PUBLIC NOTICE
NOTICE OF HEARING
BEFORE THE COUNTY COUNCIL
OF WICOMICO COUNTY, MARYLAND
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, in compliance with Chapter 22 of the Wicomico County Code and the Local Government Article, Section 10-312, of the Annotated Code of Maryland, that the County Council of Wicomico County, Maryland will hear public comments on the following proposed Resolution at their regular meeting in the County Council Chambers, Government Office Building in Salisbury, Maryland, on: TUESDAY, MAY 21, 2024 Commencing at 10:00 a.m.
The County Council proposes to lease from the State of Maryland University System on behalf of its constituent institution, Salisbury University, property known as 909 S. Schumaker Drive, Salisbury, MD 21804; the former Ward Museum, consisting of two parcels, as shown on a plat titled “Ward Foundation
Museum Boundary Survey” DWG No. 88-033, recorded among the Land Records of Wicomico County, Maryland in Plat Cabinet M.S.B. No. 9, Folio 37-147.
The property shall be used by Wicomico County for the use of the Wicomico County Public Library. The initial term of the lease shall be 10 years with the option to renew for two additional periods of 10 years each. The base rent for the initial term and each renewal period shall be $1.00 annually.
WICOMICO COUNTY, MARYLAND
BY: Laura Hurley, Council Administrator
So SU ignores the mold problems at the Ward Museum, put the decoys on Main Street, then sells a white elephant to the city for a public library? They negelected the Ward Museum to death, just like the are neglecting the public radio station to death.
Way to go, SU- your brazen crminality is amazing.
Who said anything about selling it to the city? The announcement, if you read it, says the proposal is to lease (not sell) from the state to the county.
Libraries gone like the JoJo bird. Old, outdated, irrelevant.
Just because the “rent” will be set at one dollar per year doesn’t mean this won’t still cost a fortune. It was faulty and costly maintenance that caused the disaster in the building in the first place. How much will remediation cost? And upkeep? And what is the annual library budget overall? And are their obscene gay trans teen porn books for kids in the library? And it’s 2024 so why do we need libraries anyway when everything is available online? That building would make for a nice library, but at what cost, and is it worth it?
So why the move? The amount of homeless surrounding the entrance? Thought Jake had them all moving to the Ann Street shed homes. Will the old building become the homeless internet cafe with the fire pit and lean to around the corner? Will Gillis or the Ross guy try to buy for $5,000 and turn it into section 8 housing? Curious what the plan is for the old building.
This is a bad idea and will backfire costing Wicomico county residents a fortune. Wasn’t the estimates to remove the mold and replace all HVAC units something near $6M+? And who ever goes to libraries anymore? This idea is taking away much needed invest from the Salisbury Airport which needs to continue to be Wicomico County’s priority.
Interesting, there is a lot to consider and I’m sure the Karens will be clucking.
Cons – There will be money concerns about making it a useable library, but the County already spends money on the existing building, so it’ll be marginal.
Pros- Moving the library will allow families with children and elderly a SAFE place to go. The homeless can sleep, pee, do drugs, and hangout without the cops being called on them. It’ll give the county’s’ residents one less reason to go downtown and/or use the parking garage. The County can repurpose or lease the old building.