our online survey and nearly 2500 residents

[13:21] of Anaonda County participated. This was one of the social media post associated

[13:26] with that survey. We put one question at a time up on our

[13:32] various social media channels. The department has Facebook. We have

[13:37] Instagram. We get support from the county council members and from the

[13:41] county executive's office to post and repost things. We had over 5,000 people

[13:49] react to social media post on those various platforms.

[13:55] Our partners at Anaundle County Schools were also very helpful. They distributed

[14:01] a a very simple survey to every middle school student and their family in the

[14:09] county. And we asked those people to respond. We got almost 500 responses

[14:15] back from the middle school survey. And lastly,

[14:20] we ask our partners at Anaundle Community College at the Center for the

[14:25] Study of Local Issues to include some parks and wreck questions in their

[14:31] bianual survey. Uh you may have participated. They tend to ask questions

[14:36] about do you think the president's doing a good job? Do you think the governor's

[14:41] doing a good job? Do you think the county executive is doing a good job?

[14:45] So, we asked them to ask a few questions as part of their

[14:50] survey about what people thought about recreation and parks.

[14:55] The primary survey, as I mentioned, our online survey ran from February, late

[15:01] February through early July. It was offered in both English and Spanish. We

[15:07] asked people to identify the kinds of recreational activities that they

[15:11] engaged in. We asked them what they did in our parks. We asked them to identify

[15:16] the parks that they go to. Uh we asked them some very specific questions about

[15:22] what were their perceptions about the parks and recreational facilities that

[15:26] they visited. And we asked them what they wanted to see in future facilities.

[15:33] As I said, 2500 people responded. You can see some days we we had 150 200

[15:40] people a day taking the survey. Had a very robust response.

[15:46] People checked in on the survey. Each of these little dots on this map is where

[15:52] somebody marked it either on their computer or their phone as they took the

[15:56] survey and said, "Oh, I'd like to go here. I I'm at this park or I'm using

[16:02] this trail." and told us what they were doing on those. We asked them what where

[16:10] they were and and these are the kinds of responses. They're in a park, they're on

[16:14] a trail, they're in a playground, they're on a they're on a court, they're

[16:19] on a ball field. We asked them very specifically to tell

[16:24] us about what their experiences were. There's two examples here. A person

[16:29] checked in from Oh, this is Beachwood Park up in Pasadena. A person checked in

[16:34] said, "Hey, I'm at Beachwood Park. Enjoy the undeveloped rural vibe of this park.

[16:40] Would like improvements to make the kayak launch more accessible." So, they

[16:45] told us what they liked about the park. They told us what they were doing in the

[16:49] park, and they told us how it could make it better. This person checked in from

[16:54] Spriggs Farm on the Magathy Park uh down in the Arnold area. They were in this

[17:00] part of the park and they said, "We love this park. We use it for family. Nature

[17:04] walks through the woods and by the river." They didn't offer any

[17:08] suggestions about what else they wanted, but at least we know that they were out

[17:11] in one of our parks enjoying themselves. We we got some good news for those of us

[17:17] who work for recreation and parks. 66% of the people who responded to the

[17:22] survey thought that that they are either satisfied or very satisfied with our

[17:28] parks and facilities. Fewer than 15% were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied.

[17:36] And 22% of the people that responded the survey were like, "Ah, they're okay.

[17:41] They're parks."

[17:44] So, so what else have we heard at through the survey effort uh to this

[17:50] point in time? Well, we've gotten a lot of general comments about facilities,

[17:55] pickle ball, tennis, water, bikes, etc. We we we've gotten some specific

[18:03] comments. We said, "What wreck program should be expanded?"

[18:07] You can see the size of the of the words tells you the number of people that

[18:11] responded. indoor community, swimming, nature,

[18:17] pickle ball, splash, pools. People, that's people in the comments telling us

[18:24] the kinds of things they want to see in the recreation and park system.

[18:30] We said, "Okay, that's what you want to see. What are you doing there now? What

[18:34] what kind of activities do you engage in in our parks?" Well, we we we we walk.

[18:39] We play soccer. a lot of walking. We play basketball. We play lacrosse. We go

[18:45] hiking, uh, dog park, uh, in there, tennis. So, we we got from the comments,

[18:52] we understood what people like to do in our parks.

