[0:10] We are gonna bring this meeting back to order.
[0:13] Alright, good evening folks.
[0:15] Welcome to the Queen Anne County Commissioner's meeting.
[0:17] This is a public meeting.
[0:18] This is being aired on aired live on our local cable
[0:21] television station, QA CTV seven.
[0:23] These media broadcasts provide county citizens an
[0:26] opportunity to watch
[0:28] and participate in our scheduled public meetings.
[0:30] In addition to our live audience this evening,
[0:32] we are providing remote options for citizens to watch
[0:34] and participate in county commissioner meetings.
[0:37] Citizens may watch our meeting live on our website at
[0:39] qac.org/live or on our public access television channel
[0:45] provided by Breeze Line Cable Services.
[0:48] Citizens may also participate
[0:49] by joining the live Zoom meeting by going
[0:51] to qac.org/public comment
[0:53] and citizens may also email comments
[0:55] to public comment@qac.org
[0:58] and all comments received will be summarized
[1:00] during the present public comment period.
[1:02] On tonight's agenda, we acknowledge everyone's participation
[1:05] and by attending you acknowledge
[1:06] that this session is both recorded and aired pressing.
[1:08] Public comment will be taken
[1:09] and is limited to three minutes per person.
[1:11] If you do care to speak, please sign up at the information
[1:14] table in the lobby
[1:15] and comments longer than three minutes can be submitted in
[1:18] writing for the commissioner's review.
[1:20] We will now stand and be led in the Pledge
[1:21] of Allegiance by commission.
[1:22] President Jim Moran,
[1:26] I pledge allegiance to the flag
[1:28] of the United States of America
[1:30] and to the republic for which it stands,
[1:33] one nation under God, indivisible
[1:37] with Liberty Justice Strong
[1:49] All commissioners.
[1:50] That brings us to the approval
[1:51] of our agenda for this evening.
[1:53] So the agenda for today's meeting, June 30th, together
[1:57] with the regular session minutes, the Rhodes Board minutes
[2:01] and the closed session minutes from the June 9th meeting
[2:03] have been circulated for review.
[2:05] Any additions or corrections?
[2:07] Nope. Motion to approve the agenda as submitted
[2:10] and all three sets of meetings as submitted.
[2:12] Second. All those in favor? Aye. Aye.
[2:17] Opposed for one?
[2:19] Commissioner IL's on assignment. So. Alright.
[2:22] Thank you. Commissioner Maria,
[2:23] Have Commissioner McLaughlin on the, on the TV screen
[2:26] and the rest of us are right up front.
[2:28] Okay. Okay.
[2:30] Commissioners, we just held a closed session under the
[2:33] general provisions articles Section 3, 3 0 5 B one
[2:37] for boards and commissions and personnel.
[2:38] Section 3 3 0 5 B seven to consult with council
[2:42] and section 3 3 0 5 B three for land acquisition.
[2:45] So I do think we have some board appointments and one on
[2:49] Motion.
[2:50] I move to a appoint Douglas Jenkins
[2:51] to fill the vacancy on the board of electrical examiners.
[2:53] This term will expire on June 30th, 2030. One second.
[2:58] We have a motion to second Any discussion? See none.
[3:02] All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed?
[3:05] So moved four zero
[3:11] The housing authority.
[3:12] We're gonna hold that. Yeah,
[3:13] Hold that.
[3:14] And you at 26 13.
[3:15] And then I move to withdraw county ordinance 26 dash 13
[3:19] and to develop a policy regulating all signs on county
[3:23] property without permission.
[3:28] Does that mean second?
[3:30] Yeah, we have a motion to second on this item.
[3:33] Any discussion? Seeing none.
[3:35] All those in favor signify as aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Aye.
[3:39] So moved.
[3:41] Okay. Alright. Thank you commissioners.
[3:42] That brings us to press and public comment.
[3:47] So we appreciate all citizens taking time to express views
[3:49] to the county commissioners Comments are limited
[3:51] to three minutes per person comments longer than three
[3:54] minutes can be submitted in writing
[3:55] this commission in respects your desire
[3:57] and right to convey your message freely.
[3:59] When you come forward, please speak clearly at
[4:01] the standing microphone.
[4:03] State your name, your address, and your topic of interest.
[4:06] And in keeping with the dignity of our office, we ask
[4:08] that all views be expressed in a
[4:10] respectful and civil manner.
[4:12] First up is Eric. True?
[4:19] Eric Truitt. Zero. Southville Cemetery Road. Millington.
[4:24] So I have a farm in Queen Anns County here
[4:26] and I'm trying to get a permit to put a shipping container.
[4:32] I've been a month and a half trying to get this permit.
[4:34] I have a irrigation machine that I'm trying to set up
[4:38] and the electronics are gonna go in the ear in the
[4:41] shipping container and I'm outta stu.
[4:44] There's no accountability at the permit
[4:46] office you call up there.
[4:48] Nobody has no idea what they're doing.
[4:51] I can't even have a refrigerator to get a drink there.
[4:53] There's no house there. It's just a farm.
[4:56] Wanna keep some tools in there.
[4:58] Stuff that I use every day
[5:00] and I'm not sure what my next step will be.
[5:03] Any advice?
[5:06] You took the right step coming here. Yeah,
[5:08] Well I called you last week
[5:09] but I never got a call back. Oh,
[5:11] Okay.
[5:12] Left you a voicemail.
[5:14] Very good. Okay. Yep, you got it.
[5:19] Front row, you got it right.
[5:21] She'll be happy to talk to you. Okay,
[5:23] Thank you.
[5:24] Thank you.
[5:29] Is it Michelle? Is it Beaver Aver? I'm sorry.
[5:39] Hi, my name is Michelle Ver
[5:42] and I am the Democratic candidate for Maryland
[5:46] District 36 here.
[5:48] And I am here today to introduce myself
[5:53] and to let you know why I am running and why I'm here today.
[5:56] So I'm running because I believe that the people
[5:59] and the government have become too far removed from each
[6:02] other and it's about time that the people we elect
[6:06] for our government represent the people
[6:09] that they're there to represent.
[6:11] The reason I'm here today is
[6:13] because we have a lot of legislation that's coming out
[6:17] of Maryland that is one size fits all,
[6:21] that really just doesn't work here in our district.
[6:24] And I want to make sure that I am talking with county
[6:28] commissioners as well as the local town mayors
[6:32] and such to make sure that any legislation
[6:35] that is being considered is appropriate here
[6:39] in District 36.
[6:40] And if it's not then I can go and fight to have it changed
[6:45] or have our district removed from
[6:47] the legislation altogether.
[6:49] Thank you. Thank
[6:51] You Marty McKenzie,
[6:55] I am going to defer to the second round
[6:58] of comments. Okay, thank
[6:59] You.
[7:00] Alright, thank you. That's all signed up.
[7:02] Would anybody else like to speak? See none.
[7:05] We'll close press on public comment. All.
[7:13] All right commissioners, we can move into the
[7:16] legislation portion of tonight's agenda.
[7:18] So we have two public hearings.
[7:20] The first one is a public hearing on county ordinance 26
[7:23] dash five supplemental standards for gas stations
[7:27] and this is a citizen sponsored text amendment.
[7:31] So Mr. Thompson here we will offic officiate the hearing
[7:34] and we have Stephanie Jones from
[7:36] the planning office as well.
[7:37] If there's any questions
[7:41] You ready?
[7:43] Ready At the regular meeting on
[7:48] May 26th, 2026,
[7:50] commissioner Moran introduced county ordinance 26 0 5
[7:55] a bill entitled an act concerning supplemental standards
[7:59] for gas stations to include fuel pumps,
[8:03] underground fuel storage tanks and islands
[8:06] and canopies in Queen Anne County for the purpose
[8:10] of reducing the required distance between an entrance
[8:14] exit to a gas station to any intersection from a hundred
[8:19] to 75 feet, providing how such distances be measured
[8:24] and generally addressing and dealing with gas stations
[8:27] and exits by amending section 18 1 58 B
[8:32] the code of public local laws of Queen S County.
[8:36] This hearing is being held Tuesday,
[8:39] June 30th, 2026 at 5:40 PM in the county Commissioner
[8:43] reading Room, Liberty Building 1 0 7 North Liberty
[8:47] Street, Centerville, Maryland.
[8:49] The proposed amendment received an unfavorable
[8:52] recommendation from the Planning Commission
[8:55] at the May 14th, 2026 Meeting.
[8:58] Copies of the proposed ordinance have been available
[9:01] to the county commissioner's office
[9:04] during normal business hours
[9:06] and online in the county website speakers,
[9:09] speakers will be limited
[9:11] to the three minutes each written t on the event length
[9:14] could be submitted on
[9:16] before the hearing date to the county commission.
[9:19] Hearing sites are accessible to individual with visibility,
[9:23] sideline and interpreters
[9:25] and assistance listing assistance are available.
[9:28] Part of the record the proceeding will be a certificate
[9:31] of publication indicating that notice
[9:34] of the hearing was published for two consecutive weeks
[9:39] in bay on record observer newspapers of general circulation
[9:44] in Queen Edge County as well as the recommendation
[9:48] of the Queen Edge County Planning Commission.
[9:54] First person I have signed up is Joe Ano
[10:01] we're gonna bring in, bring that around there.
[10:04] Would the applicant Sit at
[10:07] The front or would you rather that the applicant
[10:08] Speaks?
[10:09] You could speak right there and to three minutes.
[10:12] So I'm Brendan Mullany, I'm applicant for the I call
[10:15] Judge Ano.
[10:16] I represent Mr. Cus Now,
[10:18] Well you're also listed here.
[10:20] Would you prefer that Mr. Cus goes first?
[10:22] No, he, but if he wants to speak,
[10:23] now's the time. Understood.
[10:25] Okay, so I'm I'm Brendan Mullany.
[10:27] I am counsel for three Cs LLC, which is the owner of a,
[10:32] of a property at 1104 Price Station Road.
[10:36] Like all citizen sponsored text amendment.
[10:39] This text amendment is proposed
[10:41] to solve a problem in the county.
[10:43] This applicant
[10:44] that brought forward this text amendment owns a 6.8 acre
[10:48] property that is zoned VC and there is a, a local
[10:52] and minor road intersection that is essentially a sand road
[10:56] that intersects a, a minor collector
[10:59] that is 81 feet curb to curb away from the entrance
[11:03] to this property.
[11:05] The property owner brought a conditional use application,
[11:08] which in, in the VC district, the convenience store
[11:12] with fuel pump use, which is proposed for this property,
[11:15] is permitted by conditional use approval.
[11:18] The applicant submitted the conditional use application
[11:21] and was told that the 100 foot dimension from entrance
[11:25] to intersection applied to the application.
[11:28] So we quickly supplemented the conditional use application
[11:32] with a variance to allow the reduction from 100
[11:35] feet to 81 feet.
[11:37] Staff has concluded
[11:41] that supplemental standards in the zoning ordinance cannot
[11:45] be subject to a variance application
[11:49] and approval by the Board of Appeals.
[11:52] So that decision was appealed.
[11:55] It went to the Board of Appeals, I think last month
[11:58] and the board of appeals found two to one that they agreed
[12:02] with staff we're waiting on the written decision from that.
[12:05] But in the meantime, because frankly we have no interest in
[12:09] litigation related to
[12:10] what we believe is an erroneous legal conclusion related
[12:13] to whether or not the applicant here can seek a variance,
[12:16] we applied for the citizen sponsored text amendment to allow
[12:22] reduction and frankly to change what was the black
[12:25] and white letter of what was submitted for was
[12:26] to reduce the 100 feet to 75 feet.
[12:29] I believe that your packages for tonight include a variety
[12:32] of materials and memos that were submitted by
[12:36] the applicant here and by my office.
[12:38] One of those is I think 13 examples of convenience stores
[12:42] with fuel pumps that have entrances less than 100
[12:46] feet from intersections.
[12:48] Another is a memo that we submitted
[12:51] to the planning commission, responding to some of staff's
[12:55] concerns about the proposed text amendment.
[12:58] And this applicant has no intention
[13:01] or desire to propose anything that
[13:04] opens the flood floodgates to something
[13:06] that isn't good for the county.
[13:07] They, they have a property that is unique in
[13:11] that it has an intersection 81 feet from its entrance
[13:15] and there is no viable path based on staff's position
[13:19] that we can't seek a variance to get a convenience store
[13:23] and fuel pump on this property even going through the Board
[13:27] of Appeals variance process.
[13:29] So we went to the, let's
[13:32] Finish got the three minutes now go ahead
[13:34] And finish it.
[13:35] I'll be as brief as I can.
[13:36] We, we went to the planning commission and staff
[13:39] and the planning commission's counsel told them you are not
[13:42] to consider anything outside of the strict text
[13:46] that was applied for when this goes to the commissioners,
[13:49] the commissioners can do with it what they want.
[13:51] So our intention tonight is to come to you all and say
[13:55] and ask, we proposed in the materials that were submitted
[13:58] to the Planning Commission, a number of different approaches
[14:02] to accomplish what we would like to one of them.
[14:05] And and the one that I'm the biggest proponent of is
[14:09] not have this be a reduction countywide from 100 feet
[14:12] to 75 feet because I think staff's concern is
[14:16] any property in the county would then be available for
[14:20] an entrance within, within a hundred feet,
[14:25] no, no closer than 75 feet from local nearby intersections.
[14:31] What we would ask the commissioners to consider is
[14:35] applying this reduction only in the VC district.
[14:38] And the reason why I think that would be prudent is
[14:42] fuel pumps and convenience stores are only permitted in the
[14:45] VC district with conditional use approval.
[14:48] So an applicant, a property owner has to go in front
[14:51] of the board of appeals for the county
[14:52] and demonstrate that there are not any unique
[14:55] and adverse impacts at the location
[14:57] where the convenience store and fuel pumps are proposed.
[15:00] So if the text were changed
[15:02] to say in the VC district only in all other districts
[15:06] where fuel pumps are permitted,
[15:07] the 100 feet would still apply.
[15:10] The, the dimension to intersections from the entrance
[15:14] to properties can be no closer than 75 feet.
[15:19] An applicant still has to go through the process
[15:22] of conditional use approval with the Board of Appeals
[15:24] where they consider any unique
[15:26] and undue adverse impacts on local properties
[15:29] or local roadways.
[15:30] And one of the things that the, that the Board
[15:32] of Appeals is tasked with considering is any undue threats
[15:35] to the health and safety of citizens in the area.
[15:40] So that was, that was one of the approaches.
[15:42] The another was Mr.
[15:45] You your Tom so
[15:47] Understood.
[15:48] We ask that you consider something reasonable
[15:52] and, you know, discuss this amongst yourselves to try
[15:55] to recognize the problem that we're trying to resolve
[15:58] with this citizen LED T amendment. Thank you
[16:01] Mr.
[16:02] Co honor, did you want to honor
[16:10] Joe Ano one of the owners of three Cs.
[16:13] I, I bought the property with my dad, my brother.
[16:18] We bought this four years ago.
[16:20] We're trying to make something of it.
[16:21] It's an existing commercial property, it's sitting vacant.
[16:24] We have a lot of citizen support.
[16:27] We submitted a bunch of letters from all the
[16:29] neighbors, they all want this.
[16:31] We're hung up on being too close to dirt road.
[16:34] We're four years in, it's costing us a lot of money
[16:38] and you know, all we gotta do is get past this code section
[16:41] and we still have to fight the Board of Appeals
[16:43] and get through a whole nother process just to get close
[16:46] to getting approved to open a gas station.
[16:48] So, you know, we're willing to work with anybody we can
[16:51] to make this happen.
[16:53] Thank you. Thank Jay Stead.
[17:05] Good evening Commissioners.
[17:06] Jay Alstead, queen and Conservation Association.
[17:09] We oppose this ordinance
[17:11] and ask that you accept your planning commission's guide.
[17:15] Unfavorable recommendation on this really for a couple
[17:18] of reasons, both safety and environmental in our view
[17:24] and on the safety.
[17:27] I know the applicant mentioned
[17:28] that there are other gas pumps within the community
[17:31] that are less than 75 feet and that is true,
[17:34] but those are typically within the municipalities.
[17:36] So Southville, Millington, Churchill, Centerville,
[17:41] they all have pumps that are right near the roadway.
[17:45] The difference is between what they want to do
[17:48] and those, the pumps that are in those areas are one,
[17:52] they're in a municipality, the speeds are much, much slower.
[17:56] This section near 3 0 1 is totally different.
[18:00] And so at the very least, I hope
[18:03] what you'll consider doing is
[18:06] asking guidance from the fire
[18:08] marshal public works.
[18:12] Just try and get a better handle on the safety dimension of
[18:17] how this particular application
[18:19] could affect all of the county.
[18:22] I have to say, in some ways this feels like a little bit
[18:25] of a backdoor way of spots zoning
[18:27] because if the 100
[18:32] foot limit is right now countywide, basically
[18:37] what we're doing is we're trying
[18:39] to accommodate a single landowner,
[18:42] but it opens the door to every,
[18:44] every other area around the county.
[18:46] And so it's a little bit odd for those reasons.
[18:50] I hope you'll reject it very.
[18:53] Finally, the applicant mentioned the Board of Appeals.
[18:55] I have to tell you, anything that comes
[18:57] before the Board of Appeals under the standard
[19:00] of Schultz v PRTs, they would have to show that somehow
[19:04] or the, the anybody
[19:05] that opposes this particular project would somehow have
[19:08] to show that this is totally different than everything else.
[19:11] Having testified before the board or
[19:14] before the, the Appeals Board, on numerous occasions,
[19:17] nearly every single application has passed.
[19:20] And so I would not put a whole lot of faith that the,
[19:24] that the Board of Appeals would somehow
[19:26] be able to reject this.
[19:28] So for those reasons I just ask
[19:29] that you support the planning commission's guidance
[19:31] and give this an unfavorable recommendation.
[19:33] Thank you.
[19:36] Oh zero close
[19:43] Evening commissioners.
[19:45] I have a couple farms towards Ingleside in that area
[19:49] and like many people over there have always wanted something
[19:53] to get, you know, closer than Churchill for fuel and or food
[19:58] or just small, you know, necessities.
[19:59] So it's always been a, a wish of many of ours in that area
[20:03] to have something good on that corner.
[20:05] It's a great little spot.
[20:06] I mean I come through there all the time.
[20:07] There's a railroad track, people are always
[20:09] driving slow through there.
[20:11] I mean 3 0 1 is what it is right there,
[20:13] but there's nothing from Queenstown to Middletown
[20:16] and this is the only good place for it.
[20:18] And it's a, you know,
[20:20] it's just a shame that it's sitting there. So thank you.
[20:25] Thank you. That's everyone signed up.
[20:27] Is there any other public comment on county ordinance
[20:31] 26 0 5? Yeah,
[20:33] But I might have signed, I didn't sign it.
[20:36] That's okay. Good evening.
