She announced some initiatives during her State of the County Address on Monday.
Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater delivering the State of The County Address.
Emmitsburg, Md (KM) The state of Frederick County is strong, according to County Executive Jessica Fitzwater who delivered the State of the County Address Monday night.
One of the topics she addressed was affordable housing, and the use of some county land for that purposed. “I’m excited to announce that we are moving forward with the development of a seven-acre site adjacent to the Prospect Center on Himes Avenue,” she said to applause from the audience. “This will bring nearly 150 affordable and deeply affordable homes to our community strategically located next to a future hub for the county’s health, aging and family services, and directly accessible to our fare-free TransIT System.”
The County Executive also talked about data centers in her remarks. There are data centers under construction at the former Eastalcoa site in Adamstown. “We have approached this the Frederick County Way with an inclusive workgroup which made recommendations to policy makers to consider,” Fitzwater said. “In partnership with the Council, we have adopted many of those recommendations. . In doing so, we have made data centers the most regulated industry in Frederick County.”
Fitzwater said Frederick County will not have an overabundance of data centers as is the case in Northern Virginia. She said these facilities will be located at prosperities that have the infrastructure in place and they’re limited to only one percent of the county’s landmass.
Data centers have raised concerns in Adamstown among residents who are worried about the impact on their well water. “In response, the Health Department will offer these residents and their immediate neighbors a free-of-charge sanitary survey of their wells,” Fitzwater said to applause from those in attendance. “The survey will evaluate water quality and the data gathered will be used to guide future decisions.”
Fitzwater said the County will also hold listening sessions in Adamstown and Frederick after the Council finishes its work on the overlay. She says the purpose is to gather ideas on what community residents want to see when comes to data center development at the Eastalcoa site.
But the County Executive said data centers can bring in tax revenue to state and local governments. She said Frederick County is seeing some of that’ “Private companies are investing billions of dollars here which is creating good-paying jobs and generating new tax revenue,” Fitzwater said. “Thanks in large part to real estate taxes at the old Eastalcoa site, we have a small fund balance in last year’s budget. This will allows us to make targeted, one-time investments which will roll out in the coming months.”
As she was ending her remarks, County Executive Fitzwater said she wanted Frederick County Government to be an employer of choice. In order to keep employees on staff, she said the County has reduced the vesting time for workers to be part of the county’s pension plan, and has expanded health care coverage. “And we are raising our minimum wage to $21 an hour for all full time employees., a critical step in recognizing that every county employee is valued,” she said. “We’re doing everything we can to show our workforce we are committed to them because we know that they are committed to honorable calling of public service.”
County Executive Fitzwater delivered her remarks in Emmitsburg. Her speech was broadcast over the County’s Government Channel, and streamed over its website.
By Kevin McManus