Good morning.

Uh welcome to the uh November fourth open session for the Carroll County Commissioners.

Um, we got a pretty good agenda today, so it should be a good meeting.

And as always, uh, we'd love to start with a Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence.

Um, and I think we already have a consensus.

Item seven on the agenda is uh changed to ordinance cluster subdivisions, and we would like to delete that since item fifteen is talking about all kinds of zoning, and it just seems premature to talk about that before we make the other decisions.

And uh for priority, Carroll, since uh Commissioner Guerin has such a spiffy jacket, I think you should start.

There was a little concern about my that was gonna go out.

A lot happens behind the scenes, folks.

So it's always interesting right now.

Um actually I I don't I don't have anything prior to Carroll.

I um I next week I'll be talking about some some uh new and interesting nonprofits that are popping up in the southern part of the county uh an area where obviously you've got a lot of people, but but a lot of needs and a lot of things issues to address.

So uh I don't have anything this morning, uh, but I will have a lot for next Thursday.

That's all for me.

Thanks.

Good morning, Carroll County.

Just want to talk about a couple interesting uh points of late.

Uh first off, I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween that was out with the little ones.

Uh I was out with uh Snow White in a very illuminating costume that actually dri uh lights up on uh Halloween evening, so we had a good time with that.

Uh also wanted to mention that this past week uh we were uh all of us were in attendance at the uh community college for their uh ribbon cutting and announcement for the new cyber rage training.

I think that's gonna be exceptional, not only for the community, but also it's going to uh add additional careers and uh education for Carroll County's uh residents, and I think that is quite impressive.

Also wanted to mention very briefly uh something that I failed to mention last week, which is McDaniel College has launched a new scholarship for children of first responders, health professionals, and public servants.

Uh McDaniel is expanding its legacy scholarship program to recognize children of first responders, health professionals, and government employees to honor the National First Responders Day.

Uh these guaranteed scholarships valued at up to 132,000 over four years are open to eligible first year and transfer students applying for the fall of 2026.

Uh definitely something for everyone in the community that is part of those different groups to look into for their kids, and uh definitely something I'm very appreciative to see uh McDaniel offering.

Um also this week attended the Heart of Civil War uh annual meeting that was at the uh New Wakefield uh complex that the City of Westminster has now renovated.

Was uh very impressed to see that.

I know Commissioner Kyler and I were both in attendance, and I'm gonna leave it up to him.

He may have some remarks about it as well, but definitely a uh good meeting of a wide array of individuals for that.

And uh last but certainly not least, Chris, you can go back.

Thank you.

Just wanted to uh mention, and I I know we talked a little bit about it last week in priority carol and also in uh open admin.

There's going to be some conversation today in open admin.

Um obviously all of us are aware, be it local, state, or nationally, what the uh health the concerns regarding uh uh SNAP and also food uh assistance.

Uh on the screen here are a list of a variety of groups that you can reach out to if you are in need.

Also, this is on the homepage of the Carroll County government website at the very top of the page, so you can find this information, additional information as well.

And this is something we're gonna be talking about in uh open admin later this morning.

And that's all for me.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Oh, well, thank you very much.

Good morning, everybody.

Uh, first of all, I want to commend uh Commissioner Gordon uh for making sure to continue to actively promote all the the services that are available to our citizens, including those who are in need of food.

I think it's a very commendable thing that uh everybody is working together to help to alleviate uh conditions that a lot of our citizens may be facing.

So I want to thank Commissioner Gordon for his work on uh on that.

Uh so I have just three quick things today.

I know we have uh some limited time.

So first of all, I had the privilege of being invited to join Mayor Chris Miller and the awesome members of the Tauntown Police Department in handing out glow sticks to trick-or-treaters on Halloween night.

It has become a long-standing tradition in town.

It's one of my favorite parts of the autumn uh each year.

Uh it's a well-loved part of Halloween by members of the community, and it allows families to interact with police in a very relaxed, enjoyable kind of way.

Uh further strengthening a kind of sense of community.

And I can only compliment the uh the police for doing this every year.

I mean, I remember being a kid trick-or-treating and getting those glow sticks, and it really is a uh it's a simple but it's a really meaningful uh set of interactions that you have.

And I want to make sure to uh credit administrative assistant Haley Engels at the police department for the uh photographs here.

Uh it really was a fantastic time, and it was cold enough that that some of us swore we saw flurries that night in the wind.

Uh so second of all, I had the opportunity to visit New Windsor this past weekend uh to see how the proposed realignment of the MPRP would affect the town and the surrounding area.

I joined along with the town's awesome mayor, Kevin Cornick, members of their awesome council, including Vice President Kim Schultz and Councilman Dave Hoffman in doing so.

And I am incredibly uh grateful to them for showing me what is at stake in New Windsor, uh.

Including uh the fact that their uh access to their chlorination plant and their future water supply are going to be endangered by this.