This episode of Open Agenda features a critical discussion with our very own park advocate Mikele Dahlen. Details include the ongoing fight to protect the park's original vision from a new county proposal to use the site as a dredge spoil dump.

The Original Vision for Connelly Mill Park

Mikele Dahlen explains that her family moved to the area specifically because of the promised park, a vision that began in the 2010s under County Executive Bob Culver. The land, which had been used to excavate soil for the bypass, was donated to the county. The original plan was hailed as a "testament to good governance", created with input from all stakeholders, including environmental groups and local neighborhoods.

The 234-acre property is an ecological gem, boasting unique 40-foot elevations, forests, and non-tidal wetlands. Crucially, it contains three creeks that form the headwaters of the Wicomico River and sits directly on top of the Paleochannel, the region's primary source of drinking water.

A Breach of Trust and a New Threat

The community's advocacy began when citizens discovered the park had been quietly removed from the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) in 2023 with no public notice. The first threat came from the "Safari at the Quarry" proposal, which County Executive Giordano pushed forward without due process. After a significant public outcry, including our petition with over 1,260 signatures, the community successfully blocked future events and got the park restored to the CIP the following year.

Now, a new and more dangerous threat has emerged: a plan from the County Executive's team to use Connelly Mill Park as a disposal site for dredge spoils from the Wicomico River. This proposal would also involve moving an estimated 1.7 million cubic yards of "forest slash" (trees and logs) from the landfill and dumping it into the park's magnificent lake.

While the Administration claims that this plan will provide positive environmental benefits through carbon sequestration and wetland mitigation, many environmentalists believe this is simply a case of "greenwashing"- much more carbon will be created than sequestered and delicate, valuable, environmentally sensitive existing habitat will be put at risk.

Why the Dredge Spoil Plan is Wrong for Wicomico

We outlined several devastating reasons why this plan is a danger to the entire county:

• Grave Risk to Drinking Water: Trish Melvin warns that the dredge sediment from the river's industrialized upper reaches likely contains contaminants like PCBs or other heavy metals such as nickel and cadmium. Dumping this material over the Paleochannel — the region's main water source — is an unacceptable risk. Over time, toxic material will reach the water supply aquifer.
• Extreme Cost & Inefficiency: Mike Goldberg estimates the plan would require potentially tens of thousands of truckloads for dredge transportation, and cost taxpayers millions, not including the possible tens of thousands of additional truckloads for the forest slash.
• Environmental Hypocrisy: The plan is justified as "beneficial use," but it's the least beneficial option imaginable. The trucks alone would release an estimated several thousand tons of carbon, all while ignoring truly beneficial uses for dredge spoil, like restoring eroding islands.
• Violation of a Promise: The proposal directly violates the original promise made to the citizens and the land donor, a promise laid out in Resolution No. 146-2018 when the land was acquired. It would destroy the park's centerpiece — the beautiful lake that was intentionally created by the excavation to be a public water feature.
• A "Punitive" Action: Mike Goldberg suggests the plan is entirely retaliatory, a "punitive action" against the citizens and neighborhoods that successfully organized to defeat the executive's "Safari at the Quarry" event.

This is not just a local park issue; it's a county-wide concern. It's about protecting the public's health, responsibly using taxpayer money, and holding the government accountable to its promises. The goal remains simple: to honor the original, well-planned vision for a "Wicomico Central Park".