Jay's Real Estate Blog – Page 371 – Find out about Real Estate in Deep Creek Lake

Garrett County Chamber Hires New President

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The Garrett County Chamber of Commerce announces that Nicole Christian, IOM, CCE, has been selected as its new president and CEO.

Christian was most recently employed with the Northern Palm Beach County Chamber of Commerce in Jupiter, Fla., where she served as president and CEO. She was responsible for day-to-day operations and activities of a 1,000 member chamber that served 10 municipalities and the unincorporated areas in north Palm Beach County. She also oversaw the visitors center for the entire north county.

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

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"No Correlation Between Sewage Spill And Fish Kill," Says GC Health Dept.

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There does not appear to be any correlation between a July 11 sewage spill that occurred in the area of Lake Shore Drive and Route 219 and a fish kill, the Garrett County Health Department reported Friday.

The fish kill is currently being investigated in the area of Beckman’s Peninsula and Green Glade at Deep Creek Lake by the Maryland Department of the Environment and the Department of Natural Resources.

Bacteriological testing outside the sewage spill area both before and after the fish kill began showed normal bacteria levels, according to the Health Department.

After the sewage spill occurred, a no-swimming advisory was posted in the affected area and daily bacteria testing was conducted until the swimming advisory could be lifted.

The Health Department’s Environmental Health Services Division tests bacteriological quality of lake water each month throughout the summer.

“Normal results were found in all locations during the latest sampling, conducted on Monday, July 19,” said a division spokesperson. “These results indicate that the lake is safe for recreational activities, including swimming.”

A press release sent out last week from the Maryland Department of Environment (MDE) read: “At this time, no evidence suggests a threat to human health; however, visitors and residents are advised to avoid touching, swimming with, or coming into close proximity to any dead fish.”

MDE asks that local residents and visitors contact MDE at 1-443-482-2732 with reports of dead fish as well as information about anything out of the ordinary that may have contributed to the ongoing incident.

Questions about water quality and swimming should be directed to Environmental Health at the Garrett County Health Department at 301-334-7760 or 301-895-3111.

Read the 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

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Sprinklers Will Not Be Required In New GC Homes

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Jul. 29, 2010

One- and two-family homes built in Garrett County after Jan. 1, 2011, will not have to have automatic sprinkler systems. The 2009 International Residential Code (IRC) requires the systems, but the county commissioners unanimously approved an amendment to the local code on Tuesday morning that deletes that section of the IRC.

“We have a received a number of correspondence relative to this matter, an almost overwhelming majority asking us opt out of the sprinkler system [requirement] for the stick built homes,” said Commission chair Ernie Gregg.

The commissioners and Department of Planning and Land Development’s Permits and Inspections Division held a pubic hearing two weeks ago to receive comments on possible changes to the local building ordinance, based on new IRC requirements. Only two possible IRC changes were proposed: a new, less steep stair geometry and sprinklers.

Local officials at the hearing indicated they would most likely adopt the stair regulation into the county code and, perhaps, the sprinkler requirement. The commissioners held the record open for two weeks following the hearing to allow for more comments.

“As you know, there was strong opposition to this (sprinklers) in the public hearing, and numerous written comments received during the past two weeks opposing the requirement as well,” Permits and Inspections chief Jim Torrington told the commissioners prior to their voting on the matter. “Therefore, we propose to delete this section (Chapter 3, Section R313.2) from the 2009 IRC.”

As a result of the amendment deleting the requirement, one-family and two-family homes will not be required to have automatic sprinkler systems.

Torrington stressed that systems will still be required for multiple family homes (i.e. townhouses) and modular homes. The county tried to include modular homes in the amendment, but this type of stick-built structure falls under state regulations.

The state, however, does not require sprinkler systems in singlewide and doublewide mobile homes.

“We went so far as to contact Secretary Skinner, Department of Housing and Community Development, about getting the modular homes exempted, but he said we cannot override the Maryland code this comes under,” Commissioner Fred Holliday explained.

Gregg said the commissioners adamantly opposed the issue of requiring that stick-built homes have sprinklers because of the additional cost to homeowners and the infringement on their personal property rights.

