January Cheverly Town Meeting Updates

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AmyJean Chung Fry

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Jan 16, 2026, 7:04:34 PMJan 16
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Happy January Neighbors!


2026 has come in hot and I keep thinking of the song “wrecking ball” as the only way to describe the first few weeks. If you’re like me, hearing news about neighbors being kidnapped and seeing images of the brutality happening all over really has me shook. I don’t know how else to describe it, other than it has been a lot to process. If you want to volunteer or help our neighbors, consider donating to one of PGIRC’s go fund-me for ICE impacted neighbors or volunteering with The Storehouse who has been feeding neighbors in all kinds of weather.  Sometimes when it feels hopeless and things get scary, I am reminded of the quote to “Look for the helpers.” This is one way we can help our community in a time where we may feel paralyzed in our emotions. 


Here are some town meeting updates from the past several weeks!

January 15 Meeting 

Agenda can be found here 

You can watch recordings of all town meetings here.  

Annexation Charter Amendment

Prior to the meeting, the Mayor & Council held a public hearing on the proposed Charter Amendment related to annexing the Cheverly Hill development. This is the second hearing on annexation and I am confident we will continue to discuss this to move through the process properly. As I stated on the record from the very beginning, without the support and collaboration from our partners at the county and state level, this annexation will face challenges. We saw what happened to Bladensburg and how swiftly the state moved to stop them. We do not want to make the same mistakes as our neighbors. I have encouraged the Mayor to ensure he is having conversations with our state and county partners every step of the way and fully anticipate sincere and strong collaboration as we work our way through this. 

If you have strong feelings about annexation, I encourage you to reach out and share your perspective. You can email me at CMW...@cheverly-md.gov. There will be additional opportunities for public input as the process continues.

Hospital Hill Development (HHD)

The Town is still awaiting approval of the Preliminary Plan of Subdivision from Parks and Planning. Once that approval is granted, the Mayor and Council will have a 30 day period to provide comments, including those related to vehicle access. The application will also be scheduled for a future Planning Board hearing.

If you have not already registered as a Person of Record, I strongly encourage you to do so. Being a Person of Record ensures you will receive notifications about upcoming Planning Board hearings related to this project. You can register online, or you may submit your name, address, and application number PPS-2023-039 by mail with a written request to The Maryland-National Capital park and Planning Commission: Development Review Division, 1616 McCormick Drive, Largo, MD. 20774.

It is important to note that the annexation process is separate from the Preliminary Plan of Subdivision and does not directly address issues such as vehicle access.  

Swearing In 

We swore in two new officers and celebrated Officer Brown's promotion!

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Board of Elections Resolution 

We voted unanimously to reappoint David Thorpe and Anne-Claire Frank-Seisay to the Board of Elections Supervisors. Thank you to both Election Board Supervisors for continuing to be of service to the town. 

 

5801 Annapolis Road 

The developers of the proposed townhomes at 5801 Annapolis Road addressed the Council previously and were asked to come back before the virtual community meeting that occurred earlier this week. Having townhomes nearby could be an asset as we know that the state is facing a housing crisis, but there are always many considerations for any new development. I look forward to the developers returning at our next work session and to hear updates on this community meeting that occurred on January 14. 

 

Public Works Building 

Cheverly has received a temporary Use & Occupancy permit for the Eley building! We were able to host the first PGCMA meeting of 2026 this past Thursday.  Thanks to Town Staff for all your hard work to get the building open for the meeting, the continued work with Keller, and for making sure PGCMA went off without a hitch. 


PGCMA Meeting

State’s Attorney Tara Jackson was one of the speakers for January’s meeting alongside Prince George’s Community Collaborative Resolution Center. 

State’s Attorney Jackson spoke about how violent crime and car jackings are down and that there are new initiatives for repeat gun offenders, repeat juvenile offenders, and a truancy program that will be launching soon where the SAO will work with non profits to provide wrap around services to identified youth who have many truancies. 

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Budget Calendar 

It is budget season again! Do you have any specific priorities you’d like me to elevate?


This past year we did not raise taxes because we made some difficult decisions the years prior to raise taxes then to get to a balanced budget. Luckily, those hard but essential decisions that several of us made, put us in a good place for FY26 Budget season. 


The state is anticipating a deficit in the billions and the county right now is looking at about 58million, we will have to continue to tighten our belts as the feds have stated they will be providing less resources to states like ours for this upcoming fiscal year. 


What does this mean? It means that we have to have a very serious conversation of what our community wants and needs are and how that reflects in our budget. Nobody wants tax increases. NOBODY! Remember, I pay them too. But I stand proudly on our past budgets year in and year out because we have continued to provide services, paid our town staff while elevating a culture of appreciation and care, and subsidized many of our big projects with grant monies to make sure your tax dollar and mine can go the distance. You can’t be proud of a budget that you don’t fully support, and that includes the times we have had to raise taxes. 


