Garrett County Commissioners Hear Update Reports From Departments

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Sep. 2, 2010

The Garrett County commissioners received update reports on Tuesday from the Roads Department, Department of Public Safety and Emergency Management, and Heritage Management Plan officials. The commissioners also approved bids presented by the county's Purchasing Department.

Roads Department
Superintendent Jay Moyer, Garrett County Roads Department, reported that paving crews have laid approximately 18 miles of asphalt so far this fiscal year.

This includes some patching on Joni Miller, Shady Dell, and North Glade roads.

In addition, the entire section of Boy Scout, five miles of Oakland Sang Run in the Oakland area, one mile of Oakland Sang Run in the Accident area, and 1.1 miles of Monte Vista were paved.

Crews are now in the Grantsville area to do paving/repair work on Westernport Road. Moyer noted it was paved in 2007, but during the last few years, a tremendous amount trucking from coal mines has damaged 1.3 miles of this road.

"To bolster the integrity of the road, we put down a 3-inch base and a 1.5-inch surface over that, in anticipation of continuing truck traffic on that road," Moyer said.

The entire 2.3 mile length of Dorsey Hotel Road, including 300 feet in Grantsville, will also get a bituminous overlay, he added.

The superintendent noted that about one-third of the county's $1.5 million paving budget will be reserved for winter operations. If the funds are not needed for that, they will be used for spring paving projects.

He reported that Federal Emergency Management Agency officials are reviewing the Roads Department's request for reimbursement of snow removal/winter operation costs during a federally declared disaster period in February. The department is expected to receive $160,400.

Moyer noted that should help with this coming winter operations.

The superintendent also reported that the long awaited Bayard-Corona Bridge project is finally moving forward. The Maryland–West Virginia project has been in the works for 12 years. Moyer said construction will begin in the next building season and be completed in fall 2012.

Public Safety
Director Brad Frantz, Garrett County Department of Public Safety and Emergency Management, reported that the Emergency Services Club at Southern High School started back up this week. Students will meet five days a week.

"It does appear that we'll be able to teach them the entire First Responder Course through the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute," Frantz told the commissioners.

SHS teacher Todd Dyche is the club's mentor and will also instruct the course.

Frantz said Northern High School's EMS Club will only be able to meet one day a week because of class scheduling issues. He noted that the NHS club membership grew last year.

"Both clubs now really look like they're going full speed, and I'm very proud of that," Frantz said.
He said many of the members have gotten involved with local fire departments. Completing the First Responders Course will now enable them to volunteer for the rescue squads.

Frantz noted that some of the EMS Club members will be portraying victims in a hazardous materials training and decontamination exercise, scheduled for Monday, Sept. 13, at 7 p.m. in the Oakland town parking lot. Local volunteer fire departments will participate.

The director said the departments took part in a similar exercise about 1½ years ago. Since that time, however, Craig Umbel of the Garrett County Health Department has been conducting hazardous materials response training for the departments. Frantz said the upcoming exercise will be a good measure of the progress the fire companies have made since the first exercise.

Heritage Plan
The commissioners unanimously approved the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce as the entity that will oversee the Heritage Area Management Plan. Community Action will support the chamber's efforts.

Community Action president Duane Yoder and staff member Peggy Jamison and Chamber president Nicole Christian and official Joyce Bishoff discussed the issue with the commissioners.

Jamison reviewed the progress that has been made with the project. Garrett County was recognized as a Heritage Area in 2003 by officials with the state's Heritage Preservation and Tourism Areas Program. Garrett County is the last recognized Heritage in the state.

The purpose of the program is to link resource preservation with economic development and tourism, creating public/private partnerships to achieve lasting sustainability.

In order to be a certified area, however, the county had to first designate an entity to oversee the Heritage Area sites and plan.

The plan will address heritage preservation and tourism initiatives in the county by assessing capital and non-capital projects and programs; determining cost estimates and sources of funds for projects as well as the operation and management of the Heritage Area; assessing economic performance (return on investment); recommending a management platform and action strategies; and identifying Heritage Area boundaries and areas for targeted investment.

Jamison indicated that local organizations and individuals will have an opportunity to have input on the final Heritage Area Management Plan draft.

Plan consultants recommended that the chamber be the designated entity because it is the county's marketing organization for tourism, it has established public and private partnerships, it has a visitor center and already provides tourism services, it has marketing expertise and staff, and it has an existing organization capable of managing the heritage area.

For more information, persons may visit the consultant's web site: peterjohnstonassociates.com.

Bid Awards
The commissioners unanimously approved three bids on Tuesday: Daystar Builders, courthouse rotunda roof drain system replacement, $4,769; Joe Colmer Logging, $10,960.40, for timber harvested at Landon's Dam to make way for a wind turbine and at the King's Run refuse collection site for an expansion project; Thomas & Thomas Construction, $28 an hour and 12 percent markup on materials, general carpentry service as needed; and Axis Geospatial, $129,000, geographical information system (GIS) parcel conversion project.

Purchasing agent Brian Bowers noted that the GIS award was contingent upon the county receiving funding from the Maryland Emergency Numbers Board. The county's GIS specialist, Debbie Carpenter, seemed confident that the board would approve the entire $129,000 for the mapping project.

Read the article here.

