Author: Jay Ferguson

Who I Am My name is Jay Ferguson, and I am a lifelong resident of the Deep Creek Lake area. I am also co-owner of the real estate side of Taylor Made. I have been in the real estate business for 21+ years now and I LOVE what I do! I have to say, my career really took off when I co-founded the real estate side of Taylor Made in 2014. Its been an amazing experience, building a real estate company from the ground up and achieving so much so quickly! In August 2016, we purchased Long & Foster Real Estate Deep Creek, where I had started my career in 2000. In 2018, we on-boarded virtually every agent from Coldwell Banker Deep Creek Realty as they closed up shop and the real estate family grew even more! We now have over 40 sales agents and have expanded to West Virginia and Pennsylvania, as well. Taylor Made is the #1 vacation rental company at Deep Creek with over 475 vacation rental homes, and over one hundred thousand yearly visitors. Its amazing what we have accomplished using the principles of honesty, teamwork and customer service! Personally, my wife Jessica and I enjoy traveling and especially spending time in the outdoors, hiking and exploring the many diverse areas that Garrett County is naturally blessed with. We have raised two wonderful children here, Kayleah (22) and Noah (13). In the summer, we love spending time on the water with friends & family and enjoying the lake life! We are both active in our church, our community & local school activities, and we fill our schedule with plenty of volunteer efforts. I currently serve on the board of directors for Habitat for Humanity. I am proud to say that I was named Deep Creek Time’s Favorite ‘Community Champion’ in 2019. I was also named Garrett County Realtor of the Year in 2018-19, as well. I really enjoy promoting my hometown. I am very proud of the resort area that has developed over my lifetime and look forward to growing the area even more! Deep Creek Lake has been described as ‘The Lake Tahoe of the east', and I think that speaks volumes about the potential to own property here! Deep Creek Lake isn't really a town or city by itself; it's comprised of three towns: Oakland, Swanton & McHenry, Maryland. I am very passionate about my hometown and am impressed with how many people know about it as we travel around the country. Deep Creek Lake is an amazing place to visit and even better place to live! During the pandemic in 2020, our market exploded and more and more people left their primary residence in the city to live here permanently. With distance learning in schools and tele-commuting becoming the ‘norm’, many more people were drawn to the area to ‘live where they love to play’. Why You Want Me Working for You: In addition to being an owner, I am consistently one of the top-producing agents in the entire area and the Associate Broker of record for Taylor-Made Deep Creek Vacations & Sales. I have 21+ years of experience and I am a problem solver. There aren’t many situations that I have not encountered and I have a strategy for almost every scenario that you may encounter. I have extensively trained in all areas of real estate & emerging technologies, and also have trained as an appraiser, as well as served as a full-time Broker. I have a strong knowledge of the industry, as well as many trusted local contacts & affiliations that allow me to perform at a very high level and deliver results. I have a great deal of respect for my peers in this industry and have strong working relationships that I would love to put to work for you. Call me to discuss your situation - I know I can be of great service to you & others you care about! Honesty. Integrity. Results.

Hands-Only CPR Equipment Donated to Garrett County

Property Owners’ Association of Deep Creek Lake Donates Life Saving Training Equipment to Garrett County

According to statistics from the Garrett County Board of Health, Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) accounted for 25% of the deaths in the County in 2011. Studies have shown that very few bystanders stop to offer assistance to victims of SCA. Many people say they are afraid they may do something wrong and cause harm or be sued. Others are concerned about doing the mouth to mouth breathing that is associated with traditional Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation or CPR. The Property Owners’ Association of Deep Creek Lake (POA) has donated equipment that will enable anyone to learn, in just 15 minutes, the skills needed to perform Hand-Only CPR— compressions without breaths —and to use an AED (Automatic External Defibrillator). Even if an AED is not available, Hands-Only CPR can keep blood flowing to the heart and brain of a victim of SCA until Emergency Medical Responders arrive, thus greatly increasing his/her chance of survival.

Hands-Only CPR, a program that is growing by leaps and bounds nationally, can be taught by anyone without the need of a certified instructor. The idea and effort of bringing this type of training to Garrett County was a cooperative effort of the Board of Health, Board of Education, Garrett County Department of Emergency Management, Garrett County Memorial hospital, Garrett College, Property Owners’ Association of Deep Creek Lake, and Ms Beth Philipson, a summer lake resident from Baltimore, POA Member, registered nurse, American heart Association Certified CPR/AED Instructor, and a member of of the Cardiac Arrest Steering Committee at the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Service System (MIEMSS). Ms Philipson spearheaded the proposal, offering to volunteer her time to get Hands-Only CPR to the entire Garrett County Community. Ms Philipson reached out to the POA to consider funding this worthwhile endeavor.

