This week, with its mostly sunny October skies, brought unusually heavy activity to PT Hambleton’s crabbing and oystering operation.

The 2023 commercial oyster season opened on October 1 for hand tongers, patent tongers and divers. Dozens of tongers out of Tilghman, Neavitt and Bozman, working in close quarters, took to oyster beds in Broad Creek off of Deep Neck to get an early jump on the season which runs until March 30. Dredging season opens November 1.

On the wharf and docks at Hambleton’s, tongers unloading limit catches of oysters shared space with crabbers still working local waters.

It’s transition time for many watermen.

Some, after a long season of long crabbing days starting last April 1, wasted no time removing the flat wooden canopies over their decks that provide relief from summer’s heat and scorching sun. That gave them room to bring their culling tables aboard for separating market-size oysters from smalls and empty shells.

The canopies also have to make way for better access to the wide gunnel tops. Watermen stand there to scissor, pry and scrape the long tongs with their tooth-headed baskets over the bars to bring in their catch. Space is also needed for shaft-tonging winders and metal towers for hydraulic patent-tonging rigs.

Men were more than ready to offload white plastic Brute barrels coiled with as much as 7,000 feet of trotline, and stacks of wooden bushel baskets. They replaced them with heavier orange, laundry-style baskets used for their oyster catch.

At the wharf, Hambleton folks roll bushels of crabs, piled high, out of the sun and into cold storage before delivery to restaurants and picking houses. Only several feet away oysters clatter from the orange baskets into a bushel-sized metal bucket. Amid steady dialogue, the bucket is drawn up from the boats by a pulley system before being dumped into square, heavy-gauge cardboard boxes the width and height of pallets.

Most of the catch will be trucked to shucking houses in the tidewater area of Virginia’s western shore to feed an oyster-hungry population along the nation’s East Coast seaboard.

Pieces of paper get passed around between buyers and sellers chronicling each day’s catch before taken into the office for payment.

These early-season oysters are bringing $35 per bushel to the watermen, not considered a high price.  Supply and demand.  The Gulf Coast oyster fishery was closed last year to give stocks a chance to recover.  That fishery is expected to be open this year which, some watermen say, could hold prices down.

A few more weeks will pass before all of the crabbers stop their harvesting for the year.  Bushels of crabs that brought as much as $200 in the late spring and early summer now bring about $80. Grumbling, but normal. Wharf activity will decrease gradually before switching entirely to oysters.

Chatter topics along the docks shift quickly: disease and dead oysters further down the Chesapeake that may bring more harvesting pressure to middle Bay bars; reports about green-shirted natural resources officers who stop by regularly to monitor the catch and check sizes of oysters and crabs to keep watermen honest; thoughts about the orange-shirted Orioles and how deep they may go into the baseball playoffs; male crabs giving way now to greater numbers of female crabs – sooks; the high cost of razor clams used for bait and the high cost of fuel all of which cuts into harvesting profits; lots of spat on oysters coming in, expected after a summer with lots of sea nettles and accompanying salty water.

Once shucked, the spat-laden shells will be returned to Chesapeake oyster bars to help replenish populations.

Harvesting limits this year are the same as last year: 12 bushels per license per day for tongers and divers; 10 bushels per day per license for power dredgers; and 100 bushels per day for the few sail-powered skipjacks still working the Chesapeake, primarily further south in Tangier Sound.

Licensed commercial watermen are only allowed to oyster Monday through Friday.

All that said, there’s a general sense that the waning 2023 crabbing season has been a good one and the infant oyster season should also be decent, especially if we have another mild winter like last year.

Dennis Forney has been a publisher, journalist and columnist on the Delmarva Peninsula since 1972.  He writes from his home on Grace Creek in Bozman.

The results of the October 2 election are in and Ashley Kaiser and Jeff Kiel have won the two open seats of the Centreville Town Council. The official results are:

• Ashley H. Kaiser – 255 Votes
• Jeffrey D. Kiel – 281 Votes
• Steven K. Kline – 192 Votes

A looming federal government shutdown could destabilize Maryland’s budget outlook.

Minor decreases in projected revenues announced Thursday by the Board of Revenue Estimates represent a mostly flat budget picture compared to March projections.