[20:39] This is kind of strange to me
[20:41] 'cause I'm usually up here asking for something for myself,
[20:43] but I'm not, this time, I'm just here as a citizen.
[20:46] I, I know the applicants.
[20:47] I know the property I drive by him. Name, name, name, name.
[20:49] Oh, Jim Dedo, Queenstown, sorry,
[20:53] I'm not a hundred percent up to speed on all the, the issues
[20:57] with the property, but I do know that we drive, you know,
[21:00] 3 0 1 a lot to Delaware up to Pennsylvania
[21:02] and it's an awful long road from,
[21:05] from Queenstown all the way to Middletown if you do need
[21:07] to stop for gas or something like that.
[21:09] And I, I think just from a, a perspective of a citizen,
[21:12] it would be nice to be able to, to have someplace that,
[21:14] you know, you could stop, get gas if
[21:16] you have to pull over something like that.
[21:17] 'cause it's a, it's a long stretch of road.
[21:20] So again, if there's something, I mean if the county sees it
[21:23] as, as an opportunity to,
[21:25] to revitalize an existing commercial property,
[21:28] I think it would be well received by, you know,
[21:31] citizens plus anybody that's driving through,
[21:34] if they spend any money there at all,
[21:35] it stays in the county versus going to Delaware,
[21:37] which I think that's probably where it's going right now.
[21:39] So from a tax perspective, I think that's probably a bonus.
[21:41] Like I said, I I have no interest, I have no
[21:44] interest in the property whatsoever.
[21:45] I just, but I would support seeing it developed if,
[21:50] if there's a way, if it's not this way,
[21:51] maybe there's another way you guys can recommend
[21:53] that it, that it goes through.
[21:54] So thank you very much.
[21:56] Thank you. Anybody else wanted pass testify?
[22:01] All right, we'll keep the record open for two weeks.
[22:05] Alright, Thank you.
[22:08] All right, commissioners also on your legislative tab.
[22:12] Item two, page two. This is public hearing county ordinance
[22:14] 26 0 6.
[22:16] This is another citizen sponsor text amendment.
[22:18] This is for maximum impervious surface ratio for commercial
[22:22] and industrial uses in the suburban commercial district
[22:26] that were operating prior to December 31st, 2025.
[22:30] Mr. Thompson,
[22:32] This is the public hearing being held on county ordinance
[22:35] number 26 0 6 A bill
[22:38] and Plato an act concerning an increase
[22:42] to the max maximum impervious surface ratio for commercial
[22:47] and industrial uses in the suburban commercial
[22:52] SC district, which were an operation prior
[22:55] to December 31st, 2025 in Queen Edge County,
[23:00] Maryland for the purpose
[23:01] of increasing the maximum impervious surface ratio
[23:05] for commercial industrial use
[23:08] uses in the suburban commercial zoning district,
[23:12] which were in operation prior
[23:14] to December 31st, 2025 from
[23:19] 0.45 45% to 0.80
[23:23] 80% by amending section 18 1 21 E
[23:28] two A, one of the code of public local laws
[23:31] of Queen AIDS county.
[23:34] This hearing's being held Tuesday,
[23:36] June 30th, 2026 at 5:45 PM
[23:40] County Commission meeting room,
[23:42] Liberty Building 1 0 7 North Liberty Street Centerville.
[23:45] Opposed ordinance received an unfavorable recommendation
[23:50] from the planning commission that the May 14th, 2026 meeting
[23:56] copies of opposed ordinance
[23:58] have been available at the county commissioner's office
[24:01] during normal business hours.
[24:04] And online on the county website speakers will be limited
[24:08] to three minutes each written testimony of any, any length
[24:12] could be submitted on
[24:13] before the hearing date to the county Commissioners.
[24:16] All hearing sites are accessible, individual
[24:18] with disabilities, sign language interpreters
[24:22] and assistive listening systems are available.
[24:25] Part of the record of this proceeding will be a certificate
[24:28] of publication indicating the notice of the air, the publish
[24:32] for two successive weeks and the Bay Times
[24:35] and record observer of newspapers are general circulation in
[24:39] Queen Edge County as well as a recommendation
[24:43] of the Queen Edge County Planning Commission.
[24:47] Jay Fett
[24:54] Ninth's Daily Double Commissioners, Jay Fett,
[24:57] queen Ann Conservation Association.
[25:02] Once again, this is one of those issues where
[25:06] I hope you'll accept your planning
[25:07] commission's recommendation.
[25:10] But it also raises the question
[25:11] of just stormwater generally in Queen Anne's County.
[25:14] And right now we're making progress in
[25:20] waters that reach the bay.
[25:21] Agriculture is making progress.
[25:23] The one area where we're sliding backwards
[25:25] has to do with storm water.
[25:27] And so I hope we can find ways to accommodate some
[25:31] of these projects that are coming up while at the same time
[25:35] addressing some of the storm water issues
[25:38] in doing an AI review tonight.
[25:40] I just wanna put this on the record
[25:42] because it does give everybody a little bit of hope.
[25:45] I think I ask AI
[25:48] whether there was substantial construction costs
[25:51] increase in going
[25:53] with impervious surfaces over traditional parking lots.
[25:56] And here's what it said, opting
[25:58] for a pervious layout can ultimately make a project 12
[26:02] to 38% cheaper overall
[26:05] because it completely eliminates the need
[26:07] for expensive underground
[26:09] and storm water sewers, catch basins
[26:11] and retention bonds and then going further.
[26:14] Traditional parking lots must route water
[26:17] to dedicated land consuming stormwater retention basins,
[26:21] previous or pervious pavement is the basin
[26:25] saving valuable land for parking spaces
[26:27] or for building footprints.
[26:29] And so I mentioned that just
[26:31] because Atkins Arboretum has a a great parking lot
[26:34] where it's pervious water drains through,
[26:39] it does not sheet off into the local creek
[26:42] and it is a good environmental aspect to have.
[26:45] And so if you're looking towards approving these types
[26:48] of projects, I hope we can find ways to
[26:52] find better mitigation standards that go beyond our code
[26:57] in preventing some of these toxic waters from reaching the
[27:00] Bay and the tributaries.
[27:02] With that, thank you. Thank you.
[27:05] Be honor person signed up.
[27:08] I did know I had signed twice. Could you forgive me?
[27:11] I represent the applicant here as well. Sure.
[27:13] Brendan Malaney, 100 Northwest Street East in Maryland here
[27:16] on behalf of three parties.
[27:18] Chesapeake Boat Lift service, Chesapeake Family
[27:20] Flooring in the middle of Kingstown.
[27:22] This again is a a text amendment that was brought forward
[27:25] by three businesses that are operating in the county today
[27:28] to address a very real problem
[27:31] that businesses are facing in the SC zoning district.
[27:34] Currently the lot coverage,
[27:36] the total maximum impervious surface in the SC zoning
[27:40] district is 45%.
[27:42] That doesn't just include asphalt and buildings
[27:46] and gravel, it also includes all parking areas,
[27:49] whether they're on grass impervious pavers.
[27:52] It also includes all lay down
[27:54] and storage areas, even if they are on vegetated land cover.
[27:58] And that comes out of the county code.
[28:00] Unfortunately, staff has interpreted that to, to include all
[28:05] of those areas even if they're vegetated the,
[28:08] the proposal was aligned with a couple
[28:11] of other zoning districts in the county
[28:14] that allow 80% maximum coverage to give the most flexibility
[28:19] to my clients, the property owners.
[28:23] And one of them is a tenant in the county
[28:26] who operate businesses and are looking to expand
[28:29] and invest in the properties in order to do so.
[28:31] Oftentimes that means enlarging buildings,
[28:34] it means enlarging parking areas growing their business.
[28:37] So this would be a vote if this should be modified
[28:40] to support businesses in the county.
[28:43] Recognizing that the planning commission was told only
[28:46] consider the 80% we had submitted a modified proposal.
[28:50] If it is more palatable to the county
[28:52] to propose an increase from 45% to 65%,
[28:58] that would be consistent with
[29:00] what is permitted in the suburban industrial district.
[29:03] This again is the suburban commercial district.
[29:05] So you'd go from 45% to 65%
[29:08] and would give much needed flexibility to
[29:12] businesses like the ones I represent
[29:14] and throughout the county that are in
[29:15] the SC zoning district.
[29:17] I also think it's important to note that only 202
[29:21] of the 27,375 properties in the county
[29:26] are zoned sc.
[29:28] So this is not something that I believe is going
[29:30] to open the floodgates countywide.
[29:32] It is a moderate increase in proposed lot coverage.
[29:36] The 80% that was proposed eliminated all
[29:40] of the non-conforming situations on SC zoned properties
[29:44] that my office could find.
[29:46] There are only three properties that we could find
[29:48] that are significantly over that 80%.
[29:51] And again that that does not include my aerial
[29:56] review, does not include the landscape lay down
[29:59] or parking areas that businesses
[30:01] use to support their business.
[30:02] That was only gravel, asphalt, and structures.
[30:08] If the 65% were to be found acceptable to the commissioners,
[30:12] that would eliminate all
[30:15] but 12 of the non-conforming situations that we found.
[30:19] The total non-conforming situations that we found were 39
[30:22] of the 202 SC zoned properties.
[30:27] We believe that this is a reasonable increase.
[30:29] It's consistent with other zoning districts
[30:31] that are similar, similarly situated in the county
[30:33] and solves a problem
[30:35] that real businesses in the county are facing right now
[30:39] that's preventing them from operating their companies.
[30:42] So ask that you discuss this
[30:44] and look at it favorably, modify it within reason
[30:47] and move it forward. Thank you. Thank you.
[30:51] Any other testimony on county ordinance 25 0 6? Yes ma'am.
[30:59] Good evening commissioners.
[31:00] My name's Annie Richards, I'm your Chester River keeper.
[31:02] I look forward to speaking with you in just a few minutes,
[31:05] but I just wanted to share Sho River's concerns with this
[31:08] particular county ordinance.
[31:11] As Mr. Fall said, mentioned in from QACA impervious surface
[31:15] is a major contributor to stormwater
[31:17] runoff to our waterways.
[31:20] I participate in a lot of work groups for state legislation
[31:22] and something that NGOs
[31:24] and environmental partners talk a lot about is how
[31:26] to help counties meet their MS four permit goals.
[31:29] And so when we consider a major impervious surface increase
[31:32] in zoning close to double in this situation, one
[31:36] of the concerns that is flagged for me is
[31:39] how will the county quantify what that increase will mean
[31:43] for the increased water loads for in terms
[31:45] of meeting your MS four goals.
[31:48] Also, DNR has long supplied information
[31:51] and research that shows that when a county
[31:54] or when a sub watershed goes 5% impervious surface,
[31:59] five to 10% in impervious surface, you start
[32:02] to create conditions in the local streams
[32:05] and sub watersheds that plummet dissolved oxygen levels
[32:09] and impact fishery habitat.
[32:11] So essentially you start
[32:12] to massively eliminate the biodiversity of fish
[32:14] that can exist in that waterway.
[32:17] And so if a text ordinance like this were to proceed,
[32:21] I would recommend having some sort of tally
[32:23] and accounting process as
[32:25] to what's happening in each sub watershed to see
[32:28] how much we're increasing impervious surface in those areas.
[32:31] And in particular, I would be thinking about tier two
[32:34] streams which require,
[32:35] which are currently in much better standing in terms
[32:38] of water quality in the county.
[32:40] And of course the state
[32:41] of Maryland has heightened expectations
[32:43] for protecting that increased.
[32:44] So if you have any questions, happy
[32:46] to supply greater information
[32:48] from Shore Rivers and our staff.
[32:50] Thank you for receiving our comment.
[32:53] We have a testimony on county Ordinance 26 0 6.
[32:59] Well thank you very much. We'll keep
[33:01] the record open for two weeks.
[33:15] Alright commissioners, we can move into the
[33:16] presentations this evening.
[33:18] So next up we have Annie Richards, Chester River Keeper,
[33:22] shore Rivers, and she's gonna give us
[33:24] the Shore Rivers update.
[33:25] We have a presentation in your books tab number six,
[33:28] item one, pages one through 17.
[33:30] And it's up on the big screen here as well.
[33:33] We should have just stayed up here.
[33:34] Yeah, that's right Annie.
[33:35] How you doing? Okay.
[33:36] Hi. Hey, now once again, I'm Annie Richards.
[33:39] I'm your Chester River keeper with Shore Rivers.
[33:40] It's a pleasure to be here. I'm not often able
[33:42] to give you all a presentation about our programs.
[33:44] I'm proud to do so. Tonight I'm gonna be speaking
[33:47] to you about our Swimmable Shore Rivers program.
[33:50] So in case you're unfamiliar,
[33:52] shore Rivers is a local water quality nonprofit.
[33:55] Our mission is to protect
[33:56] and restore Eastern shore waterways
[33:58] through science-based education, restoration, advocacy,
[34:01] and community engagement.
[34:02] Those are the four pillars we think really work
[34:04] for a rural area like the Eastern shore.
[34:07] And it's not just river keepers though we have four.
[34:10] I'm happy to work with more than 30 full-time staff members
[34:14] across the sassafras Chester miles y Eastern Bay
[34:17] and Chop Tank watersheds.
[34:19] We have many different departments to uphold the four spokes
[34:22] of our mission that I mentioned earlier.
[34:24] We're trying to achieve a vision
[34:25] of thriving rivers cherished
[34:27] by all Eastern shore communities.
[34:28] And you can't cherish our rivers without getting in them.
[34:32] We've been busy since becoming a merged organization
[34:35] of legacy grassroots organizations in 2018.
[34:37] We've been able to accomplish a lot.
[34:39] I'm not gonna go through all of those things,
[34:41] but this is one of our annual reports
[34:42] that summarizes the many achievements each
[34:44] of our departments have made in terms
[34:46] of stewarding students, restoring underwater bay grasses,
[34:50] planting trees, and many, many more things.
[34:54] But what I think really makes us stand out compared
[34:56] to other organizations is our commitment to science.
[34:59] So this graph here shows you
[35:04] shore rivers testing sites
[35:05] and those have been community supported as far back
[35:08] as the 1980s when our grassroots organizations
[35:11] or legacy organizations began.
[35:13] Today we operate 67 tidal water quality stations across the
[35:17] four watersheds we serve.
[35:19] We have 54 bacteria monitoring sites.
[35:21] Let's compare that to what the state does in
[35:23] that same geographic region.
[35:25] Maryland Department of the Environment operates seven tidal
[35:27] water quality stations
[35:29] and 19 healthy beaches sites, which again are comparable
[35:32] to our bacteria programs.
[35:33] This isn't to throw shade at our state of Maryland,
[35:37] but it is to show what the power
[35:39] of community investment does.
[35:40] We have a lot of community support, a lot
[35:42] of community requests for this data
[35:44] 'cause they want to know what's happening
[35:45] in their local rivers.
[35:48] And I would say the thing that gets the most public
[35:50] engagement that we do is sharing the results
[35:52] of our bacteria monitoring program
[35:54] through Swimmable Shore Rivers.
[35:55] As I mentioned, we have 54 bacteria sites.
[35:58] We test those sites with a suite of volunteers.
[36:00] We have more than 50 volunteers that go out
[36:02] to public access locations.
[36:04] Not all of them are swimming sites,
[36:06] but we also know that when you're launching a kayak
[36:08] with your children, the chances for recreation
[36:11] and those shallow waters are very high.
[36:12] So we wanna make sure that we have reliable bacteria data,
[36:15] even if it's not a designated swimming beach.
[36:18] And those volunteers go out between Memorial Day
[36:20] and Labor Day every Thursday they collect a water sample,
[36:23] bring it to our in-office labs.
[36:25] We process those for fecal and enterococci.
[36:27] So we're talking about waste.
[36:29] So bacteria that comes from waste.
[36:30] We're not talking about Vibrio
[36:32] or any kind of flesh eating bacteria.
[36:34] This is something that is in the gut
[36:37] of every warm blooded species
[36:39] that lives in our environment, including us.
[36:41] And so that's what we're testing for using the IDEXX system.
[36:44] We share those results with the public every week on Friday
[36:48] so that they're ready to recreate for the weekend.
[36:50] We also share with local agencies
[36:52] and we follow the Maryland State Clean Water Standards in
[36:55] terms of our thresholds for passing and failing.
[36:59] And this is incredibly tiny for you guys to see.
[37:01] Plus shameless advertising from my cute children.
[37:04] So you can see all
[37:05] of the different dots along our watersheds.
[37:08] You'll see green dots, yellow dots, and red dots.
[37:10] Red dots are testing locations that pass less than 60%
[37:15] of the time that they're tested yellow between 60
[37:18] and 79% of the time.
[37:20] And green pass 80 to 100% of the time.
[37:23] Happy to report that we have a Corsica River site
[37:25] that passes 80 to 100% of the time.
[37:28] That's a Corsica River Yacht Club.
[37:30] And then Conquest Preserve also does very well.
[37:33] It can toggle back and forth between yellow
[37:35] and green year in year out.
[37:36] I think that goes to show that we have a lot
[37:38] of natural lands out on Spaniard's neck
[37:40] and that contributes to healthy water quality.
[37:44] I also wanna flag that we are in the final stages
[37:46] of becoming tier three certified, which is the highest level
[37:49] of certification A NGO lab can become in terms
[37:53] of having our data recognized by the state of Maryland
[37:56] by the EPA and having our data integrated
[37:58] into the state integrated report for water quality.
[38:03] So there are many different stations that we have
[38:08] that we test that are actually public landings
[38:11] and publicly operated by Queen Anne's County across two
[38:13] of our watersheds miles y Eastern Bay.
[38:16] We have Matte Beach Kent Narrows and Drum Point Y Island.
[38:21] All of those were in the red you could see.
[38:23] And then in the Chester we have some others,
[38:28] Southeast Creek Crumpton Landing, Jackson Creek Landing.
[38:33] So those are the publicly operated landings as I mentioned,
[38:37] that are part of Queen Ance County that we test for.
[38:40] And unfortunately most of them are in the red except
[38:43] for Jackson Creek, which is yellow.
[38:46] So while we wish all of our sites are green, they are not.
[38:49] What environments do bacteria thrive
[38:51] and grow in darkness, heat and nutrients.
[38:54] We have turbid rivers here on the Eastern shore.
[38:57] We have nutrient and sediment pollution problems that kind
[38:59] of creates a perfect environment for bacteria to grow
[39:02] and to thrive, even if it's a normal amount of bacteria.
[39:06] And what I mean is bacteria introduced by wildlife, deer
[39:09] creatures living in the marsh, that type of thing.
[39:12] But we also have common sources
[39:13] of bacterial runoff from agriculture,
[39:15] from failing septic systems,
[39:17] wastewater treatment plants elicit discharge from boats
[39:20] and then storm water gen runoff generally across the land.