[18:56] In general, these are the three takeaways so far

[19:02] from the data that we've analyzed from our surveys. First one is people are

[19:07] very supportive of providing diverse recreational

[19:11] facilities. They don't want every park to look the same. Not every park has to

[19:16] have a swing set and a seesaw. Not every park has to have a basketball court.

[19:20] They want to see diversity in the recreational facilities.

[19:24] There's been a lot of interest and great support for developing accessible trails

[19:31] for hiking and biking. Trails have been a major theme both in our previous

[19:37] LPPPRP and what we're hearing so far on the

[19:41] development of this LPPPRP. And an interesting one, people say that

[19:46] they're they're very supportive of developing smallcale park amenities.

[19:51] They're they're less interested in a giant field or some type of large

[19:58] recreational facility, but but they'd like to see more benches, more picnic

[20:04] tables, smaller places where they can enjoy the parks. When it comes to

[20:10] recreation facilities, we asked people to identify all the kinds of things that

[20:14] they like to do. These are the top three responses from our surveys. People said

[20:19] more pickle ball courts, more tennis courts, and more open field areas.

[20:26] When it comes to community parks and and a sense of place, more community and

[20:31] recreation centers, interesting people say more outdoor concerts and theater

[20:37] venues and more ornamental and botanical

[20:43] gardens, something that we only have a handful of in the county.

[20:48] When it comes to sports facilities, people are interested in fitness. They

[20:52] want want to see more more fitness, more yoga, more Zumba, more dance type

[20:59] activities offered in our facilities. More bless you, more more ice skating

[21:05] and and indoor sports fields, not just not just courts and fields outside, but

[21:12] indoor court fields. We asked about adventure sports. Uh the middle

[21:17] schoolers are big on this. Uh but we get a a tremendous response from everyone on

[21:23] adventure sports. People want to see opportunities for rock climbing. They'd

[21:29] be interested in seeing ziplining and in archery ranges, something that uh we

[21:34] only have one of in the county at present.

[21:38] We ask about natural areas and courses outside.

[21:44] Back to more hiking and biking trails. People have indicated that they'd like

[21:48] to see nature centers, places where they can experience and learn about nature

[21:55] and more natural areas for things like bird watching.

[22:01] So, we finally gotten to the part the best part of the meeting. There's

[22:06] there's two things that make it the best part. First is you stop listening to me.

[22:12] Second thing that makes it so great is I get to listen to you. So, I'm going to

[22:18] ask you to please step up to the microphone here so we get your comments

[22:25] and I'll give you a couple of prompts here just like in the surveys. So, you

[22:31] can tell tell us please which parks which county recreation facilities do

[22:36] you go to? What what's your favorite and least favorite experience in any of

[22:41] those? Give us some ideas on how we can improve that. Tell us what activity or

[22:48] program the county should add to the system in the future. Tell us more of

[22:53] what we've heard in the survey so far. Do we need more basketball courts? Do we

[22:58] need more softball fields? Do we need more fitness programming? Do we need

[23:03] more natural places? So, please, if you could, one at a time,

[23:09] step up here and and share your thoughts about the future of your parks and

[23:14] recreation system. Who's going to go first? Thank you, sir.

[23:18] » I'm not going to follow your leading questions. So, and your presentation was

[23:23] wonderful, but it doesn't reflect what's happening here in South County.

[23:27] » Okay. >> We have no pools. There are no

[23:29] basketball courts. As far as I know, there's no pickup boards. There's no

[23:34] indoor opportunities for uh activities. Uh I know in Edgewater there's a

[23:39] community center that's been promised. I think it's probably moving. I'm not

[23:45] sure. Um water access is a big big thing down here. And um if I get out, I'm not

[23:54] going usually to a park. I'm out on the water. And there's very few

[23:58] opportunities really to put craft in the water down here. Um, I don't have a boat

[24:03] ramp on my property. I'd like one. I'm sure the county won't give me one, but

[24:08] um I'd like to see more of that. I um I would like to see um

[24:16] a pool down here. I think that would be wonderful. I think the people would use

[24:20] it. I would like to see basketball courts and pickle ball courts.

