“I know we need a new roof on the house but I really want that condo at the beach.”
Sounds crazy, right?
Our wannabe condo owner might defend his choice, “But I can make money off the condo by renting it when I’m not using it.”
Uh huh. “So when will you replace the roof on the house that you live in year round?” I ask.
Our wannabe owner shrugs and casts his eyes to the ground.
Yeah, that’s what I thought.
Let’s talk about needs versus wants. In a time when money is tight, we have to make hard choices. It looks like our Cecil County government is struggling to determine what projects need to be funded versus those that they want to fund.
Need: Sufficient funding of small capital and capital projects of CCPS
Our county school facilities are in dire need of maintenance or replacement. We have an elementary school where students put out buckets in the classroom on rainy days and the gym floor is covered in 20 year old carpet that smells despite the valiant efforts of the maintenance team, a high school with a gym floor that is warped and must be replaced, and several of the athletic fields at our high schools are barely playable because they are not maintained.
Want: A new recreational park
$2,587,000 is included in the proposed FY 2015 Cecil County Budget for the creation of Calvert Regional Park in Rising Sun on the site that was known as the MacMillan Farm. That amount includes the creation of 4 multi-purpose playing fields and the installation of one turf field.
Hypothesis: A new park would bring revenue
Cecil County Parks and Recreation officials project that Calvert Regional Park would be a sports marketing hub in the area, attracting multi-day tournaments whose participants would stay at local hotels and eat at local restaurants. But I doubt that our current tourism infrastructure of only 3 modest hotels within 5 miles of the fields and a handful of restaurants, could truly support a tournament large enough to make a financial difference to the county.
Before spending county funds because we want a regional park, we should make sure the needs of our schools and communities are met.
Contact our Cecil County Council and Executive and let them know you support full funding of CCPS.
Tari Moore–County Executive–[email protected]
Alan McCarthy–Vice President–[email protected]
Joyce Bowlsbey–[email protected]
Michael Dunn–[email protected]
Diana Broomell–[email protected]
Robert Hodge–President–[email protected]