“We certainly are concerned about public safety,” Gregg said. “We are also concerned about having what we consider unnecessary costs.”

Read the rest of the 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

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Five Competing For Local Farm Queen Crown

Jul. 29, 2010

Five local young women have entered the contest for 2010 Garrett County Farm Queen. The crowning will take place on Sunday, Aug. 8, at 8 p.m. at the show ring at the Garrett County fairgrounds.

Contestants are as follows: Annie Graham, Kasondra Rounds, Katelyn Gnegy, Catlin Carrico, and Kara Savage.

Annie Graham is the daughter of Chuck and Becky Graham, Oakland. She will be a senior at Southern High School this fall.

She and her family live on three acres of her grandfather’s 800 acre farm, where they raise Black Angus beef cattle.

Graham has been an exhibitor at the Garrett County Fair as a 4-H member for seven years. She has shown lambs, steers, and a pig. She has also entered baked goods, canned foods, clothing, and crafts, and has participated in lead line and fashion revue.

She plans to attend college to get a bachelor of science degree in agriculture business. She hopes to own her own farm and raise club calves and lambs for future 4-Her’s.

Kasondra Rounds is the daughter of Rodney and Trina Rounds, Lonaconing. She attends Northern High School, where she serves as second vice president for the Northern Garrett FFA Chapter.

Her family has a 130-acre farm, where they raise 25 to 30 head of beef cattle.

Over the years at the Garrett County Fair, she has exhibited nine market steers, three market lambs, a market hog, and two market goats. She has also exhibited items such as hay, oats, rye, corn, crafts, and school projects.

Rounds currently works at the Goodwill Mennonite Home as a feeder, and plans to become a registered nurse.

Katelyn Gnegy is the daughter of Daniel and Mary Gnegy, Oakland. She will be a senior at Southern High School this fall.

She and her family operate a 209-acre farm, where they produce hay, livestock, and vegetables.

For the past nine years, she has shown market and breeding sheep at the fair. In addition, she has shown rabbits, chickens, goats, and market hogs. She has also entered indoor exhibits such as clothing, baked goods, canned goods, vegetables, and flowers.

Gnegy plans to attend college and become a veterinarian with her own large animal practice.

Catlin Carrico is the daughter of Greg and Camille Carrico, Swanton. She has completed one year of studies at Potomac State of WVU so far, where she majors in agricultural education.

Her family is involved in meat and dairy goat enterprises.

She has been actively involved in the fair for the past eight years. She exhibits meat and dairy goats as well as numerous indoor products.

Carrico plans to earn a master’s degree in agriculture education so she can teach future generations of about the importance of agriculture.

Kara Savage is the daughter of L. Deane and Nancy Savage, Accident. She will be a sophomore at Garrett College this fall.

She and her family breed and raise dairy heifers and cows. They also raise replacement heifers for other farmers and grow field crops.

She has shown dairy animals at the fair since she was 7 years old. She has shown a market hog and market lamb for six years, and also exhibits crafts, vegetables, canned goods, flowers, baked goods, and photographs. She has also participated in the fashion revue and costume animal parade, as well as the showmanship competition with various animals.

Savage plans to earn a degree in education at Frostburg State University, then teach elementary education in the Garrett County school system.

Read the 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

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County Provides Information About DCL Sewage Spill

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The Garrett County Department of Public Utilities (DPU) met last week with GC Board of Commissioners chair Ernie Gregg, county administrator Monty Pagenhardt, and representatives of the GC Health Department and Department of Planning and Land Development to assess a recent sewage overflow in the Deep Creek Lake Sewer System.

They provided the following details about the incident and future preventive measures in a press release:

DPU received an emergency pager call on July 11 at approximately 9:45 a.m. regarding an apparent sewage overflow at Pump Station 2-2, located at the intersection of Garrett Highway (Rt. 219) and Lake Shore Drive.

Upon arrival, DPU personnel spoke to a property owner who initiated the emergency call. The person informed the employee that another neighbor noticed the sewage around 7 a.m. but did not report the problem.

DPU personnel assessed and corrected the problem by approximately 10 a.m. and estimated the overflow volume to be approximately 42,000 gallons, based upon the gallons per minute the pump is capable of pumping and the number of cycles it would have pumped in a three-hour duration.

