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From the Burgess

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Woodsboro

Burgess Heath Barnes

On April 11, we held a public hearing before our regular meeting to discuss two proposed code changes and both passed. The first code change was to allow chickens in town, based upon the regulations that had been previously proposed and passed 4-0. An overview of the ordinance is that residents with lots less than one acre will be allowed up to five chickens. Residents with more than one acre will be allowed to have up to 12 chickens. Absolutely no roosters will be allowed. All wishing to have chickens can apply for their permit at the town office, beginning May 11, 2023. The second code amendment, which passed 3-1 from the council, with Commissioner Crum voting no, was to change the grass height allowed. Current code allows up to 18-inch-high grass. The new code will be changed to a maximum height of eight inches. Per town ordinance, both code changes will go into effect 30 days after the vote, which will be May 11, 2023. I thank the residents who came and spoke out about their concerns on either issue.

The town council was approached in March with a proposal to allow a third cellular phone company to rent space on our water tower. In the past, we have had three towers, but recently we have just had two. The council sent it back to the company for negotiations and our request was met, so it was unanimously voted on to allow them to rent the space, which will bring in more funds for the town.

This meeting was also the night to nominate candidates to run for the upcoming town election that will be held on May 13, 2023. Two of the four commissioner positions are open. Commissioner John Cutshall and Commissioner Dana Crum’s seats are both up for election. Commissioner Cutshall expressed interest in running again and was nominated to be on the ballot. Commissioner Crum has chosen not to run again and, unfortunately, no one else accepted a nomination to run. Although it is too late to appear on the ballot, if you are considering running, please do so as a write-in as we will have an empty council seat if no one runs. To be eligible, you must be at least 18 years of age and reside in the town limits for at least one year before assuming office. If you are not able to vote in person on Election Day, you may request an absentee ballot at the town office up until end of business on May 6, 2023.

On Sunday, May 28, the American Legion will host its annual Memorial Day parade. All are welcome to participate in the parade or just come out and enjoy watching. In addition, there will be a service pre-parade at the war memorial, along with a service in the American Legion post-parade to honor our military that we have lost. As always, I encourage everyone to support Glade Valley Community Services (GVCS) if you have clothes or food donations as they are always in need of items for members of the community.

If you have any questions, concerns, complaints, or compliments please feel free to reach out to me at hbarnes@woodsboro.org or by phone at 301-401-7164.

Woodsboro Town meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. In addition, Planning and Zoning meetings are at 6:00 p.m. on the first Monday of the month, as needed. If you have an item for the agenda, it needs to be submitted 14 days before the P&Z meeting. The current location for meetings is the St. Johns United Church of Christ, located at 8 N. 2nd Street Woodsboro, MD 21798. The public is always invited to attend.

From the Burgess

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Woodsboro

Burgess Heath Barnes

Happy February! We are over halfway through winter, with seven more weeks until spring. I am personally grateful for the mild winter we have had so far, and I am looking forward to spring.

At our January 10 meeting, we held a public hearing about whether to allow chickens in Woodsboro. The current town code, written in 1972, does not allow them. We opened the meeting up with this topic and allowed any town resident up to three minutes to speak on the issue. We had several town residents in attendance, and the majority present spoke in favor of allowing chickens. With the information that was provided, the council voted 3-1 not to take the vote that night but rather to let our planning and zoning committee who met on January 23 to put in place what the regulations would be: herd size, distance from property line for chicken coops, etc. The Woodsboro Town Council will vote on the measure at the February 14 meeting.

During the January 10th town meeting, I gave an update on the town hall progress. Our engineer and architect are working diligently on it, and our engineer feels that there is a good chance we could see shovels going into the ground by late spring. I, as well as many others, will be happy to see this progression happening.

This month has been very quiet in the town, so there isn’t much more to report on. Next month, there will be more.

As always, I encourage everyone to support Glade Valley Community Services (GVCS) if you have clothes or food donations as they are always in need of items for members of the community. For more information, please contact GVCS by email at gvcs.inc@verizon.net, or call 301-845-0213.

