Finance committee recommends moving funds to Chesapeake Children’s Museum to add ADA parking; Waterworks work to be limited to planning

The Annapolis Finance Standing Committee voted Jan. 7, 2026 to give a favorable recommendation on FB 6-26, moving funding from the Waterworks Building project to the Chesapeake Children’s Museum so the city can install ADA-compliant parking spaces and accessible walking paths.

The matter was presented to the committee as a budget transfer after staff discovered a line item that had been removed during earlier budget work was still needed for the museum project. “The funding is needed for the ADA parking spaces,” said Darren Johnson, who said he processed the budget revision. Johnson told the committee the money had been pulled in the budget process under the assumption it was not required, but was now needed to proceed.

Committee members pressed staff for the time sensitivity, what work would no longer be completed at Waterworks and how much of the Waterworks appropriations remain available. Administration staff and project leads said Waterworks Park is in preliminary stages and has been delayed by an administration change and by complicating factors such as historic buildings, county permitting (Anne Arundel County) and reservoir and dam issues. “We have not settled on a definitive path forward with that project,” a project staff member said, describing the work as largely at the brainstorming and planning stage.

Budget staff clarified the accounting: the amount cited for the children’s museum balance was discussed in the meeting as “52.05” (language in the project page), and staff stated there remains funding available in the Waterworks project. Staff later said the Waterworks project had spent about $50,000 to date, with roughly $3,000 from prior approvals and the remainder from current-year funding.

The chair proposed an amendment to reclassify any remaining unspent construction funds in the Waterworks project into planning or design after the transfer. Committee members signaled support for that approach and asked that written materials accompany the transfer explaining specifically what work the museum funds will enable and what planned Waterworks construction will be deferred.

Motion and outcome: A motion for a favorable recommendation on FB 6-26 carried by voice vote; the committee recorded no roll-call tally in the transcript but the chair announced the motion carried.

What’s next: The committee will forward its favorable recommendation and the administration will provide written detail on the effects of the transfer, plus convene stakeholders on the Waterworks project before any further construction funding is committed.