[24:24] Um and um and nature is a big thing down here. I would like to see a lot more

[24:30] nature activities. So, >> Okay. All right. Very good. Thank you so

[24:34] much for your comments. Le Let me pick up on I I heard you mention a place to

[24:38] put in your boat and and opportunities. If you're going to go out, you're going

[24:41] to go on the water. So, in addition to providing your input tonight to our long

[24:46] range plan. Coincidentally, the Department of Recreation and Parks is in

[24:50] the process of evaluating water access opportunities in South County.

[24:57] And so if if you'll see the sign over here on the side of the room,

[25:02] we are in the process of taking a survey that's independent from the LPPRP

[25:07] process. So if you haven't done so already, please make sure you

[25:11] participate in that survey. We want to hear from folks just like you in South

[25:17] County that are interested in more water access opportunities. So please

[25:23] everyone, please make sure that that thank you so much for your comments. I

[25:27] appreciate it. Ple, please, in addition to your comments that you're offering in

[25:31] this session, please take the time to participate in that water access survey.

[25:36] Okay. Who else wants to to tell the department what to do?

[25:40] » I'll tell you what to do. >> All right. Thank you. [laughter]

[25:46] So, am I looking into the camera here? >> All right. I'm Bill Sherbo. I live in

[25:50] Shady Side. Um, water, water and water access

[25:56] is the life's blood of this community. Um,

[26:01] it's not pickle ball courts, although I think we do have a few pickle ball

[26:04] courts in the area. Um, I was on the general development plan and the small

[26:09] area plan twice and

[26:14] water access has come up going back 20 years from from today. And um in the

[26:23] last small area plan, the county working with the county and

[26:28] the and the and the folks uh they surveyed the area

[26:35] for water access. We spent a lot of time talking about water access, boat ramps

[26:40] in particular, and what it what you need to have for a boat ramp.

[26:46] Only two places came up that fit the bill in this area.

[26:50] One of them is Discovery Village, which is still available. The other one was

[26:55] Woodfield property in Gailsville, which is now off the table. Um,

[27:02] having little marinas take care of the amount of boats that

[27:07] need that are put into the water on weekends in the summer around here will

[27:12] not work. The marinas don't really want a horde of

[27:16] of boats and trailers and trucks because they don't have parking areas for that

[27:20] kind of thing. >> And you can't just like gather up 10

[27:24] little marinas down here and say we're going to have a little access here,

[27:26] there, and everywhere. It's not going to work. We've already been through that in

[27:31] the small area plan talking about it and with the experts and the developers and

[27:34] all to that effect. So, the other thing that I'm going to break

[27:40] the ice on is

[27:44] folks down here have tried to get the county interested in Discovery Village

[27:50] as a park for multiple uses, as a enhancement to the economy down here, as

[27:57] an educational facility, as an access point to the water, as as access to the

[28:03] environment. the county is not really interested in

[28:07] it. And

[28:12] after seeing how the county managed to park next door here,

[28:16] I don't think the county is capable of a job as big

[28:21] as Discovery Village. That's my comment as of

[28:26] » All right. Thank you. I appreciate that. >> All right. Who else?

[28:30] » I I want to say one thing about the Discovery Village site that is

[28:34] important. And I'm VK Holtzenorf. I was on the smaller airplane with Billy and

[28:38] he is absolutely correct that water access is a lifeblood for this area. But

[28:43] one thing that Discovery Village brings to the table as far as water access is

[28:48] not only the boat ramp but also a safe place for small boat launch because it's

[28:53] a protected harbor. So, back in the day when Al Adam Hison owned the place,

[28:58] every Wednesday they had uh rental kayaks that families could come or bring

[29:03] their little canoes, get their family in a little canoe pretty much unless it was

[29:08] a gale force wind. That's a protected harbor. So, you could go out there and

[29:12] be safe. I was on Londontown board and I was trying to figure out how can we

[29:17] possibly connect some of these um very very special county properties.

[29:24] quiet water in London Town, you know, to get them to thrive and be better. And

[29:28] they were going to put all this money in the London town dock for what reason?