If you have any questions, concerns, complaints, or compliments please feel free to reach out to me at hbarnes@woodsboro.org or by phone at 301-401-7164.

Woodsboro Town meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. In addition, Planning and Zoning meetings are at 6:00 p.m. on the first Monday of the month, as needed. If you have an item for the agenda, it needs to be submitted 14 days before the Planning and Zoning meeting. The current location for meetings is the St. Johns United Church of Christ, located at 8 N. 2nd Street, Woodsboro, MD 21798. The public is always invited to attend.

From the Burgess

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Woodsboro

Burgess Heath Barnes

Happy and blessed New Year. Welcome to 2023! I hope this new year is a good one for all. I also hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season.

Our December 13th meeting was rather quiet, with very few things on the agenda, so this month’s article will be rather short. We reminded the residents of the upcoming public hearing concerning allowing chickens in town that will be held on January 10, 2023, beginning at 7:00 p.m. All residents are welcome to attend to voice their opinions.

I gave an update on the town hall progress. We have signed a contract with an architect, and I have had a call with them and the engineer to begin the next steps. I have been asked, “Didn’t you have an architect?” The answer is, yes, and we had a drawing; however, with the now-larger lot that we have, we can build a larger and more sustainable building, as the lot is almost twice the size of the other lot. This means we must have new drawings, but the process is moving along.

We have had several issues of vandalism in the park over the last few weeks. The latest is that the port-o-potties that are placed in the park have been damaged beyond repair. We will need to buy those from the rental company and replace them with new ones. Due to the ongoing damage, the decision was made to remove them from the park and not to replace them. We will continue to have our permanent facilities open April 1 through November 30 of each year, but, unfortunately, the port-o-potties will no longer be available.

We had a great turnout of children and adults alike for our annual Santa run that was once again planned and implemented by the Woodsboro Volunteer Fire Department. We had a great time and look forward to next year.

As always, I encourage everyone to support Glade Valley Community Services (GVCS) if you have clothes or food donations, as they are always in need of items for members of the community. For more information, please contact GVCS by email at gvcs.inc@verizon.net or call 301-845-0213.

If you have any questions, concerns, complaints, or compliments, please feel free to reach out to me at hbarnes@woodsboro.org or by phone at 301-401-7164.

Woodsboro Town meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. In addition, planning and zoning meetings are at 6:00 p.m. on the first Monday of the month as needed. If you have an item for the agenda, it needs to be submitted 14 days before the P&Z meeting. The current location for meetings is the St. Johns United Church of Christ, located at 8 N. 2nd Street, Woodsboro, MD 21798. The public is always invited to attend.

From the Burgess

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Woodsboro

Burgess Heath Barnes

At our November 8th meeting, we reminded everyone about the decision that was previously made at the monthly town meeting to hold a public hearing on January 10, 2023 to discuss the possibility of allowing chickens in town. We could not do this at the November meeting, as town codes require 30 days’ notice, and there was not 30 days between meetings. We chose not to have it at the December meeting to avoid the holidays. We invite anyone with an opinion either way to attend on January 10. After the hearing portion, the council will vote to proceed with allowing chickens or not. If the vote is yes, it will move to the planning and zoning committee in February to determine the stipulations around allowing them.

We had a resident at the meeting who proposed adding nets to baseball field two and distancing the bases to 90 feet. This is to attract a traveling team of 13-14 year-olds to the park beginning next season. This idea was met with a lot of optimism and would allow the second field to be used again. We also discussed the remodeling of the concession stand that will happen, which will make this nice for the games as well.

We have had several issues of vandalism in the park over the last few weeks, and a discussion took place to entertain the idea of security cameras being installed. I have also reached out to request additional patrol by the sheriff’s department. The vandalism included the breaking of several picnic tables, turning the port-o-potties on their sides, ripping the door off the men’s restroom, several cases of graffiti, and the cutting of the cables around the parking lots. Due to the damage to the restroom, we went ahead and closed the restrooms for the remainder of the year, a few weeks earlier than usual.

