September 2010 – Page 6 – Jay's Real Estate Blog

Deep Creek Lake Art & Wine Festival 2010

Coming up this weekend, the Art & Wine Festival:

(from their website):
Weekend Events

The annual Deep Creek Lake Art & Wine Festival, September 10-12, 2010, benefiting the American Red Cross, Western Potomac Chapter features beautifully handcrafted works by local and regional artisans, wine tasting from over 200 Maryland and national wineries, live music, children’s activities, wine pairing dinners, lodging packages, and more.

Friday, September 10- Wine Pairing Dinners
The Art & Wine Festival begins Friday night, September 11 with area restaurants offering special pre-fix wine pairing dinners. 2010 restaurants include Savage River Lodge, Cornish Manor, Uno Chicago Grill, Pine Lodge Steakhouse, DC’s Restaurant & Bar, Deer Park Inn, Santa Fe Grille, Cornish Manor, Mountain State Brewing Co. and Will O’ the Wisp to pair pre-selected wines with specially prepared dinner courses.

Saturday, September 11 – Deep Creek Lake Art & Wine Festival

TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE FESTIVAL LOCATED AT THE MOSSER ROAD FAIRGROUNDS ENTRANCE (Mosser Rd is at the traffic light on 219).

The Deep Creek Lake Art & Wine Festival weekend continues on Saturday, September 11, from noon until 6:00 PM at the Garrett County Fairgrounds in McHenry, Maryland.
•Artists: Over thirty professional artisans and craftsmen will display and sell their art, from handcrafted jewelry and wood carvings to oil paintings, and hand painted furniture and accessories. Click here for samples of some of the 2010 artists work.

•Wine Tasting: National distributors and Maryland wineries will offer samplings of a variety of over 200 wines to satisfy even the most discriminating tastes. For list of 2009 wines, please clck here.
•Celebrity Wine Pourers: Visitors who frequent the Deep Creek Lake area will have the opportunity to chat with locals who are elevated to a new status for the afternoon as they become the festival’s “celebrity pourers.” Past participants include State Senator George Edwards, Maryland Delegate Wendell Beitzel, County Commissioners Denny Glotfelty and Fred Holliday, and Oakland Mayor Asa McCain.
•Wine Shop: Guests may purchase the wines at the festival’s retail store (open until 7 PM), with net proceeds donated to the Red Cross.
•Food: Delicious sandwiches, cheeses, ice cream, salads and more will be available for sale throughout the day from Arrowhead Deli, Lakeside Creamery, Jearbryo’s, Knights of Columbus, Copper Kettle Popcorn Factory, and Deep Creek Sweets.
•Live Entertainment:
◦Travis Minnick : Noon – 1:30 pm
◦Dmitry Kubin: 1:30 – 2:00 pm
◦Brothers Short: 2:00 – 4:00 pm
◦Dmitry Kubin: 4:00 – 4:30 pm
◦The Remedy: 4:30 – 6:30 pm
•Silent Auction: The auction includes art, wine and wine accessories, jewelry, children’s items, gift certificates and other great finds. Auction begins at noon and ends at 4 pm.
•For the Kids: Kids too will enjoy the festival with free activities just for them including face painting, balloon art, wine bottle painting, carriage rides, moon bounce & much more. For an additional nominal cost, kids can bob for ducks at the American Red Cross Duck Bobbing Booth where everyone wins!

Ticket Info
Tickets for the Deep Creek Art & Wine Festival are $25 for adults, 21 and over and include entry fee, wine tastings and a commemorative wine glass. Admittance only is $5 and children five and under are free.

PETS
We request that you to leave your pets in the comfort of your home or lodging accomodations. The festival can get a bit crowded, especially around the tasting areas and can be stressful on our furry friends. We all love our pets and want them to be happy and relaxed. Remember, many of the rental homes through our lodging partners, as well as Wisp Resort, love dogs and are happy to accomodate!

