Montgomery County Council Full Session Summary – July 28, 2026
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Montgomery County Council Full Session Summary – July 28, 2026
The Montgomery County Council held its last full session before the August summer break on July 28, 2026, beginning at 9:15 a.m. and reconvening at 1:30 p.m. The Council recognized National Farmers Market Week, received a lengthy briefing on long-term solid waste disposal options, approved the consent calendar, enacted several zoning and fiscal measures, and heard eight Summer Fellows present research projects.
Proclamation
- Councilmember Friedson presented a proclamation recognizing National Farmers Market Week (first full week of August). Farmers market leaders and county food officials spoke in support of farmers markets' economic, community, and food-access benefits.
General Business
- The Council announced a public hearing for September 22, 2026, at 1:30 p.m. on the New Hampshire Avenue Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) facility planning study and alternatives review; advance registration is required.
- Minutes of the July 14, 2026 session were approved.
- James Hendrick was appointed to the Montgomery County Planning Board on a 10-0 roll-call vote; Councilmember Sayles was absent.
Discussion: Long-Term Solid Waste Disposal Alternatives
- Council staff briefed the Council on the county's once-in-a-generation solid waste decision. The county executive has recommended closing the Resource Recovery Facility (RRF) as soon as possible, transitioning to long-haul trucking of waste, and later adding advanced waste processing. The Council postponed this decision until after the FY27 budget, and this session began a series of fall work sessions aimed at a possible decision by Thanksgiving.
- Key facts presented: the RRF opened in Dickerson in August 1995; it burned roughly 549,000 tons of waste in FY25; burning reduces waste volume by about 90% and weight by about 70%; ash is shipped by rail to Henrico County, Virginia; the operating contract with ReWorld now runs to April 2031; short-term capital work was estimated at about $64.5 million. Four main options were described: close the RRF and long-haul with advanced waste processing; continue long-term RRF operation with a major renovation/upgrade; close the RRF and long-haul without assuming advanced waste processing; or long-haul only after advanced waste processing comes online.
- Council President Fannie Gonzalez strongly criticized a video by the Sugarloaf Citizens Association and Zero Waste Montgomery, calling it misleading, racially problematic, and based on misrepresented council voices. Councilmember Evans said her record on fighting inequities was mischaracterized. Councilmember Luedtke echoed that he would not give oxygen to disingenuous content.
- Members raised concerns about market volatility in long-haul contracts, landfill host-community demographics, environmental justice, dioxin leaks and RRF age, methane capture, truck traffic, contract transparency, municipal impacts, advanced waste processing feasibility, and the need for full written analyses. Several members asked DEP to provide detailed written responses before the fall.
Consent Calendar
- The Council suspended Rule 7(d) to allow immediate action on Item D, a resolution acknowledging receipt of a charter amendment petition and placing Question A on the 2026 general election ballot. The consent calendar was approved 11-0.
- Items included receipt/release of two OLO reports (opioid response and data center impacts), approval of Executive Regulation #6-26 on pet license fees, approval of a WSSCWater debt refunding plan, and numerous board/committee appointments.
- Item E, a Shentel Asset Entity I, LLC franchise agreement for non-cable wireline facilities in the right-of-way, was pulled for separate discussion. Staff explained it is a 10-year franchise for broadband service crossing a small portion of Montgomery County; it is supported by ARPA funds and must be completed by December 31, 2026. The Council approved it unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- David Kennedy, co-owner of Rec Move Fitness and Boxing, testified at the youth vaping/nicotine public hearing. He supported youth mentorship and prevention programming, described his gym's workshops on vaping and fentanyl, and shared the personal loss of his son to an accidental fentanyl overdose.
Afternoon Appropriations Hearings/Actions
- Special Appropriation #27-2 ($4,251,202 federal aid) for the FiberNet capital project was approved.
- Supplemental Appropriation #27-4 ($6,049,358 state grant) for MCPS Maryland Grow Your Own Educators was approved.
- Special Appropriation #27-5 ($12,000,000 state grant) for DHHS Community Health Resources Commission was approved.
- A public hearing was held on Supplemental Appropriation #27-1 ($390,000 from JUUL/Altria settlement) for Youth Vaping and Nicotine Addiction Response; the record remained open until September 10, 2026, with an HHS committee worksession scheduled for September 17, 2026.
District Council Session
- ZTA 26-11, Temporary Uses – Benefit Performance, was introduced by Councilmember Luedtke. It would ease neighbor-consent requirements for short benefit performances and add public safety notification; public hearing is set for September 15, 2026.
- ZTA 26-05, Expedited Approval Plan – Job Creation Project, was enacted 11-0 with committee amendments. It lowers the job threshold from 20,000 to 200 net new jobs and requires companies to meet listed strategic-industry or funding criteria. Three amendments proposed by Councilmember Glass failed for lack of a second.
- ZTA 26-08, Nonconforming Use Reinstatement, was enacted 11-0. It allows reinstatement of a nonconforming use abandoned for less than five years with hearing examiner approval.
- SMA H-162, Clarksburg Gateway Sector Plan, was adopted 11-0.
- ZTA 26-01, Commercial Uses – Data Center, was enacted 11-0. As amended, it defines a large load data center as a building or group of buildings with at least 25 megawatts of aggregate monthly electricity demand, prohibits such data centers countywide for now, and applies to applications without a building permit.
Legislative Session
- Expedited Bill 19-26 (Buildings – Moratorium on Permits for Data Centers) was enacted 11-0 as amended, imposing an 18-month moratorium. The Council aligned the bill's definition with ZTA 26-01 and noted pending state and OLO data-center studies.
