Bill Boos, the current president of the St. Michaels Board of Commissioners, came into his first elective office last year with minimal experience in local government but a tremendous amount in the private sector.
Most recently the owner and operator of Saint Michaels Yacht Sales, Bill settled in Talbot County after a long career in running both large and small companies, including the development of Radio Shack, Tandy Corporation, Blockbuster Video as well as the ownership of a number of golf courses.
With that kind of background, it is not surprising that Commissioner Boos would be focused on St. Michaels finances. And focus he did, by leading the charge for the first comprehensive “Repair and Replace” study of the municipality’s infrastructure needs over the next 30 years.
The results of that survey were sobering. The consulting firm’s report indicated that almost $18 million was required for the anticipated maintenance and improvement of the town’s buildings, sidewalks, streets and other essential capital projects to keep St. Michaels in tip-top shape.
The good news is that the town has over $7 million in reserves, thanks to St. Michaels selling its utility company to Choptank Electric a few years ago. The not so good news is that it will take some careful planning to use those funds responsibility without severely impacting tax rates in the future.
The report also called into question what the priorities would be for the town going forward. Did the residents want to start planning for an expensive plan to bury its powers lines underground or would it make more sense to replace the aging town offices and police station?
Those tough decisions have yet to be made, but in the Spy’s interview with Bill, he talks about the importance of financial planning as well as the Commissioners’ roadmap to reach a community consensus on how and what to plan for to keep St. Michaels one of the great gems of the Eastern Shore.
This video is approximately seven minutes in length
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