I have been told Santa (aka the burgess) will make a few appearances in Woodsboro this year. The first stop will be at the Woodsboro Lutheran Church at its Christmas Bazaar on December 3. Santa will be visiting from 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. for pictures. Then, on December 11, Santa will ride around town with the Woodsboro Volunteer Fire Department, beginning at 1:00 p.m. Santa will also be at the Children’s Christmas Party at 1:00 p.m. at the Woodsboro American Legion. Come out and see Santa at one of these events.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving holiday, spent with family and friends. I would like to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas, A Happy Holiday Season, and a Blessed New Year. Always remember to look out for those around who may not have the resources or family to have a great holiday and lend a helping hand if you can.

As always, I encourage everyone to support Glade Valley Community Services (GVCS) if you have clothes or food donations, as they are always in need of items for members of the community. For more information, please contact GVCS by email at gvcs.inc@verizon.net or call 301-845-0213.

If you have any questions, concerns, complaints, or compliments, please feel free to reach out to me at hbarnes@woodsboro.org or by phone at 301-401-7164.

Woodsboro Town meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. In addition, planning and zoning meetings are at 6:00 p.m. on the first Monday of the month as needed. If you have an item for the agenda, it needs to be submitted 14 days before the P&Z meeting. The current location for meetings is the St. Johns United Church of Christ, located at 8 N. 2nd Street, Woodsboro, MD 21798. The public is always invited to attend.

From the Burgess

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Woodsboro

Burgess Heath Barnes

Our October 11th town meeting was a busy one. The council voted to replace the current outdated water-meter-reading system. The project is slated to tentatively begin in early April. One challenge with this is that each home will have to have a piece in their water meter replaced inside their homes; so, this could take a while, as the crew would need to enter each person’s home to replace the reader. This will also allow electronic readings to be tied to electronic-payment processing, which allows residents to pay their water bills via cards. We will be able to use with ARPA funds that the town received to pay for it.

The decision was also made to hold a public hearing on January 10, 2023, at the monthly town meeting to discuss the possibility of allowing chickens in town. We cannot do this at the November meeting as town codes require a 30-day notice, and there were not 30 days between meetings. We chose not to have it at the December meeting. We invite anyone with an opinion either way to attend on January 10. After the hearing portion, the council will vote to proceed with allowing chickens or not. If the vote is yes, it will move to the planning and zoning committee in February to determine the stipulations around allowing them.

A developer attended the meeting with plans to develop 58 townhomes and 12,000 square feet of commercial property on the acreage between the cemetery and the park and ride. This is in the early stage of planning and more to come on this in the next few months.

We also had a proposal brought forth to build a skate park in the park. After hearing it, the council voted to approve it based on grant funding. We will be applying for a grant for it through Program Open Space funding next spring when it becomes available again. If the grant is approved, we will move forward. This grant would pay 75 percent of the project cost, and the other 25 percent would need to be paid by the town or by fundraising. Plans will be put in place to raise the 25 percent once we get to the point of moving forward with the project.

Our annual Woodsboro Days festival that was held on October 15 and 16 was a great success. We were also blessed with perfect weather. The Lutheran Church had a great turnout for food sales and yard sales. In addition, the Woodsboro Historical Society saw a record number of participants in their annual 5K fundraiser run. On the 16th, we had a record crowd attend the music festival in the park, where we saw 28 vendors, multiple food trucks, face painting for the kids, a beer and wine garden, three amazing bands, a display of fire engines for the kids, and hundreds of people ascending on the park for a great day of fun. I am already planning for next year. I can assure you I listened to you all about the parking issues, and we will have a shuttle service next year to get people up to the east side of the park who are not able to walk that far.

The old hut—aka JR’s bar and grill—should be gone by the time this goes to print. We are so happy to have been able to allow multiple fire departments from the county to use the building for drills before it was demolished and hauled away to prepare the lot to build our town offices.

Our monthly town meeting which is typically on the second Tuesday of each month, will be moved to Wednesday, November 9 for this month due to election day. I encourage everyone to get out and vote.

I hope all of you have a great Thanksgiving holiday spent with family and friends. Always remember that not everyone is fortunate enough to have someone for the holidays or the funds to celebrate. Always look out for your neighbor and do something kind for someone, and always be thankful for what you have.