Lodging Packages
Deep Creek Lake Art & Wine Festival lodging packages are available at participating hotels, B & B’s and resort rental agencies. The packages include entrance to the Deep Creek Lake Art & Wine Festival, wine tastings, commemorative glass and Friday night wine dinner gift certificates to be used toward wine pairing dinners at participating restaurants.

2010 Sponsors
The Deep Creek Lake Art & Wine Festival is sponsored in part by local & regional businesses including Wisp Resort, Long & Foster REALTORS, Inc., McHenry Beverage, Railey Mountain Lake Vacations, Constellation Energy, Taco Bell, Garrett County Chamber of Commerce, Clear Mountain Bank, Knights of Columbus, Maryland Life Magazine, Taylor-Made Vacations, My Bank First United, Lake-Front Magazine, NuWay Interiors, Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, Coca-Cola Companies, Pepsi Bottling Company, DeepCreekTimes.com, Little Mountain Promotions, Phenix Technologies, Junior Women’s Civic Club, Good Timber Bed & Breakfast, and MarketWorks, LLC.

Sunday, September 12, 2010
Sunday Brunch will be offered by these area restaurants:

Pine Lodge Steakhouse 10 am – 2 pm 301.387.6500

Savage River Lodge 9 am – 2 pm 301.689.3200

Cornish Manor 301.334.4617

If you are thinking of 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! 877-563-5350

Deep Creek Do It All specializes in cleaning services in Garrett County & @ Deep Creek Lake. Give them a call (301-501-0217) or visit the website – competitive rates and quality results from a locally owned & operated company!

No rain in sight, but not officially a drought

Officials say water supplies fine for now

Michael A. Sawyers
Cumberland Times-News Thu Sep 09, 2010, 08:01 AM EDT

— CUMBERLAND — An order to release additional water from Jennings Randolph Reservoir to augment drinking water in the Washington metropolitan area could come at any time, according to a spokesman for the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin.

“The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments could in a day or so declare a drought watch,” said Curtis Dalpra, the commission’s communication officer, on Wednesday.

Such a declaration triggers releases of water — already paid for by urban utility companies — from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers impoundment near Elk Garden, W.Va. Since July, only 120 or so cubic feet of water per second has been let out of the reservoir, according to the U.S. Geological Survey webpage.

One exception to that was the last weekend of August — designated for whitewater rafting — when flows increased to about 1,000 cfs for two days.

“That wave of water dissipates long before it reaches the metro area,” Dalpra said.

In spite of the lengthy period without rain, Dalpra does not anticipate any mandatory water use restrictions throughout the basin.

“Water supply will be adequate throughout this year no matter what happens from here on out,” he said.

Locally, drinking water does not appear to be in jeopardy.

In Frostburg, for example, City Administrator John Kirby reports that the liquid larder is not a concern.

“We have been talking about the situation every Tuesday morning at staff meetings and we are in very good shape,” Kirby said.

“Piney Reservoir level is dropping a foot a week, but we have substantial amounts of reserves there. Our springs and wells on Big Savage Mountain continue to produce 200,000 gallons a day.”

Stream flows are 10 to 25 percent of normal amounts for this time of year. Wills Creek at Cumberland had just 14 cfs Wednesday. The North Branch of the Potomac at Cumberland was at 173 cfs.

“We just can’t seem to pull any storms into our area,” said local weather observer Tim Thomas. “For example, last night it rained enough to stop the Pirates game in Pittsburgh and we didn’t get a drop.”

Since May, rainfall has been well below average, For example, the 1.45 inches in June was 2.33 inches off the norm for that month. July was down another .44 inches.

“It is going to take one of the tropical storms moving inland to change our situation, but looking ahead 14 days it is still dry,” Thomas said.

Agriculture officials and farmers say hot, dry weather is killing pastures, stunting hay crops and drying up water for livestock in parts of West Virginia.

