When the Maryland Board of Public Works approved $426.15 million in state spending on Oct. 7, the state’s announcement highlighted a legal-fee item and grants elsewhere in Maryland. Tucked into the 241-page agenda were smaller items for Southern Maryland, from a fire boat in Solomons to splash pads in Lexington Park and Leonardtown.
Comptroller Brooke E. Lierman, Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller and Treasurer Dereck E. Davis approved 121 items in all, according to a corrected news release from the comptroller’s office. Every Southern Maryland item passed without discussion, the board’s after-meeting summary shows.
The full agenda also answers questions the state’s own announcements left open. When the Chronicle reported the land and park approvals the next day, the Department of Natural Resources had not released the price of a Charles County forest purchase or the amounts for two St. Mary’s County park projects. The agenda has them.
Calvert: A fire boat and a school playground
The Solomons Volunteer Rescue Squad and Fire Department will get a $100,000 state grant toward a new fire boat. The agenda says the boat would replace a vessel in service since 1995. The grant is a small piece of the cost: the agenda lists the total project at $1.4 million, with $1.3 million coming from local sources. No match was required for the state money, which comes from a 2024 legislative bond initiative.
The Calverton School, a private school in Huntingtown that operates as Calvert County Day School Inc., received $150,000 in two grants for playground renovations, which the agenda says may include its Lower School playground. The grants cover the full listed project cost.
St. Mary’s: Two parks get prices
The board committed $1,208,000 for three St. Mary’s park projects:
- Nicolet Park splash pad, Lexington Park: $755,000. The county will replace the park’s existing splash pad with new equipment and site amenities. The money is $405,000 in Program Open Space funds plus $350,000 from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund.
- Snow Hill Park barn, $153,000. The renovation includes electrical service, flooring, wall repairs and a new roof so the barn can host more programs and public use.
- Leonard Hall Miedzinski Park splash pad, Leonardtown: $300,000. The Town of Leonardtown will build a new splash pad and pump house with shade structures, seating and sidewalks. The Chronicle first reported the award in June.
The board also approved a state wetlands license for Piney Point LLC to remove six inactive fuel oil lines that run over open water and tidal marsh at Piney Point Creek. The license requires the company to use marsh mats and follow time-of-year restrictions.
One St. Mary’s farm landed a $10,500 grant in a statewide round of 29 agricultural cost-share awards, which help farmers pay for conservation practices.
Charles: The Doncaster price, and a community hall
The state will pay $721,234 for the 324.88-acre forested tract it is adding to Doncaster Demonstration State Forest, the agenda shows. Two appraisals valued the land at $823,000 and $710,000. The state is buying it through The Conservation Fund, a land trust, from Anew TFG Legacy Northeast Holdco LLC, and will reimburse the trust up to $83,637 for its costs. Another $72,123 is set aside to stabilize the property, including tearing down structures the Maryland Forest Service won’t keep. The tract fronts Smallwood Church Road. An existing hunting lease can continue through the end of deer season, but no later than Feb. 28, 2027.
The agenda also breaks down the $293,216.97 Rural Legacy grant for a conservation easement on the 72.9-acre Tuana property in the Nanjemoy-Mattawoman Forest Rural Legacy Area. The county will pay the owner $255,150, or $3,500 an acre, for an easement appraised at $348,036. The rest covers administrative, incidental and compliance costs. The easement protects a 100-foot forested buffer along about 1,000 feet of stream.
The Willing Helpers Society received a $250,000 grant to renovate its property, bringing state support for the project to its full $300,000 cost after a $50,000 grant in April 2025. The agenda says the work may expand the building with a larger kitchen, office space, a library and classroom space.
The board also approved a wetlands license for a marina restoration at Benedict, on the Patuxent River and Mill Creek. The project replaces boathouses, ramps and piers and includes maintenance dredging. It requires about 8,106 square feet of new tidal marsh as mitigation.
Local companies win state work
St. Mary’s Roofing and Home Improvement LLC of Hollywood, a certified small business, won a $756,894.80 State Highway Administration contract to restore salt storage facilities in Baltimore and Harford counties. It was the only responsive bid, and the agency found the price fair and reasonable. The Hollywood company also bid on similar work in Western Maryland but lost to a lower bidder.
G.R. Patel & Associates of Indian Head, a certified minority and small business, had its State Highway Administration contract for IT business analysts extended through April 2028, adding $1,786,752 while the agency completes a new procurement.
The board meets next on Wednesday, Oct. 28.
