ANNAPOLIS, MD—The Maryland Board of Public Works, comprised of Comptroller Brooke E. Lierman, Governor Wes Moore, and Treasurer Dereck Davis, has approved 81 initiatives totaling more than $241 million.
Among the approvals, Comptroller Lierman voted to authorize $5.2 million in requests from the Maryland Department of the Environment for flood management measures. These funds are intended to alert local governments and reduce runoff. Lierman highlighted recent deadly flooding in Texas, which has claimed over 100 lives, and emphasized the necessity of investing in infrastructure to protect flood-prone areas in Maryland.
“As a former Texas resident for a few years, it is absolutely devastating to watch what happened there,” Lierman said. “We are not immune in Maryland to that type of flooding that we saw happen there. Close to home, just in the last week, officials ordered the shutdown of Main Street [in Ellicott City] not once but twice as a result of significant rain-producing events.”
The three-member board also approved a $7.5 million grant to support the construction of a new downtown hotel and conference center in Frederick. Lierman, who supported the project during her tenure as a delegate in the Maryland General Assembly, congratulated Frederick Mayor Michael O’Connor on the project’s completion.
“When I think of the project, I just think better late than never,” she stated. “Projects like this that promise a truly transformative effect on the local economy should be easy wins for local and state governments to form partnerships on. I look forward to staying there in the coming years.”
The comptroller also commended the State Highway Administration for awarding four of six maintenance service contracts to Minority Business Enterprises.
In total, the Board of Public Works approved items representing a state expenditure of $241,262,959.41. This includes grant agreements for 10 projects across seven counties and Baltimore City, valued at $31,276,596. Additionally, nine items totaling $13,078,553.77 were awarded to prime certified small businesses, and nine items worth $12,906,653.77 were awarded to certified minority business enterprise primes. The approvals also included 13 items with established participation goals for minority business enterprises and one item with goals for veteran-owned small business enterprises.
The next meeting of the Board of Public Works is scheduled for Aug. 6, 2025.
Photo via Pixabay
