10+ inches of snow was enough to cancel school today in Garrett County. We wanted to play outside with the kids, and my wife had a great idea for us to try with snowmen:
10+ inches and counting in Garrett County
Category: deep creek lake
Road Trip: Deep Creek, Md.
By Chris Ramirez
Published: Saturday, February 23, 2013, 6:44 p.m.
Updated 15 hours ago
Tired of concrete? Need a nature fix?
Make a beeline to the Deep Creek area of Maryland.
There’s a ton of fun to be had in this wondrous spit of land, where rolling hills of greenery kiss up against shimmering sky-blue lake water.
And there’s plenty here to bring out the wilderness adventurer in you, even when the weather’s cold.
Freestyle skiing: Scott native is top candidate for first U.S. team
By Sam Werner / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Tom Wallisch remembers what it was like when he got into freestyle skiing.
Youths interested in the sport had a couple of underground videos to watch — if they could find them — and, once a year, ESPN’s X Games would broadcast the sport to a wider, but still niche audience…
…Growing up in Western Pennsylvania, Wallisch didn’t have the benefit of giant Colorado or Utah mountains in his backyard. His family owned a home at Wisp Ski Resort in Maryland, and Wallisch traveled there on weekends.Wallisch took to the terrain course, and started “slopestyle skiing,” focusing on rails and jumps.
“To me, slopestyle is so fascinating because a guy like me can come from a mountain so small,” Wallisch said. “It doesn’t matter the size of the hill, it doesn’t limit the slopestyle skiers you can produce. All that matters is whether or not you can build a terrain park, build jumps and rails.”
Fun things to do this weekend at Deep Creek
Goosebumps & Grapes
Event Description:
An evening of Fire & Wine. Presented by the Honi-Honi, Uno & Arrowhead Market. Co-Hosted by Long & Foster Deep Creek Lake Vacation Rentals.
6 pm – 9 pm. Pre-register for the Dunk and enjoy an evening under the stars at the 3rd Goosebumps & Grapes Wine Tasting all to benefit SOMD. Get toasty around the roaring bonfire and sample a variety of wonderful wines from Republic National Distributing Co., inside our heated tent. All wines will be available for sale at Arrowhead Market on Friday & Saturday, and $3 from every bottle purchased will be donated to SOMD. Admission: $20 donation to SOMD.
——
MSP/NRP Deep Creek Dunk
Event Description:
Join fellow dunkers by taking a quick dip in the Lake – all to support Special Olympics Maryland!
—–
THE HILLBILLY GYPSIES free show at Mountain State Brewing Co
Date: February 23, 2013 – February 24, 2013
Website: http://www.MountainStateBrewing.com
Event Description:
Get ready for a foot-stompin’ good time when our friends THE HILLBILLY GYPSIES come back to Mountain State Brewing in Deep Creek on Feb 23rd! Show starts at 10pm and, as always, is free. See you there! www.thehillbillygypsies.com The Hillbilly Gypsies are a West Virginia native string band who specialize in playing their own homegrown style of Appalachian old time music, mixed with a hard drivin’ bluegrass sound. In addition to their original material, The Hillbilly Gypsies play an eclectic mix of traditional and quite often, not-so-traditional bluegrass standards and catchy old fiddle tunes
Winter photo at Penn Point
HART to take bids for site
Garrett rescue shelter phase I expected to cost $2.2M
Elaine Blaisdell Cumberland Times-News
MCHENRY — A Garrett County animal rescue shelter, HART for Animals, is accepting bids for phase I of construction for a state-of-the-art, 12,000-square-foot facility to be located on Bumble Bee Road.
Phase I of the Homeless Animal Rescue and Transport for Animals facility will consist of a veterinary clinic, a boarding spa, a reception area and a small store.
The total cost of construction for phase I is an estimated $2.2 million with construction to be completed in midsummer, according to Michael Pellet, president of HART.
Phase II will consist of an adoption center and will begin once phase I is completed. The entire project is expected to be completed sometime this year, according to Pellet.
“It (the adoption center) is very important to the county. It will relieve pressure on the Garrett County Animal Shelter, which currently receives 1,200 to 1,500 (animals) a year but only has enough space for 40 animals,” said Pellet, who added that the project will create 35 jobs for the county. “HART provides education to the general public about the humane treatment of animals. Our goal is to improve the lives of domestic animals in the county.”
In 2011, HART held its groundbreaking ceremony for the first phase of construction. The site has been cleared and the foundation for the veterinary clinic, reception area and boarding spa has been completed.
