More News

In their third year as a board, Frederick County commissioners faced an extremely tight budget and made the decision to move ahead with plans to build a controversial incinerator in the City of Frederick. As they head into the final year of their term in office, only one commissioner, Kai J. Hagen (D), has announced plans to run for re-election.

Commissioners approve incinerator plan

Frederick County commissioners on July 9 approved a resolution solidifying their commitment to build an incinerator, or "waste-to-energy facility" as some call it, because it burns trash to generate electricity.

The incinerator will be built at the McKinney Industrial Center off Md. Route 85, south of the City of Frederick near the county's jail and wastewater treatment plant in cooperation with Carroll County.

The incinerator is expected to cost $501 million, with Frederick County paying $301 million and Carroll $200 million.

But plans for the incinerator were almost derailed. On Oct. 14, the Frederick County Planning Commission during a routine review of proposed changes to the county's Solid Waste Management Plan ruled that the incinerator was not consistent with the comprehensive plan, a blueprint for growth.

They ruled that the incinerator's smokestack and the incinerator's proximity to the Monocacy National Battlefield were not consistent with the plan, which calls for the preservation of historic sites, such as the battlefield, and the protection of the Monocacy River.

On Nov. 13 the Frederick Board of County Commissioners filed an appeal asking the Circuit Court to overturn the Planning Commission's ruling.

Within days, the Planning Commission reversed its decision, in an effort to avoid a possible legal showdown.

Several incinerator opponents have now asked the Circuit Court to review the Planning Commission's reversal.

New recycling program rolled out

In January, Frederick County residents said farewell to sorting recyclables and placing them in 18-gallon blue bins, as the county introduced a single-stream recycling system with 65-gallon wheeled carts.

Single-stream recycling allows residents to place all recyclable materials together without sorting. Collection also went from weekly to every other week.

Though the new containers were free to residents, it cost the county $50.23 for each container, for a total of $2.75 million.

The new program is costing the county $3 million and has been expanded to 17,000 more households.

The county has contracted with Waste Management Recycle America at $12 per ton to transport the recyclable materials from the Reich's Ford Road landfill in Frederick to Recycle America's processing plant in Elkridge, Howard County.

Court dismisses firefighter lawsuits

Frederick County Circuit Court Judge Julie Stevenson Solt on Jan. 26 dismissed seven separate lawsuits against the Frederick Board of County Commissioners.

The lawsuits regarding disparity of pay and unfair promotion practices were filed in 2006 by about 40 firefighters seeking $100 million.

Solt ruled that the firefighters did not show that commissioners' decisions on pay and promotion were "arbitrary, capricious or illegal."

Because of the lawsuits, commissioners also refused to participate in the collective bargaining process with firefighters regarding salary and benefits.

With the lawsuits dismissed, the county began collective bargaining negotiations with the Career Firefighters Association of Frederick County, Local 3666 on Nov. 18.

The firefighter's union put forth a two-page proposal that includes 14 separate requests.

The initial requests include a 4 percent cost-of-living raise, equitable pay for all employees, change in the shifts they work, holiday leave, overtime and a new pension plan.

Negotiations are slated to conclude on Feb. 15.

Commissioners

plot future growth

Frederick County commissioners spent the last several months plotting out growth in the county for the next 20 years.

Officials updated Frederick County's 1998 Comprehensive Plan – a massive document that outlines the future of growth in the county. The lengthy plan provides information on development, land-use, transportation patterns, water resources, "green" infrastructure and a diversified economy for the county.

The plans also provides a strategy to manage population growth, including what areas will see the most growth, how fast that growth will occur and what type of communities will be developed.

The county's current population of 233,439 is expected to grow to 326,224 in 2030 and the employment and population growth in the Washington metropolitan area will continue to influence growth and development in the county.

The challenge for commissioners is to preserve the small-town, rural quality of life that has attracted new residents to the county.