- Bill 12-26 (Finance – Payments to Service Providers for Persons with Developmental Disabilities) was enacted 11-0, updating how the developmental disability supplement is calculated and aligning code with current practices.
- Expedited Bill 31-26 (Bond Authorization – VIVA White Oak Development District) was enacted 11-0. It authorizes up to $420 million in special obligation bonds, with an amendment requiring council approval before cumulative debt exceeds $220 million and $320 million.
Bills Introduced
- Bill 33-26 (Cable Communications – Community Media Organizations – Requirements), lead sponsor Stewart, was introduced; public hearing set for September 15, 2026. It would require contracted community media organizations to adopt a racial equity and social justice statement, include council/executive board members, and meet public ethics/access standards.
- Bill 38-26 (Discriminatory Housing Practices and Early Lease Termination – Amendments), lead sponsor Mink, was introduced; Evans, Luedtke, and Sayles added as co-sponsors. It would prohibit housing discrimination based on citizenship or immigration status and allow early lease termination when detention or deportation due to immigration enforcement makes rent payment impossible; public hearing is September 15, 2026.
Water and Sewer Category Change Requests
- The Council adopted the T&E Committee recommendations unanimously. It deferred requests for 12721 Piney Meeting House Road and 21820 Clarksburg Road, approved the Spencerville Seventh-day Adventist Church request, and denied the request for 6112 Monocacy Mill Road.
Summer Fellows Program Presentations
- Eight Summer Fellows presented final research projects. Topics included emergency preparedness in socially vulnerable communities, arts impact evaluation, police community outreach, economic development fund ROI, CTE workforce outcome tracking, pedestrian access to Ride On stops, health care access in Poolesville, and private road-salt application. Council members said the work would inform upcoming committee sessions, legislation, and fall work.
Key Outcomes
- 10-0 confirmed James Hendrick to the Planning Board; Councilmember Sayles absent.
- Consent calendar approved 11-0; Shentel franchise approved unanimously.
- The Council enacted ZTA 26-05, ZTA 26-08, SMA H-162, ZTA 26-01, Expedited Bill 19-26, Bill 12-26, and Expedited Bill 31-26, all on unanimous roll-call votes.
- Data-center moratorium of 18 months established; large-load data centers defined and prohibited countywide temporarily.
- Solid waste disposal work sessions will continue in the fall, with written staff/DEP responses expected before the sessions.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning, everyone. Today is July 28, and it's our last session before summer break. We're gonna start with a proclamation recognizing National Farmers Market Week by Council Member Andrew Fietsen. If you're here for that proclamation, please go forward. Donut peaches. They're good. I already had them. I picked them up on Sunday already. I paid for them, you know, for the record. Do you want to stand on a little mouth? Yeah, yeah. Well, my cow, yeah, you're gonna have to report these donut peaches. Good morning. I am really excited to be here to recognize National Farmers Market Week, which is celebrated the first week of August. This is our last session before August. And so we are celebrating a little early. And just really excited to be able to celebrate the way in which we gather as community, the way in which we celebrate our agricultural heritage in Montgomery County, the way in which we support our local food producers and our local farmers. And that's where we pick up our fish for the week. And it's just a great way to see neighbors and to build community and to enjoy one another and to celebrate how amazing it is to live in a place like Montgomery County where we have an agricultural reserve, which is just a short trip away, and to see farmers and vendors from all over the county and throughout the region who come to share what they grow and what they do with us every day. It is uh really uh a privilege, and I have the great honor of serving not only as the chair of the planning housing and parks committee, which oversees agriculture, uh, but also as the chair of the council of government's farm policy committee, the food and agriculture uh policy committee. And so this is uh a doubly helpful uh special event uh for me to be able to celebrate uh this effort. We're gonna uh introduce uh our special guests here, and then we're gonna hear some comments from some of those uh guests. And why don't we start with you, Heather? Uh good morning, everyone. I'm Heather Breskin. I'm the director of the county's Office of Food Systems Resilience. Uh and I think farmers markets are probably the best illustration of a functional, healthy uh food system. We have opportunities for uh governments like uh the county and the state and the federal government to support our food insecure neighbors to be able to access nutritious, culturally relevant foods. Uh well, we also have local businesses that uh that can support our climate goals, our economic goals, uh, as well as our equity goals. And so I'm really grateful for the chance to be here this morning. Yeah. Hey, good morning. Yeah, thanks. Uh Laurian McCauley, agricultural and sustainability specialist at Montgomery County Food Council. And I just want to make a quick comment that when I was farming, selling at the Silver Spring Farmers Market was an incredibly important part of my business, and um farmers markets are just such a good linchpin of the community, and just really appreciate everything that farmers market coordinators do. Hello, I'm uh Mitch Berliner. Come on. And and my mom and dad said never go to somebody's house empty-handed. So here's here's some peaches for everybody. And of course, I'm a notorious shameless promoter. Here's some gift certificates. So anyway, because I can't help myself. Uh just in a nutshell. Um there are millions and millions and millions of dollars of uh sales that uh happen at farmers markets, and I don't think a lot of people really know that. So it's not just like a little thing. Um, it really has a big financial impact everywhere, whether it's here or any place across the country. And uh Andrew touched upon it. Not only is it a place where you go and you get better tasting, healthier uh fresher food, but it's really uh becomes a village green. And it's a place to socialize, meet your neighbors, catch up. I have uh one particular person that I always quote.
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