Looks like great weather in the next few days for skiing & snowboarding at Wisp!
Month: January 2017
50 Wonderful Winter Marketing Ideas
Putting your house up for sale this winter?
Here are 50 great ideas from Zillow. From creating a list of winter service providers (cough, cough Taylor-Made DCV&S) to creative infographics- there are some great ideas here!
Click here to see the list.
New Germany State Park gets ready for snow activities
GRANTSVILLE — New Germany State Park has scheduled several activities for February.
In hopes of snow, New Germany rangers are inviting challengers to a snowman contest Feb. 3 at 1 p.m. at the Lake House, McAndrews Hill Road.
The Friends of New Germany will host a membership meeting Feb. 4 from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at the Lake House. The Friends of New Germany is a nonprofit organization made up of volunteers who care about the park and want to enhance, maintain and support it through fundraising and a variety of projects. Anyone interested in joining the group or becoming a volunteer is welcome to attend. For more information, email newgermanyfriends@yahoo.com or call 301-895-5453.
The Maryland Conservation Corps will offer beginner cross-country ski lessons at New Germany State Park on Feb. 4 and 12. The lessons will begin at noon inside the Lake House and will last about two hours. There is no charge for those with their own equipment. In the event of no snow, the lessons will include some basic ski instruction, followed by a winter hike.
The lessons are being offered as part of the Healthy Parks, Healthy People program, an international movement that focuses on utilizing parks to promote the health of people and the environment.
for more information, click here.
Garrett Chamber of Commerce releases top legislative priorities
MCHENRY — The Garrett County Chamber of Commerce’s 2017 legislative agenda includes a focus on tourism, infrastructure, education, health care, the business climate and economic and community development.
“Our committee and board of directors do a fantastic job developing a legislative agenda that helps me focus on specific issues and provides a guide of legislation for which to watch,” Nicole Christian, the chamber’s president and CEO, said.
Chamber officials plan to urge lawmakers to continue working with Pennsylvania and West Virginia to expedite the process for completing the U.S. Route 219 and U.S. 220 portions of the North/South Appalachian Highway.
As a total corridor, it is projected to create 10,000 permanent and 20,000 construction and construction-related jobs in the region, officials have said.
Portions of the U.S. 219 Somerset to Meyersdale project are on track to open next year.
The chamber’s top priorities, in order, are:
• Revising the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) Program for reimbursement to counties for state-owned lands.
• Increasing tourism promotion funding to $11 million.
• Supporting the creation of the Rural Development Incentive Program.
• Supporting a pro-business environment in the state.
“The chamber’s Legislative Affairs Committee spends several months discussing what issues to include in the agenda and which ones to make our top priorities,” Shane Grady, chair of the chamber’s legislative affairs committee, said. “With only one senator (George Edwards) and one delegate (Wendell Beitzel) representing Garrett County in the legislature, it is important that we are vocal about our priorities and that we are aggressive with our advocacy efforts in order to make an impact.”
The General Assembly will consider more than 3,000 pieces of legislation during the session, Christian said.
To view the chamber’s legislative agenda in it’s entirety visit the website www.visitdeepcreek.com/pages/Legislative.
For more information, click here.
Garrett officials delay fracking study
OAKLAND — Garrett County’s commissioners have decided not to conduct a study on the economic impacts of fracking.
The commissioners recently rejected all bids for the proposed study, which would have explored possible detriments to tourism, property values and outdoor recreation opportunities likely to occur if hydraulic fracturing for natural gas production is allowed in Western Maryland.
With the Maryland General Assembly expected to take up legislation that could ban fracking or extend a current moratorium on the process, officials decided it wasn’t the right time for the study.
“If the legislature passes a moratorium versus a ban, or takes no action, there will still be sufficient time to do the study before any permits are issued,” said Kevin Null, county administrator, as he summed up the views of the commissioners.
The study would take at least six months to complete and wouldn’t be ready prior to legislative action. The commissioners also said the Maryland Department of the Environment and the Maryland Department of Commerce are withholding funding until the legislature’s action is known.
More than 60 elected officials in Maryland have signed a letter of support for a statewide fracking ban. Not on that list are members of the District 1 legislative delegation that represents Garrett and Allegany counties — Sen. George Edwards and Dels. Wendell Beitzel, Jason Buckel and Mike McKay.
Sen. Robert A. Zirkin, a Baltimore County Democrat, is expected to introduce legislation to ban the process. A moratorium is in place until October.
Marcellus shale formations throughout the eastern United States harbor large natural gas reserves. Shale is a sedimentary rock formation that extends underground through about 95,000 square miles in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland.
