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St. Mary's County parks advisory board elects officers, backs funding request for new reservation system
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Summary
The St. Mary's County Recreation and Parks Citizens Advisory Board elected new officers and voted unanimously to ask county commissioners to fund a new, countywide parks reservation and scheduling system; board members will send an email supporting the funding request for FY26.
Veronica Johnson was elected chair of the St. Mary's County Recreation and Parks Citizens Advisory Board and Jeff Kennedy was elected vice chair, and the board appointed Sean Ritchie to the Wicomico Shores advisory seat. The board also voted unanimously to ask county commissioners to fund a new reservation and scheduling system for parks and recreation services.
Board business opened with roll call and approval of December minutes by voice vote. Veronica Johnson presided over nominations and voice votes for officers; she accepted the chair nomination. The board then approved nominations for vice chair and the Wicomico Shores advisory seat by voice vote.
After officer elections, the board debated a motion to send an email to the commissioners supporting the department’s proposal to purchase a new reservations and scheduling platform. A board member moved that the advisory board “support the director’s decision to go forward with the new scheduling program” and ask the commissioners to fund it; a second was recorded and the motion passed on a unanimous voice vote. Staff said the county’s Information Technology budget for FY26 includes an amount toward a new system; if approved by the commissioners, implementation would likely begin after July 1 with a planned rollout around December of the following year.
Director Ray Bivens — newly appointed and participating virtually — and parks staff summarized the department’s reasons for the change: staff research and vendor conversations produced a “ballpark” cost and a feature list that staff say would improve user experience, support volunteer-managed leagues, and consolidate back-end financial and registration functions. An IT representative said the fiscal-year request is under review by the commissioners and that the department would return to the board with details and training plans for leagues and users if funding is approved.
Board members asked that staff circulate the draft email to the advisory board before submission and requested that staff share which systems were considered so that league leaders and frequent users could give informed feedback. The director and staff said they would circulate material and a draft of the message for the board to review before it is sent to the commissioners.
Less-critical agenda items handled by voice vote included approval of the minutes and the adjournment motion. There were no formal roll-call tallies recorded in the transcript; votes were taken by voice and recorded as “aye” or “opposed: none.”
The board’s next steps: staff will circulate the draft letter supporting FY26 funding, continue vendor research and end-user outreach, and pursue commissioner approval of the IT line-item. No contract award or procurement decision was recorded at the meeting.
