County government association briefs commissioners on agenda

Blue Crabs, economic development department also provide updates

The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, the Maryland Association of Counties and the Charles County Department of Economic Development briefed the county commissioners on their recent accomplishments and plans for the year ahead at the commissioners’ open session on Tuesday.

Blue Crabs general manager Courtney Knichel said that fans have been reacting positively to the stadium’s new concessions and hospitality partner, which had revamped the concessions stands with new themes, regional favorites such as cream of crab soup and Old Bay French fries, and electronic menus.

“The fans really seem to like it,” Knichel said. “It seems to be going well. I hope everyone will come out and enjoy it.”

Knichel said that 500 field-level stadium seats have been reupholstered in the 11-year-old stadium, and new carpet has been installed in the Legends Club and team store. A new drainage system has drastically reduced the number of rain-outs from 10 games several years ago to just two last year.

County funding was used to install a new roof and to repair and renovate the luxury suite last season.

“As you know, the winter was not kind to us,” Knichel said.

Blue Crabs co-owner Jack Lavoie said that Regency Furniture has renewed its naming rights for the stadium and has been aggressively pursuing partnerships with local and regional businesses.

“We never give up,” Lavoie said. “We never rest.”

MACo executive director Michael Sanderson and president Jerry Walker provided a recap of accomplishments during the 2018 General Assembly, which ended in early April.

Sanderson and Walker said that MACo advocated for state funding for school construction and modernized 911 emergency response technology during the session, and also defended counties’ decision-making authority in areas such as legislating small-cell wireless systems and mandates for county government employees.

Looking ahead, MACo is gearing up for the release of the Kirwan Commission’s final report on the state of Maryland’s education system, which is expected later this year, and looking at how the rollout of new 5G cellular communications technologies will impact local zoning.

In response to a question from Commissioner Ken Robinson (D), Sanderson said he expected the environmental impact of climate change on counties would be addressed at MACo’s summer conference in August.

Robinson noted that the flooding in Ellicott City — the second weather-related disaster there in as many years — was just the latest in a series of damaging weather events to hit Maryland in recent years.

“I think that will be a front-and-center conversation at the conference,” Sanderson said.

County redevelopment director Taylor Yewell reported on the recent opportunity zone designations awarded by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and discussed plans for the county’s available office space.

Indian Head, the Washington Urban Redevelopment Corridor, along Old Washington Road in Waldorf, and the Waldorf Station development at the intersection of U.S. 301 and Mattawoman Beantown Road were designated “opportunity zones” along with 146 other census tracts across the state.

Investors can defer paying federal taxes on capital gains for up to 10 years provided that they deposit the money into a fund that is used to invest in small businesses and development projects in the opportunity zones.

Yewell said that guidelines on setting up the opportunity funds are expected in the fall from the Maryland Departments of Housing and Community Development and Commerce, which are overseeing the program for the state.

Forecasting the demand for office space in the county, Yewell reported that the vacancy rate of the county’s 3.3 million cubic feet of leasable office space is just 6 percent.

Currently, only one Class A-rated office building exists in Charles County, in the White Plains Office Park on Stanhaven Place, Yewell said.

Class A office buildings have the most modern infrastructure and are the most conveniently located, and typically also have the highest rents.

“It’s filling up fast,” Yewell said.

Yewell explained that more Class A office space is being planned for the Waldorf-White Plains area because it will help the county’s efforts to attract new businesses and their highly skilled professional employees to the county.

Chief of business development Lucretia Freeman Buster discussed the economic development department’s efforts to attract, retain and expand businesses to the county. Currently, the program is in the initial research phase, which involves organizing the departmental team and developing a sur vey tool.

The department is in the process of organizing a business retention and expansion task force that will begin interviewing business owners with a goal of compiling the results into a detailed needs analysis.

Agricultural business development manager Martin Proulx said new promotional materials are being published in print and online to tout the county’s agricultural resources.