My name is James Dahlen from Wicomico County. On January 18th, two days ago, the Baltimore Sun published an and article titled "Connelly Mill Property Fuels Fight between Wicomico residents and county leaders."

while I appreciate the coverage, several statements made by County Executive Julie Giordano require correction based on public records, meeting minutes, and official resolutions.

Point one: is "Connelly Mill literally a work site" as quoted from Giordano, she says "it's not a park right now. It's literally a work site. We are digging dirt for our landfill. That's what it is."

The facts: This statement implies the entire 235 acre property is an active mine. According to Resolution No. 146-2018 and the December 27th, 2018 legislative session minutes, the exemption for the mining is strictly limited to 55.75 acres. The then director Weston Young stated, "The exception are shall not exceed 55.75 acres. Approximately 37 acres of the area are ponds, leaving only 18 acres for active equipment movement." So the remaining 180 acres are not a work site. They're not being mined. They're not and they're available for recreational purposes uh potentially as originally intended. Also on June 1st, 2021 in a work session, Deputy Mark Whitelock confirmed the usable mining space is capped at about 50 acres due to wetlands and environmental impact areas.

Point two: was the park concept tabled before the current administration? (Julie Gordono's administration)

Giordano claims the park concept was tabled before she took office.

The facts, the public record shows that the park concept was active well into the current administration's term.

The Connelly Mill Park was included in the Capital Improvement Program submitted by County Executive Giordano herself on December 17, 2022 after she took office.

The timeline of the abandonment: the park concept was only removed from the CIP in late 2023, coinciding with the signing of the Safari at the Quarry MOU September 2nd, 2023.

Resolution 146-2018 explicitly states the county desires to own the property to use for recreational purposes.

Point three: Giordano states that the claims of secrecy regarding Safari the quarry lease are unfounded.

Internal communications out obtained by a PIA request reveal an intentional effort to bypass the county council in public approval process.

In an email to the event organizer, Executive Giordano wrote, "could we make a minor change to the MOU stating it will only be 12 months? It will have to go in front of the council, which we don't want to do."

In December 5th, 2023, at a work session here, when asked if the 364 day term was chosen to avoid council oversight, the executive admitted "that was one of the reasons. Yeah."

Point four: I guess my time's up, but there's a point four about the the dredge and she [Giordano] says that you can use dredge for ball fields and other developments. But you know the contamination risks for the paleochannel is is quite a bit of a different comparison to ball fields I think.

thank you.

County Resident James Dahlen