The St. Mary’s County Chamber of Commerce has called for an accelerated schedule for the uncompleted portions of FDR Boulevard. In a letter to the St. Mary’s County Commissioners, Chamber President Joseph Densford noted the larger than anticipated county surplus. County Chief Financial Officer Elaine Kramer reported in December that the county had almost $12 million more fund balance than anticipated, due largely to higher than expected Income tax revenues.

Densford, in a letter a month ago to the county noted the surplus, reiterated Chamber support for FDR Boulevard and promised a formal Chamber position on the matter. Densford wrote in the Jan. 23 letter that a review of the surplus at a recent chamber board meeting produced the following action:
“When allocating the funds that are in excess of the anticipated reserve or fund balance, the St. Mary’s County Chamber of Commerce recommends:
1)    That these funds not be used for items that are recurring expenses.
2)    That the County Capital Improvement Budget be examined to:
a)    Fund the currently unfunded design and acquisition portion(s) of FDR Boulevard.
b)    When the design and acquisition for the full project has been included, if there are dollars remaining we would recommend moving the actual construction phases of FDR up in the CIP. These are already included in the next several years of the CIP.
“We also encourage the Commissioners not to delay any of the currently scheduled CIP funding for FDR Boulevard.”
Densford goes to one write: “We understand the need for fiscal responsibility and caution in these challenging times. However, we feel the investment in our community infrastructure is a sound use of funds for the following reasons: it is truly an investment with community-wide benefit; it will not have any negative impact on the citizen’s tax rates; and it will prevent the need to borrow money for the project that has been on the drawing board for years and is part of the approved transportation plan.”
FDR Boulevard would parallel Route 235 from Wildewood to Lexington Park. Commissioner Lawrence Jarboe (R: 3rd), who represents the northern part of St. Mary’s County, has been a consistent opponent of funding FDR Boulevard. He has made attempts, since the FY ’12 capital budget was adopted that included monies for FDR, to have that decision overturned. He has gotten some support from Commissioner Daniel

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