The offer to move the Town Offices to the community center came from the Frederick County Board of Commissioners. The County's original plan was to rehab only the second floor and the lower level of the building leaving the third floor an empty shell. When the Town Manager was asked if the Town would be interested in relocating and taking over the day to day management of the building, he brought the offer to the Mayor and Town Council. With the Town in need of additional office space, the council wasted no time in directing the Town Manager to negotiate a twenty five-year lease agreement with the County.

Our new office space gives the Town many more amenities to assist us in having a more user-friendly government. We will now have a reception area; conference room and a public meeting room which seats forty-five audience members comfortably. Our Town Office on East Main Street has one open room which is used to transact most all of the Town's private and public business with seating capacity at a maximum of 18 - 20 person tightly squeezed together. Our new office provides Town Commissioners with an office area where they may transact Town business. At our office on East Main Street, Commissioners must use an employee's workspace or take all work home with them to review and complete. By taken most all of their work home, it takes them away from the staff and other elected officials which prevents them from working through items together and discussing different points of view which may help with their decision making. The new office also provides the Town with an area dedicated to Planning and Zoning with drafting tables, flat files for storage of subdivision and infrastructure blue prints and additional filing space for current ongoing projects, eliminating the need to keep current files in boxes as storage.

The Town Office on East Main Street is approximately 1200 square feet, the new office space is approximately 5000 square feet. The majority of the additional space will be used to provide adequate office and meeting space. The remainder of the additional space will be used to provide additional space for filing town records, public restrooms, network server and phone room and room for some additional expansion as needed.

The Town Office on East Main Street will remain property of the Town and will be used by our resident deputies as a satellite Police Station.

Beginning with the March 2004 billing period, to provide residents with a more convenient way to pay their quarterly sewer/water/garbage bill, the Copy Center located in Jubilee's will accept payments for Town Services. Residents will be able to pay their quarterly bill with cash, check, charge or debit cards. Residents will also be able to pay their bills in person at the new Town Office on Seton Avenue, or they may continue to make payments by dropping them in to the mail slot of the old Town Office on East Main Street. We are also researching ways that residents may make payment via the Internet.