As always, I encourage everyone to support Glade Valley Community Services (GVCS) if you have clothes or food donations, as they are always in need of items for members of the community. For more information, please contact GVCS by email at gvcs.inc@verizon.net or call 301-845-0213.

If you have any questions, concerns, complaints, or compliments please feel free to reach out to me at hbarnes@woodsboro.org or by phone at 301-401-7164.

The current location for town meetings is the St. Johns United Church of Christ, located at 8 N. 2nd Street Woodsboro, MD 21798. The public is always invited to attend.

From the Burgess

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Summer is here, and it came in quickly. I hope everyone is enjoying these hot summer days.

At our June 14 meeting, the Woodsboro Town Council voted on the fiscal year 2023 budget, and it was approved unanimously by the three commissioners in attendance. The budget did not change much from the fiscal year 2022 budget, as we have not had much growth as far as new homes in town. I am very happy to say that we kept the tax rate the same, as we are on the constant yield method. This is very good for our town residents, as they are seeing increases with their county taxes because inflation is causing home values to rise. In addition, we were able to keep our sewage and water rates the same without putting any more expenses on the town residents.

Earlier in the month, I interviewed a candidate for our code enforcer position that we have had open for a few weeks. After interviewing, the decision was made to bring in the candidate to meet the council. After the council heard from him, the decision was made unanimously to proceed with my recommendation of hiring him. He will begin on July 11, 2022, as a part-time code enforcer. We are excited to have been able to add this position, as it is much needed. This will now put the town to three full-time employees and one part-time employee.

I was impressed with how nice the Memorial Day parade was on May 29. I hear it was one of the largest ones in the estimated 150-year history of the parade. We have heard so many compliments, but this was not the town that put it on. The credit goes to Michael Strausbough and the American Legion Post 282 who organized it and did a great job. It was also nice to have WWII Battle of the Bulge Veteran James Derry in attendance in the parade.

On June 2, the town closed on the property at 605 S. Main Street. Bidding has begun for estimates to demolish the property. Demolition will be several weeks out, as we cannot move forward until the electric company can come and remove the overhead power lines. The town is excited about the next steps to come in getting a town office built.

The town was able to receive approval for a $240,000 grant that I applied for from the Maryland Community Parks and Playground Program. This grant will be used to build a restroom in the upper part of the park, close to where the stage has been built. In addition, the town was approved for grant funding through Playground Open Space to have new ADA-compliant playground equipment installed, a pavilion built at the disc golf field, and new flag poles at the monument, where we will be adding two more poles for a total of three so that we can fly the American flag, the Maryland State flag, and the Woodsboro flag.

Mark your calendars for October 15 and 16, as Woodsboro Days will once again be a two-day festival, instead of just the one day as had been for the last several decades. I have lined up three bands for the festival on Sunday October 16 at the stage in the park, along with several vendors and food trucks that will also be set up there. Last year’s music festival in the park was well attended and successful, and we are looking forward to this year’s event. If you are a vendor or food truck interested in attending, please reach out to me.

As always, I encourage everyone to support Glade Valley Community Services (GVCS) if you have clothes or food donations, as they are always in need of items for members of the community. For more information, please contact GVCS by email at gvcs.inc@verizon.net or call 301-845-0213.

If you have any questions, concerns, complaints, or compliments, please feel free to reach out to me at hbarnes@woodsboro.org or by phone at 301-401-7164. Woodsboro Town meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. In addition, Planning and Zoning meetings are at 6:00 p.m. on the first Monday of the month, as needed. If you have an item for the agenda, it needs to be submitted 14 days before the P&Z meeting. The current location for meetings is St. Johns United Church of Christ, located at 8 N 2nd Street, Woodsboro, MD 21798. The public is always invited to attend

From the Burgess

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At the Woodsboro town meeting on May 10, we had a few topics on the agenda. The main one, of course, was the upcoming budget that will be voted on at our next meeting on June 14. There was not much discussion around it, as there wasn’t many changes from last years.

