Carroll commissioners to consider charging fees to enter county parks
During the county’s weekly business meeting Thursday, the Board of Carroll County Commissioners is scheduled to discuss generating additional revenue for the Department of Recreation and Parks by charging entrance fees at 26 county parks for the first time.
County staff will propose the idea to commissioners Thursday morning.
The department last updated park fees in 2020. Currently, 26 of the county’s 30 parks allow visitors to use trails, playgrounds and open space at no cost.
Piney Run Park in Eldersburg, the Hashawha Environmental Center & Bear Branch Nature Center in Westminster, Carroll County Sports Complex in Westminster and the Hap Baker Firearms Facility in Westminster all “are supported by onsite revenue generation.”
A county briefing paper about the meeting states that “every effort (will be) made to ensure fees are competitive with similar facilities in the region and they they do not discourage attendance.”
The department manages 4,794 acres of parkland in the county.
During Thursday’s meeting commissioners will also be asked to award a contract to the National Center for Safety Initiatives, a nationwide provider of background checks for organizations and nonprofits, to conduct background checks for volunteer fire and rescue personnel in the county. The contract is not to exceed $50,000, a county briefing paper states.
The background checks will include criminal history, sexual offenses, work history, driving violations and civil court cases.
Approximately 1,000 fire and rescue personnel are working as volunteers in stations across the county. They work alongside newly hired paid fire and emergency medical services personnel in the Carroll County Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services.
Information obtained through background checks will be put into a centralized database, which will be available to the department.
Commissioners will also be asked to accept a fiscal 2024 Home Stretch state grant to provide high-speed internet access to remote areas of county. These are areas of the county that have had difficulty obtaining service due to their remoteness and distance from broadband infrastructure. The state grant is in the amount of $1.1 million.
The commissioners meeting is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., in Room 311 of the County Office Building, 225 N. Center St., in Westminster. The meeting will be livestreamed at https://www.youtube.com/@CarrollCountyGov. Anyone can make public comment at the meeting, in person or online. Those wishing to attend online should call 872-240-3212 and enter access code 317-923-893 to join the meeting.