State fiscal officers warned that inflation and a shutdown, if House Republicans cannot agree on a plan to fund the federal government for the fiscal year that begins on Sunday, pose a potential risk to the state’s revenue picture.

Robert Rehrmann, director of the Bureau of Revenue Estimates, said the new forecast represents “only minor adjustments, and we are largely consistent with our forecast” and that it includes modest growth rates.

“Unfortunately, we are still in a situation where we do have elevated risks, not only from recession, but from this potential federal government shutdown,” Rehrmann said.

A federal shutdown could have dire impacts on the finances of both residents and state government.

“The impact will very much depend on the type of shutdown, its duration and if there’s significant spending cuts, as far as any agreement to end the shutdown,” said Rehrmann.

Overall, Maryland may feel the pinch more acutely than many states.

More than 160,000 federal jobs — not including federal contractors — are based in Maryland. The total is equal to more than 4% of all jobs in the state.

“At the March board meeting, I noted that revenue forecasts indicated a flashing yellow light for Maryland’s economy,” said Comptroller Brooke Lierman (D), chair of the Board of Revenue Estimates. “I think that remains true now. As we just heard, from unknown trends associated with a post-COVID economic recovery to deeply concerning implications of a looming federal government shutdown, the warning lights are still flashing. Any full or partial shutdown could mean delayed paychecks for federal employees and contractors, federally supported researchers, service providers and others who contribute to Maryland’s employment and income tax base. We could see a slow down in state tax receipts and reduced economic activity statewide as well.”

One in nine households benefited from either a federal paycheck or federal retirement income, according to the Office of the Comptroller.

“Despite Republican extremists’ refusal to govern, the Moore-Miller Administration is taking steps to ensure that state government will continue to operate, that households in need continue to receive assistance, and that hospitals and other institutions that provide essential services can continue to function,” said David Turner, a spokesperson for Gov. Wes Moore (D).

“In the near-term, we plan to use a portion of our state cash reserves to bridge fund services that rely on federal support — but only for a limited period of time and only if we maintain confidence that the federal government will reimburse the State after the shutdown,” Turner said. “State agencies are ready to employ contingency plans to ensure continued operations.”

Included in that effort is a plan to offer no-interest loans to affected individuals through a coming Federal Government Shutdown Employment Assistance Loan program. The loans, offered through the state Department of Labor, would have to be repaid at the conclusion of the shutdown.

Senior administration officials told reporters Thursday morning that the state is prepared to use $1 billion of its $5 billion in cash on hand as part of a strategy to ease — perhaps temporarily — the impact of the shutdown.

But they said that cash could be expended in less than a month.

Two shutdowns, one for 16 days in 2016 and a 35-day partial shutdown in 2018-2019, had little impact on the state, according to Rehrmann.

Budget sequestration during a fight over the federal debt limit in 2013 “had significant impacts on the Maryland economy,” causing a slowing of state tax withholdings and economic output that took years to recover, he said.

In three counties — St. Mary’s, Charles, and Prince George’s — more than 20% of gross income from salaries or retirement income comes from the federal government.

In Calvert, Anne Arundel, Howard and Harford Counties, federal paychecks and retirement payments make up more than 10% of gross income.

Total wages and retirement income from federal sources equals $31 billion or 10.5% of all income earned in Maryland, according to the Office of the Comptroller.

“Most urgent at this current moment is that we’re just days away from the potential federal government shutdown, that as you can see from the dips that we saw during sequestration, could have a devastating impact on the state,” said Lierman. “And so, I certainly reiterate my admonition and urge House Republicans to come together and put the nation at the forefront of their thinking. There are families, there are businesses who are depending on them to do their job and to ensure that we do not have a shutdown and that we continue to fund the federal government services.”

The three-member board unanimously approved what amounted to only minor changes to revenue estimates for the current budget year.

The board also provided the first look at fiscal 2025, which begins next July 1.

In the current year, analysts now project revenues of nearly $24.6 billion — a decrease of roughly $14.1 million from the March estimate.

Growth in nearly every revenue category was offset by a projected $301 million decrease in personal income taxes and more than $46 million in projected interest on investments.

State revenue is projected to grow by less than 1% compared to the previous year.

