Commissioners open hearing on land transfer and governance changes for St. Mary's Nursing Center; parking easement approved

The Board of County Commissioners opened a public hearing Nov. 9 to consider conveying about 0.66 acres to St. Mary’s Nursing Center Inc., to abolish the Citizens Nursing Home Board, to abrogate a memorandum of understanding on trustee appointments, and to approve amendments to the nursing center’s bylaws.

County Attorney George Sparling told the board the hearing addresses two components: correcting a property encroachment discovered before settlement and approving governance changes that would allow the nonprofit nursing center to select its own trustees and adopt future bylaw amendments without county approval. "The hearing really consists of two components, both of which I've addressed the board on previous occasions," Sparling said during the presentation.

Sparling said surveys showed the nursing center building encroaches onto adjoining county-owned land; the requested conveyance of roughly 0.66 acres would resolve that encroachment. Because the county previously had retained management control, the county had created a Citizens Nursing Home Board under Article 25 of the Annotated Code of Maryland; the proposed resolution would abolish that board, abrogate the 2001 memorandum of understanding governing trustee appointments, and remove the requirement that a county commissioner serve as an ex officio trustee. The nursing center’s board has adopted the proposed bylaw amendments subject to the county’s approval, Sparling said.

The board announced it would hold the record open for 10 days for written public comment; the county provided a mailing address for written comments (Board of County Commissioners, P.O. Box 653, Leonardtown, MD 20650).

While the hearing record remains open, commissioners took a separate but related action: approving an easement agreement to codify historic joint use of a parking lot adjacent to the nursing center and the St. Mary’s County Health Department. The commissioners voted to authorize the county president to execute the easement, allowing the nursing center and the health department to continue to use the designated parking area jointly.

What happens next: the public hearing record will remain open for 10 days for written comment. The commissioners will consider any comments and the pending matters (land conveyance and governance resolutions) at a later date. The parking easement was executed subject to the terms approved by the board.