Chestertown,Wednesday,March18,2020

The Kent Pilot Kent’s Daily News Source Stephen Z. Meehan – Publisher Daniel C. Menefee – Editor 208 High St. Suite 200 410-778-2015

By Danie l Mene f e e

In a move to comply with Gov. Larry Hogan’s executive order and heed the recommendations of the CDC to slow the COVID-19 outbreak, Chestertown Mayor Chris Cerino moved to reduce foot traffic in public buildings and canceled public events to create the social distancing required in the mandates.

“Based on the directives we’ve been getting from the Governor’s Office, and from the President himself, we need to take some actions here to limit public access to [town properties],” Cerino said at the opening of Monday’s town council meeting

The following restrictions are effective immediately by a unanimous vote of the council on Monday.

• Until further notice, non-essential meetings at Town Hall are banned

• Town Hall doors will be locked during the day during normal business hours thru the end of April. The policy will be re-evaluated in May

• Residents can contact the town by email or phone

• Bills can be paid by US Mail or Online. Payments can also be slipped under the door at Town Hall.

• Chestertown Police Department is closed to the public through April.

• Town meetings will be limited to 10 people including the press

The following public events are canceled thru May 15:

• Saturday Farmer’s Market • Earth Day • Pride festival • Bocce League • Ribbon Cutting at Carpenter Park • Crab Festival

Public Events TBD:

• Chestertown Tea Party • National Music Festival • July 4th Fireworks

Ward 4 Councilwoman Meghan Efland will head up an emergency response plan with Town Manager Bill Ingersoll.

Ward 2 Councilman Tom Herz will lead social media communications for the town through Facebook and the town’s website.

Each council member has been tasked to keep in contact with senior living facilities in their wards.

The Town has also moved to install live streaming equipment so people can watch the meetings from home. The meetings would be live cast and automatically archived for video on demand, similar to Rock Hall. The town has not posted any meeting videos on the Youtube channel in eight months.

MD General Assembly Adjourns, Senate Concurs With House On Final Budget . By Danie l Mene f e e

Under extraordinary circumstances, the Maryland Legislature passed a $48 billion budget for fiscal 2021, nearly three weeks ahead of schedule — over concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The abbreviated session came after the presiding officers of both chambers and the administration of Gov. Larry Hogan agreed on Sunday to cut the session short and limit gatherings in the state to 50 people or less.

The operating budget is the Assembly’s only legal obligation.

A historic joint meeting of the Senate Budget and Tax and House Appropriations committees ironed out a slew of amendments in one room ahead of time in order to guarantee quick passage in both chambers.

Del. Jay Jacobs, R-Kent, said this was a historic first in Annapolis.

“In normal times a joint conference committee would be appointed to negotiate differences in the spending bill, which takes considerably more time,” he said.

On Tuesday the House went first and passed the budget in a landslide 126-8 vote that garnered significant Republican support in the Democratic controlled legislature. The Senate concurred on Wednesday, 45-0, with just moments left in the session.

Jacobs said the budget gives Gov. Larry Hogan the resources needed to deal with COVID-19.

“This was a reasonable budget with no tax increases,” Jacobs said.

The rainy day fund will carry a $1.2 billion balance and an additional $230 million is made available in the general fund to deal with circumstances that may arise combating the COVID-19.

The budget bill also authorizes Gov. Larry Hogan to take an additional $100 million from the rainy day fund toward that effort.

Kent Driven Data Center Bill Comes Down To The Wire On Last Day Of Session . By Danie l Mene f e e

A data center bill that originated in the Kent County Economic Development Office is soon to arrive on Gov. Larry Hogan’s desk and put Maryland on the map with surrounding states that have lured data center firms with tax incentives.

The bill faced uncertainty as lawmakers rushed to finish the session early in order to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Getting this data center exemption passed is a huge win for Maryland as we compete in the market to attract this emerging industry to our state,” said Senate Minority Whip Steve Hershey with only hours left in the session. “I’m quite proud this initiative started in Kent County.”

Hershey, R-Queen Anne’s, the lead sponsor in the Senate, said the bill will bring in considerable tax revenue from “construction and development–and ancillary businesses that feed off data centers.”

“This bill became the priority of the Maryland Department of Commerce and the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, this was a heavy lift,” he continued. “We usually don’t see any tax incentive bills pass in Maryland. But we had the right coalition of advocates, had informative bill hearings and worked the bill right up to the last day. It was quite an accomplishment.”

Hershey praised Kent County Economic Development Director Jamie Williams for bringing this bill to the attention of lawmakers.

“Jamie Williams and the economic development team researched the incentives in surrounding states and realized Maryland could not compete,” he said.

“The Kent County Team has been working on data center attraction for the past two to three years, with the knowledge that Maryland would not be a competitor for data center site location without a sales and use tax exemption,” Williams said in an email after learning the bill had passed both chambers. “We are pleased the legislation…is headed to the Governor’s desk. It was truly a team effort and we thank our partners for stepping up.”

“The Maryland Chamber of Commerce has been a valuable asset in leading the Maryland Data Center Coalition and getting this legislation through in such uncertain times,” she continued. “This will truly allow all of Maryland to be competitive in an industry that will only continue to grow and pour capital into the communities where they locate.”