DPU notified the Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) lake management office and informed personnel of the situation. DNR dispatched a vessel to the area and placed buoys on the water to restrict watercraft from entering the contaminated area. Caution tape was also placed across neighboring docks to the shoreline to restrict the area, and notices were posted in the vicinity.

The Garrett County Health Department’s Environmental Health Services office was also notified, and the incident was reported to the Maryland Department of the Environment’s emergency notification center.

DPU personnel utilized their vacuum/tank truck and removed standing sewage from the surrounding ground and disinfected the affected are. DPU laboratory personnel collected water samples from the contaminated lake area and commenced the analysis process.

Pump Station 2-2 consists of one large wet well containing two 40hp pumps. Wastewater enters the wet well from both the northern and southern sections of the sewer system. When the wastewater reaches a pre-set level, floats connected to the pump controls signal the pump to operate and discharge the wastewater from the wet well into the main sewer line flowing toward the wastewater treatment plant.

A bypass vault is also installed at this pump station, which contains a 30hp.

Following the cleanup process, DPU electricians assessed the components of the pump station in order to determine the cause. Their assessment revealed that an electrical short in the power cord connected to Pump No. 1 occurred.

This short caused the main breaker for the pump station’s electrical controls to trip instead of just the breaker serving Pump No. 1.

When the emergency generator tried to start, it detected a dead short in the system and shut down in order to prevent damage to the generator. If the generator had been able to run, Pump No. 2 and/or the bypass pump would have began operating, but because of the main breaker being rendered inoperable, neither Pump No. 2 nor the bypass pump could be energized, therefore causing the overflow.

In accordance with the Code of Maryland Regulations governing such occurrences, the area affected was posted, and within 24 hours, DPU notified the public with a public service announcement on a radio station serving the immediate area where the overflow occurred.

Additional lake water samples were collected and tested on July 12 and 13. Based on testing results for samples collected on July 13, Environmental Health Services lifted the restriction on entering the water in the affected area on July 14, and the appropriate public service announcement was issued on the local radio station.

The pump stations are currently equipped with indicator lights and an audible alarm system to provide warning of a malfunction.

Upon further review of the electrical malfunction and the risk of potential reoccurrences, DPU is pursuing the addition of either a telemetry or auto-dialer alarm system to supplement current notification components at all main line pump stations.

The department is also performing an assessment of the current electrical components to evaluate possible upgrades and/or replacements and, if required, will secure the services of an independent consultant.

DPU and the county commissioners have also committed to adding a second emergency backup, in addition to the emergency generator, for the pump station operations. Independent Godwin Dri-Prime diesel operated pumps will be purchased and installed at Pump Station 2-2 and several others.

This backup pump will operate and maintain flows if an electrical outage or malfunction of the electrical components or emergency generator occurs.

Read the 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

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Rec Center Construction Begins; Pools To Be Completed Next Sept.

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Jul. 29, 2010

The Garrett County commissioners received an update this week on the $23-million Community Athletic and Recreation Center (CARC), now under construction at Garrett College.

The report was given by the college’s dean of administration and finance, Josephine Gilman, during the commissioners’ staff meeting. About 15 county department heads and agency representatives attended the Tuesday morning event.

Gilman reported that Hess Construction and Engineering of Gaithersburg recently received a “notice to proceed” to begin construction of the aquatics center and the gymnasium foundation pads.

“The construction schedule, right now, is on track for a Sept. 1, 2011, completion date,” Gilman said about Phase I of the CARC project, the aquatics facility.

The 32,000 square-foot aquatics building will include two indoor swimming pools, a fitness center, and a physical therapy facility.

Phase II consists of a 32,000-square-foot gym with three regulation-size basketball courts and seating for up to 2,000 people. This phase is expected to be completed in early 2012.

Gilman said all the required coordination meetings with county stormwater management, sediment and erosion control, and Maryland Department of the Environment representatives have been held, and coordination between the parties is ongoing.

She added that Hess has subcontracted Beitzel Corporation of Grantsville to complete all of the excavation and stormwater work. The dean noted that the local company has “doubled up” many shifts and will work on an accelerated schedule throughout the summer.