[39:25] All of this can con contribute to situations
[39:28] where folks really want to know what the bacteria
[39:32] count is in their waterway before they use it.
[39:34] And we have the web traffic to prove that.
[39:37] So as I mentioned, this is something that we get a lot
[39:39] of feedback from the public on.
[39:41] This is a tally of the web traffic that we get
[39:44] through the swim guide for each
[39:46] of the Queen Anne's County sites.
[39:48] You can see we have over 54,000 views
[39:51] of people checking this website
[39:52] to see if their favorite landing is ready
[39:55] and appropriate to be recreating in.
[39:58] We get a, we've also been surveying our members
[40:02] and general community members about the utility
[40:05] of the program and we've gotten a huge
[40:07] response from the public.
[40:08] 88% of respondents said
[40:10] that the bacteria results from Shore Rivers influence their
[40:12] decision about where and when to swim.
[40:14] And that's important to us because this program is not
[40:17] telling people not to get into our river.
[40:19] It's teaching people how and when and where.
[40:23] We also use this data publicly, a program I'd love
[40:27] to highlight is we actually share this data
[40:28] with the Smithson Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
[40:32] and they use that data to train satellites
[40:34] to pick up different pigments in the water
[40:37] and then attribute those pigments from satellites
[40:40] to certain bacteria counts, certain per turbidity accounts,
[40:43] and then certain algae content.
[40:45] So it's training satellites from space
[40:47] to detect our water quality.
[40:49] And then as I mentioned, we also share our data
[40:51] with the state of Maryland
[40:52] and with the EPA
[40:54] to influence integrated reports and other things.
[40:58] And so today I'm here
[40:59] before you to humbly ask for your support for this program.
[41:03] So we are approaching our counties this year
[41:05] to help support this program as it is a public resource
[41:08] and a tool for all county citizens.
[41:11] We are asking for the funds that it would cost
[41:14] to cover the sites that are operated by,
[41:17] or that are yeah, operated and owned by Queen Anne County.
[41:21] That's seven public sites.
[41:23] Our price to operate
[41:24] and serve these sites is $50 per site per week.
[41:26] We run this program for 16 weeks, which is a total of $5,600
[41:30] for the entire season for all of these sites.
[41:33] And that covers testing, supplies, staff time
[41:36] and lab equipment depreciation.
[41:40] And with that I would welcome
[41:41] any questions that you might have.
[41:43] Can you go back to the last slide?
[41:44] Absolutely. Is there any way
[41:46] to get more testing sites from Matte Beach South?
[41:50] The reason I say that is because you know we have gone
[41:53] through our Southern Ken Island sewer
[41:56] and I wanna see, has it cleaned it up?
[41:58] How much it's, it's cleaned it up
[42:00] or if it's trending towards cleaning it up?
[42:04] Absolutely. I can speak for Ben Ford,
[42:05] our miles wide Eastern Bay Riverkeeper
[42:07] to say he would absolutely love some more sites in
[42:09] his watershed.
[42:10] And so if that's something
[42:11] that Queen Ance County was interested in exploring adding
[42:13] to the docket, then we
[42:14] could absolutely talk about that. What
[42:16] Do you need to get the site selections?
[42:18] So typically the way
[42:19] that Shore Rivers chooses sites is it's gotta be a publicly
[42:23] accessible location in some way.
[42:24] Like for example, Corsica River Yacht Club is not a public
[42:27] access point, but it serves the public
[42:29] because it offers summer camps
[42:30] and swimming activities and things like that.
[42:32] So you have to have a willing site public access.
[42:34] We have to have a volunteer,
[42:36] which we're very proud at Shore Rivers
[42:37] that we do not have a lack of volunteers.
[42:39] It's quite easy for us to identify Swimmable,
[42:42] shore Rivers volunteer and then we need the funding
[42:44] and that's how we bring that new site online.
[42:47] We do camp. Right.
[42:48] And Roman Co here right would be two,
[42:52] what's the, the beach down there? Yeah,
[42:54] We go to, we could reach out to the Beach
[42:55] and Recreation Association Can Island,
[42:57] the States Beach and Recreation
[42:59] Association. Those they've got what
[43:00] Beach?
[43:01] We could probably get at least three or four long there.
[43:02] Yeah. And then all way on the other side we donate 6,000
[43:06] be enough to get a couple more spots.
[43:09] You can't do math that quickly,
[43:10] but if it's $50 per site per week for those extra sites,
[43:13] then yes, we could do that. It's
[43:15] $800 a site.
[43:16] Yeah, $800 per year per site. Yeah.
[43:19] You need to go To Annie. Are you? I couldn't tell
[43:23] Right From the on the screen are you testing
[43:26] by the white mouth of the Y River?
[43:29] The commissioners just invested quite a bit
[43:31] of money in an oyster restoration project there.
[43:34] It'd be interesting to see the water quality.
[43:38] 88.
[43:43] I'm doing the math right.
[43:47] So we want to do, Did you hear me
[43:52] Say what you said again about the oyster restoration?
[43:55] Real quick.
[43:57] I was just saying Annie are, are you testing
[44:00] by the mouth of the Y River?
[44:03] The commissioners invested quite a bit into oyster
[44:06] restoration there last year and then this year.
[44:10] And it'd be nice to know what the water quality is
[44:14] by the oyster reefs.
[44:16] I see. Thank you for repeating that question.
[44:19] So the closest testing site we have
[44:21] to the restoration site you've mentioned is drum point on Y
[44:25] Island, which is pretty close.
[44:26] It's not right over it but it's certainly it should.
[44:30] The neighborhood education where it's at. Yeah, I
[44:32] Agree.
[44:33] I can speak because I've done it, my wife
[44:36] and I many a times drum point
[44:39] and just south of where everybody ties up the minute they
[44:42] leave, first thing they do is pump out.
[44:44] Hmm. And we've taken samples plenty of times doing that
[44:50] but Well then I'll make a motion for $8,000
[44:54] that'll cover the US for three more sites.
[44:56] Three more sites
[44:59] I would come back to.
[45:01] Well can I come back and accept?
[45:02] I would absolutely love to accept,
[45:03] but I'd love to just confirm with my colleague Ben Ford
[45:07] and that it's incredibly generous of you
[45:08] and we love to add sites so
[45:10] that communities have more information.
[45:11] So that's wonderful. I'll
[45:12] Make a second on the 8,000.
[45:13] So we'll just go ahead and Right do that
[45:16] and then come back if you need more.
[45:17] Okay. Make It easier. All
[45:19] Go. Great. Thank you.
[45:20] You still up there? Yeah.
[45:23] Okay, so we have a motion and a second for $8,000.
[45:26] All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye.
[45:29] Aye. Aye. Aye. Four zero. So
[45:32] Annie, can you Pull out his checkbook?
[45:35] Can you let us know if there are other areas that oyster
[45:40] reefs, restoration barges, so to speak would be helpful?
[45:47] Absolutely. You don't, You don't have to tell us now,
[45:49] just, you know, let us know.
[45:51] Sure. I can come back with a whole oyster
[45:53] presentation in another time.
[45:56] Okay. Thank you. You thank your oyster
[45:57] Barge handy Dan.
[45:59] Yes, I know I gotta, I gotta keep 'em in organized boxes.
[46:01] But thank you all so much for generosity.
[46:03] Thank this is a wonderful program. Appreciate it. Thank you.
[46:11] Alright commissioners.
[46:12] Moving on to our second presentation for this evening.
[46:15] This is also tab six, item two, pages 18 through 34.
[46:20] We have Janet Nelson,
[46:22] commission on Aging member subcommittee chair,
[46:25] Ms. Janet Salazar, commission on Aging.
[46:28] Member Queen and county library Director. Ms.
[46:30] Annie Sparks our Department of Aging
[46:33] and Transportation director.
[46:35] The presentation is entitled Longevity
[46:37] Ready Queen Anns County. So Annie, hello.
[46:41] Thank you for having us. Alright,
[46:42] Thank You'all. Good to see you.
[46:44] Are we ready? So a few people I do wanna introduce
[46:48] before we get started.
[46:50] So to my right we have Ms. Janet Nelson,
[46:53] she is a commission on aging member
[46:55] and chairperson for the subcommittee
[46:57] of the Commission on Aging
[46:59] for the Longevity Ready Queen and County.
[47:02] She's joining me up here today. Thank you for for that.
[47:05] And Janet Salazar, queen County director
[47:08] as you know, sends her regrets.
[47:10] She was under the weather today
[47:12] so she won't be able to join us.
[47:14] And then we have Bonnie Walter here with us.
[47:18] She is attending
[47:20] as the Queen Anne County Commission on Aging Long
[47:23] serving chairperson.
[47:24] So thank you for being here and all that you do.
[47:27] And Becky Barbie is another member
[47:29] of the subcommittee group we've had
[47:32] and another member of the Commission on Aging.
[47:34] And then if other members
[47:35] of the Commission on Aging can raise your
[47:37] hand, thank you for coming.
[47:40] And then we have some staff here as well.
[47:43] Aging administrators, they're like, no, no, we're done.
[47:50] So thank you and I will turn it over
[47:51] to Janet to get us started.
[47:54] Well our program started when the state
[47:56] of Maryland did a presentation
[47:58] on their Longevity Ready Maryland program.
[48:02] And it was to recognize Maryland's growing over 50
[48:06] population and what the state could do.
[48:10] Well we started thinking why should we wait for the state?
[48:13] Let's look at Queen Anne County.
[48:15] Well as a result,
[48:17] queen Anne County's commission on Aging believes
[48:20] let's bring the awareness to our county.
[48:24] Okay? Because of the increase in our population,
[48:29] our slides are going to show statistically
[48:31] how it's really increasing for those over 50.
[48:35] So to accomplish this mission, we would like to
[48:40] and or have planned presentations to bring awareness
[48:45] to our increasing aging population.
[48:47] Everybody's aging right?
[48:50] And we would like to give it
[48:52] to county government departments, civic organizations
[48:56] and businesses about the aging population in this county
[49:00] and what their needs are.
[49:03] And now shall we go on with our slides? Okay,
[49:05] Sure thing.
[49:08] So again, who we are for people watching at home too,
[49:10] the Department of Aging
[49:11] and Transportation, which houses the community care
[49:15] division, senior Centers division,
[49:17] and the Transportation County ride division
[49:20] and of course the Commission on Aging,
[49:22] which put the subcommittee together for this presentation.
[49:26] They do a lot of large events for the aging population
[49:30] and coming up in September they will be hosting a
[49:34] resources spotlight event.
[49:36] So be on the lookout for that.
[49:38] And then in 2027 there will be the
[49:41] usual senior center tour for the commissioners
[49:44] as well as the town hall.
[49:45] So a couple of big events that they have coming up.
[49:49] And so how all this got started,
[49:52] governor Moore signed the Longevity Ready Maryland Executive
[49:55] order through the leadership of Secretary Rooke
[49:59] for Maryland Department of Aging
[50:02] for moving aging services from a category reserve
[50:05] for a specific group of people at a specific time of life
[50:09] to a unified whole of government process
[50:11] that better prepares Maryland
[50:13] for longer lives across the lifespan.
[50:16] So this QR code for people watching at home too,
[50:19] if anyone wants to check out the full Longevity Ready
[50:22] Maryland plan, they can click that QR code
[50:24] and have access to that
[50:25] and a lot of great resources through the data dashboard.
[50:32] So with the Longevity Ready Maryland plan,
[50:35] it is a 10 year multi-sector plan,
[50:37] which put together four epic goals of building longevity,
[50:41] ecosystem, promoting economic opportunity,
[50:46] pre preparing Marylanders to afford longevity
[50:49] and optimizing health and wellness.
[50:54] Some stats for the state of Maryland
[50:57] are included in the slide.
[50:59] By the year 2031 in every four Marylanders will be over the
[51:03] age of 60 by 20 35, 1 in three American households
[51:08] will be headed by someone 65 or older.
[51:12] Maryland's 85 and overpopulation is the fastest
[51:15] growing segments.
[51:17] And then we have some Queen Anne County
[51:18] numbers here as well.
[51:20] So looking back in 1980,
[51:23] the 50 in overpopulation was at 29%,
[51:29] then going up to 2000, the year 2000 was 31.
[51:35] And then in 2020 was 43.6
[51:38] with a continued growing population for Maryland,
[51:43] for Marylanders for the 60 plus in 2020 it was 22%
[51:48] and then estimated by the time of 2030 it will be 26%.
[51:53] 44% of Marylanders jobs are supported
[51:56] by Marylanders over age 50 by 2030,
[52:01] Marylanders age 50 and over will support 1.7 million jobs
[52:04] and occupy 36% of the workforce by 2050.
[52:09] The 50 and over population will account for 60%
[52:13] of all money spent in Maryland.
[52:15] And yes, there will be a pop quiz at the end
[52:21] For the Alice threshold.
[52:23] The asset limited income constrained employed group
[52:27] looks at a group that falls above the federal poverty level,
[52:33] but they don't make enough to afford the cost of living.
[52:37] So this is a, a big group that is underserved
[52:42] and really all groups are.
[52:44] So we are going to be sharing this in our presentation
[52:47] with the businesses that we go
[52:49] and see, as well as sharing some information on ageism
[52:54] because that is an important part of it
[52:58] with stereotypes
[52:59] and prejudice being included in people's
[53:04] abilities to live longer, work longer.
[53:07] And you know, important of thinking
[53:11] that if someone is capable of doing something
[53:14] based on abilities and not on age, and it goes both ways.
[53:19] So assuming younger people are incompetent
[53:22] or unreliable is a stereotype as well.
[53:27] So what we're going to be doing in the community,
[53:31] you all are our first presentation, so we're
[53:35] metaphorically cutting the ribbon with you all.
[53:37] Thank you for doing that with us.
[53:39] So we're gonna be talking with businesses on
[53:41] how they can prepare for people living longer.
[53:47] A big part of the Maryland Department
[53:49] of Aging multi-sector plan is
[53:53] bringing businesses together to talk about it.
[53:56] I think Commissioner Wilson said it well in one
[53:59] of the budget presentations with the public where he said,
[54:02] we are an aging county
[54:04] and you mentioned the emergency services getting another
[54:07] ambulance because of that aging population.
[54:10] And that's really what this multi-sector plan is about.
[54:14] It's talking about the aging population.
[54:17] So every department and every business is ready for it.
[54:22] So we will be brainstorming with the businesses on
[54:25] what they can do to be longevity, ready
[54:28] and be ready for every age and every stage.
[54:33] And with that we have a video I will ask
[54:35] for qac TV's help with
[54:45] I am aging, we are aging, we're aging,
[54:51] we're aging, we're aging, we are
[54:56] Aging, we're all aging through every stage of life.
[54:59] The Queen Anne County Area Agency on Aging invites you
[55:02] to explore all of the fun activities
[55:04] and supportive programs they offer to older adults,
[55:07] individuals with disabilities and caregivers from crafting
[55:11] and lunches to events and dancing.
[55:14] This department encourages residents
[55:16] to learn about services offered, preparing
[55:18] for longevity at every age and every stage.
[55:21] For more information, please visit the Department of Aging
[55:24] and Transportation's website.
[55:28] Thank you for watching QAC tv.
[55:33] Thank you Bruce.
[55:38] And so with that we will conclude our presentation
[55:43] because we are all aging
[55:45] and we wanna be prepared for every age and every stage.
[55:48] We look forward to going out into the community
[55:50] to offer this presentation,
[55:52] which will be a lot more interactive and and things.
[55:55] So if you know of businesses
[55:57] or things that may be interested, please let us know.
[56:00] And we would like to do a group photo
[56:02] with y'all since this is our inaugural presentation,
[56:06] if you're willing to do that with us And everyone here
[56:08] that came for this presentation,
[56:09] if you can get in it as well.
[56:11] Alright, Thank you.
[56:31] Have to jump. I'm
[57:10] Thank you.
[57:11] Thank you.
[57:26] It's
[57:32] white.
[57:32] Need that yet? Yeah, keep it handy.
[57:39] Everybody get one of these masks. I
[57:44] Dunno. Centerville
[57:45] Gotta be.
[57:46] Yeah, yeah. Gotta be.
[57:49] All right. Commissioners, you ready to proceed on
[57:50] with our Absolutely business?
[57:52] Okay, next up we have the Department of Public Works,
[57:56] they've got several action items.
[57:57] So if you wanna turn to tab number two for DPW.
[58:03] So we have Lee Edgar, our chief engineer,
[58:05] and Alan Quimby, our director of public works.
[58:08] So tab two, item one on pages one
[58:10] through three is the Department
[58:11] of Emergency Services Station 400, which is out at near DPW,
[58:16] the old helicopter hangar.
[58:17] This is a renovations contract award for DES station 400
[58:22] to remove and replace existing exterior metal wall panels,
[58:27] install metal over metal retrofit roof system,
[58:31] interior wall panel systems and exhaust fans
[58:34] and other components and additional all site work.
[58:36] So the bids came in, there were four bids,
[58:39] the lowest responsible bidder was 338,100
[58:44] $108 with Bayside Roofing
[58:46] and Exteriors of Rockville, Maryland.
[58:51] None of them from our county.
[58:56] I'm sorry, commissioner couldn't
[58:57] quite understand that. None of them
[58:58] From our county Are they from Mayor County.
[59:02] We had bidders from Rockville, Harrington, Delaware,
[59:05] Salisbury and Gaithersburg were the four bidders.
[59:11] Were you in a motion I move
[59:13] to award the DES station 400 renovations contract
[59:16] to Bayside Roofing and Exteriors LLC of Rockville, Maryland
[59:20] and the amount of $338,108.
[59:24] And authorize the director of public works
[59:26] to issue the notice of award
[59:28] and execute the contract on behalf
[59:30] of the county commissioners.
[59:32] Second, do you have a motion to second any discussion?
[59:37] Seeing none. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye.
[59:40] Aye. Aye. Gonna have it completed. Do you know?
[59:43] I think they're allowed 90 days,
[59:45] That's correct.
[59:46] And we're ready to hit the ground running.
[59:48] Good. Thank you commissioners.
[59:52] Alright commissioners, the next items are for the
[59:56] sanitary commission, so
[59:58] Convenience, sanitary.
[59:59] Second. All those in favor?
[1:00:01] Aye. Aye. Alright, thank you Commissioners.
[1:00:05] Item two on pages three through six.
[1:00:07] This is a consent to assign a Maryland Department
[1:00:12] of Transportation easement to license agreement
[1:00:16] from the town of Sellersville to the county.
[1:00:20] The town had to secure a license agreement from MDOT in
[1:00:22] order to place one of their water mains
[1:00:24] and Main Street under their railroad right away there.
[1:00:27] And as we all know, the county is now the owner
[1:00:29] of the water main and the utility systems in Sellersville.
[1:00:32] So this is a transfer document from the town of Sellersville
[1:00:34] to county.