[29:33] Oh, so the pride of Baltimore can come once a year. I said that I I I can't

[29:38] invest in that. I can't I can't work that with the county because I think

[29:41] that is money just um inappropriately used for one purpose and one event once

[29:47] a year. It doesn't make any sense to me. So, let me see if I can tie these two

[29:50] together. Let's go and do a ferry from Quiet Waters to London Town. Of course,

[29:54] Quiet Waters doesn't have dock. Also, they have very shallow water. The other

[29:58] thing is is if we wanted to say, "Hey everybody, let's enjoy big parks."

[30:02] Crossing the South River with a family in a canoe is like crossing 97 in a

[30:08] wheelchair. You just simply can't do it. It's unsafe. No matter what time of

[30:13] year, it's too rough, too many boats, too much south wind, too much weather.

[30:17] It won't work. Discovery Village will. So, we need to to take off our

[30:22] blindfolds and start looking at there's people in this community that do things

[30:27] other than play pickle ball. There's people that their recreational

[30:32] um activity is the arts. There's people who their recreational activity is

[30:36] dancing. There's people whose recreational activity is families going

[30:40] out in a little canoe for a for for in a picnic. You know, there's lots of things

[30:45] that can happen and Discovery Village is the one place where it can happen.

[30:50] But we've just blown $7 million on a dog park and a very small kids playground. H

[30:56] how are we going to pull this one off? You know, I mean that park I just drove

[31:00] by and there's not a soul out there. [snorts] So, um I think Billy's right

[31:04] that this may be but as in London Town, London Town is managed by a nonprofit.

[31:10] It is owned by the county. The c county provides the services as far as

[31:15] maintenance and and things. But it I know it's taken them God at least eight

[31:20] years to come up with a dock plan. I presented one to the county eight years

[31:23] ago and had already talked to all the the charter boat people, all the I took

[31:29] them over to CIRC and let them see what a good dock supposed to look like. I I

[31:32] talked to all the captains of all the schooners. I I used to run a charter

[31:36] boat. I know what I need. You know, these are all the things we need if you

[31:39] want us to come and provide boat access and service. But if you build it, they

[31:45] will come. I used to run a charter boat out of Discovery Village. What was

[31:49] unique about my charter boat? My charter boat took women, kids in wheelchairs,

[31:54] people uh people in wheelchairs. I took every single sinner center in South

[31:59] County in in all of Anonda County out with their wheelchairs and their walkers

[32:03] because I had because I was set up to handle the handicap people in my boat.

[32:07] So, we need to get we need to think beyond some kid with a baseball because

[32:11] there's a bunch of us who aren't those people. Thanks.

[32:13] » Okay. All right. No, thank you so much. I appreciate that. Good. Some good

[32:16] comments there. Thank you. Who else wants to add to that?

[32:21] Please, folks, you drove out on this hot night, gave up your evening.

[32:26] » Yes, ma'am. She beat you to it. I'll I'll invite you up next.

[32:31] » That's pretty hot. >> For one, I really appreciate your

[32:36] comments. Um, I do think that any opportunity to encourage people out and

[32:42] about. The one thing that I was thinking that um the way your surveys ran, one

[32:48] area that might have also been important could have been um looking at either

[32:55] surveying people that are coming to health care areas because generally

[32:59] there are people that in fact can't access equally things and would have

[33:04] perhaps a different perspective on what they need for Rex and parts and they

[33:09] probably wouldn't even think, oh yeah, that should include me. So that's kind

[33:14] of a special needs component. My one comment in terms of what the county

[33:20] needs to have also besides water is I think there's a pretty uh high interest

[33:27] and growing in terms of cultural arts. So there's a whole venue of artists and

[33:35] I also think most of the restaurants around here offer small venue

[33:41] opportunities for concerts, but I think that in this area there would be a huge

[33:46] interest in some sort of outer outdoor concert area.

[33:51] » Okay, that's it. >> Great. Thank you so much. I appreciate

[33:53] your comments. That's some some fresh perspective. Yes, ma'am. Your turn.