“[This is] in the hope that if we do get a mild winter, we should be a little bit ahead of ourselves,” Gilman said. “But if we get a bad winter, at least we’ll be prepared for it by accelerating the work during the summer.”

Currently, the stormwater pond and other stormwater infrastructure is being installed and work is beginning on the retaining wall.

The pad for the aquatics center should be completed by this September, and the gym pad, hopefully, will be finished before November, Gilman said.

Because of the construction, the college is addressing safety concerns. For example, before the fall semester begins, a temporary path with lighting will be built from the residence halls to the main campus to enable students to avoid the construction.

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

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Theatre On The Lake presents the musical Children of Eden

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The next presentation of TOTL (Theatre On The Lake) will be the musical Children of Eden, to begin on Tuesday, Aug. 3, and run though Saturday, Aug. 7. The two-act musical play with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz is based on a book by John Caird and tells the stories of the Book of Genesis. TOTL is under the direction of Lynn Broderick, and the shows are given at the Barn at Ridgeview Valley at 7:30 p.m. each evening. Tickets are $10 per person. For more information, persons may go to the TOTL web site, located at www.totltheatre.org or call 304-680-1002. Pictured above from left are actors Adam Rhodes, Leah Broderick, Daniel Crowley, and Zane Rerek.

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

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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

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Garrett unveils eighth barn quilt

Inaugural festival promotes driving tour through county
Kevin Spradlin
Cumberland Times-News

— ACCIDENT — Between scoops of Lakeside Creamery ice cream and impromptu toy tractor races among brothers, there was the first Barn Quilt Festival on Sunday at Cove Run Farms in Accident.

And Mike Dennis, for one, was pleasantly surprised at the turnout for the first-year event. A barn quilt is a quilt pattern painted or imprinted on a piece of wood and then displayed on a barn.

“This is a much, much bigger response than I think anybody anticipated,” said the Garrett County resident.

Dennis attended the festival, which promoted agriculture, heritage and the natural beauty of rural Mountain Maryland, to attract customers to his digital art and photography efforts. Dennis has taken photos in different seasons of several barn quilts around Garrett County. At least two more are set to be installed in the near future.

Dennis sells the photographs but also uses a cintique that provides a digital image with the pastel-like feel.

“It’s just a neat idea,” Dennis said of barn quilts. “A lot of these designs are unique to America. It’s part of our heritage.”

Area barn quilts highlighted at the festival include “Variation Star” owned by Bev and Taylor “Mike” Sines, “Ohio Star” owned by Wendell and Ruth Beitzel and “Turkey Tracks” owned by Johnny and Sue Logan.

“Turkey Tracks,” located on Boiling Springs Road in Deer Park, is a simple red, white and blue image that gives the impression of a turkey’s prints.

A “Turkey Tracks” photo taken converted into a pastel impression is one of his favorites, Dennis said. The photo was originally taken early this spring. But he plans to revisit the barn this fall and winter.

“You get something different” with the fall foliage and winter snow, Dennis said. “You get a whole different painting.”

The event was organized by the Barn Quilt Association of Garrett County Inc. Part of the festival was to make visitors aware of a self-guided barn quilt driving tour available around Garrett County. This Barn Quilt Trail is the first such driving tour in Maryland.

The tour can be done in a single afternoon or in segments and takes motorists through or near Grantsville, Bittinger, Accident and McHenry, then south to Deer Park.

The seventh barn quilt to be display is one that takes special care to highlight all four seasons. The quilt is called “Circle of Life in Garrett County.” The barn is owned by Kenney Signs Co., Frostburg, and is located between National Pike and Interstate 68 near Finzel.

Association members on Sunday unveiled the eighth and newest barn quilt, “Garden Maze,” placed on a barn near Cove Run Farm’s popular corn maze.

Karen Reckner, festival co-coordinator, and her fellow Barn Quilt Association officers believe the project can assist the local tourism effort and help preserve the area’s agricultural and cultural history.

For more information, log on to http://www.garrettbarnquilts.org/ or call 877-577-2276.

