Category:garrett county

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.

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Garrett County plans new facility at business park

Commissioners sign off on block grant application

Elaine Blaisdell Cumberland Times-News

OAKLAND — The Garrett County commissioners ap-proved the signing of documents regarding an application for a Keysers Ridge Business Park creation project during a public hearing earlier this week.

The application through the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development Block Grant program will provide $625,000 for new construction for job creation at the park, according to Frank Shap, acting director of the Department of Economic Development.

“The CDBG funds are available for the restricted use of job creation,” said Shap. “The $3 million project requires matching funds that will assist in the construction of a new 10,000-square-foot facility for a business to locate at Keysers Ridge park.”

The park has 224 available acres, according to the Economic Development website.

The CDBG program is a federally sponsored program designed to assist units of general local government with activities directed toward neighborhood and housing revitalization, economic development and improved community facilities and services.

Maryland’s program is administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development, in close cooperation with the Department of Business and Economic Development.

Also during the commission meeting, the board announced the appointment of Michael Koch, co-owner and board president of FireFly Farms, as the director of the Department of Economic Development. Koch replaces Jim Hinebaugh, who retired in September.

“We made a decision to move forward and form a committee in search of a replacement,” said commission chairman Robert Gatto. “It was a good process; we had an excellent committee. We had a good turnout of applicants. Many applicants were qualified and they (the committee) had a tough time making a decision.”

Koch thanked the commissioners; Monty Pagenhardt, county administrator; the economic development team and Hinebaugh for their work.

“I’m very pleased and honored to be joining the economic development team,” said Koch. “I want to commit to you all that I will use all my talents, energies, creativity as well as my business and personal network to these ends: Grow the size, diversity and health of the Garrett County economy.”

Koch said that he and the economic development team will have a threefold focus, which will include working to grow county business; working with the Chamber of Commerce to grow existing businesses and to attract new businesses; and working to develop new and enhanced county infrastructure and to increase county tourism.

“We’ll work to ensure that Garrett County secures its place as a regionally and nationally renowned destination,” said Koch. “We’ll be as transparent as the lawyers allow us to be with our community and do everything we can to encourage engagement and collaboration.”

Koch also plans on targeting specific business sectors that are aligned with the county’s assets and interests and leveraging the work of the ongoing county branding study.

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

Garrett marinas case heads back to court

Deep Creek Lake businesses file appeal

Elaine Blaisdell Cumberland Times-News

OAKLAND — The mini-marinas case will go back to Garrett County Circuit Court with a hearing scheduled for March 29. Two cases, a declaratory judgment and an administrative agency appeal were consolidated during a hearing Dec. 10.

Also during the recent hearing, a judicial review of the Garrett County Board of Commissioners decision to amend text in the Deep Creek Watershed Zoning Ordinance was dismissed.

St. Moritz Properties LLC, Bill’s Marine Service Inc. and Silver Tree Marine LLC are suing the defendants of the Garrett County Board of Zoning Appeals, the commissioners, Lakeside Commercial Properties LLC and William Meagher, owner of the Lakeside Creamery. The declaratory judgment will terminate the controversy between the businesses, according to the complaint document for declaratory judgment.

Each of the businesses owns and operates a marina in accordance with the ordinance, which requires a minimum lot of two acres for both a marina and a boat launch, according to the document. The minimum land area requirements in the ordinance are 10,000 square feet, but Meagher’s property is only 9,204 square feet, according to the document.

St. Moritz Properties LLC, Bill’s Marine Service Inc. and Silver Tree Marine LLC have also filed an interpretive appeal in opposition of the Board of Zoning Appeals’ decision in June to grant Meagher’s request for a boat rental permit.

The appeal states that, “the granting of the permit affects spot zoning and thereby denies equal protection and due process to other owners of property in the neighborhood.” The appeal also states that “granting of the permit will result in damage to the fair-market value of the other properties in the neighborhood.”

During the December hearing, the motion to dismiss the judicial review was based on the fact that the text amendment was not considered spot zoning, applying to just one small area of land. It was instead determined to be comprehensive zoning, applying to all land.

“The change in the text ordinance applies to every parcel at the lake, not just one parcel,” County Attorney Gorman Getty III said during the December hearing. “This is not spot zoning.”

Meagher planned to offer 12 personal water crafts and four pontoon boats as rentals as well as offer guided tours. He would use local marinas for services.