Alfred Lewis with the federal Farm Service Agency said some farmers have been feeding winter hay to livestock already.

Mineral County farmer Donnie Alt said he’s bringing water to livestock that normally drink from creeks that have gone dry. He adds that dry weather has hurt corn crops and he expects smaller yields as a result.

Despite dry weather, none of West Virginia’s 55 counties has been declared a disaster area. Federal law requires severe drought for eight straight weeks for a county to be eligible for assistance.

Contact Michael A. Sawyers at msawyers@times-news.com. The Associated Press contributed to this story.

If you are thinking of 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! 877-563-5350

Sewage again overflows into Deep Creek Lake

Strings from cloth mop entangled part of pump, caused malfuction Sunday afternoon
Megan Miller
Cumberland Times-News Cumberland Times-News Wed Sep 08, 2010, 08:00 AM EDT

— OAKLAND — A sewage pump malfunction on Sunday in Garrett County resulted in a 6,400-gallon sewage spill near the shore of Deep Creek Lake.

The spill occurred in the area of 2739 Lake Shore Drive at about 3:10 p.m., when strings from a cloth mop entangled the pump’s float control device, according to Linda Lindsey, director of the Garrett County Department of Public Utilities. Because the float device was bound up, the pumps ran continuously until they overheated.

Sewage spilled across the ground and into a nearby stream that feeds into the lake.

“It basically saturated the ground, because the ground was so dry,” Lindsey said at Tuesday’s county commission meeting.

County officials were notified when an adjoining property owner heard an alarm at the station and called the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Management. That office paged the public utilities employee on duty, who went immediately to the scene of the spill.

Lindsey said the employee was able to correct the malfunction approximately nine minutes after receiving notification of the problem.

The ground was disinfected and the area cordoned off from the public. Buoys were set up to restrict traffic in that portion of the lake.

A public service announcement was broadcast on the radio Monday to notify the public of the hazard.

Water testing has been conducted daily since the spill and will continue until bacteria counts fall to acceptable levels, Lindsey said.

It’s the second major malfunction to result in a sewage overflow in as many months.

On July 11, an electrical malfunction at a pump station near the intersection of U.S. Route 219 and Lake Shore Drive caused 42,000 gallons of sewage to overflow along the shore of the lake.

In that incident, an electrical short prevented an emergency generator from supplying power to the pumps. The spill apparently occurred sometime before 7 a.m. and was reported by a neighboring property owner at approximately 9:45 a.m. County workers corrected the problem at the pump station by about 10 a.m.

Afterward, county officials committed to the installation of diesel-powered emergency backup pumps at three pump stations, including the two involved in the recent spills and another on the same line.

Those are the three pump stations that handle the majority of the system’s flow, Lindsey said.

Workers began installing the diesel pumps last week but were pulled away to repair water leaks elsewhere in the system. Lindsey said that had the diesel pump been online, Sunday’s spill would likely have been prevented.

She said her department tries to educate businesses and vacation rental companies about what materials can and cannot be flushed down the drain, but that doesn’t prevent all problems. Even towels and bedsheets have occasionally made their way through the system to bind up the pumps.

Contact Megan Miller at mmiller@times-news.com.

If you are thinking of 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! 877-563-5350

84-Year-Old Man Struck, Killed In Garrett County

Sep 7, 2010 8:01 pm US/Eastern

GRANTSVILLE, Md. (AP) ― The Garrett County Sheriff’s Office says an 84-year-old man was struck by a car and killed while he was crossing Chestnut Ridge Road in Grantsville.

William Homer Kamp of Granstville was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident Tuesday about 6 a.m. Authorities say he was struck by a car driven by 62-year-old John Neubert of Grantsville.

The accident is under investigation.

