Frostburg State SGA Members Speak At City Council Meeting To Propose Formal Town-Gown Committee

On Thursday, March 15, the Frostburg City Council held their monthly meeting at the Frostburg Community Center located on Water Street. At the meeting, Frostburg State students and representatives of the Student Government Association (SGA), James Kirk and Benjamin Forrest, took advantage of the time allotted for public comment to voice some concerns to the Mayor and City Council.

Both Kirk, in his capacity as SGA President, and Forrest, the SGA Student Affairs Committee Chair, delivered speeches to the council advocating for the reestablishment of an active Town-Gown Committee between the City of Frostburg and Frostburg State University. Town-Gown is the term used to describe the relationship between a university and the city in which it is located. Currently, there is a proposal to change the Frostburg city code to strike the Town-Gown Committee from the code entirely. The committee has not met for several years; however, Kirk stated that the inflexibility and size of the committee may have led to its ineffectiveness in the past.

The speeches presented by Kirk and Forrest served to highlight the relevancy and need to establish a working Town-Gown committee along with a drafted proposal detailing changes to the current committee that may increase its effectiveness in the future. Details of the proposal include shrinking the number of members seated on the committee from the current number of sixteen members down to five. The proposed five-member committee would consist of one representative each from the Frostburg State SGA, University administration, the City Government, the Frostburg Community Coalition, and the Frostburg City Police Department. The meeting frequency would also be minimized, transitioning from meeting once a week to once a semester, with potential for additional meetings if necessary.

Kirk stressed the importance of forming a working Town-Gown committee, stating, “we have a long way to go in improving town-gown relationships, and this is work that should never be considered completed.” Meanwhile, Forrest accentuated the fact that, in time, there will be new members of the City Council, a new Mayor, and new SGA representation; therefore, forming a codified Town-Gown Committee is imperative to ensuring cooperation in the future.  Forrest spoke, “there will be nothing to stop any party, be they city leaders, university administrators, or students, from walking away from this progress and place of honest, effective, and welcomed dialogue,” if there were to be no formal Town-Gown Committee created.

The City Council as well as the City administrators appeared intrigued by the proposal offered by the Frostburg State students. Forrest gave City Administrator John Kirby a copy of the proposed changes to Article X of the City Code concerning the Town-Gown Committee. Both Kirk and Forrest spoke to members of the City government after the meeting, receiving feedback that implied coordination in the future.

The City of Frostburg and Frostburg State University have worked well together in recent years. Kirk offered Frostburg 101, the Frostburg Community Coalition, and Beautify the Burg as examples. SGA President James Kirk finished his speech by saying, “therefore, we believe a more manageable, yet codified version of the town-gown committee is critical to preserving a permanent and lasting bridge between students and city leaders, and we look forward to continuing the dialogue on this issue as the formal code review continues.”