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Joint committee advances purchase of former Capital One branch at 17831 for Olney civic center
Summary
A Montgomery County joint committee agreed without objection to advance a FY2025 CIP amendment that would create a project to acquire 17831 — the former Capital One retail branch — for conversion into an Olney civic/community center; the package relies on state aid with final award expected in April.
A Montgomery County joint committee on government operations, fiscal policy and education and culture voted without objection to advance a FY2025 amendment that would create a capital project to acquire the former bank at 17831 for use as an Olney civic and community center.
Mr. Mia, who introduced the transmittal, said the revised staff packet corrected the project address and identified 17831 as the former Capital One retail branch that the county proposes to purchase and renovate. "The correct address is 17831," Mia said, noting the amendment is not a supplemental appropriation but a procedural step to include the project in the county's CIP so the Department of General Services (DGS) can complete the acquisition and later renovations.
David Dice, director of the Department of General Services, said the staff package provided the necessary details and that securing signed agreements is the immediate purpose pending state aid. "We'll come back and renovate the building at a later date, but this is necessary in order to secure signed agreements pending State aid," Dice said.
A council member who spoke after being called (identified in the transcript as Council Member Levy) thanked staff and elected partners for their work, saying earlier designs that tried to combine community space with a police satellite station proved infeasible and crediting Senator Zucker for helping secure funding to enable the separate civic space. The chair then said, "Seeing no other questions or comments, without objection, we'll agree to the staff recommendation," and Mr. Mia said the amendment will go to the full council on April 1.
Why it matters: creating the CIP project and approving acquisition steps will allow DGS to finalize property purchase agreements; however, the project depends on a state aid award, which the committee said will be known when the General Assembly concludes its session in April. Next steps: the item is scheduled for full council consideration on April 1.
