Bowie council narrows county funding asks: $9M remediation, $1.5M for recreation, $850K for master planning

City staff summarized opportunities to request county funding and the council agreed on a prioritized set of three asks to convey to County Councilmember Adams.

Acting City Manager Daniel Mears said the county office requested three priority items the city considered appropriate for county capital support. Council members discussed and largely agreed on three headline priorities: a remediation ask for Race Track Road (council discussion referenced a $9 million remediation figure), an expanded regional recreation capital ask (Councilmember Ndubuomandu said she expanded the request to $1.5 million for capital investment across regional sports and recreation infrastructure), and an expanded master‑planning ask (Councilmember Ndubuomandu said she increased the planning scope and asked for $850,000 to support master planning for Bowie Town Center, Race Track Road and Church Road).

Councilmembers also discussed a separate property issue: the Park & Ride near Northview Drive, owned by the county revenue authority. Councilmembers suggested asking the county to declare the parcel surplus so Bowie could pursue acquisition, a land swap or a revenue‑share arrangement; staff recommended discussing that possibility in closed session because it involves property negotiation.

Councilmembers emphasized these are requests, not commitments from the county. Staff said it will formalize and forward the council’s top three priorities and continue discussions with the county office and state delegation as appropriate.

Next steps: staff will compile and transmit the three prioritized asks to County Councilmember Adams and follow up on whether the county will consider designating the Park & Ride parcel as surplus or engaging in a revenue‑share or joint‑ownership arrangement; staff noted closed‑session follow‑up may be needed for property negotiation.