February 24 Board of Public Works Meeting: What Counties Need to Know

The Board of Public Works (BPW) considered and approved the following requests and recommendations in its February 24, 2021 meeting. This is not a comprehensive list of all considerations and approvals during the meeting.

  • Allegany
    • A request to enter into a grant agreement for a $500,000 grant to the Mayor and City Council of the City of Frostburg for the acquisition, planning, design, construction, repair, renovation, reconstruction, site improvement, and capital equipping of the City Hall relocation project.  There is no matching fund requirement for this grant (Item 1 of the Department of General Services’ Office of State Procurement Agenda)
    • A request from the Department of Natural Resources to commit $45,000 from the Program Open Space funding allocated to Allegany County to line-paint the walking track and basketball courts, add batting cages, and upgrade the baseball and softball fields at Allegany College of Maryland (Item 1A of the Department of Natural Resources’ Real Property Agenda)
  • Anne Arundel
    • A request from the Department of Housing and Community Development to approve the expenditure of $12,000,000 to fund 71 Baltimore Regional Neighborhood Initiative awards for Fiscal Year 2021.  The following projects are located in Anne Arundel County:
      • Greater Baybrook Alliance
        • Baybrook Community Spruce Up Grant $50,000
        • Brooklyn Park Property Rehabilitation Program $150,000
      • The Baltimore Regional Neighborhood Initiative demonstrates how strategic investment in local housing and businesses, through assistance to non-profit community partners in the Baltimore region, can lead to healthier and sustainable communities (Item 6 of the Secretary’s Agenda)
  • Baltimore City
    • A request from the Department of Housing and Community Development to approve the expenditure of $12,000,000 to fund 71 Baltimore Regional Neighborhood Initiative awards for Fiscal Year 2021.  The following projects are located in Baltimore City:
      • American Communities Trust
        • $750,000: Baltimore Pumphouse -Manufacturing Facility
        • $500,000: Baltimore Pumphouse – Retail
      • $30,000: Ashland Community Development Organization – Church Square Storefront Grant
      • $500,000: Baltimore Affordable Housing Development, Inc.: Transformation Project/Choice Neighborhoods- Demolition & Site Prep-Phase 2
      • $120,000: Banner Neighborhoods Community Corporation – Housing Upgrades to Benefit Seniors (HUBS in Banner Neighborhoods
      • $200,000: Cherry Hill Development Corporation – Blight Reduction and Homeownership Initiative (BRHI)
      • $300,000: Greater Baybrook Alliance
        • $250,000: City of Refuge Baltimore Social Transformation Campus
        • $50,000: Hon’s Honey New Retail Storefront
      • $400,000: Southeast Development Corporation
        • $50,000: C.A.R.E. Home Repair Program
        • $250,000: Creative Alliance Community Arts and Education Center Construction
        • $100,000: EBBD: Highlandtown
      • $100,000: Westport Community and Economic Development Corporation
        • $50,000: Harbor West Clean and Green Initiative
        • $50,000: Small Home Improvement Loan Program
      • $200,000: Black Women Build – Baltimore, Inc. – The Etting Street Project, Phase II
      • $400,000: Southwest Partnership
        • $100,000: Commercial Tenant Improvement Loan Program
        • $100,000: Malachi Mills
        • $200,000: West Baltimore Street Acquisitions
      • $100,000: Upton Planning Committee, Inc – Historic Pennsylvania Avenue Commercial Corridor
      • $380,000: Central Baltimore Partnership, Inc.
        • $60,000: East Baltimore Innovation Hub
        • $80,000: Homebuying Incentive Program
        • $75,000: Neil Muldrow Business Development Fund
        • $75,000: Senior and Legacy Home Improvement Program
        • $40,000: Waverly Main Street Brentwood Improvement Program
        • $50,000: CBP Community Spruce-Up Grant Program
      • $270,000 Govans Ecumenical Development Corporation
        • $120,000: Acquisition and Stabilization of Vacant Properties in Woodbourne – McCabe
        • $150,000: Rebuilding Together Baltimore – Critical Home Repair and Maintenance for Seniors (CHARMS)
      • $200,000: St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center, Inc. – Housing Upgrades to Benefit Seniors
      • $570,000 Comprehensive Housing Assistance, Inc.