If you are thinking of 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! 877-563-5350

Swan Meadow School To Host 61st Harvest Sale

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Sep. 9, 2010

The Swan Meadow School PTO will host its 61st annual Harvest Sale on Friday, Sept. 17, at the Pleasant Valley Community Center.
This is a fundraising auction of farm produce, handmade items, and baked goods provided by families and students of Swan Meadow School, many of whom are Amish and Mennonite. Dinner food will also be offered as part of the evening.

Doughnuts made on the day of the sale will be available for purchase by 5:30 p.m. Caramels, taffy, cookies, fudge, and cinnamon rolls will also go on sale at 5:30 p.m.

Half and whole dozens of doughnuts and cinnamon rolls and gallons of apple cider will be sold under the white tent located by the entrance of the Pleasant Valley Community Center.

“This way, people who come to the Harvest Sale for homemade goodies have the option of purchasing them outside of the community center, then taking them to their vehicles before going inside for dinner and the auction,” said Elizabeth Gilbert, teacher.

Read the rest here.

If you are thinking of 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! 877-563-5350

Commissioners Issue Statement To Address Recent Public Claims

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Sep. 9, 2010

The Garrett County Board of Commissioners and county administrator Monty Pagenhardt released a statement yesterday in response to recent statements and opinions pertaining to Garrett County government financial policies and practices. The statement, in part, follows:
“The board of county commissioners appreciates the opinion of any person and believes it is important that no matter what one’s view of the issues may be, complete and accurate information is essential to a meaningful understanding and discussion,” Pagenhardt wrote.

The first issue raised in the statement has to do with the funding of the Garrett County Board of Education. The budgeted appropriation to the education board by the commissioners for Fiscal Years (FY) 2009, 2010, and 2011 was $23,159,000, Pagenhardt reported.

“There has been commentary that the appropriation of county funding for FY 2011 has caused the loss of 10 board of education employees, which is not correct,” the statement says. “An equitable funding level by the county for FY 2011 as compared to past years would allow for the same number of employees.

“It should be pointed out that state funding to the board of education was reduced from $23,629,775 in FY 2010 to $22,484,300 this year — a reduction of $1,145,475. The county also saw reductions in state revenue in the amount of over $4.7 million in FY 2010 and over $5.9 million the last three fiscal years. Therefore, the county did not have the financial resources to allocate additional funds to the board of education.

“However, the county has provided funding to the education board at a level equal to that of past years when funding to other departments has been reduced,” the statement continues. “In addition, the county has allowed the board of education to retain carry-over funds for the past four fiscal years. This action is contradictory to the adopted financial agreement between the county and the board of education, which states ‘…the board of county commissioners will appropriate funding in order to guarantee and maintain a fund balance for the board of education equal to $500,000. Likewise, the board of education will refund any county appropriated money in excess of $500,000 to the board of county commissioners.’

“The commissioners agreed to amend this financial agreement to allow the board of education to retain unspent county appropriations as a way to allow the board of education to compensate for the loss in state revenue,” the statement reads.

The commissioners’ document explains that there are five “formula levels” of funding to the Garrett County Public School System.

1.State Share of Basic Aid, which is based on a formula that includes the “wealth” of a county. The Wealth Factor is based on a county’s assessable base to include personal property, as well as real property, and net taxable income in that county.

2.Requested funding is forwarded to the county for review as part of the comprehensive budget process.

3.Approved appropriation based on an extensive evaluation of estimated revenue sources.

4.Maintenance of Effort Formula is based on prior-year funding and student enrollment.

“This educational statute was approved and put in place for very logical and rational reasons,” the statement says. “The Garrett County Public School System is experiencing a definite decline in student enrollment, yet the board of county commissioners has not based funding on this calculation, which would be less than approved funding.”

5.Actual expenses. “It should be noted that actual county appropriations to the board of education over the past four years amounted to $86,585,223.70, as compared to $88,299,160 originally appropriated, leaving $1,713,936.30 of county appropriated funding that was unspent by the board of education.

“Upon request from the board of education, the county approved a portion of this unspent funding to be redirected and allocated toward other programs and projects within the board of education,” the statement continues.

