Emmitsburg
Mayor Don Briggs
Infrastructure comes in many stripes. Sewer lines, water lines, sidewalks, streets, power lines, the list goes on. The number one infrastructure priority of town staff and elected officials right now is the discolored water service experienced by some of our residents. Our attention to this concern has remained unaltered. To our efforts and our lab testing, we have invited the assistance of the county and state.
Other infrastructure needs include mitigating the effect of flash flooding occurrences at the North Seton Avenue, Federal Avenue, and Provincial Parkway intersection. Flooding has occurred at this point forever. I have seen an old photo of the intersection flooded long before Provincial Parkway was opened and the development of the Northgate subdivision (late 1980s-early 1990s). Town staff is working on a grant to fund a street conceptual plan to reduce the stormwater runoff discharged along the stretch of North Seton Avenue that slopes toward the intersection with Federal Avenue and Provincial Parkway.
Whoa! What a couple of days of 60-degree weather in January can do for you. It was a good break for those among us who are restless from TV football fatigue and possibly girth expansion. To wit, I took our youthful yellow lab, Finn, out on an expedition through Community Park. Perhaps sparked by an equal genesis, the park was busy with plenty of old and new friends for both Finn and me. A good “pack” seemed to be enjoying the new dog park: several families and tots at the new all-inclusive playground, both pick-up baseball and basketball games, joggers, and walkers—what an excellent resource for the community.
At the January board of commissioners meeting, we were honored to host the State Champion Catoctin High School Cougars football team and coaching staff. First, for hotdogs (as many as they could eat and some did), cold drinks, and other treats. Thank you to Mrs. Umbel for the use of the senior center. Then, introductions and presentation of a proclamation from the town was received by Head Coach Doug Williams. Thank you to Commissioner Frank Davis’ family for providing the food and service for the team.
After Christmas, I was honored to attend the Boy Scout Troop 727 awards dinner. Wonderful event. Congratulations to Matthias Buchheister, Thomas Lowe, and Joseph Legare on earning the prestigious Eagle Scout rank, the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Boy Scouts of America. We will honor the lads at an upcoming town meeting. Troop 727 has done many service projects for the town; there is a scout project planned for Community Park this spring.
With spring comes a whole host of youth sports, including baseball again in Emmitsburg. Bring ’em on. Also, don’t forget, Lent and Easter are on the way.
Thurmont
Mayor John Kinnaird
The Town of Thurmont has started our 2020 Master Plan Update. The current plan has been in effect for about eight years and needs to be reviewed. The Master Plan guides the Town’s growth, development, and conservation, and has been updated about every ten years since the 1970s. This update will take six to nine months to complete, and residents are encouraged to get involved in the process. The first public workshop took place on Thursday, January 16, with 50 or so residents attendance.
During this first workshop, there was an introduction to the Master Plan, followed by an exercise where the participants broke into smaller groups to discuss several questions. The questions were: 1.—What would Thurmont look like if you had the power to make it any way you wanted?; 2.—What would you preserve about the Town, and what would you change about it?; 3.—Imagine you are in a future generation of Town residents and tell us what would impress you most about the vision of today’s citizen planners?
After discussing the questions, everyone got back together to read each group’s answers. Not surprisingly, the answers were very similar. Most want to keep our small-town feel; to plan future development so that it benefits our residents; to provide more public amenities such as parks, trails, and community centers; and to improve roads and other infrastructure. The results from these discussions will be complied, presented at a future meeting, and incorporated in the update.
Future meetings and workshops will discuss land use, planning, zoning changes, the growth boundary, and other related topics. There will also be public meetings, where maps and other parts of the plan will be displayed for residents’ review and comment. As part of the update, there will also be a Comprehensive Zoning Review. This review allows residents and property owners to apply for a change in zoning for their property.
The requests will be reviewed by the Planning and Zoning Commission; applications for zoning changes must be received by March 15, 2020.
I encourage you to get involved in this process by attending the meetings and workshops or by watching the meeting on Cable 99 or via stream video from the Streaming Video page on www.thurmont.com. This can be a long and involved process, but is worth every minute spent on it. As an active participant, you will be able to take pride in being a part of the 2020 Thurmont Master Plan Update.
The 2020 United States Census will be underway in the month of March. Everyone needs to participate in the census! Among other things, the census will determine the distribution of Federal Funds. Any shortage in census figures for our area can hurt the Federal Programs and services on which many of our residents depend. The census can be taken online, or you can provide the information to Census workers that will be canvassing the community. Be on the lookout for more information as the date for the census approaches.
Please contact me at 302-606-9458 or by email at jkinnaird@thurmont.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.
