Category:garrett county

OAKLAND — The Garrett County Public School system is requesting $26,179,897 from the county for fiscal 2015, according to a budget presentation made by Larry McKenzie, director of finance.

The funding request is $820,897 more than the prior year’s request. The additional funding is needed to pay a portion of the costs associated with the teacher pension passback, which increased to more than $1 million, McKenzie said during a county commission meeting Tuesday.

“Since I’ve been here I have been accused of running the school system like a business — actually it is,” said Superintendent of Schools Janet Wilson. “It has to be run that way with our bottom line being very different.”

Capital requests include $582,400 for the design phase of the Southern Middle School renovation project, which is set to begin next year. In January, the commissioners approved the money for the design phase. The renovation will include a performing arts venue, a third of which will fit in the original footprint of the building, according to Wilson.

“This would be for a facility that looks like Mountain Ridge’s (performing arts venue) in terms of its size,” said Wilson.

Mountain Ridge has the capacity to seat 500 and is 9,000 square feet, according to Bill Swift, director of facilities, maintenance and operations at GCPS.

“We are the only county in the state that does not have a performing arts center,” said Swift.

Capital requests also include $415,000 for the Dennett Road maintenance pole building and $213,000 for lighting projects at several middle schools.

“It’s important to understand that $213,000 and the $582,400 were basically appropriated for in fiscal ’14,” said McKenzie. “Those aren’t really new requests.”

Aging Schools and Qualified Zone Academy Bond funds have been appropriated in the fiscal 2015 budget for several school-based maintenance and operations projects. The school system has applied for and received QZAB funds, according to McKenzie.

Funding sources include 54.25 percent local, 39.08 percent state, 6.33 percent federal and 0.34 percent miscellaneous funding. The 54 percent local puts the county over the maintenance of effort, which requires that the level of state and local funding remain relatively constant from year to year, according to Commissioner Gregan Crawford. The school system expects to receive $19,254,093 in state aid, which is similar to the amount received in 2005, according to McKenzie.

Locally, the county has increased funding to almost $8 million since 2005, according to Commissioner Jim Raley.

Contact Elaine Blaisdell at eblaisdell@times-news.com.

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OAKLAND — A rookie team of Garrett County elementary and middle school students, iLEGO, took first place at the Maryland State Championship and has been invited to compete at the Northern American Open Championship in Carlsbad, Calif., May 16-18.

The team is part of the Garrett County For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology First LEGO League and members competed against 72 teams from across the state at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County Campus.

Students attend Route 40, Broad Ford, Yough Glades elementary and Southern Middle schools. “Nature’s Fury” was this year’s theme, and the students designed and programmed a robot to complete missions on the playing field while focusing their research on preparing for and surviving a natural disaster.

The Champion’s Award measures how the children inspire and motivate others about the excitement and wonders of science and technology, while demonstrating gracious professionalism, according to Garrett County FIRST. It is determined by giving equal weight to all four arenas and competition — technical design and programming, robot performance, project presentation and teamwork — and additional consideration to the team demonstrating First LEGO League values.

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CUMBERLAND — Two bills that will impact education policy and finances in Western Maryland have won important votes, with time running out for passage of legislation in the General Assembly.

One bill would help school districts facing a drop in state funding and the other would remove an ex officio position from the Allegany and Garrett County boards of education.

The ex officio bill passed the House of Delegates 137-0 Friday. The Senate version of the bill, which passed 47-0, is already in the House.

On Thursday, the Ways and Means Committee gave the House version of the school funding bill a favorable recommendation. It’s not unusual to have bills filed in both houses of the legislature.

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OAKLAND — Maryland’s Enterprise Zone Program has helped fuel dramatic growth and private investment in Garrett County for more than a decade, according to the Garrett County Office of Economic Development. Contrary to conclusions released by the Maryland Department of Legislative Services deeming the program cost ineffective, the initiative has catapulted employment and capital expenditures throughout the county, according to county officials.

“We are extremely proud of our Enterprise Zone businesses. While the state may be of the opinion that the program is not cost effective, we have leveraged it to great results in Garrett County,” said Mike Koch, executive director of Garrett County’s Department of Community Planning and Development. “Maryland’s Enterprise Zone Program has increased employment opportunities for residents and assisted in the expansion of local businesses.”

Created in 1982 to combat national trends of overseas relocations and job loss, the program was designed to stimulate growth and improve employment within distressed areas of the state. Since its inception, Enterprise Zone businesses have qualified for specific tax credits in return for job creation and capital investments.

Within the county’s Enterprise Zones, the program has powered profitability, business growth and new industrial ventures. Between fiscal 2000 and 2012 in the Northern Garrett Enterprise Zone, employee numbers for the five businesses located there increased 26.5 percent. Capital expenditures totaled $39.4 million; real property assessments on physical improvements increased by 3,372.8 percent; and two of the businesses expanded multiple times.

