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Wicomico County · County Council · 2026-07-21
Recap With Transcript
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Most of this meeting was spent not on votes but on two long sessions: a public airing of why the county's internal auditor received zero of 52 documents she requested for a grants audit, and a morning-to-afternoon work session with the Board of Education. The audit discussion put the council president, the internal auditor, the grants administrator and the deputy director of finance at the same table to explain a breakdown that both sides called a miscommunication and that two public commenters called a charter violation.
The formal business was short and unanimous: an added $531,480 FAA grant for the airport's air traffic control tower, two library board reappointments, and a small opioid settlement. Council also unanimously introduced Legislative Bill 2026-08, which rewrites the county's zoning code to allow accessory dwelling units by right as required by state law, with a public hearing set for August 18. Separate work sessions covered a renewed push to decouple liquor-store licenses from restaurants and a Board of Education request to use a $2.95 million state energy grant to buy land for a replacement Wicomico Middle School.
Council opened with an invocation and moved quickly through its voting agenda. Resolution 121-2026 drew no public testimony and passed unanimously, adding $531,480 in Federal Aviation Administration money to the air traffic control tower equipment project and bringing the total federal grant to $1,791,480. Staff said the increase reflects higher costs identified during bidding and is fully federally funded. Two library trustee reappointments passed unanimously, as did Resolution 124-2026, an opioid settlement the county attorney's office described as "de minimis" — roughly $6,000 direct to the county plus up to $10,000 in abatement funding, with an October 7 execution deadline.
The bulk of the morning went to the grants audit follow-up. The council president said the grant audit had produced "very serious findings" and that he believed the executive branch had "interceded" in a way that kept both the grants administrator and the internal auditor from doing their jobs. The grants administrator, who took the role in October 2024, described roughly 50 open grants held in individual departments, software that does not handle grant tracking well, and a new step-by-step manual she has written for departments. A Munis project-and-grant-accounting demonstration is scheduled for August 19.
The core factual dispute was narrow and unresolved. The internal auditor said she understood from the January 29 entry meeting that document requests should go to the grants administrator; the deputy director of finance said the executive branch's understanding was that she would have to go to each individual department, with the grants administrator copied. Either way, she received none of the 52 items she ultimately requested. Council members pressed hard on that. Councilman Holloway said he had sat through state and IRS audits himself and that "I'm new to this" would not have been an acceptable answer, and asked why not even one or two of the 52 documents were produced. The deputy director of finance said the scope had changed repeatedly and that key people had been dropped from the email chain. Councilman Ennis said the point person question was "not rocket science" and that an explanation for the 52 was "still lingering out there." Councilman Hastings asked whether the administration accepted that the legislative branch may review completed grant reports; both the deputy director of finance and the grants administrator said yes.
The internal auditor said that since the deputy director of finance was added as a copy recipient in April, documents have been arriving faster than at any point in her two years. The council president objected to the arrangement on principle, reading from April emails and saying the executive branch has no oversight role over an independent internal auditor. Council landed on a partial fix: ground rules on who holds grant records will be written into the grants manual, and the deputy director of finance will put his concerns to the audit committee in writing rather than directly to the auditor. For the next grants audit the auditor floated narrowing the scope to a single department, possibly aviation; Hastings suggested roughly 80 percent random selection and 20 percent targeted.
The internal auditor then reported six hotline cases in FY26, with a cumulative total of 97. She confirmed that since January the county has had no phone or web option for anonymous reports — only mail-in — because the selected vendor was not registered in the State of Maryland. A replacement contract is awaiting legal sign-off before it can come to council.
Council unanimously introduced Legislative Bill 2026-08, the accessory dwelling unit rewrite, after a detailed walkthrough by the planning director and a department of law attorney (see below). A public hearing was set for August 18 at 10 a.m.
After adjourning the legislative session, council held a work session with Delegate Chris Adams on reviving a bill to decouple liquor-store licenses from the requirement that the holder also operate a restaurant, and then a roughly hour-long session with the Board of Education.