In fiscal 2025, analysts project that personal income tax collections will rebound as corporate taxes decline. The state is projected to collect nearly $25.1 billion — a roughly 2% increase compared to the current budget year.

“These low growth rates do not keep pace with growth in expenditures and the structural deficit that we face,” said state Budget Secretary Helene Grady, a member of the Board of Revenue Estimates. “The administration has been clear from day one that the factors that drove our state’s cash surplus by the fall of 2022…like many states around the country, were external to Maryland and would not be sustained.”

Maryland’s budget is projected to grow by roughly 5% in the coming year, according to the Department of Legislative Services.

“To put today’s forecast in context of budget planning, the forecast makes the structural deficit a little worse than projected by DLS over the summer,” Grady said.

“As we prepare to introduce our next budget for fiscal year 2025, come January, the administration’s work is cut out for us,” she said. “We will continue to be selective, disciplined and intentional with our investment decisions.”

In June, the Department of Legislative Services projected the fiscal 2025 budget will start with a $418 million deficit — a $650 million decrease compared to the January estimate.

Senate Republicans called for reducing spending in order to prevent tax increases.

“Today’s announcement by the Board of Revenue Estimates confirms what we already knew — a surplus this current fiscal year, with significant challenges in the coming years,” said Sen. Paul Corderman (R-Washington), a member of the Budget and Taxation Committee. “Our economy is changing and the influx of Federal COVID dollars is over. We must reign-in overspending now, or else all Marylanders will see tax and fee increases in the very near future.”

By Bryan P. Sears

For many years now, the Spy has been interviewing candidates for local elections using the long-form format to discuss their motivation for running and their priorities without an artificial time limit for their answers. Giving those running for office quality time to explain a position or advocate a cause is the most effective way for citizens to fully understand the most critical issues at stake.

And we are pleased to keep this tradition alive and well at the Centerville Spy.

On October 2, Centreville will go to the polls to elect two Town Council members. Those running for those seats are incumbents Ashley Kaiser and Steve Kline, and Jeff Kiel, a former member of the council.

The Spy interviewed each over the last two weeks to share their thoughts about Centreville and its future.

These videos range in length from eight to twelve minutes.

Ashley Kaiser

Steve Kline

Jeff Kiel

 

 

Dorchester’s County government has lost a key credit rating in the latest fallout from years of overdue financial audits that are only now becoming available. 

Moody’s Investors Service late last week formally withdrew Dorchester’s credit rating when county officials failed to produce financials under a 30 day deadline. Moody’s cited the lack of information from Dorchester in wiping out its credit rating.

County Council President Lenny Pfeffer said Dorchester officials are engaged with Moody’s to try to fix the information. The county posted the oldest of the overdue audits, for fiscal year 2021, on its website Monday.

“We’ve instructed (Moody’s) that as soon as we receive the audits that are complete, we will make sure that they have that information,” Pfeffer said. “But in the meantime, we’ve sent them everything else that we could up to this point.”

With no credit rating, the county would be forced to pay much higher interest rates on any bonds or capital leases. The difference could be 12 to 15% higher than the desirable municipal bond rating it had enjoyed until now. That’s more taxpayer dollars going to pay for higher interest. 

The lack of a credit rating also means a likely discount in the resale value of at least $30 million worth of bonds the county previously issued. S&P Global, another rating service, withdrew its rating for Dorchester in April.

The county government has failed to file legally required financial audits to the state since 2020. With the 2021 audit complete, the county is still overdue on the 2022 audit. The fiscal year 2023 audit is due by the end of October.

Officials previously cited high turnover in the finance department and a 2020 computer hack as reasons for the delay. But multiple extensions granted by the state last year had expired with no completed audit submitted. Pfeffer said the current delay is a matter of time auditors need to work.

“We’re at the mercy of the third party independent auditor, so we can only go as fast as they go,” Pfeffer said. “We’ve tried to supply as much information as personnel that they’ve asked for, but we’re still at their mercy.”

Pfeffer said at a council meeting September 5th that the audits were 99 percent complete and predicted the oldest missing report, for fiscal year 2021, would be ready in two weeks. The posting on Monday of the 2021 audit comes one day inside his prediction. Pfeffer said he expects progress will accelerate.

