With the hustle and bustle of the holidays, most of us haven’t had Public Hearings and Government meetings on our mind! Because of this, the County Council’s Public Hearing on the proposed Capital Improvement Program nearly slipped past us. It will be held on January 6th 6pm at the Government Office Building. Connelly Mill Park is still listed as a project slated for 2031 although funding has been reduced by $50,000 from the previous year. While we know the County Council has been consistently in support of Connelly Mill Park, it is important to continue showing up. We appreciate the hard work already done by advocates for the park at the Executive’s CIP Public Hearing in November and we hope that some of you will join us tomorrow night despite the late notice! Room 301 (take the elevator to the third floor).
Tuesday, January 6, 2026Connelly Mill Park, I would support moving forward with that before 2030 as a low impact park like it was originally designed and promised. There's been a proposal for dredge spoils to be put in the Connelly Mill Park. I would be against that. We don't know what's in those dredge spoils and just not a good idea. There's got to be another way.
Council Vice President Jeff Merritt
I'm here to speak in support of continued funding for an item thats recently been added back to the CIP; Connelly Mill Park
I want to talk briefly about the history of Connelly Mill Park;
In 2017 to 2019 the Executive branch (Weston Young and company) was looking to acquire the 234 acre site known as Connelly Mill sand pits. After much back and forth with the Council, citizens, community groups, and the land owners, the transaction was finalized and it’s now County property.
Connelly Mill Park was included in every Capital Improvement Program thereafter, and even escalated to the Tri-County Council Economic Development Strategy under Goal 4 - "Vibrant Communities".
The intent of the land was to use it for harvesting soil for landfill cover, and to convert the property into a low impact public park with Parks and Rec. The county continues to save millions of dollars by sourcing its own landfill cover after accepting this land donation. This is all understood by the citizens and local government; with the expected outcome to be a public park.
In 2023, the Executive branch decided to contract the property off for 364-days, to a private event promoter for an event named “Safari at the Quarry”. This was a private, exclusive, special interest group event hosted on County (tax-payer) property; with no public input or engagement.
The Executive branch then removed Connelly Mill Park from the CIP, and then it escalated to the removal from the Tri-County Council. All without public input; this was huge blow to public trust.
Tuesday, January 6, 2026Since then; following the closure of Safari at the Quarry through the hard work of so many; Connelly Mill Park has been brought back to the Capital Improvement Program. Please continue funding this project; it has so much potential and will enhance the quality of life and stability of Wicomico County
County Resident James Dahlen