On Wednesday September 18, the ICB (Interagency Coordinating Board) held its third quarterly meeting at the CUPF main office in Rockville. The Board listened and weighed in on several issues ranging from fee collection procedures, Montgomery Parks field maintenance and more.
A couple of the Board members also opined on the draft of the Update to the Strategic Plan 2018-2021 Report they received ahead of their meeting from the CUPF Executive Director. The report is a joint initiative allowing both the ICB and CUPF to set priorities and mutual goals that they seek to meet within those four years, to fulfill their mission of facilitating use and access to public facilities. The Board’s next and final meeting of the year is scheduled for the second Wednesday of December 2019.
What is the ICB?
The ICB is a 12-member Board consisting of MCPS Superintendent, the County’s Chief Administrative Officer, Montgomery College President, or their Alternates, the President of the Board of Education, the Council’s Staff Administrator, 1 Citizen Representative appointed by the MCPS Superintendent, 2 Principals representing the Montgomery County Association of Principals & Administrators, 1 member from the Montgomery County Planning Board, and 3 Citizens representing the community. The ICB is responsible for setting policy and budget guidelines for CUPF. To find out how to serve on the ICB, please visit the County’s Boards, Committees and Commissions webpage at https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/boards/
This month we celebrate the ICB and CUPF 41st year of partnership as an Enterprise Agency within the County government that is responsible for permitting county public facilities for community use, and at a reasonable cost. Even today there are many people unfamiliar with CUPF and the community use program, which means they do not know that they can request a permit online via the portal known as ActiveMontgomery. The community use program was more esoteric when first mandated by County Council.
This organization was originally named the Interagency Coordinating Board for Community Use of Educational Facilities and Services (CUES), also known as Community Use of Schools (CUS), and was established by law in October 1978, the same year that the County Council and County Executive adopted the School Facilities Utilization Act.
Until 1985, 25-to-30% of CUPF’s annual budget came from the County General Fund while fees for permits covered the balance. Since 1985, CUPF has been 100% financially self-sustaining as an Enterprise Agency, meaning that CUPF is not supported by taxpayers’ monies, but generates its own revenues to cover operational costs.
The Agency’s first Director was Dr. Gail Ayers, who was hired between late 1978 to early 1979 and stayed at the helm until 1998. She was replaced was Ginny Gong, the proud daughter of Chinese immigrants and a former MCPS teacher. Ginny retired in May 2018, setting the stage for CUPF’s third Director, Ramona Bell-Pearson, a former County Attorney and Assistant Chief Administrative Officer.
At CUPF’s inception in 1978 there were merely 15 MCPS facilities available for community use. By December 1984 only two more schools were added, which could explain the earlier resistance by many MCPS schools to open their facilities for community use. It wasn’t until 2010 that all MCPS schools and other County facilities like the Silver Spring Civic Building-at Veterans Plaza would integrate into the community use program under CUPF.
Currently, 274 indoor centers that include 207 MCPS schools, and some 310 fields across the county are permitted by CUPF. So far this year, CUPF has issued over 25,000 permits; that’s 1,000 more permits than in 2018. Indeed, ICB-CUPF has been meeting the primary goal of making County public facilities more available for community use.
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Office of Community Use of Public Facilities
Montgomery County Government, Maryland
Phone: 240-777-2725
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