The Commissioners of St. Mary’s County held their final regular business meeting of 2020 on Tuesday, December 15, 2020, in the Chesapeake Building in Leonardtown.
The first order of business for the Commissioners was the approval of a request to amend the St. Mary’s County Code Length of Service Awards (LOSAP) process to award a blanket of 25 LOSAP points to all qualifying volunteers for 2020.
The Commissioners approved a public hearing to receive public comments on an amendment to the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance to include new zoning classification for commercial weddings held on farms in St. Mary’s County.
Representatives from the YMCA of the Chesapeake and the YMCA Exploratory Committee discussed steps to move forward in the planning of a YMCA in St. Mary’s County. The Commissioners approved an agreement with the YMCA of the Chesapeake to complete a Campaign Feasibility Study.
The Commissioners accepted an additional $6,500 in grant funding from the Exelon Generation Company LLC on behalf of the Department of Emergency Services. These funds will be used in updating St. Mary’s County Emergency Plans.
Additionally, the Commissioners, in continued support of the local volunteer rescue squads, approved a request for a maximum of $906,000 from the Department of Emergency Services to fund supplemental staffing of rescue squad medical operations between Jan. 1, and June 30, 2021.
The Commissioners approved the use of $17,819 from the Commissioners Reserve to purchase U.S. Geological Survey monitoring equipment for McIntosh Run. This monitoring station will be used to gather information to better capture weather data, specifically in the McIntosh Run., Leonardtown area.
The Commissioners convened as the Board of Health to receive an update from Health Officer Dr. Meenakshi Brewster regarding the state of the COVID-19 Emergency in St. Mary’s County and the recently approved vaccinations and distribution plans.
At 1:30, the Commissioners held a FY 2022 Budget Work Session to hear from Jeannett Cudmore, chief financial officer, regarding FY2022 Capital Improvement Projects. The Commissioners were briefed on revenue estimates and expenditures for the FY2020 budget and multiyear to FY2026. The Commissioners next Budget Work Session will be Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021.
The next regularly scheduled business meeting of the Commissioners of St. Mary’s County is Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021; there will be no meetings held Dec. 22 and 29, 2020. Commissioner decisions and related public documents are available on the county government website in BoardDocs. St. Mary’s County Commissioner Meetings may be viewed live Tuesday mornings on SMCG Channel 95 or as a replay Friday nights at 6:30 p.m. Meetings are also available for on-demand viewing on the St. Mary’s County Government YouTube Channel.
