letter to the editor – Page 2 – Jay's Real Estate Blog

Closing Dennett Road would be major blow

Cumberland Times-News

My name is Kaitlin Shaffer. I went to Dennett Road Elementary School for five years: first through fifth grade. I am very distressed to even think about Dennett Road closing.

If Dennett Road closes, over 320 children will be taken out of a learning environment they are used to being in. Plus, they will be taken away from their friends, because the students of Dennett Road School would be split between three different schools.

The third graders would suffer the most, though. They would be expected to attend Dennett Road in third grade, a different elementary school in fourth grade, and possibly the Middle School in fifth grade!

Three schools in three years will not allow these children to make the connections with fellow students and teachers that they need to have a successful learning environment.

Now, onto the fifth grade situation. I have been informed that the Board of Education is thinking of putting fifth grade at the middle school in the tiny pods in between classrooms.

Those pods are five-sided and can fit 15 people in them at the max. There simply isn’t enough room or lockers for those students in addition to the sixth, seventh and eighth graders that are already there.

I also have heard that the second choice is to take the fifth graders and distribute them among Crellin, Yough Glades, and Broadford schools and close the schools the students came from. If this is done, the class sizes would be huge, which I know from experience isn’t good either.

I am in sixth grade honors classes at the middle school. My teacher’s job is made more difficult due to a very large class size of 29 students.

We have to learn lessons very fast so we can complete our state curriculum, and if there is something you don’t understand and want some help you are faced with a choice, go up to the teacher and wait for a long time because there are so many other kids in line.

Or, try to figure it out by yourself, which doesn’t always go so well. There is the option to go for tutoring in the mornings, but when there is homeroom, you sit in the back with about 20 people in the classroom.

If fifth grade is placed at the other elementary schools in Oakland, their classes will be much like mine.

In my fifth grade year, I had 20 students in my class and it was a lot easier to get help and learn because my teacher, Ms. Simms, didn’t have to divide her time between nine extra students.

I had a wonderful connection with her, because she simply had more time to get to know me.

So, if Dennett Road closes, those kids are deprived of that. And if the school closes, it doesn’t just affect fifth grade, it affects the entire community! Some excellent teachers will lose their jobs, everyone is forced to move somewhere else, and all the schools will be overcrowded. So it just causes problems for everyone.

I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to read my letter. I hope that the Garrett County Commissioners and the Garrett County Board of Education will truly consider my thoughts, as I am just one of hundreds of students who feel this way.

Kaitlin R. Shaffer

Oakland

$3 million would be better spent on schools, not ASCI

To the Editor: Cumberland Times-News

I am a local Garrett County resident, pay taxes and am a voter. I am very concerned about the finances of Garrett County Commissioners budget and the Garrett County Board of Education’s budget.
The biggest percentage of the locals in the county cannot afford to go to Deep Creek Lake to do extra activities.
The Garret County Board of Education needs $3 million from the county commissioners to keep the schools open that helps educate our children and grandchildren.
These are well maintained schools. Why close schools because people in the past did not make good financial decisions?
If the county commissioners do not fund the board of education to this capacity, our children will be cheated out of a good secure education. They will be put in schools that will be over state capacity and be in over crowded classrooms.
This means more discipline problems and less instructional time. Overcrowded classrooms mean our test scores will go down. This also means losing good young teachers. I really believe cuts could be made in other areas, starting at the top with pay cuts and unnecessary spending.
The county commissioners will be meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 7. At this meeting they will be making a decision whether to pay ASCI out of debt for $3 million. For anyone who doesn’t know, ASCI is located at “The Wisp” Deep Creek Lake.
I really believe this $3 million should be spent on our children’s education!
People, please go to the meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 7 and voice your opinion on this matter. Once they decide to help ASCI there will be no saving our children.
Remember, our future is in the hands of these children! Help save our schools!
Gerald “Jerry” Wilson
Oakland

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Buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland? Call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues!

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Keeping streams, waterways clean will help bay

The Times-News reported in December on Maryland’s efforts to reduce pollution in the Chesapeake Bay and how Allegany County did its part by submitting a local plan to the Maryland Department of the Environment (“State’s bay cleanup plan to EPA concerns clean water advocates,” Dec. 20, Page 1A).
More recently, I read that our legislative delegation to Annapolis has been talking about the importance of Chesapeake Bay cleanup and making sure funding is available to get the job done “Beitzel’s bay cleanup bill hearing set: Delegate wants Chesapeake funds used ‘for their intended purposes’,” Feb. 2, Page 1A).
But while we hear a lot about the need to restore the Chesapeake Bay to good health, we also need to remember how important it is to make sure our local streams and waterways aren’t polluted.
For example, after every large storm event we read in the newspaper about thousands of gallons, sometimes tens of thousands of gallons, of polluted water running into our waterways from combined sewer overflows.
Problems like these demand our attention and need to be corrected. This is what our local Watershed Implementation Plan is all about — identifying and implementing practical solutions that will correct real problems.
Here in western Maryland we are fortunate to have high quality water in rivers and streams like Fifteen Mile Creek in eastern Allegany County and the Savage River in Garrett County that residents and visitors alike can enjoy. Let’s be sure we protect these treasures.
I’d like to commend the team led by Angie Patterson in the county’s Department of Community Services for all the hard work they did on Allegany County’s plan. Work like this is often thankless, not easy to get done, and many of us in the community aren’t even aware that it’s going on.
Our rivers and streams and the Chesapeake Bay weren’t polluted overnight, and it will take time and effort from everyone to clean them up — and yes, money, too.
We appear to be off to a good start, but we know there’s more to be done.
Let’s hope our government officials will stay focused on the big picture — clean water in our local rivers and streams and ultimately in the Chesapeake Bay.
Dale Sams
Cumberland

