Upcoming Forums & Town Halls
Commissioners, State Highway, Sheriff’s Office, Sports Complex
January 2025 is starting off with several opportunities for St. Mary’s County residents to provide their ideas, concerns, and other feedback directly to their elected officials.
Commissioners Public Forum
On January 7th, at 6:30PM, the County Commissioners will hold their first public forum of the year. Each year the Commissioners hold a total of four public forums, one per quarter. These “allow residents to speak directly to the Commissioners on topics of their choosing…offer[ing] appreciation, questions or suggestions,” according to a news release from December 2024.
The January 7th public forum is located in the Commissioner’s Meeting Room at the Chesapeake Building, 41770 Baldridge Street in Leonardtown. Each person is given three minutes to speak on their topic. Some relevant topics could include:
The upcoming closure of Leonard Hall Junior Naval Academy at its current location.
The FY26 budget (this is a good time to tell the Commissioners what you think they should focus on).
The large amount of commercial development across the county.
The Comprehensive Plan revision process (how do you want to be involved, what should the county do about development, both residential and commercial?).
Public Forum Facebook event link: https://www.facebook.com/share/1XBdtaJ3Hb/
SHA Public Workshop
The State Highway Administration (SHA) is planning a “public informational workshop on pedestrian safety initiatives along MD 235 between Chancellor’s Run Road and Great Mills Road” on Thursday, January 16th. The SHA released a public notice saying “representatives will be available to listen to your feedback and answer project-related questions.” There is no formal presentation, so attendees can arrive anytime from 5-7PM at Great Mills High School to review project details, maps, and other display information.
The information session is part of the Pedestrian Safety Action Plan (PSAP) under the State’s Complete Streets Initiative. According to the website “the PSAP program prioritizes safety enhancements along corridors, like MD 235. Implementation decisions are made using factors such as equity, destinations and connections, crash data and density.” The PSAP assessed areas according to six “Contexts: Urban Core, Urban Center, Traditional Town Center, Suburban Activity Center, Suburban, and Rural.”
Areas of need identified through statewide prioritization primarily include the St. Mary’s County portion of the Calvert-St. Mary’s Metropolitan Planning Organization (CSMMPO). The CSMMPO oversees the application of federal funds for transportation priorities in a federally identified area stretching from Great Mills to Cove Point. The PSAP has listed this area as suburban in context, described as “primarily single-family residential development…office parks and small commercial strip retail…and neighborhood-level civic and cultural facilities.” In these areas, development discourages non-automobile trips.
Read more on the Project Portal page: https://mdot-sha-md235-md246-to-md-237-sm124b21-maryland.hub.arcgis.com/
Sheriff’s Office
On Monday January 27th, at 6PM, the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office is holding a town hall for the community to “gain firsthand, fact-based insights into gun violence in our area” , says a press release. The event will be at Bay District Volunteer Fire Department’s Braddock Hall, located at 46900 S. Shangri-La Dr. in Lexington Park.
Four presentations will be given during the town hall: Understanding Gun Violence in Our Community; A Snapshot of Gun-Related Offenses; Group Violence Intervention; and The Growing Concern about Ghost Guns. Community members from Point Lookout to Charlotte Hall, and everywhere in between, are encouraged to “attend, ask questions, and engage with Sheriff’s Office personnel.”
Sheriff’s Office Facebook event link: https://www.facebook.com/share/15Z3si9gbr/
Sports Complex
Finally, on Wednesday January 29th at 5:30PM, Recreation & Parks will host a public input session for a Sports Complex. Attend the meeting at the Commissioners Meeting Room at the Chesapeake Building (41770 Baldridge St, Leonardtown) to provide your feedback about what should be included in the sports complex.
Manns Woodward Studios and BallParchitecture, the two design firms, will have representatives to hear feedback at the meeting. “All local citizens, other interested parties, and governmental agencies are requested to provide valuable input” according to a post on the St. Mary’s County Recreation & Parks Facebook page.
Crossroads Consulting completed a viability study in October 2020. Nearly 13M people are within a 180-minute drive according to the study, which recommended a 36 acre outdoor facility with 8-10 multi-purpose fields, suggesting a majority of those fields be turf fields. An indoor facility, up to 135K square feet, was also recommended with 8 basketball courts that convert to 16 volleyball courts, and an option to overlay turf fields for further indoor use. Estimated financial operations would average at $1.6M so the facility would essentially break even each year.
Economic impacts estimated an additional $51.7M in spending for the local economy, with 630 new jobs created generating total earnings of $18.7M for those employees. Annual tax income for the County would be $600K from the hotel/motel tax, admissions and amusement tax, and the local personal income tax. Meanwhile, the State would net $2.8M in tax revenue.
Read my summary of the study, and potential obstacles: https://www.informedstmarys.com/news/county-discusses-sports-complex
Rec & Park Facebook event link: https://www.facebook.com/share/15XNe8p48h/
Are you planning to attend one, or more, of these public forums?
Content © 2025 Brandon Russell
