St. Mary's County reviews CIP changes, plans fall bond and adds Garvey parking to five‑year plan

St. Mary's County staff presented updates to the county’s capital improvement plan during a Feb. 10 budget work session and flagged a potential larger bond request in FY28 while commissioners endorsed adding several projects for further review.

Vanetta Van Cleave, identified in the meeting record as the county finance lead, told commissioners the November‑approved plan produced a FY27 increase of roughly $9.3 million, later year reductions and an overall reduction of about $24.8 million through FY31. "Looking at FY'27, the proposed capital projects [are] 61,700,000," Van Cleave said, and she cautioned that new assets will carry additional operating costs for labor and maintenance.

Staff outlined the county’s debt picture and bond assumptions: current outstanding debt for FY26 is projected at about $218 million with a debt margin of 101.3, and the next bond issuance is anticipated in the fall. Van Cleave said the plan shows a potential $70.2 million bond utilization in FY28 and asked commissioners whether they wanted to revisit which projects should be pushed out to match realistic bonding and delivery schedules.

The meeting included detailed discussion of a proposed staff parking project at Garvey (PF2602). John Norris, director of public works and transportation, said site work will require about "12 feet of cut" to reach existing grade and that staff are targeting roughly 60 staff parking spaces but believe 72 spaces will physically fit before stormwater swales reduce the count. Norris described worst‑case design costs of about $600,000 in the current year with an additional $1.2 million shown in FY27, for a combined worst‑case estimate near $1.9 million. He said the site lies within Leonardtown’s jurisdiction and that town approval will be required for the proposed asphalt parking; staff noted a gravel lot may not be permitted.

Deputy director Angie Stancliff described a phased enterprise software implementation the county is planning: year one would be a needs assessment and evaluation, followed by implementation in year two. The project is shown to start in FY29 with implementation in FY30, and commissioners expressed general support for timing and the phased approach.

On reserve balances, Van Cleave clarified that larger reported capital reserve figures include grant‑restricted balances and are not fully available for general purposes. She said the county’s unassigned fund balance at audit close was $18.9 million and the fungible portion available for projects is substantially smaller.

Commissioners signaled consensus during the session to add two items—the Garvey staff parking and a phase‑1 detention center study—to the CIP for presentation to the planning commission. Van Cleave said the revised plan will be presented to the planning commission on March 9 and finalized as the recommended budget and five‑year plan on March 17, with public hearings in April and May.

What happens next: staff will refine project budgets and timing and return with updated slides and a detailed account activity report at a future work session before formal budget adoption.