In this subtitle the following words have the meanings indicated.
“Commissioners” means the Board of County Commissioners of Calvert County, Charles County, or St. Mary’s County, respectively.
“Council” means the Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland.
“Executive Director” means the Executive Director of the Council.
“Plan” means a regional plan that the Council prepares for the region.
“Region” means Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary’s counties.
There is a Tri–County Council for Southern Maryland.
The Council is a tax–exempt body politic and corporate.
The Council is an independent unit that the Governor may not place in a principal department.
The Council is a cooperative planning and development unit for the region.
The purposes of the Council are to:
foster the physical, economic, and social development of the region; and
use effectively the assistance provided to the region by the State.
The Council initiates and coordinates plans and projects for the development of human and economic resources of the region as a southern Maryland planning and development unit.
The Council consists of:
the members of the General Assembly representing the region, as voting members;
the commissioners of Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary’s counties, as voting members;
one voting member appointed by the president of the Southern Maryland Municipal Association;
one voting member at large from each county, appointed by the commissioners of the county with the concurrence of the members of the General Assembly representing the county;
one nonvoting member from each county, appointed jointly by the economic development commission and the planning and zoning commission of the county; and
one nonvoting member appointed by the Department and the Department of Planning.
An ex officio member is a member only during the member’s term of office.
A member at large serves at the pleasure of the elected members who represent the same county.
At the end of a term, a member continues to serve until a successor is appointed.
Except for an ex officio member, a member who is appointed after a term has begun serves only for the rest of the term and until a successor is appointed.
The Council shall elect a chair from among its members.
The Council shall establish committees to conduct its work.
The membership of a committee may include individuals who are not Council members or elected officials.
A member of the Council is not entitled to compensation as a member of the Council.
The Council shall appoint an Executive Director qualified by training and experience.
The Executive Director is the chief administrative and planning officer and technical advisor of the Council.
The Executive Director serves at the pleasure of the Council.
The Council shall establish the powers and duties of the Executive Director.
The Executive Director is entitled to the compensation that the Council sets.
The Attorney General is the legal advisor to the Council.
The Council may employ a staff and retain professional consultants.
The Council shall:
determine the powers and duties of the staff; and
set the compensation of the staff.
The Executive Director shall appoint and remove the staff of the Council.
The Executive Director may contract for professional or consultant services.
The Executive Director may make agreements with local planning units in the region for temporary transfer or joint use of staff.
The Council has the immunity from suit provided in § 5-505 of the Courts Article.
The State and Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary’s counties may jointly finance the Council and its activities.
The State may provide financial support to the Council to assist in carrying out the activities of the Council.
On or before August 1 of each year, the Council shall submit its proposed work programs and operating budget for the following fiscal year to the Department.
The submission shall include supporting schedules to show how the budget is financed, and to provide for review and recommendations.
After review, the Department shall forward the submission and any recommendations to the Department of Budget and Management for consideration.
The Governor shall include in the State budget for the following fiscal year an appropriation to partially support the Council.
For fiscal year 2024 and each fiscal year thereafter, the Governor shall include in the annual budget bill an appropriation of $1,000,000 to the Council from the Cigarette Restitution Fund established under § 7–317 of the State Finance and Procurement Article.
The Council shall use funds appropriated from the Cigarette Restitution Fund for the purpose of funding the activities of the Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission.
The appropriation required under subsubparagraph 1 of this subparagraph shall be in addition to, and may not supplant, any funding appropriated to the Council.
The county commissioners of Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary’s counties shall appropriate money each year for the Council to foster cooperative planning and development in the region as follows:
Calvert County – $125,000;
Charles County – $125,000; and
St. Mary’s County – $125,000.
Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary’s counties may appropriate any other money for the Council as they consider necessary and appropriate.
The Council may accept additional money from any other public or private source.
In this section, “property manager” means an entity responsible for the management and maintenance of real property, including:
finding tenants;
collecting rent;
paying expenses and applicable taxes;
maintaining utilities and systems; and
taking any necessary actions to manage and operate real property.
The Council may operate in the region.
The Council may:
adopt a seal;
sue;
adopt bylaws and rules for the conduct of its business;
enter into contracts and agreements;
borrow money and accept advances, loans, grants, contributions, and any other form of assistance from the federal government, the State, or other public or private source;
give any required security;
include in any contract for financial assistance with the federal government any reasonable and appropriate condition imposed under federal law that is not inconsistent with the purposes of this subtitle;
execute any instrument and act as necessary, convenient, or desirable to carry out its powers and the purposes of this subtitle; and
act as a property manager of the Southern Maryland Regional Agricultural Center owned by and located within St. Mary’s County.
The Council shall publish its rules.