[34:01] My name is Randy. Hi. I live on Idaw Wild Road and I grew up in Shadyside. I

[34:06] grew up on in Snug Harbor and I went to Shadyside Elementary School. So, I have

[34:11] a vested interest in the entire area between Idaho, Jax Creek, and Discovery

[34:16] Village. And one of the opportunities you guys have had for years and

[34:21] somewhere it fell apart, but the county owns the property where the dredge site

[34:25] is on Idawa Road and somebody in the county started to put in the trail

[34:31] between Idaho Road and Shady Side Elementary School over to I think it's

[34:36] Atwell Drive. I don't know why they gave that up. There's a wonderful opportunity

[34:42] to allow the people that live on Ottawa Road to have a trail that's safe to get

[34:46] from one side of the community to the other and then we would be able to go to

[34:51] a place like V, you know, Discovery Village which could have concerts and

[34:55] events and you know when my kid was at Shady Side Elementary School, the Bay

[35:00] Restoration Projects and Oyster um restoration was there and one time um

[35:07] Steny Hoyer came and uh did a program with the kids and at at Discovery

[35:12] Village. So, it's like there is so much opportunity already there, already here

[35:17] to save our community and to give us opportunities for walking and trails and

[35:24] safety. We do not have a safe road to walk on in South County. Let's give it

[35:30] up, people. There are no walking trails here except in the parks. So, we need to

[35:36] look at being able to connect our communities to other places and getting

[35:42] one road to another road safely. So, thank you.

[35:44] » Okay. No, thank you. That's great. Got connectivity. That's that that's a

[35:48] that's a new nude conversation. So, thank you so much. We appreciate those

[35:52] comments. Okay. Who's Yes, sir.

[35:59] » So, you're hearing a Discovery Village theme here for a reason. It's because

[36:04] it's that important. Um, and there is no way that this community can thrive in

[36:12] the way it could if it has to pay $25 every time it wants to put something in

[36:18] the water. That's that's the beginning. But I was looking at the at the word map

[36:25] that you had up there and I'll just run through it in my mind. If

[36:31] you wanted a small park, not a large one, probably 7.1 acres would be

[36:35] probably a good size. If you wanted something that had a different

[36:39] opportunity for the public to come out and enjoy, you might have a band shell

[36:44] or you might have a performance space on the waterward side of this Discovery

[36:49] Village. You could have in that same area, you could have an art show twice a

[36:55] year in the building itself. One of the biggest words up there was inside.

[37:02] And I agree that not every everybody around here is a stick and ball person.

[37:07] So inside may mean a learning center. It may mean an opportunity to have

[37:14] educational opportunities within a building. Maybe it has kids dance. Maybe

[37:20] it has the y uh the uh ability to uh bring people on the inside on a winter

[37:25] day and have them enjoy the arts. And I think that the one portion of all this

[37:32] discussion that has not been emphasized enough is that um as we look at the

[37:36] community and not everybody's under 40, not everybody's out there sweating it

[37:42] out. You know, a lot of people want to come in and they want to express their

[37:46] their themselves and they want to do that through the arts. And the Discovery

[37:52] Village building, which we hope to show to the county and others, is a very

[37:57] viable facility, is exactly the place where arts communities, which right now

[38:03] are bursting at the seams down near Arrington Harbor North. They're bursting

[38:07] the seams. They cannot find a place to even display their work, much less get

[38:10] together. That's a massive building that has so

[38:15] much potential and it is not underwater as people say and it does not have

[38:20] asbestous. So like I said, the reason that people are just coming up here and

[38:24] talking about it over and again is it hits so many different places of of

[38:29] opportunity. Um and then there's the boating, you know,

[38:35] I mean it it's like the the boating everybody wants to say, "Oh, Discovery

[38:38] boat ramp." Well, it's it's really the Discovery Village Community Center,

[38:42] which is the vision that I hope you all will take away from this as a small park

[38:49] with diverse opportunities, whether it be music, dance, arts, education,

[38:56] simply going out to one of the most beautiful promitories, looking out on

[38:59] the bay that you can find that's free. I mean, this place is so locked down to

[39:04] get a beautiful view of the bay when you're is just it's a precious resource.

