Montgomery County Council and Committee Meetings on Feb. 24, 2025
For Immediate Release: Friday, February 21, 2025
Council to review state legislation; Committee briefings on the implementation of the menstrual hygiene products requirement and student health and wellness programs at MCPS; review of FY26 Capital Budget and FY25-30 CIP amendment for culture and recreation projects
The Council will meet on Monday, Feb. 24 at 12:30 p.m. for a Maryland General Assembly update from the Office of Intergovernmental Relations Director Melanie Wenger and representatives from her team. Local and bi-county legislation will also be discussed.
The joint Education and Culture (EC) and Health and Human Services (HHS) Committee will meet at 9:30 a.m. to receive an update on the implementation of the provision of menstrual hygiene products requirement at Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS). The Committee also will receive an update on school-based wellness and health services at MCPS.
The members of the EC Committee include Chair and Council Vice President Will Jawando and Councilmembers Gabe Albornoz and Kristin Mink.
The members of the HHS Committee include Chair Albornoz and Councilmembers Dawn Luedtke and Laurie-Anne Sayles.
The Planning, Housing and Parks (PHP) Committee will meet at 1:45 p.m. to review the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Capital Budget and Amendments to the FY25-30 Capital Improvements Program (CIP) for eight different items related to culture and recreation in the County. These include the Silver Spring Recreation and Aquatic Center, recreation facilities refurbishments, shared agency booking system replacement, Holiday Park Net Zero Initiative, Kennedy Shriver Aquatic Center Building Envelope Improvement, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Indoor Swim Center renovation, and the recreation facilities refurbishment of indoor and outdoor pools.
The members of the PHP Committee include Chair Andrew Friedson, Council Vice President Jawando and Councilmember Natali Fani-González.
More detail on each agenda item is provided below.
Briefing: The joint EC and HHS Committee will receive a briefing about how MCPS is preparing to meet the requirements of Maryland Senate Bill 427: Public Schools- Provision of Menstrual Hygiene Products- Requirement . The bill requires each county board of education to ensure that each public school provide, at no charge to students, menstrual hygiene products via dispensers in the women’s restrooms at the school. The bill requires a public middle or high school to install menstrual hygiene product dispensers in at least two women’s restrooms by Oct. 1, 2022, and in all women’s restrooms by Aug. 1, 2025. In addition, the bill requires public elementary schools to install menstrual hygiene product dispensers in at least one restroom by Oct. 1, 2022.
School-Based Wellness and Health Services
Update: The joint EC and HHS Committee will receive an update on school-based wellness and health services provided by MCPS, which offer a variety of services, coaching, and training to MCPS and other Montgomery County students during the school day and after school hours. The update will include information about the breadth of school-based wellness and health services available to students, access and outreach efforts, recent barriers to service delivery and programmatic outcome measures.
Review: The PHP Committee will review the FY26 Capital Budget and Amendments to the FY25-30 CIP for eight different items related to culture and recreation in the County. Two projects, the Silver Spring Recreation and Aquatic Center and the Recreation Facilities Refurbishment – Centers, are recommended for FY25 supplemental appropriations. The County Executive recommends a $2 million supplemental appropriation for the Silver Spring Recreation and Aquatic Center. The purpose of the appropriation is to fund outstanding change orders and general terms and conditions of the contract needed to complete the construction of the aquatic center.
The County Executive recommends a more than $2 million supplemental appropriation for the Recreation Facilities Refurbishment – Centers project. The appropriation is needed to update the schedule of projects and include the renovation of the Damascus Senior Center, which is expected to take place during FY25-26.
Four projects involve implementation adjustments. The County Executive recommends reducing the FY26 appropriation request for the Kennedy Shriver Aquatic Center Building Envelope Improvement by $192,000 from $683,000 to $487,000. This adjustment will change the expenditure schedule by shifting approximately $5 million from FY25 to FY26 and a smaller amount into FY27. The project addresses problems at the Kennedy Shriver Aquatic Center related to the movement and condensation of moist indoor air through the building’s exterior masonry walls and roof leakage.
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The planned work for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Indoor Swim Center Renovation project has been deferred, with design starting in FY27 and construction in FY28. For this reason, no FY26 appropriation is requested. The project previously estimated an FY26 appropriation of more than $2.5 million.
The County’s indoor pools are heavily used assets that have required significant capital investment to maintain operations. The County is staging closures of indoor swim facilities to ensure continued access to users. The Recreation Facilities Refurbishment – Indoor Pools project provides for upgrades or replacement of entire building systems that are at the end of their useful life. The recommended amendment to this project shifts expenditures through the six-year period, resulting in a $741,000 increase to the project total, but a more than $5 million decrease for the six-year CIP period.
The Recreation Facilities Refurbishment – Outdoor Pools project provides for the renovation or refurbishment of recreation outdoor pools through the repair or replacement of facility components. The recommended amendment shifts expenditures through the six-year period, resulting in a more than $1.7 million increase to the project total, but a more than $3.6 million decrease for the six-year CIP period.
Two projects involve technical adjustments or minor schedule changes. The Holiday Park Net Zero Initiative provides for the design and construction of an improved building façade which includes window replacement and a new building exterior for the Holiday Park Senior Center. The purpose of the project is to improve life expectancy of the facility and to support the County’s 2035 goal of zero greenhouse gas emissions for the operation of County facilities. The recommended amendment reflects a minor acceleration with $5,000 having been spent prior to the six-year CIP period.
The Shared Agency Booking System Replacement project is a collaboration between the Office of Community Use of Public Facilities, the Department of Recreation, and Montgomery Parks to replace their shared, on-line booking and sales software application to improve efficiency and the customer experience. The County Executive is recommending a technical change to adjust the project cost by removing intergovernmental funding from Park’s Enterprise Fund, which was paid directly to the contractor. The work in the project was performed before the start of the FY25-30 CIP six-year period.
The Committee meeting schedule may change from time to time. View the current Council and Committee agendas, Council staff reports and additional information on items scheduled for Council review on the Council website .
Council and committee meetings are streamed live on the Council’s web page via YouTube and on Facebook Live and can be watched on County Cable Montgomery on Xfinity/RCN 6 HD 996/1056, Fios 30, and on the CCM live stream .
Release ID: 25-055
Media Contact: Sonya Healy 240-777-7926, Benjamin Sky Brandt 240-777-7884
For updates and link to press release, see here: http://www2.montgomerycountymd.gov/mcgportalapps/Press_Detail.aspx?Item_ID=46597