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

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Looking Back: Embarrassed wife has Oakland’s first doctor executed

Quite an interesting story about historical Oakland:

JAMES RADA
Cumberland Times-News

— OAKLAND — It’s been said that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Such fury cost Oakland its first doctor.

When Dr. John Conn stepped off the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad train in 1851, he was a pioneer. Oakland hadn’t yet been incorporated as a town and the region was still frontier for Maryland. The town only had a few hundred citizens and they needed a doctor. The next-closest doctor was Dr. John H. Patterson in Grantsville. To get there and back to Oakland would have taken a full day.

Conn set up his office at Second and Oak streets where it quickly flourished.

“In the days before the convenience of a well-stocked pharmacy, it was said that the ‘young doctor’ either had on hand the correct medication, or could prescribe a suitable home remedy for any attack of ague or vapors, vague ailments which were popular at in that period,” according to the Garrett County Historical Society book, “Strange and Unusual True Stories of Garrett County.”

Besides the fact that Conn had a monopoly on the medical needs of the community, part of the reason that his practice was successful was because he was young, attractive and people liked him.

Sometimes too much.

Ann Johnson was a woman who believed that she deserved more from life than to work in a general store owned by her older husband, Cornelius, and live in a backwoods town. The general store was on Railroad Street, just 300 feet away from where Dr. Conn had set up his office.

Ann could watch him leave and enter the building from either the general store or her apartment. Sometimes the young doctor would even come into the store for items.

Ann began to think that Conn might be her way out of Oakland. He was younger than her husband and he could take her to a city where she could live the life she wanted. She began to find reasons to visit the doctor for treatments for various ailments that either she or her infant daughter, Ida Lucy Florence Jeanette Genevieve Jenny Lind Johnson, supposedly had. She would engage the doctor in conversation to show her sophistication and smile at the single man.

“As time passed, and the visits continued, Mrs. Johnson was convinced that her personality and charm were making an impression on Dr. Conn,” according to the historical society book.

And she was making an impression. Conn thought she was being quite out of line. He told one person that he thought Ann was a “butterfly fool.” When word of this got back to Ann, her dreams collapsed around her. How could this man call her foolish? He could not find a better woman in this town!

Ann stewed on the issue and her affection for the doctor turned to hate. She said something to Cornelius, most likely accusing Dr. Conn of doing something inappropriate to her during one of her visits.

Then one evening in the spring of 1854, Cornelius left the general store shortly before 7 p.m. and climbed the stairs to his apartment. There he loaded his muzzleloader and took up position at his window. He watched the doctor approach his office and raised the muzzleloader to his shoulder.

As Cornelius took aim at the doctor’s back, Marquis Perry approached the doctor to talk about something.

Cornelius waited for his target.

“The doctor crumbled at the step. The bullet passed through his head and lodged in the office door,” according to the historical society book.

Marquis was so frightened at being next to a murdered man that he ran off. He was found later hiding in his closet. Others, alerted by the shot, came outside and saw the doctor on the ground. They carried him to Thayer’s saloon on Railroad Street where Constable Thomas Arnold pronounced Conn dead.

Suspicion quickly fell on Cornelius and Arnold arrested him. However, the only witnesses against him were Marquis and Ann. Marquis said he was too shaken to know what happened and Ann wouldn’t testify against her husband.

The jury failed to convict Cornelius.

He left Oakland and his wife shortly thereafter.

Ann, surprisingly, stayed on longer taking care of her daughter. Then one day, she left the young girl in the care of a neighbor, saying that she needed to run some errands. Instead, she boarded a train and never returned to Oakland.

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 Lake Info, Business Directories, Classified Ads, Events & more! Advertise on http://www.deepcreekalive.com/!

Garrett County Chamber Hires New President

"No Correlation Between Sewage Spill And Fish Kill," Says GC Health Dept.

Sprinklers Will Not Be Required In New GC Homes

Five Competing For Local Farm Queen Crown

County Provides Information About DCL Sewage Spill

Rec Center Construction Begins; Pools To Be Completed Next Sept.

Theatre On The Lake presents the musical Children of Eden

Real Estate for Sale – 105 POCAHONTAS AVE – GA7400775

Garrett unveils eighth barn quilt

Looking Back: Embarrassed wife has Oakland’s first doctor executed

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