Environmental Matters Committee Special Meeting - July 25, 2025
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Environmental Matters Committee Special Meeting - July 25, 2025
The Environmental Matters Committee held a special meeting on Friday, July 25, 2025, at 1:08 PM in the City Council Chambers, chaired by Alderman Savidge. The primary agenda item was Ordinance O-20-25, authorizing the sale of city-owned properties at 932 Spa Road and 935 Spa Road, Lot 1 to the Resilience Authority of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County for $1.00, to facilitate environmental remediation and future redevelopment. After extensive discussion and amendment, the committee voted to recommend the ordinance favorably.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Agenda: Moved by Alderwoman Finlayson, seconded, carried on voice vote.
- Approval of Minutes: Approved minutes from the regular meeting on July 10, 2025, and the special meeting on July 23, 2025, both moved by Alderwoman Finlayson and carried on voice vote.
Discussion Items
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O-20-25 – Sale of City-Owned Property at 932 Spa Road and 935 Spa Road, Lot 1: The ordinance authorizes the private sale of two city-owned parcels to the Resilience Authority for $1.00. The purpose is to allow the Resilience Authority to apply for a $4 million EPA Brownfield grant to remediate contamination from historical landfill, incinerator, and public works operations. The property includes three areas: the east and west sides of Spa Road and part of the former Whelms Whalen Field (the latter not included in the sale).
- Key discussion points included:
- Environmental Status: A Phase II Environmental Site Assessment (completed February 2025) identified contamination. The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) provided comments; most have been addressed, with two remaining (STAT correction and stormwater permitting resolution).
- Voluntary Cleanup Program (VCP): The property is currently one VCP site. The committee discussed dividing it into separate VCP applications for the east and west parcels to allow independent remediation timelines. MDE suggested separate applications, and the committee saw merit in flexibility.
- Federal Grant Timeline: The urgency for the sale is driven by changes in federal Brownfield funding announced in April 2025. The application deadline is November 2025, necessitating quick action.
- Role of the Resilience Authority: The authority will hold the property during remediation, apply for grants, and disburse funds. It will not conduct development; the city will retain ownership of Whelms Whalen Field.
- Archaeological and Heritage Commission Coordination: The committee added a provision requiring the Resilience Authority to coordinate with the Annapolis Heritage Commission and the city for any council-required archaeological consulting not covered by the grant, with costs and liability borne by the city.
- Key discussion points included:
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Amendments: Three amendments were originally submitted:
- Amendment #1 (Finlayson): Withdrawn.
- Amendment #2 (Savidge): Proposed modifications to the ordinance’s whereas clauses and operative sections, including adding “currently” to indicate the property is not currently needed for public use, specifying the sole purpose of the sale is for grant-seeking and remediation, and adding a pre-development work session with the council.
- Amendment #3 (Arnett): Proposed detailed whereases about historical use and environmental impacts, reverter clauses (property reverts to city upon EPA acceptance of remediation or if the grant is denied), and a clause requiring the Resilience Authority to transfer individual lots if remediated separately.
- After discussion, the committee merged relevant portions of Amendments #2 and #3 into a single Committee Amendment (referred to as the environmental matters committee amendment). This amendment includes:
- Adoption of all whereases from Amendment #3.
- Insertion of “currently” in the fourth whereas.
- Addition of a sentence in the final whereas stating the sale is solely for obtaining grants and funds to remediate contamination.
- New operative clauses: (6) Resilience Authority shall apply for Brownfield grant; (7) If successful, make best efforts to complete remediation; (8) Coordinate with Heritage Commission and city for archaeological consulting not covered by the grant (costs/liability by city); (9) Reverter clause upon EPA acceptance; (10) Reverter if grant is denied; (11) City responsible for reversion costs.
- A new Section II (A, B, C) authorizing the mayor to execute the sale, the Office of Law to prepare documents, and requiring a future work session and council resolution before development plans are submitted.
- The committee voted to recommend the ordinance as amended favorably.
Key Outcomes
- Vote on Amendment #3 (Arnett): Approved on voice vote.
- Vote on Amendment #2 (Savidge): Approved as modified by the committee on voice vote (later absorbed into the committee amendment).
- Withdrawal of Amendments #1 and #2: Amendment #1 was withdrawn; the sponsor of Amendment #2 withdrew it in favor of the committee amendment.