[1:00:38] I move to execute the consent
[1:00:40] to assign a license agreement
[1:00:42] with the Maryland Transit Authority in order
[1:00:44] to transfer the license, allowing a water main
[1:00:46] with Main Street to cross under the existing railroad right
[1:00:50] of way from the town of Sellersville to the county.
[1:00:53] Second, we got a motion to second.
[1:00:55] Any discussion on this item? Seen none.
[1:00:58] All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed?
[1:01:01] And moved.
[1:01:03] Okay, thank you commissioners.
[1:01:05] Item three on pages seven through nine.
[1:01:08] This is the A memorandum from Director Quimbee
[1:01:11] for the Barclays Sewer Subdistrict rate hearing.
[1:01:16] As I mentioned, the county owns
[1:01:17] and operates the public wastewater collection system serving
[1:01:20] the town of Barclay through the Barclay sewer Subdistrict.
[1:01:24] Following an exhaustive review
[1:01:26] of the system's first full year of operation,
[1:01:29] we've completed a financial review
[1:01:30] and determined its current user rates are unfortunately
[1:01:34] insufficient to cover the actual cost
[1:01:35] of the operating maintaining of that system.
[1:01:39] And the staff is recommending
[1:01:40] that the Sanctuary Commission authorize the public hearing
[1:01:42] to consider revisions to the Barclay sewer rate schedule.
[1:01:46] We propose to have that on July the 28th
[1:01:49] and I think we would wanna hold that up in the northern part
[1:01:52] of the county if we can find an an appropriate venue.
[1:01:56] The idea here is we would be ready to have this,
[1:01:59] the new rate schedule be effective
[1:02:02] for the October billing cycle
[1:02:04] and there are a number of components to that rate schedule.
[1:02:09] Would you like me to read through those real quickly?
[1:02:13] The motion? Well, yes in the motion as well.
[1:02:14] Yeah. Yeah, I'll do the motion.
[1:02:16] Okay. Alright, commissioner, I move
[1:02:18] to hold a public hearing on July 28th, 2026
[1:02:20] to adopt a Barclay sewer service area rate schedule
[1:02:23] and consider the following rate adjustments.
[1:02:25] Institute a customer charge of $6 per quarter per account
[1:02:29] institute a ready to serve exemption program
[1:02:31] to assist homeowners with limited incomes currently defined
[1:02:34] as a gross income of 38,484
[1:02:37] or less to modify the ready
[1:02:39] to serve charge billing from a per account basis
[1:02:41] to a per EDU basis to increase the current operations
[1:02:45] and maintenance charges by 25% per EDU
[1:02:48] to institute an annual rate escalator to be applied
[1:02:52] to the operations and maintenance charge
[1:02:53] and the pump maintenance charge.
[1:02:54] Effective July 1st, 2027 in each subsequent,
[1:02:58] subsequent July 1st thereafter.
[1:03:03] Second, we have a motion and a second.
[1:03:05] Any discussion on this item? Seeing none.
[1:03:09] All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed?
[1:03:13] Four zero
[1:03:16] Thank you commissioners.
[1:03:17] Item four on pages 10, 11, and 12.
[1:03:20] This is for the sellersville water
[1:03:22] and sewer subdistrict rates.
[1:03:25] Again, the county owns and operates the public water
[1:03:27] and sewer system serving the town of Sellersville
[1:03:29] through Sellersville water and sewer subdistrict.
[1:03:32] Again, a comprehensive financial review found
[1:03:35] that existing rates no longer generate sufficient revenue
[1:03:37] to cover the actual cost of operating, maintaining,
[1:03:40] and servicing debt associated with these systems.
[1:03:43] And again, staff recommends San Commission authorized public
[1:03:46] hearing to consider revisions to the sellersville water
[1:03:48] and sewer rate schedule.
[1:03:50] And the, these proposed changes do include a phased three
[1:03:53] year adjustment to those water and sewer rates.
[1:03:56] And again, we would like to hold
[1:03:58] that on July the 28th in order to be prepared for
[1:04:01] implementation by the October billing cycle.
[1:04:04] Okay, I moved to hold a public hearing on July 28th, 2026
[1:04:08] to adopt a southville water
[1:04:10] and sewer service area rate schedule
[1:04:12] and consider the following rate adjustments.
[1:04:15] Number one, to institute a customer charge
[1:04:17] of $12 per quarter per account.
[1:04:19] Number two, to institute a minimum quarterly flow
[1:04:22] of 4,550 gallons per quarter
[1:04:26] to all improved properties.
[1:04:28] Number three, to institute a ready
[1:04:30] to serve exemption program to assist homeowners with limited
[1:04:35] incomes currently defined as a gross income
[1:04:38] of $38,484 or less.
[1:04:41] Number four, to increase the current water
[1:04:43] and sewer ready to serve, charge and usage.
[1:04:46] Charge by 30 oops, 35% for both water
[1:04:51] and sewer to the, to be effective October 1st, 2026
[1:04:55] To increase the rates established on October 1st, 2026
[1:04:59] by 15% for sewer
[1:05:01] and 5% for water
[1:05:03] to be effective July 1st, 2027.
[1:05:07] And to increase the rates established July 1st, 2027 by 15%
[1:05:12] for sewer and 5% for water effective July 1st, 2028.
[1:05:17] Number five, to institute an annual rate escalator
[1:05:21] to be applied to the water and sewer ready to serve
[1:05:24] and usage charge of 5% to be applied July 1st, 2029.
[1:05:29] And each subsequent, subsequent July 1st thereafter.
[1:05:32] And number six, to institute an annual allocation for,
[1:05:37] excuse me, to institute an annual allocation fee escalator
[1:05:40] for new development to be applied to the water
[1:05:42] and sewer allocation charges of 2.5%
[1:05:46] to be applied July 1st, 2027 in each subsequent
[1:05:49] July one thereafter.
[1:05:52] So second, we have a motion and a second discussion.
[1:05:55] Alan, I thought Yeah,
[1:05:56] I was gonna say we should probably explain a lot of this.
[1:05:58] Yes. And I'll start off and then Alan,
[1:06:00] you can fill in all the blanks with your expertise,
[1:06:01] but, so for those not aware,
[1:06:04] the Sellersville plant was upgraded in 2000 6, 7, 8
[1:06:08] timeframe with the anticipation
[1:06:10] that two large communities were gonna come online
[1:06:12] and support the project.
[1:06:13] Yep. Fortunately, with the housing bust, neither one
[1:06:16] of those communities became established and
[1:06:19] therefore the plant moved forward.
[1:06:22] It's created a lot of debt on the back end with USDA
[1:06:25] and other sources of in of money to upgrade to plant.
[1:06:29] And it's been pretty much in that situation
[1:06:32] for the last 15 years under the town's,
[1:06:37] the town commissioners are the ones that have run it up
[1:06:40] until, I guess last year, two years ago now, I guess,
[1:06:43] in toll, MES Well, MES ran it,
[1:06:45] but the town commissioners had control
[1:06:46] of the purse strings and everything else.
[1:06:49] Two years ago the county stepped in
[1:06:51] because it was basically going bankrupt
[1:06:54] and services weren't gonna be able to be provided.
[1:06:56] So it's been a painstaking thing for the commissioners
[1:06:59] to have to step in first and even go down this road.
[1:07:04] But unfortunately with sewer
[1:07:06] and water, it is enterprise zones,
[1:07:08] which means it's user funded.
[1:07:10] I, we met with the commissioners who went
[1:07:12] and met with their townspeople, came back with this is a,
[1:07:15] a really good compromise based on the severity of
[1:07:18] where the plant lies today.
[1:07:20] So hopefully the hearing will, will be able
[1:07:23] to share more information out to the public in that area.
[1:07:26] But I think this,
[1:07:27] in three years we will actually get
[1:07:29] the plant in a good shape.
[1:07:30] In good shape financially,
[1:07:32] and the users will, it'll kind of settle out.
[1:07:36] The good news is too, they have two housing projects
[1:07:40] that are due to come online in Su Louisville over the
[1:07:43] next two to five years.
[1:07:45] Just say that will put an additional 300 plus homes there,
[1:07:49] which will greatly reduce a lot of this
[1:07:52] long-term effect of the sewer plant.
[1:07:54] So there is a silver lining to where we're going with this.
[1:07:57] And it is painful to have to do this,
[1:07:59] honestly, as far as I'm concerned.
[1:08:00] But it, unfortunately it is necessary at this point.
[1:08:03] So, anything else you got, Alan,
[1:08:06] One of the things you asked us to look at is the impact
[1:08:08] of growth and it would make a huge difference if
[1:08:11] and when it comes, right?
[1:08:12] That's the, that's the issue.
[1:08:13] And also these rates, as drastic as they may seem,
[1:08:17] that only get, brings us to a breakeven.
[1:08:19] There's no reserves being built up.
[1:08:20] There's no capital program being set aside
[1:08:22] for this is simply to keep the, the operation moving
[1:08:26] and having the customers pay the cost of the operation.
[1:08:28] There's, it's just, we're looking for breakeven.
[1:08:32] One other thing, if in order for us to be able
[1:08:36] to implement the Ready to Serve exemption program
[1:08:39] by October, which would help out the low income people, I,
[1:08:42] I really have to start that process now
[1:08:45] to get the applications in.
[1:08:46] Because what I have to do is send 'em to the comptroller
[1:08:48] to verify their income,
[1:08:49] which takes a long time, four to six weeks.
[1:08:52] So if you decide not to go that route,
[1:08:55] which I can't imagine you would,
[1:08:57] but we just throw the applications away.
[1:08:59] But I really need to start canvassing the public now
[1:09:02] to get those applications in.
[1:09:03] Something you need from us to start your canvas?
[1:09:05] Nope. Just say Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
[1:09:10] Okay. Very good. Alright, any,
[1:09:14] any additional on this item or you got anything else
[1:09:16] Now?
[1:09:17] No, I really need to know by Monday the location and time
[1:09:22] For the, For the advertisements.
[1:09:24] Middle school? Well, we'll, we'll have to wait.
[1:09:26] We do the budget, get a location.
[1:09:28] We were thinking six 30 or seven. Yeah.
[1:09:30] Seven. Yeah. Seven. Seven.
[1:09:31] Seven o'clock at the middle school,
[1:09:33] right where we do the budget here.
[1:09:34] Maybe we can try for the middle school. What about
[1:09:35] since it's summer weather or not?
[1:09:36] It's open to, yeah. Oh, gotcha, gotcha. Maybe
[1:09:39] The Firehouse Middle School.
[1:09:40] We can, we can check those couple
[1:09:41] venues, but those would be the two
[1:09:42] Firehouse has rooms.
[1:09:43] Firehouse. Yeah, the firehouse. Okay. Yeah.
[1:09:46] So he needs that by the firehouse,
[1:09:50] right? As long as they're, yep.
[1:09:51] Yeah, we'll check with them. Okay.
[1:09:55] That's about it for me. Very good. Thank you.
[1:10:00] Moving on. Yep. Alright. Thank you gentlemen.
[1:10:03] Alright, Moving on. Commissioners. Tab three. We have
[1:10:06] Vote.
[1:10:07] We did. Yeah, we voted. We did. Did we not vote?
[1:10:09] Not on the second when we haven't voted yet.
[1:10:10] Did you get the vote on that or did not vote?
[1:10:12] No, we did not vote. Oh, I'm sorry. Excuse me.
[1:10:14] Okay, well we have a motion in a second.
[1:10:17] All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed?
[1:10:21] There you go. Alright. Todd gets so excited.
[1:10:25] We talked about sewer, he just, that's he just, he just kind
[1:10:30] brings him back to the days.
[1:10:33] Alright, commissioners, moving into
[1:10:35] the action items this evening.
[1:10:36] Tab number three, item one.
[1:10:38] On pages one through five we have the Mako
[1:10:41] annual accomplishments list
[1:10:43] and the FFY 2027 dues and assessments.
[1:10:47] They've submitted their membership dues invoice
[1:10:49] and once again dues remain frozen.
[1:10:52] This is 17 consecutive years
[1:10:55] where they have not increased their dues
[1:10:56] for county governments and one penny.
[1:11:00] It's been a great year this past year,
[1:11:02] as I'm sure our past president, Mr. Jack Wilson, here,
[1:11:05] commissioner Jack Wilson can attest to.
[1:11:06] So this would be recommended for approval.
[1:11:10] I move to pay the invoice to Maryland Association
[1:11:13] of Counties for the FY 27 dues
[1:11:14] and assessments in the amount of $15,113.
[1:11:17] Second, you got motion? Motion to second. Any discussion?
[1:11:22] Chiefess lobbyists. Annapolis, right there.
[1:11:24] Yep, that's true. That's very true.
[1:11:27] All those in favor signify saying aye. Aye. Opposed?
[1:11:31] So moved.
[1:11:32] Alright, thank you commissioners. Item two on page six.
[1:11:35] This is from Marque Ians County Health Officer.
[1:11:37] This is requesting approval for the FY 2027
[1:11:42] contract along with the option to extend
[1:11:44] for additional five years
[1:11:45] for non-emergency ambulance transportation medical
[1:11:48] assistance services.
[1:11:50] The amount of this particular service contract caps out at
[1:11:53] $96,000
[1:11:54] and this is state funded dollars
[1:11:57] that the county health Department operates the program for.
[1:12:03] I move to approve the Queen s County Department of Health.
[1:12:07] Enter into the FY 27 contract along with the option
[1:12:10] to extend up to five additional fiscal year terms
[1:12:12] for non-emergency ambulance, transportation,
[1:12:14] medical assistance, transportation services
[1:12:17] with AM van LLC transacting as AAA transport.
[1:12:21] This service contract is not to exceed the amount
[1:12:23] of $96,000.
[1:12:24] Second we have a motion. Second. Any discussion?
[1:12:28] Seeing none, all those in favors. Second favor say aye. Aye.
[1:12:32] Aye. Here you go
[1:12:34] It.
[1:12:35] Thank you Commissioners. And item three is a similar item.
[1:12:37] This is also from our health officer
[1:12:40] and this is requesting approval
[1:12:42] for their FY 27 contract along with the option
[1:12:44] for an additional five years for the ambulatory
[1:12:47] and non-ambulatory wheelchair medical assistance
[1:12:50] transportation services.
[1:12:52] And the amount of that service contract is not
[1:12:54] to exceed $800,000.
[1:12:55] And again, it's with AAA transport.
[1:12:58] And that I will mention too that this,
[1:13:00] both these contracts were competitively bid on e Maryland
[1:13:04] marketplace and we only had one bidder for these contracts.
[1:13:07] The only service provider really in the region.
[1:13:09] So just wanted to make sure you were aware of that.
[1:13:11] And again, this is a, a state funded,
[1:13:15] I move to approve that the Queen Annes County Department
[1:13:17] of Health enter into the FY 27 contract with the option
[1:13:20] to extend up to five additional fiscal year terms
[1:13:23] for ambulatory and non-ambulatory medical assistance
[1:13:25] transportation services with AM V-A-L-L-C transacting
[1:13:29] as AAA transport.
[1:13:31] This service contract is not to exceed the amount
[1:13:33] of $800,000.
[1:13:34] Second. And these are fee for services.
[1:13:37] So it's just a, basically a knock to exceed. Yeah. Yep.
[1:13:41] And we have a motion in a second. Any discussion? See you.
[1:13:44] None. All those in favor signify Aye. Of us saying aye. Aye.
[1:13:47] Aye. Aye. Opposed? So moved.
[1:13:51] Thank you commissioners. Item four on page eight is a
[1:13:56] letter of support addressed
[1:13:58] to Governor Moore endorsing the town
[1:14:00] of Centerville's wastewater treatment plan expansion project
[1:14:04] and the town's request for state funding
[1:14:06] and assistance to advance this critical infrastructure
[1:14:09] investment for the town of Centerville.
[1:14:12] And they also sent letters, similar letters,
[1:14:15] requesting support from our delegation members as
[1:14:17] Well.
[1:14:18] I move to execute the town
[1:14:19] of Centerville wastewater treatment plant
[1:14:22] expansion project support letter
[1:14:24] to the governor of Maryland.
[1:14:26] Second, we have a motion and a second.
[1:14:30] Any further discussion? Seeing you? None.
[1:14:33] All those in favor signify by saying Aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed?
[1:14:36] So moved.
[1:14:38] Alright, thank you commissioners.
[1:14:40] Item five is a letter in support
[1:14:43] of Chesapeake College's grant application
[1:14:46] to the rural Maryland Prosperity Investment Fund
[1:14:48] for the development of the Queen Edge technical building.
[1:14:52] This will be a letter that we'll be getting later
[1:14:54] for signature by all
[1:14:56] of the Chesapeake College counties via DocuSign.
[1:14:59] Just need your approval to have Commissioner Moran sign
[1:15:03] that when it comes in and the application is
[1:15:05] for $112,875,
[1:15:08] which will help offset design expenses incurred by the
[1:15:13] five counties for the Queen and Tech center.
[1:15:17] I move to agree to execute the letter of support
[1:15:19] for Chesapeake College's application
[1:15:20] to the rural Maryland Prosperity Investment Fund
[1:15:22] for the development of the Queen End's technical building
[1:15:24] via DocuSign when the document is ready for signature.
[1:15:27] Second, we have a motion
[1:15:29] to second any discussion on this item.
[1:15:31] And I also believe I read that they're gonna also
[1:15:34] next year will apply for construction.
[1:15:37] Yes. Grant as well. So yeah, the, yeah,
[1:15:43] all those in favor signify to say aye.
[1:15:44] Aye. Aye. Opposed? So moved.
[1:15:49] All right. Commissioners. Item number six.
[1:15:54] Do we wanna do seven first?
[1:15:55] Yeah, we can. Sure. That's a good idea Commissioner. Yeah.
[1:15:57] Item number seven, this is engineering services
[1:16:01] for Kent Narrows, Thompson Creek Landing Bulkhead
[1:16:04] and Matta Peak boat ramp replacement.
[1:16:06] So our department parks
[1:16:07] and recreation held a bid open bids on June 22nd
[1:16:12] for engineering services.
[1:16:13] For the three projects I mentioned, four bids were received
[1:16:16] and they're recommending award of the lowest
[1:16:18] to the lowest bidder jewels, miles,
[1:16:20] and Bureau from Salisbury $97,810.
[1:16:24] And we do have some grant dollars from the Waterway
[1:16:26] Improvement Fund to help out with those three projects.
[1:16:30] You owe Jack Big time. What's that?
[1:16:32] You owe Jack Big time do for moving you up the list.
[1:16:36] I do appreciate it. A little earlier.
[1:16:39] It would've been great, but this is good.
[1:16:43] What took you so long?
[1:16:48] So you want the motion first? Go ahead Chris.
[1:16:50] I moved to authorize the Department of Parks
[1:16:52] and Recreations to contract
[1:16:53] with engineering services George Miles
[1:16:55] and Burr, LLC from Salisbury, Maryland
[1:16:58] for the Kent Narrows landing Thompson Creek Landing
[1:17:02] and Manatee Boat ramp projects for a total amount
[1:17:05] of $97,810.
