Town Hall Alliance

Rich Johnson, candidate for St. Mary's County Commissioner

In an effort to familiarize county residents with various functions of local government, myself and my fellow Town Hall Alliance candidates will present brief overviews of the county departments.   Since  one of our stated platform goals is to reorganized county departments and eliminate some of the top heavy positions into coherent and efficient working groups, we shall start first with explaining the present organizations.

St. Mary's County Department of Public Works Brief

The Department of Public Works & Transportation, also known as “DPW&T”, is a part of Saint Mary’s Government that serves the county.  It is headed by Director George A. Erichsen who over sees 170 Public Servants and a budget of $18,141,137.00 for FY10.  This FY10 Budget increased from FY09 by $533,517.00 or 3.03% more then previous year.  The DPW&T FY10 Budget is 9% of the over all County Budget ($200,391,552).  DPW&T is broken into 9 Divisions and consist of:

1. Administration

2. Building Services (Energy Management etc)

3. Transportation Division (Vehicle Maintenance, STS Transit, Non-Public School Bus Transportation, Mail Room)

4. Engineering (Capital Projects)

5. Development & Plan Review

6. Construction & Inspections

7. Highway Maintenance (i.e. County Highways)

8. Airport Operations

9. Solid Waste & Recycling (This is technically two Divisions)

-Administration: Consists of the Director George A. Erichsen, Deputy Director John Groeger, P.E., and Staff.

-Building Services: This Division was established on December 9, 2003, and maintains county facilities and operating systems, provides building security, custodial services, programmatic and emergency renovations and repairs.  This division makes sure all County buildings are being constructed/maintained according to the current technologies at an economic cost.  Building Services maintains all of the County owned and/or leased facilities which include: 29 major buildings; 52 minor buildings; and 9 incidental facilities with an approximate overall 756,000 square feet of facilities.

-Transportation Division: This Division was established in Public Works on April 20, 2000 and maintains the County's vehicle fleet, operation of the STS Transit System, purchase/ maintenance/ replacement of all vehicles and heavy construction equipment, non-public school bus transportation and school bus driver training, grant administration, central mailroom and messenger services, and administration of the Bus Driver Drug & Alcohol Testing Program.

-Engineering:

This Division is responsible for the design and project management of capital improvement projects.  This Division is also responsible for planning future transportation systems, storm water management inspections, county GIS mapping, roadway and bridge design, marine facilities, land acquisition, grant administration budget estimating and post construction audits.  They also provide technical support to the St. Mary's County Regional Airport, Department of Facilities Management, Recreation and Parks, and a variety of boards, commissions, committees and task forces.

-Development & Plan Review:

This Division assists the County's Planning Commission and Board of Appeals by providing technical assistance on a variety of issues.  Review and approval of designs and construction plans are also performed to assure compliance with the Road and Subdivision Ordinances; Storm water, Management, Grading, Erosion and Sedimentation Control Ordinance; Comprehensive Land Use Plan and Zoning Ordinance requirements.  In July 1995 the County entered into a plan review agreement to perform technical reviews for the Town of Leonardtown.

-Construction & Inspections:

This Division is responsible for assuring that all capital projects are being completed in accordance with project design and specifications.  Material testing, contract management, utilities coordination, guardrail replacement, maintenance paving, line striping, quantities measurements, invoice review and construction quality control are some of the functions this Division.  New subdivision roads, site development and storm water management facilities are inspected by this Division.

-Highway Maintenance:

This Division was established on July 1, 1984 where Saint Mary’s County assumed routine County road maintenance activities on all County roads.  Prior to this time, the State Highway Administration performed maintenance of the roadways.  This Division maintains County roads, bridges, traffic signs.  They also resolve drainage complaints, provide snow removal, ice control, road debris removal, maintenance paving, road grass cutting, pothole and pavement patching, tree trimming, shoulder maintenance, pipe replacement, and safety improvements on 1,374 County roadways that encompass approximately 1,194 lane miles.  To help improve efficiency to the Citizens of Saint Mary’s, this Division divides up the County into 4 Service Areas (North, South, Central and West).

-Airport Operations:

This Division is responsible for airport planning, grant administration, development of commuter air service, airport compliance and safety, lease management, NOTAMS, economic development and airspace protection of the St. Mary's County Regional Airport.  The airport property, that this Division manages, is approximately 224.5 acres with a 4,150 foot runway. Future extension of the runway is planned to extend to 5,350 feet.  Services provided at the airport include aircraft hangar leasing, grass and paved tie-down, rental, flight school instructions, charter service, 100 low lead and Jet A fueling, maintenance/repair services and Md. State Police MedEvac operations.

-Solid Waste & Recycling:

This Division, which is technically two Divisions, operates 6 residential Transfer Stations and the St. Andrews Landfill Facility which ceased land filling operations in July 2001.  Presently, all municipal solid waste accepted from County residents goes to the King George Landfill in King George, Virginia.  Saint Mary’s County is required under the Maryland Recycling Act to meet a State mandate of 15% recycling staring in 1992, and as of 2007, the County has seen 35% recycling.  The following items are accepted for recycling:

Transfer Stations:

Glass, plastic, aluminum, tin, steel, newspaper, magazines, mixed paper, cardboard, old clothing / textiles, rechargeable batteries, used oil, oil filters, antifreeze, used cooking oil, electronics, fluorescent light bulbs and seasonal phone book and Christmas tree recycling.

Saint Andrews Landfill: Scrap metal, used appliances, automotive batteries, gas cylinders, scrap tires, yard waste, brush, land clearing and construction debris rubble material and bulky loads.  This Division also operates seasonal household hazardous waste and empty pesticide container collections.

Also worth mentioning is that the Saint Andrews Landfill provides “Free” mulch that county residents can load in their trucks and trailers.  I have loaded this mulch and it is quite good.

The following is a Contact List of DPW&T Personnel

DIVISION
 CONTACT 
 PHONE  NO.
 E-MAIL
 
Director
 George Erichsen, P.E.
 (301) 863-8400 x3510   
 george.erichsen@co.saint-marys.md.us
 
Deputy Director 
 John Groeger, P.E.  
 (301) 863-8400 x3516
 john.groeger@co.saint-marys.md.us
 
Construction & Inspections
 Willie Buckler
 (301) 863-8400 x3531 
 willie.buckler@co.saint-marys.md.us
 
County Highways
 Robert Cooper 
 (301) 863-8400 x3540
 bobby.cooper@co.saint-marys.md.us 
 
Solid Waste & Recycling
 Richard Tarr
 (301) 863-8400 x3550
 richard.tarr@co.saint-marys.md.us
 
Transportation
 Jackie Fournier 
 (301) 866-6794
 Jacque.Fournier@co.saint-marys.md.us
 
Building Services
 William Russell
 (301) 475-4200 x1150
 william.russell@co.saint-marys.md.us
 
Non-Public School Buses
 Becky George
 (301) 866-5328
 becky.george@co.saint-marys.md.us
 
STS Transit  
 Mary Coontz
 (301) 866-6799
 MaryAnn.Coontz@co.saint-marys.md.us 
 
Engineering Services
 Gary Whipple, P.E.
 (301) 863-8400 x3565
 gary.whipple@co.saint-marys.md.us
 
Development Review
 Margie Boarman
 (301) 863-8400 x3514
 margie.boarman@co.saint-marys.md.us