Dorchester County Council Meeting March 18, 2025 – Unofficial Notes

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Submitted By Sharon Smith, CAN

Attendance: George Pfeffer, President; Mike Detmer, Vice President; Rob Kramer, Jr; William Nichols; Ricky Travers; Jerry Jones, County Manager; Irene Barnes, Administrative Specialist; and Charles MacLeod, Attorney were all present.
I. Invocation & Pledge of Allegiance – 6:08 pm.
II. Calls for Additions/Deletions to Agenda
III. Financial Report: General Fund Cash on Hand: $ 34,605,884
IV. Closed Session Summary §3-305(b): (1), (13) & (7) to discuss personnel matters and legal advice on several topics.
V. Consent Agenda
The Consent Agenda was approved, 5-0.
  • County Council Open Session Minutes – March 4, 2025
  • Accounts Payable Disbursement Report – Week Ending March 14, 2025
  • Intradepartmental Budget Transfer Request – Recreation & Parks – Public Works
  • Grant Submission Requests – Federal Aviation Administration – Airport
  • Contract Renewal – LexisNexis – Council’s Office
  • Grant Submission Request – FY25 Community Programming for Youth – Recreation & Parks
  • Letter of Support – National Trust for Historic Preservation Grant Application – Applegarth Tubman Medicine Hill Preservation and Education
  • Letter of Support – Rural Maryland Prosperity Investment Fund – Mid-Shore Regional Council
  • Annual Housing Bond Allocation – Department of Housing & Community Development
VI. Proclamation – Endometriosis Awareness Month – March
  • Vice President Detmer read the proclamation, including some statistics, such as one in ten women will develop the disease for which there is no cure. Shannon Hannawald of Endo Warriors accepted the proclamation and shared her personal story.
VII. Presentation – Budget Update – Board of Education
  • Dr. Jymil Thompson, Superintendent of Dorchester County Schools, and Board member Chris Wheedleton provided a brief overview of the school budget. The board has decreased their projected 2026 budget deficit from $10.1M to $5.5M and hopes to obtain additional Blueprint funding from the state. The 2025 budget was $88M and the projected 2026 budget is $93M. The county schools rank 23rd out of 24 education systems in the state, behind only Baltimore City. The goal is to rank 15th in three years, and he is developing a strategic plan to achieve this.
  • Discussion ensued lead by Commissioner Detmer on ways to decrease the school budget deficit including the cost of sports programs and school plays. Mr. Detmer said if the county must fund the schools $5M budget deficit it would require a 15% increase in county property taxes. An idea to close one of the county’s two high schools was dismissed after a discussion of the multiple negative effects.
  • Commissioner Pfeffer is pursuing a waiver of some Blueprint requirements from the state. He said that the original projected cost for the county to implement the Blueprint was $26.8M by 2030, but the county has already invested $26.3 with more than $10M in costs to come in future years.
VIII. Legislative Agenda
  • VP Detmer introduced legislation to increase the 911 fee from $2/line/month, which was just approved on March 4, 2025 (Bill 2025-2) to $4.25. He explained that the current budget to operate the 911 center is $1.9M and with the previous fee of $1.50/line/month, $660K was raised. Increasing the line fee to $4.25 should raise $1.8M, making the center almost self-funded. The motion was approved 5-0.
IX. Action Items
  • Request to Advertise for Proposals – Closure Construction New Beulah Municipal Landfill Closure – Geosyntec Consultant – Landfill
  • Request for Approval – FFY2025-2030 Airport Capital Improvement Plan for the airport, which gets submitted to the FAA.
  • Grinder Pump Purchase Sole Source Request – Water & Wastewater $11,553
  • James G. Busick Foundation Fundraising Request – Recreation & Parks – to hang three fund-raising banners for three months.
  • Request to Advertise for Proposals – to convert Hurlock tennis courts to pickleball courts – Recreation & Parks
  • Poll Confirmations
X. Council’s Comments
  • VP Detmer shared that the state is considering privatizing the inspection of septic systems.
  • President Pfeffer announced that there is another Budget Workshop scheduled for Thursday, March 20th at 5pm in the Room 110, county office building.
XI. Public Comments
  • The City Manager will try to post on the county website budget slides prior to Thursday’s budget meeting.
XII. Adjournment – 7:19pm