[1:17:07] Utilizing the MD DNR Waterway Improvement Fund grants.
[1:17:12] Second. We got a motion in second discussion.
[1:17:17] We're all good, right? We're all good.
[1:17:19] So actually yeah, let's do the motion
[1:17:21] 'cause I actually have a question for James
[1:17:22] after this in relation to the RIVERKEEPERS presentation.
[1:17:25] Oh, different Yeah, different just outta So these,
[1:17:29] this is just the engineering to to design
[1:17:32] new ramps? Correct.
[1:17:33] Oh wow. And bulkhead two
[1:17:35] Bulkhead repairs one ramp
[1:17:37] and it's just repairing
[1:17:38] and replacing them. It's not a new site.
[1:17:40] Okay, Great. For Saint Grant funded. Alright,
[1:17:43] Well we have a motion.
[1:17:44] We have a second. All those in favor signify to saying aye.
[1:17:47] Aye. Aye. Opposed? So moved for that.
[1:17:50] And you want to, yeah, so, so,
[1:17:52] and the river keepers, they, she was showing
[1:17:54] where they took a lot of their
[1:17:57] metrics were at boat landings.
[1:17:59] I just, how, I don't know how that's a good place
[1:18:02] to be taken at water quality metric when you have boats in
[1:18:04] and out there with fuel and a lot of things going on there.
[1:18:07] I, I don't know, I was just questioning
[1:18:09] 'cause you looked at some of the other ones that weren't
[1:18:10] related to boat landings.
[1:18:11] They were in much better shape.
[1:18:13] Do do you see that
[1:18:14] where the water quality right there at the boat landing,
[1:18:16] if you go out 50 feet,
[1:18:17] it's probably much better 50 feet out than it
[1:18:19] is actually at the boat landing.
[1:18:20] I mean to my, in my common sense mine, I would think
[1:18:23] so, but I don't know.
[1:18:25] I wasn't part of that presentation, so I'm, I'm not,
[1:18:28] I'm catching up a little bit here.
[1:18:30] Okay. I'm glad they're study.
[1:18:33] You know, people are getting out on the water, which is
[1:18:38] what we're want and yeah, the boat ramps are a place
[1:18:42] where, you know, it's the interface with land and water
[1:18:45] and a lot of times the runoff is coming off there so.
[1:18:50] Right. Yeah. Okay.
[1:18:51] I know they help us out
[1:18:52] with the swimming beaches at matte.
[1:18:55] I think they're studying that one.
[1:18:56] So does MDE and
[1:18:57] that's really our only public swimming beach.
[1:18:59] But, and that was the other question
[1:19:01] and we didn't really haven't that much time with them,
[1:19:03] but that was what I was gonna say is most of
[1:19:04] that they're testing aren't swimmable anyway.
[1:19:06] People aren't supposed to be swimming
[1:19:07] or should we be telling them go swim in there
[1:19:10] because the conditions are right.
[1:19:11] 'cause there none of 'em are certified swimming
[1:19:13] places in Queen Annes County.
[1:19:16] Right. As far as I know, it's only matter
[1:19:18] Matte beaches.
[1:19:19] That's the only one I'm saying matte is our only beach
[1:19:21] that's certified for swimming county Beach County.
[1:19:23] Yeah, there's some rules. I'm not the expert on that.
[1:19:25] It's other folks are handling that,
[1:19:27] but they're swim anywhere as far as swimming beaches,
[1:19:29] you need a shower, a bathroom close by and things like that.
[1:19:35] Yeah, that's my question. I was just wondering why they
[1:19:37] would be testing there if they're not really swimming
[1:19:39] areas or swimming. So,
[1:19:41] Well, I think it was part of it where she alluded
[1:19:42] to the fact that, you know, if it's a kayak launch
[1:19:45] or a canoe launch, you're still stepping into that water
[1:19:48] so you're still being exposed.
[1:19:50] I gotcha. They're trying to bring information that way. But
[1:19:53] Yeah, I think you can make the argument people are tubing
[1:19:56] and getting, you know, the, our boaters are interfacing
[1:19:59] with the water, so Yeah,
[1:20:01] I'm just saying at the landing though.
[1:20:02] Yeah, right. It just seems to me it should be
[1:20:03] somewhere away from the landing.
[1:20:05] And I think there's a, a certain standard of
[1:20:07] how far out into the water they're supposed to go.
[1:20:10] And again, that's, that goes
[1:20:12] with consistency and consistency
[1:20:13] Of the test taker too.
[1:20:15] They also, they're, they have to get
[1:20:16] locations where there's public access.
[1:20:17] That's probably why sometimes it's at the landings
[1:20:19] is the only place they get the access.
[1:20:21] But if we get a couple more of these locations for them,
[1:20:24] we'll get a better feel for how it is
[1:20:26] as you're sort of going down the
[1:20:28] Line.
[1:20:29] Right. Which are non landing locations.
[1:20:29] That's what I'm thinking is
[1:20:31] Might be better. Hopefully.
[1:20:32] Yeah. Yeah. You would hope you're gonna see
[1:20:34] more yellow or green at least.
[1:20:36] Yep. So
[1:20:38] We are trying to look into ways to intercept
[1:20:43] material before it gets into the water as
[1:20:45] that interface point. So
[1:20:47] At the landing itself. Yeah. Gotcha.
[1:20:49] I, I have some preliminary work
[1:20:51] behind the scenes we're working on, on that.
[1:20:54] Excellent. Very good. Thank you. Thank you.
[1:20:58] Thank you for the bump up. Yep. Appreciate
[1:21:00] It.
[1:21:06] All right, thanks gentlemen. Okay,
[1:21:09] Now the next item. Yep.
[1:21:10] Our final item is item number six.
[1:21:12] This is a follow up to the presentation we had a couple
[1:21:17] of months ago on the building moratorium.
[1:21:19] We have some findings recommendations
[1:21:21] and we would like
[1:21:22] to seek out some policy direction
[1:21:23] from the board of commissioners.
[1:21:25] So I think we have a number of the committee members here.
[1:21:27] I think come on up, Steve Cahoon and
[1:21:31] and Director Quimbee are gonna lead, lead us
[1:21:34] through a couple of these policy questions.
[1:21:37] But we, we still have a lot of work to do, yet we have
[1:21:42] to update and adopt the comprehensive water and sewer plan
[1:21:45] and the associated sewer allocation policy
[1:21:49] and related to that the county's adequate public facilities
[1:21:52] ordinance and the memo in the book outlines
[1:21:55] and some of the findings, the appendix in that
[1:21:59] item in the book on page 20, no, I'm sorry, the last page
[1:22:03] of the memo does show the, the
[1:22:07] appendix A on page 17, the remaining
[1:22:11] capacity at the sewer plant
[1:22:13] where we had the allocations set aside for residential,
[1:22:16] commercial and climate resiliency.
[1:22:18] And then the re-rating capacity in the buckets
[1:22:21] for public health concern,
[1:22:23] unidentified public health concern areas, non-residential
[1:22:25] and residential infill uses.
[1:22:27] So all, all, all in,
[1:22:28] we have about 450,000 gallons remaining.
[1:22:32] So we want get some direction from the commissioners
[1:22:35] how we are going to allocate that
[1:22:38] and if we're gonna have annual caps, winter to be allocated.
[1:22:41] And then Steve will be going over several additions
[1:22:45] and modifications to the adequate public facilities policy
[1:22:48] and ordinance for school capacities.
[1:22:51] So with that commissioner, have any
[1:22:54] initial questions before we get started?
[1:22:57] And I'll let, I don't know who wants to start first
[1:23:00] Actually, have we, I mean we had an initial presentation
[1:23:03] on this a while back and there was some social media
[1:23:07] outreach for citizens.
[1:23:08] Have we gotten any input from any
[1:23:10] citizens by email or anything?
[1:23:13] Not to my knowledge. Yeah, we have,
[1:23:14] we've received very limited feedback from the presentation
[1:23:19] on, on the proposal that we had laid out before.
[1:23:26] Well, just so folks know who are watching, there tends
[1:23:31] to be a lot of people who voice concerns about
[1:23:34] whenever there's a development or something that's approved.
[1:23:37] That's what this is about.
[1:23:38] This is about what resources are available
[1:23:42] for future development from Can island up to Queenstown.
[1:23:46] And so if you have strong feelings one way
[1:23:49] or the other about what should be loud,
[1:23:52] what shouldn't be loud, how it should be mitigated,
[1:23:54] how it should be sequenced, this is like a big deal,
[1:23:58] important thing to be active as a citizen.
[1:24:03] 'cause if you're not, and then a year from now there's
[1:24:06] something that you don't like, you know,
[1:24:08] there's gonna be a new policy that's in place
[1:24:10] and this is the opportunity.
[1:24:11] So just so people know that the words been put out there,
[1:24:14] but there's been shockingly little feedback on it.
[1:24:25] Go
[1:24:25] Ahead Steve.
[1:24:26] You wanna kick it off? No, I'll take it. Okay.
[1:24:30] The final component of the water and sewer plan
[1:24:32] before we can put put publish it for adoption is the water
[1:24:35] and sewer allocation policy.
[1:24:37] If you recall, we were here a couple months ago.
[1:24:40] One of the things we proposed was quarterly
[1:24:42] restricting application applicants for allocation quarterly,
[1:24:46] which wasn't well received.
[1:24:47] So that's off the table.
[1:24:48] There's only really two components left that we need answers
[1:24:51] to to finalize the draft sewer allocation policy
[1:24:55] as one for residential.
[1:24:57] Do you wish to meter out the allocation,
[1:24:59] remaining allocation 70 gallons per year?
[1:25:01] And if so, how many gallons per year?
[1:25:03] Or just leave it as it is now on demand?
[1:25:07] And the second one is,
[1:25:08] where in the development review process would a project be
[1:25:13] eligible for asking for allocation?
[1:25:15] Currently they have to go through concept plan review
[1:25:18] and approval and then they can ask for the allocation.
[1:25:20] One proposal put forth was to hold it to the very end
[1:25:23] of the process, which I guess that's on the table as well.
[1:25:27] I'm not sure how you feel about either of those things.
[1:25:29] But again, to frame 'em up, we need
[1:25:31] to know if you wanna meter out the
[1:25:33] residential allocation or not.
[1:25:35] And we need to know where in the process you want the A
[1:25:38] project to be eligible to request the allocation.
[1:25:41] That's the direction we need at, at the moment.
[1:25:44] As far as allocation policy,
[1:25:49] Well I think just from my perspective,
[1:25:52] metering out the allocation makes sense to me
[1:25:55] because you have a big project that come in
[1:25:58] and it gobbles it all up and then it's gone or a large,
[1:26:02] and then you don't have a lot left.
[1:26:04] We don't know what the county might need six years from now.
[1:26:09] And so metering it out gives that flexibility to
[1:26:13] future citizens, future commissioners to use
[1:26:16] that allocation without having it all used up quickly.
[1:26:19] So I, I think there's some, some logic to it.
[1:26:22] Then the other side I guess would be, if, if it's too rigid,
[1:26:26] then you may prevent certain projects that do make sense
[1:26:30] that need a larger allocation.
[1:26:36] But I wouldn't wanna see it all gobbled up quickly
[1:26:39] and then there's nothing and then, you know, there's some
[1:26:43] who knows what it is that we need that now we we're,
[1:26:46] we're in a, a bind
[1:26:47] because when this is gone absent new technology, like
[1:26:51] that's it for the county new we,
[1:26:52] there are some change in laws at the federal
[1:26:55] level or new technology.
[1:26:56] This is it.
[1:26:58] Yeah, no, I'm definitely in favor
[1:26:59] of metering what that number is.
[1:27:01] I I still have to think about that before, I mean,
[1:27:04] and take a look at our net, you're saying four 50,
[1:27:09] but is that taking the institutional
[1:27:11] and everything outta of that or that's the total
[1:27:12] 450,000 gallons.
[1:27:15] Yeah, the 150,000 remaining in the current plant
[1:27:18] and then the 300,000
[1:27:20] Rerating.
[1:27:21] Yeah, but only a hundred thousand goes to residential.
[1:27:23] We're only talking about residential.
[1:27:25] Right. So you got a hundred thousand basically.
[1:27:27] Yeah. Yeah. To be clear, we weren't talking about,
[1:27:29] at least we weren't initially talking about metering
[1:27:31] commercial allocation.
[1:27:33] Right. Or public health needs or institutional uses.
[1:27:36] Just the residential 150,000.
[1:27:38] And historically those have not been ones that have sort
[1:27:41] of used large volumes at once.
[1:27:43] Correct. So they almost sort of like
[1:27:45] historically have been self metering themselves.
[1:27:47] Correct. Yeah. Residential users consume
[1:27:50] the bulk of the allocation.
[1:27:51] So we had suggested
[1:27:52] before a 10,000 gallon per year cap
[1:27:56] for residential allocations out of the re-rating
[1:27:59] that was, that was 40
[1:28:00] Single Family homes.
[1:28:01] About 40. Yep.
[1:28:04] And just to, this is not a, a one and done situation.
[1:28:07] This is something that as projects come in
[1:28:10] as sewer allocation is allocated, we would keep, have,
[1:28:14] you know, keep the commission informed right.
[1:28:16] On where we are. And if policy changes
[1:28:19] or changes are needed to the allocation policy,
[1:28:21] you could change, it could get tighter or looser.
[1:28:24] So if at, if at a certain point there were no caps,
[1:28:29] then a, a year later we came back to revisit it,
[1:28:33] those caps could be put in place.
[1:28:35] So this is a, a starting point as we move forward
[1:28:39] and we could, and we're going to,
[1:28:41] it's gonna be an ongoing annual process.
[1:28:43] But I think the caps also keep the county from getting into
[1:28:46] a bind legally with a development that comes in
[1:28:49] that just say wants 500 homes
[1:28:51] and that's gonna gobble it all up for say,
[1:28:54] a two year foreseeable future.
[1:28:57] And we say no because we have another project
[1:29:00] or whatever the case may be.
[1:29:01] And that, and that begs me
[1:29:03] to my next question was I brought up the concern about this
[1:29:07] group of commissioners can't sit up here and pick
[1:29:09] and choose who gets housing and who doesn't.
[1:29:12] And I feel like that's a situation that's gonna be a very
[1:29:16] hard unintended consequence that's gonna be out of this,
[1:29:19] the way this is drafted now.
[1:29:21] And I know you're shaking
[1:29:22] your head, Alex, 'cause you knew that.
[1:29:23] I mean, and, and it, I get it,
[1:29:25] but it's, it's like we have to come up with a system of how
[1:29:28] that is me if we're gonna meter it, there's gotta be
[1:29:30] the rule's gotta be very clear as to how it's metered
[1:29:33] and you know, whether it's first come first served the end
[1:29:35] of the day due to commissioners get the final
[1:29:37] beat oath, that kind of thing.
[1:29:38] I think all that's gotta be thought about
[1:29:39] before we just jump into this.
[1:29:41] 'cause this is it. I I said it
[1:29:42] during all these forums and stuff.
[1:29:44] We had this is it, this is gonna be something
[1:29:46] that's gonna stick with Queen Annes County till
[1:29:48] the end of Queen Annes County.
[1:29:49] Now, like to your point, unless technology changes
[1:29:51] and there's something drastically happens
[1:29:53] and it all just disappears in the air
[1:29:55] after you flush a toilet.
[1:29:56] But I don't think that's coming anytime soon.
[1:29:58] So, and then the other one is the clawback.
[1:30:02] We already have a clawback feature for
[1:30:06] developments now.
[1:30:07] Right. For if they don't break ground, blah, blah,
[1:30:09] blah clawback For the allocation,
[1:30:12] clawback allocation, we already have that in place.
[1:30:13] Right. I noticed that was one of the things that was on here
[1:30:16] to decide on, but I think we already
[1:30:18] have something in place for that.
[1:30:19] Correct? We do. Okay. So I mean I'm good with that.
[1:30:23] And then the A PFO side, obviously that'll work itself out.
[1:30:27] And you, Steve, you did all those numbers
[1:30:29] and I understand that there is some maybe shift on Yeah,
[1:30:34] so we'll get into AP F.
[1:30:35] Okay. You wanna just do the sewer part for if you wanna go
[1:30:37] through sewer, then we'll shift to AP FO.
[1:30:39] Okay.
[1:30:40] And, and so, so people understand too,
[1:30:42] what we're talking about at, at 10,000, this is for
[1:30:46] new development proposals.
[1:30:47] There are, there are developments
[1:30:49] that already have allocations
[1:30:50] but have not yet put a shovel in the ground order in the
[1:30:53] process of putting shovel in the ground.
[1:30:54] They've already got allocation that's outside
[1:30:56] of what we're talking about.
[1:30:58] Correct. Here. So Southern Ken Island, a house that,
[1:31:02] there's a lot that hasn't been built yet,
[1:31:04] but it's buildable that's already sort of accounted for.
[1:31:06] Correct. In a separate allocation.
[1:31:08] So we're not talking about that doesn't stop
[1:31:09] those from going forward.
[1:31:11] These would be new developments. Right.
[1:31:14] I think some people don't understand that distinction.
[1:31:18] And if you do do a metering, you have to, we'll have
[1:31:20] to set a date when it takes effect.
[1:31:22] As you know, there are three
[1:31:25] or at least two, there's three projects in the wings
[1:31:28] that were held up by the moratorium.
[1:31:29] Right. So you need to keep those in consideration.
[1:31:31] One of 'em actually fits under the 10,000,
[1:31:34] so I'm sure about that one.
[1:31:35] But the other two would exceed
[1:31:36] to 10,000 if the 10,000 is the number you pick.
[1:31:46] Well also, I mean I think we need to keep in mind that
[1:31:50] these appendix A at any given time,
[1:31:55] the sitting commissioners could vote to move some
[1:31:58] of the allocations from one category to another.
[1:32:00] All they have to do is amend the word sew plan. That's it.
[1:32:03] Right? Yeah. Right. So I mean I, I think that's something
[1:32:06] that's, I think that's a good thing.
[1:32:11] I mean, I think the Queen Annes County has,
[1:32:13] and shoot me now if you want,
[1:32:16] but it's always been a bedroom community
[1:32:19] and that's why there's so many commuters.
[1:32:21] But I don't know, I look at,
[1:32:24] I look at this from another standpoint, the Clean Water Act,
[1:32:30] the T MDLs, that's why we're here.
[1:32:32] We have 3.3 million gallons of discharge
[1:32:35] into the Chesapeake Bay where
[1:32:38] what we're discharging is a hell
[1:32:39] of a lot cleaner than what's out in, in that bay.
[1:32:42] And we have 3.3 million gallons for a county
[1:32:46] that has 53,000 people in it.
