The number of day laborers gathering in a parking lot next to Grace United Methodist Church in Gaithersburg had stayed fairly lean through the winter, the lack of outdoor manual labor limiting the number of "hornaleros" -- as these men of Latino descent call themselves -- to roughly a dozen.

But Friday morning, 27 "hornaleros" were waiting for work when the Rev. David Rocha, head pastor at Camino de Vida, a Latino ministry in Gaithersburg, visited the parking lot off Route 355. And the number will soon be increasing, as another 20 or more workers are set to return from temporary jobs in Pennsylvania, Rocha said at a Friday meeting of an informal committee working to help the day laborers.

After months of searching and negotiation, the committee is on the verge of securing a more permanent center.

The first draft of a lease is in the hands of the owner of a building that the city wants to use for a day laborer center, and July 1 is being eyed as a tentative opening date.

The committee hopes that the center's opening will mark a turning point in a history checkered by complaints and confrontations.

One recent morning, Rocha told the committee, an unruly member of an Alcoholics Anonymous program at the church confronted the day laborers to inform them that they were far from welcome.

"What we can do is have an officer speak to the individual, we can take care of that, that's not a major issue," answered Lt. Marcus Jones of the Sixth District county police. "I'm saying from our standpoint it's not major because we're just going to go in and basically tell this person what time it is."

The comment set off a round of laughter from the city and county officials and Latino community advocates on the committee.

More importantly, it resonated with the note of progress in a process that not long ago could just as easily been best defined by tension, even hostility -- a stark counterpoint to the morning last year when county police posted signs giving the day laborers three days to vacate the area.

The announcement of how close the center is to fruition sparked applause from the two dozen people at Friday's meeting.

But the committee spent the remainder of the meeting making sure not to get too far ahead of itself.

At 1,300 square feet, the proposed site is smaller than its would-be counterparts in Silver Spring and Wheaton -- enough room for a reception area, an office, some open space and bathrooms.

Accordingly, the committee agreed that, at least early on, the Gaithersburg center should focus exclusively on workforce issues, referring day laborers to other city and county services for help with health, education and language needs.

"Our facility is not huge. The location is fabulous [but] the building needs some work," said assistant city manager Frederick Felton. "We need to... get our operation up and running before we try to expand."

"We need to be careful that we don't overwhelm the project and it ends up being seen as a failure," added Catherine E. Matthews, director of the Upcounty Regional Services Center. Felton and Matthews have been the city and county officials most directly involved in securing the site.

Felton has previously stated that it could take some $20,000 and upwards of a month from lease-signing to get the building in working condition.

The city does not want to reveal its location until negotiations are final.

Funding for the building's purchase and renovation will be provided jointly by the city and county, Matthews said, though that exact balance is still to be worked out.

The committee is modeling the Gaithersburg center after one that will soon open in Wheaton, run by Casa de Maryland.

At its Silver Spring center, Casa de Maryland provides identification cards and monitors hirings to ensure that day laborers perform adequately and that employers pay and treat them fairly.

Casa de Maryland is not contracted to run the potential Gaithersburg center, for now advising the committee on day laborer needs and how to best set the center up.

In the meantime, Rocha wants to be sure that word gets out that things are changing.

"We [must] spread the voice that can help us, especially on the part of the contractors... let them know that now we are organized, that now we are offering not only 'hornaleros,' but a program."