Category: Uncategorized

The Garrett County Republican

MEYERSDALE, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) in partnership with the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA), and in coordination with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and the Maryland Department of Environment (MDE), are issuing a notice of availability for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), as well as, notice of a hearing to provide members of the public the opportunity to comment on the project for consideration in review of the Department of the Army’s (DA) 404 Permit Application, MDE’s Nontidal Wetlands Waterways Permit Application (24-NT-3200), and the MDE 401Water Quality Certification request (24-WQC-0043) for this project.

The 45-day comment period on these documents began Nov. 8 and extends through Jan. 11. The purpose of the public hearings is to 1) provide interested individuals, community associations, citizen groups, and government agencies an opportunity to offer spoken or written comments on the DEIS, and 2) allow the USACE to receive comments on the DA’s Section 404 Permit Application and allow MDE to receive comments on the Nontidal Wetlands and Waterways Permit Application and the 401 Water Quality Certification request for this project.

The project team is proposing a new 8-mile long, four-lane, limited access facility for US 219 from the end of the Meyersdale Bypass in Pennsylvania to the newly constructed portion of US 219 in Maryland, which opened in May 2021. Of the eight (8) miles, six (6) are in Pennsylvania and two (2) are in Maryland.

Pennsylvania Public Hearing

Purpose: This hearing is intended for the public and interested persons/stakeholders to provide formal testimony and/or comment on the DEIS and the DA’s 404 Permit Application (Permit # 2014-523).

Date: Wednesday, Dec. 11

Time: 4–8 p.m.

• Open House Plans Display: 4–5 p.m.
• Formal Public Hearing: 5–8 p.m.

Location: Salisbury Volunteer Fire Department Station 618 Fire Hall

385 Ord Street

Salisbury, PA 15558

Link: To participate in the hearing online, log in after 4:45 p.m. at https://bit.ly/US219-PA-Hearing-Dec11. The hearing begins promptly at 5 p.m.

Maryland Public Hearing

Purpose: This hearing is intended for the public and interested persons/stakeholders to provide formal testimony and/or comment on the DEIS, the DA’s 404 Permit Application (Permit # 2014-523), the MDE’s Nontidal Wetlands and Waterways Permit Application, and the 401 Water Quality Certification request for this project.

Date: Thursday, Dec. 12

Time: 4–8 p.m.

• Open House Plans Display: 4–5 p.m.
• Formal Public Hearing: 5–8 p.m.

Location: Grantsville Volunteer Fire Department’s Social Hall

178 Springs Road

Grantsville, MD 21536

Link: To participate in the hearing online, log in after 4:45 p.m. at https://bit.ly/US219-MD-Hearing-Dec12. The hearing begins promptly at 5 p.m.

An open house plans display is scheduled for 4-5 p.m. prior to each of the Hearings. The public can ask questions during this time; however, those informal questions will not be part of the public record.

The formal public hearings will begin at 5 p.m. with a formal presentation and testimony by PennDOT and/or SHA. The MDE (Dec. 12 hearing only) and the USACE will only be accepting testimony on the waterway permit applications. The public will have an opportunity to provide public and private testimony to a court reporter and/or written testimony after the presentation. There will be no response to comments by PennDOT, SHA, MDE or the USACE given during the formal testimony portion of the hearing.

Registration slips for both in-person private and public testimony will be available at the registration table on the day of the event. Public virtual testimony will be accepted following the live formal presentation. To provide virtual testimony, register in advance no later than Monday, Nov. 9, by 5 p.m. by contacting: Brionna Marks, KCI Technologies, Phone: 717-668-0413, Email: Brionna.Marks@kci.com.

There are three options for providing written testimony, which include:

• Filling out a written testimony form at one of the Public Hearings.
• Mailing in testimony using one of the self-addressed envelopes at the hearing registration table at either of the Public Hearings.
• Sending an email to Brionna Marks, KCI Technologies to the email above.

A Public Hearing Brochure is posted on the project website and at the local public viewing locations listed below. The brochure provides an overview of the project, including a summary of information in the DEIS and instructions on how to provide testimony.

The DEIS is available for review at the following locations:

Meyersdale Public Library

210 Center Street

Meyersdale, PA 15552

Phone: 814-634-0512

Ruth Enlow Library of Garrett County – Grantsville Branch

102 Parkview Drive

Grantsville, MD 21536

Phone: 301-895-5298

Mary S. Biesecker Public Library

230 South Rosina Avenue

Somerset, PA 15501

Phone: 814-445-4011

PennDOT District 9-0

1620 North Juniata Street

Hollidaysburg, PA 16648

Phone: 814-696-7250

Somerset County Library

6022 Glades Pike, Ste. 120

Somerset, PA 15501

Phone: 814-445-2556

FHWA – Pennsylvania Division

30 North Third Street, Suite 700

Harrisburg, PA 17101

Phone: 717-221-3461

Allegany County Library System – Frostburg

65 East Main Street

Frostburg, MD 21532

Phone: 301-687-0790

FHWA – Maryland Division

George H. Fallon Federal Building

Federal Highway Administration

31 Hopkins Plaza, Suite 1520

Phone: 410-962-4440

MD SHA – District 6

1251 Vocke Road

LaVale MD 21502

Phone: 301-729-8400

The DEIS and Public Hearing Brochure is also available on the project website at www.penndot.pa.gov/US219meyersdalesouth.

The Lady Huskies advanced to the Maryland 1A State Semifinals after a dominating 10-0 win against Surrattsville this past Friday.

Their semifinal game will be this Friday, November 8, at 5:00pm against Liberty High School. The game will be at Tuscarora High School, 5312 Ballenger Creek Pike, Frederick, MD. Make plans now as the Lady Huskies need your support, so get your friends and family and head to Frederick this Friday!

Garrett County continues to face unprecedented drought conditions and the wildfire threat has increased significantly in the last 2 weeks. Please refrain from burning at this time.

To reduce the risk of wildfires, the Garrett County Health Department, in coordination with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Forest Service and Garrett County Emergency Management, is instituting a ban on outdoor burning effective immediately. This burn ban extends to all regulated burning.
Campfires are not classified as regulated burning, but caution should be taken to lower overall fire risk. The public is encouraged to minimize potential factors for fire risk until environmental conditions improve.

Tips to reduce risk include:
🔹Do not leave campfires unattended.
🔹Utilize a fire ring or other containment device.
🔹Extinguish the fire when you are finished.
The ban will remain in effect until the county receives an adequate amount of precipitation or a ground cover of snow.  Questions can be directed to Environmental Health of the Garrett County Health Department by calling 301-334-7760 or by emailing environmental.health@maryland.gov.

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@deepcreeklakerealestate

It was amazing to see the northern lights in Maryland! We captured a little timelapse of the colorful skies! #deepcreeklake #deepcreeklakemaryland #deepcreeklakemd #deepcreekmaryland #maryland #garrettcounty #fyp #northernlights #auroraborealis

♬ Beautiful Land (Sape Dayak Borneo) – Helmy Trianggara

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