The number everyone kept returning to was that the internal auditor requested 52 items and received none. The explanation offered by the administration was a miscommunication about whether requests should go to the grants administrator or to individual department heads. Council members said that explanation did not account for the outcome. The council president cited section 305 of the charter, which he said entitles the internal auditor to any record she requests, and described what happened as "stonewalling." The deputy director of finance agreed the executive branch is obligated to provide requested information and said that making sure the county meets that obligation is exactly why he was assigned the role. The internal auditor, for her part, said independence concerns are real but that the current arrangement is working better than what preceded it, and that the audit committee and a five-year peer review are the appropriate guardrails. The audit itself has been finalized; she told council it cannot be redone before this council leaves office without shelving her other audits.
The planning director framed the bill as a required response to state legislation signed in April 2025, with an October 1 effective date. Key provisions: ADUs must be permitted by right in any district that allows single-family dwellings as a permitted use, which in Wicomico means all residential districts, town transition, and LB2; one ADU per primary structure; an ADU does not count against the parcel's development density; and the 35 percent rear-yard coverage cap for accessory structures will not apply to ADUs. Where state law allows ADUs up to 75 percent of the primary dwelling's size, the county proposes capping them at 50 percent. Existing parking standards — one space per bedroom — were left unchanged specifically because altering them would trigger a mandatory countywide parking study. The planning director said the practical brake on ADUs will be the health department: adding bedrooms can require a new or expanded septic area, and land evaluations applied for now are running into 2027. She also said national developers have already begun asking about the county's manufactured-housing rules, focusing on individual lots rather than parks. Councilman Ennis asked, partly in jest, whether the board of zoning appeals has anything left to do after the state removed local discretion over solar, mobile homes and accessory apartments.
School officials reported a new $2.95 million Maryland Energy Administration grant for the Fruitland Intermediate HVAC replacement, which they said reduces the county's committed $7 million FY27 obligation to $4.05 million. They asked council to consider leaving that $2.95 million in place and using it to land-bank a site for a replacement Wicomico Middle School, saying they need roughly 35 acres inside the current attendance area, that few such parcels are available, and that prices are rising. The existing building dates to 1931. If replaced, officials said they would repurpose it to house programs now sitting in portable and modular classrooms — Choices Academy, evening high school, the newcomer center for English learners, and non-traditional elementary pathways. Asked why a building not good enough for 800-plus students would be good enough for those programs, the superintendent pointed to capacity: bathrooms, hallways, cafeteria and instructional space all scale differently at smaller enrollment. Discussions with the county executive and finance director began two weeks earlier; no council action was taken.
Officials described a three-year effort, with the Greater Salisbury Committee's healthy minds initiative, to bring non-public special education schools to the Lower Shore, which they said has only one such school between Kent and Somerset counties. Three are now slated for Wicomico: the Benedictine School, opening in September at the Maple Shade campus in Mardela Springs; Chimes, opening around January near the airport off Mount Hermon Road; and Kennedy Krieger, still evaluating properties and expected within two years. Officials estimated roughly 50 Wicomico students eventually, out of more than 15,000 countywide, with tuition paid by the school system and additional students drawn from surrounding counties. Senator Mary Beth Carozza attended the planning meeting.
Four residents spoke, all critically. Joe White of Parsonsburg noted that an April 21 work session on the same subject had drawn only the internal auditor and said "zero out of 52 is a failure of that charter," asking to hear from the audit committee's chair. Mike Goldberg, describing a career in commercial lending and bank examinations, said the executive failed to establish a chain of command and called the response "evasive, obstructive." A third resident said the executive's office is using social media to attack candidates and residents while basic audit answers go unanswered, and said the city is still waiting on a fire service agreement. Jim Atkins of District 2 pressed for a data center moratorium, arguing the county can still regulate water use and noise even if it cannot block the use outright, and noting the county has no noise ordinance. Council confirmed a data center work session for August 4.
Passed unanimously after a public hearing at which no one spoke. Amends the FY27 capital budget to accept an additional $531,480 from the Federal Aviation Administration for the air traffic control tower equipment project, bringing the total grant to $1,791,480. Staff said the increase reflects higher costs identified through bidding and is fully federally funded.
