I just found a link on the County Council's Committee and Board page that does offer a PDF stating the following:

Below is a listing of all village centers in Talbot County and a notation of how many applications have been received from each village for the County Council's consideration for appointment to the Village Center Board.  The County Council will continue to accept applications until Friday June 2, 2006.  The County Council anticipates making final appointments to the Village Center Board by the end of June, 2006.  Should you have any questions, or if you would like an application, please contact the County Manager's Office at 410-770-8010.

Bar Neck: 1 application received

Bellevue: No application submitted

Bozman: 1 application received

Bruceville: No application submitted

Claiborne: 1 application received

Copperville: 1 application received

Cordova: 1 application received

Fairbank: 1 application received

Ivy Town: No application submitted

Longwoods: 4 applications received

McDaniel: 1 application received

Neavitt: 1 application received

Newcomb: 1 application received

Royal Oak: No application submitted

Sherwood: 2 applications received

Skipton: 1 application submitted

Tilghman: 2 applications received

Tunis Mills: 1 application received

Unionville: 1 application received

Williamsburg: No application submitted

Wittman: No application submitted

Wye Mills: 1 application received

There you have it – the deadline has been extended and for the most part there is at least one voice for each village. Here's the link to check it if you'd like to see any updates:  Village Center Board Applicant List as of 5/24/06 in pdf

I noticed the other day as I was coming through St. Michaels, that Casey & Sherry had moved their produce stand to next to the Firehouse. Wondering why, I stopped by this evening on the way home and asked. They said that county officials told them they were not allowed to have a stand there, even though they had a permit for vending. County officials said it wasn't enough and they had to vacate the place that we have all come to know as another sign of spring on the shore. But now, they can't stay there even after 4 years. Fortunately the Clark family is letting them sell produce at their property in St. Michaels. Casey and Sherry were doing everyone a great service – providing fresh fruits and veggies to our families, offering the use of their sign for Neavitt and Bozman community/church events and just trying to make a little spare money. Now, thanks to someone in the county, who decided they won't let these folks do this anymore, they have to go to St. Michaels. I do hope they do ok up there, it's going to be something for all of us to remember here, to still support them.

One last thing that Sherry mentioned was that there may be a possibility of some commercial development on either side of the head of 579. If anyone has any further confirmation of this, please let me know…commercial ventures do not need to be there – wildlife, open spaces and trees need to stay there. Let the commercial ventures stay within the confines of St. Michaels and quit the St. Michaels sprawl.

I'm worried. What else have they done whilst we lay in our sleepy village? Where's the messenger – I think the bulldozers are coming….This session of my digital soapbox is now concluded.

Janet has submitted her application to the Council and we have sent a letter supporting her -we'll see what comes of it all in June.

I just received the below email from Owen Wormser…some of the preliminary introductions have been edited..

Though I do not live within the zoning bounds of the Royal Oak Village Center, I've been trying to get our folks together to nominate a representative to the VCB. So far, without any real luck but haven't given up. We have an individual (Alan J. Fox, wife Jeanne, born and raised in Royal Oak) who is capable of setting up a Royal Oak Blog. However, I agree with Jeff, if all the villages were to have separate Blogs – not a bad idea in one sense – information across Talbot would become fractured and disjointed. I agree with Jeff, (Jeff Bushey – TalbotToday.com) linking village Blogs to Talbot today or publishing there in the first place is a good idea. Anyway,I am very aware of the issues re: development down your way and am concerned decisions may come about that are counter to the desires of Bozman and Neavitt residents. Though my campaign for County Council as been underway for 3 months now, its primarily focused on discussions with people one-on-one: elected officials, appointees, people in general. If my attending one of your Bozman meetings would be in any way helpful, please don't hesitate to ask as I am a firm believer in the need for more visible and pro-active communications between our elected officials, candidates and our residents. Owen

Blogmaster note: Our next scheduled Bozman Village Neighbors Meeting is July 12th @ 7pm. And have already begun the linking trail, see links to other sites to the right

I am posting the response sent to me by Council Member Harrington, responding to my 2nd invitation to her and Council Member Spence. (Honest? I (dare I say many?) don't fully support this 'concept'. However, since we don't have many other options available to us with regards to making decisions or having a voice- at least being able to know that the die has been cast is better than being blindsided I suppose. We kind of like being left alone in some regards. Our infrastructure works, the utilites, the cable, and our septic/wells are all aok…But, we do need to have a way to try to preserve what WE want as residents and GET the changes WE want, instead of what might benefit others. Before I go into a big diatribe whilst standing on my digital soapbox…my point is the good thing to come of this VCB 'concept' thus far is that we as village residents are organized together as group and will try earnestly to keep a close eye on what comes down the road so to speak. Now, on to Ms. Harrington's response….

Dear Ms. Bryan,

Thank you for your email regarding the Village Center Board. I am glad to know of your interest in this concept.

