April 2012 – Page 4 – Jay's Real Estate Blog

SHA cleaning, painting 8 Garrett bridges

From Staff Reports Cumberland Times-News

GRANTSVILLE — The Maryland State Highway Administration has begun a project to clean and paint eight bridges in Garrett County.

Most work will occur below the bridges; however, daytime single-lane closures could happen Mondays through Thursdays between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m., and Fridays from 6 a.m. to noon. SHA will provide variable message signs, drums and arrow boards to guide motorists through the work zone. The projects should be completed by fall, weather permitting.

Titan Industries of Baltimore was awarded the $1.2 million contract to work at the following locations.

• State Route 38 over the North Branch of the Potomac River in Kitzmiller.

• Water Street over the Youghiogheny River in Friendsville.

• East and westbound spans of Interstate 68 over Water Street and the Youghiogheny River.

• Frost Road over I-68 near Grantsville.

• U.S. Route 219 over I-68 in Grantsville.

• East and westbound spans of I-68/U.S. 219 over Shade Hollow Road in Grantsville.

Maryland now features free traveler information by calling 511 or 855-GOMD511 or go to www.md511.org. Questions about the bridge projects may be directed to SHA’s District 6 Office at 301-729-8400 or 800-760-7138.

SHA recently announced road work and bridge projects in Allegany County as well with a $3.3 million contract for improvements at the U.S. Route 220/I-68 interchange. SHA will spend $879,000 for bridge paintings in the county and $850,000 to upgrade traffic barriers in both Allegany and Garrett counties.

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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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Local reps take case for 219 to governor's office

By KATIE WALKER Daily American Staff Writer

11:23 p.m. EDT, April 11, 2012
A- | A+
Representatives from three counties met with Gov. Tom Corbett’s staff Wednesday to discuss the progress of completing Route 219 from Meyersdale to Somerset.

Kathleen Duffy Bruder, deputy chief of staff to Corbett, Jim Ritzman, deputy secretary for planning for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, and county commissioners from Somerset, Cambria and Garrett County, Md., attended the meeting. Staff from the offices of state Sens. John Wozniak and Richard Kasunic attended as well as representatives from the North/South Appalachian Highway Coalition.

“We were making our case, as we try to do all the time to get 219 built,” Glenn Miller, an executive committee member of Continental 1, said.

The Continental 1 corridor is a proposed 1,500-mile direct route from Toronto to Miami intended to develop business growth and faster, safer travel. The organization’s current goal is to complete Route 219 from New York through Pennsylvania.

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‘With remorse’ Garrett County superintendent suggests school closings

Elaine Blaisdell Cumberland Times-News

OAKLAND — Garrett County’s interim superintendent of schools recommended Tuesday that Dennett Road and Kitzmiller elementary schools be closed due to a lack of state funding.

“We don’t have any wiggle room in the budget. I am a proponent of small schools and I agree that it takes a community to raise a child. This is definitely an emotional issue,” said Sue Waggoner, who said it was “with remorse” that she made the decision.

House Bill 660 and Senate Bill 586, proposed by Delegates Wendell Beitzel, Kevin Kelly and LeRoy Myers Jr. and Sen. George Edwards passed in the Senate but failed in the House, according to Waggoner.

“It is unprecedented. Who would have believed that the legislature would adjourn without passing it,” said Waggoner, who said she wasn’t sure if lawmakers would return for a special session to hash out budget differences. “I’m still hopeful things can change.”

The county stands to lose $1.5 million in state assistance in fiscal year 2012 and that number is projected to be $2.5 million in FY 2013.

The board will vote on the recommendation at a special meeting on April 24 at 7 p.m. Public comment will be taken before the vote.

The proposed bill would have limited the board’s losses in state funding to 5 percent for the next three years. If the bill would have passed, it would have capped losses at $1.5 million.

In closing Dennett Road and Kitzmiller, it will save the board $1.2 million and $279,000 respectively, according to Waggoner. However, the board would have to add $170,750 in unemployment compensation to its budget.

There was no public comment on the school closing recommendation.

Contact Elaine Blaisdell at eblaisdell@times-news.com.

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Environmentalists praise assembly session

Lawmakers pass flush fee, stormwater fee, septic curbs, arsenic ban
April 10, 2012|By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun

While others found much to criticize about this year’s General Assembly, environmental activists hailed it Tuesday as the most significant in decades for advancing long-running efforts to restore the Chesapeake Bay.

In a year when lawmakers balked at raising taxes or fees for other purposes, they approved the doubling of a “flush fee” for fixing up Maryland’s sewage treatment plants and ordered the state’s largest communities to levy fees on their property owners to fix polluted runoff from city and suburban streets and parking lots.

Legislators also finally approved long-debated curbs on growth using septic tanks, which officials have warned for years could undermine bay cleanup efforts if not curtailed.

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A Quiet Moment Along The Savage

This river’s name does not seem appropriate for this particular scene. The Savage River was anything but savage when captured in this photograph by artist Michael Petersheim. The shot is part of an exhibit of his work now on display at the Gallery Shop in downtown Oakland.