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You should know more about Roth Rock project

I read with interest the article in the Cumberland Times-News entitled, “By 2013, Western Md. could have more wind turbines” (Jan. 9, Page 1A), by Elaine Blaisdell.
It stated that, “The Roth Rock project on Backbone Mountain was started by Synergics, but is now owned by Gestamp Wind North America of Houston.”
That is true, but your readers should know that Gestamp Wind is a multinational company based in Spain. Furthermore, the 20 Nordex Wind N90 turbines were made by another multinational company based in Germany.
These power plants are often built by smaller limited liability companies (LLC) that sell them to larger, sometimes foreign, corporations for their generous tax breaks. Taxpayers and electric customers are forced to pick up the tab.
Another interesting tidbit of information is that 80 percent of Roth Rock’s power output is sold to Delmarva Power, under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA), while the remaining 20 percent will be sold under two PPAs with dependent state entities, the University System of Maryland and the Maryland Department of General Services.
Wayne Rogers, the governor’s good friend, is president of Synergics. You can make what you want of this relationship and the governor’s support of wind energy.
What’s more, Frank Maisano, a wind salesman, described the Roth Rock project as well-done and said there has been minimum invasiveness to the land.
Mr. Maisano was quoted as saying, “It’s certainly not obtrusive-looking. Once people see the wind projects and get used to them, they will see there wasn’t anything to be afraid of.”
Well, I would urge you not to rely upon Mr. Maisano for accurate information. These projects are quite destructive of the land, requiring clearing miles of ridgeline for roads, turbine pads, etc.
Many acres of forestland that previously provided habitats for numerous wildlife species are often lost, and thousands of bats and birds are killed at these projects each year.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says 60 acres are likely needed per installed megawatt, or approximately 3,000 acres for a 20, 2.5-MW turbine, wind power plant.
Erosion, disruption of water flow, and destruction of wild habitat and plant life would continue with the presence of access roads, powerlines, transformers, and the tower sites themselves.
For a more honest appraisal, talk to folks living near these projects to see if people are getting used to them, as Mr. Maisano says.
You may get used to living near a pig farm, sewage treatment facility, junk yard, or dump; but, most folks would not intentionally move to one.
Gregan Crawford, a Garrett County commissioner, says that the Backbone project is noisy and that he can hear the turbines at his house 3/4 mile away. A major problem is that noise levels cannot be predicted before developing a site.
Unfortunately, there are still no controls in place to regulate wind turbines in Garrett County; hopefully, this situation will change.
J. Edward Gates
Frostburg

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Commissioners betraying citizens on fracking issue

I am writing in concern to a letter that was signed at the Jan. 10 Allegany County Commissioners meeting.

All three Garrett County commissioners have already signed this and last night Allegany County commissioners did the same.The letter is to Gov. Martin O’Malley urging him to expedite hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in Allegany and Garrett counties.

I feel very betrayed that my elected officials would push for such a bad thing without any public input on such an issue. One needs only to look to Pennsylvania to see the damage that the practice of fracking has caused.

Dimock, Pa., had its water supply ruined in 2008 from fracking and the residents have had to rely on the federal government to ship water in ever since. There are many other cases of water being contaminated in Pennsylvania and other states.

Also in recent months, Oklahoma, Ohio and most recently West Virginia have had earthquakes which scientists are saying come from fracking.

If fracking is so safe then way hasn’t the gas industry released to the public a complete list of chemicals used in the process?

Other bad effects that come from fracking include damage to the secondary roads from increased heavy truck traffic.The taxpayers are the ones who will be paying for such repairs.

The gas industry promises many jobs, but in fact produces few.

I could go on, but my purpose of this letter is to let the public know what their elected officials are doing without their knowledge. I feel the commissioners are thinking dollar signs and not about the long term effects this may have on the communities where this would take place.

In closing I would like to say that the citizens of Allegany and Garrett counties should have a vote and the final say on this hydraulic fracturing and not a handful of politicians who stand to gain a few dollars from it! Remember “You Can’t Drink Money.”

