The vote was five-to-one.
Councilman State McKay
Frederick, Md (KM) The Frederick County Council on Tuesday night voted down an ordinance allowing the county to put a temporary moratorium on residential construction in areas where schools are overcrowded. The measure was sponsored by Councilman Steve McKay who said the halt in construction would give the county and the school system some time to come up with a solution. He said the county is facing “a perfect storm” when it comes to school construction requirements which could overwhelm the budget.
“As part of our initial workshop, I provided a financial analysis that shows that we need an additional $400 million in school construction funds above and beyond the current CIP {Capital Improvements Program} to meet these needs over the next ten years. And we don’t have a solution for this shortfall,” he said.
Councilwoman Renee Knapp said the county is doing something about meeting future school construction needs. “A majority of this Council has voted for $21 million additionally per year to address our aging infrastructure of our schools. This summer, the County Executive announced three initiatives to address school capacity issues in the east side of the county, and there’s the formation of the Frederick County School Construction Master Plan Workgroup,” she said.
Councilmember Mason Carter said he was concerned this moratorium bill could have an impact on business growth in the county. “I’m very concerned about what this would do to our ability to develop economically,” he said. “By limiting both access to labor and consumers,. we hinder our ability to incentivize businesses to locate to Frederick County, but also to grow in Frederick County.”
A similar argument was made by Councilwoman MC Keegan-Ayer, who is a veteran in the fight for increasing school capacity. She said a moratorium, would have a negative impact on contractors and sub-contractors. “It will impact electricians, carpenters, plumbers. dry wall finishers, painters, landscapers, roofers. You get the idea,” she said.
Council Vice President Kavonte Duckett also spoke against. it. “Implementing a moratorium does not solve the root problem it seeks to address,” he said. “Instead., it simply delays necessary progress. While overcrowded schools are a real issue, the moratorium simply kicks the can down the road. It will do nothing to speed up the construction of needed schools or ease overcrowding.
Duckett said the solution is collaborating with developers to make sure that any new housing projects contribute to the County’s infrastructure improvements.
The vote was 5-1 with Councilmembers Brad Young, Duckett, Knapp, Carter and Keegan-Ayer voting in opposition. Councilman Jerry Donald was absent.
By Kevin McManus