I chair this committee. Alderman Huntley and Alderwoman Contee are the other members. The October 8 meeting covered the Resilience Authority ordinance, the ferry, and a run of good news on restoration and energy.
| • | Resilience Authority (O-21-26): favorable with both of my amendments. The committee recommended the Mayor's ordinance with my two amendments, one restoring the requirement that the City's three appointees to the Authority's board live in the City, and one giving the Council a confirmation vote on those appointees. The Office of Law reported that the County's attorneys raised no objection and that nothing in state law prevents either change. The Authority has brought in more than $50 million for City and County projects and will help decide which of the roughly dozen Annapolis Maritime Resilience Initiative projects in Eastport and Back Creek get funded and in what order. That is exactly the kind of board every ward should have a voice in. The final vote is Monday. |
| • | City ferry pilot: a Council decision is needed by the end of October. Deputy City Manager Jackie Guild reported that the request for information drew at least five qualified ferry operators, and that the two requests for proposals, one for the design and construction of a hybrid diesel-electric ferry and one for the landing sites, are ready to advertise. The landings would include Eastport at 5th Street (a requirement of the federal grant), Hawkins Cove, and Carr's Beach, with Friday through Sunday service first. The Council already committed to the pilot in the adopted budget and capital program; what remains is final action to appropriate the grant funds and authorize the City Manager to proceed, and staff told the committee that decision needs to be made now. I am working to get it before the Council this month. To the parking question I keep hearing from Eastport: in Baltimore's 2025 rider survey of its harbor ferry, about six in ten riders walked, biked, or scootered to the dock. I want a bike hub at the Eastport landing and at every landing. |
| • | Four restoration projects within a year. The St. Mary's living shoreline on Spa Creek, the City's second largest, is targeted to be complete and planted by October 19. The Providence Point stream restoration on a Crab Creek tributary is targeted for October 31. The Hawkins Cove living shoreline and trail connection to Truxtun Park is slated for spring 2027, pending the Army Corps permit, and the Carr's and Elktonia Beach shoreline for March through mid-June 2027, pending approvals. St. Mary's took about seven years to permit. That is too long, and I have asked the committee to identify where the City's own review of restoration projects can be streamlined. |
| • | Energy savings at no cost to the City. LED retrofits across City buildings, garages, ball fields, and street lights, funded mostly through BGE and Maryland Energy Administration programs, are already saving an estimated $172,000 a year, with more to come as the work finishes, and avoided about $627,000 in capital costs. A no-cost community solar subscription is projected to save another $66,000 to $127,000 a year. I have asked that next year's utility budgets reflect both. |
| • | Planning Commission on October 15. Staff previewed a heavy docket: final conditions on the market and gas station at the former Annapolis Seafood site (more in my October 10th blog post), the preliminary plan for the Robinwood redevelopment on Tyler Avenue (236 units, up from roughly 150 today), and nine townhouses at 245 West Street. I asked staff to confirm whether the adequate public facilities review applies to the gas station project, which came in at about 9,950 square feet of developable area against a 10,000 square foot trigger, and to Robinwood. I also asked Planning and Zoning and the Planning Commission to alert the Council early whenever a proposal conflicts with the 2040 Comprehensive Plan, while rezoning is still an option. Leaf blower season is here, and I asked for a peak-season enforcement plan; if you hear a gas blower, report it with the day of the week the crew comes, which helps inspectors catch them. |
I chaired this meeting in Alderman Schandelmeier's absence, with Alderwoman Allsup-Johnson, joined by Alderman Huntley. The committee welcomed BAI Labs, a new applied-AI firm for environmental and civil engineering work that has opened at 209 West Street, and gave favorable recommendations on three items now on Monday's agenda: O-11-26 (long-term room rentals) with the sponsor's simplifying amendment, O-25-26 (food trucks at Historic District special events), and R-34-26 (the Main Street Advisory Task Force) with Alderman Huntley's amendment and one the committee asked for. On R-34-26, I asked that the task force include someone focused on pedestrian and micromobility access; anyone who has tried to walk Main Street during Midnight Madness knows the sidewalks run out of room. Alderwoman Allsup-Johnson asked for a seat focused on youth engagement. The Office of Law is drafting that amendment. Economic Development Chief Adam Strott also previewed a Council trip to Cumberland on November 13 to see its rebuilt curbless main street. I would like to see something like it on Main Street.
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