May 16, 2009
Memorial Day Parade in Bozman
Join the residents of Bozman for our first parade on Monday May 25th. Floats, and more!
October 4, 2008
Election thoughts…
Elections (finally) are just around the corner. Don’t forget, we will also be having some very important local elections – namely the TC School Board and Congressman. My posts from earlier this year still stand for my supporting the School Board Candidates. Changes need to be made because as it is right now, the current school board rules from above and is in many ways removed from knowing the rest of the story in many different situations.
The other long, seemingly endless saga is finally coming to a close in a matter of weeks. Unfortunately, I’m still in the undecided camp. The debates really are not pushing me firmly to one party or the other either.
Last Thursday’s debates really made me think. In light of all of the non-partisan “reaching across the aisle” that all of the candidates kept mentioning… maybe we as Americans should start thinking about the presidency as that as well?
Watching the first two debates, I began thinking (and yes this could upset quite a few of you), that in actuality, McCain and Obama or Biden and Palin would make better teams running our country than the current partisan offerings. Really. I was listening intently to both, and it seemed to me that what our country really needs is that same non-partisan approach to the presidency. I particularly thought that Biden and Palin would really do a great job together representing and re-steering our country back onto solid ground. But, that’s just my opinion, and of course a very unlikely thing to happen.
Finally Some Real VCB News & Action!!! Hooray!
A letter and questionnaire were mailed out to all village residents in each of the 22 villages in Talbot County – I received my on the 23rd of September. If you still have this, please take the time to fill out the questionnaire. It will help to guide future planning and this is something that will need all of our participation. If we wait for someone else to step up, we could find that we are not to pleased with the results – so get involved!
If you cannot find your letter, please contact the Office of Planning and Zoning at 410-770-8030 to request one.
Below are two updates from The Island Flyer (Thanks Gary!). If you have any further questions, do feel free to post here, or contact one of the village representatives for more information.
September 27th – Volume 5, No. 40
Letter From The County
Many Talbot County residents received a letter last week from Martin Sokolich in the Department of Planning & Zoning. The letter announced a first round of meetings of residents with Mr. Sokolich to discuss how a “village master plan” could be helpful to residents. The letters went to residents in and around the 22 areas zoned “VC” (“village center”).
Master plans will be worked out by residents of each village, with guidance from Mr. Sokolich and his team. Members of the Village Center Board are assisting Mr. Sokolich with advice and local communications.
For these initial meetings, some villages will be grouped together such as Bozman and Neavitt. Similarly, Fairbank and Bar Neck residents will meet together, as they are similar in composition and have little commercial activity.
Tilghman and North Tilghman will have a separate meeting because of the large number of commercial interests and public facilities. Planning for the Tilghman meeting has been delayed however, because no one has volunteered to serve on the Village Center Board for Tilghman.
Enclosed in the letter was a pre-meeting questionnaire. Everyone is encouraged to fill it out and return it to P&Z.
Village Planning – Update
The “Initial Round” of village meetings began recently to discuss what sort of master plans might be helpful to the residents of each village.
The first such meeting took place in Bozman UM Church, September 25, where residents of Claiborne, Neavitt and Bozman villages gathered to hear about the possibilities and share their views. The residents of Skipton and Cordova held their kick-off meeting last Monday, September 29, at the Cordova Fire Hall.
These meetings are being chaired by Marting Sokolich of Talbot Planning and Zoning. Members of the Village Center Board from the respective villages also participated.
The first two meetings went well, by all accounts, with a constructive exchange of ideas and concerns. People in each area agreed to think it over, do some work on their own, and then get together again with Martin.
Next up are Copperville, Tunis Mills, Unionville, Newcomb, Royal Oak and Bellevue on Thursday October 16th. These six decided to meet together because all are served by the St. Michaels sewer system, which allows for high-density housing development in their areas – four homes permitted per are as in most of Tilghman Village.
Meetings in our area are:
Fairbank & Bar Neck meet at 10:00 am on Sunday October 19th in St. John’s Chapel
Sherwood McDaniel & Wittman meet at 7:00om on Thursday October 23rd at the Sherwood United Methodist Church Hall.