“FY21, since they had to translate a lot of data for the system that was lost and stuff that was put in incorrect or whatever, the new information going into 22 should go much faster,” he said.

The county can submit a fee to Moody’s to reevaluate a credit rating once it has the required financial reports finished. Moody’s did not indicate how long it could take to reestablish a credit rating after financial audits are delivered. 

By Jim Brady of WHCP Community Radio 

University of Maryland Shore Regional Health’s plans for construction of a new Regional Medical Center (RMC) in Easton have moved a step forward as hospital officials have received notice that the Maryland Health Care Commission has docketed the application for the project’s Certificate of Need (CON). 

MHCC provided public notice of the docketing in the Maryland Register on August 11th, which initiated a 30-day window for public comment. As of today, no comments have been posted, and the CON application is now ready for MHCC’s review and anticipated approval in the coming months. 

Docketing of the application not only keeps the project moving forward as is required by MHCC’s procedural regulations, but also allows MHCC to gather any supplemental information needed to render a decision. 

The total projected cost of the new Shore Regional Medical Center is $550 million. 

The schematic design phase of the project, which has been completed, involved the participation of multiple departments in refining layout plans and creating new external renderings. The design development phase is now in progress, focusing on the design of individual rooms for optimal workflow.

Plans to build the new Shore Regional Medical Center in Easton are critical to the comprehensive health care delivery plan for Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties. The new location on Route 50 at Longwoods Road will promote better access to care, the new design will accommodate advances in high-quality care and improve patient satisfaction, and the new facility will enhance UM Shore Regional Health’s ability to recruit and retain health care providers and staff.  

 

Using one of Maryland’s toll bridges and tunnels could become more expensive.

The state has not seen an increase in tolls in more than a decade. Joseph Sagal, executive director of the Maryland Transportation Authority, said that era, which included two toll reductions, may be at an end within the next four years.

“We started looking at the last time tolls were raised, that was nearly a decade ago,” Sagal said at a meeting of the Transportation Revenue and Infrastructure Needs Commission in Annapolis.

“There was a subsequent reduction around 2016 and with that toll revenue decline we saw during the pandemic era and … increased costs,” it is triggering a need for toll revenue increases in the 2028 fiscal year, he continued.

The last time tolls increased was in 2011 under then-Gov. Martin O’Malley (D). At that time, the authority voted to raise cash tolls for cars crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge from $2.50 to $4.

Cars crossing the former Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge in Charles County would cost $4, an increase of $1.

Tolls on both then increased again to $6 in 2013.

Former Gov. Larry Hogan (R) ran his 2014 campaign criticizing O’Malley and Democrats for overtaxing state residents. He cut tolls twice — once in 2016 and again in 2019 — during his two terms in office.

During that time, the state demolished the old Nice Bridge and replaced it with a modern Governor Harry W. Nice Memorial/Senator Thomas ‘Mac’ Middleton Bridge.

Maryland Budget Secretary Helene Grady asked Sagal for details on the impact of toll recent reductions.

“What was the sustainability plan at the time the tolls were reduced and to what extent have the assumptions about that sustainability plan by the previous administration been realized or not realized?” Grady asked.

The need for an increase was attributed to “operating costs being so high, especially as it relates to personnel, equipment, repairs” and other concerns, according to Sagal.

Frank Principe, chair of the commission, said he has discussed the issue of tolls with Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld “as well as the overall performance relative to the toll revenues.”

Principe said the toll rates “is something that the commission will be interested in discussing further at another meeting. I’m sure we’ll get to that in due course.”

The 31-member blue ribbon panel — referred to commonly as the TRAIN Commission — is charged with reviewing, evaluating and making recommendations on how transportation projects should be prioritized and funded.

Last month, commission members were briefed on the need to seek alternative funding sources to bolster declines in state gas tax revenue.

The authority is funded only by tolls from eight facilities in Maryland.

The authority has more than 180 projects in its six-year plan totaling $2.7 billion. The total is a nearly $170 million increase over last year’s six-year planning document.

Included in that are the replacement of eight bridges that are each 50 years old or more, as well as an ongoing study of a third crossing of the Chesapeake Bay.