        • $100,000: Social Settlement House
        • $250,000: Center for Hope
        • $120,000: CHAI/Sinai HUBS
        • $100,000: Pimlico Market Cafe
      • $350,000: Baltimore City Housing – North Avenue Zero-Energy Workforce Housing
      • $500,000: Baltimore Public Housing Corporation – Transform Lexington Market
      • $25,000: Comprehensive Housing Assistance, Inc. – East Wabash Metro LandScape Project Phase II
      • $250,000: Healthy Neighborhoods Inc. – Reservoir Hill Community Enhancement Project
      • $150,000: Market Center Community Development Corporation – Crooks Horner Lofts, 301-305 N. Howard Street
      • $250,000: Coppin Heights Community Development Corporation – Center for Health Care and Healthy Living
      • $100,000: Druid Heights Community Development Corporation
        • $50,000 Green and Streetscape Program
        • $50,000 Hardware Plus project
      • $250,000: Market Center Community Development Corporation – H&H Artists Collaborative Stabilization and Expansion in Bromo Tower A&E District
      • $775,000: Neighborhood Housing Services of Baltimore, Inc.
        • $350,000: 2700 W. North Avenue Acquisition and Stabilization
        • $75,000: Greater Rosemont Mondawmin Senior Home Repair
        • $100,000: The Urban Oasis – The Oasis Project
        • $250,000: Wallbrook Mill Food Hall
      • $345,000: Southwest Partnership
        • $100,000: Commercial Tenant Improvement Loan Program
        • $100,000: Defensible Spaces
        • $90,000: Façade Improvement
        • $55,000: Neighborhood Small Grants
      • $75,000 Upton Planning Committee, Inc. – Alley Gating 2400 Block Stockton
      • The Baltimore Regional Neighborhood Initiative demonstrates how strategic investment in local housing and businesses, through assistance to non-profit community partners in the Baltimore region, can lead to healthier and sustainable communities (Item 6 of the Secretary’s Agenda)
  • Baltimore County
    • A request from the Department of Housing and Community Development to approve the expenditure of $12,000,000 to fund 71 Baltimore Regional Neighborhood Initiative awards for Fiscal Year 2021.  The following projects are located in Baltimore County:
      • $100,000 to Diversified Housing Development, Inc. for its Down-Payment and Closing Cost Assistance Program
      • Dundalk Renaissance Corporation
        • $125,000: Community Assistance Network Expansion
        • $50,000: Home Purchase Incentive Grants
        • $300,000: Market Boost Program (2 grants)
        • $200,000: Turner Station Housing Fund
      • The Baltimore Regional Neighborhood Initiative demonstrates how strategic investment in local housing and businesses, through assistance to non-profit community partners in the Baltimore region, can lead to healthier and sustainable communities (Item 6 of the Secretary’s Agenda)
  • Caroline
    • A request from the Department of Natural Resources to commit $45,825 in Program Open Space funding allocated to Caroline County to acquire .78 acres of property adjacent to Hillsboro Community Park.  This addition and its future restoration to greenspace will improve neighborhood conditions and enhance public access and park development potential (Item 2A of the Department of Natural Resources’ Real Property Agenda)
  • Charles
    • A request to certify matching funds and enter into a grant agreement for a $200,000 grant to the Board of Directors of the Lifestyles of Maryland Foundation, Incorporated for the acquisition, planning, design, construction, repair, renovation, reconstruction, and capital equipping of the Lifestyles Family Center.  The Grantee has submitted documentation of sufficient eligible expenditures and in-kind donations to meet the matching fund requirement for this project (Item 27 of the Department of General Services’ Office of State Procurement Agenda)
  • Dorchester
    • A request from the Department of Natural Resources to grant $285,000 of Program Open Space statewide funds for the acquisition in fee simple of 109.91 acres (Dieter property) in Dorchester County. This forested and wetland property is located along Steele Neck Road and will be managed by the Maryland Wildlife and Heritage Service as an addition to LeCompte Wildlife Management Area.  Acquisition will provide a buffer for Forest Interior Dwelling Species Habitat and expand public recreational opportunities for hunting and birding.  Substantial road frontage on Steele Neck and Kraft Neck Roads will expand access and improve boundary line management (Item 6A of the Department of Natural Resources’ Real Property Agenda)
