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Howard County creates bond fund, names Baird underwriter; data-center moratorium hearing delayed after ad error
Summary
Commissioners adopted Resolution 2026 BCCR12 to establish a fund for incoming bond proceeds and approved a letter agreement naming Baird as the bond underwriter; a Tribune advertising error delayed hearings on a data-center moratorium and a flood ordinance, prompting public comment about whether applications can still be submitted.
Howard County commissioners approved a resolution to create a new fund to receive bond proceeds and accepted a letter agreement naming Baird as underwriter for the bond issuance. Separately, the commission postponed hearings on a moratorium affecting data centers after a newspaper advertising error; a resident asked whether companies could nonetheless submit project paperwork while the procedural error is being corrected.
County Attorney Alan introduced Resolution 2026 BCCR12, saying, "This just creates a new fund for when the bond money is going to be deposited." A motion to accept Resolution 2026 BCCR12 was moved, seconded and carried by voice vote.
Alan also presented a letter agreement with Baird to serve as the underwriter when bonds are issued. He described the underwriter's role as marketing and selling the bonds and said Baird was recommended by the county’s financial advisor and by Councilman Maple. The transcript records the underwriter fee ambiguously as "It's they get 0.25% 25% of the value of the bond is my understanding." Officials in the meeting did not clarify the discrepancy on the record. Commissioners moved to accept Baird and to authorize Mr. Bray to sign the letter agreement on behalf of the commission; the motion was approved by voice vote.
On planning and zoning, a commissioner said the Tribune newspaper had not properly advertised two items sent for planning commission notice: the updated flood ordinance (which the paper did advertise correctly) and a moratorium on data centers (which was not properly advertised). "For some reason they did not advertise the moratorium," Greg, the planning commission director, said, and the county will hear both items next month. During public comment, resident Brat Simone asked whether the advertising lapse created a window allowing a company to file paperwork to start a battery storage or data-center project. Greg said the department was "doing our diligence" and acknowledged the paper's failure to advertise; other commissioners said the county "does not legally have to accept anything" at this time.
The meeting record also shows routine financial approvals: salary claims, payroll expense and operating claims were moved and approved by voice vote during the session. The transcript records the amounts as presented in the meeting (salary/payroll amounts shown as '1,152,94543' in the record and operating claims as '3,813,357.99'). The transcript did not contain detailed roll-call vote tallies for these items.
Next steps in the meeting record: the county will proceed with administrative steps to create the bond deposit fund and finalize the letter agreement with Baird; the planning items affected by the advertising error will be scheduled for the next monthly meeting.
