Jay Fergusonjay@deepcreekvacations.com301-501-0420
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They’re treating symptoms — not problems

After attending the Garrett County commissioners meeting to discuss possible school closings and aiding or taking over the Adventure Sports Center International, (ASCI) I am afraid we may be asking the wrong questions.

School closings are not in and of themselves the real problem at hand. They are a symptom of a larger problem; lack of enrollment and a dwindling local population in Garrett County.

Treating only the school closings would be like taking Advil for a headache when in fact you have a brain tumor.

The big question is why are people born and raised in Garrett County leaving? Why are more families not making the county their primary residence?

Improvements are being made, though I assume lack of jobs that offer a real salary is one problem. High property taxes present another.

Cost of living is nearly on par with the nicer areas of large cities or other recreational destinations. Complete lack of anything that caters only to locals and doesn’t have a large price tag attached could be another part of the equation.

When I was a student at Garrett College in 2002 the GEIC incubation center for small business had just opened. I, along with 15 others was part of an internship with a software firm from Frederick.

We were paid minimum wage and offered health insurance with promises of good salaried jobs right at home in Garrett County when we graduated and potential for some of our education to be paid for.

One year later they dumped all of us with the exception of two and made good on none of their promises. What was dressed up and masqueraded as opportunity for locals was nothing more than cheap labor for a small software firm full of bloated promises that ended up being lies.

We need real economic growth and opportunity for all Garrett County citizens; $7.50 per hour, no health insurance and often sub-par working conditions don’t cut it and certainly does not encourage local people to stick around.

Closing schools will just make the area less and less attractive for potential new residents. The college is overpopulated with students from out of the area and this has created a tough learning environment for local children.

In, “Field of Dreams” Kevin Costner’s character learned, “If you build it they will come.” Perhaps our elected representatives and private business people need to realize if you offer real opportunity people will come.

If you stop allowing local citizens to feel like second class, more people will come and more people will stay.

Jeremy Gosnell

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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CVLG To Give Information On Drilling Leases

Feb. 23, 2012

The Casselman Valley Landowner Group (CVLG) will hold informational sessions on Saturday, Feb. 25, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Salisbury Volunteer Fire Department, Salisbury, Pa. Anyone who owns one or more acres of oil and gas rights will have a final opportunity to join the group that day. Informational sessions will be held hourly, and refreshments will be served.

The CVLG has been holding regular meetings in Salisbury since November. Landowners have expressed a strong interest in leasing property for Marcellus Shale drilling in recent meetings in southern Somerset County.


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Landowners with 10 or more acres in Garrett County are invited to attend to get more information, as Shale Marketers is interested in starting groups in Maryland in the near future.

Property owners in the Somerset County townships of Addison, Black, Elk Lick, Greenville, Larimer, Milford, Southampton, and Summit have thus far shown a committed interest in leasing over 15,000 acres of land for drilling purposes, according to Jack Polochak, an attorney representing the Casselman group.

The group has been organized by Shale Marketers, a marketing group representing clients who are interested in leasing their gas and oil rights to energy companies.

Richard Vickroy, the land group manager for Shale Marketers, noted that the more property owners combine efforts and acreage, the easier it is to negotiate an agreement with a prospective company.


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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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GC Officials Attend State Senate Hearing

GC Officials Attend State Senate Hearing

Feb. 23, 2012

A group of Garrett County officials attended a hearing in Annapolis yesterday to discuss the proposed Maryland State Senate Bill #586.

The bill would cap school system funding losses from state aid at around five percent.

About 30 individuals from the Friendsville area were present, while Dennett Road Elementary had seven people at the hearing on its behalf.


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The hearing began at 1 p.m. One Garrett Countian has stated that there was a wait time of approximately 3 to 4 hours before the school budget issue could be addressed, as other bills were also on the agenda.

When Bill 586 did come up, George Edwards, Maryland state senator, led the testimony and was followed by Davis Cox, Allegany County superintendent of public schools.

Next to speak were Garrett County commissioners Gregan Crawford and James Raley, followed by Sue Waggoner, Garrett County interim superintendent of schools, and Larry McKenzie, director of finance for the Garrett County Board of Education.

Spencer Schlosnagle, Friendsville mayor, then began the citizen testimony.

In response to the testimony, Edward Kasemeyer, Maryland state senator, stated that the committee was “going to help.”

Further information will be forth coming.

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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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Tucker Community Foundation Offering 40 Different Scholarships

Posted: Feb 22, 2012 4:43 PM EST Updated: Feb 22, 2012 4:43 PM EST
By Jeff Schrock, Randolph, Tucker and Upshur County Reporter – email

PARSONS –

The Tucker Community Foundation is accepting applications from high school students for merit-based scholarships.

Students in seven counties in West Virginia: Barbour, Grant, Mineral, Preston, Pocahontas, Randolph, and Tucker County, and Garrett County, Md. can use the money regardless of their field of study.

The foundation will award more than $52,000 in 40 different scholarships.

