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Wicomico County · County Council · 2026-07-07
Recap With Transcript
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The Wicomico County Council spent a short legislative session on routine approvals — a revised fire-officer job description, a new deputy director in planning and zoning, and a five-year contract to keep a national girls softball tournament in the county — and then introduced three bills that drew most of the night's heat. Legislative Bill 2026-05, which would formally recognize the Wicomico County Fire Chiefs Association and give it a role in discussions over countywide fire service agreements, brought Salisbury Fire Chief Rob Frampton to the podium to ask council to strip the part that lets the association weigh in on the county's appropriation to the city fire department. Several residents backed him, and one asked why bills are being introduced without work sessions first.
After adjournment, council held a work session on campers and RVs used as housing. Planning director Tracy Taylor and the county health officer walked through a code that is, by their own account, close to unenforceable — a seven-day occupancy limit nobody can prove a violation of, two code enforcement officers for the whole county, and a six-to-eight-month court process to remove a single camper. No decision was made, but council asked for Somerset County's new RV rules and discussed whether to do a standalone text amendment now or fold it into next year's comprehensive rezoning.
Council opened with a moment of silence after the scheduled invocation was cancelled, then approved the consent agenda unanimously.
The public hearing on Resolution 118-2026 drew no speakers. The resolution amends the ARFF lieutenant position description so an applicant can satisfy the officer-experience requirement with two years at the rank of lieutenant or higher in a paid department, or a combination of volunteer and paid service. It passed unanimously.
The director of administration formally submitted the county's nominee for deputy director of planning, zoning and community development, and Tracy Taylor recommended him. She told council he was hired about three years ago as chief building inspector without his residential, commercial or energy certifications and earned all three within 14 months, and that he now oversees nuisance and code enforcement, fire safety, building, plumbing inspections and the front desk. Resolution 119-2026 passed unanimously.
Recreation, parks and tourism director Steve Miller presented Resolution 120-2026, a five-year agreement for the USSSA national girls softball tournament, which the county has hosted for 20 years. Miller said the event draws 300 to 400 teams from 14 states, including teams from Canada, and generates $15 million to $20 million a year in economic impact. Two things change: the agreement runs five years instead of year to year, carrying the county through year 25, and the shared budget arrangement "raises the floor" for the county and the ceiling for the organizer, so a rained-out year hurts the county less. It passed unanimously.
Council then introduced three bills without discussion. LB 2026-05 would amend Chapter 39 to recognize the Wicomico County Fire Chiefs Association as a countywide organization representing volunteer fire chiefs and provide for its participation in discussions and negotiations over countywide fire service agreements and policies. LB 2026-06 would amend Chapter 22 to set a procedure for disposing of surplus county property other than by public auction. LB 2026-07 authorizes general obligation bonds — stated as an amount not exceeding roughly $11.5 million — for public works, roads, recreation and parks, and airport projects, with matching bond anticipation note authority. Public hearings on all three were set for August 4 at 6 p.m.
Seven people spoke in public comment, most of them on the fire chiefs bill. Council comment ran long, with members listing unfinished county business and renewing a dispute over gift cards purchased with state grant money.
Salisbury Fire Chief Rob Frampton told council the city "values and appreciates" its relationships with the county's volunteer departments and supports their ability to make recommendations on volunteer fire service matters and their own budgets. What the city opposes, he said, is the provision letting the fire chiefs association make recommendations about the county's appropriation to Salisbury's budget. He framed it as governance, not qualifications: Salisbury runs the county's only municipal combination department, with an operating budget he put at more than $15 million inside a city budget of more than $60 million, and he said the department answers more than 17,500 calls a year, more than all the other county departments combined. The mayor builds that budget and the city council adopts it, he said, and those officials answer to Salisbury taxpayers. He asked council to remove the provision.
Three residents backed him. One said basic contract law means a non-party to a contract does not get a say. Another said the bill as written would create conflict between the city charter and the county code. A third went further, arguing no outside group — chiefs or volunteers — should have a codified seat in those negotiations, and said the bill belonged in the circular file. That speaker also asked whether any work session had been held on either new bill, noting council introduced them with no public explanation of their purpose.
Council President John T. Cannon said the fire chiefs bill would be re-reviewed and that there would be further opportunities for public comment before any vote.
A resident handed out materials and gave council a detailed case against data centers on the Eastern Shore. He said the facilities can occupy hundreds of thousands of square feet while employing only 30 to 50 full-time people, and that four Maryland counties have already banned them or imposed moratoriums. On power, he said Maryland has retired 6,000 megawatts of generation since 2018 while adding only 1,600, and that a large data center can consume as much electricity as 80,000 to 100,000 homes. On water, he said a large center can use 60 million to 110 million gallons a year and that the Paleo Channel aquifer, with an estimated 7 billion gallons of storage, would be drained in 3.8 years by one such facility if it did not recharge. He noted that Federalsburg announced a data center public hearing a day after a regional official told council the Shore was not ripe for them, urged people to attend that hearing, and suggested that if the county cannot ban data centers outright it should look at limits on water use, power, zoning and noise.
