St. Mary’s commissioners delay full Carver community-center build, approve $75,000 for planning

St. Mary's County Commissioners on Feb. 26 moved to delay a full build-out of a proposed Carver Recreation Community Center after residents and advisory-board input and concerns raised about Navy AQ guidance, and approved $75,000 to fund further planning and needs assessment.

The county’s chief financial officer, Jeanette Cudmore, told the board the session would begin with follow-up on recent capital-project changes and the fiscal impact on funding, debt and operations: “So what the first thing we're gonna do is follow-up on the capital project changes from the prior work session last week,” Cudmore said as she opened the presentation of revised CIP sheets.

The commissioners said community feedback and Navy guidance pushed them to scale back immediate construction. “Of all the speakers, they none supported the move to CIP or Community Center to the Carver Recreation Center,” said Mr. Shepherd, who reported back from a Lexington Park / Carver advisory meeting and described 13 public speakers opposed to using Carver as the future community-center site.

Why it matters: Commissioners said a full-scale community center would increase program density in an AQ (air-quality/accident potential) influence area the Navy has flagged, and that the county lacks a detailed, agreed program for a Carver facility (programming, operations and staffing). Several commissioners said they want a clearer plan for uses, operating costs and stakeholder commitments before committing major borrowing.

Key decisions and budget adjustments: The board directed staff to retain a placeholder for a community-center project in the CIP but move the major borrowing further out and fund limited planning now. Commissioners agreed to add $75,000 to the FY2020 planning line to support needs assessment and community-stakeholder outreach rather than committing full construction funds immediately. Cudmore summarized CIP shifts elsewhere: the health-department renovation was moved toward potential state bond funding; a multipurpose synthetic-turf-fields project was re-named and received $2.0 million in pay‑as‑you‑go (PECO) funding and a separate $1.1 million already in the plan was shifted into the turf-fields line.

Board members also discussed keeping a $250,000 placeholder for planning work and re-timing a larger construction borrowing (the draft figure mentioned in discussion ranged from roughly $14 million to higher comparisons based on statewide comps), with the intent to move major borrowing to later years so debt ratios remain within policy. Commissioners agreed to forward the revised CIP, including the planning funds and schedule changes, to the Planning Commission for review (the Planning Commission hearing was scheduled for March 11).

What commissioners said: Several members urged caution about committing taxpayer dollars without a detailed program and operating-cost estimates. One commissioner summarized the majority view: keep planning funds to define the program and push major borrowing later so the county does not exceed its debt policy.

Next steps: Staff will proceed with the $75,000 planning allocation and return with planning deliverables and updated cost estimates; the revised CIP will go to the Planning Commission on March 11. Commissioners also asked staff to report back with comparative construction and operating-cost data for community centers in other jurisdictions.

Votes/actions at the meeting: The board approved (by consensus) a $75,000 planning allocation for the community-center study and agreed to forward the revised CIP to the Planning Commission for review.