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Officials revise Garrett hotel ordinance

Officials revise Garrett hotel ordinance

Sarah Moses
Cumberland Times-News

OAKLAND — With the original proposal rejected by the Garrett County commissioners, a revised amendment to the hotel/motel ordinance has been approved by the county planning commission.

“In general, I think we had a very good plan put forth,” Troy Ellington, chairman of the planning commission, said. “But (John ‘Smiley’ Kessler) raised some good points.”

The proposal, which was established to more clearly define a hotel or motel room, was submitted to the commissioners on Jan. 8. The provisions of the amendment to the Deep Creek Lake Watershed zoning ordinance would have defined specifically those hotels that have kitchen areas inside.

After the planning commission originally submitted its proposed change to the ordinance, Kessler, who is currently developing Aqua Mountain Resort, an indoor waterpark hotel, submitted further questions concerning the proposed provisions.

Taking Kessler’s questions, the planning commission approved changes to the original submitted proposal.

One suggestion was to ensure that the definitions included “rooms and/or suites” rather than “rooms and suites.” Another was to clearly define a room key as something that grants access to the hotel room, not necessarily a traditional key.

Also altered after the planning meeting Wednesday was the provision that said any room more than 1,000 square feet would be considered a dwelling unit and would require a 4,800-foot lot for each room of that size. John Nelson, director of planning and land development, explained the original intention of this part of the plan was to limit the number of rooms that would have kitchen areas, not to limit the size of the room.

The board agreed that only if the room did possess a kitchen and was more than 1,000 square feet, it would be treated as a dwelling unit.

The final change was made to hotel or motel parking for employees to ensure there is a space for each full-time position, rather than full-time employee, as each position might have three employees who work on separate shifts.

Karen Myers of DC Development suggested the planning commission consider the same policy for restaurants, as they also are likely to have the same position, but with employees within that position on different shifts.

Ellington said that was something that would have to be done at a separate time.

“There has been a lot of hard work on (the changes),” Kevin Potter, owner of Point View Inn, said. “A lot of people put a lot of time in for Garrett County on this process.”

Contact Sarah Moses at smoses@times-news.com.

GC Planning Commission Asks For Legislation, Moratorium On Turbines

GC Planning Commission Asks For Legislation, Moratorium On Turbines

Feb. 7, 2008
By unanimous vote, the Garrett County Planning Commission has decided to remove wording of county support for wind power from its comprehensive plan draft. In an 6-2 vote, the group also recommends that legislation be introduced that would give the county authority to regulate wind turbine.

Additionally, the commission members want the county commissioners to place a moratorium on wind turbine development in Garrett County.

Those decisions took place yesterday during the Planning Commission's regular monthly meeting at the courthouse. About 25 people attended the event, with several voicing concerns about how the proposed plan deals with wind turbines.

Some of the those same residents discussed the issue last week with the Garrett County commissioners, questioning why a paragraph about wind power needed to be included in the plan. They noted that the wording conflicted with the local Heritage Plan, which designates the entire county as a heritage resource.

The original paragraph in the comprehensive plan refers to a turbine project that has been proposed along the southern end of Backbone Mountain.

"While the county acknowledges the potential negative impacts of wind power facilities, it also recognizes the benefits, especially those related to clean, sustainable power generation, and the socioeconomic and fiscal benefits to the county," the paragraph reads. "On balance, the county supports wind pow-er at appropriate locations, provided any site-specific negative impacts can be mitigated."

The Planning Commission wants to remove that last line.

At their meeting last week, the county commissioners told the residents that the passage was needed because wind energy is a potential issue that needed to addressed. The commissioners were in Annapolis on Wednesday and were not able to attend the Planning Commission meeting.

The commissioners, however, issued the following statement this morning:

"The Board of County Commissioners has considered the public comments and recommendations of the Garrett County Planning Commission, specifically in relationship to the regulation of and a potential moratorium on windmills in the county. The Board of County Commissioners appreciates the role of the Planning Commission in addressing important planning functions and appreciates the advice that it receives from that commission.

"The Planning Commission has recommended the imposition of a moratorium on the location of windmills in Garrett County. A moratorium, under current county regulations, would require a moratorium on all building construction not simply the one area, wind power. The moratorium on all construction and the issuance of all building permits is, in the opinion of the Board of County Commissioners, not an appropriate remedy in these circumstances.

"The regulation of land use is a product of the power of the Board of County Commissioners to adopt and implement zoning regulations as a power delegated to the county by the state under the provisions of Article 66B of the Annotated Code of Maryland. Garrett County has accepted the delegation of power and regulates land use through the Deep Creek Watershed Zoning Ordinance in those areas within the watershed of Deep Creek Lake. Outside of that watershed and that zoning district, the county has not adopted comprehensive land use regulations through zoning.

"Land use in the state of Maryland has generally been administered on a local level. The Planning Commission fills one of the vital roles in the process of land use regulation. The im-plementation of or recommendation for additional legislation, as the Planning Commission has recommended, is a matter that requires greater study before requesting action by the legislature. As the Planning Commission understands, the regulation of land use under authority of Article 66B necessarily requires a comprehensive approach to all land use, not simply a single form of use such as wind power. It may be appropriate for the Planning Commission to consider the issue of comprehensive land use (countywide zoning) as a part of their role in local land regulations."