Studies have also shown that if CPR training is taken to people, instead of having people come to the training, the chances of introducing the life saving technique is vastly increased. Ms Philipson plans to make Hands- Only CPR available in group settings such as the up and coming Garrett County Health Fair, Garrett County Public Safety Day, after church in church parking lots, at organizational assemblies, golf courses or to anyone who asks, just to name a few. Garrett County Emergency Medical Services Associate Brad Frantz has committed to introducing Hands-Only CPR to the GC Senior High School Emergency Services Clubs and utilize the program as an Emergency Services Club project in pushing the technique out into the community. This equipment will also be used to teach HANDS ONLY CPR skills to all senior high students. At this time, the general assembly in Annapolis is considering a bill that would make learning Hands-Only CPR at requirement for high school graduation. Such laws already exist in 11 States in the U.S.

HANDS-ONLY CPR however is not a replacement for full CPR training which is required for Emergency First Responders and all medical services. It is also not effective for victims of drowning or victims of drug overdoses where these cases the cardiac arrest is usually a result of respiratory arrest.

The equipment that is being donated by the Property Owners’ Association of Deep Creek Lake to the County consists of 50 training manikins and 12 Automated External Defibrillator (AED) training devices. The equipment will be housed at Garrett College in the Continuing Education Department and will be made available to anyone who wants to conduct group training sessions.

This is yet another example of how the POA supports the entire community!

More here.

Committee asks public for ideas on energy development

Angie Brant

Cumberland Times-News

OAKLAND — The Mountain Maryland Energy Advisory Committee is soliciting ideas from the public.

“Great ideas fuel our future,” said committee chairman Mike Koch at Tuesday’s Garrett County Commission meeting. Koch also serves as the county’s executive director of Community Planning & Development. “Energy development is an important part of our economic future, but we need to chart our course thoughtfully and responsibly. Public participation diversifies ideas and deepens this dialogue.”

The committee was created in November to advise the Garrett and Allegany County commissioners on local and state policy, regulation, programs and legislation issues. Representing a diversity of perspectives, the 12 committee members are private citizens, and business owners and leaders in economic development (Garrett and Allegany County representatives), health, education and recreation.

Members are interested in all types of energy production, opportunity and projects in the area, with a key focus on identifying and mitigating any risks, said Jeff Simcoe, committee consultant.

The committee has explored a range of energy topics and generated numerous ideas on energy production. The 12 committee members will be broken down into four groups of three and each group will focus on either commercial biomass generation, solar or energy efficiency, according to Simcoe. While the three initiatives are slated for more focused review, the group seeks additional fresh ideas from the general public.

New ideas generated by the committee and local citizens will be explored during monthly committee meetings, all of which are open to the public. The committee will review viable solutions and forward recommendations by majority vote to the county commissioners. The ideas will be numbered so they can be tracked throughout the process and the committee will prioritize the ideas, according to Simcoe.

More here.

Exelon to begin work soon for Fourmile Ridge

Sixteen wind turbines to be constructed

Elaine Blaisdell

Cumberland Times-News

OAKLAND — Exelon will begin moving dirt soon for the Fourmile Ridge project, Mike Koch, executive director of Garrett County’s Department of Community Planning and Development, told the county commissioners during their public meeting Tuesday.

Jim Torrington, assistant director of the Garrett County Permits and Inspection Services Office, met with Exelon and a meeting has occurred with constituents regarding erosion, sediment control and stormwater management.

The Garrett County Engineering Department has been looking at drainage, driveway impacts and a roadway use agreement with Exelon for restoring the road once the Fourmile Ridge project is complete, according to Dwight Emory, P.E., director of the engineering department.

The Fourmile Ridge project started out as a Synergics project with 24 wind turbines and was revised to an Exelon project with 16 wind turbines on Frostburg Road, according to Torrington.

More here.

Garrett schools likely to get added funding

Ex officio bill moves on to governor’s desk

Matthew Bieniek

Cumberland Times-News

CUMBERLAND — A conference committee has approved $464,103 in additional funding for the Garrett County Public School system for the coming year, said Sen. George Edwards on Wednesday morning.

Both the House and Senate committee members have agreed on the figure, so Edwards expects passage in the final budget. Edwards and Del. Wendell Beitzel are members of the committee. The cash-strapped school system has been forced to consider school closures in the past few years.

“This should be very helpful to the school system and we are still waiting for the legislation introduced by both Delegate Beitzel and I to pass that would help the county out financially until the wealth study is completed,” Edwards said.

A study of the wealth formula is planned to begin in the fall of 2014 and is slated to be complete in 2016. The existing state funding formula can hit school districts with declining student populations hard.

“At the rate we have been impacted by the wealth formula … any help we can get from the state is appreciated,” said Janet Wilson, Garrett County superintendent of schools. The money will help the system move forward and restore some services that have been lost. Wilson mentioned both intervention services and middle school art and music programs. The idea “we don’t have to look at cutting teaching staff or closing schools is a huge relief,” Wilson said. Plans to close additional schools recently were averted when Garrett County commissioners injected additional funding into the school system.