Shannon Winter

Cresaptown

More here.
Buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland? Call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues!

877-563-5350 – toll free

Other states pollute bay but don’t pay a ‘flush tax’

I found this letter to the editor of the Cumberland Times today and found it appealing:

To the Editor:
Cumberland Times-News

Our legislators decided to clean up the bay with federal money. Every resident in this state pays a “flush tax” bill. The flush tax has been one of Gov. Robert Ehrlich’s key legislative accomplishments.

The environmentalists have “cheered” it because it provides a means to reduce pollution from sewage treatment plants, which are key sources of nutrients that spur algae growth and, in turn, rob oxygen from bay water.

Three cities on the Eastern Shore have benefited from this tax. They are Elkton, Kent Island, and St. Michaels. Elkton officials reversed a policy against annexing land for development as soon as the town received $7.5 million from the Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay Restoration fund, which provides grants for sewage treatment improvements paid for by the tax.

A few days later, Elkton’s mayor signed an agreement allowing 2,500 homes to be built on cornflelds, wetlands, and woods next to a bay tributary. Everyone knows sewage rolls downhill. The sewage of the citizens, who live beyond the Continental Divide in Garrett County and are on septic tanks, flows into the Mississippi.

Senator George Edwards has informed me that the state of West Virginia is the biggest contributor of pollution to the bay.

The state of Pennsylvania has two sewer rivers running to the bay. Three dams are located on one of these rivers. The environment has estimated approximately 250 million tons of sludge has accumulated in these dams and nothing has been done yet to correct this problem.

I asked our western Maryland legislators these two questions: 1) If the surrounding states, which have contributed to the pollution of the bay pay no tax, then why do the citizens of Maryland? 2) What type of fraud or extortion is this? These questions have never been answered.

It saddens me to watch the arrogant spending of our tax dollars. I believe all of our politicians are out of control. What has happened to the common sense? Remember one thing, 150 years ago Jesse James stole with a six-gun and behind a mask. In today’s society our politicians do it with an ink pen and a smile and call it “taxes.”

What a joke we have become.

Edward Evans

Potomac Park

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Wind facility would threaten endangered species

To the Editor:
Cumberland Times-News

Dear Mr. Secretary: In light of the recent federal court ruling on endangered species, I am trying to understand the department’s position on current Maryland law which exempts any industrial wind plant project from comprehensive environmental review process (PSC CPCN hearing process) if its generating capacity is limited to 70MW or less.

You will recall that the department opposed the passage of this law, requested by Synergics President Wayne Rogers after he withdrew his initial 40MW proposal targeting the Roth Rock ridge in Garrett County when faced with endangered species conditions he found objectionable.

Under SB 566, which passed the General Assembly in 2007 and was signed by Gov. O’Malley, Rogers reapplied for an exemption, again for a project along Roth Rock, this time requesting to build a 50MW plant.

Synergics has argued that the PSC cannot consider in its “exemption” determination any issue other than “grid safety and reliability.” Current law, as I understand it, precludes any comprehensive environmental review, and thus the conundrum facing the Department.

Does the department agree that it no longer has any role to play in protecting threatened and endangered species as these might be affected by the installation and operation of 70MW or smaller wind projects?

Will it continue not to challenge the current PSC interpretation that, because it believes the Maryland General Assembly’s intention was to rescind any socio-economic or environmental oversight, it cannot deny permission to a developer of a 70MW or smaller industrial wind plant — even if the wind energy project might result in harm to species listed by DNR as endangered and thus heretofore protected under the State’s Nongame and Endangered Species Conservation Act?

In the case of the Mourning Warbler at Roth Rock, for example, a massive wind project could indeed remove this state endangered species from its only reliable nesting site in the state.

Interestingly, in Synergics’ original application for its Garrett County wind plant (Case No. 9008), the department filed extensive comments which expressly asserted and explained that the Mourning Warbler, protected under Maryland’s Nongame and Endangered Species Conservation Act, would be harmed.

Under the re-filed “exemption” application (Case No. 9191), there is no filing from the Department and no mention of the endangered Mourning Warbler issue.

As you know, I filed a request for internal DNR staff documents under the state’s Public Information Act, and was told that such records were “pre-decisional” and therefore not made available to me.

It may be that by ignoring the implications of federal law for Maryland, not to mention state law, the department is at risk for failing to implement and enforce the law.

As your expert staff knows well, Golden Eagles and other species of concern are placed at risk by any massive industrial facility placed high above the ridgelines of Maryland’s mountains.

John N.Bambacus

Frostburg

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Long & Foster Real Estate for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350

Category: letter to the editor

Closing Dennett Road would be major blow

$3 million would be better spent on schools, not ASCI

Keeping streams, waterways clean will help bay

You should know more about Roth Rock project

Commissioners betraying citizens on fracking issue

Other states pollute bay but don’t pay a ‘flush tax’

Wind facility would threaten endangered species

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