Another item that was on the agenda, which I was very excited about, was awarding the ARPA (COVID Relief Grant) to some of our town businesses. We had six businesses apply for the $5,000 grants, and all six were approved to receive the grants by our commission that viewed the applications. The following businesses received $5,000 grants: The Olde Towne Restaurant, Trout’s Market, Forestheart Studio, Affordable Pest Control, Gardner’s Garage, and Dynamic Graphics. The business owners were all in attendance to receive these funds. The town council and I were all happy to be able to assist our small businesses who are the backbone of our community.

After issuing the $30,000 in grants to the small businesses that applied, that left us with $20,000 in allocated funds towards grants remaining. I proposed to the town council, and it was voted on unanimously, to add in another $1,000 to the $20,000 dollar pool and divide it between our six nonprofits in town, which include four churches, the American Legion, and the Woodsboro Volunteer Fire Department. We will be issuing checks for $3,500 to each of them over the next couple of weeks.

Commissioner Crum reported on the items that she submitted for funding for the annual Program Open Space grant through the county. This year, she submitted for funding for some new ADA-compliant playground equipment, a pavilion to be built near the disc golf course, a message board at the disc golf course, lighting, and new flag poles at the memorial in town. We will know in early June what has been approved. Commissioner Crum and I will be attending the POS meeting on May 26, where we will get more information on what has been approved.

On June 2, the town will be going to closing on the purchase of the lot at 605 S. Main Street. This is where we will be building the new town offices. A large portion of that funding will be coming from the grant we were able to secure in Governor Hogan’s budget. Funding to purchase the lot was made possible through Woodsboro Bank.

I am also very happy to announce that the American Legion’s annual Memorial Day Parade will be back this year after a couple of years of hiatus due to the pandemic. The parade will take place on Main Street in Woodsboro on Sunday, May 29. The events of the day will begin at 12:00 p.m., with a memorial service taking place at the War Memorial on Main Street, followed by the parade at 1:30 p.m.

As always, I encourage everyone to support Glade Valley Community Services (GVCS) if you have clothes or food donations, as they are always in need of items for members of the community. For more information, please contact GVCS by email at gvcs.inc@verizon.net or call 301-845-0213.

If you have any questions, concerns, complaints, or compliments, please feel free to reach out to me at hbarnes@woodsboro.org or by phone at 301-401-7164.

Woodsboro Town meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. In addition, Planning and Zoning meetings are at 6:00 p.m. on the first Monday of the month, as needed. If you have an item for the agenda, it needs to be submitted fourteen days before the P&Z meeting. The current location for meetings is the St. Johns United Church of Christ, located at 8 N. 2nd Street in Woodsboro. The public is always invited to attend.

From the Burgess

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Woodsboro

Burgess Heath Barnes

I hope all of you had a Happy Easter, and all the children, teachers, and school staff enjoyed their spring break. I am excited to share with you all that the Town of Woodsboro and the Woodsboro Volunteer Fire Department were able to put on a very successful first Town of Woodsboro Easter Egg hunt on April 9. Volunteers stuffed and hid about 1,900 eggs, and we had around 150-200 children show up to hunt them. In addition, the fire department supplied nine grand prizes to be given out. I personally had a great time being one of the Easter bunnies and seeing the joy on so many children’s faces. This event would not have been made possible without donations from the following business: Gardner’s Garage, Rocky Hill Lutheran Church, Woodsboro Evangelical Lutheran Church, and Woodsboro Bank, as well as many donations from town and surrounding area residents. Thank you to all who supported this event.

At the April 12 town meeting, we had a few things on the agenda. The first one is that our ad for a part-time code enforcer/supervisor job will be posted beginning April 28, as we had a delay in getting it ready. Applications will be taken and interviews begin shortly after for qualified candidates until the right candidate is identified.

I announced that the town has received notification that the grant for the town office that I submitted through Senator Hough and Delegate Pippy was approved, and $400,000 dollars has been added in the governor’s budget toward our town hall. I am very excited about this development, as this will save the town a lot of money in its endeavor to build a much-needed town office. We are still having difficulties with the county in receiving permits, but hopefully things will start moving soon.