[1:32:49] And I look around all around us in the capacity that a lot
[1:32:53] of these other counties have.
[1:32:54] We are the first one to run into this
[1:32:57] in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to reach our, our limits.
[1:33:01] And our limits are, were very, very low.
[1:33:03] And, and I, I would like to see some sort of report on
[1:33:06] all the other counties and municipalities that discharge
[1:33:09] and what kind of ratings they had to begin with.
[1:33:12] Because, you know, I approached Senator Sarbanes
[1:33:17] three or four years ago about this when we saw this coming.
[1:33:20] And I said, you know, what are we gonna do?
[1:33:22] I mean, you you, you're gonna shut down a,
[1:33:23] a county's ability to grow
[1:33:25] and without growth, we all know what that means with taxes.
[1:33:28] So he goes, that's very interesting.
[1:33:31] You know, let me look into it. And crickets.
[1:33:34] So I just think that, you know, while we do the metering
[1:33:38] and I don't have a problem with that,
[1:33:39] I think it's gonna be difficult to, to get that up
[1:33:44] and running because like you said, you know, if,
[1:33:46] if the property's gonna need a lot of improvements to it
[1:33:49] before one house is built
[1:33:51] and you can only build so many houses,
[1:33:53] I think we're gonna see a lot of things not
[1:33:55] being cost effective.
[1:33:57] So, and and again, that's just the Well, the housing,
[1:33:59] housing cost goes Yeah.
[1:34:00] Way up. Right. So, you know, those that have, you know,
[1:34:05] are looking for workforce housing,
[1:34:07] this is gonna push hard against it.
[1:34:08] I think. I, it's, there's no doubt, right?
[1:34:11] It it's, and that's where the municipalities, I think that,
[1:34:14] you know, they have to step up.
[1:34:15] Right. You know, and that's so, I mean I'm just giving
[1:34:18] that information out there.
[1:34:19] So I, you know, I don't know how we wanna proceed from here
[1:34:23] to get that daily or or annual allocation out there,
[1:34:27] but were you thinking 10,000 gallons?
[1:34:30] I haven't honestly really haven't.
[1:34:31] That's just a number we
[1:34:32] pulled out here that's they threw out.
[1:34:33] Right. So, yeah.
[1:34:35] Well, and again, it's how many gallons
[1:34:37] for a single family we allocated two 50.
[1:34:40] Two 50 per home. Okay. And Amy's already left.
[1:34:44] I wanted how many homes got built last year?
[1:34:48] I, I think, well,
[1:34:49] and I said this too, I think we're looking at a bad com.
[1:34:52] We're at a bad stage to compare
[1:34:54] because we've had 20 years of homes
[1:34:58] that are now getting built that have been
[1:34:59] through legal challenges
[1:35:00] and things like that, that are actually getting,
[1:35:02] so it looks a lot worse now,
[1:35:03] but it's really just catching up to
[1:35:05] what is already allocated, was already in the pipeline,
[1:35:08] was already permitted in a lot of instances.
[1:35:10] And so as that tails off, I think we talked about this.
[1:35:14] Now as that tails off, you go back and look traditionally
[1:35:16] before that with in,
[1:35:18] in normal growth times it was less than 40.
[1:35:21] You know what I mean? So I that's, I think that's 10,000.
[1:35:25] Right? We figure 40 is 10,000. So, but it was less than 40.
[1:35:29] So again, looking at what we're doing today,
[1:35:31] I don't know, it was a good comparison.
[1:35:32] But 40 seems like a reasonable number in my mind just
[1:35:35] because of the old growth rates that what,
[1:35:38] what you were seeing was less than that.
[1:35:39] I think I looked at some numbers a little while back
[1:35:43] that over the last eight years,
[1:35:45] commissioner voted on new residential units
[1:35:48] is about 88 a year.
[1:35:51] Okay. That's It.
[1:35:53] You talking about single family homes,
[1:35:55] No re residential units.
[1:35:56] So that includes like the senior complexes
[1:35:59] and all those things, but apartments and
[1:36:01] Two including Yep.
[1:36:02] It averages out to about, well,
[1:36:03] Apartments can be residential now too.
[1:36:04] You gotta remember, so I
[1:36:06] Think it average out to about 80 80 a year based on some
[1:36:09] of the spreadsheet I was looking at.
[1:36:11] Obviously you see a lot more being built
[1:36:13] because Four Seasons was not right.
[1:36:15] Voted on by us. Southern Can Island was not voted on us,
[1:36:18] may, Hove, Ellendale, all of those were,
[1:36:20] as you're talking about retreat, the ones
[1:36:22] that have been in Yeah.
[1:36:23] Sort of like this rubber band that had been pulled back
[1:36:25] and then it got finally let go.
[1:36:27] And now we're seeing that. Yeah.
[1:36:29] But actual ones, the commissioners have voted on far,
[1:36:31] far less than what people think.
[1:36:33] But that's sort of gives you a numbered look at like, so if
[1:36:36] that's 88 and if we had 40 at 10,000, that's 40.
[1:36:39] So it's like half now, all those 88, you know,
[1:36:42] that they approved but not yet all built. Right.
[1:36:45] But some are, but some apartments too, right?
[1:36:46] I'm, I'm thinking you got apartments in there, town homes,
[1:36:48] you got Slippery Hill, there's town homes.
[1:36:50] I mean, so there's size and, and, and quantity.
[1:36:54] We gotta look at that too, in my mind. Right.
[1:36:55] That's what you're getting.
[1:37:01] How about, let's do the easy one. Hopefully it's easy.
[1:37:05] When in the process do you wanna keep as it is now as
[1:37:08] to when they can ask for the allocation?
[1:37:10] Or do you wanna push it further down
[1:37:12] the development review cycle?
[1:37:14] That's a good question. I,
[1:37:15] and that's one that gets asked a lot too,
[1:37:18] is when should they have to be,
[1:37:20] when should they have to ask for it?
[1:37:21] It's like when they're $500,000 into design or before
[1:37:24] They 5,000, you pull the rug out, out under,
[1:37:27] they've spent hundreds of thousands
[1:37:29] of dollars on design fees.
[1:37:33] I mean, I feel like that's,
[1:37:35] to me that's the first look, right?
[1:37:36] If you don't have sewer on water in an area
[1:37:38] that requires it, you're not gonna build anything.
[1:37:43] Well what's the pro and the con
[1:37:44] to the two? I mean, but, but,
[1:37:46] But I would think they have to do like a con concept plan.
[1:37:48] Like a concept plan first, right.
[1:37:50] And then in between that
[1:37:52] and go into that next level
[1:37:54] of planning, I would think would be the point.
[1:37:55] But before they're hundreds, hundreds of thousands of
[1:37:57] Dollars, right?
[1:37:58] Yeah. 'cause the next level of planning
[1:37:59] after concept plan is now they're all in at that point.
[1:38:01] Yeah. So now they're into a PO
[1:38:03] studies and all that kind of stuff.
[1:38:04] So, and then we can adjust where that is.
[1:38:07] 'cause right now isn't the A PFO post that a PFOS
[1:38:11] between concept and preliminary.
[1:38:15] Okay. But so you need, you need a allocation.
[1:38:18] Same time actually same time, same time. Okay. You also
[1:38:21] Have to think if, if you're,
[1:38:22] if you move it too far into the process
[1:38:24] before they get approval, then the smaller, maybe more
[1:38:28] of your local developers, there's like,
[1:38:29] they're not gonna be able to shoulder
[1:38:30] that kind of cost and that risk.
[1:38:32] Not that risk. They're just not gonna build.
[1:38:34] And so you're gonna have, you know, the larger builders from
[1:38:37] outside the state that come in to do it.
[1:38:39] So, you know what sort of, if, if you're, if you're trying
[1:38:41] to help promote the locals who build, you know, I'm gonna go
[1:38:45] and do 16 homes here, you can't make it so expensive that
[1:38:49] they find out after $400,000 that it's a no go.
[1:38:52] It's just something not fair.
[1:38:53] If, if it's not gonna, if a location's not gonna work
[1:38:55] or get approved, I think the commissioner should know sooner
[1:38:59] rather rather than that late
[1:39:00] To Well I think it's fair to the developer,
[1:39:02] to everybody involved really.
[1:39:04] I mean, and, and I guess the one thing about
[1:39:05] that too is the A PFO itself, I just feel like,
[1:39:08] and it's just my opinion,
[1:39:09] the A PFO gets rubber stamped once you get to that stage.
[1:39:12] A lot of times I don't know that they look at traffic.
[1:39:15] I mean, let's face it, they, if they use the A PFO
[1:39:17] for four seasons or any
[1:39:18] of those from when they originally conceptualized them,
[1:39:22] a lot's changed in terms of traffic.
[1:39:23] So there's no way in a lot of those,
[1:39:24] the traffic in my mind would pass muster to
[1:39:27] where you could build, or, and the schools have changed.
[1:39:29] There's a lot has changed over that time
[1:39:31] and you're supposed to take all that into account.
[1:39:32] But I don't know that that always gets looked at as hard
[1:39:35] as it should down the road.
[1:39:37] And unfortunately a lot of
[1:39:38] that was because of the legal stuff.
[1:39:40] But to your point, I think if you do that, at
[1:39:43] that same point now they know everything.
[1:39:44] They're up against like, right.
[1:39:45] Like you're, you're not gonna get
[1:39:48] this traffic study is gonna come back a flat f
[1:39:50] and you're gonna have to do a lot of mitigation
[1:39:51] for the roadways
[1:39:53] and that kind of thing to get your,
[1:39:54] to do what you want to do.
[1:39:56] That's a, that's a big ticket item.
[1:39:57] That, that may be the one
[1:39:58] where they go, yeah, okay, I'm out.
[1:40:00] And I just think that's fair to anybody that's coming
[1:40:02] to the county looking to do something too.
[1:40:06] Whether it's a business
[1:40:07] or residential, whatever the case may be.
[1:40:15] So I'm in favor of earlier in the process if keep it as is.
[1:40:19] Yeah, I'd keep that
[1:40:22] as is everything earlier in the process if we can
[1:40:25] Yeah, we'll keep, we'll keep it at as, as is in the,
[1:40:29] in the documents with the,
[1:40:31] the recapture provisions, you know, via pwa.
[1:40:34] Like we've, like we have now, right.
[1:40:36] In case they don't advance. 'cause we
[1:40:37] Have had project projects.
[1:40:38] Right. Then we pull Yeah.
[1:40:39] Pull back. Okay. Alright.
[1:40:47] Now we're back to the metering question.
[1:40:49] So you're saying that that 150,000 gallons is 600
[1:40:52] Homes.
[1:40:53] Yes. So you're saying that 600 homes,
[1:40:57] the way the allocation sits right now is, is all
[1:40:59] that can be done in residential until we either decide
[1:41:02] to take from one of the other categories
[1:41:05] or the federal government eases the T MDLs
[1:41:09] and allows us to discharge more. Yeah.
[1:41:11] As far as allegation goes, allocation goes,
[1:41:14] the reality is homes typically don't flow two 50.
[1:41:17] So how this works is as they connect,
[1:41:19] you look at the actual flows through the plant
[1:41:21] and capacity kind of creeps up a little bit, right.
[1:41:24] Not much. Right. But Yeah.
[1:41:26] But other than that, yes you're right.
[1:41:29] And keep in mind too, commissioners, we have 150,000
[1:41:33] gallons for public health area concern zones, which will
[1:41:39] have some new infill development too if
[1:41:40] public sewer goes there.
[1:41:41] Marlin Farms de meaning
[1:41:42] there's some vacant properties there.
[1:41:44] So there will be some new home construction in those
[1:41:45] communities when they get served.
[1:41:47] Right? Not a lot,
[1:41:49] but there will be some infill like, like Route eight. Yeah.
[1:41:52] Lot like route eight. So
[1:41:54] that stretches your capacity out 15 years.
[1:41:56] That takes you to not the next comp plan,
[1:41:58] but the next comp plan.
[1:41:59] I'm sorry, what was that? If you go with the 600
[1:42:02] that you just said, that's takes you out 15
[1:42:04] years at 48 year.
[1:42:06] So that takes you a year. I just, I I I just, I don't know.
[1:42:11] Think it makes it too difficult for Yeah.
[1:42:13] Some of the developers. Yeah.
[1:42:15] Yeah. And then They're gonna want
[1:42:16] to be more expensive where you're gonna have
[1:42:17] Right. Outstate, right.
[1:42:19] Yeah. Again, there's nothing magic about the 10,000.
[1:42:22] We just had to have a number. Yeah, no talk about, right.
[1:42:25] Yeah. I think
[1:42:30] we also looked at a scenario where we
[1:42:34] did not meter the remaining 50,000 gallons
[1:42:38] for residential from the 150,000 gallon
[1:42:42] allocation pool from the existing plant, the 3M GD plant.
[1:42:45] And then we started the metering process
[1:42:47] with the new re-rating allocation at
[1:42:50] a hundred thousand gallons.
[1:42:51] So you could, you could let it be market driven for up
[1:42:55] to 50,000 gallons.
[1:42:57] And then once that's exhausted, then go to metering at some,
[1:43:02] at some threshold, 10,000 or 15,000. Steve, what was
[1:43:05] The, in Ken Island, the sewage street,
[1:43:08] the sewer, SKI, what was it?
[1:43:11] You have a best guess Vacant lots. Yeah.
[1:43:13] On, on 500 vacant lots that had been built on,
[1:43:17] Been Had the possibility to be built on,
[1:43:19] but it was 500 total lots 500,
[1:43:22] Which a little more than half I think maybe even two
[1:43:25] thirds have already been built.
[1:43:27] Yep.
[1:43:32] Yeah, when we presented
[1:43:34] before the commissioner's last time, we, we
[1:43:38] considered an idea, as Todd said, where we wouldn't have,
[1:43:41] where we would allow for a short period of time,
[1:43:45] those projects in the pipeline to come in,
[1:43:48] secure their allocation, the, the projects that were,
[1:43:51] were caught up in the moratorium
[1:43:53] and then January one start the metering out of,
[1:43:57] of the amount of, of new allocations.
[1:44:01] You know, so there, there was a, a
[1:44:06] kind of a hybrid of, of finish out the year,
[1:44:11] let the market do what, what it's gonna do,
[1:44:12] or let people request what they need
[1:44:14] and then begin a metering process
[1:44:16] at a certain point in time.
[1:44:19] And that, you know, was a 10,000 what suggested,
[1:44:23] but, well, you know, I think that part of this is trying
[1:44:27] to slow growth residential growth.
[1:44:30] So that means you need to count the municipalities.
[1:44:34] And the question is the only one that's really close
[1:44:37] to Ken Island
[1:44:39] and that's where we're trying to control all
[1:44:40] this is Queenstown.
[1:44:43] So, you know, maybe we go to a combined
[1:44:47] 75 to a hundred per year,
[1:44:50] but you're counting Queenstown in there also so that,
[1:44:53] you know, I don't know, just like,
[1:44:54] because if you say 40 here in, in Queenstown says, okay,
[1:44:58] I'll do 200, 300
[1:45:00] or whatever, I mean, then that's gonna really skew it
[1:45:03] and make it look like that didn't work at all.
[1:45:06] I don't, I don't know, I just, I think that somebody
[1:45:08] but Queenstown still be using the schools and on the roads,
[1:45:11] Everything else, Right?
[1:45:12] That's tends to go to the next Queenstown as a municipality
[1:45:15] that goes to the next conversation.
[1:45:17] Honestly, that's a whole
[1:45:18] different conversation at that point.
[1:45:19] Well, but I'm saying it's, it's possible
[1:45:20] for the ones when can I, if their development goes through
[1:45:23] and, and they're gonna build a hundred homes there, maybe
[1:45:26] that's, you know, do you, do you want that a hundred plus 40
[1:45:29] or do you wanna just cap it at a hundred?
[1:45:32] I I'm just throwing out different
[1:45:33] options. Way different ways.
[1:45:35] Throttle back the Right, the can island ones,
[1:45:37] if Queenstown is growing at a faster pace so
[1:45:39] that you still have a, a set amount of homes
[1:45:41] that you're allowing Right. In a region.
[1:45:44] But the net tax effect is much worse when Queenstown does
[1:45:48] it versus Ken Island.
[1:45:49] And we control it because Queenstown can go unvetted put a
[1:45:52] hundred homes in with no,
[1:45:54] but they're gonna do that regardless.
[1:45:55] But no kickback to the county.
[1:45:57] That means the people on Ken Island are gonna pay
[1:45:58] for those homes in Queen Queenstown.
[1:46:00] Right. But it, it doesn't work the other way.
[1:46:03] So I I feel like that's well that's
[1:46:05] because we don't have, like I said, I,
[1:46:06] I'm number, but that's number.
[1:46:08] But that's addressing number that's addressing the EPFO.
[1:46:10] I have nothing in my head right now.
[1:46:11] I'd have to really sit down and Yeah.
[1:46:13] And take what you're saying.
[1:46:14] Look at the countywide ville iss getting ready
[1:46:16] to do 300 over the next five years.
[1:46:18] Right. So what if Centerville what, what Centerville's got
[1:46:23] what two large annexes that they've been sitting on for
[1:46:29] three, four years that I know of now
[1:46:31] that if they got their sewer,
[1:46:32] they'd already be bailed them out.
[1:46:33] And that's close to 600 homes if I'm not mistaken.
[1:46:36] So the concentration would
[1:46:41] be moving north at that point.
[1:46:42] And then would you need 'em up there?
[1:46:43] Would these be more affordable?
[1:46:45] I mean, that's what I'm saying that's,
[1:46:46] this is more than just, I, I think 10,000 in my mind,
[1:46:49] 10,000 right now is a good target number.
[1:46:51] And that's just me For sake of this conversation,
[1:46:56] What are you looking for for us to tell you like today
[1:46:59] or next meeting?
[1:47:00] I mean I obviously we want it today.
[1:47:02] I just wanna say that I just wanted soon, soon we
[1:47:05] Just, Patrick, I just want to say
[1:47:08] that the number we've been throwing at,
[1:47:10] I've been throwing out is 30 to 40 based upon, you know,
[1:47:14] a year ago the numbers.
[1:47:16] And I don't think it'd be a good idea to give one developer
[1:47:22] 30 or 40 houses over, you know, a year
[1:47:26] for two or three years in a row.
[1:47:29] So, and I, I hadn't even considered the
[1:47:33] queenstown part about that.
[1:47:36] So I gotta think about that too.
[1:47:41] I mean, theory one developer could grab 60 to 80,
[1:47:45] they could do two phases.
[1:47:47] I was gonna say year one I get 10,000.
[1:47:49] Year two I need the other 10,000. Yeah.
[1:47:52] I haven't figured the mechanics out of the all that.
[1:47:54] Yeah, well that, that's just, that's where
[1:47:57] putting it on the five up here to have to decide.
[1:47:59] That is where it gets tricky.