[39:11] And to allow it to slip through your fingers because of one vote on one day

[39:17] because it costs $ three.5 million is not, I think, a forward-looking view of

[39:23] a plan that is supposed to last for five and 10 and 15 years. Because the South

[39:29] County of 15 years from now is going to look back and say either I am so glad

[39:35] that the county and the state and others worked together to preserve this for us

[39:39] or they're going to say can you believe they had a 35 year lease on this and one

[39:45] vote one day they gave it up and they didn't care. They didn't care enough put

[39:51] their shoulder to it, put it in the plan, put it in five, 10, 15 years.

[39:56] That's what we need. So, I'm a little passionate about it,

[40:00] » but I think it's with good reason. >> Okay. Well, good. Thank you. I

[40:04] appreciate Appreciate your passion. >> All right. Who else? Yes, ma'am.

[40:11] » Um, I feel like I'm a little slow. Um, I didn't take the survey. I'll admit it. I

[40:17] didn't know there was a survey. Maybe I didn't get an email. Maybe I didn't go

[40:21] to the park 30 miles from me where there was a little QR code for me to to click

[40:27] on. Um, in South County, you are in our community center right now. This room is

[40:35] it. And what I hear in my community is not

[40:40] what I see in your survey. partly because we're talking we're not

[40:45] able to go to those places as much as other people are. Um we're not going to

[40:52] the indoor pool because it's too far away or we don't go as frequently

[40:58] in my neighborhood. I hear people talking about wanting a pool. I hear

[41:02] them talking about really wanting a community center and that that has been

[41:07] on on in discussions for 10, 15, 20 years. I think when they built the gas

[41:14] station across from Christophers, that property was being looked at as a

[41:19] community center. Didn't happen. So today I um I took a look at at the

[41:25] 2040 plan online. It is easy to access. Um, and of the items that are listed

[41:32] there, um, one of the items is, uh, boat access, a ramp, right? And there were

[41:39] two, I think, in the whole county, but now I guess there's still one, but it's

[41:46] hanging on by a thread, by a a little thread. So, the county council isn't

[41:52] paying attention to the 2040 plan when they vote on things. They're not paying

[41:57] attention to South County. I don't think our representative was really

[42:01] representing what the people in in our part of the county want in terms of of

[42:07] being able to to have a community center, whether we're doing arts, we're

[42:11] doing education, we're bringing in speakers, we're having book clubs or

[42:16] whatever. Um, I will say that I think there's a lot of frustration with the

[42:22] park next door because we finally got some attention

[42:27] to bring a project into this area and in my view it was really mismanaged.

[42:34] There's a whole lot of asphalt out there. I I all I see is a parking lot.

[42:39] Um, so I think I have um I'm a little skeptical. The next project I saw coming

[42:48] was the sidewalk. I don't know if you know the sidewalk project. There's a

[42:52] sidewalk that's being going to be built apparently between the library around

[42:57] the corner and down to the bridge. It's going to include parts of a bike path,

[43:03] but there are no other pieces to it. There's no place for those bikes to go

[43:07] after they are able to ride that threequarters of a mile.

[43:12] Um, there are a lot of people in I ride bikes and it's dangerous. So, just

[43:18] having a shoulder would be helpful. A whole group of bikers went by when we

[43:23] were coming into the library and it they were in a single file. They were paying

[43:30] attention, but their shoulder is less than three feet wide. So, it's dangerous

[43:36] for us to get outside. Maybe we need to be indoors to do our activities down

[43:41] here. But one thing I would suggest is I'm not sure your survey reflects what

[43:47] I'm hearing in South County. If you had 5,000 respondees, there are 600,000

[43:52] people in the county. That's less than 1%. So, I would encourage you to to get

[43:58] out there and get some more people giving you input.

[44:01] » I I I believe me, I I share that thought. We we wish that more people

[44:05] came out. Thank you so much for your comments. We I I do appreciate that.

[44:09] That I'm glad we got all of that on on the record, your contribution. Thank you

[44:13] for coming tonight and and and being a part of that. Have Have we had everybody

[44:19] up that that wanted to add to their comments?

[44:22] » I'd like to add something else when everybody else is done.

[44:25] » Is there is there anyone else? >> Okay.

[44:27] » Does doesn't look like you're going to have a fight on your hand, so come back

[44:30] up. >> Nobody else wants to. So, we're working

[44:34] with the county currently on five sites of reclaiming 90 acres of lost march

[44:39] lands down here. The plan is that three sites are in development or in design.

