Historic decisions, new ordinances placed into action

Thursday, Dec. 29, 2005

The year 2005 was the year for residential input on top issues facing lawmakers.

Committees were formed across the county as historic decisions were made and ordinances were put into action.

The 2004 election ignited discussions about redistricting the county to vote for five commissioners by district while residents debated the appropriateness of a noise ordinance to limit the use of all-terain vehicle.

During the Council of Government’s first Regional Planning conference held in June, public officials looked again to area residents for their ideas on the future of the county.

In Mount Airy, a committee appointed by public school Superintendent Charles I. Ecker will decide whether South Carroll High School will become a middle school to serve students in the southern portion of the county.

As 2006 progresses, residents will surely become more involved in decisions that will affect them, their neighbors, and generations to come.

Carroll County delegation chooses district lines

After a November 2004 decision by the voters to extend the current three commissioner board at large to five commissioners voted in by districts, a seven-member redistricting committee was formed to divide the county into five equal chunks.

The committee met throughout the summer and finalized two options. Option 2 had been preferred by North Carroll residents because neighboring Manchester and Hampstead were kept together. Option 2 split Sykesville from the unincorporated Eldersburg area, a division that also split residents. Some wanted two representatives for the area while others thought the neighboring communities should be kept together.

Option 1 split North Carroll, grouped Mount Airy with Union Bridge and kept Sykesville and Eldersburg intact.

In a so-called ‘‘road show” around the county, the committee presented the maps to residents, giving the opportunity to create their own suggestions. At a Mount Airy public hearing, only one resident showed up, and offered no comment. At a Sykesville⁄Eldersburg hearing a few residents showed up in favor of Option 2.

In July, the committee recommended Option 2 in a 4-2 vote, with one member, who has since died, out due to an illness. The recommendation was forwarded to the local delegation over the summer.

The Maryland Municipal League and all eight municipalities sided with the committee’s recommendation for Option 2.

Sen. Larry Haines (R-Dist. 5) of Westminster suggested a few weeks later that perhaps Carroll County residents didn’t know what they were voting for when they went to the polls in November 2004.

He said his constituents didn’t understand the loss of two votes, since voters will now cast ballots for just their representative. Haines suggested keeping the districts, but instead letting everyone vote for all five commissioners, a suggestion that heated a number of the local delegation, including Del. Susan Krebs (R-Dist. 9B) of Eldersburg.

She insisted her voters knew exactly what they were voting for and repeatedly said she and her constituents were ‘‘insulted” by Haines’ suggestion.

The local delegation met Dec. 13 to discuss the maps and Haines’ suggestion. In a 5-2 vote, the delegation approved the Option 1 map, splitting Manchester from Hampstead and grouping Mount Airy with Union Bridge, but keeping Eldersburg and Sykesville together. Krebs and Del. Donald Elliott (R-Dist. 4B) of Union Bridge dissented, opting for the committee’s recommendation.

The delegation also voted 5-2, with Haines and Del. Nancy Stocksdale (R-Dist. 5A) against the passing decision to keep the five commissioners voted in by district instead of at large.

The final map heads to the Maryland General Assembly in January for final approval, but already two Eldersburg residents have said that they will run for a commissioner spot. Neither are able to file for candidacy until the district lines are official.

Doug Howard, president of the Business Development Group, and Michael Zimmer, a Mount Airy-based attorney, announced that they will both run for commissioner in the 2006 election.

The deadline for all candidates to file is July 5. The elections board will not accept applications until the General Assembly approves the district lines.

County reaches outto residents for input

Working with the Council of Governments, Carroll County government officials hosted a regional planning conference in June to kick off the growth management plan updates. The Council of Governments was appointed a couple years ago, and includes a representative from each municipality.

The council wanted to involve residents in the master plan update process, inviting residents to an all-day event to find out what they wanted to see in Carroll County.

Two speakers were invited to chat about how to bring more business into the county but still keep Carroll County character: Ed McMahon, Urban Land Institute, and Tom Hylton, from Save Our Lands, Save Our Towns, discussed smart growth measures. Residents at the conference were pleased with what both had to say and hoped the county followed their advice.

The conference kicked off county’s plans to update its master plan, a process the planning department called ‘‘Pathways.” As part of the Pathways two-year process, the community can offer input at community meetings, attend future conferences and even get the kids involved in activities investigating what they want to see in Carroll County.

Community meetings called Grassroots Gatherings were held this fall throughout the county. A member of the planning department facilitated the meetings as community members discussed amongst themselves the future of the county.

A second planning conference is slated for 1-4 p.m. Jan. 13 and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 14. The conference is free. For information about the conference, call the planning department at 410-386-2145 or e-mail pathways@ccg.carr.org, or visit the Web site at www.carrollpathways.org.

Noise ordinancekeeps Carroll quiet

Carroll County has been a little quieter since last fall. After a year of public information sessions were held countywide, a noise ordinance restricting high levels of noise pollution went into effect on Sept. 15.

According to Maj. Thomas H. Long with the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, deputies respond to an average of four to five noise complaints each week.

Long, who also sat on a committee of residents to determine the confines of the ordinance, said complaint-driven enforcement of the law is monitored by two types of sound meters: handheld and scientific.

The handheld instrument will be used to determine if there is a probable cause to continue an investigation while the scientific meter is a certified calibrated instrument that can be used in court testimony, according to Long.

Deputies will respond to each call as if it is a violation and take an initial reading.

The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office responds to an average of four complaints each week, according to Long. The Board of Carroll County Commissioners adopted the ordinance on July 26, but it did not go into effect until Sept. 15.