A Tilghman meeting has yet to be scheduled. We are told someone has volunteered to serve on the Village Center Board for Tilghman and a decision by the County Council is expected soon.
Reminder: If you haven’t yet done so, please fill out and return the village planning questionnaire you received recently from the Department of Planning & Zoning. If you’d like to save a stamp, a yellow drop-off box is now in the Post Office lobby (Tilghman). (Bozman’s is located at the Church) Get your Ideas in the mix.
August 7, 2008
Summer Time in the Village
Very little going on round these parts of late, hence the absence of blogging. Tourists coming in and out of town, cyclists up and down the road and parents putting their eye on the next couple of weeks and getting ready for back to school.
Election signs (sigh) are starting to pop up on various front yards again – is it me or has this election cycle taken an ETERNITY to come to fruition??? Still 3 months to go.
Well, not much to really report… the VCB is on indefinite hiatus – the current council doesn’t really seem to hold the same resident participation views perhaps as the previous one. Personally, I think we should all become avid participants in any meetings that Easton is hosting, as that one town is having a rapid (or rabid) effect on all of those who live on (as Gary puts it) the other side (of St. Michaels). I did grab the Village Flyer while visiting Tilghman yesterday. It appears more of us other siders are making more noise to the extent that Tilghman will be having a (or at least there’s talk of it) full time paramedic and that even health services may become available down the road in the near future.
Sad to say, that the rampant unleashed development of Easton, including the addition of the new “mini mall” is unfortunately requiring us down the road folks to find ways to be more self sufficient. Maybe we should start brainstorming about ways that our unique but very easily cut off part of the world should work more towards that eh? BUT under no circumstances does that imply that we look into getting chain stores, gas stations and mini malls down here!!! No siree. I think I can speak for a lot of folks, keep that up the road. But, let’s start looking at ways to protect our Bay Hundred, but not have us literally stranded.
Remember a posting from last October? Since then, there have been several accidents along Rt. 33 that have stranded travelers up and down this “evacuation route”. I’m not sure what the solution is honestly, but know that the volume on this one road, in addition to the volume increase on Bozman road, has substantially increased… and we need to be proactive and find ways to present options to our county, before we find that that property at the intersection of Bozman and St. Michaels road becomes the next multi plex for food, fitness and profit. Does anybody get what I’m trying to say on this???
October 22, 2007
The Evacuation Route was closed
This evening St. Michaels is holding a meeting that will be open to the public regarding the Annexation of the Perry Cabin property into the town. Should this happen, the already overflowing traffic load on St. Michaels Road will likely reach deadly capacity.
About a month ago, I noticed Evacuation Route signs posted on rt. 33 and laughed to myself because there is just one way in and one way out to the Bay Hundred and well, it’s just a simpleton’s sign and a waste of the taxpayer’s money don’t you think?
Now, consider this. If that development that is proposed between the Perry Cabin Condos and the Miles River Yacht Club, that is going to be in approximate square footage, TWICE the size of the existing town of St. Michaels, how in God’s name are any/all of us going to be able to evacuate should we ever need to?
This morning, approximately 8:00, there was a devastating accident on Rt. 33 at this PinCushion (Carroll’s Market), that completely shut down traffic in both directions for several hours. There was also the potential for more accidents to have occurred for those who turned around into other vehicles who were doing the same.
Development, or the addition of large group of residences or retail shoppes will only prove more and more dangerous to us all. The county must not allow St. Michaels to take control of this piece of property, because if they do, not only will the current town lose a lot of its charm, the competition for customers will increase and may even run struggling stores out of business. Additionally, that location is just going to forever and ever alter the ability for people who live below St. Michaels, to get in and out safely. Lastly, like the supermall at the top of St. Michaels Road that includes Target, Pet Smart and a host of other retail stores is going to clog that section of the “Bypass” irreparably, more traffic will come to rely on Glebe Road which simply cannot handle the additional volume either!
