Water deal opens door to wave of development

By Timothy B. Wheeler
Sun reporter

June 9 2008

FREDERICK — The clustered church spires immortalized in a famous Civil War poem still anchor the downtown skyline of this historic city. But the “green-walled hills” cradling the town are likely to sprout walls of brick, concrete and vinyl siding if a bevy of developers gets its way.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-te.md.frederick09jun09,0,4501503.story

Four sites have been proposed for consideration.  Currently citizens have 30 days to respond.  Friends of Frederick County has asked the Mayor and Board of Alderman for an extension of 30-60 days so that people will have time to make their comments.  The high priority sites are listed here.

On the Web
To join discussions on agricultural preservation, historical properties, school capacity and transportation, go online to <http://www.we-draw-the-line.org> .

Residents invited to share vision for county’s growth
by Sherry Greenfield
Staff Writer for the Gazette
Residents are being asked to let the Frederick Board of County Commissioners know their concerns about growth and development.
A new campaign called“We Draw the Line,” invites residents to offer their visions of how growth should be planned in the county. A special “council” of members representing the areas of Adamstown, Brunswick, Frederick, Middletown, New Market, Thurmont, Urbana and Walkersville, are working to solicit comments from residents living in those areas.
Using a special Web site, online forums and fliers, the council will collect comments and present them to commissioners in August.
“It’s an effort to get people involved and get their voices out there,” said Janice Wiles, executive director of Friends of Frederick County. “… The [council] leaders go out in their communities and get people talking.”
Friends of Frederick County, a citizens group that works toward a better quality of life and land and watershed protection, is a co-sponsor of the initiative.
We Draw the Line was formed in response to the commissioners’ growth initiative, which includes a moratorium on some new homebuilding in the county. The moratorium, announced in January, is intended to allow the board time to update the county’s 1998 comprehensive plan, a document that outlines the future of housing growth, and modify the county’s growth-control policy.
Wiles hopes commissioners will take residents’ comments into account when updating the growth plan.
“We need to make our comprehensive plans have teeth,” she said.
Jack Lynch, Friends’ representative for the City of Frederick, said he is already getting comments from residents concerned about proposed development just east of the Monocacy River on Md. Route 26.
“The entire [city] comprehensive plan, passed in 2004, shows an enormous doubling of the population,” Lynch said. “A lot of people would like the city to never cross the river.”
In addition, Lynch said it is time to start talking to residents in the city’s Worman’s Mill neighborhood about traffic along the adjacent Monocacy Boulevard.
“Officials talk about Monocacy Boulevard as a super highway and it’s not,” he said. “It’s just not built for that. No way.”
Bonnie Bailey Baker represents New Market for the Friends project and has been periodically passing out fliers informing residents of growth issues that could impact them.
“People want to limit development and preserve green space,” she said. “That is the consistent theme you hear all the time. That is the thing that draws people to Frederick County…”

Originally published June 22, 2008

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/opinion/display_lte.htm?StoryID=76563
There is a lack of information available to the average citizen on rapid developments taking place nationally relating to recycling, resource recovery, and waste management. Today major corporations recognize energy savings realized using recycled material in products as well as addressing greenhouse gases, carbon trading, and going green. Many of these developments can be viewed at ReLifeCycle.com.

Frederick County is considering a 1,500-tons-per-day regional WTE incinerator that will burn predominantly out-of-county trash. Our county will generate just one-third of the amount required for efficient operation. Reducing capacity would only save 10 percent of initial cost and would result in inefficient operation. Bigger is better: Montgomery County WTE is 1,800 tpd and Baltimore is 2,250 tpd. Also, the high heat value of the waste stream is changing due to improved recycling rates and initiatives reducing BTUs required for incineration.

When 60 percent recycling is attained the waste tonnage will be reduced to 420 tons per day needed to fuel a WTE that operates seven days a week. If a comprehensive alternative plan was created with modern features that included recycling kitchen organics and related fiber, the waste stream would be reduced to 300 tpd; this is less than the ash created by a regional WTE.

Some existing WTEs are expanding capacity in the U.S., but no other new facilities have been publicly announced. Most incinerators came on line in the mid-’80s through the mid-’90s, and with refurbishment required and contracts expiring, some districts are exploring options to replace WTE.

Any alternative plan will require commitment by government, haulers and citizens to be successful in creating a national model all participants would benefit from. Required funding would be facilitated by bonding the same as proposed for WTE, but costing far less.

Steve Cassis is a member of the Solid Waste Analysis Group. He writes from Frederick.

Originally published June 23, 2008 in the Frederick News Post

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/opinion/display_lte.htm?StoryID=76568

Frederick City’s APFO: Is there a loophole that could further overcrowd our schools?

Over one year ago the City of Frederick approved the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance which puts new major subdivisions through adequacy tests for water, sewer, roads and school capacity prior to their approval. And that’s a good thing.

…Consider the scenario that a development passes the APFO for all but schools, which it may likely do since more than half of our elementary and high schools have more kids than they are supposed to. To pass the APFO, the development only needs to wait three years. It never needs to undergo a retest and the odds are that the development will proceed regardless of how much it further overcrowds our classrooms.

Read the full letter to the editor