  • Frederick
    • A request from the Department of Natural Resources to commit $27,000 from the Program Open Space funding allocated to Frederick County to extend the existing Thurmont Trolley Trail southward by 932 feet.  This will connect the .77-mile trail with property the town recently acquired for park area (Item 3A of the Department of Natural Resources’ Real Property Agenda)
  • Harford
    • A request from the Maryland Environmental Trust to ratify the donation of a perpetual conservation easement on 26.795 acres in Bel Air (Loose Cow, LLC property on Cider Mill Lane Road) (Item 7A of the Department of Natural Resources’ Real Property Agenda)
  • Prince George’s
    • A request from the University of Maryland College Park to approve a ground lease term sheet from Terrapin Development Company, LLC (“TDC”) to Brandywine Operating Partnership, LP (“Brandywine”). On March 28, 2018, the Board approved the conveyance of ten parcels from the University of Maryland College Park to the TDC, with subsequent transfer by TDC to a third party requiring future BPW approval.  BPW is voting on two of those parcels, which total five acres, located at 7777 Baltimore Avenue, College Park.  TDC and Brandywine have agreed to develop the property into “a vibrant place that evokes a cinematic sense of discovery and community”, emphasizing open space, lower building heights, user experience, and connectivity to the University (Item 2 of the University System of Maryland’s Agenda)
    • A request from the Department of Natural Resources to commit $1,625,670 in Program Open Space funding to acquire 5.8 acres for a new park in College Park (Item 4A.1 of the Department of Natural Resources’ Real Property Agenda)
    • A request from the Department of Natural Resources to commit $37,656 from the Program Open Space funding allocated to Prince George’s County to purchase new equipment at the Court Research Road Playground in the City of Greenbelt (Item 4A.2 of the Department of Natural Resources’ Real Property Agenda)
    • A request from the Department of General Services (DGS) to certify matching funds and enter into grant agreements for grants totaling $125,000 to the Board of Revitalization Community Development Corporation, Inc. for the acquisition, planning, design, construction, repair, renovation, reconstruction, site improvement, and capital equipping of the Sarvis Empowerment Cafe.  The space will be used as a culinary training space and café and although some improvements will be made to the building infrastructure (e.g. HVAC upgrades, new flooring, new ceiling, etc.), much of the grant will be used for non-permanent fixtures and equipment (i.e. refrigerators, tables, chairs, point-of-sale system, associated computer equipment).  As such,  DGS has requested a waiver be granted to exclude the property owner as a beneficiary to the grant.  The Grantee has submitted documentation of sufficient funds to meet the matching fund requirement for this project (Item 3 of the Department of General Services’ Office of State Procurement Agenda)
    • request to certify matching funds and enter into a grant agreement for a $125,000 grant to the Mayor and Town Council of the Town of North Brentwood for the acquisition, planning, design, construction, repair, renovation, reconstruction. and capital equipping of the Sis’s Tavern building.  The Grantee is using the value of the property to meet the matching fund requirement for this project.  The Department of General Services, Real Estate Office has reviewed the appraisal for 4516 41st Avenue, North Brentwood and approved a value ($375,000) sufficient to meet the matching fund requirement for this project (Item 4 of the Department of General Services’ Office of State Procurement Agenda)
  • Washington
    • A request from the Department of Natural Resources to commit $106,947 from the Program Open Space funding allocated to Washington County to construct a driveway extension at Veteran’s Park in Smithsburg to improve vehicle access (Item 5A of the Department of Natural Resources’ Real Property Agenda)

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See previous Conduit Street coverage: January 10 Board of Public Works Meeting: What Counties Need to Know

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