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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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Median wages in Md. fail to keep up with cost of basic needs, report says

By Caitlin Johnston and Carl Straumsheim, Special to The Baltimore Sun

February 23, 2012

A family of three in Baltimore County needs about $62,000 just to make ends meet, a new report shows. And, without government assistance, minimum wage barely gets them a quarter of the way there.

In Baltimore City, that same family of an adult with a preschooler and a school-age child needs nearly $50,000, the report said, for a bare-bones budget.

The 2012 Self-Sufficiency Standard, scheduled to be released in Annapolis on Thursday morning, calculates the cost of living for Maryland families based on prices of such necessities as housing, food, transportation and child care. The report, prepared for the Maryland Community Action Partnership, found that median wages in Maryland — which have risen about 25 percent since 2001 — have failed to keep up with the increasing costs of basic needs, which are up statewide about 54 percent.

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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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Baltimore's winter on track to see most-ever 50-plus-degree days

By Steve Kilar, The Baltimore Sun

10:07 p.m. EST, February 22, 2012
February is coming to a close the same way it started — with unseasonable warmth — and climate experts say there is an increased probability that above-average temperatures will continue into summer….

…For the last two years, he said, snow and freezing temperatures kept golfers off the fairways between Halloween and St. Patrick’s Day. In February 2010, for instance, only five rounds — total, across all five courses — of golf were played. This year, the company surpassed its expected revenue for the first two months of the year by the end of January, Ladd said.

In Garrett County, the ski business at Savage River Lodge has been reduced from a normal season of more than 40 skiing days to just four days this season, said owner Mike Driesbach.


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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!

877-563-5350 – toll free

Smarter Way to Own a Vacation Home on Deep Creek Lake Scheduled to Open Spring 2012

The Creekside Club, a fractional private residence club, is coming soon to beautiful Deep Creek Lake in Garret County, MD. This very popular four-season vacation area has been a destination for a generation of families from the Washington D.C. area, Northern Virginia and Pittsburgh looking for a retreat away from the hustle and bustle of city living.

Offering a smarter way to own a vacation home at Deep Creek Lake with fractional ownership, The Creekside Club is scheduled to open Spring 2012 but is taking reservations now for ownership. Only 36 ownerships will be available at The Creekside Club. Since 1986, the residence club ownership model has proven to be a smarter way to own a luxury vacation home without all the traditional hassles associated with second home ownership. Private residence clubs can be found in other luxury vacation destinations such as the Rocky Mountains, the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina and some tropical paradises as well.
The Creekside Club’s ownership model truly fits this new real estate market – by being the “smarter way to own” a lakefront vacation home. A luxuriously furnished four-bedroom villa, complete with private dock, starts at only $139,000 for a one-eighth deeded share, and allows you to use your lakefront home as much as you want based on availability. And if that is not enough, it comes with a brand new 24’ top-of-the line Bennington boat to cruise and play on the crystal clear waters of Deep Creek Lake, right outside your back door.
Fractional real estates expansion into Deep Creek Lake, MD, is being driven by a growing consumer awareness and interest in this unique and efficient second home ownership model. Owning fractional real estate allows you to purchase your vacation home, use it as much as you want (probably more than you’ll have time to). It also allows owners to keep more cash in their pocket, since buyers only pay a fraction of the acquisition price, and owners share all upkeep costs on a million dollar home on the lake.

“This real estate product has been very successful in places like Aspen, Vail and Lake Tahoe we are very excited to now have it at Deep Creek Lake” says Debra Savage, the Club’s Sales Director. Our Owners will enjoy all the luxury, none of the hassles of owning a home away from home, and all at a fraction of the price”

Residence Club Partners of Asheville, NC, the management company at Creekside feels this model will change the future of second home ownership forever. “In addition to a growing trend in buying a residence club home vs. whole ownership, the residence club owner services we offer at our clubs include a full-time concierge, housekeeping and very unique custom experience packages, things you don’t get with the typical real estate purchase” says Mandy Allfrey of Residence Club Partners.

Vacation and second home buyers interested in learning more about The Creekside Club on Deep Creek Lake, can visit www.creeksideclub.com. Mention that you heard it from Jay Ferguson, buyer agent with Railey Realty.

About Residence Club Partners

Residence Club Partners and DCP International are the leaders in private residence club design, management, sales and marketing in the U.S. and internationally. They are also the fastest growing residence club design, sales and marketing company in the United States, as awarded by BestResidenceClubs.com, a division of Luxury Living Magazine.

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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!

877-563-5350 – toll free

What can you buy for $300,000? Vacation homes to escape from the Beltway

By Katherine Reynolds Lewis, Published: February 22

Interest rates are still at historic lows. Real estate prices remain depressed in many areas. As you look forward to summer, you may be wondering whether this would be an opportune time to get a bargain on a vacation property that you could enjoy with your family while earning some rental income.

To answer that question, we looked at popular vacation destinations within a reasonable drive of Washington, D.C., to see what kind of escape from the Beltway you could purchase for $300,000. In some areas, sellers are stubbornly hoping that the market will rebound enough to reap the high prices they’ve set for their beach and mountain homes. In others, lower rental volumes and the tough economy have left property owners with limited resources for fixing up properties enough to make them irresistible to prospective buyers.

