St. Mary's Co. Gov. News Briefs


Guiding Good Choices Program Coming to St. Mary's County

Five classes to be offered starting in March

In a continuing effort to provide support to parents in the community, the St. Mary's County Department of Aging & Human Services is offering the Guiding Good Choices Program® on five Thursdays beginning in March.

The program is a family competency training program for parents of children in middle school. The program is based on the social development model and its primary objectives are to enhance protective parent-child interactions and to reduce child risk for early substance use initiation.

The free, five week program will be held on March 31, April 7, 14, 21, and 28 at the College of Southern Maryland's Leonardtown Campus, 22950 Hollywood Road, Building B, Room 116. Each session, led by a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), will run from 6-8 p.m. Light dinner fare will be provided for those who attend.

For more information or to register, call the Department of Aging & Human Services at 301-475-4200, ext. *1681 or contact Maryellen Kraese, Substance Abuse Treatment and Prevention Coordinator, at Maryellen.kraese@stmarysmd.com

Metropolitan Planning in St. Mary's County

St. Mary's County is involved in a little known partnership with Calvert County, called the Calvert-St. Mary's Metropolitan Planning Organization (C-SMMPO). A Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is a federally mandated, federally funded transportation policy-making organization. The Calvert-St. Mary'sMPO is one of approximately 420 MPOs across the United States.

Why an MPO? With over 50,000 people, as per the 2010 Census, the Lexington Park—California—Chesapeake Ranch Estates region met the criteria for designation as an Urbanized Area (UZA). Therefore, an MPO is required to be established for handling transportation planning coordination for the area. In accordance with the U.S. Department of Transportation requirements, an MPO was designated by Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley on December 31, 2013. Currently the population within the UZA is approximately 58,000 and growing.

For citizens an MPO means quite a bit. It provides a channel of communication with the State. An important aspect of Metropolitan Planning is public involvement and citizen feedback on how transportation can be improved within the MPO boundaries is encouraged. Specific parts of the UZA which citizens feel should be a focus area, or would want to see more sidewalks/pedestrian paths, should be communicated to Ashley Renshaw, Calvert-St. Mary's Metropolitan Planning Organization Administrator, at 301-475-4200, ext. *1505 or via email to ashley.renshaw@stmarysmd.com.

To view the MPO website go to http://www.calvert-stmarysmpo.com/ To take a short survey go to http://www.calvert-stmarysmpo.com/FormCenter/Survey-Forms-5/Let-Us-Know-44

Ethics Commission Meeting for the Town of Leonardtown

The Town of Leonardtown will hold the Ethics Commission meeting on Tuesday, March 1, 2016 at 5:00 p.m.

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