Leonardtown Town Administrator Laschelle McKay and Mayor Dan Burris show map of the downtown property proposed for new library.

Leonardtown, MD — The Commissioners of St. Mary’s County are expected to make a decision soon on the location for the new Leonardtown Library. Supporters of the two sites, Hayden Farm and downtown Leonardtown, are putting on a last-minute full-court press to state their cases.

The issue was front and center for the commissioners this week. Commissioner Todd Morgan [R – 4th District] started out the April 27 budget workshop by decrying what he called a “three ring circus” and suggested a cooling off period. “Having friend against friend and neighbor against neighbor is never a good method of public policy,” he said.
Commissioner John O’Connor [R – 3rd District] agreed. “A library is supposed to join people together,” he observed.

Commissioner Tom Jarboe [R – 1st District] noted there was money in the capital budget for a library and senior center. “Everybody is going to be a winner regardless of the site,” he said.

Commissioner Mike Hewitt [R – 2nd District] said at the commissioners’ meeting the following day that he was 50/50 for each side. “I could go either way,” he revealed. The day before he said it was important to hear from the people. He has encouraged both sides to attend the commissioners’ May 5 public forum.

Commissioner President Randy Guy [R] said the time was at hand for a decision. We need to move on,” he proclaimed.

One of the voices heard recently in support of the downtown location was new Maryland Secretary of State Planning David Craig (shown above with Director of Public Works and Transportation George Erichsen). Craig visited with the commissioners Tuesday, took a tour of the two sites and then met with them for lunch.

Craig is a former legislator, mayor of Havre de Grace and Harford County executive. During the visit Craig talked about the benefits of locating a library in Havre de Grace and also about the co-location of a youth and senior center. One idea of the table is co-locating the new library and a new senior center.

Erichsen led the discussion at the county-owned Hayden Farm site, holding up a drawing of the possible location of the library and senior center along with the proposed middle school and recreation areas,

Erichsen insisted he wasn’t advocating for one site over the other. He said he just wanted to let everyone know what had led up to that site being considered. Erichsen pointed out that a community charrette and consultant’s studies designated the Hayden Farm property as a potential site for the library.

With Craig, the commissioners and a contingent from the library board looking on, Erichsen showed how the library and senior center could fit on the property, along with a location for a middle school and recreation area. Erichsen said a two-story building, with separate entrances for the library and senior center, would reduce the footprint on the site.

The Library Board of Trustees firmly support the Hayden farm site. Some supporters of that site are fearful that the downtown site will slow the process for a new library that they feel is needed now.

At the Lawrence Avenue location one block from the town square, Leonardtown Town Administrator Laschelle McKay and Mayor Dan Burris advocated for their site, which would be a donated five acres on Fenwick Street Extended that would eventually connect with Route 5.

Earlier in the day Hewitt had said he had walked over to the site during the car show on Sunday and envisioned that the parking lot at a library there could be taken over by event parking. McKay said the town had a lot of experience running events and could control parking.

McKay and Burris held up a copy of the town’s Waterfront Vision Plan that showed the eventual development of the McIntosh Farm with parkland and homes and the new connecting road. The potential library site was in the center of all of that.
“The connection is a fully-designed road,” Burris said of Fenwick Street Extended.

Burris said the construction of the road could be five years away and probably would be constructed with a public/private partnership.

Since both sites are in the corporate limits of Leonardtown, the town planning commission and ultimately the town council would play a role in the approval of either plan. The agreement between the town and county over annexation of the Hayden Farm could enter into play in that discussion.

A deadline for a decision had previously been set as May 12, the day the commissioners will sign their operating and capital budgets for the next fiscal year. Whether the call for a cooling off period will slow the timetable down remains to be seen.

Contact Dick Myers at dick.myers@thebaynet.com