Councilman Joe Holloway said he had asked for a work session on the county internal auditor's review of the local management board's gift card spending and did not get one. He wants council to join him in sending a narrow-scope letter to the state Office of Legislative Audits, because the money involved is state money the county is charged with overseeing. He explained why he keeps raising it: about 18 years ago, council accepted an explanation for a spike in diesel fuel use at the landfill and did not follow up, and later learned that, by the figures given to him, more than $450,000 in fuel and other items had been stolen. Councilman Josh Hastings said the auditor's email listed amounts of roughly $12,000 for one grant and $24,000 for another spent on gift cards for meals, called that more than nominal, and suggested getting more detail on the two grants as a first step before approaching the state.
Cannon disagreed that a state inquiry was warranted. He said the local management board is a county department like any other, that the matter had been vetted with the internal auditor, and that he saw process and oversight questions rather than anyone profiting. He said the board's director had told council that many of the cards went into gift bags distributed to students in need through the school system, and that the board is not permitted to ask which children receive the bags — which, he said, is itself the accountability problem. Holloway interjected that Cannon serves on the local management board; Cannon acknowledged it and said his confidence is based on watching the board reject applicants whose credentials did not hold up. He declined to debate further during comments. Separately, Cannon said council would hold a work session with the county grants administrator on delays and concerns in the grant process.
In work session, Tracy Taylor said the zoning code says little about RVs beyond definitions, campground standards, and a parking provision that bars occupancy for more than seven days in any 90-day period — a limit she repeatedly called close to impossible to prove. Most enforcement happens through the nuisance ordinance, treating an untagged or expired-tag camper like an abandoned vehicle. Since 2022, she said, the county has removed 36 campers and RVs from 14 properties, a number that sounds small until you count the process: 30 days' notice, up to two months to get into court, then another 30 to 90 days the court may grant to abate — six to eight months to remove one camper. If the county tows, it pays the towing, must hold the unit 30 days, must notify the titled owner by certified mail within seven days, and may never recover the cost; liens on the property are only collected when it sells.
The health officer said state regulation caps camping vehicle occupancy at one location at 30 days and prohibits connecting campers to an on-site septic system or a potable well in Wicomico. Waste must go to an approved disposal system — in practice, one dump station in the county charging a $30 fee, or roughly 15 licensed septic haulers. Holloway pressed hard on that gap: a camper's tank holds 20 to 25 gallons, nobody is paying a hauler hundreds of dollars for that, and nobody in Salisbury or Fruitland or Delmar is carrying buckets to Nanticoke. He argued campers should have to prove where their waste goes, the way a homeowner must prove a working septic. The health officer said he has no regulatory authority to demand that absent a complaint or visible violation.
Taylor said the county's two code enforcement officers work complaint-only; an officer driving past a camper on the way to another call does not stop. Dividing the county into four quadrants with a dedicated officer each would double her enforcement staff. She also asked council to consider consequences: people are living in RVs because it is what they can afford, mobile home parks are among the last affordable housing in the county, and aggressive abatement could put people on the street. Hastings and Councilwoman Shanie Shields both said they knew of occupied campers near their homes; Shields described one dropped on a vacant lot across from three well-kept houses and a neighbor turning 101 in August. Jeff Merritt questioned whether the enforcement cost was worth recovering a small fine.
Two hunt clubs came up specifically. Taylor said the Lucky Seven Hunt Club at Tyaskin and Nanticoke roads got a board of appeals special exception in the early 1970s for up to 20 campers, and the Del-Mar club at Powellville and Willards was approved in the 1990s; both are legal nonconforming uses with no recent complaints. A new hunting camp today would require a special exception in A-1 only, which Taylor noted would let the board of appeals attach conditions on sewage, tagging and timing. Council asked whether existing camps could be sunset into compliance; Taylor said that would take separate legislation, similar to what the county did with kennels.
Staff offered two paths: a text amendment drafted in 30 to 60 days, to planning commission by September and council by October or November, or folding RV rules into the comprehensive rezoning that follows the comprehensive plan update, expected in draft by April with adoption around June or July. The rezoning would require a consultant Taylor estimated in the six figures. She said staff has already reviewed Dorchester, Worcester and Somerset rules, and likes parts of Somerset's new law, which requires a zoning certificate and a posted placard, caps the number of RVs on a site, and ties temporary hunting permits to a defined season. Council asked her to send those materials over.