School funding is also an economic development matter, Wilson said, since companies are concerned about the stability of school systems in areas to which they might locate. The idea of schools being closed year after year makes an area a hard sell, Wilson said.

One cost item often overlooked is the sparse population and large land area of the county, which adds to costs for the school system, Wilson said.

Edwards and Beitzel have introduced bills that would help school districts facing a drop in state funding. Edwards’ bill passed the Senate, without a single vote against the bill, and is now in the House.

The school funding bill is designed to help school districts facing decreases in state aid because of declining student enrollment, such as Garrett County. Allegany County has faced a similar problem in the past.

The bill mandates the state to supplement shortfalls in the state aid formula. “For fiscal years 2015 through 2017, if a county board’s total direct education aid in the current fiscal year is less than the prior fiscal year, then the state shall provide a grant to the county board equal to 50 percent of the decrease in total direct education aid from the prior fiscal year to the current fiscal year,” according to the language of SB 534.

The state budget provides $1.7 million in aid for affected districts in fiscal 2015, according to a floor report on the bill by the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee.

More here.

Garrett commissioners don’t expect rafting complex to be county operation for long term

Elaine Blaisdell

Cumberland Times-News

OAKLAND — Garrett County commissioners recently met with the grand jury and indicated that they didn’t believe that it was in their best interest for Adventure Sports Center International in McHenry to remain a county operation in the long term. Commissioner Jim Raley indicated in an interview with the Times-News that he would like to see the manmade whitewater rafting complex run on a lease basis.

If an entity were to take ownership of ASCI it wouldn’t happen until sometime after Deep Creek 2014: International Canoe Federation Canoe Slalom World Championships, which are scheduled for September, according to Raley.

Commissioner Gregan Crawford said that the county doesn’t own ASCI, but that they bought out the bank notes and is ASCI’s largest creditor.

“ASCI was a situation that was really more thrust on us. We didn’t go out and look for it,” said Crawford.

In 2012, the commissioners authorized the expenditure of $600,000 to secure the assignment of ASCI debts from Susquehanna Bank. The original debt for ASCI was $3 million, according to Chairman Robert Gatto.

“When you look at the capital investment that was made, by not only the county taxpayers but the state and some federal monies that went into the project, it had to be stabilized,” said Raley.

Crawford echoed Raley’s sentiments, noting that one of the reasons for keeping ASCI in the short term was the need to stabilize it.

“We hope to polish it up and have everything in place,” said Crawford.

ASCI is funded by multiple sources, such as federal, state and community development block grants. It is still operating in the black, has been for the past two years and sees 10,000 to 11,000 visitors per year, according to Raley. ASCI runs like an enterprise fund on revenues it brings in, similar to the county landfill, according to Crawford.

The county cut costs by looking into the number of personnel and making sure that the water was turned off when it wasn’t needed, said Raley. ASCI has 65 to 70 seasonal (May through September) employees at a cost of $267,000.

Crawford stressed the importance of Deep Creek 2014 and its future economic impact on the county.

Garrett County was awarded $1 million from the state’s capital budget for upgrades to ASCI in preparation for Deep Creek 2014. The state bond proceeds will partially fund the $2.3 million in improvements, which include design, construction, repair, renovation, reconstruction and capital equipping of ASCI. The project will also include upgrading telecommunications and building new and upgrading existing infrastructure and facilities. United States Department of Agriculture grants, Maryland Heritage Area grants and a local access grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission will be used toward improvements, Crawford said.

An earthen amphitheater with concrete masonry walls, an open pavilion and a viewing platform will be built for the event, according to the county’s website.

An access road bridge for Deep Creek 2014 might not be ready for the event, according to Dwight Emory, P.E., director of the Garett County engineering department. The rest of the improvements are expected to be completed on time.

The event is expected to draw 35 to 40 international teams; 1,200 coaches, athletes and support staff; 30,000 spectators and is estimated to have a more than $20 million economic impact on Garrett County.

“One of the goals of 2014 is to make it (ASCI) an epicenter for adventure sports, not only on the East Coast but throughout the United States as well,” said Crawford.

Gatto said that timing of Deep Creek 2014 will help bolster the economy at a time when there is a seasonal lull.

More here.