Subject to subsections (b) and (c) of this section, in order to accomplish the purposes of this subtitle, the Council may use any money available to it to finance the purchase or lease of property only by:
one or more of the following Southern Maryland counties:
Anne Arundel County;
Calvert County;
Charles County;
Prince George’s County; and
St. Mary’s County;
the Maryland Food Center Authority; or
another entity, as determined by the Council, that is authorized to finance or purchase property.
If the Council determines that money should be used to finance the purchase or lease of property under subsection (a) of this section, the Council, in accordance with State procurement law, shall:
prepare and issue a request for proposals;
evaluate responses to the request; and
select an entity to purchase or lease property.
Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, the Council may not own or lease property.
The Council may lease office space for its own use.
The Council may:
prepare studies of the region’s resources with respect to existing and emerging problems of industry, commerce, transportation, population, housing, agriculture, public services, local governments, and any other matters relevant to regional planning;
collect, process, and analyze at regular intervals the social and economic statistics for the region that are necessary to planning studies; and
make the results available to the public;
participate with other governmental units, educational institutions, and private organizations in the coordination of the research activities; and
provide information to:
units and instrumentalities of the federal, State, and local governments; and
the public, in order to:
foster public awareness and understanding of the objectives of the plan and the functions of regional and local planning; and
stimulate public interest and participation in the orderly, integrated development of the region.
The Council shall cooperate with other units of State government.
The Council shall submit for approval each plan or project of the Council in which the State units have a statutory function or responsibility.
The Council may:
cooperate with and provide planning assistance to local governments, instrumentalities, and planning units in the region; and
coordinate regional area planning with:
planning activities of the State and of the local governmental units, including special districts, in the region and neighboring areas; and
programs of the federal government.
The Council shall prepare, adopt, and periodically revise a general development plan for the region that embodies the policy recommendations of the Council.
The objectives of the plan are to:
guide a coordinated, adjusted, efficient, and economic development of the region in a manner that will best promote the health, safety, order, convenience, prosperity, and welfare of the residents of the region in accordance with present and future needs and resources;
provide for patterns of urbanization and the uses of land and resources for trade, industry, recreation, forestry, agriculture, and tourism;
create conditions favorable to the development of human resources;
identify the public interest and the necessity for public action and intergovernmental cooperation and coordination in the region; and
coordinate with efforts of the private sector in the region.
The plan shall include:
a statement of the objectives, standards, and principles sought to be expressed in the plan;
recommendations for the most desirable pattern and intensity of general land use in the region in the light of the best available information concerning natural environmental factors, the present and prospective economic and demographic basis of the region, and the relation of land use in the region to land use in adjoining areas;
recommendations for the general circulation pattern for the region including land, water, and air transportation and communication facilities, used for movement within the region or to and from adjoining areas;
recommendations on the need for and proposed general location of public and private works and facilities that, because of their function, size, extent, or for any other reason, are of a regional rather than a purely local concern;
recommendations for the long–range programming and financing of capital projects and facilities;
recommendations for meeting the housing needs of existing and prospective immigrant populations of the region;
recommendations for the development of programs and improvements in the region for health services, manpower planning, employment opportunity, education, elimination of poverty, and law enforcement; and
any other appropriate recommendations on current and impending problems that may affect the region.
The Council shall hold a public hearing before adopting all or part of the plan.
At least 60 days before the public hearing, the Council shall submit the plan to the Department of Planning and to the local planning commissions and governing bodies of each political subdivision in the region.
The Council shall publish notice of the hearing in newspapers of general circulation in each county in the region, at least once each week for 3 weeks before the hearing.
On or before the date of the hearing:
the Department of Planning may recommend to the Council changes needed in the plan to conform it to State plans and policies; and
each local planning commission and governing body of each political subdivision in the region may make recommendations to the Council on the effect of the plan in the political subdivision.
The Council shall reevaluate the plan for the development of the region at least every 4 years, after the election of State and local officials.
The Council may amend the plan in the same manner that it adopts the original plan.
After the Council adopts the plan, the Council may not establish a policy or take an action that does not conform to the plan.
The Council may review:
any application that a political subdivision in the region makes to a unit of the State or federal government for a loan or grant for a project; and
a local plan, proposal for a project, or ordinance that may have an impact outside the boundary of the political subdivision or in the region.
Before applying to a unit of the State or federal government for a loan or grant for a project, a political subdivision in the region shall submit the application to the Council for its review.
The Council shall forward its findings and determinations to the referring political subdivision and to the appropriate State or federal unit.
If the Council has adopted a plan for the region:
a governmental unit in the region may not adopt a plan, or amendment to a plan, having a regional impact until the plan is referred to the Council for its consideration, review, and recommendations; and
a road, park, public way, public building, or other development that is regional in nature or affects an area greater than a single unit of government may not be constructed or authorized in the region until the proposed location and its extent are referred to the Council for consideration, review, and recommendations.