Approved an updated job description for the aircraft rescue and firefighting lieutenant position, allowing applicants to meet the officer-experience requirement with two years at the rank of lieutenant or higher in a paid fire department or a combination of volunteer and paid service. The public hearing drew no speakers. Passed unanimously.
Confirmed the appointment of a deputy director of the Department of Planning, Zoning and Community Development, overseeing building permits and inspections. Tracy Taylor said the appointee was hired about three years ago as chief building inspector and earned residential, commercial and energy certifications within 14 months, and now oversees nuisance and code enforcement, fire safety, building and plumbing inspections, and the front desk. Passed unanimously.
Approved a memorandum of understanding with J&J Consulting to host the USSSA Eastern National Championships from 2027 through 2031. Recreation, parks and tourism director Steve Miller said the girls softball tournament draws 300 to 400 teams from 14 states and generates $15 million to $20 million in annual economic impact, and that the new agreement replaces year-to-year terms and raises the county's guaranteed floor in the shared budget. Passed unanimously.
Introduced unanimously. The bill would amend Chapter 39 to recognize the Wicomico County Fire Chiefs Association as a countywide organization representing volunteer fire chiefs and provide for its participation in discussions and negotiations over countywide fire service agreements and policies. Salisbury Fire Chief Rob Frampton and three residents asked council to remove the provision allowing the association to make recommendations on the county's appropriation to the Salisbury Fire Department. Public hearing set for August 4.
Introduced unanimously. The bill would amend Chapter 22, Section 22-1 to establish a procedure for disposing of surplus county property other than by public auction. A resident warned it could leave too much to executive discretion and set a bad precedent. Council President John T. Cannon said the intent was the opposite — to give council oversight of what happens after property is declared surplus — and that private disposition is sometimes needed because publicizing county involvement can change the price. Public hearing set for August 4.
Introduced unanimously. The bond bill authorizes general obligation bonds in a principal amount stated as not exceeding roughly $11.5 million to finance projects for public works, roads, recreation and parks, and the airport, along with refunding bond authority and bond anticipation notes. Public hearing set for August 4.
Salisbury Fire Chief Rob Frampton said the city supports its volunteer partners but opposes giving an external organization a formal role in recommending the county appropriation to a municipal budget. He cited a department operating budget over $15 million within a city budget over $60 million and more than 17,500 calls a year. Three residents echoed him, with one arguing no outside group — chiefs or volunteers — should have codified standing in those negotiations.
A resident distributed materials and argued Wicomico should restrict or ban data centers, citing low employment per square foot, 60 to 110 million gallons of annual water use, power demand equal to 80,000–100,000 homes, and Maryland retiring 6,000 megawatts of generation since 2018 while adding 1,600. He urged people to attend Federalsburg's upcoming data center public hearing and said that if a ban is not possible, the county should consider limits on water, power, zoning and noise.
A Log Cabin Road resident thanked planning and zoning for a thorough update to neighbors near the Hickory Mill bio-refinery project while litigation continues. An Atkins Road resident asked for cleanup of downed trees and limbs left from the winter snowstorm, including a broken limb at Northwest Road he called a safety hazard; James Winn offered to help. Two speakers asked again what the county executive's Las Vegas trip cost taxpayers and what the county got from it. One speaker raised campaign sign thefts, which Merritt and Winn also addressed.
One member repeated a list of items left unresolved after budget season: the Salisbury–Wicomico fire agreement, the SWAT analysis, the Verizon building, GOB security, the Bolton compensation study, and the landfill's $94 per ton operating cost versus roughly $80 in surrounding counties — a $2.1 million gap he suggested a performance audit could explain. Joe Holloway again asked colleagues to join a narrow-scope letter to the state Office of Legislative Audits over local management board gift card spending; Josh Hastings cited $12,000 and $24,000 figures from the internal auditor and urged getting grant details first. Cannon, who sits on the local management board, said he saw no basis for a state inquiry.
Tracy Taylor and the county health officer described a code with a seven-day-in-90 occupancy limit that is effectively unenforceable, two code enforcement officers working complaint-only, and a six-to-eight-month process to remove a single camper. Since 2022 the county has removed 36 campers and RVs from 14 properties. Staff said campers cannot legally connect to septic or wells, leaving one dump station and about 15 licensed haulers as the only lawful waste options. No vote was taken; council asked for Somerset, Worcester and Dorchester rules and weighed a text amendment this fall against folding RV standards into the 2027 comprehensive rezoning.
fire services land use code enforcement county administration bonds parks and recreation data centers public comment
Based on the auto-generated transcript of the July 7, 2026 Wicomico County Council meeting, as archived by PAC 14. Personal names are rendered inconsistently in that transcript; anything that could not be matched to a known official is given by role instead.