St. Mary’s County government was impacted by heavy snows and structural damages this week, as evidenced by the delay in the BOCC’s meeting Tuesday, Feb. 9. Commissioner President Jack Russell said the county was in the midst of “snow mania”, as he and the board approved budget amendments costing more than $300,000 for response to the weekend snowfall and the approaching storm. 

The board received an update from the departments dealing directly with response to the storm. Public Works and Transportation Director George Erichsen said the sleet mixture caused heavy snow that was hard to push and low-visibility caused a halt in operations at one point. He asked that citizens be patient and stated, “we worked our guys as much as we could work them.”
 
The SMC Sheriff’s Office thanked citizens for staying off the hazardous roadways and Commissioner Mattingly commended the efforts of volunteer fire and rescue crews and SMECO’s timely response to power outages.
 
The board attended to non-snow related county business like the Memorandum of Understanding between the County, Commissioners of Leonardtown, CSM and St. Mary’s Hospital for a traffic planning study for the MD 245/ Rt. 5 Corridor. All four stakeholders in the expanding area agreed to share the cost, as Town Administrator Laschelle McKay explained, “The idea is for everybody to be at the table.”
 
The BOCC approved the closing out of a block grant that helped rehabilitate Great Mills Court, providing 44 units of critical low-income housing in Lexington Park and a small budget amendment that new Human Services Director Cynthia Brown says will help provide transportation for the homeless to WARM Nights shelters.
 
Department of Aging leaders got direction from the board on theprivatization of the Vivian Ripple Adult Day Program and grant submissions for the active senior volunteer community (RSVP) that provides a wealth of services for the aging population.
 
The County Government closed for non-essential employees the remainder of the week and has experienced structural damage to thePatuxent and Loffler Buildings. The board meets again Feb. 23, with a full agenda to include a joint meeting with MetCom. More attention to the costs of coping with snow removal is anticipated.