LEONARDTOWN — Drivers and walkers in downtown Leonardtown should start seeing a backlog of small public works jobs turn into pavement, wiring and signs, beginning with a flashing-light crosswalk on Washington Street and continuing through a new parking lot at the Wharf that has to be finished by spring.
Town Administrator Laschelle McKay ran through the list for the mayor and Town Council on Nov. 9, saying staff had sat down the week before to review the status of every major project. With the new water tower and the wastewater treatment plant expansion finished, she said, the town is turning to roads, parking and utility lines it had put off.
She also put the council on notice about cost. McKay said she may bring budget amendments forward to pay for some of the work, and that the town treasurer had asked her not to spend from the town’s enlarged reserve until those projects are priced.
Closest to construction
Two traffic-calming jobs are furthest along. McKay said the town has all the equipment for a crosswalk with flashing lights in front of the Olde Town Pub on Washington Street and hoped to see it installed the week of the meeting. A speed table is also due to be installed by a contractor on about the same schedule.
The Wharf parking lot carries the firmest deadline. The design is finished and was done in-house, McKay said, and the town has contractor cost estimates in hand. The project is partly paid for by a grant and must be completed by spring. She said the town budgeted money of its own as well, and whether it is enough remains to be seen.
The lot would add parking at a waterfront that keeps drawing more activity. The council recently awarded the Wharf’s ice cream concession to new local operators.
The rest of the list
- Duke Street. The street is being donated to the town, and McKay said it needs a “pretty expensive” repair before the Tudor Hall development is built out.
- Washington Street electric. The town wants to extend power past St. Aloysius, where service now stops, so it can hang holiday decorations and light a planned Main Street sign in the center island. McKay estimated the job at close to $10,000 and said part of it has been donated.
- Park Avenue and Washington Street. Improvements are planned at the corner.
- Cedar Lane water line. A developer is building the on-site utilities for six houses, but the town must build a short connection on its own property to keep its water system looped.
- Route 245 water line. An extension is planned and would be paid from the utility side of the budget.
- Sewer line inspection. The town plans a large camera survey of the sewer main running through Tudor Hall toward Route 5. When the McIntosh pump station was replaced, crews found badly deteriorated pipe under McIntosh Run and replaced it; the survey is meant to show what shape the rest is in.
- Storage building. A metal building at the water tower site, part of that project, would house the town’s trolley and trams and any large equipment from the treatment plant.
- Carousel. The town still needs a building for its carousel animals, which have to be moved.
Town to own its trolley
The council took one vote tied to the list. Members approved budget amendment BA2027-107, which moves $25,000 within the general fund’s community development budget from professional services to capital outlay so the town can buy a trolley outright.
The treasurer said the money was originally budgeted to hire a trolley service. The council approved the purchase on Oct. 26, and the amendment does not increase the budget. Mayor Dan Burris said a rented trolley is no longer available to the town, and owning one keeps a way to move visitors around town. No one voted against the amendment.
How the road work is paid for
McKay reminded the council that road projects and snow removal come out of the same pot, the town’s share of state highway user revenue. The town typically sets aside a snow budget, does some paving in the fall and then waits to see what winter costs.
Last winter upended that. The treasurer reported that snow removal ran about $100,000 over budget in the fiscal year that ended June 30, and the town deferred a road maintenance project of about the same size to make up for it. The snow budget was increased for the current year.
McKay did not give a combined cost for the project list. The same afternoon she asked the council to consider raising the fee builders pay when they cannot provide parking, with a resolution expected in December.