The veterinary clinic will provide a low-cost spay and neuter clinic for low-income individuals, and the boarding spa will contain a grooming area, according to Pellet.
The project is being done through fundraisers and grants. So far, close to $600,000 has been raised and a $1.6 million U.S. Department of Agriculture loan has been received for overall construction of the project, according to Pellet. HART also received a $10,600 USDA grant and a $3,300 Economic Impact Initiative grant, according to a HART newsletter.
“One hundred percent of funds raised will go toward the building,” said Pellet.
Fundraising events include the Deep Creek Arts and Wine festival, which is the biggest fundraiser, and monthly poker tournaments and other activities, according to Pellet.
Money garnered from the operations at the facility, as well as money from continuing fundraisers, will go toward funding the adoption center. The adoption center will have the capacity to house 60 dogs, 30 puppies, 40 cats, plus multiple kittens, according to Pellet.
HART works with the Garrett County Animal Shelter to save the lives of homeless pets that would otherwise be euthanized.
To prevent the spread of disease, HART vaccinates all puppies and kittens received at the county shelter, according to the HART website.
Since its founding, HART has been transporting adoptable animals to animal shelters throughout the mid-Atlantic and on average has saved 600 animals per year from being euthanized, according to Pellet.
In November 2007, Garrett County commissioners agreed to donate the land on Bumble Bee Road, according to the HART website.
HART for Animals, which is nonprofit, was founded in 2003 by Caroline Robison and Candy DeGiovanni and in August of that year the IRS granted the organization its tax-exempt status.
Sealed bids for Phase I construction will be received by Pellet at the HART office located on 610 Foy Road until noon on March 5. Copies of contract documents for the project may be obtained at the office of Stoiber & Associates located on Connecticut Avenue in Washington, D.C.
For more information on HART, visit www.hartforanimals.org.
Contact Elaine Blaisdell at eblaisdell@times-news.com.
Garrett commissioners adopt watershed ordinance
Elaine Blaisdell Cumberland Times-News
OAKLAND — Garrett County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a Department of Planning and Land Development recommendation to rectify a conflict in the Deep Creek Watershed Zoning ordinance.
“Apparently, there have been over the years a course of hundreds of text amendments that have been made to the Deep Creek zoning ordinance,” said Commissioner Jim Raley during a public meeting held Tuesday. “I don’t want to see us be inconsistent with state law. I don’t want to see us doing things that are procedurally incorrect.”
The purpose of the amendments is to change two sections to make the ordinance consistent with Land Use Article 66B.
“I also want to make it perfectly clear that I want a full review, to the extent possible, of any text amendment that comes before us,” said Raley. “Obviously, I know there still has to be a public hearing.”
Raley asked the planning commission to review his comments and see if procedurally something could be put into place place to add a small hurdle to a text amendment.
“I don’t want to see the text amendment becoming a substitute for something more comprehensive,” said Raley. “… it can be easier to go with a text amendment change than it would be with a full zoning amendment. I do see some future text amendments on the horizon that I think can be very substantive.”
Both Chairman Robert Gatto and Commissioner Gregan Crawford echoed Raley’s sentiments.
“This doesn’t mean we are going to rubber-stamp every text change that comes through,” said Crawford.
The commission also voted, with Crawford abstaining, to adopt the Deep Creek Lake Shoreline Stabilization Projects Incentive Program. Crawford said the decision should have been tabled until the results of Phase II of the Deep Creek Lake sediment study are known.
“Without knowing the results … we’re looking at what we could do up front,” said Raley.
The program is similar to the sprinkler incentive that was adopted by the commission several months ago. The program will provide a $1,600 incentive payment for construction of a structure for shoreline stabilization, according to John Nelson, director of Planning and Land Development. The incentive will be paid with carryover funds from last year.
“I think the intent of the Board of Commissioners wasn’t necessarily to try to come up with incentive to cover the cost of the permit fee but actually the cost of that construction,” said Nelson.
“The incentive requires full construction and requires that the structure pass inspections by the Maryland Department of the Environment and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources,” said Raley.
The program is for the current fiscal year and, thus far, eight to 10 applications have been made for shoreline stabilization projects, according to Nelson. The program will encourage people to stabilize the shoreline to protect it from further erosion and sedimentation that is caused by the surface of the lake, said Nelson.
The commission also voted to give $500 to the Northern High School agriculture department to grow grass for the shoreline project and to allow Southern High School to be included, if interested.
