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Council presses to finalize MOU with Board of Education to replace Beach Elementary tennis courts
Summary
Council members, staff and residents discussed a memorandum of understanding with the Board of Education to fund replacement of Beach Elementary School tennis courts; $300,000 was previously allocated and council aims to vote soon after clarifying insurance, land ownership and bid timing.
Councilmembers discussed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Board of Education and Calvert County to replace the deteriorated tennis courts at Beach Elementary School and to secure continued town use outside school hours.
Councilmember advocates said the courts were included on the school's site plan as existing courts and have been shared between the school and town for decades. The MOU under consideration would leave the land in Board of Education ownership while allowing the town to fund replacement and retain community use historically provided for roughly 35 years. The council noted previous efforts to have the Board cede land to the town had stalled because of mitigation costs and acquisition complexity.
Council members and staff said the project is time-sensitive because construction will require a formal bidding process that can take several months. They also discussed insurance and indemnification language in the MOU; councilmembers asked staff to seek mutual indemnification instead of unilateral hold-harmless language. The county administrator previously told the town that the project would require bidding and county involvement on certain elements. Councilmembers also flagged that the courts had $300,000 set aside by an earlier ordinance (recorded as Ordinance 24/21) and that a prior council approved that allocation by a 5-1 vote at a November meeting; council staff said sources of the $300,000 needed to be confirmed and that state grants might be available but should not be a condition of approval.
Residents testified during the work session that the tennis courts are a significant town amenity used daily by neighborhoods and visitors. Several speakers urged the council to resolve outstanding MOU items quickly and to ensure access for Chesapeake Beach residents and clarify whether neighboring North Beach residents would be included under the MOU.
Council agreed to review the MOU language, compile questions for a January 17 meeting with Board of Education leadership and the county administrator, and bring any required amendments back for a vote at the next regular council meeting once outstanding insurance, funding-source and use-period questions are answered.