On April 25, the application process will end for businesses to apply for the COVID-19 grant that the town is giving out to qualified businesses. The grant is for up to $5,000 dollars per business. We plan to meet with the committee to make the determination of the award on April 28 and to distribute the funds at the following town meeting on May 10.

I am very happy to announce that the American Legion’s annual Memorial Day Parade will be back this year after a couple of years of hiatus due to the pandemic. The parade will take place on Main Street in Woodsboro on Sunday, May 29. The events of the day will begin at noon, with a memorial service taking place at the war memorial on Main Street, followed by the parade at 1:30 p.m. We invite you all to make plans to join us.

I also want to congratulate and mention Dalen Hahn, a Woodsboro resident who is a senior at Walkersville High School and was awarded the Winona “Winnie” Crum Rookie of the Year Award on April 18, 2022, during the annual Frederick County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association banquet. Congratulations and thank you for all your hard work.

As always, I encourage everyone to support Glade Valley Community Services (GVCS) if you have clothes or food donations, as they are always in need of items for members of the community. For more information, please contact GVCS by email at gvcs.inc@verizon.net or call 301-845-0213.

If you have any questions, concerns, complaints, or compliments, please feel free to reach out to me at hbarnes@woodsboro.org or by phone at 301-401-7164.

Woodsboro Town meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. In addition, Planning and Zoning meetings are at 6:00 p.m. on the first Monday of the month, as needed. If you have an item for the agenda, it needs to be submitted 14 days before the P&Z meeting. The current location for meetings is the St. Johns United Church of Christ, located at 8 N. 2nd Street in Woodsboro. The public is always invited to attend.

From the Burgess – Woodsboro

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Burgess Heath Barnes

Happy spring! I always look forward to this time of the year, as it means that it is getting closer to the warm summer months and I can say goodbye to the bitter cold of winter. Hopefully this spring, we can be back to normal and see more activities and events happening and things coming to life.

At the March 8 town meeting, we only had a few things on the agenda. The first one is that our ad for a part-time code enforcer/supervisor will be posted beginning March 15, and applications will be taken and interviews begin shortly after for qualified candidates until the right candidate is identified.

On April 9 at 2:00 p.m. in the town park, the Woodsboro Volunteer Fire Department and the Town of Woodsboro will be hosting an Easter Egg Hunt. This event is made possible by donations from the Woodsboro Evangelical Lutheran Church, as well as by many other citizens in the town. If you would like to donate to a bag of individually wrapped candy to stuff the eggs with, it can be dropped off at the town office. If the weather does not cooperate on April 9, the event will be moved to Sunday, April 10, at 1:00 p.m. There will be three age-group areas for the hunt with three grand prizes in each age group. In addition, the Easter Bunny will be there for pictures.

We also discussed the status of the stage and new walking bridge that are being built in the park. I spoke with the contractor and was assured that both projects will be completed by the middle of May, in time to meet our deadline of June 1, 2022, for grant funding of the projects. We also discussed several upgrades to the park that are coming, as we are working on replacing and updating some outdated equipment.

We have opened the application process for the COVID-19 business relief fund grants, effective March 25, 2022. The application process will open on March 25 and will end on April 25 at 4:00 p.m. All applications must be received at the town office by 4:00 p.m. on April 25 to be considered for the grant. The application can be obtained off the town website or by visiting the town office. Each business is eligible for up to $5,000 in grant relief. To be eligible, you must be a business registered to do business in the town of Woodsboro, in good standing with the state, and be able to provide examples of how your business was affected by COVID-19. We encourage all business owners in the town limits to apply. Final decisions will be made by April 30, 2022, and funds will be distributed the first week of May 2022 to all businesses that are selected.

As always, I encourage everyone to support Glade Valley Community Services (GVCS) if you have clothes or food donations, as they are always in need of items for members of the community. For more information, please contact GVCS by email at gvcs.inc@verizon.net or call 301-845-0213.

If you have any questions, concerns, complaints, or compliments, please feel free to reach out to me at hbarnes@woodsboro.org or by phone at 301-401-7164.

