Jay's Real Estate Blog

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.

Garrett director earns professional certification

OAKLAND — Alex McCoy, director of the Garrett County Department of Economic Development, has received certification as an economic development finance professional from the National Development Council.

The professional credential is given to individuals who successfully complete NDC’s intensive economic development finance training series. The training provides individuals working in the field of economic development with instruction in business credit analysis, real estate financing, loan packaging, deal structuring and negotiating and the creation and implementation of development programs.

Each of the four EDFP Certification Program courses is five days in length and concludes with an exam. Upon successful completion of all four courses, the candidate is awarded EDFP certification.

McCoy joined the Garrett County team in April 2015. He had worked several years for economic development organizations in northeast Florida and South Georgia. A native of Moultrie, Georgia, he is a graduate of Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, where he received both his bachelor of arts and master in business administration degrees.

McCoy and his wife, Patricia, of Mercer County, Pennsylvania, were married in 2001.

“We would like to extend our congratulations to Alex on this hard-earned certification; this is a signification accomplishment,” said Garrett County Commission Chairman Paul Edwards.

NDC’s work focuses on homes, jobs and community. Founded as a national nonprofit in 1969, NDC has worked for 46 years at fulfilling its mission to increase the flow of capital for investment in low-income communities. NDC directs capital to support the preservation and creation of affordable housing, the creation of jobs through training and small business lending, and the promotion of livable communities through investment in social infrastructure.

NDC has provided training to over 70,000 professionals working in the fields of economic and housing development. Participants come from diverse backgrounds, including city and state governments, public agencies, community-based organizations, professional organizations and banks.

For more information, click here.

Garrett College Named to 2017 Military Friendly® Schools List, Awarded Gold Level Among Community Colleges

Garrett College recently announced that it has been recognized as a Gold-level Military Friendly® School Award recipient among Community Colleges for 2017, as well as a member of the 2017 Military Friendly® Schools List. Victory Media, originator of the family of Military Friendly® employment, entrepreneurship and education resources for veterans and their families, published its special awards for the 2017 Military Friendly® Schools and Employers online atwww.miliaryfriendly.com. For more than a decade, Military Friendly® ratings have set the standard for companies and colleges demonstrating positive employment and education outcomes for veterans and their families.

New this year, Military Friendly® Awards showcase the most powerful and effective programs of more than 200 companies and 1,200 post-secondary schools that were designated as “Military Friendly®” in November. Of those designated, 154 employers and 541 schools have been recognized for excellence in different categories, highlighting not only “Are you Military Friendly®?” but “How Military Friendly® are you?” As a Gold-level award recipient this year in the Community Colleges category, Garrett College scored within 20% of the last-ranked (10^th) institution

“All of our Military Friendly® award recipients set the standard for excellence,” said Daniel Nichols, Chief Product Officer of Victory Media and head of Military Friendly® development. “They offer exceptional examples of what it means not just to build a program that meets federal requirements, but one that serves the military and veteran community from classrooms to careers.”

For the fourth year in a row, Garrett College has been named to the 2017 Military Friendly® Schools List. The Military Friendly® Schools designation is awarded to the top 15 percent of colleges, universities and trade schools in the country that are doing the most to embrace military students, and to dedicate resources to ensure their success in the classroom and after graduation.

Kathy Fauber, Financial Aid and Veterans Affairs Counselor at Garrett College, said this recognition is an honor. “We are so pleased to be included for another year as part of the Military Friendly® Schools list, and to be named a Gold-level award recipient. The staff and faculty at Garrett College are dedicated to providing our military veterans with the high standards of service that they have earned and deserve through their service to our country,” she said.

Fauber described some of the support services that Garrett College provides for military veterans and their families.“Through our Veteran’s Affairs office we keep our student veterans linked to all their VA (Veterans Administration) benefits and services. We work hard to ensure each of our student Veterans and dependents have the resources and support they need to succeed and thrive in our learning environment. Garrett College also is a chapter of the national Student Veterans Organization (SVO) which provides programs, resources, and support for those students who are transitioning from military to civilian student life. Though our SVO we coordinate social events and activities for veterans and their families. We are very proud to offer a Veterans’ Center on campus where our student veterans can study, relax, and socialize,” she explained.

In addition to the services and support provided by Garrett College, a VA counselor comes to the McHenry campus twice a month to provide counseling for Veterans. The VA counselor is available to assist Veterans from the county who are enrolled at Garrett College as students, as well as non-student Veterans. Additionally, a VA Benefits Specialist makes routine monthly visits to assist those with any VA paperwork – both students and Veteran members in the community. Members in the community who wish to obtain more information about upcoming VA counselor visits or VA Benefits Specialist visits are encouraged to contact Fauber at 301-387-3057.

For more information about Garrett College’s commitment to attracting and supporting military students, contact Fauber at 301-387-3057 or kathy.fauber@garrettcollege.edu.

For more information, click here.

