Woodsboro aims for January
 town hall groundbreaking

(10/15) At their October 12th meeting, Burgess Barnes told the Town Council that the town staff had received the official town hall design from the architect.

The plans have been sent over to the engineering firm for review and once all modifications are made, a request for bids will be issued for solicited builders to build the hall. Actual construction will not begin until all the necessary building permits have been obtained by the Town.

It is hoped that work on the foundation of the new city hall can to be finished by January 1st. If not completed by that date, the council was told that groundbreaking may have to wait until the spring due to the difficulty of properly pouring concrete in the winter.

Commissioner Eckenrode noted, "the lot the office is going to be built upon is a very narrow lot, so it’s going to be an interesting project."

Barnes told the town council that he sent a request to State Senator Hough for a request for a $400,000 grant to help fund the construction of the new city hall. The request was passed onto the David Brinkley, the Maryland Budget Secretary, along with three other Frederick County related grant requests. Barnes said the town should could start work on the project by drawing on an existing loan and simply replay with the grant money if the grant is approved.

However, David Brinkley, Maryland's Budget Secretary disagrees. He said that no application for a grant to fund the building of the proposed City Hall has been submitted, and even when it is submitted, it must go through the rigorous project review process. "It’s up to the Governor to approve all grants."

"The process must be followed and there is no guarantee that any project will be approved in the end," said Brinkley. He added that, "while the state currently has excess funds, that is all subject to changes in the economy, and funds we have now could be gone in a flash."

"If Woodsboro hopes to get grant funding, they need to submit the grant application by June 1st of 2022 to make it into the 2023 fiscal year budget. " Brinkley added. "If the grant, or some portion of the grant is approved, no money will be seen until at least late next year at the earliest."

The town council was informed that the initial design for the new hall had been modified. Plans originally called for a full basement to store records, however this idea has been nixed due to raised concerns of the viability of storing records in a basement long-term. The Town has instead opted for a ‘half attic’ that is estimated to have a more suitable environment for record storage. The Town will also move forward with plans for an additional meeting room for town government officials and staff.

The Town of Woodsboro has never had an official town hall to gather and conduct town business in. Commissioner Cutshall noted that the council had previously met at a barbershop for several years in place of a formal meeting room. Town meetings are currently conducted in the back meeting room of St. Johns Church.