“There were no county government positions eliminated for FY 2011,” the statement reads. “There are six employees on long-term disability pending retirement and 16 persons who retired on July 1, 2010. The statement that positions were eliminated is not accurate.

“Employees who retire are not unemployed, and the announcement that positions were eliminated has a connotation of a lay-off or furlough, which is again not correct.

“The total cost of the 22 county government positions that have not been replaced is $1.388 million. If the county were to supplement the loss of state funding ($1.145 million) to the board of education, plus employ replacements for the 22 vacant county government positions ($1.388 million), the total cost would be $2.5 million, an amount that is not achievable,” the statement reads.

The statement says that in addition, the cost of employee salary increases was evaluated. Because of the associated total cost, there were no salary increases approved for FY 2011.

“This decision applied to all county government employees (classified service, union, contractual, and part time), the board of education, and Garrett College.

“An integral part of the budget process is to analyze the controls established to make sure that the county’s operating expenditures do not exceed operating revenues. This provides assurance that county government remains solvent without operating with a structural deficit. The majority of designated/carryover funds has not been directed for operating purposes but for investment in capital projects,” the statement continues.

Over the past 10 years, according to the statement, the commissioner board has directed approximately $23 million toward capital projects and capital outlay solely for education, to include over $18 million for the Garrett County Public School System.

“In 1996 when reserves were not adequate, the county bonded $4 million for the construction of Yough Glades School and to upgrade Wilson Road,” the statement reads. “Over the 20-year life of this bond, the county will pay $2.7 million in interest. Had the county continued with this practice and bonded the $23 million over a 20-year period, the County would have paid $11 million in interest alone. This $23 million does not include all other capital investments funded by the county over the past 10 years.

“Fortunately, because of healthy reserves, the county’s philosophy has been to pay for all or as much as is financially feasible of these capital investments with reserve funding. This has proven to be a prudent business plan. Bonding or short-term financial processes for capital investments are always a consideration during the annual budgetary process.”

The statement notes that a number of planned capital projects have been eliminated, modified, placed on hold, or deferred because of unaffordable cost estimates. These include the Wisp Adventure Road, a new County Detention Center, Public Works Administration Building, the Community Athletic Recreation Center, the Exhibit/Trade Center, and renovations to a number of public school system buildings and facilities.

“Any interested person is encouraged to review the county’s financial audits, bond rating reports, and other available documentation,” the statement says, “and compare this financial documentation to that of other local governmental jurisdictions. This review would demonstrate that practices of prudent financial management has placed Garr
ett County government in a very solvent position for the future.”

Read the full article here.

If you are thinking of 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! 877-563-5350

ServiceMaster Clean of Garrett County & Deep Creek Lake

Testimonial Alert 🙂

My friend Jon just purchased the local Servicemaster franchise, which handles carpet cleaning, water restoration, mold, etc. I was anxious to try out their carpet cleaning, as they have a coupon deal for $99 to have a couple of rooms cleaned. So, we got on the schedule and Ed & Mac showed up yesterday right on time to clean some carpets.

WOW. I can’t believe what an awesome job they did. We have a 3 year old boy (who is a tad messy) an 11 year old daughter, 2 dogs, 2 cats (ironically, my son’s name is Noah…) and we entertain a lot of friends and family. Our carpet has a ton of traffic on it, all the time.

Take a look at the photos below and you will see just how amazing of a job these guys did. It was quick, the guys were really friendly and engaging, and the citrus smell is still lingering through the house. I am really impressed. It was addictive to me, watching them clean it, so I also did a quick video to show my wife how dirty it was. She’s not thrilled about me sharing the ‘before’ pics with the world…neither one of us realized our floors were THAT dirty. But, it worked so well I wanted to share the results:

Here is the video:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN0OJlbdqIw&fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00]

Give them a call at 301-387-4846. Tammy will take great care of you!