Sagal spoke in broad terms and offered no specifics related to timing or the amount of an increase.

Sagal’s talking point left some commission members looking for more information.

Senate Minority Leader Sen. Stephen S. Hershey Jr. (R-Upper Shore) said Sagal did not offer enough justification for toll increases.

“I think the important thing that he said, he said the $400 million that they have in operating costs is fine,” said Hershey. “They’ve been able to meet that. So, then you have to look at what the projects are. I think he said the $600 million in projects. I don’t think he came up here and said ‘hey, we’ve got a lot of projects that we haven’t been able to do because the revenue is not there.

“I’d like to hear more of a justification if somebody said we need to increase the polls for exactly what projects out there are not being completed,” he said.

By Bryan P. Sears

Those who drive with Google Maps turned on will be familiar with this scenario; caught up in a hopeless traffic jam, your map app pops up with the enticing message that you might save 20 minutes of this mess if you exit and follow the side road to avoid congestion.

That happens almost every weekend along Route 50 in Queen Anne’s County. As the traffic from the beach to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge slows to a halt as cars wait their turn to cross the western span, hundreds of smartphones go off, telling drivers to detour to the parallel Route 18 to save time.

Many of those drivers do save a few minutes, but the consequences of having those cars in this secondary road are becoming a nightmare for the almost 30,000 residents in the area who need that state highway for their everyday needs.

From grocery shopping to children’s soccer games, the Kent Island community is finding itself increasingly isolated for sometimes hours at a time as Route 18 fills up with beach traffic.

To combat this significant impact on quality of life and safety, Queen Anne’s County is now working with the Maryland State Highway Administration and Maryland Transportation Authority to experiment with temporary closings of the most popular exit points along Route 50 to measure its impact.

The Spy asked Queen Anne’s County Commissioner Jim Moran and County Administrator Todd Mohn to provide more details about the September weekend tests.

This video is approximately 6 minutes in length.

This is the offficel QAC press release:

Temporary Ramp Closures Planned in Queen Anne’s County along US 50/301

In a joint effort with the Maryland State Highway Administration and Maryland Transportation Authority, we are excited to announce a new initiative to help keep summer beach traffic on US 50/301.  This new pilot program is aimed at enhancing traffic flow and ensuring the safety and mobility for local services by reducing congestion on MD Route 18 and other adjacent local roadways. Following the success of a similar program in Anne Arundel County earlier this summer, Queen Anne’s County in partnership with the Maryland State Highway Administration and Maryland Transportation Authority, will be launching this program on the eastern shore which will close or restrict access onto US 50/301 from several on-off ramps along the heavily traveled corridor.

The temporary entrance ramp closures are scheduled to begin in mid-September.

County Commissioner Jim Moran expressed his enthusiasm for the program, saying, “we understand the impact these unprecedented traffic backups are causing the citizens of Queen Anne’s County and we remain committed to finding solutions to alleviate some of the impacts to our residents. The County has been working on our own “Beach to Bridge Plan” and are pleased to be partners with the state to be in a proactive position to launch our own pilot. This has been a complicated exercise as we have 15 ramps along a 9 mile stretch of US 50/301. We also have the Kent Narrows, multiple shopping centers, gas/convenience stores, and schools to take into consideration. Comparing our situation to Anne Arundel County’s 2.5 mile corridor with 3 ramps has made our proposal more challenging and we understand that refinements will be likely be needed going forward.  After this year’s pilot program is concluded, we are planning to hold some Town Hall meetings to receive comments and suggestions that can help us all prepare for next year’s beach traffic season”.

To ensure smooth travel during the closure period, drivers are encouraged to plan their routes ahead of time. Visitors heading to or from the beach are advised to stay on Route 50, which will remain unaffected by the ramp closures.

Queen Anne’s County and the State Highway Administration are working diligently on the final details of the program. Prior to its official launch, comprehensive information about the closures and alternative routes will be released. This will enable residents to plan their travels during the affected period and minimize any potential inconveniences.

To stay updated on the latest developments and receive timely announcements regarding the temporary entrance ramp closures, residents are encouraged to follow Queen Anne’s County Government on social media @QACGOV and visit the official website at www.qac.org.