Woodsboro Town meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. In addition, Planning and Zoning meetings are at 6:00 p.m. on the first Monday of the month, as needed. If  you have an item for the agenda, it needs to be submitted 14 days before the P&Z meeting. The current location for meetings is the St. Johns United Church of Christ, located at 8 N 2nd Street in Woodsboro. The public is always invited to attend.

From the Burgess – Woodsboro

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Burgess Heath Barnes

As winter is hopefully ending soon, and spring gets closer, I would like to share some updates from our February meetings. We look forward to exciting things to come in the spring and summer for projects and events that we have in the works for the Town of Woodsboro.

The Woodsboro Planning and Zoning Committee held its first meeting of the year on February 7, 2022. The meeting was held to discuss a town resident’s request to make Arnold Alley an official town road so that they can possibly subdivide and build another home. At this time, the discussion is still in place, and the resident was asked to provide more documents and details about the request.

The town, in partnership the Woodsboro Fire Department, is moving forward with the plans to have a town Easter egg hunt. It will tentatively be held in the town park on Saturday, April 9 (the day before Easter). More details to come.

We continue to have an ongoing issue with cars speeding on Main Street and in front of the elementary school. Discussions were had about how we can get this ongoing problem solved and will be talked about more at next month’s meeting. I did speak with Sheriff Jenkins, and he is going to up the amount of patrol units in the area, particularly during the commuting hours to help curb this. I do request that everyone watch their speed in town, as we do have many residents that walk around town, as well as children out playing.

Town Manager Mary Rice announced that our new mower that was ordered in March 2021 has finally arrived. This will be a nice addition to have for the park area this spring and summer.

I would like to remind residents that town code prohibits any kind of livestock, such as chickens, goats, cattle, horses, etc. to be kept within town limits. We have had a couple of issues in the last few months with this, but have since been resolved.

Commissioner Dana Crum, myself, and the town employees will be meeting with a park equipment specialist this month to gather a list of new equipment needs to present to submit to the county’s Program Open Space grant for the upcoming budget year. We will also be requesting grant money to add in two new flag poles to the monument area and additional lighting where we can fly the USA, Maryland, and Woodsboro flags.

The town has begun to use its grant money that was received from the Federal Government on several of the water and sewage projects that were voted upon in the December 2021 meeting. In addition, I will be submitting the application for the small business grants to the council at the March 8 meeting. We will then start the 30-day application process. Please look for more details in next month’s article and the way to apply for the grants if you are interested.

As the weather begins to get better, the work on stage in the park will continue, as well as the building of new ADA-compliant walking bridge in the park. These projects will both need to be completed by June 1, 2022, to receive the grants that the town was approved for. The town hall building plans have been submitted to the county for review by their engineer. Once the plans are either approved or sent back to us for modifications, we can move forward with opening for bids, etc. to start the building.

The Town of Woodsboro will be hiring a part-time code enforcement officer. There will be employment ads being run in the next few weeks. As the town grows and different issues are coming up, the council has decided it is time to add a fourth employee to the town. This person will be responsible for helping to enforce town codes and working with our maintenance staff.

As always, I encourage everyone to support Glade Valley Community Services (GVCS) if you have clothes or food donations, as they are always in need of items for members of the community. For more information, please contact GVCS by email at gvcs.inc@verizon.net or call 301-845-0213.

Don’t forget to wear your green on March 17 for St. Patrick’s Day!

If you have any questions, concerns, complaints, or compliments, please feel free to reach out to me at hbarnes@woodsboro.org or by phone at 301-401-7164.

From the Burgess

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Woodsboro

Burgess Heath Barnes

My hope is that each of you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday.

December 4 and 5 was an exciting weekend in Woodsboro with the annual Holiday Bazaar at the Woodsboro Lutheran Church on December 4, and a visit from Santa on December 5. Santa made his rounds all over the Town of Woodsboro on one of the town’s fire trucks. Residents old and young enjoyed seeing Santa in town.

At the December 14th town meeting, several items were voted on and passed by the council regarding American Rescue Plan funds that the town received. The funds will be used to repair and/or replace several aging water and sewage infrastructure projects that have been needed for a while now. The council also voted on purchasing a new tractor for the town, in addition to setting back an amount of money for grants to help businesses in town that were affected by COVID-19. There will be more details coming on the grant application process for businesses soon.