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“The Nature of Summer” display is being hosted by the Garrett County Arts Council, which will also host a reception for Petersheim at the gallery on April 13 from 5 to 7 p.m. The exhibit will be on display until May 18 and is open during normal Gallery Shop hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Petersheim is a native of western Maryland and grew up on farm just south of Oakland. His love of photography developed in 2004, he said, while living and studying at the University of Queensland in Australia. See story on today’s arts page. For more information, persons may also visit www.garrettarts.com or call 301-334-6580.

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General Assembly increases flush tax, sends to O'Malley

by Annie Linskey

11:48 a.m. EDT, April 9, 2012
Maryland’s House of Delegates just passed a bill that doubles the “flush tax” — a fee on water use — sending it to Gov. Martin O’Malleyfor his signature. Passing the bill was a key part of the governor’s agenda this year.

The bill increases the fee from $2.50 per household per month to $5. Funds will be used to upgrade wastewater faciliites. It passed the House 89 to 48.

The bill (HB 446) was amended to exclude parts of the state, like Garrett County and parts of the Eastern Shore, that are not part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Del. Maggie McIntosh, the House floor leader, said the change would not have a “material” impact on the funds raised by the change.

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Forgo final walk-through at your own risk

Sellers don’t always play by rules when moving out

By Dian Hymer
Inman News®

Purchase contracts often include a provision for the buyers to walk through the property with their real estate agent about five days or so before closing. This is not a contingency of the contract.

It provides the buyers an opportunity to confirm that the property is in substantially the same condition it was when their offer to purchase was accepted by the sellers, and to confirm that any repairs the sellers agreed to do have been completed.

If you do a walk-through and discover that repair items haven’t been done per the contract or that the sellers’ possessions haven’t been completely removed from the property, ask your agent to put the findings in writing. Your agent can then deliver the “to do” list to the sellers so that there is no question about what remains to be done before closing.

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Bay foundation: Report points to need for runoff controls

Most-polluted list has 37 additional waterways
by margie hyslop, Staff Writer

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is pointing to a report that adds 37 streams and waterways to the state’s most-polluted list as evidence of the need to curb runoff in urban and suburban areas….

…According to MDE, among Maryland waters most polluted by runoff from urban or suburban areas were streams linked to the Potomac River in Montgomery, Frederick and Washington counties; the Anacostia River in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties; the Little Patuxent River in Anne Arundel and Howard counties; Liberty Reservoir watershed in Carroll and Baltimore counties; Back River in Baltimore city and Baltimore County; Lower Gunpowder Falls in Baltimore County; West River in Anne Arundel County and the Deep Creek Lake watershed in Garrett County.

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"What After-School Programs Mean To Me"

Apr. 5, 2012

Young Jarrett Miller had the attention of both Sen. George Edwards (seated) and Del. Wendell Beitzel one day last month when the youngster joined several other local advocates of after-school programming in Garrett County. The Partners After School (PAS) representatives from Accident and Oakland attended After School Advocacy Night at the state capital in Annapolis, hosted by the Maryland Out of School Time Network.

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Jarrett wrote a letter about how important after-school programming is to him, and read it to the two elected officials as part of the day’s activities. Partners After School programs are provided by the Garrett County Local Management Board (LMB), Garrett County commissioners, Governor’s Office for Children, and United Way of Garrett County. Programs are administered by the Garrett County Health Department and Garrett County Community Action Committee. For more information, persons may call the LMB at 301-334-7445 or 301-895-3111.

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Scientists: Increase in US Earthquakes Almost Certainly Manmade

Saturday, 07 April 2012 09:22
By Joe Romm, ThinkProgress

A U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) team has found that a sharp jump in earthquakes in America’s heartland appears to be linked to oil and natural gas drilling operations.

As hydraulic fracturing has exploded onto the scene, it has increasingly been connected to earthquakes. Some quakes may be caused by the original fracking — that is, by injecting a fluid mixture into the earth to release natural gas (or oil). More appear to be caused by reinjecting the resulting brine deep underground.

Last August, a USGS report examined a cluster of earthquakes in Oklahoma and reported:

Our analysis showed that shortly after hydraulic fracturing began small earthquakes started occurring, and more than 50 were identified, of which 43 were large enough to be located. Most of these earthquakes occurred within a 24 hour period after hydraulic fracturing operations had ceased.

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Month: April 2012

SHA cleaning, painting 8 Garrett bridges

Local reps take case for 219 to governor's office

‘With remorse’ Garrett County superintendent suggests school closings

Environmentalists praise assembly session

A Quiet Moment Along The Savage

General Assembly increases flush tax, sends to O'Malley

Forgo final walk-through at your own risk

Bay foundation: Report points to need for runoff controls

"What After-School Programs Mean To Me"

Scientists: Increase in US Earthquakes Almost Certainly Manmade

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