[44:48] The plan is to make those bird sanctuaries and maybe on the BMS have

[44:52] walking trails. Are y'all in the loop on that or not?

[44:57] » Are are do you have plan to build trails? Are we talking about bird

[45:00] watching on on these this new claimed marsh areas?

[45:03] » Well, for for the purposes of of developing our plan, we're hearing

[45:07] people say they want those kinds of things.

[45:09] » This has been going on for years. I I don't know.

[45:12] » And now we finally have money to do this.

[45:14] » Which which county agency are you working with?

[45:16] » We're working with department uh public works.

[45:19] » Public works. >> Public works.

[45:21] » Okay. Well, we can certainly follow that. Follow up with that. That's not

[45:25] But if we want bird sanctuaries and they're talking about bringing back the

[45:28] marsh bird habitat, we should we should be working planning now. And if we're

[45:34] talking about building walking trails over by Franklin Manor and and Kan,

[45:41] those should be in plan now because uh materials are starting to to move. Uh

[45:46] but I have a feeling that none of that's happening and it'll be a lost

[45:50] opportunity. >> Okay. All right. Good. Thank Thank you.

[45:52] Thank you for that addendum. We appreciate that.

[45:55] » One more. >> One more. Go ahead, sir.

[45:58] [clears throat] >> Uh, and this is not about the long range

[46:01] plan. This is about your short-term need for input. And you said, you know, you

[46:05] wish you had better input from the public.

[46:09] Can you take that sign, laminate it, and put it in front of the Discovery Village

[46:13] boat ramp? >> Is it? Yes, we can certainly look at

[46:17] that. >> That would be an excellent idea. If you

[46:20] really want to reach the Boers, >> I know they were put out in Alison, is

[46:23] it at Discovery Village? >> Yeah.

[46:27] » Okay. Okay. Well, this week. All right. >> So, done.

[46:30] » That's right. Good. Good. Done. Done. Now, all you need to do is put out a

[46:33] sign that tells people where Discovery Village is, and you might even get even

[46:37] better response. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. Yes, ma'am.

[46:45] » I'm Jennifer Grryer. I've lived in Tracy's Landing for 25 years, raised

[46:50] family here. They went to all Antaronda County Public Schools. Um, I visit the

[46:56] South County Recreation Center often to play pickle ball. So, that's answering

[47:02] that first question up there. I love going over to Jug Bay um to launch a

[47:06] kayak. So, I'm going to PG County to launch kayak um until the deal warf

[47:10] came. So, that's that's been a nice improvement um closer to home. I really

[47:15] like the suggestion of better connectivity through deal. Um I'd love

[47:19] to be able to ride my bike here to the library. It's not safe to do that or to

[47:23] the new um deal park perhaps to walk my dog. Um

[47:29] I think there's a a missed there's there's likely going to be a big missed

[47:33] opportunity if if the county doesn't seriously reconsider keeping Discovery

[47:38] Village. a lot of the comments you've heard tonight about um the the potential

[47:43] for that site to support a broad spectrum of recreational opportunities

[47:49] for for so many different people with different interests, I think it's really

[47:53] one that should not be overlooked. Um, and as far as an activity or program

[47:59] that the county could consider adding, something that we tried out at Puxent

[48:04] Wildlife Refuge that was really popular is we partnered with Buoie State

[48:08] University to get kids on the water who had never paddled before and and had

[48:14] never experienced being on the water. So, with all of the miles of shoreline

[48:19] in this county, um there are a lot of people, not just youth, but but people

[48:24] who probably would love an onwater experience who haven't had that

[48:28] opportunity. And I think that would be something that again Discovery Village

[48:32] has a lot of opportunity um to offer that. And one last point, um pick back

[48:38] to pickle ball Gailsville um to have lights there at those courts. I I'm

[48:43] driving down to Dunkerk District Park to play pickle ball where there's good

[48:47] lighting and bathroom facilities at the outdoor courts. So Gailsville has

[48:52] courts, but they could definitely use some some improvements and enhancements.

