April 2011 – Page 3 – Jay's Real Estate Blog

>WNS Found In Garrett County Bats

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Apr. 21, 2011

Biologists from Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources have confirmed that white-nose syndrome has been found in a cave in Garrett County. This marks the third documented case of the disease in Maryland.

WNS is a disease causing unprecedented bat mortality across the eastern United States. Affected bats display a white fungus on their muzzles or other exposed skin. The discovery was made in a cave which serves as an important winter shelter, or hibernaculum, for hundreds of bats.

“This is the second new infected site we’ve documented this year,” said Dan Feller, DNR Western Region ecologist. “We now have positive sites in all three Maryland counties with bat hibernacula.”

A survey by volunteer biologists from Frostburg State University, working under the direction of the DNR, discovered the newly infected population. Three little brown bats and one tricolored bat submitted to the U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center tested positive for WNS.

At an infected site discovered last year in Allegany County, virtually all of the bats were dead, a level of devastation consistent with other affected sites in the Northeast. WNS was found in Washington County last month.

“We’re relieved that our surveys found several important hibernating sites still unaffected, including one of the largest populations of eastern small-footed bats remaining in the United States,” said Feller. “With the spread of this disease having been fast and unrelenting, the future of these sites is uncertain.”

WNS is a disease that has spread across mines and caves in 14 states and two Canadian provinces, killing more than a million bats. It was first observed at Howe Cave near Albany, N.Y., in 2006. WNS is caused by a newly discovered cold-weather fungus, geomyces destructans.

Under the direction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an international, interagency team is mobilizing in an attempt to slow the spread of the disease and find a cure.

Read the full article here.

If you or someone you know is considering 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! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.

877-563-5350 Questions about ANY listed property? I can help! Call me!

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>Grantsville bank robber gets max sentence: 15 years

>From Staff Reports
Cumberland Times-News The Cumberland Times-News Thu Apr 21, 2011, 11:48 PM EDT

— OAKLAND — Amy Colleen McBride, 47, Spring Grove, Pa., was sentenced in Garrett County Circuit Court on Thursday to serve 15 years in the Maryland Division of Correction for the June 2010 robbery at the M&T Bank in Grantsville.

Judge Jim Sherbin sentenced McBride to the maximum sentence for both robbery and theft, but had to impose the sentences concurrently under the law. He also ordered her to pay more than $2,000 in court costs.

On June 11, McBride was arrested for the theft and robbery of a teller at the M&T Bank. McBride entered the bank wearing a disguise and produced a note demanding all loose bills and claiming she had a gun. Once she left the bank, a customer followed her down the street and obtained a license plate number and vehicle description.

About 45 minutes later, her vehicle was stopped as it traveled south on state Route 495 toward Bittinger. Police said that McBride had discarded the money, the note, the bag into which the money was placed and most of the disguise items. A bandana described by witnesses was found in her vehicle, as well as a tag from a shirt consistent with the one worn in the bank.

Maryland State Police searched various locations where people had reported seeing the vehicle and three days later found the demand note. It was written in the check register for an account in the name of McBride and her husband.

McBride was found guilty by a jury following a two-day trial in March and a presentence investigation was ordered. She has been incarcerated since her arrest in June.

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Park-Service-ranger-recipient-of-Environmental-Education-Award

Blizzard honored by Appalachian Lab
For the Cumberland Times-News
Cumberland Times-News The Cumberland Times-News Fri Apr 22, 2011, 10:50 PM EDT

— FROSTBURG — Maryland Park Service Ranger Caroline Blizzard is the recipient of the 2011 Richard A. Johnson Environmental Education Award for helping elevate environmental stewardship and understanding throughout Western Maryland.

Blizzard was selected for the honor by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Appalachian Laboratory.

The award was presented Thursday evening at the lab by its director, Robert Gardner. The annual award recognizes local citizens for their outstanding contributions to environmental education and was presented to Blizzard for her work at the Deep Creek Lake State Park Discovery Center and her personal contributions to local schools and civic organizations.

“Caroline has set a new high-water mark when it comes to engaging others about the need to conserve and protect our natural resources,” said Gardner. “Her passion and leadership has helped bring the natural world into the lives of thousands of local residents and park visitors every year.”

Blizzard has spent a lifetime helping area residents and visitors better understand and appreciate nature. Whether through her work as a certified interpretive guide, directing the Discovery Center or developing the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Becoming an Outdoors Woman program, Blizzard has long been a regional leader in the environmental education field.

Since 2004, she has directed the Discovery Center and its interpretive programming and education programs. She and her team have worked hard to make the center a frequent destination spot and hub for people to enjoy and learn about nature around Deep Creek Lake.

“Caroline is an invaluable asset to our agency, to our state and to the thousands of visitors to Deep Creek Lake,” said DNR Secretary John Griffin, “Through her dedication to the Maryland Park Service and natural resources education, visitors can better relate to — and appreciate — what makes our state unique.”

