St. Mary’s County recreation officials say new state law, grants will fund field lights, court changes and a replacement water taxi

Recreation and Parks staff told the St. Mary’s County Recreation and Parks Citizens Advisory Board on the evening they plan to move multiple projects to the commissioners for application and funding now that a state law change expands how open‑space money can be spent.

The department director said that “on October 1, House Bill 717 becomes law,” a change to the open‑space program that, if local land‑conservation targets are met, allows counties to spend the whole apportionment more flexibly rather than reserving most of it for land acquisition. The director said that flexibility will be used to advance retrofit and renovation projects including LED light replacements at Fifth District Park Fields 2 and 3 and court renovations at Dorsey Park and Chancellors Run Regional Park.

Why it matters: the law change and program money will let county staff move some capital projects forward that previously would have had to wait for separate land‑acquisition set‑asides. Director comments and staff presentations tied those grants and Program Open Space funds to several projects the department will bring to the Board of County Commissioners for permission to apply for or to include in the capital plan.

Department staff also discussed a separate federal Economic Development Administration grant the county received to replace the county’s water taxi. The director said the original plan to build a boat had stalled for multiple reasons, including the design firm closing and contractor deaths, and escalating tariffs and costs. “We’re working on the purchase of an already — it’s a used boat. The other challenge ... the money we had was also not gonna be adequate to build a boat. But this used boat is down in Florida,” the director said. She added specifics on planned refurbishment: “It’s going to get all new motors. It’ll be ADA accessible, and it’ll get a new deck, and that will be delivered by, in September.”

Staff and commissioners-level next steps: Christie (department staff) reported Program Open Space funding has already supported some recent projects and said the department will propose these retrofits and renovations to the county commissioners at their next meeting. Christie said Program Open Space funds were also used to buy communication boards for playgrounds and that the department will pursue a light retrofit at Fifth District Park using that funding source.

Discussion and caveats: board members asked about timing and budget impacts. Staff characterized the boat purchase as a contingency approach driven by supply‑chain and cost pressures; no procurement vote or formal contract award was recorded in the meeting. The director described the HB 717 change as freeing up money for applications but did not state guaranteed award amounts or exact apportionment figures.

The board did take two procedural votes at the meeting: unanimous approval of the May meeting minutes, and a unanimous motion to adjourn at the session’s close.

Less critical details: staff noted other cooperative meetings (league leaders, Southern Maryland Football Association) and a middle‑school championship between St. Mary’s and Charles County but did not tie those events to formal budget action.