I am not sure of the outlook for FY27 yet. I will do everything in my power to avoid tax increases but I will always tell you how it is, and be completely transparent and honest about what our financial outlook looks like as we contemplate constant yield for FY27. 


So let’s have a conversation now. Bring me your thoughts and concerns. 

 

MML Reception 

The Annapolis Legislative Session began this past Wednesday. Per usual, opening day is filled with a lot of energy and anticipation in the air. It is also full of receptions at different establishments all over Annapolis where electeds will hop from place to place. 


MML was hosting a free reception that municipalities were asked to sponsor. Because it was free, our state elected counterparts are busy attending multiple events, and a sponsorship would yield very little with our state delegation, I voted no to sponsoring this event. The amount was only $350, but considering the state and county deficits that are ahead, and so many are house, utility, and food insecure right now, I saw very little benefit to have our logo on a sign for a free event. 

This was not an anticipated vote, but because the council was not on the same page, the town attorney encouraged a vote for full transparency. It was a tie (1, 2, 4 voted aye, 3, 5, 6 voted nay, and Mayor tie broke with an aye) and the Town proceeded ahead with the sponsorship.


I bring this to your attention because during our conversations that night, I informed my colleagues that because so many of our neighbors have been dealing with a variety of issues from federal job insecurity to ice detainments, I would be asking for a conversation of how we can resource our neighbors during this uncertain time. Typically, that means financial resources. Again, I know that the financial forecast isn’t great and I also know that the present has been VERY challenging for many neighbors. If we feel comfortable sponsoring a free event, we should at least be having the discussion of how our dollars can support our neighbors. 


Youth Council Updates:

The Youth Council came to provide us there priorities that they saw as issues in their respective wards. I appreciate each one of their insightful comments. Levon, Ward 6 representative, brought awareness to the continued issue of traffic and speeding near St. Ambrose as well as the important need of an accessible pathway to connect ward 5 and 6 with the center of the town. 


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Outdoor Music Parties

Neighbors, throughout November and December (and even last week) there has been some music and noise coming from the area of Cabin Branch Road. Like I said in my last newsletter, I did track it down and with my own eyes, saw that there was a car meet up where they had HUGE speakers blasting music and sometimes even hosting a DJ.  These random car meet ups are hard to predict but what I do know is that it is happening OUTSIDE of Cheverly so we do need to call 911 and report it. Dispatch will push it out and while PGPD will respond, CPD can then support in those efforts. I want to give a big shoutout to our officers, because they have been diligent about driving through and shutting these events down, but for some reason, they keep coming back.  Hopefully, through CPD’s efforts with PGPD D3, we will get them to stop returning to this area. 


Cheverly Day 2025

This year for Cheverly Day, the committee is planning to host a CHEVERLY WEEK (9/18-9/26) to celebrate the 95th Anniversary. The committee would like everybody in town to participate all week long, including community organizations. They are hosting a meeting on Sunday, January 25th at 2:00pm in the Town Gymnasium to learn more about the special week. Want to volunteer or have a question? Send it to chvda...@gmail.com.  


Cell Phone Coverage 

I am so suspicious of these outages and bad phone coverage. This last Verizon one this week was intense. The town will be hosting a hybrid Community Meeting re: Mobile Coverage on Wednesday, January 21 at 7pm. This meeting should include all the main carriers.
 

Gym Floor  

Big shout to then District 5 and now At-Large Council Member Jolene Ivey (MY BOSS!) for making sure that the Town of Cheverly received a MNCPPC Project Charge to update our facilities with new gym floors. Project charges are a reimbursement program through parks of our tax dollars that are collected. Luckily, we were able to replace our gym floors and will be replacing our bleachers. 


Of course, nothing happens without issues. The out of bounds and 3 point lines are a bit off, some picklelines aren’t perfect, AND they did put the logo facing the wrong direction!!! I know. I know! But our team has worked things out and all things shall go the way they were intended AFTER the basketball season so as to not disrupt the 9AM - 10PM games that happen all day on Saturdays through March.

 

Pilot Compost Program Continues 

I love this compost program! The pilot is almost over and we will be discussing if we want to continue on. If you are currently part of the pilot, let me know how it's going. If you want to be part of the compost program, please sign up. This data is being used to determine how much the town needs/wants this service. 

 

Polar Bear Plunge 

The Cheverly Police Department is once again participating in a Polar Bear Plunge in support of the Special Olympics at the end of January. Please cheer them on! You can support them here: https://support.somd.org/team/787370  

 

Upcoming Events 

For more information about these and other events, check out the town newsletter 

 

Rev MLK Jr Day 

Monday, January 19 

Town Hall Closed and Services Suspended 

Council Member Ivey & Town of Cheverly Headshot Day

 

Blood Drive 

Wednesday, January 21 


Work Session

Thursday, January 22 

Eley Building !!!


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If you missed the Town Meeting on Thursday, you can watch recordings of all town meetings [here] or watch on YOUTUBE.

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Warmly,


Amy 🫰🏽💜🫶🏽


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