Residents urge city to back services hub, oppose ICE facility and revive community events at Hagerstown meeting

Several members of the public addressed the mayor and city council at the Feb. 24 meeting on a range of topics, from community events to urgent service and detention‑facility concerns.

A representative of the Antietam Bassmasters, James Klein, and Russell Neff of the Outstation Club asked the council to approve a revival of a long‑running fishing event at Tammany/Tameborn Park on June 13 for youth, seniors and people with disabilities, and requested coordination with parks staff for advertising and logistics.

Adam Bishop offered to organize a volunteer committee and an app that would connect volunteers to tasks across Hagerstown—graffiti removal, litter pickup and other civic maintenance—and asked the council and staff to follow up so his group could begin organizing.

Aileen Kurfman testified about concerns over a proposed ICE deportee detention/processing facility at 16220 Wright Road. Citing local drought conditions and downstream water shortages, Kurfman said the site was originally approved for roughly 800 gallons per day as a warehouse but that estimates for a detention/processing facility start at 75,000 gallons per day and could reach 150,000 gallons per day if showers, laundry and a kitchen are included. Kurfman urged the council to oppose conversion of the warehouse and to support the Maryland Attorney General’s legal action to prevent the conversion, and stated that neither ICE nor the Department of Homeland Security had submitted required site‑plan or water‑usage documentation to the city as of her remarks.

Linda Ebersole (read into the record) urged the creation of a centralized social services hub at the former Citibank site to collocate housing navigation, behavioral health supports, substance‑use referrals, employment assistance, benefits enrollment and legal aid; she proposed a coordinated intake and case‑management model and said funding could come from federal/state grants, local appropriations and public‑private partnerships.

Separately, Sean Porter made a series of allegations about county officials and marijuana sales‑tax disbursements, naming a Washington County commissioner and alleging entries in a publicized dataset. Those claims were presented as accusations and were not substantiated in the city meeting record.

Council members thanked public speakers and directed staff to follow up: the mayor invited Adam Bishop and Linda Ebersole to meet with staff, and council indicated willingness to put the centralized services hub idea on a future agenda for discussion.