As a monarch ambassador, Blizzard has helped establish monarch butterfly “way stations” at area schools where students annually tag and release more than 800 butterflies and learn about their migration to butterfly sanctuaries in Mexico. Blizzard photographs the butterflies in Mexico to create lessons for the classrooms. This year, teachers traveled with her to directly link the classrooms via Internet video, pen pal letters and on-site visits.

Her nature photography can be viewed around the area in various venues, including the Four Storm Artists Gallery that she founded along with her family. She is also involved with numerous area organizations, including the Garrett Natural History Association, Garrett Trails, the American Cancer Society and several local civic and garden clubs.

The award honors the memory of Richard A. Johnson, a well-known orthopedic surgeon in the Allegany County area who died in 1990, leaving a legacy of a caring and dedicated physician, family man and naturalist. It provides $1,500 to support environmental education activities, which this year will go to the Western Garrett County State Park Volunteers.

An endowed fund to support the Johnson Award has been established at the University System of Maryland Foundation. Contributors include AES Western Maryland Management Co. LLC, Allegheny Power, NewPage Corp., Mettiki Coal Corp. and numerous private citizens and other organizations.

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>Constant Yield Hearing Slated This Evening

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Apr. 21, 2011

The Garrett County commissioners will hold a constant yield hearing this evening, Thursday, April 21, in the Garrett College auditorium at 7 p.m.
A hearing is required whenever a Maryland jurisdiction is considering not reducing its real property tax rate enough to fully offset increasing assessments.

The commissioners are proposing to keep the current real property tax rate at $.99 per $100 of assessment in fiscal year 2012. This tax rate is .3 percent higher than the constant yield tax rate and is expected to generate $119,903 in additional property tax revenues.

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>Its in the Bag – Lobster Dinner Fundraiser

>This is a GREAT cause, one that I intend to get further involved with personally. There is a flyer attached here with all the details, but here are the basics of the program:

There are certain at-risk children (in Garrett County schools) who are on the free or reduced breakfast & lunch program and that is their MAIN MEAL for the DAY. This program ensures that these kids have an opportunity to take home a backpack loaded with food on Fridays, to ensure that they have something to eat over the weekend.

This benefit dinner will help to further fund the ‘It’s in the Bag Program’. The meal cost has all been donated, from what I understand, and all the proceeds will go to fund the program.

Saturday
April 30, 2011
5pm – 8pm
Accident Elementary School
Rev. R Samuel Wachter – 301-387-6832 or 412-335-7397
rswachter@verizon.net

More details on the attached flyer.

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>Governor Martin O'Malley Announces Task Force to Examine Septic Pollution

>Yesterday, Governor O’Malley established a task force to study curbing pollution of the Chesapeake Bay from septic systems, saying he hoped it would help overcome concerns about the legislation he pushed unsuccessfully this year that would have banned large housing developments that depend on septic systems.

The Governor’s efforts to limit major housing developments using septic systems failed to get out of committee this past legislative session after rural lawmakers, farmers and developers raised an outcry, warning that it would limit growth and cost jobs in the state’s rural and suburban counties.

The task force includes representatives from the development and real estate community. I imagine we should soon hear from MAR regarding their involvement and to what extent that will be.

A copy of the executive order can be viewed online at…

http://www.governor.maryland.gov/executiveorders/01.01.2011.05.pdf

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>Cabin in the woods – 400 Bear Rd – GA7531520

400 BEAR RD
OAKLAND, MD 21550

Weekend get-away with little worry; a real Mountaineer log cabin in the woods! One level finished and dry basement already plumbed and ready for bathroom and additional bedrooms. Living area has hardwood floor, log walls and ceiling. Large deck. Gated community where residents enjoy fishing in the river, riding ATV’s and cross country skiing in the winter. Two State Parks are minutes away.

Contact Jay Ferguson @ 301-501-0420 or DeepCreekLaker@Gmail.com for more information or to setup a private showing for this property.

Listing # GA7531520
$95,000

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>Upcoming Marcellus Shale events

>MSNG Advisory Committee Meeting
April 26, 2011, 4:30 PM Garrett County Hesalth Dept. 1st floor meeting room

Marcellus Shale Farm Walk
May 7, 2011, 12:00 noon
Clark Farm, 11257 Mason Dixon Hwy, Burton, WV
To RSVP Contact the WVU-Monongalia County Extension Service at 304-291-7201

Fundamentals of Natural Gas Exploration and Leasing
May 10, 2011, 6:30 pm
Agricultural Science South, Room 1021, WVU Evansdale Campus, Morgantown, WV
Learn more at http://anr.ext.wvu.edu/oil_gas

Marcellus Shale Webinar – Agricultural Potential Impacts
May 11, 2011, 1:00 – 3:30 pm
This webinar will focus on the potential impacts on agriculture from Marcellus drilling and how they can be mitigated . George Frantz from Cornell University, Ken Smith from Cornell Cooperative Extension in Chenango County, and Judy Wright from the American Farmland Trust will present.

