Cecil County Month in Review

Commissioners' and County Administrator's Office

The Department of Aging will officially be renamed Senior Services and Community Transit with the unveiling of the new sign by the County Commissioners on Tuesday, December 5 at 10:00 a.m. at 214 North Street.  

The County Commissioners' recognized Mr. Raymond A. Ryan, Jr. at their November 21, 2006 meeting at the Town of Perryville with a Certificate of Recognition for receiving the 2006 Public Fire Safety Educator of the Year Award.

Cecil County received three awards in November from the Local Government Insurance Trust at their annual meeting on November 13, 2006 for improvement is Risk Management practices, and the County Roads Division and Solid Waste Division received a Life Saver Award.

The new County web site was launched at the end of October. The new web site features a keyword search engine, calendars of meetings and events, listings of county services, and sections for news, public notices, and press releases.  The site will provide improved access to the latest county information by permitting county departments to update their respective portions of the website on a daily basis through a word processor type of interface.

Plans are moving forward to accommodate the growing needs of the Circuit Court in the County Courthouse.  A Request for Proposal for the renovations to the Circuit Court building was advertised in October to begin the work of analysis and design for the renovations.  County offices will move from the Courthouse in 2007 to the new county office building in the Upper Chesapeake Corporate Center on Route 40.

The County has hired Holly Craighead, contractual part time grant consultant, through the Resource Conservation and Development Association.  She will assist County Departments with finding grant funding for projects, grant writing and training.

 Public Works Department

The Development Services Division was recognized by the County Commissioners in October for their success in reducing the plans review backlog and achieving the 30-day turn-around time.  The Division continues to make changes to the plans review process to improve the thoroughness of the reviews thereby reducing the number of submittals required to obtain plan approval.

The Public Works Department Solid Waste Management Division personnel have worked 808 days without a lost work time accident involving a member of the staff.

On October 14, 2006, 132 Cecil County Residents took advantage of the Hazardous Waste Day Drop Off and resulted in the following pounds of hazardous materials dropped off:

Landfill totals for the month of October 2006:
a.   Total tons of refuse accepted:     12,814
b.   Number of transactions processed:     14,567
        Central Landfill    -            10,641
        Stemmers Run        -      1,615
        Woodlawn        -      2,311

c.   Recyclables shipped out (in tons):    
        1.  Single Stream Recycling: 48
        2.  Commingles: 58
        3.  Mixed Paper: 12

Effective date for conversion to Single Stream Recycling is December 1, 2006.

Capital Facilities

Meetings continued with numerous county, state, and resident stakeholders regarding water and wastewater resources to continue developing water and sewer allocation policy and a plan for the County to work within the Tributary Strategy and still discourage sprawl development.  

Work continues with developing a water resource west of the Town of Elkton.  Discussion continues with Artesian Water, the Town of Elkton, SHA, and private parties on the feasibility of a connection.  

The following reports have been posted on our web site:

• Arro Consultants report regarding feasibility review of the Principio Creek and Elk Mills Quarry Reservoir was presented to the Commissioners.
• GTA report on feasibility of acquiring groundwater resources in the existing Meadowview Utilities service area.