[1:48:00] Because to your point, you go phase, phase phase, it's like,
[1:48:04] well the commissioners just to approved 120 homes.
[1:48:06] It's like, well wait a minute, right?
[1:48:07] We did it through this system.
[1:48:08] What does that system look like? That's my thing.
[1:48:11] I don't feel comfortable. We have that system right now
[1:48:13] that I, I would feel good about doing.
[1:48:16] 'cause you think they say we take money from developers
[1:48:18] now and we know it's not true.
[1:48:20] Can you imagine that? Oh my god.
[1:48:29] Well that's a challenge with ra with with
[1:48:31] that creating a criteria and mechanism
[1:48:35] and we would have to put
[1:48:37] that in place if it's not first come first
[1:48:39] serve. What is it? Right?
[1:48:40] Yeah. And, and
[1:48:41] and what effect does that have on housing prices as well?
[1:48:43] Is it an important issue because, you know,
[1:48:46] housing affordability's difficult now it's gonna be,
[1:48:49] it's told people they don't understand like fine
[1:48:51] Demand.
[1:48:52] I agree Chris, you're gonna be thinking wistfully
[1:48:55] of the days of the $500,000 house on can island
[1:48:57] because it's gonna change a lot
[1:49:00] and like a very short period of time.
[1:49:02] And then everybody else's house is their costs is their,
[1:49:05] their assessments are gonna go up. 'cause
[1:49:07] The market, I I hear that Chris,
[1:49:09] but the comp plan has put the growth areas
[1:49:14] not on island.
[1:49:16] They put it up in Centerville and Barkley
[1:49:20] and Sutterville
[1:49:22] and that is where people should start looking.
[1:49:24] That's where developers should start looking.
[1:49:27] Well I think people need to look where they wanna live.
[1:49:29] I'm all in favor of that. Wherever you wanna live,
[1:49:31] you find a million dollar
[1:49:32] home you love and you can afford it.
[1:49:34] God bless you live in that million dollar home.
[1:49:36] But I think, you know, to, to your point Chris,
[1:49:39] to have any illusion
[1:49:41] that this is gonna drive down housing crisis in Queen Annes
[1:49:43] county is just that it's an illusion.
[1:49:45] It's when you get that supply
[1:49:48] and demand, once that supply is finite number one
[1:49:52] and continues to drop off, the demand's gonna get higher.
[1:49:56] It's, you know, it's no secret Queen Annes County
[1:49:59] people wanna live here.
[1:50:00] It's, I mean that is just what it is.
[1:50:02] It's closeness to Baltimore DC it makes it a good place
[1:50:06] to live other than the bridge traffic.
[1:50:08] But you know, only one hurdle at a time. Yeah.
[1:50:12] So promise that million dollar home is,
[1:50:14] that's gonna be the starter home eight years from now.
[1:50:15] I, I, I don't disagree. That's why I say don't have
[1:50:17] illusions that prices are going down at
[1:50:19] Queen Anne's County anytime soon.
[1:50:20] So
[1:50:26] Let's go to A PFO.
[1:50:27] We got, yeah, let's go. We got 'em all.
[1:50:28] We go to the next one. How allocations done.
[1:50:32] Okay with A PFO school capacity
[1:50:35] and how we calculate school capacity was one
[1:50:37] of the issues brought up during the moratorium.
[1:50:39] We looked at a couple different things.
[1:50:42] When somebody does an adequate public,
[1:50:45] a new development is proposed.
[1:50:47] If it's over seven units, they have to do a school study.
[1:50:50] When they do a school study,
[1:50:52] we have a formula which they used to project the number
[1:50:55] of school students at that project
[1:50:57] or development will generate.
[1:51:00] Historically we've used 0.5 students per household.
[1:51:05] So every two houses generate one school age student
[1:51:08] put in our school system.
[1:51:11] And then for multifamily it's 0.25.
[1:51:14] So we went back and looked at enrollment last year
[1:51:18] and compared that to new developments,
[1:51:20] new communities throughout the county
[1:51:22] and looked at how many kids were in each community
[1:51:25] to come up with ratios.
[1:51:27] And what we found was the actual ratios
[1:51:30] that we're seeing on the ground are more, are about 0.43
[1:51:35] for single family home.
[1:51:36] So a little bit lower than what we have been projecting
[1:51:39] and 0.27 for multifamily.
[1:51:42] So pretty much the same but just a little bit higher.
[1:51:45] And this is a practice that should be done every 10 years
[1:51:48] or so to look at market cha trends and changes.
[1:51:52] So we went through that and we think that changing
[1:51:57] or updating, it's updating these ratios to meet current
[1:52:02] meet what we're currently seeing makes sense
[1:52:04] to do with the A PFO.
[1:52:07] So we're recommending that
[1:52:10] we change the single family ratio from 0.5 to 0.43
[1:52:14] for single family homes
[1:52:16] and for multifamily homes go from 0.25 to 0.27.
[1:52:20] One of the other things with A PFO is calculating pre-K
[1:52:26] historically pre-K is not a required educational level.
[1:52:29] However, we do have six schools
[1:52:31] that include pre six elementary schools
[1:52:34] that include pre-K out of eight.
[1:52:36] It is turned into a regular standard practice as well
[1:52:40] as being re we're seeing more
[1:52:43] and more regulations from the state to,
[1:52:48] to make it a permanent opportunity.
[1:52:51] So we recommend that the historic practice
[1:52:55] of not including pre-K
[1:52:56] and A PFO studies be changed
[1:52:58] to include pre-K in all studies moving forward.
[1:53:01] You got here 'cause it's a
[1:53:03] affect schools, that's what happen, right?
[1:53:04] Yeah. Yeah. So that's a change that's we need to make.
[1:53:08] And then we went back
[1:53:10] and looked at high school capacity.
[1:53:14] Currently, if a, if a project comes in
[1:53:17] and they're proposing schools, school age children
[1:53:21] in a school that's at a hundred percent capacity,
[1:53:24] the a hundred percent capacity is the limit for A PFO.
[1:53:28] And that makes sense when you're putting kids in an
[1:53:30] elementary school in a middle school where they show up.
[1:53:32] Yeah, they're there all day and they go home.
[1:53:35] So, so when you look at the number of kids
[1:53:38] registered in an elementary school
[1:53:39] or middle school, that's the number of kids that are there.
[1:53:43] High school's a little bit different.
[1:53:45] High school has a lot more flexibility in their programs.
[1:53:48] And we see things like dual enrollment, like work
[1:53:53] work programs where they leave school finishing
[1:53:56] before four years and then also web-based learning
[1:54:01] and also CTE, there's a number of different programs
[1:54:06] that allow flexibility.
[1:54:08] So you might have kids
[1:54:10] registered at the high school totaling a hundred percent
[1:54:13] of capacity, but only about 90% of that building filled.
[1:54:17] So high school operates a little bit differently
[1:54:20] and we think we ought to recognize that.
[1:54:22] And one way to recognize that is by adjusting the,
[1:54:26] the maximum capacity for high school from a hundred percent
[1:54:30] to 110%.
[1:54:31] And we think that would be a way to recognize how
[1:54:36] the high schools actually work and how kids physically move
[1:54:41] and are when they're in
[1:54:42] the school and when they're not. And there's
[1:54:43] Other jurisdictions that that do the over,
[1:54:45] I mean we've been at a hundred, but a
[1:54:46] Lot of jurisdictions.
[1:54:47] Yes, many, many AFOs go to 110, 120% of
[1:54:52] of state rated capacity for schools.
[1:54:55] And some jurisdictions do have different
[1:54:59] for elementary, middle, and high.
[1:55:01] Different percentages for elementary and middle
[1:55:03] and high school trying to account for how they function.
[1:55:06] So what in the IAC, what's the IAC trigger
[1:55:08] for getting the matching funding and all?
[1:55:11] Is it, what is it? It's like 110, isn't it?
[1:55:13] Right, it's over a hundred.
[1:55:15] Right Before you have to hit that threshold
[1:55:16] before you can get the matching.
[1:55:18] I think it's, there's not a set percent,
[1:55:21] but you have to demonstrate the need for the new school
[1:55:23] or demonstrate that you can fill a new school.
[1:55:25] Right. You gotta be above and
[1:55:28] otherwise they're only gonna fund,
[1:55:29] they're gonna fund a much smaller school.
[1:55:31] Right, right, right. Or expansion. Yeah.
[1:55:35] So you have to demonstrate that you, if you're going
[1:55:37] to build a new school for new capacity, you have
[1:55:40] to demonstrate that you're gonna have enough kids in
[1:55:43] that school to make it worthwhile.
[1:55:45] And the A PFO, there's no real way to, the other thing
[1:55:47] that I think we ran into, not anymore,
[1:55:49] but we ran into the bubbles,
[1:55:50] the bubble years with the classes.
[1:55:53] You know, the the larger class,
[1:55:55] the nine 11 class when everybody was gonna die.
[1:55:57] And of course nine months later we had a ton more kids
[1:56:01] that was a bubble class where we had I think almost 580,
[1:56:05] almost 600 whatever it was between the two high schools,
[1:56:08] which is the most I can ever remember since I've been
[1:56:11] commissioner graduating between the two.
[1:56:13] But there's no way to factor that in, is it?
[1:56:15] I mean, to where, you know, because you know what I mean?
[1:56:18] If you got two back
[1:56:19] to back bubble classes hitting high school in two years
[1:56:22] and now you're gonna bump to, to your point
[1:56:24] that diversity's gonna take you to 120% of capacity,
[1:56:27] when in reality the next year you're gonna be back down
[1:56:30] under a hundred at your 90 that you're so, so A PFO tries
[1:56:34] to take that into account by looking at future projections.
[1:56:38] So if you have a project coming in that's a hundred units
[1:56:42] and they're going
[1:56:43] to be two years in the development review process
[1:56:46] and then they're gonna take seven years to build out,
[1:56:50] you would project those kids coming in,
[1:56:52] in those years of build out.
[1:56:55] So, and you would be projecting that with the board
[1:56:58] of Ed's 10 year projection.
[1:57:01] So if there is a bubble where the Board of Ed projects
[1:57:04] that number going up and coming down that would be,
[1:57:07] should smooth itself out over the, okay.
[1:57:10] Yeah, that makes sense. Okay.
[1:57:11] So they may be held up for a year because of that bubble,
[1:57:15] but if they adjust their plan
[1:57:19] or wait a year, that bubble will go by and go by.
[1:57:22] Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Gotcha. But with sewer,
[1:57:26] we we're only gonna see a limited number
[1:57:27] of these large projects.
[1:57:29] You know, A PFO applies to for schools, applies
[1:57:33] to projects over seven units
[1:57:36] and we're talking about rationing out sewer
[1:57:38] or you know, limiting it.
[1:57:40] So there's only gonna be a limited number
[1:57:42] of projects dealing with A PFO based on that.
[1:57:45] Right. So till we get into the towns, so,
[1:57:50] so the towns, as you mentioned, the towns do not have AFOs,
[1:57:54] they're not obligated to do the county A PFO,
[1:57:57] which has been an ongoing discussion with the,
[1:57:59] with the county and the towns, which for everybody
[1:58:03] to understand that basically the rest of the county pays
[1:58:06] for the kids that are gonna be born into the town.
[1:58:08] So, so A PFO does not apply to the towns,
[1:58:11] however impact fees do.
[1:58:13] Right. So when,
[1:58:15] when development occurs in the incorporated towns,
[1:58:18] they do have to provide a pay for a school impact fee,
[1:58:21] which would be a capital contribution towards the school.
[1:58:24] But that's a, well we know that's not even close
[1:58:27] to building a school nowadays with the cost
[1:58:28] of doing anything with schools.
[1:58:32] He's gonna do a, a middle school
[1:58:34] that's gonna be the same capacity for $80 million
[1:58:36] that doesn't maybe even 90 by the time it's built.
[1:58:40] So, so those are three policy changes we'd like,
[1:58:44] we believe are would imple would make sense
[1:58:47] to implement adjusting the student generation rates,
[1:58:49] including, including pre-K
[1:58:51] and making some adjustments, maybe going to 110% of
[1:58:56] high school capacity to deal with the flexibility in
[1:59:01] how high schools operate.
[1:59:04] So, and we don't have an automatic period within the A PFO
[1:59:08] ordinances as to when it gets
[1:59:10] reevaluated again the next time. Right.
[1:59:12] The A PFO. Yeah.
[1:59:13] Like so when, when we look at these numbers again to see
[1:59:18] No, no, It's been been quite a bit of time.
[1:59:21] It's been Do we could, we could factor that in.
[1:59:24] I'm wondering if we should, I think we should add
[1:59:26] that in there as part of it too.
[1:59:28] So revisit it.
[1:59:30] We, we can, one of these changes requires an amendment
[1:59:34] to the A PFO, which could also, we could add that
[1:59:38] language in there that a set schedule,
[1:59:41] we would revisit these issues
[1:59:42] No later than every 10 years or something like that.
[1:59:45] So if they wanna do it earlier, you can, but,
[1:59:47] but at least it's sort of triggering that
[1:59:49] that would be that review.
[1:59:51] 'cause you also don't know,
[1:59:53] But How much everything's gonna change in the
[1:59:55] next four or five years.
[1:59:56] Right. That a lot of these numbers,
[1:59:59] how schooling is done could change
[2:00:01] a lot in the next five years.
[2:00:02] Yeah. We could Drastically.
[2:00:03] It just depends on how,
[2:00:04] if things evolve over the next several
[2:00:07] years, it's, it's hard to say.
[2:00:09] Yeah. And school numbers, I mean we have,
[2:00:11] we track these numbers every year.
[2:00:13] We get new enrollment numbers from the school. Yeah.
[2:00:16] We plug in developments.
[2:00:17] We, this is a, this changes with every,
[2:00:20] every year when we get new enrollment numbers right.
[2:00:23] Or if the change state changes state rated
[2:00:26] capacity, it's constantly
[2:00:27] And enrollment is currently
[2:00:29] Down and we're trend down right now down
[2:00:31] Flat. Right.
[2:00:32] Yeah.
[2:00:39] I would've thought it wouldn't have been down.
[2:00:40] It's crazy, huh? What's that? The student population? Yeah.
[2:00:43] That it's down.
[2:00:45] That's the way it's going.
[2:00:49] Okay. So is that acceptable that we make those changes
[2:00:52] to the A-P-F-O-I
[2:00:55] On that?
[2:00:56] Okay. Yeah. We'll start the process
[2:00:57] to develop those documents.
[2:00:59] That'll all come back to the commissioners.
[2:01:00] We have to have a hearing for the A PFO ordinance change,
[2:01:02] but that'll all come back around.
[2:01:03] So we will proceed on that basis.
[2:01:05] Sense A PO to your point, Chris too, I would like
[2:01:08] to see mandatory triggers on some of this stuff.
[2:01:10] So yeah, the next set of commissioners, next set
[2:01:12] of commissioners don't have to keep doing
[2:01:15] what we've had to do with a lot of
[2:01:16] This stuff.
[2:01:17] Right. 'cause some people will just kick it down the
[2:01:18] curb when they should look at it.
[2:01:20] That's why we're sitting here today. Yeah.
[2:01:21] So that's how building in safeguards is important. Right.
[2:01:25] So I think we need some guardrails in there
[2:01:26] for making sure that it gets reviewed.
[2:01:32] Whatever makes sense in between comp plans at least once
[2:01:36] or whatever I think makes,
[2:01:38] Okay.
[2:01:39] And the schools, I mean my, I'm hoping the board
[2:01:43] of ed is on top of this a lot more,
[2:01:44] at least from the student
[2:01:45] population side and what they're seeing.
[2:01:47] Oh yeah. What they're Look, because you know,
[2:01:49] the target funding's gonna keep coming back
[2:01:51] and it's based on where Kerwin's gonna settle in.
[2:01:53] Well that doesn't, that Kerwin is looking at nothing in
[2:01:56] terms of county population, how we're growing,
[2:01:58] what we're doing, how much soil we got.
[2:02:00] They don't care. It's, this is what it is per student.
[2:02:03] So gotta be conscious of that to,
[2:02:05] and I think that's where Jim was going with,
[2:02:07] if you're not growing at all, you're not gonna keep up
[2:02:09] with Kerwin, this county.
[2:02:10] No county's gonna keep up with Kerwin
[2:02:11] if you're not growing in some pace.
[2:02:12] So yeah, we work with a board of on coming up with this.
[2:02:17] Yeah, I know. They were on the task force.
[2:02:18] We're, we're using their state projections. Good. Yes. Good.
[2:02:24] Thanks for all that work. I appreciate it.
[2:02:26] So back on the sewer side.
[2:02:27] So we're gonna keep the allocation request commensurate with
[2:02:32] what we're doing now after concept plan commissioners can
[2:02:34] review those requests as they come in.
[2:02:36] Where, where in the, in the
[2:02:38] It's at concept.
[2:02:39] They got a concept plan review
[2:02:40] and they can then, they can make a request
[2:02:41] for allocation in front
[2:02:43] of the sanitary commission commissioners.
[2:02:45] So as far as the metering,
[2:02:46] it sounds like we do wanna have some type
[2:02:47] of metering component
[2:02:49] or rationing of this,
[2:02:51] the residential component of the sewer.
[2:02:53] So if we're not sure where that number is yet,
[2:02:55] we can still proceed on getting those documents ready
[2:02:58] and come back, discuss that some more
[2:03:00] before we finalize everything.
[2:03:02] But that's, that's part of the sewer allocation policy,
[2:03:04] which important company. No,
[2:03:06] But again, again, you know that sewer allocation,
[2:03:08] we're not saying one development's gonna be 40 houses.
[2:03:12] We're not saying one
[2:03:12] development's gonna be a hundred houses.
[2:03:14] Right. Right. You're, you're, you're saying
[2:03:16] you don't want more than 40,
[2:03:17] a hundred, whatever the number is.
[2:03:19] And if it's five different developers in
[2:03:21] five different locations.
[2:03:22] Right. You know, I mean I think that, I think,
[2:03:25] I think everyone sometimes gets hung up on a number thinking
[2:03:28] they're gonna be a hundred homes there.
[2:03:30] Oh yeah. No, I don't think the 50 homes there, it's,
[2:03:33] that doesn't, I mean there could be,
[2:03:35] but that's not what we're, we're not,
[2:03:37] not what we're implying
[2:03:38] Or just how do you assimilate it.
[2:03:39] Right. On a yearly basis. Right.
[2:03:41] Yeah. Yeah.
[2:03:43] You're just saying that when you hit this cap, right.
[2:03:45] That's you gotta wait a year and then to, we discuss that.
[2:03:49] You're saying that they, they can come in any time for it.
[2:03:52] I know the last time we said once a year you can like a text
[2:03:55] amendment, you could come in once a year
[2:03:56] and apply for the allocation.
[2:03:58] But you said quarterly.
