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Town council orders legal, insurance review after volunteer-run camp found unlicensed
Summary
Washington Grove’s Summer in the Parks (SITP) was reported to lack the Maryland Department of Health youth-camp certification and the county recreational camp license; the council directed the mayor to consult the town insurer and attorney to clarify volunteer and municipal liability and steps to obtain licenses.
Eva Patrone, director of the town’s Summer in the Parks program, told the council the program appears not to have obtained required state and county youth-camp certifications and is working with a resident volunteer to complete the paperwork before camp begins in July. “I met about this earlier in the week with John, Jean, and Laurel Goldberg,” Patrone wrote in an appended statement, and said she has completed two Maryland Department of Health online trainings and found no exemption to licensing that would apply to the town-run program.
Patrone described concrete compliance needs: background checks for staff and volunteers who work with children, adherence to swim-safety rules and camper-to-staff ratios, MDH‑approved written emergency and safety plans, and trainings for staff. She said years of informal operation had left the town exposed and that volunteers running SITP received little guidance when they took on the program.
Paul Patrone, in an appended message, pressed the council to clarify who would bear liability if there were a preventable injury: the volunteer camp director, the Town, or both. “In light of Eva’s comments, I would like the council to clarify what liability town volunteers and committee members assume when they are operating at the direction of town committees and/or in official support of town activities,” he wrote.
Council members expressed appreciation for Patrone’s work and, by consensus, directed Mayor John Compton to consult the town insurer (LGIT) and obtain legal advice from the town attorney about liability and the steps the town must take to ensure compliance before camp opens. The minutes record that residents Laurel Goldberg and Treasurer Jean Moyer assisted Patrone in compiling requirements and that Patrone expects to work toward state and county certification by July.
The council did not take a formal vote to change SITP operations at this meeting; rather it ordered a legal and insurance review and signaled the town’s intent to complete the licensing process. Next steps recorded in the minutes: the mayor will report back with insurer and attorney guidance; Patrone and volunteers will continue preparing required documentation.
