Commissioners approve MOU with property owner for school bus turnaround, adopt weekday no-parking on Delibrook Road

The St. Mary's County Board of County Commissioners on Sept. 4 approved a memorandum of understanding with property owner Leonard Kopsey to allow the county to use a portion of his property to construct a school bus turnaround, and adopted a no-parking resolution on Delibrook Road to protect the turnaround area during school hours.

Department of Public Works and Transportation staff told commissioners the turnaround requires additional pavement area on the western side of the road and that Mr. Kopsey agreed to an in-kind exchange: county crews will perform a small pipe replacement, an asphalt overlay, and related bridge work in lieu of a typical permanent-easement payment. Staff estimated the easement area at about 1,414 square feet; typical market easement valuations run roughly $4–$10 per square foot (about $5,000–$14,000), while the county estimated its overlay and pipe-replacement cost at about $8,000.

The adopted no-parking resolution prohibits parking on Delibrook Road from the Old Horse Landing Creek bridge crossing for approximately 100 feet to the end of Delibrook Road on weekdays Monday through Friday during the hours of 6:30–9:00 a.m. and 2:00–4:30 p.m.; those hours align with school pickup and drop-off times. Staff said the restriction is intended to give buses maximum pavement area to turn safely and to reduce unsafe turnaround maneuvers in driveways or narrow locations.

The memorandum of understanding includes a 90-day written-notice exit clause; staff said the term is standard and provides flexibility if circumstances change. The Board voted to authorize the commissioner president to sign the MOU and to approve the no-parking resolution.

The board recorded no further appropriation for the work at this meeting; the MOU contemplates the county performing the site and drainage work as part of regular public-works activities and bridge repair schedules.