[2:03:59] But no, it's any sanitary commission meeting they could ask
[2:04:02] once they get concept plan approval.
[2:04:03] Okay.
[2:04:06] I think that makes, I mean, yeah, there,
[2:04:08] because you don't know when they're
[2:04:10] gonna be doing their concept plan.
[2:04:11] They should have a concept plan
[2:04:12] and say, now I gotta sit on this for,
[2:04:14] Well, plus I was thinking about planning
[2:04:15] and zoning, having to go through
[2:04:17] 35 concept plans all at one time.
[2:04:20] Like they do text amendments. Yeah. All at one time. Yep.
[2:04:23] Stress.
[2:04:24] They like it. Stephanie's smiling.
[2:04:29] Maybe she, maybe they do like it. He does.
[2:04:34] All right. Alright. Alright. Yep.
[2:04:37] Well I got one answer so I'm gonna keep it up.
[2:04:40] It's not bad. 2%. It's not bad.
[2:04:42] Alright, thanks gentlemen.
[2:04:43] Thanks for the other members of the
[2:04:44] task force that are here tonight.
[2:04:46] I appreciate everyone being here tonight. So Alan,
[2:04:48] Great.
[2:04:49] We'll get all the commissioners out in the heat tomorrow
[2:04:51] and we'll let 'em leave the sunlight till
[2:04:53] they come up with a number for you.
[2:04:54] Alright. Alright.
[2:04:57] He gonna be out there, so, so now Alex smiling.
[2:05:04] All right, well commissioners, that is all
[2:05:06] of the items on the agenda for tonight
[2:05:11] other than round table and any closing
[2:05:13] Question? Public,
[2:05:14] I'm sorry.
[2:05:15] Press Public Health. Yep, that too.
[2:05:18] Do we have anybody signed up? Yep.
[2:05:19] Oh good. Okay. This young lady here wanted to go with.
[2:05:22] Alright, Thank you
[2:05:27] Again.
[2:05:28] My name is Marty McKenzie, I'm from Centerville.
[2:05:31] And I tell you tonight's been a real wake up call for me
[2:05:34] for a reason I didn't expect.
[2:05:36] I can't understand what you're saying
[2:05:39] and I'm so glad that the agency on aging,
[2:05:42] aging people are here because you hope the longevity study
[2:05:46] includes something to help us.
[2:05:48] I got spoiled, I watched CSPAN
[2:05:50] with the closed captions all the time.
[2:05:52] Right. But I think
[2:05:54] what I heard you say is there was a chance
[2:05:57] for public input on this moratorium report.
[2:06:00] Am I correct there?
[2:06:02] Yeah, Absolutely. Yeah. I saw the A PFO the part there
[2:06:04] still is Chance for public input.
[2:06:07] Absolutely. And, and it has been made
[2:06:08] that the findings had been made public.
[2:06:11] That's what this presentation is for.
[2:06:13] And there was another presentation two months ago,
[2:06:16] Two months ago now With the initial findings of it.
[2:06:19] And this was just a, a follow up on it,
[2:06:20] but no action being taken.
[2:06:22] We're not voting on it yet.
[2:06:23] So there is time for people to get more of the information
[2:06:26] and our meeting materials are also available.
[2:06:29] So the report tonight though is available to the public.
[2:06:33] Yeah, I think the Slides, it's in the
[2:06:35] Book, but it's in the book.
[2:06:36] Yeah, yeah. There was no slides but it's in the book. Yeah.
[2:06:38] Okay. So on our website we have an agenda
[2:06:42] with all the meeting materials
[2:06:43] for each meeting you can click on, you can also go back
[2:06:45] and watch the meetings. They'll be there also
[2:06:48] On video.
[2:06:49] Hear better. Yep. So can I assume the moratorium
[2:06:52] is still in effect?
[2:06:54] Yeah. Yeah. It, it is still in effect. Okay.
[2:06:56] It doesn't expire until August, August, August,
[2:06:58] August 2nd meeting in August,
[2:07:00] Second meeting August is when it expires.
[2:07:01] And I wanted to also give a big thank you
[2:07:04] to your county commissioner and your Board of Public Works.
[2:07:07] I was one of the organizers for the no Kings rallies
[2:07:10] that we've had in the past year.
[2:07:12] And you all have been wonderful to work with
[2:07:14] because I am so technically challenged
[2:07:16] and they help me so much get
[2:07:19] through all the permitting process.
[2:07:20] So thank you so much.
[2:07:22] Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else like to speak?
[2:07:27] There you go. You got any emails? Nothing, nothing to read.
[2:07:31] Round table Patrick, we'll let you go to first.
[2:07:38] Oh, you're muted. Mute.
[2:07:41] Any update on the big beautiful flagpole that's going up
[2:07:45] by, by the bridge tonight? Have we heard anything
[2:07:49] Tonight?
[2:07:50] Oh, we, we've been in here.
[2:07:51] Rumor, rumor mill says it's supposed
[2:07:53] to go up this evening sometime.
[2:07:54] Yeah. Oh wow. Yeah.
[2:07:57] It's a great on Unfurled tomorrow though.
[2:07:59] I think it's, oh, is that what it is?
[2:08:00] I think it go tell the people what's going on.
[2:08:02] They don't know. They're all excited.
[2:08:03] Well let 'em be excited
[2:08:04] when they come across the bridge tomorrow.
[2:08:05] Right? Or next time they're at the bridge. Yeah.
[2:08:07] We're worried about Well, I
[2:08:09] Just, I'll give a shout out to the commissioners
[2:08:11] and to the American Legion
[2:08:14] and to Mdot for putting this together our, our
[2:08:19] county administrator.
[2:08:21] And it's just gonna be a, a welcoming,
[2:08:27] Welcoming people to the eastern shore.
[2:08:29] The O Queen Annes County is the gateway to the,
[2:08:33] to Del Marva on the Eastern shore.
[2:08:35] And this is gonna be a big, huge, beautiful
[2:08:39] American flag, patriotic.
[2:08:41] And it's going up for the 250th anniversary.
[2:08:46] And I just want to thank my colleagues for getting it done.
[2:08:50] Second thing is a little bit of
[2:08:56] a challenge I had,
[2:09:01] I I, I went to Tyler Hendricks down down
[2:09:05] to the Rooke Fire Department
[2:09:07] and spent a lot of time our young kids
[2:09:12] and our first responders.
[2:09:14] These are 16, 17,
[2:09:17] and 18, 19, 20-year-old kids that are our
[2:09:22] up and coming first responders that are going to take care
[2:09:26] of, take care of us as we get older.
[2:09:30] Spot fires and car accidents and EMS.
[2:09:34] And it was just a tragic loss that we,
[2:09:37] that we had on Father's Day.
[2:09:40] And then I went to the, the candlelight service
[2:09:45] at the high school base football stadium.
[2:09:50] And it was packed.
[2:09:52] There were, there were so many people
[2:09:55] and so many young kids just asking questions and,
[2:10:01] and then on, on Thursday
[2:10:07] when they, they had a procession from Baltimore
[2:10:11] from the coroner's office
[2:10:14] and every bridge between Baltimore
[2:10:19] and Kent Island had firetrucks on it
[2:10:23] and just hundreds if not thousands of people on,
[2:10:28] on, on all the bridges saluting
[2:10:32] our first responder.
[2:10:34] So I just want to thank all
[2:10:38] of our volunteers and all of our paid EMS staff and,
[2:10:42] and our fire firefighters who just
[2:10:46] put everything on the line for us.
[2:10:48] And we're just a grateful county
[2:10:51] and we're just very thankful for them.
[2:10:56] And lastly, our very own William Pack
[2:11:01] who had a summer home here signed the Declaration
[2:11:04] of Independence 250 years ago.
[2:11:10] And we should celebrate that, that Queen Annes County
[2:11:14] had a, had one of one of our, one of our own on the
[2:11:21] D Parchment from July.
[2:11:23] It's actually July 2nd, 1776, put out July 4th
[2:11:30] and Marilyn signed actually on, I believe it was August 2nd.
[2:11:35] So just a little bit of history there. That's it.
[2:11:38] Thank you. Okay. Yeah.
[2:11:41] So first off, I wanna set the record straight price had a
[2:11:43] post office when we were talking about Verna's
[2:11:45] and where they wanna put the gas station.
[2:11:47] So it was a big city when I moved here
[2:11:49] 'cause it did have a post office.
[2:11:50] Matter of fact, my address when I moved here was price
[2:11:52] and is now Centerville 'cause it no longer exists.
[2:11:55] Real quick, I just wanted to talk about that
[2:11:57] with that gas station there.
[2:11:58] As somebody who crosses that intersection for the reasons
[2:12:01] that were brought up about going to get anything, literally,
[2:12:04] whether it's gas, snack, whatever we, we know
[2:12:09] how dangerous 4 0 5 is crossing there.
[2:12:11] In my mind, I think having
[2:12:13] that convenience store on the other side
[2:12:15] would eliminate a lot of crossovers of locals.
[2:12:18] And I think we're seeing more locals have been injured at
[2:12:21] that intersection than out of towners
[2:12:24] and have been critically injured.
[2:12:27] Dead in unfortunately in quite a few instances
[2:12:29] here in the last year.
[2:12:31] So, you know, this is one
[2:12:33] of them ones that I'm looking at hard.
[2:12:35] I I, I gotta look deeper into
[2:12:36] how it's gonna affect other parts
[2:12:37] of the county if we do this.
[2:12:39] But honestly right now,
[2:12:40] the way I'm leaning is I think it makes sense to be able to
[2:12:44] have that on that side of the road
[2:12:45] because points were made tonight that were very good.
[2:12:48] There's no gas between the split and Delaware
[2:12:52] unless you get off and go into town
[2:12:54] and there's no place to get a drink.
[2:12:55] There's really no place to do
[2:12:56] anything until you get to Delaware.
[2:12:59] So that's my opinion on that one.
[2:13:03] And like I said, it, I think it will eliminate a lot of
[2:13:05] that cross traffic with our local people
[2:13:08] and hopefully save some lives.
[2:13:10] Second thing, the, the river keeper she took, she,
[2:13:14] she took the ask for money, but I'm gonna ask anyway.
[2:13:17] So as you know,
[2:13:18] our clay target team is one of the best in the states.
[2:13:22] We went out and swept the Maryland State Finals
[2:13:26] and now we have the reigning national singles champion in
[2:13:30] Clay Coppi, who is going back to defend his title July 8th.
[2:13:34] They're heading out to Michigan.
[2:13:37] And we have a full team of five.
[2:13:41] We have 10 people that are going out to compete individually
[2:13:44] for the national title Clay Cole, I'm sorry,
[2:13:46] I say Clay Cole Coppi to compete.
[2:13:50] And then we have five individuals who are gonna compete
[2:13:53] who were the, the basically the creme de la creme
[2:13:55] of our Queen Annes County high school team
[2:13:56] that are gonna compete for the team title nationally.
[2:13:59] We also have one Kent Island student who was going out
[2:14:02] to compete from Kent Island.
[2:14:03] They didn't have enough to get a team together this year.
[2:14:05] But my ask is, so roughly with the,
[2:14:08] with the registration fees, ammo
[2:14:10] and everything else, basically put on there,
[2:14:12] this is no travel expenses for 'em.
[2:14:13] It's about $500 a kid.
[2:14:15] So I'd like to cover our team, which would be roughly $5,500
[2:14:18] to cover the kids and take
[2:14:19] that expense away from the money they've raised this year
[2:14:21] and let them enjoy themselves.
[2:14:23] It's fantastic Clean.
[2:14:24] Ance County has a national champion
[2:14:26] and really by all accounts,
[2:14:28] we have a good shot at winning 240 teams.
[2:14:31] We have a good shot at winning the, the team title this year
[2:14:33] and that would be awesome to have a
[2:14:36] national champion in our third year.
[2:14:37] How, how cool is that? Right.
[2:14:38] So I will make a motion to put
[2:14:41] $5,000 towards Queen Anne County high school team kids
[2:14:44] and 500 towards our one Kent Island High School
[2:14:47] for their registration, ammo and other expenses.
[2:14:51] And just with second. Okay, there you go.
[2:14:54] Got a motion and a second. All in favor? Aye. Aye.
[2:14:59] There we go. Well that's all I got. That's all. Awesome man.
[2:15:02] Alright. Fireworks are tomorrow at the narrows.
[2:15:08] And some people have asked about why are the fireworks
[2:15:11] not on the 4th of July?
[2:15:13] And we do have fireworks on the 4th of July
[2:15:16] when the 4th of July is not on a weekend.
[2:15:19] And there's a lot of reasons for that.
[2:15:21] And I know it's preferable
[2:15:23] to see fireworks on the 4th of July,
[2:15:25] but there is a lot of logistics that goes into this.
[2:15:28] And as people may not know, there's beach traffic that comes
[2:15:32] through in the summertime on the weekends
[2:15:35] and that impacts a lot of things.
[2:15:37] And so it's not so much that you are going to have
[2:15:40] beach traffic when people are arriving for the fireworks
[2:15:43] or leaving for the fireworks,
[2:15:44] although quite possible when they're arriving on a Saturday,
[2:15:46] you, you could have those backups,
[2:15:48] but there's a lot of logistics that goes in beforehand.
[2:15:51] Parks and recs getting there
[2:15:52] and setting up law enforcement,
[2:15:54] getting there, the first responders.
[2:15:56] And we wanna make sure that we also have
[2:15:58] the first responders in place
[2:16:00] and on the weekends, a lot of times they're responding
[2:16:04] to calls and they're going to hospitals across the bridge
[2:16:06] and they gotta wait because the ERs are full.
[2:16:08] And so they have to stand there with the beds
[2:16:10] until the patient is accepted into the hospital
[2:16:13] and then they gotta battle traffic to get back.
[2:16:15] And that drastically also impacts their
[2:16:17] ability to be available.
[2:16:19] And for us to not only make sure
[2:16:20] that the 4th of July event is safe,
[2:16:22] but that we have personnel
[2:16:24] who can respond throughout the county as well.
[2:16:26] So all of those factors go into it.
[2:16:28] It's not a decision that we take lightly,
[2:16:30] but for the sake of the planning, logistics
[2:16:33] and the safety, including also
[2:16:34] for the county staff, that works really hard.
[2:16:37] We do it during the week
[2:16:39] and by doing it on the first, if there's rain,
[2:16:42] it gives us the opportunity to just roll it into July 2nd.
[2:16:45] So decreasing the chance that we're gonna have an issue
[2:16:50] with it being, being canceled.
[2:16:51] So that, that's why it happens that way.
[2:16:53] But for those of you who are really excited
[2:16:56] to celebrate America on July 4th as well,
[2:16:59] I've got great news for you.
[2:17:01] Every July 4th we get in front of the old courthouse
[2:17:04] and there is a reading of the Declaration of Independence.
[2:17:07] It's a whole bunch of people. Mary Margaret puts it together
[2:17:09] and everybody reads a portions
[2:17:11] of the Declaration of Independence.
[2:17:12] And I bet most people have never read the Declaration
[2:17:15] of Independence or haven't since high school.
[2:17:17] It's really cool to listen to it
[2:17:19] and it's really cool event to go there.
[2:17:21] And this is two 50. So I would like to see as many people
[2:17:25] as we can get possible to the old courthouse,
[2:17:28] eight o'clock in the morning on July 4th.
[2:17:32] Mary Margaret would be ecstatic if we just packed
[2:17:36] downtown Centerville with people to hear that.
[2:17:38] So please tell a friend
[2:17:39] and tell a friend to tell a friend and show up.
[2:17:41] It's a really cool thing.
[2:17:43] And fireworks are cool,
[2:17:45] but the Declaration of
[2:17:46] Independence is really what it's all about.
[2:17:48] Not, not the fireworks.
[2:17:49] So that's the more important thing to be there for.
[2:17:52] So I encourage everybody to come to that.
[2:17:54] I have enjoyed participating in that for eight years now.
[2:17:57] So that's my plug.
[2:18:00] You'll be there. I'll be there. I'll be there. Yep.
[2:18:03] You know, so yeah, I'll be there.
[2:18:05] And it's nice 'cause when you screw up them
[2:18:07] real big words, nobody knows.
[2:18:08] Nobody knows. So it's nice.
[2:18:11] You know, I guess I wanna talk a little bit about the bridge
[2:18:15] and, and a little bit about traffic and,
[2:18:17] and a whole lot about accidents.
[2:18:21] We need to slow down out there.
[2:18:23] I mean, I think that the traffic right now and,
[2:18:26] and the speed that residents people just traversing
[2:18:30] through the county, it's like NASCAR
[2:18:32] and it, it, two weekends ago
[2:18:37] we had five accidents on the Bay Bridges in one day.
[2:18:40] It's just crazy. And, and it is just
[2:18:43] because honestly, we're, we're, we're not doing enough
[2:18:47] to enforce some of the laws that we have on the books.
[2:18:51] Tomorrow night is the Bay Bridge Reconstruction Advisory
[2:18:53] Group meeting where I will be there to discuss that.
[2:18:58] We're, again, we're in the process of the,
[2:19:01] the red X cameras, hopefully it won't be this year,
[2:19:04] but next year, having that in place
[2:19:07] and possibly doing something with speed cameras
[2:19:09] to slow people down, if not hurt their wallets.
[2:19:13] But I just, and
[2:19:14] and that's one of the main concerns I have about the flag.
[2:19:17] We, we were talking about this brand new flag, 50
[2:19:19] by 30 to cover this room.
[2:19:22] And I'm more concerned about people coming on down the
[2:19:24] downhill slope, looking at that giant
[2:19:26] flag and not paying attention.
[2:19:28] I hope to God that doesn't happen tomorrow,
[2:19:30] but it'll slow down down.
[2:19:32] Yeah. I mean, so just, you know, I I I just want people
[2:19:36] to slow down en enjoy what you're doing
[2:19:39] and where you're going and you'll get there.
[2:19:41] You know, it might take a
[2:19:42] little longer, but you're gonna get there.
[2:19:44] And, and also, you know, the, the one thing with the,
[2:19:47] when I was on the Economic Development Commission,
[2:19:50] the reason the fireworks also aren't on the weekends is
[2:19:53] because the restaurants are full on the weekends.
[2:19:56] So during the week, they're not full. This fills 'em up.
[2:19:58] 'cause most people will sit there,
[2:19:59] especially as hot as it's gonna be.
[2:20:01] Yeah. I don't think the restaurants
[2:20:03] gonna, you know, be loving it.
[2:20:04] But that's just, you know, it happens.
[2:20:07] So, you know, stay hydrated, enjoy the show.
[2:20:10] I'm gonna try and see three of 'em.
[2:20:11] So, you know, and that's the way to go.
[2:20:13] So looking forward to it. I'll take a motion.
[2:20:17] Motion to adjourn. Second it. All in favor? Aye. Aye.
[2:20:20] Thank you. Thank you everybody. See you Patrick.