“We didn’t want to do sales. We didn’t want to do repairs. We didn’t want to do a lot of the things that the marina does,” said Mea-gher during the public hearing. “The only thing we wanted to do was a boat rental business.”

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

Thayerville water project progressing

Elaine Blaisdell Cumberland Times-News

OAKLAND — Work on water storage tanks for the $8.22 million Thayerville water system is 99 percent complete, according to Linda Lindsey, director of the Garrett County department of public utilities.

The distribution system is 50 percent complete and Frank Arnold Contractors has completed 45 percent of the water treatment plant/booster station, Lindsey reported during the county commission meeting Tuesday.

The project is separated into three construction contracts — the distribution system (contract 1), the water storage tanks (contract 2) and the water treatment plant/booster station (contract 2A).

Dutchland Inc. has constructed two concrete water tanks, a 1,013,150-gallon tank and a 156,000-gallon tank, according to Lindsey.

“They are both basically complete. The contractor just needs to install the air breaks on both tank overflows,” said Lindsey. “We will do a final inspection and that portion of the project will be complete.”

Piping for the distribution system has been installed in the Quarry, Fox Den, Leo Friend roads and the Overlook development areas, according to Lindsey.

“The contractor (Excavating Associates) is currently completing the main line and service laterals in the Mountain Side development,” said Lindsey. “They are planning on continuing to work as long as weather permits. The contractor anticipates working on the Glendale Road and U.S. Route 219 south segments after the winter shutdown. Basically, those areas require the availability of paving and we can’t work within the state roadway when there is any chance of a snow emergency.”

The distribution system project will likely be started back up in early April, according to Lindsey.

Dutchland has set a chlorine contact tank in the water treatment plant and the pipe work has been started.

“They are hoping to get block foundation up this week while the weather permits,” said Lindsey.

In 2009, the county commissioners approved the Thayerville water project and in 2010 entered into an agreement with RK&K Engineering for the work. The project was pending on 33 easements that were required from private property owners.

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

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River guides want more water released from dam over summer

They say low flow from Jennings Randolph Lake decimates trout populaton in Potomac’s North Branch

Michael A. Sawyers Cumberland Times-News

CUMBERLAND — The trout population in the North Branch of the Potomac River from Westernport to Black Oak Bottom has crashed since 2009, according to Harold Harsh of Spring Creek Outfitters.

Not only does that diminish river recreation, but it has reduced his business by 30 percent, the outfitter from Garrett County said Wednesday.

The impact on the business at Eastern Trophies Fly Fishing has been severe, according to owner and operator William Heresniak.

“From 2003 to 2008, we floated the North Branch 70 to 80 times each summer,” Heresniak said Wednesday. “This past summer we floated it only a half-dozen times.”

The culprits, Harsh and Heresniak agree, are the low flows released by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from Jennings Randolph Dam during the hot months.

“The low flows result in high temperatures that the trout cannot survive,” Heresniak said, adding that from 2003 to 2008, during higher flows, his flyfishing clients were catching and releasing 25 to 50 trout apiece per trip.

In July, Harsh checked the water temperature in that stretch of river, finding overnight readings of 71 and midday levels as high as 85, he said.

Enter The Greater Cumberland Committee, which has been asked by the guides to facilitate meetings with the Corps and appropriate officials from Maryland and West Virginia to create a water release schedule that will allow trout to survive the summer.

“We see the river and the trout fishing as an economic driver,” said Brenda Smith, executive director of TGCC. Smith has begun contacting officials such as U.S. Sen. Benjamin Cardin to create a conclave on the matter.

The river’s status as an economic generator was established in 2010 in a study by Downstream Strategies of Morgantown, W.Va.

Anglers who fish that portion of river as well as above the reservoir spend $3 million annually for products and services including lodging, food, gas and entertainment, the report claims.

“We’ve started to have a lot of fishers stay, eat and drink,” Fred Engle, owner of the Candlewyck Inn in Keyser, W.Va., told the Times-News in 2010.

Heresniak said flows of 400 cubic feet per second are ideal for fishing and trout survival. Monitoring stations managed by the U.S. Geological Survey this past summer showed flows through that stretch were usually about half that volume.

Ken Pavol, president of the Western Maryland Professional Fishing Guides Association and a retired Department of Natural Resources fishery biologist, said Wednesday that a formal, written agreement is needed, such as the one that exists between the Corps and the whitewater rafting community.

“A healthy trout fishery and the other benefits that come from it should not have any lesser consideration than a beach or a whitewater rafting trip,” Pavol said.