In Maryland, the shale formations are found only in Allegany and Garrett counties, with the bulk of the formations in Garrett County.
For more information, click here.
PRICE REDUCTION- 19 Greenbrier Drive
Always wanted to live next to a golf course, ski resort, AND lake?
Check out my lot listing next to Lodestone! The price has just been reduced. Build your dream house here!
For more information, click here.
State Panel Puts Fracking Regulations on Hold in Maryland
A panel of lawmakers in Maryland has reportedly asked the state Department of the Environment (MDE) to delay implementing rules governing hydraulic fracturing (fracking).
According to reports, the Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review (AELR) sent a letter to the MDE last Thursday. Lawmakers on the committee said they wanted more time to study the agency’s proposed rules, which were scheduled to take effect the next day.
Only two western panhandle counties in Maryland — Allegany and Garrett — overlie the Marcellus Shale, a basin which the U.S. Geological Survey estimates could contain as much as 2.383 Tcf of technically recoverable natural gas.
The Maryland General Assembly, which meets for 90 days during its regular session, is scheduled to reconvene on Jan. 11 and adjourn on April 10. The session could also be extended until May 10.
The MDE submitted its proposed fracking regulations to the AELR last September. The proposed rules included a 2,000-foot setback for well pads from private drinking water wells and the surface water intake of public drinking water systems and springs; one year of baseline water monitoring; well integrity and pressure testing; and requirements covering air quality, emergency response, wastewater management, well plugging and bonding.
Fracking opponents are pushing for an outright ban. A two-year moratorium on the practice, which took effect after lawmakers passed SB 409 in 2015, is set to expire on Oct. 1.
“Our neighbors talk about putting their properties on the market if fracking is permitted,” Friends of Deep Creek Lake, an environmental group opposed to fracking, told the AELR at a hearing last month. “Such actions would be devastating to the local economy and in the long term would not be offset by fracking-related revenues.”
Supporters of oil and gas development in Maryland aren’t thrilled with the MDE’s proposed regulations, either.
“We are an industry that has a proven record of providing environmental and economic benefits,” Drew Cobbs, executive director of the Maryland Petroleum Council, said last month. “As written, a number of the proposed regulations are overly restrictive and would undermine our proven track record on safety proven through the development of millions of wells.
“We need policies that protect jobs and investment in Western Maryland, and these new regulations would take us in the wrong direction.”
For more information, click here.
PRICE REDUCTION- 52 Glendaloch Lane
Looking for a great, LAKEFRONT home that you can put the finishes touches on?
Check out my listing on Glendaloch Lane.
This home has been built around an original lake cabin.
As you can see from the photo’s above, 52 Glendaloch Lane is a modern home with a vintage feel.
Look at that original woodwork!
For more information, click here.
Oakland farm to be featured on MPT
OAKLAND — Backbone Food Farm on Lynndale Road will be featured on an upcoming episode of “Maryland Farm & Harvest” on Maryland Public Television.
The episode will air Jan. 31 and feature owners Max and Katharine Dubansky’s use of draft horses as mechanical tractors and the farm’s mushrooms. The Dubanskys will be featured during the “The Local Buy” segment.
For more information, click here.
Donation to ensure water levels at Deep Creek Lake
MCHENRY — A Deep Creek Lake property owner has donated $100,000 for a study designed to determine how to keep lake water levels consistent and efficient, according to the Board of Directors of the Deep Creek Watershed Foundation.
Ted Giovanis made the donation in memory of his late wife, Jayne Koskinas.
“Jayne simply loved spending time at Deep Creek, and protecting the lake’s future is important to our family,” Giovanis said. “I appreciate the foundation committing to research and due diligence in order to identify an appropriate path forward.”
Giovanis is founder and president of the Jayne Koskinas Ted Giovanis Foundation for Health and Policy, which aims to change health care for the better through research, data analysis and other projects.
The study will include day-by-day accounting of water requirements for the lake reservoir and provide a scientific prediction of needed water levels, improving the timing and volume of water releases.
Water levels at the lake fluctuate yearly due to precipitation and periodic water releases. When water levels are low, some lakefront homeowners cannot access the lake with their boats, according to the foundation.
When water levels are higher, shoreline erosion and sediment deposits can occur in the lake. Water releases are needed to support power generation, maintain cool waters for the trout fishery and sustain white water recreation on the Youghiogheny River, according to the foundation.
The study will help plan for future water releases that will balance all needs of the lake community.
“On behalf of the board and all stakeholders here in Garrett County, we are deeply grateful to Mr. Giovanis and his family for this generous donation,” said Pat Franc, president of the foundation.
The foundation will provide the results of the study to the Maryland Department of the Environment sometime in 2018.
For more information, click here.