[48:56] Thanks. >> Thank you. That's that's great. Thank

[48:58] you. I appreciate that. Covered a little bit of everything there. Okay. Have I

[49:02] have I heard from everyone? It's Yes, ma'am. Please.

[49:06] Um I would just like to understand how the survey transacts to an evaluation

[49:14] and then to a vote. Is it by the number of comments you receive or your uh parks

[49:22] evaluation that goes to the county council? How does it work to get an

[49:26] action point? >> Very very good question and and let let

[49:30] me respond to that. All of the public input from the survey, the comments from

[49:36] this evening, the comments that we get on the draft, there is a planning

[49:40] consultant who takes all of this information and puts it together for the

[49:46] county and formulates a plan that responds to these comments. We get lots

[49:52] of requests either through the survey or these comments for boat ramps, water

[49:57] access. So that's going to be flagged as a priority in our plan. The challenge

[50:05] then comes in executing that plan, finding the property, getting the budget

[50:11] support from county council to move those projects forward. But all of this

[50:15] public input will contribute with the mapping analysis and the equity analysis

[50:21] that I spoke of. All of that will come together to guide the Department of

[50:26] Recreation and Parks in our planning for what facilities we need to acquire,

[50:33] build, or improve. >> Okay. So, if South County residents did

[50:38] not receive the survey or had less of uh knowledge of it, so to speak, would that

[50:46] um would that harm us in in having some of our wishes uh presented? Well, not

[50:54] necessarily. It's it's not a it's not a contest. It's not a number of votes.

[50:59] » So, no. So, it's it's we we look at the request that that come in in any of the

[51:05] public engagement and all of that is considered. Everybody in the county had

[51:10] the same opportunity. There were there were over 600 signs put up on county

[51:16] property in South County, in North County. It was posted on the internet.

[51:21] It was posted in the county executives newsletter, in your county council

[51:27] members communications. So, we really put a lot of effort. We

[51:31] even paid for advertising to get the word out so that that people would

[51:36] participate. Unfortunately, somebody made reference to the numbers earlier.

[51:42] There's 30,000 people in South County and 14 of them found their way here this

[51:46] evening. We we I wish we could hear from all 30,000 because those are all the

[51:51] people. They're paying taxes. That's who we work for. We're trying to develop a

[51:56] recreation and park system that that those people, all of them can be proud

[52:02] of. So, thank you for coming out tonight. I wish there were more of you,

[52:07] like I said earlier. So, yeah, we we try and we want to hear and we're going to

[52:12] keep listening. this we have a couple of more of these listening sessions and

[52:16] then there will be other opportunities and is there anybody else I I'll I'll

[52:21] move on here so I I can I can wrap this up and I'll share this with you. Uh what

[52:26] what's next? Uh the question you just asked processing the feedback from the

[52:32] surveys from this meeting and from our other listening sessions we'll be

[52:36] developing a draft plan between now and the end of December. And then when that

[52:43] draft plan is completed, we'll be posting it for public review, hard

[52:48] copies in libraries and senior centers online for people to look at. But here's

[52:54] the thing to do. Those those 29,816 people who are not here tonight, please

[53:01] tell them to go to send an email to lpprp2027ount.org.

[53:10] work. That's the gateway to provide input. You can go to recreation and

[53:17] parks and just put in LPPRP or long range plan and you'll end up at the page

[53:22] that will will allow you to link to this, but but go tell the people that

[53:28] aren't here tonight that they still have the opportunity. The Department of

[53:32] Recreation and Parks wants to hear their voices. So please, please don't miss

[53:39] that opportunity. This whole presentation will be posted

[53:43] on the department's website and our friends here from Arundle TV are

[53:48] recording this. It'll be available on YouTube. If you look for Arundle TV,

[53:55] tell your friends and neighbors, please look at that. fast forward to almost the

[54:00] end of the presentation and get that email address and and share whatever

[54:05] comments you have.

[54:10] Thank you once again for taking time to be here tonight for sharing some

[54:14] thoughts. I I heard some great ideas here tonight, things that we hadn't

[54:19] necessarily heard in other places. Enjoy the rest of your evening.

[54:24] » Thank you.

2027 Land Preservation, Parks & Recreation Plan | Public Meeting #1 | Deale Library

Transcript