But we did find three appealing properties well located for a getaway from Washington that also hold the potential for cash from rentals. In North Carolina’s Outer Banks, we found a wood-shake beach cottage on Hatteras Island listed at $295,000 with four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a screened porch and an open air hot tub. On a peninsula jutting out into Deep Creek Lake, Md., we found a $269,000 three-bedroom log cabin minutes from the state park and a short drive to skiing and golf at Wisp Resort….

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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!

877-563-5350 – toll free

Dennett Road is the best place for special needs children

To the Editor: Cumberland Times-News

I have three children in my home who attend Dennett Road Elementary School. One is a son in fourth grade who has done amazing there and received a wonderful education.
He is very involved in extra sports and they use the gym for practice often. He has excelled in math and science and loves the special evening workshops. I would love him to finish his last year in this school.
I also have a granddaughter in first grade, who spends most of her day in a special education classroom. She isn’t vocal and has cerebral palsy for which she uses a walker.
I have a disability advocate who has given me advice. I know I could request her to receive services at our home school (Crellin) and the board of education would have to provide it.
After her coming to Dennett Road, I believe the BOE has a great setup there for her and decided this was best for her education.
Dennett Road has two separate special education rooms, huge bathrooms, separate changing area, sensory room and all therapy in one place. To change something so well structured is a terrible injustice to kids who need structure the most.
My third child, a granddaughter, is in kindergarten. She isn’t vocal and has cerebral palsy. She is in special education only for one hour for speech and sign language. The rest of her day is regular classrooms.
She has done wonderful and deserves to be in the regular class, where she best fits in. Next year the BOE predictions say 30 kids in each first grade class at Yough Glades. I toured the school and desks for 30 kids would make it so tight she would be tripping over things, not handicap accessible at all.
Bathrooms are a big concern. As with most children with CP they are longer to toilet train. One tiny bathroom in the old Head Start class with no private area to change and clean them would be very embarrassing to them. They deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.
I am against closing Dennett Road School. I hope you will find a different solution and help not just the special need children but all the children in Garrett County. May God guide you in your decision.
Shari Ashby
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!

877-563-5350 – toll free

Local lawmakers’ bills set for committee hearings in Annapolis

Matthew Bieniek Cumberland Times-News

CUMBERLAND — Several pieces of local legislation are set for committee hearings this week at the General Assembly in Annapolis. Senate Bills 333, 470, 586 and 587 are scheduled for hearings over the next few days. House Bill 512 is scheduled for a hearing before the House Environmental Matters Committee today.
House Bill 512 allows the Garrett County Sanitary District to charge a late fee for unpaid water and sewer bills.
Currently, no late fee may be assessed, Delegate Wendell Beitzel said. The only option for late bills has been to turn off the water. In Garrett County, though, many homes are on public sewer but not public water.
While a lien can be placed against the property, it is usually a lengthy process to get a payment. It also would allow the district to require payment of those fees before reconnecting water service. The rate of the late fees would be set by Garrett County commissioners, Beitzel said.
Senate Bill 333, set for hearing today before the Budget and Taxation Committee, would give Garrett County commissioners flexibility on setting the county’s hotel tax rate. It was filed by Sen. George Edwards. House Bill 224 is a companion bill filed by Beitzel. If the bill passes, commissioners could raise the maximum hotel rental tax rate to 6 percent, up from the current 5 percent maximum.
In fiscal 2009, those taxes raised $1,426,900 for the county. Garrett County commissioners asked Beitzel to introduce the bill. Those funds are used for tourist promotions and other county projects, Beitzel said. The bill does not raise the tax, but would give commissioners that option, Beitzel said.
Senate Bill 470, filed by Edwards, would change the way pensions are calculated for Allegany County Orphan’s Court Judges. It will be heard by the Budget and Taxation Committee.
The Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee on Friday will consider Senate Bill 587, which Edwards has filed. Beitzel has filed companion House Bill 222 in the House.
The bills would give the Garrett County Board of License Commissioners discretion in handling offenses relating to nudity or sexual displays that occur at a licensed establishment.
Board members, who asked Beitzel and Edwards to file the bills, are the authority for issuing or suspending liquor licences in the county.
Current law requires the revocation of the license without regard to the circumstances.
If the bill passes, the board could decide on less severe penalties than revocation if it believes the circumstances warrant a lesser penalty. Beitzel said the issue is rare in Garrett County.
Senate Bill 586 is scheduled today at 1 p.m. in front of the Budget and Taxation Committee. A full story about the bill appeared in Tuesday’s Times-News. The bill is designed to cap K-12 education cuts by more than 5 percent in Maryland counties. It is sponsored by Edwards.
Typically, after a committee hearing, the bill is referred to a subcommittee to develop a recommendation to the full committee. The process can take several weeks depending on the complexity of the bill.
Contact Matthew Bieniek at mbieniek@times-news.com.

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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!

877-563-5350 – toll free