“The Enterprise Zone program has expanded our economy in a powerful way,” said Koch. “Companies in the zone help us reinvent our rural economy, investing in capital expenditures and new employee hires. The Enterprise Zone program is the backbone of business growth in underserved areas across Maryland. It helps us stand tall and proud.”

The 12 businesses located in the Southern Garrett Enterprise Zone experienced similar growth. Between fiscal 2000 and 2012, employee numbers for these businesses increased 184.9 percent; business capital expenditures totaled $9.3 million; and real property assessments increased by 413 percent. Four businesses also expanded during this time span.

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CUMBERLAND — A bill that could help school districts facing decreases in state aid because of declining student enrollment, such as Garrett County, has won an important vote on the Senate floor that bodes well for passage in the next few days.

Sen. George Edwards is the Senate sponsor of the bill. Del. Wendell Beitzel is sponsoring the House version. The bill passed on second reading with amendments Monday and will likely come to a final vote in the next day or two. Additional sponsors have also signed on to support the Senate bill. Bills on second reading usually pass on a voice vote. Once the bill passes the Senate, it will move on to the House of Delegates.

The bill mandates the state to supplement shortfalls in the state aid formula. “For fiscal years 2015 through 2017, if a county board’s total direct education aid in the current fiscal year is less than the prior fiscal year, then the state shall provide a grant to the county board equal to 50 percent of the decrease in total direct education aid from the prior fiscal year to the current fiscal year,” according to the language of SB 534.

The state budget provides $1.7 million in aid for affected districts in fiscal 2015, according to a floor report on the bill by the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee.

“Under current law, direct education aid (as defined by the bill) in fiscal 2015 to Garrett and Kent counties will decrease by $928,200 (4.7 percent) and $262,000 (3.0 percent), respectively, a combined decrease of $1,190,200,” according to the Department of Legislative Services.

By mandating the aid for three years, legislators from affected counties will be able to avoid a yearly fight for special appropriations, as they have in the past few years.

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MCHENRY — The Garrett County Commission For Women will honor Nancy K. Learey and Brenda Snyder Brosnihan on April 5 as they are inducted into the Women’s Hall Of Fame. The breakfast event will begin at 9:30 a.m. at Dutch’s at Silver Tree on Glendale Road. Reservations are required.

This is the 20th anniversary of recognizing women who have made a difference to the people of Garrett County. The Commission For Women has been active in advocating for girls’ and women’s issues since its inception.

Learey has been in Garrett County for more than five decades. Originally from Philadelphia and the Eastern Shore, she attended Western Maryland College, now known as McDaniel College. She was a teacher and guidance counselor at Southern Middle School, then taught chorus at Southern High School.

As a passion, Learey has changed the way music and musicians are viewed in Garrett County. She was the founding director of the Garrett Choral Society, where she served as its director for 27 years. Learey insisted on the involvement of youth in most all of her productions. She is directly responsible for attracting nationally acclaimed artists such as Michael Horton, Jim Tong and Nancy Turrentine, who now call Garrett County home.

Brosnihan is a 1978 graduate of Southern High School. She attended Frostburg State where she studied health and physical education. She opened Brenda’s Body Shop in Oakland in 1980 and has impacted thousands of local students who have attended her classes. Brosnihan is a dedicated, equal opportunity educator who encourages movement, health and positivity without boundaries based on age, abilities or health issues.

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GRANTSVILLE — A River Road businessman who successfully sued the town of Grantsville will have his property removed from the town’s annexation plan.

On Feb. 7, Garrett County Circuit Court Judge James L. Sherbin ruled in favor of Rodney Youmans, who owns and operates Meshach Browning’s Cabins on the River at 315 River Road.

“I originally agreed to annexation because Grantsville said my property would be hooked to the town’s sewer line,” Youmans told the Times-News on Wednesday.

Youmans’ attorney, Robert Kazary, Cumberland, told the court that in 2006 the town sought to annex the land upon which the Goodwill Mennonite Nursing Home sits so that municipal water could be provided, allowing an expansion of that business.

During that process, some other private properties, including Youmans, were also included in the annexation effort.

In his written opinion, Sherbin noted that two annexation plans existed, with the first one in 2008 providing an extension of sewer service to Youmans’ property.

A second plan, filed in 2011, does not include that offer, Sherbin pointed out.

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CUMBERLAND — Bills that would allow voters to decide whether to expand Sunday on- and off-premises alcohol sales in Garrett County are being considered by the General Assembly.

The House Economic Matters Committee considered the on-premises sale bill on Monday. That committee will decide whether to recommend the bill move forward to the whole House. The off-premises bill was heard by the same committee Feb. 17. Together the bills would allow voters to OK sales at taverns and restaurants as well as package stores.

The bill was submitted at the request of the Garrett County Liquor Control Board. Some election districts already have Sunday sales and other merchants want to be able to do the same. Del. Wendell Beitzel introduced the bills. The sales would be allowed from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Sundays.

The Garrett County Chamber of Commerce also supports Sunday sales for alcoholic beverages, chamber officials said during a public meeting in December.

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