In an effort to retain thousands of federal dollars needed to save the county’s public transportation system, a majority of the Calvert County Commissioners voted Tuesday, May 7 to move forward with compliance of a U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) mandate. The action means Calvert will form a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the Lusby subdivision of Chesapeake Ranch Estates (CRE).

 

According to a memo from Department of Community Planning and Building Principal Planner Patricia Haddon, the formation of the MPO could spare $454,215 in federal funds, which is almost half of the county’s budget for operating the bus system in Calvert plus over $218,500 in capital funds. Department of Community Resources Director Maureen Hoffman was informed by Tracy Perez, the Maryland Transit Authority regional planner for Southern Maryland that failure to create the MPO would likely cost Calvert the federal subsidy.

 

The vote, 4-to-1 with Commissioner Gerald W. “Jerry” Clark [R] voting opposed, came just over one month after federal and state transportation officials presented the U.S. Census Bureau’s recommendation for Calvert and St. Mary’s counties to form the MPO for CRE and the Lexington Park/California areas of St. Mary’s. Haddon stated in her memo that Calvert’s commissioners had been notified “that St. Mary’s County has decided that it will not participate, and in fact, is appealing the designation.”

 

According to Haddon, county government staff met with Wicomico County officials who have formed a MPO of comparable size to the one identified for Calvert and St. Mary’s. Keith Hall, Wicomico’s chief of Long Range and Transportation Planning, advised that the federal money allocated for planning could be used for planning a variety of projects. “They [Wicomico County] received funds for GIS [Geographic Information Systems] enhancements and planning for WIP [Watershed Implementation Plan] retrofits,” Haddon stated. “He suggested that even if St. Mary’s does not participate, Calvert ask for the full allocation for both counties, since the administration start-up costs will be the same despite their lack of participation.”

 

The commissioners did not discuss the MPO during the open session. There was discussion prior to the regular meeting at the 9 a.m. staff se