Get there tonight and make your voice heard! We need to really have safe, sane planning in our area instead of the rampant haphazard building that is going on now. There are too many lives already at stake.
Godspeed to those hurt in this morning’s accident.
September 24, 2007
VCB Meeting Update from 9-8-07
Courtesy of The Island Flier:
After a two-month summer recess, the Village Center oard met last evening to hear County Planner George Kinney describe how nd when the village master planning process was going to begin. Councilman Dirck Bartlett and ounty Manager Andy Hollis also attended.
Mr. Kinney’s report was not encouraging. He as no budget to hire consultants, several mandated rojects have been added to his plate, one planner as left his staff, and efforts to hire an additional lanner so far have been fruitless. Therefore, no planning will begin in any village for many months. The County said they remain committed to eveloping village plans, but no one could say when.
Without village-specific guidelines in place, anything may be built anywhere that is not expressly prohibited under generic VC-zoning regulations.
If that makes you uneasy about what could happen—quite suddenly—to your village, consider writing a letter to the County Council. Tell them your concern. If you want the planning process to begin sooner rather than later, that might help them adjust their priorities.
August 30, 2007
Sherwood Cell Tower Update (again)
This comes from the Island Flyer, a weekly publication based in Tilghman.
The County required that an independent consultant review the application by SBA Network Services, In. to contruct a tower near Donnell Jones Road in Sherwood. The report* concludes that there is a business and technical justification for the proposed facility (duh), but recommends that the County encourage or even require SBA to take steps to lessen the visual impact.
Among their suggestions (the independent consultant’s review) are reducing the tower height to 150′, switching to flush-mounted antennas, and exploring alternative technologies such as a distributed antenna system, or DAS. (Designed for localized indoor applications such as a mall or a sports complex, a DAS uses small equipment boxes connected by cabling.) The report recommends that such an alternative “should at least be investigated”.
Now that the report has been received, the SBA application begins moving through the approval process again. The application is now on three agendas: Historic Preservation Commission (October 1); Planning Commission (October 3); Board of Appeals (October 20).
* The cost of the review study was paid by the applicant and is part of the public record; Copies of the 7-page report are available for $1.75 from the P&Z Office.
Interesting side note – the MEBA tower is now up (which I still cannot see from any point whilst driving the countryside) and I believe almost completed…this has been done in between the Sherwood Tower Controversy…unless I’m wrong, this tower went up without a hitch. Now, if they could only do that same thing for those of us below St. Michaels!!
July 10, 2007
Sherwood Cell Phone Update
Lisa Jones is still watching vigilantly as the machine grinds away… she sent me this update earlier last month: SBA officially filed the variance application for the tower on 5-31-07. The County will hold technical meetings prior to any public hearing but will keep you posted.
One note of irony for those of us in Bozman. Even if the Sherwood tower is approved we may or may not have any better coverage than we do now… and, even if the possible bumper antenna is approved for Wade’s Point, only those on the Sherwood side of Bozman road would get coverage – according to coverage maps presented in last winter’s cell phone meeting in Tilghman. So…perhaps we should have someone revisit the May Port Road location for us here in Bozman? Btw, it would not only mean cell phone coverage for all of us, but increased internet speed/access for those who are not on the Atlantic Broadband Cable coverage.
Next Village Center Board Meeting is slated for this Thursday evening at 7pm.
June 29, 2007
Laptops – updated comments
It is great to see such support from the business community to ensure the future of the laptop program. I do hope that with this invigoration that improvements to the program will also be made.
I actually understand why however, the Council may have rejected the plan. I don’t believe it came down to a matter of fiscal issues, but more a matter of the functioning of the program. I also think that the way the press represented the issue as being about studies on the success of the program/improved test scores was a bit like an apple to a papaya comparison. Just my opinion.
Other county news – it appears that the Village Center Board is in a state of flux and does not have the definite support of the new council…will see where this progress goes.
New Blog Launched
for any parents who have children in Talbot County Public School that are also in the Special Education/504/IEP process, please visit: www.tcpsld.com
Share your experiences, questions, concerns. It is a resource that will grow with participation.
