Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Capital Planning Public Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
BOCC reviews FY26–31 capital improvement plan; public safety equipment and EMS staffing draw detailed discussion
Summary
Staff presented a revised six-year CIP with overall reductions and project timing changes; commissioners and staff spent substantial time on public-safety items including ambulance transfers, life‑pack replacements and supervisor staffing, and asked for follow-up on bonding authority.
Calvert County staff briefed the Board of County Commissioners on a staff-recommended update to the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) for fiscal years 2026–2031 at a work session on April 1. Danielle Russell, acting capital and grants management specialist, presented project reprioritizations and a trimmed FY2026 request. Staff said many projects were moved into later years to reduce near-term capital needs.
Key changes and discussion points:
- Transportation and public works: Director JR Cosgrove said the department reduced the FY2026 transportation request by 57% from initial estimates by moving projects into future years and renegotiating scopes where possible. Cosgrove cautioned that MS4 permit obligations remain and cutting stormwater work too deeply could leave the county short of required performance targets. The board pressed for details on road and drainage project timing and scope.
- Public safety and EMS equipment: Commissioners and staff discussed several detailed items, including transfer of two volunteer department ambulances to the county career EMS fleet and the costs of placing those units into service (replacement stretchers, loading systems, radios and cardiac monitors). Deputy Miller and EMS staff explained that adopted trade-ins or transfers provide chassis but the county must supply equipment such as Liferpak cardiac monitors and new powered stretchers; a modern stretcher and loading system can cost on the order of $92,000.
- Lifepak replacement/lease: Staff noted that many existing Lifepak 15 cardiac monitors are approaching an eight-year service life and parts are becoming scarce. The county is evaluating a fair-market lease-to-own option that would replace monitors system-wide and include maintenance; costs and residual trade-in values depend on market condition and the vendor. Commissioners asked staff to clarify the trade-in values and lifecycle costs.
- EMS supervision and staffing: Career EMS leaders described current supervisory spans of control (one supervisor covering a large geographic area) and said increased supervisory staffing would improve field oversight, training and response coordination. Commissioners and staff discussed run-card assignments, double-dispatching where volunteer and career units both respond, and the need for work sessions with emergency communications and volunteer leadership to refine dispatch practices and supervisory roles.
- Bonds and financing: Commissioners asked whether additional bonding authority would be required. Staff said much of the work was to push projects into years for which the county already has or can seek bonding authority; finance staff will analyze remaining bonding capacity.
Russell said the overall CIP six-year total fell from roughly $89.8 million to $62.1 million in the FY2026 staff recommendation, a 31% reduction for the first year. Commissioners asked staff to return with additional details on bonding authority and to convene follow-up sessions on EMS dispatch/operations.
