St Mary's County Blog

A new website for the South County Business Association has been published. The South County Business Association represents our business community located in the southern portion of St Mary's County.


The slogan for the South County Business Association is "Visit South County". Using this easy to remember slogan, the South County Business Association published a new website with the domain name of: http://www.visitsouthcounty.com/ which takes you to the association's blog.

The organization decided to use a blog in an effort to control cost, flexibility and all of the advantages afforded with the use of a social media site.

Although the site is new, it has a large amount of information in reference to available resources for southern Maryland.

The Board of County Commissioners for St. Mary’s County announces that Derick Berlage has been appointed as the Director for the County’s Department of Land Use and Growth Management, effective April 15.

Berlage has over 20 years of experience in land use and zoning issues in Maryland and served as Chairman of the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission. In that position he was Chief of the planning and parks functions for Montgomery County and served as Chairman of the County’s Planning Commission. His career includes service in the private sector as a senior real estate attorney, and additional public service as Chairman of the Montgomery County Council’s Land Use Committee and Chairman of the National Capital Transportation Planning Board.

He earned his Law Degree from the New York University School of Law and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree from Princeton University. He is an active member of the American Planning Association and Urban Land Institute. “We are fortunate that Derick Berlage has agreed to lead this county department as we address important land use challenges and opportunities,” said Jack Russell, President, Board of County Commissioners for St. Mary’s County. Richard Hall, Secretary, Maryland Department of Planning, has worked with Berlage and added, “Derick Berlage is the right person for this job in St. Mary’s County. I have worked with him on the State’s Growth Task Force and he has been a great contributor; his experience will be very helpful as St. Mary’s County continues its efforts to manage growth and preserve its rural character.” The Land Use and Growth Management Department was created to enhance the quality of life for present and future generations through protection of the natural environment balanced with orderly growth, while ensuring our customers both guidance and effectiveness of the land use regulations. For more information about this department, log on to http://www.stmarysmd.com/ and click on Land Use and Growth Management under the Services box.

Note from Larry - The information above was provided by Karen Everett. Karen is the Public Information Officer for St. Mary's County Government

Our St. Mary's County Public Schools have a web based application called Home Access Center (HAC). HAC is tightly intergrated with the Teacher Access Center; the new electronic gradebook system used by our teachers. It is designed to be easy to use and equally as easy to share information between teachers, school officials, and parents.

The link that I am providing will give you access to the St. Mary's County Public School's webpage. On this page, you will find the HAC documentation and a video tutorial.

Here is the link: http://www.smcps.k12.md.us/students.aspx

Take care,
Larry