Both passed unanimously, confirming two reappointments to the Wicomico County Board of Library Trustees submitted by the county executive through the assistant director of administration. No discussion.
Passed unanimously, approving settlement of the county's opioid lawsuit against one remaining defendant. The county attorney's office called it "de minimis" — about $6,000 directly to the county and up to $10,000 in abatement funding through a grant — with an October 7 execution deadline. Outside counsel recommended approval.
Council questioned the internal auditor, the grants administrator and the deputy director of finance about why none of 52 requested documents were produced for the grants audit. The administration attributed it to a miscommunication about whether requests went to the grants administrator or to individual departments, plus a shifting audit scope; council members said that did not explain the outcome and cited charter section 305. No vote was taken; council directed that record-custody rules be written into the new grants manual and that executive-branch concerns about the audit program be submitted to the audit committee in writing.
The internal auditor reported six hotline cases in FY26 and 97 cumulatively. She confirmed the county has had no phone or web reporting option since January because the selected vendor was not registered in Maryland; only mailed reports and occasional emails are being accepted. A replacement contract awaits legal review before coming to council as a resolution.
Introduced unanimously. Rewrites the zoning code's definitions, accessory-use, permitted-use and parking sections to allow accessory dwelling units by right in every district permitting single-family dwellings, as required by state law effective October 1. The county proposes capping ADUs at 50 percent of the primary dwelling (state law allows up to 75 percent), one per parcel, exempt from density counts, and exempt from the 35 percent rear-yard coverage limit. The planning commission recommended favorably after a public hearing with no attendees. Public hearing before council set for August 18 at 10 a.m.
Delegate Chris Adams met with council to restart a bill that failed last session, which would remove the requirement that a Wicomico liquor-store license holder also operate a restaurant while keeping a three-license cap and a 3,500-square-foot size provision. Council removed last year's councilmanic-district language, which Adams agreed was the main source of confusion and opposition, and updated the effective date to July 1, 2027. Adams said drafting can begin in mid-August, that he could have a draft for council in September, and that the hearing would not occur until alcohol bill day in February or March — meaning the incoming council will have to decide whether to proceed.
Board and staff briefed council on non-public special education schools coming to the county, the mechanics of pre-K funding now invoiced directly by the state to the county, the new non-voting student board member from Mardela, and weapons detection. On weapons detection, an RFP has closed and responses are under evaluation; tier one covers all high schools plus evening high school and Choices Academy, and additional school security employees will be hired in the fall. A federal COPS grant application would fund tier two.
Officials said Fruitland Primary is on time and on budget for opening in about 13 months, and listed ADA ramps at East Salisbury Elementary and Wicomico Middle, gym sound insulation, Parkside bathroom work, Wicomico High sewer line replacement, and solar at East Salisbury and Bennett Middle. They reported more than $7.75 million in Maryland Energy Administration grants over three years, including $2.95 million that cuts the county's committed FY27 share of the Fruitland Intermediate HVAC project from $7 million to $4.05 million. The board asked council to leave that $2.95 million in place to land-bank roughly 35 acres for a replacement Wicomico Middle School, which was built in 1931.
Four residents spoke, all about the grants audit or county governance. Joe White of Parsonsburg said "zero out of 52 is a failure of that charter" and asked to hear from the audit committee chair. Mike Goldberg said the executive branch failed to establish a chain of command and was "evasive, obstructive." A third speaker criticized the executive's use of social media against candidates and residents and said a fire service agreement remains outstanding. Jim Atkins of District 2 asked council to pursue a data center moratorium and noted the county has no noise ordinance.
A council member detailed a large animal seizure at a Sharptown kennel, saying the case dated to February 2023, that animal control had visited six times, the owner had been cited four times, failed to appear in court once, was found guilty twice and received a $50 citation, and had admitted at a special exception hearing to keeping 40 to 60 dogs before being denied that exception. He thanked the Humane Society, the sheriff's office, and county and city animal control, and noted the Sharptown carnival's 100th anniversary opening July 30. Council confirmed the data center work session for August 4.
internal audit grants land use housing education public safety airport data centers state policy
Based on the auto-generated transcript of the July 21, 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.