If you are thinking of 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! 877-563-5350

August 2010 Real Estate Sales – Market Update

We had 32 home sales in the month of August 2010 (versus 29 sales in August 2009). There was a sizable increase from last month (26 total sales).

There are 67 homes under contract (sale-pending), up from last month (53). The record low interest rates and ‘late’ summer sales are probably responsible for a lot of this increased activity, but for whatever reason – it’s a very welcome sign. Another huge factor is the prices. It’s no secret – prices have dropped, in some cases tremendously. I think buyers are recognizing deals when they see them, though, and some deals are too good to pass up. By no means is the market ‘fixed’, but we are taking small steps in the right direction, in my opinion.

The average list vs. ORIGINAL sales price was 69.28% (which factors in an obvious error from an out of town agent who mistakenly claims $799,995.00 in seller ‘help’ on a $115,000 sale). The adjusted number dropping this out would be 87.31%, up nearly 5% from last month (82.50%).

The ADJUSTED list vs sale price is 91.80% (again, excluding the obvious subsidy error) – up 2%from last month (89.53%).

The current number of active/for sale residential listings (minus timeshares) is 775 as of today, down from last month (791). Making a little bit of headway is better than none, but that’s still a 24 month supply of homes available, based on the August sales numbers. I highly doubt we can average that many sales per month, so expect this number to remain high.

Random Observations:

There were 5 ‘newer’ homes that sold this month.
15 of the 32 homes sold for less than $300,000.
Highest sale was $1.750 million at the Blakeslee.
1 property sold higher than full price.
17 of these sales were lake area or vacation homes.
The rest (15) are primary residential homes scattered around Garrett County.
The days on market stats were significantly lower on average – newer listings are the ones selling vs. homes that have been on for a significant time. Sometimes, homes can appear ‘stale’ to buyers and they won’t bother to look unless there has been a recent sales price adjustment.

Here are the statistical breakdowns:

Average Sale Price: $367,780 (last month $321,685)

Average Days on Market: 163/182 (last month 150/302) (days on market with current broker/total days on market).

I’ll update this later this week with how Railey Realty fared in the sales numbers.

If you are thinking of 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! 877-563-5350

Local author plans book signing – Setting: Deep Creek Lake Maryland

September 7, 2010 – By NANCY TULLIS (ntullis@reviewonline.com)

NEW CUMBERLAND – Former Chester resident Lauren Carr will return to Hancock County on Friday for a visit to Swaney Memorial Library.

Carr has written three mystery novels, and will greet mystery enthusiasts and sign copies of her latest book beginning at 2 p.m. She will be at the library from 2-6 p.m. and will read from her books from 5-6 p.m.

Carr now lives in Harper’s Ferry. Her newest mystery is “It’s Murder, My Son.” Her previous books, “A Reunion to Die For,” and “A Small Case of Murder,” were set in Chester….

…”It’s Murder, My Son,” is set in Deep Creek Lake, Md., and introduces a new character, Mac Faraday, a bankrupt homicide detective. Carr said she didn’t move away from Joshua Thornton and Chester because she was tired of the character or the town. Her latest plot simply needed a detective rather than a lawyer at its center.

Read the full article here.

If you are thinking of 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! 877-563-5350

Construction of Garrett wind farm at standstill

Monday, September 06, 2010 9:53 AM

By Megan Miller, Cumberland Times-News, Md.

Sept. 06– Major construction on a Garrett County wind farm remains at a standstill more than one week after state environmental officials ordered a halt over violations related to water runoff and soil erosion controls.

On Aug. 25 the Maryland Department of the Environment ordered Annapolis-based developer Synergics and contractor White Construction Company to stop work on the site until proper erosion and sediment controls are installed.

MDE spokesman Jay Apperson said the developer was allowed to proceed with some electrical work Wednesday, but the stop work order remains in effect for any activities that require earth moving.