According to the ordinance, violators could face a fine up to $250 for exceeding 65 decibels during the day and 55 decibels at night in a residential area. Daytime hours are defined in the ordinance as time between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. and nighttime hours are between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. A $500 fine will be issued for a second violation and $1,000 for a third offense within 12 months of the first offense. Limits for industrial and commercial sites are slightly higher at 75 and 67 decibels respectively.

The maximum sound level is lower in sensitive receptor areas including hospitals, elder care facilities, nursing homes, libraries, churches, funeral homes, daycare facilities, and special schools. Between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. the maximum allowable sound in these areas is 60 decibels while limits after 7 p.m. and before 10 p.m. is lower, 55 decibels.

County’s first primary school opens

The county’s first primary school, Parr’s Ridge Elementary, opened in August with the school’s mascot, polar bears, (voted on by the students) decorating the hallways.

The school, next door to Mount Airy Middle School and behind Mount Airy Elementary, houses kindergarten through second grades. Third- to fifth-grade students attend Mount Airy Elementary, and then head to sixth grade at Mount Airy Middle.

Parr’s Ridge Elementary Principal Annie Blonkowski said she was happy to return to her hometown.

Students at Parr’s Ridge Elementary attend all-day kindergarten, as part of a state-wide initiative. By fall 2007, all Carroll County elementary students are required to attend all-day kindergarten, despite county efforts with the state to make full-day enrollment voluntary.

South Carroll could becomea middle school

South Carroll High School could become a middle school, if a committee appointed by Superintendent Charles Ecker recommends it so, and Ecker approves the change.

Former Board of Education member, and South Carroll High School parent, Laura Rhodes suggested in June the county look into revamping the W. Liberty Road high school into a middle school and building a new high school.

Ecker appointed a committee to look into the suggestion. The group is considering possible sites for the new school, including property next door to the current South Carroll High, at Mayeski Park.

The school system also added a South Carroll area middle school — which could open fall 2009 — to its long term master plan.

Change up on the board

In July, Laura Rhodes of Mount Airy announced through tears that she was resigning from the Carroll County Board of Education due to personal reasons.

The search was on to fill the vacancy, a task finalized by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R). More than a dozen people across the region applied for the spot. Board members recommended three for the position; Sykesville resident Patricia Gadberry was the board’s strongest candidate.

In October, Ehrlich appointed Gadberry for the role, one she was pleased to accept. Gadberry has one child in each school level: Tom, a sophomore at Century High School; Joey, a sixth-grader at Sykesville Middle; and Amy, a fourth-grader at Piney Ridge Elementary.

Community joins hurricane relief efforts

As gasoline prices rose across the country, members of the South Carroll community pulled together to aid victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the fall.

Thousands of shoes, clothing items, personal hygiene products, school supplies and countless other donations filled area homes, businesses, schools and churches before being loaded on trucks and packing cars to make their way to those affected by the storms.

Cassidy Anthony and Kayla Cotie, eighth-graders at Oklahoma Road Middle School, and Lauren Beauchamp, a seventh-grader at Glenelg Country School, collected more than 1,500 pairs of shoes in the driveway of one Sykesville home. The shoes were loaded onto several Baltimore City fire Department vehicles and made their way to the Astrodome in Texas where they were distributed to evacuees.

Some residents made trips to the Gulf Coast region to help out in any way they could. Many delivered food and medicine while others, including Sykesville resident Denise Wilson, began work to salvage what was left of damaged homes and businesses.

‘‘It was just horrible,” Wilson said last month of the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina in Biloxi, Miss., where she spent two weeks clearing debris from a church property to make way for FEMA trailers. ‘‘I thought it wouldn’t be that bad; it’s been two months, but it looked like it had just happened. I had never seen so much debris and trash.”

She hopes to return to the area in the spring to help more.

As many victims of Hurricane Katrina evacuated to different areas of the country, one New Orleans area woman found temporary refuge in Sykesville with family members. Marilyn Enslow stayed with her son Steve, daughter-in-law Betty, and their children while waiting for power and water to be restored to her Algiers neighborhood on the West Bank of the Mississippi River.

While in Sykesville, Marilyn Enslow joined the relief effort, helping her grandchildren and their friends collect Christmas toys for the youngest victims of the storm.

Community reaches outfor hurricane victims

When Mount Airy resident Casey Dutton heard about the level of devastation that flanked Mississippi and Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, she knew she had to help.

Dutton signed up to volunteer with the American Red Cross and spent three weeks helping to clean up Waveland, a town near Gulfport, Miss. She helped people obtain insurance checks and provide them with a safe place after the storm.

Dutton then traveled to Houston to help with the aftermath of Hurricane Rita, volunteering her services and compassion for another week.

Home life was difficult to adjust to, Dutton said, after returning home from the devastated south. But she didn’t come back empty-handed.

Dutton said she’s learned that people need to take more responsibility for their lives and be prepared for possible disasters. People should also always keep the hurricane tragedies in their minds, because the south is in for a long recovery from the storm.

Dutton was one of many local residents who did whatever they could to help hurricane victims. Residents donated money, collected canned goods, and even created personal care kits – a plastic zippered bag filled with washcloths, hand-sanitizer bottles, soaps, toothbrushes and toothpaste, among other items – to send by the truckload to the south.

Some residents and local businesses created a Hurricane Relief Center on the corner of Ridgeville Boulevard and Main Street, loading up truck after truck of supplies to head south. The Mount Airy Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund was also established; residents could drop off money to the New Windsor State Bank, with all proceeds benefiting hurricane victims.