This was the council's second FY2027 capital budget work session, held in hybrid format (in-person and via WebEx) starting at 10:00 a.m. and concluding at approximately 4:30 p.m. The session covered Recreation & Parks, Road Construction, Road Resurfacing, Sidewalk/Curb, Traffic/Intersection, and General County capital projects. No formal votes were taken; the meeting focused on discussion and feedback to inform the upcoming budget deliberation.
Discussion: Council members raised concerns about costs: the ice rink's $71 million total cost (later $96 million with track) was questioned relative to private facilities like Ion International Training Center ($305/sq ft in 2019). The ice rink's operating margin only covers operations, not debt service. The multi-sport track was seen as more versatile (basketball, volleyball, indoor track, pickleball). Council Member Young asked if a private partner was considered; the response was that private investors require shorter payback periods. Council Member Jung pressed for a choice between the two projects; the director stated the ice rink is more shovel-ready but both are close. Council Member Walsh noted that youth sports participation is declining and that doubling field fees (as planned) contradicts affordability goals. Council Member Yungmann requested usage data to justify community benefit.
Discussion: Council Member Rigby asked about asset management plans; DPW is focusing on water/sewer first, with a target of 2030 for a coordinated system. Council Member Young questioned the prioritization of traffic calming; the point system includes speed, volume, crashes, and community support. Council Member Walsh requested updates on Harper's Farm Road crosswalk and Beaver Kill Road signalization; both are under evaluation and expected to be addressed with grant funding. Council Member Jung discussed the need for improved cost-benefit analysis for projects like the non-congregate shelter.
Key Outcomes
It is. Good morning, everyone. Happy Earth Day. Thank you. Ms. Rigby for the reminder. This is the council's second FY2027 capital budget work session. The proceeding this morning is a hybrid meeting, which is being conducted in person and via WebEx teleconference. The public may view through live stream available through the county council website. At this time, I'm going to do a roll call of the council members. Ms. Rigby. Here. Mr. Youngman. Here. Ms. Young is pulling up. Ms. Walsh is pulling up in like 10 minutes. So everyone will be here very shortly. And I am Opal Jones. Our agenda today includes the following capital project categories. Wreck and parks, road construction, road resurfacing, sidewalk, curbs, traffic, intersections, and general county. We'll try to stay on time with everything. We have about a half an hour per subject. We'll go from there. So first up, we have Wreck and Parks. If you want to come on up. And we also are including the final, the following general county codes. That'll be Elk Ridge Community Center, the Troy Park Indoor Track Facility, the public ice rink facility. And that is for the internally and for the public watching C0375, 376, and 377, respectfully. Good morning. Excellent. Good morning, Council. Thank you for providing this time to talk about our exciting recreation and parks projects. So as uh uh Council Chair Jones mentioned, it's the eighth uh budget for you, and we actually have no uh new projects. So uh many um all of these projects are um uh all the funding requests are for existing projects that you uh are aware of. So I will um despite having uh 20 or so slides, we'll fly through them really quickly. Our fiscal year 27 budget request is uh 16.43 million dollars and includes 3.55 million in grants, 3.56 million in paygo, and 9.32 million dollars in transfer tax funding. Uh these numbers do not include any of the C projects that we'll be uh discussing uh later today. Bland Air Regional Park. Uh our budget request uh for this year is 150,000 to continue to advance the design of the uh mansion restoration. Uh design work is already underway, and uh as phase six is nearing completion in June. We'll be turning our attention more and more to uh Bland Air North. There's some uh images of the mansion in its current state. Uh it has been cleaned out and uh all the uh uh items have been inventoried and work has also begun on will be beginning soon on the uh the slave quarter restoration. N 3959, Patapsco Female Institute. Uh this project's design and construct site improvements related to the Petapsco Female Institute. Uh we have completed pathway construction, uh stucco and stone reporting uh is will be completed in May.