“All work may resume on the project when MDE determines that the site is in compliance with the approved sediment and erosion control plan,” he said.

Eric Robison, a local contractor and candidate for county commission, alerted MDE of problems at the site on July 29. Agency inspectors first went to the site on Aug. 3 and found “numerous” violations throughout the project, including some inadequate erosion controls and other areas of construction where there were no controls at all.

MDE told Synergics to stop all earth-moving work until the violations were corrected, and the developer agreed.

But in another inspection on Aug. 24, MDE found that Synergics had continued with some earth-moving work, like excavation to prepare for building windmill pads.

Frank Maisano, a spokesman for the wind power industry, said on Aug. 27 that Synergics would work with MDE to satisfy the agency’s concerns, but that no erosion problems resulted from work at the site.

“The fact of the matter is there’s no runoff issues related to that, and no environmental issues whatsoever,” Maisano said. “There have been no sediment control problems to date because there just hasn’t been any rain or anything like that.”

Robison pointed out that the area saw more than an inch of rain in August, according to data on Garrett College’s weather website.

“We had in excess of an inch of rain that occurred on a site that maybe nobody was monitoring,” Robison said.

“They might not be able to see the effects at the site, but that’s because they all ran downhill.”
Apperson stressed that the stop work order is temporary and called the violation “easily correctable.”

He said Synergics originally anticipated correcting the issue by Tuesday, but as of Thursday the developer was still “working up a schedule for the completion of the balance of the work.”

The Roth Rock project, as it is known, will consist of 20 2.5-megawatt wind turbines stretched across about three miles of Backbone Mountain near the West Virginia border. It is Garrett County’s second wind project, the other being developed near Eagle Rock by Constellation Energy.

MDE temporarily halted work on the Constellation project in late March, just one week after construction began. That stoppage was also due to insufficient erosion and sediment controls.

Constellation addressed the issues and revised its site plans, and was allowed to resume work by the beginning of April. The developer also paid $12,670 into the state’s sediment fund for the violations.

Apperson said he could not comment on the possibility of fines against Synergics because the situation remains under investigation.

In both cases, MDE was alerted about violations by members of a local wind farm opposition group called Save Western Maryland.

Maisano accused the group and affiliated groups of using similar tactics to “slow, delay or alter” wind power projects throughout the mid-Atlantic region.

“The fact of the matter is you have a naysayer, an active opponent … who’s sitting there watching every move waiting to complain,” Maisano said.

“The only thing I’ve been looking to do as part of Save Western Maryland is look at the regulatory process, look at what they’re supposed to be doing, and when we found that they weren’t doing what they’re required to do by law … we reported them to the proper authorities,” Robison said.

Save Western Maryland has also begun the process of taking legal action against Synergics for violation of the federal Endangered Species Act.

The organization gave Synergics official notice in a July 20 letter that it would sue for violation of the act unless the developer sought a special permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A lawsuit can be filed 60 days after notice of intent is given.

The letter stated that the wind project will adversely affect Indiana bats and Virginia big-eared bats, both classified as federal endangered species.

The group sent a similar letter to Constellation on June 23. A company spokesman has stated that Constellation will apply for the USFWS permit.

Contact Megan Miller at mmiller@times-news.com
—–

To see more of the Cumberland Times News or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.times-news.com

If you are thinking of 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! 877-563-5350

Month: September 2010

Deep Creek Lake Art & Wine Festival 2010

No rain in sight, but not officially a drought

Sewage again overflows into Deep Creek Lake

84-Year-Old Man Struck, Killed In Garrett County

Swan Meadow School To Host 61st Harvest Sale

Commissioners Issue Statement To Address Recent Public Claims

ServiceMaster Clean of Garrett County & Deep Creek Lake

August 2010 Real Estate Sales – Market Update

Local author plans book signing – Setting: Deep Creek Lake Maryland

Construction of Garrett wind farm at standstill

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