Dorchester County Council Meeting Notes October 20, 2026, – Submitted by Sharon Smith, CAN

Present: George Pfeffer, President, Mike Detmer, Vice President; Rob Kramer, Jr; Ricky Travers; William Nichols. Present: Assistant County Manager; Irene Barnes, County Administration: Charles MacLeod, County Attorney

A Closed Session was conducted from 5:00 until 6:10pm. The Open Session began at 6:10 pm.

This lengthy meeting was attended by several local and state officials to discuss upcoming priorities.

The Consent Agenda, composed of these five items, passed without discussion.

1. County Council Open Session Minutes – October 6, 2026
2. Accounts Payable Disbursement Report – Week Ending October 16, 2026
3. Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Request – School Resource Officer (SRO) – Sheriff’s Office · Request of the Sheriff’s Office to enter into a SRO MOU Implementation and Administration of Programs Involving Sheriff Deputies in Schools, by and between the County, Sheriff’s Office and Board of Education (BOE) to provide health, safety, and welfare of public school students by providing partnership programs involving Sheriff Deputies in school
4. Request to Advertise Bid No. 2026-16 – Crushed Stone – Public Works · Request of Public Works to advertise Bid No. 2026-16, to request proposals for crusted stone, with a bid deadline of November 9, 2026
5. Letter of Support Request – Governor’s FY28 Capital Budget Request – ALL4LOVE · Request of ALL4LOVE to provide a Letter of Support for its $1,700,000 Governor’s FY28 Capital Budget Request to redevelop The Warehouse, a permanent youth and community facility in Cambridge serving young people and families throughout the County

Commendation

The Eastern Shore Innovation Center, part of the Economic Development Department, was recognized by council for 10 years of sustained economic growth marked by the achievement of full occupancy.  The center is a business incubator that offers coworking space, meeting spaces, and private offices for variable terms of occupancy.

 

 

Consolidated Transportation Plan (CTP) Tour

The Maryland Secretary of Transportation, Katie Thompson, and her staff visited council on their tour of state county councils to discuss upcoming priorities and achievements. The department’s approach has three pillars: 1.) safety, 2.) maintaining infrastructure, and 3). doing more with the existing infrastructure. Their six-year plan has a budget of $21.6 billion.

Melissa Williams, Director of Planning, shared that the chosen plan for the two new Chesapeake Bay Bridges contains four lanes each, with shoulders. Construction will begin in 2032. Travis Johnson, Director of Transit, has a $1million budget for local transit. Kristine Reiser, Director of MVA reports that centers are experiencing a wait time of only five minutes – a huge improvement over years past.  Sean Hammer, Director of Aviation Administration, has $55,000 for local airport runway paving. Robert Monroe, Director of Port Authority, says that Baltimore port had a record year and is the busiest port on the east coast for auto importing. Also, restoring James and Barrows Islands with dredged material will result in 2,000 acres. Will Prine, State Highway Administrator, along with local State engineer Mark, discussed the roadway priorities put forth by council, including

1. West Side Connector
2. Hurlock-Linkwood Rail Line Corridor
3. Boardwalk Under Malkus Bridge/Fishing Pier
4. Brookview Bridge
5. Waddell’s Corner/Route 331 Intersection
6. Route 16 – Main Street, East New Market

 

Maryland General Assembly – 2027 Legislative Session

The session was attended by State Senator Johnny Mautz, House Delegates Chris Adams, Tom Hutchinson and Sheree Sample-Hughes. County Council put forth seven priorities for legislative consideration.

• Hotel rental tax rate, asking to raise from 5% to 6%.
• Archery safety zone, for the restricted zone from residences to be decreased to 50 yards in keeping with other counties.
• Sewage disposal system acknowledgement, to ensure that property buyers are clearly notified when their property shares a sewage system with other properties and that maintenance and upkeep are private, not public, responsibilities.
• City/county tax differential, requesting that local governments have the right to decide the amount of tax revenue to be returned to municipalities by counties for services provided by the municipality.
• Juvenile crime, needing stronger measures to curb recidivism.
• Solar payment in lieu of taxes
• Priority Preservation Area (PPA) which neither Somerset nor Dorchester Counties have, leaving them unable to restrict solar consumption of farmland by percentage.

 

Board of Health Presentation

Dr. Casey Scott reported that the board has a new website and Dri-Dock is moving to the former One Mission building. She reminded the audience that the Health Department offers many types of preventive shots and most are free. Call 410-228-3333 to schedule.

 

Action Items

1. Wheelchair Permit Process Discussion

 

Request by Chesapeake Housing Mission, Inc. to waive building permits for wheelchair ramps built by the organization as has been the practice in the past. Planning & Zoning wishes to maintain the current permitting and inspection requirements. Parties are to discuss further.

 

1. Letter of Opposition Request – Copper-Based Landlines

Request to submit a Letter of Opposition to the Federal Communications Commission and Verizon regarding an application submitted by Verizon to discontinue copper-based infrastructure that supports Plain Old Telephone Services (POTS), especially in south Dorchester where cell reception is spotty. Council agreed to send letters.

1. Letters of Support Request – Atlantic Menhaden Conservation Efforts

Request to submit a Letter of Support to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission regarding the Draft Addendum II to Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden, which aims to increase conservation efforts that will support regional ecological health and the local seafood and recreational fishing economies. Councilperson Detmer commented that he spoke with several menhaden fisher people who assured him that menhaden are abundant, so the request was denied by council.

1. Traffic Safety Committee Recommendations (TSC)

Request of the TSC to approve the following recommendations:

1. Cloverdale School Road: install two additional 25MPH signs in between the North Dorchester High & Middle Schools, including “Fines Doubled” signs under each
2. Oak Grove Road/Wheatley Road: install warning signs to alert drivers of oncoming traffic
3. Bestpitch Ferry Road: verify the proposed locations and coordinate installation of the no-parking signs, subject to applicable regulations
4. Galestown Reliance Road/Lakeshore Drive: send letters to the Maryland State Police and Sheriff’s Office formally requesting increased speed enforcement

TSC requests were approved by council.

1. Poll confirmation

Council voted to confirm an interim vote approving the purchase by EMS of cardiac monitors for an annual cost of $89K over a seven-year period with the first payment funded by the FY2027 Capital Budget.

 

Reminders

The entire session can be viewed on Townhallstreams.com

The entire council discussion package can be read on the county council website along with the agenda. Yay for transparency, it was a long time coming!

The next County Council meeting will be held on MONDAY, November 2 at 6pm in Room 110, 501 Court Lane, as Tuesday, November 3 is Election Day. GET OUT AND VOTE!