The Mayor and Board of Aldermen of Frederick met on June 12, 2024 at 3:00 p.m. at City Hall for a business meeting and workshop. The consent calendar was approved 4-0, followed by workshop discussions on the 2024 legislative session wrap-up and the Lindley Road right-of-way deferral agreement. No public comments were made.
Chief of Staff Guy Sampson and representatives from Funkin Bolton presented an overview of the 2024 Maryland General Assembly session and proposed an interim framework for 2025 priorities. They noted Maryland faced a $761 million budget shortfall for FY2025, projected to grow to a $2.7 billion deficit by 2029. The city requested state funds for several projects, with outcomes including: $100,000 for the West Side Health Center (FY24), $7.5 million for the downtown Frederick Hotel and Conference Center (via the governor’s budget), $200,000 for the soup kitchen renovation (FY24), and $750,000 total for traffic calming (FY24-25). Requests for park amenities, flood mitigation, and sustainable police headquarters design received no appropriation.
Board members raised concerns about the lobbyist’s role and effectiveness, emphasizing that success should be measured by funds coming directly to the City of Frederick rather than district-wide allocations. Several aldermen argued that the July 1 budget request deadline precedes completion of community survey results (August 30), undermining the stated goal of board and community input. They requested a board-led prioritization discussion and a staff analysis of shovel-ready CIP projects eligible for state funding. After debate, the board agreed to allow staff to release the community survey on Monday, June 17, with the understanding that it would be open for approximately six weeks and include open-ended questions; projects not already part of the city’s CIP would not be listed unless proposed by board members.
Acting Planning Director Gabrielle Collard reviewed the continued discussion of a deferral agreement with SJP Monocacy Investors, LLC concerning the dedication and construction of a portion of Lindley Road in EastPark. Staff had previously considered adding a general “when the city calls for it” trigger, but withdrew that recommendation due to applicant concerns about uncertainty and lack of transparency. The revised agreement retains two triggers: recordation of a final plat for resubdivision of Lot 7 or unconditional approval of a final site plan for that lot. Collard explained that both triggers require public notice and review, making the process predictable and transparent. David Severn, representing the applicant, expressed support, noting that Lot 7 constitutes about 50% of the property and that recording the plat will place the road reservation in land records. Board members voiced appreciation for the revised approach. No formal vote was taken; discussion was continued pending formal action at a future meeting.
Good afternoon and welcome to the June 12th Board of Altoman Business Meeting and Workshop. We'll begin with a Pledge of Allegiance. All right. We'll begin with our business meeting items. All items included under the business meeting are considered to be routine by the Board of Alderman and are being heard at the workshop pursuant to the rules of procedure and the Board of Alderman of the Board of Alderman. They will be approved by one motion without separate discussion of each item unless any person present requests an item or items be removed from the agenda. Any item removed from the agenda will be considered separately. The removed item may be considered at the end of the business meeting or at a regular public meeting. If you would like any of the items below to be considered separately, please say so when I announce each category. Release of sureties. So move. Second. I have a move and a second. All in favor. It's 4-0. Grants. And I just want to make sure we did receive an updated grant agreement for one of our items in our email. So move. Second. All in favor. And special ordinances. So move. Second. First and second. All in favor. Four zero. And alcohol and public property. So moved. Second. Thank you. All in favor. Four zero. All right. Our first item today is a legislative session wrap-up. Presenting this item, I believe. Is our chief of staff who has now gone missing? There he is. Sorry. Didn't think we do that fast. No, I did. We move quick. I love this. Alderman, I'm Guy and Sampson and the chief of staff to the mayor. We are coming before you all as a part of our update about the legislative efforts of our team at Funkin' Bolton during this last year's session, as well as 2025 upcoming discussion. Today the idea is to talk about what has happened over the session, what we've done in the interim. We're not here to talk today about positions of the city to take. Any questions about that before I turn over to Funkin Bolton? Yeah, I I'm not sure that I understand exactly what that entails. Sure. So last year the board said that they would like to have the community involved in the priorities that are selected.