Jay Jacobs, R-Kent, the lead sponsor of the House version of the bill, said “it was a huge effort in a difficult year and revenues from the data centers will help fund the Kirwan mandates that will hit the counties hard.”

(CON’T)

Council Restricts Access to Town Hall and Police Station, Events and Non-Essential Meetings Cancelled

“The legislature is always passing some sort of tax increase,” Jacobs said. “It’s nice when we can pass tax incentives that will actually produce revenue in an area that has been very lucrative in the other parts of the country.”

Jacobs said he worked with House Majority Leader Eric Luedtke to have the bill heard on second and third reader in one day, which requires a suspension of the rules.

“Without it, the bill would not have passed, the clock would have run out,” he said. “I stressed the importance of this bill to Luedtke for the state and for my district, which needs the revenue and the jobs these data centers produce.”

The bill is expected to bring in a windfall of revenues that Loudon County, VA has enjoyed since 2012. Revenues from tax exemptions there have grown from $50 million to $350 million in 2019.

The bill offers data centers firms exemptions to Maryland’s personal property and sales and use tax, provided they invest $5 million within three years of filing for the exemption — and hire at least five personnel earning 1.5 times the state’s minimum wage.

The investment requirement drops to $2 million in the Tier I counties of Allegany, Baltimore City Caroline, Dorchester, Garrett, Kent, Somerset, Washington, Wicomico and Worcester–because these counties have unemployment rates the exceed 150 percent of the state average. .

By Stephen Meehan

The Spanish Influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 reportedly killed 20 to 40 million people worldwide in a year’s time. Also known as “La Grippe,” the pandemic was more devastating than the Bubonic Plague that spread the Black Death over mid-12th Century Europe.

The Spanish Flu pandemic was spread to the United States by soldiers returning from the European battlefields of World War I. The strain targeted the strong and killed more soldiers than bullets and bombshells.

The first cases in Maryland were reported in late September at then-Camp Meade. The sick soldiers were isolated, but the camp remained open to visitors, and soldiers were on leave to Baltimore where it spread rapidly through the city.

Kent County was not spared from the Spanish Flu’s impact

For the local community in the days prior to radio, the local weekly newspaper was the source of.news.

The Transcript, a weekly published from 1862 to 1946, covered the outbreak.

In the October 12, 1918 edition, the State Health Department announced broad based closures “On account of the

persistency of the influenza epidemic now existing and affecting so many people and its tendency to spread.”

The closures included all schools and public meetings, as well as “all theatres, moving picture parlors, public assembly and dance halls.” For the first time in memory, all houses of worship were closed and Washington College students sent home.

The October 19 edition was dominated by the influenza news. The headline read: “Epidemic Still Takes Toll in Kent.” The story was truly grim.

“The epidemic has struck the country in spots and Kent seems to have been one of the hardest hit sections of the whole country, so many cases being fatal,” the paper reported. “The disease seems to be particularly epidemic among the most vigorous people, the elderly people seeming to have escaped in large measure, the ravages of the malady.”

The death notices were so numerous that the editor addressed mortality as “The Hand of Death.”

“In reference to our death columns in this issue will be seen the trail of death that has visited this county this week,” the paper reported.

At the head of the column titled “Deaths,” the editor expressed the human devastation.

“This has been a sad week in Kent county. The grim reaper has taken a fearful toll from the homes of our community and left many firesides desolate.”

The spread slowed by month’s end. The November 2 edition headline read: “Influenza Epidemic Subsiding in Kent,” the report continued. “The epidemic of influenza, which has taken such a fearful toll in Kent county and other parts of the country as well, is subsiding, and, in fact very few new cases are being reported in Kent county.”

The churches returned to Sunday services. At Christ Methodist, Reverend J.L. Ward advertised his sermon “Kept from The Paths of the Destroyer.”

Even as influenza raged that fall, life continued on in Kent County

On October 24, Miriam Warren Hubbard, daughter of fertilizer baron Wilbur W. Hubbard, married Lt. George M. Morris, U.S.A at the bride’s parents’ home, Wide Hall.

For the convenience of the important guests traveling from Baltimore, Washington, and New York, Mr. Hubbard had arranged for a special train to carry guests from Wilmington to Chestertown. Mr. Hubbard had convinced the Delaware Railroad to construct a spur from High Street to his waterfront fertilizer operation. It was short ride to the event.

In that month, R.F. Parks, one of the largest dealers in merchandise and groceries on the Eastern Shore, sold out his stock for a good sum and looked towards retirement. Mr. Parks was the oldest merchant in Chestertown and had conducted businesses at the same place for 50 years.

The November 2 edition reported a fire at P.M. Brooks’ flour mill, now the site of the Royal Farm in Chestertown’s Uptown neighborhood. Also the County committee for Christmas parcels for the troops in Europe got their effort underway.

The Armistice that ended World War I was signed on November 11, 1918.

Joan Horsey contributed to this article.

“The Grip”: Kent County and the Spanish Influenza Pandemic Of 1918

Data Center (con’t)