The town filled the planning and zoning committee at the meeting. The committee will now consist of the council liaison Jesse Case and current members Earl Powell and Jeff Crum.  J.R. Delauter, Carol Tressler, and alternate Bill Rittelmeyer were voted in by the council and will join the committee to make up the committee of six. Thank you to all who have stepped up to serve the town. The board of appeals committee is still looking for one member to complete it. If you would be interested in volunteering your time and live within the town limits, please attend a meeting or reach out to me or the town office to express your interest in the open committee position.

I would also encourage everyone to support Glade Valley Community Services (GVCS) Holiday Toy Shoppe toy collection to make sure children in our community have a toy under the tree. For more information, please contact GVCS by email at gvcs.inc@verizon.net or call 301-845-0213.

I would like to wish each a Blessed New Year. After the last two years and what everyone has been through, let’s hope and pray that 2022 is a much better year for all.

If you have any questions, concerns, complaints, or compliments, please feel free to reach out to me at hbarnes@woodsboro.org or by phone at 301-401-7164.

Woodsboro Town meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. The current location for meetings is the St. Johns United Church of Christ, located at 8 N. 2nd Street in Woodsboro. The public is always invited to attend.

From the Burgess

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Woodsboro

Burgess Heath Barnes

Wow, this year has flown by! My hope is that each of you had a safe and happy Thanksgiving and took the opportunity to give thanks with your family and friends.

Back on October 17, Woodsboro held its first annual music festival in conjunction with Woodsboro Days, which is traditionally the third weekend in October, annually. The event was a great success, with several hundred in attendance for the family-friendly day in the park that included vendors, food trucks, and bands that played on the newly constructed permanent stage. Be on the lookout for announcements early next year for a spring/summer event to be held on the new stage as well. During the weekend, town residents and churches set up yard sales, and the Woodsboro Historical Society’s museum at the train station was open to visitors. Their annual 5K run/walk fundraiser also had a record number of participants. The weekend was an overall success in so many ways, and I am looking forward to next year’s festivities already. Mark your calendars now to attend next year’s Woodsboro Days on October 15-16, 2022.

At the November 9 town meeting, several items were discussed, including plans for a town hall that will be built on South Main Street on a lot the town purchased in 2018. The engineer and architect said he would deliver the final plans by November 22. The town council made a few changes last month to the original plans that delayed delivery, including the removal of a full basement intended for record storage. An attic with an open room was added instead. I am excited about the process. If all goes well with the approval of the new plans, we can have them submitted to the county soil conservation division for approval by the end of the year. My goal is to have shovels in the ground by early spring once the ground thaws from winter.

The American Rescue Plan funds the town received will help immensely in repairing and replacing several infrastructure items related to the town’s water and sewer systems. The council will vote on several of these items at the December meeting and how funds will be used in accordance with the plan’s spending guidelines.

The town is looking to fill committee seats, including those on the Planning & Zoning Committee and Board of Appeals Committee. We have some potential annexation requests coming up, so it’s very important that we fill these committee seats ASAP. If you would be interested in volunteering your time and live within the Woodsboro town limits, please attend a meeting or reach out to myself or the town office to express your interest.

The town has a few activities scheduled to celebrate the Christmas holiday season, and I invite you to attend. Check the Community Calendar in the back of this issue for these family-fun holiday events.

 I would also encourage everyone to support Glade Valley Community Services (GVCS) Holiday Toy Shoppe toy collection to make sure children in our community have a toy under the tree. For more information, please contact GVCS by email at gvcs.inc@verizon.net or call 301-845-0213.

I would like to wish each of you a Merry Christmas, a happy holiday season, and a blessed New Year. After the last two years and what everyone has been through, let’s hope and pray that 2022 is much better.

If you have any questions, concerns, complaints, or compliments, please feel free to reach out to me at hbarnes@woodsboro.org or at 301-401-7164.

Woodsboro town meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 pm. The current location for meetings is the St. Johns United Church of Christ, located at 8 N. Second Street in Woodsboro. The public is always invited to attend.