Commissioners expected to decide on Deep Creek watershed zoning amendments
Plans for proposed wind project to be reviewed
Elaine Blaisdell Cumberland Times-News
OAKLAND — The Garrett County commissioners will decide today whether or not to move forward with a planning commission’s recommendation to amend the Deep Creek Watershed Zoning Ordinance. During the recent circuit court hearing on Bill Meagher’s mini-marina, it was noted that there was a conflict in the ordinance and that some changes needed to be made.
“This conflict between the ordinance and the state statute was discovered during the current litigation involving the zoning text amendment for the boat rental service business approved earlier this year,” wrote John Nelson, director of Planning and Land Development, in a December letter to the commissioners. “The Planning Commission has concluded that the discrepancy should be rectified.”
The commissioners voted at the Jan. 8 meeting to hold the public comment period open and delay the decision until today.
St. Moritz Properties LLC, Bill’s Marine Service Inc. and Silver Tree Marine LLC are suing the Garrett County Board of Zoning Appeals, county commissioners, Lakeside Commercial Properties LLC and William Meagher, owner of the Lakeside Creamery, in regard to previous amendments in the ordinance.
“Had the findings of fact been performed correctly and in a timely fashion, then the county would not be facing a lawsuit today,” wrote Carol Jacobs, president of Aquatic Center Inc. in a letter to the commissioners. “The findings of fact are required in every county in Maryland. If findings of fact had been performed prior to making a decision, in the mini-marina case, then the outcome might have been different.”
One of the proposed changes to the amendments would require the commissioners to make findings of fact that include present and future transportation patterns on the highway in the area where the purpose and effect of the proposed amendment is to change the zoning classification.
“The transportation pattern and the carrying capacity of the lake should have been studied,” wrote Jacobs. “The transportation pattern and accidents on Garrett Highway should have been evaluated. Public safety is now at risk.”
Aquatic Center Inc., Bills Marine Service Inc., Deep Creek Lake Enterprises Inc., Silver Tree Marine LLC and St. Moritz Properties LLC filed a petition for a judicial review of the county’s decision to amend text in the Deep Creek Watershed Zoning Ordinance for boat rentals. The mini-marina doesn’t offer any of the services associated with a marina. During a hearing in December in circuit court, Judge Jim Sherbin dismissed the judicial review. Also during the hearing a declaratory judgment and an administrative agency appeal were consolidated and a hearing was set for March 29.
Also on the agenda for today’s meeting, the Department of Planning and Land Development will hold a county review of concept and site development plan of the proposed Fourmile Ridge wind project in eastern Garrett County near Frostburg. Synergics has submitted both a concept plan and site development plan.
Both plans are part of the county’s stormwater management ordinance process, which requires three phases of submission.
On Jan. 14, Synergics Wind Energy LLC and Fourmile Wind Energy LLC filed a request for a waiver of a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity requirements for a tap line to serve the project, according to a Maryland Public Service Commission filing. Synergics is requesting the waiver be granted by April 1 to allow construction to begin immediately on the line.
Also on the agenda the Department of Public Utilities will provide a review of the western conveyance water and wastewater; approval of the Garrett County Hazard Mitigation Plan; and adoption of the Deep Creek Lake Shoreline Stabilization Projects Incentive Program policy.
The meeting will take place at 11 a.m. in Room 207 in the Courthouse.
Contact Elaine Blaisdell at eblaisdell@times-news.com.
Off-road permits at three new locations
CUMBERLAND — The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has set up three new locations to purchase off-road vehicle permits.
Permits will be available at Deep Creek Lake and New Germany state parks and at Savage River State Forest headquarters.
Wisp Resort Completes Sale
At the end of December, EPR Properties finalized their purchase of the Wisp Ski Resort. EPR Properties is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns several other ski areas. EPR has partnered with Everbright Pacific, an affiliate of Pacific Group, to run and manage the entire resort.
Wisp General Manager Tim Prather and his team will remain in their current positions which will provide successful and experienced management to the resort going forward. Pacific Group will bring its operations and development experience from ski and golf resorts in New England, Canada, and throughout the West to help Wisp as it expands its on-mountain services and associated amenities.
Several improvements are planned to the resort over the next several years with most of the concentration being focused at the mountain’s base.
An unrelated real estate company purchased most of the other undeveloped land atop Marsh Mountain including the Lodestone Golf Course and some of the existing subdivisions.
This news is good for all real estate owners in the Deep Creek Lake and Wisp area as questions of the resort’s future are now answered in a most positive way. As the area’s leading real estate company we can assist with all your real estate needs.
