St. Mary's County parks staff outline $5.5M CIP, progress on Lexington Manor passive park and sports-complex study

St. Mary's County Parks and Recreation staff on Feb. 2021 gave an update on capital projects, reporting demolition and new partnerships at Lexington Manor Passive Park, a state/federal match for a Snow Hill Park boat ramp, continuing synthetic turf installations and lighting at several parks, and a feasibility recommendation that pushed a proposed county sports complex to fiscal 2027.

The projects matter to residents who use county fields, playgrounds and waterfronts and to the county's capital budget: staff said the upcoming CIP recommendation totals about $5.5 million, with the largest single item tied to Snow Hill Park and a planned boat ramp.

"I was just at the Lexington Manor Passif Park this afternoon," Mr. Shepherd said as he opened the project update. He reported that a contractor, Triple Creek, will begin full demolition the week following the meeting and that crews already removed dead trees and created new pathways as part of phase 1 improvements. Shepherd described a new parking area and a "new entrance off to 35" and said the project is close to receiving a building permit for a public restroom.

Shepherd also described a new community partnership: "I was called or emailed a couple weeks ago from professor of environmental studies from Saint Mary's College. And they wanted to know how they could partner in the Passat Park," he said, describing planned work on community gardens, composting and a pollinator meadow in coordination with local stakeholders.

On waterfront work, Shepherd said Snow Hill Park is being positioned for a boat-ramp project that carries a roughly $800,000 estimate and has a 50% match: "if we have a, $800,000 boat ramp there, 400,000 is coming through from, waterway improvement funds. We'll get 50% of that," he said. He told the group the county has applied for a matching grant and expects the local share to be covered by that process.

Athletic-field projects are further along: Shepherd reported that synthetic turf installations are under construction at Chancellor's Run and Lancaster Park and that lights and field markings are being finalized with league leaders. He said the county purchased an initial set of bleachers for the six new fields and is installing new netting near parking areas to prevent kicked balls from reaching cars. "Everything's moving forward in our timeline still to have the next 3 in for April," Shepherd said of the turf fields.

A proposed county sports complex drew extended discussion. Shepherd said a market and economic feasibility study found the concept viable but that a funding decision was moved out: "they moved it out to FY '27 because that's gonna be a major, major cost, major cost," he said. He described next steps as developing a concept plan, selecting sites, hiring design and engineering teams and then pursuing construction funding.

Shepherd gave a brief CIP summary: roughly $5.5 million in recommended capital spending, with 60% of that tied to Snow Hill boat-ramp work in the near term. He also discussed other park improvements such as new restrooms (he said 12 parks now have running-water restrooms year-round, with Cardinal Gibbons as an exception), play-area replacements, and repairs to spray grounds and field fencing.

Questions from attendees addressed project timelines, communication (a request to post Concept 1 maps online was noted for the Feb. 23 budget work session), access and safety at passive-park entrances, and the locations under consideration for a future YMCA and sports complex.

Votes taken at the meeting concerned procedural items: the minutes were approved as written, and officers were re-elected (see "Actions" for motions and outcome details). No final appropriations or bond-authorizing votes were recorded during this presentation; staff said many CIP entries remain recommendations pending commissioner decisions.

Ending: Staff said they will take additional design and permitting steps in the coming months and return to commissioners with lease or funding recommendations where required. Several projects, including the Snow Hill boat ramp and parts of the turf-field program, rely on external grants and state approvals that will affect construction timing.