Don Cosden, who directs freshwater fisheries management for the DNR, said in an email response that “the addition of a beach on the lake … has introduced another demand on the use of the water. To keep the beach open, the lake level must remain at 1,455 feet or higher. This has caused the (Corps) to reduce discharge much earlier in the season and, at times, to levels well below what we feel should be the minimum.

“We believe that the fishery and the cold-water aquatic community should be given priority over the beach. An early beach closure may have impacts on the recreational use of the lake, but these are temporary. The beach can be reopened if precipitation increases later in the season and it certainly will reopen the following season with no long-term impacts. Trophy trout and other cold-water resources can take years to recover, with significant loss to anglers, guides, businesses and at increased expense to DNR for corrective stocking,” Cosden said.

Julie Fritz, the Corps’ Baltimore District chief of water control, said Wednesday that the agency has been working for years with federal, state and local entities concerned about the impact of releases on the downstream trout fishery.

Fritz said a formal written agreement about such releases is unlikely because recreational downstream fishing is not among the congressionally authorized purposes of the project, as is whitewater rafting, flood control, in-lake recreation and drinking water supply.

“The downstream trout fishing is an incidental benefit that comes from one of the project’s authorized purposes, that being water quality control,” Fritz said.

“When making releases, we consider the current water available, the time of year, the impact on all the project purposes,” Fritz said. “Each year is a learning experience in the hydrological and hydraulic sense and we make the best decisions we can for all the various user groups.”

Contact Michael A. Sawyers at msawyers@times-news.com.

10+ inches and counting in Garrett County

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:

Private party seeks to expand ATV trails on state land in western Md.

Garrett County recycling plan focus of March 5 public hearing

State requires program needed for schools, fluorescent light bulbs

From Staff Reports Cumberland Times-News

OAKLAND — The Garrett County commissioners will hold a public hearing on proposed amendments to the county’s 10-year Solid Waste Management Plan on March 5, according to a news release.

Amendments for recycling electronics, fluorescent light bulbs and recycling in public schools will be discussed. Although a program for recycling the items is already in place, it has never been adopted formally into the plan, according to Dave Baker, manager of the Garrett County Department of Solid Waste And Recycling. State law requires counties to have a plan that has been formally adopted, according to the news release.

The Maryland Department of the Environment requires that a recycling program be provided for schools and fluorescent light bulbs; the county is adding the recycling of electronics into the plan, said Baker.

In accordance with MDE regulations, counties are required to conduct a public hearing prior to amending their Solid Waste Management plans.

“There is a growing concern regarding the disposal of computers, electronics, covered electronic devices and video display devices in landfills,” said the news release. “These devices can contain hazardous materials such as lead, mercury and hexavalent chromium in circuit boards, batteries and cathode ray tubes.”

A program for the separate collection of electronics from residents, municipalities and businesses is needed to reduce the quantity of the electronics being sent to the landfill. A program may include computers and monitors, laptops, TVs, PDAs, peripherals, telephones, printers, fax machines, copiers, VCRs, camcorders, DVD players, CD players, calculators, typewriters and cell phones, according to the news release.

The county plans to use funding from grants or the solid waste and recycling enterprise fund budget to operate a permanent collection program for electronics.

“A permanent program should be initiated at one refuse and recycling collection site in Garrett County,” states the news release.

If funding is not available for a permanent program, annual one-day events to collect electronics for recycling will be planned if its economically feasible.

The county has a fluorescent, compact fluorescent and non-PCB ballast recycling program and plan in place, which has been approved by MDE. The department plans to use enterprise funds also to operate a collection program for residents for those items. The recycling program is free to county residents, however this may or may not change based on market conditions, according to the news release.

Immediately upon collection, all fluorescent bulbs, tubes and non-PCB ballasts will be placed directly into prepaid mailing containers provided by an independent recycling contractor; this method of storage will eliminate breakage, according to the news release. When the containers are full, they will be sent to the recycling contractor for processing.

All county public schools and Garrett College have recycling plans in place and are participating in a recycling program.

The board of education is responsible for scheduling the pickup of all recycling materials from each school in the public school system.

Copies of the language contained in the amendment and the proposed resolution are available for public review at the Ruth Enlow Library, county commissioners office, and the landfill. The information is also available at www.co.garrett.md.us.

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Local sheriffs support state association’s stance

For the Cumberland Times-News Cumberland Times-News

CUMBERLAND — The Maryland Sheriffs’ Association has announced that it is ready to work to create a safer community for all Marylanders through a comprehensive approach.

