Frederick County Executive Delivers State Of The County Address

She described the state of the county as ‘strong.’Frederick County Executive Jessica FitzwaterFrederick, Md (KM) “I am Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater, and I am proud to report that the state of the county is strong.” That’s how the County Executive opened her State of the County Address on Wednesday night. She spoke to a crowd at the Middletown Public Library.In her comments, Fitzwater said Frederick County is the fastest growing county in the state which creates many opportunities. “People want to live and invest here. Young families want to raise their kids, and older residents want to enjoy their golden years here,”: she said.Fitzwater said Frederick County Public Schools are “one of our greatest strengths” but it faces challenges. They include meeting the requirements of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, and dealing with increased enrollment. She says she increased the county’s; investment in its public school system. “In my first budget, we exceeded the state’s requirement maintenance of effort by over $49 million. And in the second budget, we exceeded it by nearly $11 million.  Altogether, we are investing almost $72 million more in our public schools today then when I took office.”But she said more needs to be done in upgrading the career and technical education program for students who graduate from high school and  want to be  “career ready.” “The educators who lead this work do the best they can with the resources they have. But we all know that our Career and Technology Center simply cannot meet our students’ growing needs. That’s why I’m so excited to announce tonight a renewed commitment to our career and technical education program.”She says a steering committee was organized earlier this month to develop a career and technical education strategic master plan. The group consists of representatives from the School System, Frederick Community College, Workforce Services, and the Chamber of Commerce. It will examine the current facilities and offerings for students in the career and technical education program, and make recommendations to build “a world class” career and technical education program in Frederick County, Fitzwater says.During her State of the County Address, Fitzwater talked about the Office of Agriculture developed under her administration, and the work it’s doing to develop an agricultural strategic master plan.; She also said she wants to increase the amount of land set aside for agricultural preservation. “We have protected nearly 80,000 acres or 80 percent of our 100,000-acre goal of preserving agricultural land,” she said. “Tonight, I am announcing a new goal of 160,000 acres of land preserved by 2051, nearly doubling our preserved agricultural land in the next 25 years, and I know we can do it.”In the area of transportation, County Executive Fitzwater announced plans to invest in a transit hub along the Golden Mile. “This transit hub will improve rider safety, enhance service at our busiest stop, and ensure equitable access to our TransIT system for riders on the western end of the city of Frederick,” she said. “This new facility will include covered waiting areas, upgraded lighting and real time bus arrival information screens.”The County Executive also talked about the economy, particularly data centers. She said these data centers can create jobs and bring in tax revenue. “But unchecked development by any single industry sector is bad business for our community,” Fitzwater said. “So we have positioned Frederick County to be national model by regulating the industry before it is deeply rooted here which will help maximize the benefits to our community while protecting our quality of life.”A data center  is being constructed in Frederick County at the former Eastalco site in Adamstown.As part of her speech, Fitzwater praised the county’s efforts to help people in crisis. “Our 24/7 Crisis Stabilization Center opened a year ago in partnership with the Mental Health Association. Since that time, we have seen a promising drop in the number of opioid-related overdoses.. Frederick County is on track for fewer than two dozen fatal overdoses this year compared to 60 in 2020,” says Fitzwater.She also noted that the county is also experiencing a drop in non-fatal overdoses.By Kevin McManus