Pickleball January Schedule Announced

Pickleball enthusiasts combine efforts with the Continuing Education and Workforce Development division of Garrett College to offer instruction and playing time of this rapidly growing sport. Pickleball is played at the Oakland Community Center gym (old armory) on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. beginning on January 2. The Garrett College Community Aquatic & Recreation Complex (CARC) will continue to offer play times on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. For playing times at the CARC, contact 301-387-3786 or visit online at www.gccarc.com.

Pickleball combines elements of badminton, tennis, and ping pong and is played with paddles and a plastic ball, similar to a whiffle ball. Equipment, techniques, and rules of the games will be discussed while participants experience a new way to work out and meet new people. Tennis shoes are required but all other equipment will be included.

For additional information or to register, persons may contact Garrett College Continuing Education and Workforce Development at 301-387-3069.

For more information, click here.

RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR WITH HOPE AND HEALING

Garrett Regional Medical Center (GRMC) has much to celebrate as it approaches the first anniversary of having the WVU Medicine Cancer Institute located at the hospital. After opening its doors to patients in January of 2016, the Center has generated stories of hope and healing, continued community support, and plans for expansion.

In many areas of the world, it is customary to chime a bell at midnight to celebrate the New Year. When the bell rings at GRMC this New Year, it will be a much sweeter sound. The ringing of a bell in the cancer center indicates that a patient has completed a regimen of chemotherapy and gone into remission. A few days before Christmas, and almost a year since he started treatment, Jim Dunn stood in the WVU Cancer Institute and pulled sharply on the cord of the healing bell. The ring of the chime was met with cheers, clapping and smiles from staff that aided him through his journey.

Dunn, who was initially travelling to Morgantown for treatment, was the first patient to receive chemotherapy at the cancer center when it opened. The center being close to home and the center’s caring staff helped to make the experience of receiving treatment more bearable.

“I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the Center’s one year anniversary, than with the healing of a patient who has been receiving treatments here since the day we opened”, said Gina Artice, cancer patient care navigator. “The bell signifies an achievement and provides patients with hope and positivity. Overcoming an obstacle like this deserves to be recognized in a big way.”

The success of the cancer center has given GRMC the opportunity to expand its walls and services to continue to provide exemplary cancer care to the patients of the Garrett Region. GRMC has recently commissioned Gosnell Builders to coordinate the expansion project. The Center’s expansion plan includes many opportunities for GRMC to enhance the facility and to better provide for the care of the people from the region. The expansion plan includes a cosmetology area for patients to experience the Look Good, Feel Better program, a meeting room for a community support group, dedicated office space for the operation of Cindy’s Fund, a library, and a pharmacy.

The ability to expand the Cancer Center is made possible, in large part by the generosity of the local community. Generous lead gifts for this project were provided by James and Shirley Bailey; The Sharps and Gnegy Families; Richard, Ellen, Tracy and Steve Stuck; The Baxa Family Foundation; BJ Gallagher; and The WGW Community Youth Cup. “Donors like this have generated financial support that will touch the lives of many cancer patients and their families. Their generous support has created a lasting legacy to cancer care in our region that will live into perpetuity”, said Mark Boucot, president & CEO of Garrett Regional Medical Center; he continued, “I don’t know how to express my gratitude to everyone who has contributed to the center, other than to say that because of what they have done, people will be healed; and people from our community will be blessed.”

For more information, click here.

Lake Buy-Down Opportunity

Check out this email from the Deep Creek Lake Property Owner’s Association.

December 22, 2016

Folks,

We have been informed that the opportunity to buy-down lake front property adjacent to property you own is still in effect. Following is the information we received:

“A request by the Department of Natural Resources to re-authorize Secretaries of DGS, DNR, or their designees to execute deeds and associated documents for the sale of Deep Creek Lake buy-down parcels. The buy-down program offers owners of property adjoining Deep Creek Lake the right to purchase State land adjacent to their property. The property will be sold for $0.39/sq. ft. plus expenses for title, survey and the State’s $250 administrative fee. The sale of the parcels will be subject to a conservation easement that retains the character of Deep Creek Lake (Item 8-RP of the Department of General Services’ Agenda);”

If you wish to take advantage of this opportunity you may contact the State Department of General Services (DGS). The contact there is Tanja Rucci at 410-767-4303, tanja.rucci@maryland.gov.

Cheers,

Bob Hoffmann

President

Extend the fracking ban

Marylanders have long held serious misgivings about the use of hydraulic fracturing to drill for natural gas, and we have shared those concerns. Under the administrations of both Gov. Larry Hogan and his predecessor, Martin O’Malley, there have been efforts by the Maryland Department of the Environment to adopt what Democrats and Republicans alike have vowed would be the strictest fracking regulations in the country. Yet over and over again, there have been doubts about whether the protections involved — to ensure clean drinking water supplies and preserve Western Maryland’s scenic resources — would be adequate.