Gun control alone will not solve the problem of extreme violence. Society needs a thoughtful and comprehensive approach to this worsening problem, including addressing media violence, drugs, gangs and the breakdown of the family,” the association said in a resolution.

Garrett County Sheriff Rob Corley and Allegany County Sheriff Craig Robertson support the state association in its efforts to create safe communities.

“As the sheriff of Garrett County, I join the entire national community in mourning the senseless tragedy and loss of innocent lives in places like Newtown, Connecticut,” Corley said. “However, I, like many other jurisdictions, do not believe that the loss of constitutional rights, privileges and protection are something that should be lost or traded in the name of public safety in order to secure a false sense of security. I stand with the Maryland Sheriffs’ Association as well as the National Sheriffs’ Association in supporting and endorse legislation, which would strengthen public safety by restricting gun ownership from individuals who suffer from certain mental illnesses and with that same enthusiasm support tougher penalties for those who engage in criminal acts committed with fire-arms.”

Robertson also provided a statement: “I join my fellow Garrett County Sheriff Rob Corley and the Maryland Sheriffs’ Association in supporting legislation aimed at strengthening public safety for our citizens. In doing so we should aim our sights on keeping guns out of the hands of criminals and individuals not capable of comprehending their actions, due to mental illnesses. To do so, we must allow law enforcement access to this information in order to successfully complete accurate background investigations. Taking away a citizen’s constitutional right is not the answer. Unfortunately, acts of violence and gun violence have and will continue to victimize our community and our country. We all have an obligation to our families, our community, our citizens and our country to be engaged in securing our weapons from falling into the wrong control.”

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Developer says wind project deemed aviation navigation hazard, hopes to resolve issue

Synergics anticipates issue to blow over

Elaine Blaisdell Cumberland Times-News

FROSTBURG — A Federal Aviation Administration in-terim determination does not authorize the construction of any of the 24 proposed wind turbines in the Fourmile Ridge wind project in eastern Garrett County because the turbines are presumed to be a hazard to air navigation, according to a letter from the FAA to Synergics, the owner of the project.

The FAA doesn’t approve the construction of the turbines, even at a reduced height.

“There is a potential conflict with an existing but scheduled to be deactivated radar antenna,” said Frank Maisano, a spokesman for the Synergics project. “It is being worked out with the FAA and we anticipate a solution that does not entail moving the turbines or any changes to the project as proposed.”

Synergics intends to enter into commercial operations by Dec. 31.

The Fourmile project development schedule is not expected to be impacted by the FAA interim determination, according to Maisano.

The internal study by the FAA revealed that all 24 wind turbines are within 3 1/2 nautical miles of a Very High Frequency Omni Directional Radio Range and Tactical Air Navigation Aid, known as the Grantsville VOR, located in Avilton.

Interference may occur from large structures or power lines up to 2 nautical miles from the antenna, according to the FAA letter.

However, wind turbines are a special case in that they may cause interference up to 8 nautical miles from the antenna.

The VOR is used as a primary approach for the Garrett County Airport and is used as feeder fix navigation aid for the Greater Cumberland Regional Airport, according to Robert Armstrong, who currently flies for Allegheny Wood Products in Petersburg, W.Va.

Armstrong said that, although VORs are still in use, they are not being used as much as a primary navigation aid due to budget constraints and the existence of GPS.

If more than 60 days elapses since Feb. 5 without a resolution, Synergics will have to reactivate the study by filing a new FAA form, according to the letter.

FAA approval is needed before the county can issue a building permit.

Synergics has submitted both a concept plan and site development plan to the county, which are currently under review.

There is no time frame for the county to complete the review. Both plans are part of the county’s stormwater management ordinance requirements.

In January, Annapolis-based Synergics sought fast-track approval of the project from the Maryland Public Service Commission.

In that filing, Synergics Wind Energy LLC and Fourmile Wind Energy LLC included a request for a waiver of a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity requirements for a tap line to serve the project.

On Feb. 6, Synergics and Fourmile Wind Energy filed a revised request for a loop line to serve the project, according to PSC filings.

The revised request is still asking that the waiver be granted by April 1.

The loop line will include two steel, dead-end structures and poles located on a right of way already owned by the Potomac Edison Co.

The revised request also includes a construction cost increase from an estimate between $230,000 and $260,000 to $340,000 and $360,000.

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

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