Complete List of Maryland Wildlands

Western Region
Savage Mountain	2691 acres	Savage River State Forest	Type 1	Garrett
Bear Pen	1517 acres	Savage River State Forest	Type 1	Garrett
Middle Fork	1916 acres	Savage River State Forest	Type 1	Garrett
High Rock	650 acres	Savage River State Forest	Type 1	Garrett
Savage Ravines	2427 acres	Savage River State Forest	Type 1	Garrett
South Savage	1934 acres	Savage River State Forest	Type 2	Garrett
Deep Run	1260 acres	Green Ridge State Forest	Type 2	Allegany
Maple Run	2760 acres	Green Ridge State Forest	Type 1	Allegany
Potomac Bends	2034 acres	Green Ridge State Forest	Type 2	Allegany
Rocky Gap	943 acres	Rocky Gap State Park	Type 2	Allegany
Sideling Hill	922 acres	Sideling Hill WMA	Type 2	Washington
Cunningham Falls State Park	3452 acres	Cunningham Falls State Park	Type 1	Frederick
Islands of the Potomac	194 acres	Islands of the Potomac WMA	Type 2	Frederick
	22700 acres

More here.

Md. provides funds for sexual assault victims

BALTIMORE, Md. (WUSA9) — Maryland officials have awarded funds to organizations from Garrett County to Talbot County so they can help victims of sexual assault.

$287,702 worth of funds have been awarded by the Governor’s Office of Crime Control & Prevention (GOCCP), through the Sexual Assault Services Formula Grant Program (SASP), officials said. This program is the first federal funding stream solely dedicated to the provision of direct intervention and related assistance for victims of sexual assault.

More here.

Garrett ethics board dismisses complaint against county commissioner

From Staff ReportsCumberland Times-News

OAKLAND — The Garrett County Ethics Commission recently met and decided that there was no cause to hold a public hearing in regards to an ethics complaint that Carol Jacobs, president of Aquatic Center Inc. in McHenry, filed against Garrett County Commission Chairman Robert Gatto.

The ethics commission reviewed the minutes from the Feb. 18 Garrett County Commission public meeting and the Garrett County Public Ethics Ordinance. Upon completion of the review it was determined that the issues were clearly presented and framed and there was no cause for a public hearing, states the ethics commission opinion.

During the Feb. 18 meeting, County Attorney Gorman Getty presented the commissioners with three recommendations from the Garrett County Planning Commission for text amendments to the Deep Creek Watershed Zoning Ordinance. The commissioners were advised by professional staff that the text amendments were appropriate for consideration, according to the ethics commission opinion. The commissioners voted to approve the text amendments. Commissioner Gregan Crawford and Gatto voted in favor of the text amendments with Commissioner Jim Raley voting against.

Jacobs, along with five other marinas, filed for a judicial review of the commissioners’ decision to approve the adopted text amendments to the zoning ordinance, according to court documents.

More here.

As snow falls, state school board allows way out of 180-day rule

By Liz Bowie, The Baltimore Sun9:03 p.m. EDT, March 25, 2014

A Maryland school superintendent wouldn’t ordinarily give local systems a pass on the requirement that public school students go to school for 180 days a year.

But these have not been ordinary times.

The seemingly endless winter, with its unusual number of snow days, has raised the specter of students going to school into the last week of June….

…The district with the greatest need for a waiver — Garrett County, which has lost 20 days this school year — is waiting to see what April brings before filing a request, said William Cappe, education program specialist at the Maryland State Department of Education. Garrett had built six weather days into its calendar.

Garrett students to compete in national robotics event

iLEGO team traveling to Calif. in May

For the Cumberland Times-NewsCumberland Times-News

OAKLAND — A rookie team of Garrett County elementary and middle school students, iLEGO, took first place at the Maryland State Championship and has been invited to compete at the Northern American Open Championship in Carlsbad, Calif., May 16-18.

The team is part of the Garrett County For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology First LEGO League and members competed against 72 teams from across the state at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County Campus.

Students attend Route 40, Broad Ford, Yough Glades elementary and Southern Middle schools. “Nature’s Fury” was this year’s theme, and the students designed and programmed a robot to complete missions on the playing field while focusing their research on preparing for and surviving a natural disaster.

The Champion’s Award measures how the children inspire and motivate others about the excitement and wonders of science and technology, while demonstrating gracious professionalism, according to Garrett County FIRST. It is determined by giving equal weight to all four arenas and competition — technical design and programming, robot performance, project presentation and teamwork — and additional consideration to the team demonstrating First LEGO League values.

More here.

Author: Jay Ferguson

Hands-Only CPR Equipment Donated to Garrett County

Committee asks public for ideas on energy development

Exelon to begin work soon for Fourmile Ridge

Sixteen wind turbines to be constructed

Garrett schools likely to get added funding

Ex officio bill moves on to governor’s desk

Garrett commissioners don’t expect rafting complex to be county operation for long term

Complete List of Maryland Wildlands

Md. provides funds for sexual assault victims

Garrett ethics board dismisses complaint against county commissioner

As snow falls, state school board allows way out of 180-day rule

Garrett students to compete in national robotics event

iLEGO team traveling to Calif. in May

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