The most recent rules, as drafted by the Hogan administration and now under review, are no different. And as the nation’s natural gas glut continues — to the extent that even oil industry advocates doubt that Maryland is likely to attract much drilling even if a temporary ban on fracking is lifted — many are asking, why risk fracking at all?

We agree. It’s a bad bet. When members of the Maryland General Assembly reconvene next month, high on the agenda should be making permanent the temporary moratorium on fracking that is set to expire next year. Fracking advocates have failed to make the case that the economic value of recovering gas from the Marcellus Shale deposits outweighs the potential economic and environmental harm that accompanies it.

And it’s highly likely that a majority of Maryland residents agree with that position. That was the conclusion of a recent poll conducted by OpinionWorks for the Don’t Frack Maryland Coalition, which found support for a fracking ban even in Western Maryland. In all, the survey determined that state residents favored a ban by a 56-28 margin with 16 percent undecided.

This is not a position we take lightly. Western Maryland has an unemployment rate above the statewide average — between 4.4 and 5.2 percent by county compared to the statewide average of 4.0 percent. But it is also highly dependent on tourism, with scenic attractions like Deep Creek Lake, the Youghiogheny River, Swallow Falls State Park, the C&O Canal and many others that are a key part of the state’s $16.4 billion visitor business. Even if fracking doesn’t cause immediate harm to any of those attractions, how might public perception of the region change?

Still, it isn’t just a matter of image. The risks posed by fracking are real. Often, the problem is the method of disposal for wastewater from well injection sites — the technology involves forcing a mixture of water, chemicals and sand under high pressure into underground rock to release trapped gas — and its impact on local groundwater. In neighboring West Virginia, for example, the U.S. Geological Survey found Wolf Creek in Fayette County contaminated with sodium, chloride, strontium, lithium and radium traced to a nearby underground well.

But that’s not all. The potential adverse impacts include damage to human health, clean air and water; excessive noise pollution and even microearthquakes. That doesn’t mean fracking can’t be done relatively safely compared to, say, coal mining or logging, which have also operated in Western Maryland, but it does mean that the potential for adverse impacts, even accidental ones, is quite high — the sheer volume of water required (as much as 7 million gallons to frack a single well) practically dictates that.

And even if Maryland dropped the moratorium and adopted the MDE rules, it’s unlikely there’s going to be any gold rush to purchase or extend gas leases. That’s what makes an outright ban the safest possible wager — the resource won’t be going away; it will remain buried in those shale deposits like a savings account. If at some future date, the risk is more manageable and the demand for the resource is more robust, perhaps the moratorium can be revisited. In the interim, Maryland will learn more from the mistakes of neighboring states.

That makes a ban on fracking a win-win for everyone, except perhaps the U.S. oil and gas industry. But even they may not complain too much given the multitude of more pressing problems from falling demand and low prices to high production from Middle East competitors. If Maryland earns a national reputation for being ultra-cautious about its precious water resources, so much the better.

For more information, click here.

PRICE REDUCTION: 565 Glendale Road 104B

For more information, click here.

PRICE REDUCTION: 345 Marlin Savage Road

For more information, click here.

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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.

Garrett director earns professional certification

OAKLAND — Alex McCoy, director of the Garrett County Department of Economic Development, has received certification as an economic development finance professional from the National Development Council.

Each of the four EDFP Certification Program courses is five days in length and concludes with an exam. Upon successful completion of all four courses, the candidate is awarded EDFP certification.

McCoy and his wife, Patricia, of Mercer County, Pennsylvania, were married in 2001.

“We would like to extend our congratulations to Alex on this hard-earned certification; this is a signification accomplishment,” said Garrett County Commission Chairman Paul Edwards.

NDC has provided training to over 70,000 professionals working in the fields of economic and housing development. Participants come from diverse backgrounds, including city and state governments, public agencies, community-based organizations, professional organizations and banks.

For more information, click here.

Garrett College Named to 2017 Military Friendly® Schools List, Awarded Gold Level Among Community Colleges

For more information about Garrett College’s commitment to attracting and supporting military students, contact Fauber at 301-387-3057 or kathy.fauber@garrettcollege.edu.

For more information, click here.

Pickleball January Schedule Announced

For additional information or to register, persons may contact Garrett College Continuing Education and Workforce Development at 301-387-3069.

For more information, click here.

RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR WITH HOPE AND HEALING

Dunn, who was initially travelling to Morgantown for treatment, was the first patient to receive chemotherapy at the cancer center when it opened. The center being close to home and the center’s caring staff helped to make the experience of receiving treatment more bearable.

For more information, click here.

#tbt

Lake Buy-Down Opportunity

Check out this email from the Deep Creek Lake Property Owner’s Association.

Extend the fracking ban

For more information, click here.

PRICE REDUCTION: 565 Glendale Road 104B

For more information, click here.

PRICE REDUCTION: 345 Marlin Savage Road

For more information, click here.

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