More information can be obtained from the county’s web site at http://marcellusshale.garrettcounty.org/

877-563-5350 Questions about ANY listed property? I can help! Call me!

Visit the ‘I Love Deep Creek & Garrett County group’ on Facebook! News, events, photos, real estate, community, info, more! 1,750+ members & growing!

>April 21 Public Hearing – county real property tax rate

>The County Commissioners will be holding a public hearing on the county’s Fiscal Year 2012 Constant Yield Tax Rate this coming Thursday at 7:00 PM in Room FA715, Fine Arts Building Auditorium at Garrett College. The hearing is open to the public and public testimony is encouraged.

The Commissioners are considering not reducing the county’s real property tax rate enough to fully offset increasing property assessments. The County proposes to adopt a real property tax rate of $0.990 per $100 of assessment. This tax rate is 0.3% higher than the constant yield tax rate of $0.9874 and will generate $119,903 in additional property tax revenues.

The county’s overall real property assessable tax base is estimated to increase 0.3% for the tax year beginning July 1, 2011. In dollars, that increase is estimated to be from the current base of $4,533,348,242 to a new assessable base of $4,545,459,693.

The County’s proposed 2012 budget can be viewed online at

http://garrettcounty.org/Commissioners/budget12/2012Requested.pdf

877-563-5350 Questions about ANY listed property? I can help! Call me!

Visit the ‘I Love Deep Creek & Garrett County group’ on Facebook! News, events, photos, real estate, community, info, more! 1,750+ members & growing!

>Deadly bat disease found in Garrett cave

>Site third in Maryland to be infected by white-nose syndrome
For the Cumberland Times-News
The Cumberland Times-News Fri Apr 15, 2011, 11:06 PM EDT

— CUMBERLAND — Maryland Department of Natural Resources biologists have confirmed that white-nose syndrome has been found in a cave in Garrett County, the third documented case of the disease in Maryland.

The cave serves as an important winter shelter or hibernaculum for hundreds of bats. The disease has caused unprecedented bat mortality across the eastern U.S. Affected bats display a white fungus on their muzzles or other exposed skin.

“This is the second new infected site we’ve documented this year,” said Dan Feller, DNR’s Western Region ecologist. “We now have positive sites in all three Maryland counties with bat hibernacula.”

A survey by volunteer biologists from Frostburg State University, working under the direction of DNR, discovered the newly infected population. Three little brown bats and one tricolored bat submitted to the U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center tested positive for for the disease.

At an infected site discovered last year in Allegany County, virtually all of the bats were dead, a level of devastation similar to other affected sites in the Northeast. The disease was found in Washington County last month.

“We’re relieved that our surveys found several important hibernating sites still unaffected, including one of the largest populations of eastern small-footed bats remaining in the United States,” said Feller. “But with the spread of this disease having been fast and unrelenting, the future of these sites is uncertain.”

The disease has spread across mines and caves in 14 states and two Canadian provinces, killing more than a million bats. It was first observed at Howe Cave near Albany, N.Y., in 2006. It is caused by a newly discovered cold-weather fungus, Geomyces destructans.

Under the direction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an international, interagency team is mobilizing to slow the spread and find a cure to the disease. It has been shown that bats can transmit the fungus to each other. And although the disease is not harmful to people, it may be possible for cavers to spread the fungus through gear and clothing. State and federal wildlife authorities have asked that people not enter caves. DNR biologists and volunteers investigating the disease follow strict decontamination protocols when working in caves and other bat hibernacula.

Recent research conservatively estimates the value of bats to the U.S. agricultural industry to be $3.7 billion because they eat agricultural pests. Their value to ecology is more complex and harder to measure.

“This level of devastation to our bats is unprecedented and tragic,” said Tim Larney, habitat conservation program manager for DNR’s Wildlife and Heritage Service. “And it comes at a time when new research indicates that we may have been underestimating the importance of bats in keeping ecosystems healthy and productive.”

For additional information on white-nose syndrome, visit http://dnr.maryland.gov/wildlife/plants_wildlife/bats/nhpbatdisease.asp

877-563-5350 Questions about ANY listed property? I can help! Call me!

Visit the ‘I Love Deep Creek & Garrett County group’ on Facebook! News, events, photos, real estate, community, info, more! 1,750+ members & growing!

Month: April 2011

>WNS Found In Garrett County Bats

>Grantsville bank robber gets max sentence: 15 years

Park-Service-ranger-recipient-of-Environmental-Education-Award

>Constant Yield Hearing Slated This Evening

>Its in the Bag – Lobster Dinner Fundraiser

>Governor Martin O'Malley Announces Task Force to Examine Septic Pollution

>Cabin in the woods – 400 Bear Rd – GA7531520

>Upcoming Marcellus Shale events

>April 21 Public Hearing – county real property tax rate

>Deadly bat disease found in Garrett cave

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