Leonardtown, MD — Since he was elected county commissioner, Tom Jarboe [R -1st District] has made it his mission to make St Mary’s County more business friendly and promote the county’s economic development. That effort includes not only the defense industry, of which Jarboe (shown at left) is a part, but also the economy as a whole.
Members of the defense industry in St. Mary’s County often also do business in Huntsville, AL, home of NASA’s George C. Marshall Space Flight Center. In community meetings it is often held out that Alabama in general and Huntsville in particular are more business friendly and it is a place in which it is easier to get things done.
With that in mind, Jarboe led a contingent of business people in a visit to Huntsville to study how they do things. And he also convened a committee to review ways that St. Mary’s County could be more business friendly.
The first fruits of that labor occurred at the commissioners’ March 8 meeting at which two initiatives were formally adopted to help business — one was fairly simple but the other more complex.
St. Mary’s County Administrator Dr. Rebecca Bridgett, in a memo to the commissioners, explained, “Historically, delivery of sureity bonds prior to recordation of a subdivision plat has been required for the related purposes of consumer protection and avoidance of petitions by remote purchasers of lots that the County undertake improvement of substandard roads.”
Under the change unanimously approved by the commissioners “the performance bond (s) may be deferred, but must be in place prior to the sale of any lot(s), and prior to the issuance of any permits governed by the Ordinance.
The bonds can be expensive, tie up cash and cost interest payments prematurely, Jarboe argued. And County Attorney George Sparling said the lot- and/or home- buying public is still protected that infrastructure will be constructed.
The second proposal was intended to save developers time – time being money. The proposal from Jarboe’s committee reduced from ten days to five days the amount of time the public record was left open on a proposal before the commissioners could make a decision. Leaving he record open allows for written testimony to supplement testimony at public hearings.
Commissioner Todd Morgan [R – 4th District] did express concern about the reduction, saying he wanted to make sure the public had time to respond. After some discussion the commissioners compromised and reduced the comment time from ten days to seven days, instead of five.
The two changes then passed on a 4-0 vote. Commissioner John O’Connor [R – 3rd District] was not in attendance.
Contact Dick Myers at dick.myers@thebaynet.com