Frostburg reports grants, permit activity and CSO project pacing; utility billing moves to monthly cycle

FROSTBURG — At its Jan. 27 meeting Frostburg city staff gave monthly reports covering community development grants and permits, a change in utility billing cadence, public-works planning and Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) project timing.

Finance staff (identified in the meeting as Ms. Jones) said the city completed the switch from quarterly to monthly utility billing in January. City meters are read around the 5th of each month, bills generated about the 10th and due around the 7th of the following month; staff encouraged customers to sign up for emailed bills and ACH payment to reduce errors. Ms. Jones also reminded residents that real-estate tax bills are now past due and that unpaid balances are delinquent.

Community development staff (Quan) reported seven permit applications received, two released (including a commercial use-and-occupancy permit for Frostburg Fitness Center at 27 East Main Street) and four new code-enforcement cases opened last month. Rental-housing licensing renewals and triannual inspections are underway.

On grants, Quan said the city received $100,000 in state strategic demolition funding to support demolition of blighted city-owned properties on North Water Street and related site work to prepare parcels for redevelopment. County economic development was awarded $250,000 to support structural stabilization for Main Street buildings; Quan described that as a collaboration between the city and the county. The city also received a $10,000 Sustainable Maryland Action Grant for improvements at the Edible Arboretum.

Public Works Director Hayden Lindsey reported mostly routine winter work — water-line repairs, valve replacements, garbage collection and snow removal — and said the city is evaluating a PACE-funded water project for summer to bolster summer supplies. He said the salt building is full and that the city had ordered its original budgeted 1,500 tons of salt; staff noted the potential need for the $100,000 budget amendment approved by the council to increase salt capacity toward about 2,000 tons.

The monthly CSO hearing covered paperwork and schedule updates. Lindsey reported groundbreakings have occurred for CSO phases 8c and 9d (North Grand Center Extended) and that projects should ramp in spring and continue into summer when school is out. Phases 10b and 10c are moving through Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) review; staff said MDE approval and clearinghouse comments must be received before bidding, with award anticipated in late summer and construction primarily in summer 2026.

In public comment, a downtown resident, Will Brower, asked the council to consider residential parking exceptions or designated residential parking after describing towing and overnight-ticketing issues at his Main Street address. Council members discussed winter plowing constraints on overnight Main Street parking and pledged to follow up with the property owner and provide information on current parking-lot ownership.

Staff said more detailed CSO updates will be included in upcoming monthly reports and that design and engineering for the federally funded roundabout project is roughly 99% complete, pending federal paperwork to proceed to construction when 100% design is achieved.