Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

Welcome to the Thursday, February 26th, 2026 open session of the board of Carroll County Commissioners.

So first up on the agenda we have priority Carol and Commissioner Kyler, I believe you kick us off this week.

I tell you.

I'm not sure if they had an open house later or some public was there.

Great event, great um love getting to talk to the the city people and uh and all the other people interested in it and it's uh we talk about wreck and parks and fields and parks and whatever and uh we tend to forget that one of the most requested things is walking trails and walking path I met some people um one of them uh I think was from Gettysburg they come there to walk the trails and and you know it's it's uh that's important to people it's beautiful building and I talked to the uh contractor that was working on the other building and uh um it it's it just is it was great um I didn't have time for any of the snacks because I talked too much but it was it was fun um Tuesday night I went to Hampstead Lions Club and uh we had been trying to schedule a time where I could just come talk with them and as it turned out um because of the billboarding consolidation discussions I mentioned that uh I sent that to Manchester Hampstead and uh North Carol Business Alliance I I think the business alliance talked about it and I sent them backup information talked about it at their meeting um Hampstead very diverse group uh one of them hates billboards every place and others thought this was great and uh we need to better control so it'll be interesting um Daphne Daly went with me and they requested they said well let's let's talk about billboards and if you have time you can talk too well I didn't um but Daphne did a great job explaining it and answering questions um and I encourage them we don't have a public hearing set yet but if you can attend send emails and so some of them uh told me yesterday they're not ready yet but they're sending emails so and and Hampstead Lions a great group uh um they they have their ball fields there and they do Hampstead day and uh they do a lot of good things for the community so it was really great meeting them and talking to them um we had Royal County's coalition on Monday and the legislative committee and some subcommittees yesterday um got to meet three or four delegates in Annapolis and uh one secretary and and talked with them and and and did the meetings and uh um Pam's gonna give us some updates it it's a I think it's a little bit of a weird session and uh hasn't really gelled uh Mako talked about maybe not having a meeting next week because there might not be much change but my opinion is um some things are gonna change we'll see what and Pam may mention it Mako can oppose bills can support with amendments can take no position with letters can oppose and still send a letter but if you oppose you don't have much of a voice and so I I think we've got a couple that right now say support with amendments but I think the legislative committee is going to need to look at them if we don't get the amendments and maybe oppose and as always there's some weird stuff down there.

And then lastly uh wrestling um I mentioned that the last couple weeks uh county tournament was held at Westminster on Saturday South Carol won it um and uh it it was a good competitive tournament and regionals are all over the place this Saturday and then states are the next uh Thursday Friday Saturday um and and includes girls and they call them co-ed because girls can compete with on the boys team but boys can't compete on the girls team and uh um all the tournaments have both things and Carroll County does a J V tournament also on Friday night um now in the postseason regionals and states it's no longer JV so again congratulations South Carol I think they've I think they've won it four or five times in a row um and uh it was a well run tournament and uh um i i it it was good for the kids and uh we do a lot of stuff that's good for the kids in Carroll County and that's it very much commissioner good morning uh

Um in the postseason regionals and states, it's no longer JV.

So again, congratulations, South Carol.

I think they've I think they've won it four or five times in a row.

Um it was a well-run tournament, and uh um it it was good for the kids.

And uh we do a lot of stuff that's good for the kids in Carroll County.

And that's it.

Thank you very much, Commissioner.

Good morning.

Um as Commissioner Kyler mentioned, I know uh I think it was myself, Commissioner Kyler, and Commissioner Krebs were all in attendance at uh Wakefield last Friday.

Uh great to see that building up updated and improved upon.

It's gonna be a wonderful opportunity for the community as a whole.

Um the center is offers a large indoor and outdoor spaces.

There's a large multi-purpose room, pavilion space, and two meetings room, which will support everything from community gathering to local events and private events as well.

I think this is a huge meaningful investment in our community.

As uh most of us know it's very difficult to find locations either for meetings or even you know private or public events, so this will definitely be a huge improvement upon that.

Uh also on February 13th, unfortunately after a short illness, we lost at the Carroll County Farm Museum uh the Red Devon Ox known as Jim.

Uh Jim and Jack were iconic ambassadors of the Farm Museum that arrived in 2015 from Maine and became uh focal points of the museum's mission to preserve and promote history of agriculture in Carroll County.

On site, they captivated many visitors by demonstrating the strengths of their massive bodies by pulling heavy loads and showing their ability to plow the fields and work as a yoga.

I don't know.

Um that would be what I was getting to right now.

Back in uh October of 2025, my good colleague Commissioner Vigliati was in attendance during the traditional arts festival uh and he presented a proclamation honoring both Jim and Jack's tenth anniversary at the Farm Museum.

So I just wanted to mention that as I know a lot of people in the community as well as a lot of kids really enjoy getting to go out and interact and see and learn about the animals.

So it is it is definitely a loss.

Um, and we will see where we go from there as to the oxen.

I know we still have uh uh Jack is still there, he will be there, but we will see uh what the future holds for that.

But clearly something that was rather iconic for the past decade plus in Carroll County.

Uh also just want to mention real briefly the Carroll magazine 2026 Reader's Choice Awards.

That's open now.

Uh you can submit your uh picks through April uh 30th of 2026.

Great opportunity to uh uh honor your local businesses and other establishments and the community and make known of them.

Uh last night I attended the uh Carroll County Public Library board meeting here in Westminster.

Uh it was a good board meeting, a lot of great conversation, uh discussions as to where the library is headed in this next year.

Um thing that did kind of catch me off guard in a good way, which I don't know if it'll surprise my colleagues.

So we're on half a decade.

And we're the only county in the state that has that type of a facility.

Uh they're working to add additional opportunities for people to utilize it because cooking classes and everything else over there just constantly sell out due to the demand and interest.

Uh another really wonderful thing that was mentioned last night pertaining to our library system is the Carroll Bookfest, which will become a festival which will be coming in the fall of 2026.

So I have uh, as it would be appropriate, bookmarks for my colleagues regarding the upcoming book festival in 2026 in the fall.

Um also just wanted to mention uh and highlight on this, as we all know it's February, and uh February also is Black History Month, and I'd be absolutely remiss if I didn't mention a little bit about that in our community.

Uh recently just had the uh honor of sitting down with uh Bill Hudson from the former students and friends of Robert Moton, which Robert Moton was the uh open in 1930 and was the first black high school in the county.

It's a key site recognized for educational history.

Uh there's a podcast online on the county uh website if anyone's interested in listening to that.

But also wanted to talk about some of the other really interesting things that sometimes seem to get lost in the cracks.

Um specifically I'll mention is the Thaddeus Stevens GAR post, which was the Grand Army of the Republic, uh, which by today's standards should be like an American Legion.

That was in New Windsor and was a significant African American Union veteran organization out of New Windsor.

There's not a lot of details that exist on that.

There's some photos, there's some artifacts, but in many ways that I don't we're not even really certain what m uh building they met in over in that area, but uh clearly was a part of the community and just, you know, it may be Black History Month, but it's a good time to learn about black history and our history as a whole any time, be it any day of the year.

And uh I kind of segues into my last thing, which is this uh this Saturday, we will be having the History Day and History Expo at Winters Mill High School on uh February 28th from 9 to 1.

There will be a lot of uh exhibits to see, as well as a wide array of our nonprofits that will be in attendance, and this year's theme is revolution reaction and reform in history.

And I think it will be a good opportunity to come out and see what uh our schools do are doing with the kids as well as our nonprofits.

And that's all for me.

Thank you.

One one more thing.