In January, the county's Division of Planning plans to hold three open houses on the draft plan. The open houses, each held from 5 to 8 p.m., will allow residents to see the draft plan and make comments:

-Jan. 7 at Middletown High School, 200 School Drive in Middletown

-Jan. 11 at Oakdale Middle School, 9840 Old National Pike Ijamsville

-Jan. 14 at Walkersville High School, 21 W. Frederick St., in Walkersville

Commissioners have planned a joint public hearing with the county's Planning Commission at 6 p.m., Jan. 19, at Frederick High School, 650 Carroll Parkway, Frederick.

Frederick County battles

swine flu

The Frederick County Health Department kept residents informed throughout the year on plans to combat the H1N1 virus, also called the swine flu.

In October, Health Department officials announced that the first allotment of the vaccine would go to students in 47 schools and health care workers. Emergency medical workers, paramedics and students at Rock Creek School also received the first batch.

Private doctors in the county were inundated with calls from patients worried they had come down with the flu and asking for the vaccine.

The high demand for the swine flu vaccine also wreaked havoc at the department's first three seasonal flu clinics in October.

Health Department officials were caught off guard when an overwhelming number of people lined up in cars and on foot to receive their seasonal flu shots at three school sites.

The Health Department and local doctors also found themselves waiting longer for orders of the seasonal flu vaccines. The H1N1 virus was the root of the problem. The demand for the seasonal flu vaccine was higher this year than in the past, because of concerns over the swine flu. Manufactures were not able to make as many doses of the seasonal flu vaccine because their facilities were being used to produce the swine flu vaccine.

In November, the Health Department held its first swine flu clinic for priority groups identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The school system also offered the mist form of the vaccine to students from pre-kindergarten to fifth grades.

The mist was available in 47 county schools and administered by Health Department nurses.

The Health Department used a random drawing to determine the order in which schools received the vaccine. Spring Ridge and Monocacy elementary schools wound up at the top of the list.

On Dec. 8, the Health Department announced a non-safety related recall of the vaccine. MedImmune, manufacturer of the nasal spray, said reports showed a "slight" decrease in the potency in 13 batches. The decrease is expected to have little if any impact on how the vaccine will work, the Health Department said.

Also on Dec. 8, the Health Department announced that H1N1 flu vaccine was available free to all residents. The department is continuing to offer the vaccine by appointment.

Immigration groups file lawsuit

against sheriff, commissioners

On Nov. 10, two pro-immigration groups filed a federal lawsuit against Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins (R) for allegedly violating the civil rights of a Frederick woman in 2008.

Lawyers for Latino-Justice PRLDEF in New York, CASA of Maryland in Silver Spring, as well as lawyers from Nixon Peabody, a Washington, D.C. law firm, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt.

The lawsuit is also against the Frederick Board of County Commissioners and current and former Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

The complaint alleges that at 11:30 a.m. on Oct. 7, 2008, Roxana Orellana Santos was sitting on a curb behind a food co-op near Evergreen Square on Buckeystown Pike in Frederick, eating a sandwich on her lunch break, when two deputies approached her and questioned her immigration status.

After questioning, Orellana Santos was handcuffed and transported to the Frederick County Adult Detention Center.

Days later, Jenkins held his own press conference disputing allegations in the complaint, calling them "inaccurate, misleading, disappointing and disgusting."

Jenkins said his deputies were doing a routine check of the area, when they noticed Orellana Santos sitting on a curb eating. He said she quickly stood up after seeing the deputies, gathered her belongings and ran behind a shipping container.

Jenkins said the deputies climbed out of their patrol car and approached Orellana Santos, asking her for identification. He said they did not question her immigration status.

According to Jenkins, after a routine check of her identification, the deputies received information that showed an outstanding arrest warrant for her from ICE for failing to appear in court. She was arrested, turned over to ICE and later released.

E-mail Sherry Greenfield at sgreenfield@gazette.net.