- Final Vote on Ordinance O-20-25 as Amended: Moved to recommend favorably, seconded, and carried on voice vote (3-0). The ordinance will proceed to the full City Council.
- Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 3:02 PM.
- Additional Directive: Alderwoman Finlayson requested the Deputy City Manager for Resilience & Sustainability to review the CIP project for Whelms Whalen Field and report on funding and timeline.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, and I like to call to order the order July twenty fifth meeting for environmental manners committee. And I would like to say a motion to approve the agenda as written. Um before we kick it over to the amendments. You should have a copy of the ordinance followed by three amendments not off the press. In addition to any other questions we may have remaining. Outstanding. So any remarks from staff or other guests before we get started. Okay. Steve Rogers must be heard. All right. And um I guess before we get started with the amendments, I did have a couple of questions. I was hoping to get answers to see if I can find those. I think one of them was a couple of them regarded the report from MDE, the letter from MDE. It seemed like they had mentioned a couple of I guess deficiencies in the phase two that they wanted corrected. Have those been made. Yeah. Yeah. So there were we got uh there were comments uh submitted by the MDE. Um we have provided a first response to comments, um, uh closing several of those administrative requests on their part, um, providing the additional information uh that they requested with regards to um the tables of the phase two. Um there are two remaining comments. There is um one comment regarding the correction of STAT, and we are um in the process of addressing that one, and then there was a comment with regards to they asked if the city was at in front of in any other regulatory program. There was an out there was an issue with the city with stormwater and the permitting stormwater permitting that's been resolved. We got the letter from EPA region three that closes that out, and we will be submitted that actually came the day after we submitted our first response to comments, so we'll be providing that and then the STAT, and that should address all comments by MDE. And within a time frame before the federal applications do. Uh yeah, yes, within uh uh very short timeline of the great and has the city considered MD suggestions for having separate DCPs for each lot. Uh what's the VCP stand for again? The uh voluntary cleanup program. So we have and we actually walked this the MBE through the intended process because um from the very beginning we understood that Weams Whalen field had kind of a different driver behind it, so uh we had already um discussed that option with MDE in our pre-application meeting. Um so they know that we're going in as one site, and that as soon as we have Weams Whalen Field uh recorded as its own parcel, that will get its own application and will become its own VCP site. Um as to whether there's any other subdivision of the site, um, that would be more of a decision about uh it doesn't need to be. Um it'd be more uh influenced by whether there's any difference in the development of the two sides, whether the West uh Western portion might be on a different timeline. It is not required, it's a suggestion of the MDE. Honestly, it's probably to make things easier on them and not have to deal with the subdivision later, but it's always an option to subdivide if needed at a later date. So um it's definitely not a requirement that it be subdivided, they're just more of a question as to what the eventual development plan is gonna be for the site. So yeah, well, I mean, so it seems like to me like it would make sense to have separate VCP uh voluntary cleanup plan for each side, right? As far as the west side and the east side, just because again, uh keep our options open uh because we don't necessarily know what the time frame is gonna be if we're C and I. Uh that gets held up for or potential construction of city buildings, gets held up for whatever reason. We can ask one one of my amendments is to try to give us the flexibility. So if one's moving faster than the other, we might be able to get that one closed out, given back to the city. Uh, I just I'd rather I I want to be able to give us again the option to get remediation closed out and completed, make sure they don't get held out. But I think but I because I think they're both going to be separate property or separate lots anyway, right? Before you answer that, Mr. Chair. I I guess I'd like to know why what difference does it make whether we get it back as a complete project or get it back in increments. I'm not sure I see the desirability of getting it back. Because it's it may get developed in increments, and if CNI gets green lighted for one side uh or city building to the other, and uh and C and I gets held up, we want to be able to have the right to be able to go in there and develop how we've outlined and get that closed out because remediation is going to be with the development. So one site could be finished and remediated, and the other one's still under construction or even still under review of some fashion. And it just seems to me if it makes sense to be able to have separate plans and separate closeouts rather than having them tied together because if there's one piece lag and it could hold up the entire plot from being closed out from me. Well, I accept that as your answer. I'm not sure I subscribe to it, but I think that goes to a much bigger issue, which is I thought I understood from Director Jacobiac and from you that the development was the remediate.
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