Legislation to create a Village Center Board was introduced last year, in December 2005. There were two public hearings held, one on January 3, 2006 and another on January 10, 2006. There were many people who attended these hearings to let their views be known.

The deadline for applications to become a Village Center Board member is this Friday, May 19, a date which has been public knowledge since January. Applications from many of the village areas have been received in the County Manager's office and more are expected before the deadline.

Rather than change the process which has been established and known for some time, I believe it is in everyone's best interests to continue on the schedule that has been set. There is nothing to preclude someone, such as yourself, from applying later on if that person's village center has not had an application submitted. It is the intention of the legislation to have members on the Board from each of the 22 village areas.

There will be an orientation given after this round of applicants has been selected by the County Council. You may want to attend that orientation and learn about how the Village Center Board will operate, what members' responsibilities are, etc.

For village centers which have more than one person apply, the Council will select that person who seems best qualified. A list of the applicants will be put on the County website within the next several days and you can review the list at your leisure.

Again, thank you for your interest in the Village Center Board

Hope R. Harrington
Talbot County Council

Dear Talbot County Council Members:

We, the members of Bozman Village Neighbors, respectfully submit this letter in support of Janet Hammed for the position of Village Center Board representative for Bozman. We feel Mrs. Hammed would best represent the interests of our community as a whole and help to maintain an open line of communication for all residents.

We further submit as alternates, in the event Ms. Hammed cannot attend a meeting, the following: Mary Bryan and Tracey Estevez

We thank you for your consideration and support of our group.

Bozman Village Neighbors

After a very productive meeting last night, we are pleased to announce that Janet Hammed, lifelong resident of Bozman will apply for the council position at the VCB. We also decided that we are officially now an organized group – and will meet again on Wednesday July 12th, after Janet has been to orientation and knows what's next. On the pages button (below right), there is a page dedicated to minutes from the meeting. We are an informal group and the minutes are basically an outline to let you the reader know essentially what was discussed. We want to thank Gary Crawford of the "Island Flyer" for joining us last night, as he gave us some great insights as to how it was going down the road with the VCB organizing and putting forth applicants. Needless to say, we are all going to have to stay vigilant in watching the news, and keep our eyes out for things like permit applications and requests for re-zoning. We have also requested that Mr. Tom Bozzutto (part-time resident of Bozman) donate www.bozman.com to the Bozman Community so that we can create a website for our community. In the meantime, thanks for reading the Bozman Blog and if you want to add your two cents about the VCB, or anything else (within reason), blog away and welcome!

In an effort to appeal to more Bozman residents to attend, we are scheduling another meeting for Tuesday May 16th at 7pm, again at the Church. Please try to attend as the deadline to submit an application for participation on the Village Center Board is May 19th.Council Members Spence and Harrington have been invited to the meeting. Any residents who are interested in learning about this position and/or applying are urged to attend Tuesday's meeting. One of the key opinions of Saturday's meeting was the concern that someone may independantly apply for the position that may or may not represent the village interests as a concensus. Please email marywbryan@gmail.com for more information or please attend our next meeting! Below is the ad that has been running in the Star Democrat:

Village Center Board

Talbot County Resolution No. 127 entitled, “A RESOLUTION TO CREATE A VILLAGE CENTER BOARD COMPOSED OF ONE MEMBER FROM EACH VILLAGE CENTER TO INCLUDE A TOTAL OF UP TO 22 MEMBERS APPOINTED BY THE COUNTY COUNCIL FOR STAGGERED TERMS OF THREE YEARS, FOR THE PURPOSES AND WITH THE POWERS, FUNCTIONS, AND RESPONSIBILITIES ESTABLISHED BY RESOLUTION OF THE COUNTY COUNCIL” was enacted by the County Council on January 24, 2006. The County Council is seeking volunteers to serve on the Village Center Board representing the following villages: Bar Neck, Bellevue, Bozman, Bruceville, Claiborne, Copperville, Cordova, Fairbanks, Ivy Town, Longwoods, McDaniel, Neavitt, Newcomb, Royal Oak, Sherwood, Skipton, Tilghman, Tunis Mills, Unionville, Williamsburg, Wittman, and Wye Mills. Volunteers shall be appointed from among registered voters who reside in the Village Centers or surrounding unincorporated areas. The Talbot County Council anticipates making final appointments in June, 2006. Should you be interested in serving, please contact the Talbot County Manager’s Office at 410-770-8010 to receive a brief application form. Completed applications must be returned to the Talbot County Manager’s Office by Friday, May 19, 2006.

Below is a letter to Council Members Spence and Harrington, summarizing the meeting on Saturday and requesting their attendance to Tuesday's meeting…

Dear Ms. Spence and Ms. Harrington: Thank you for responding to my invitation. We held our meeting on Saturday with only about 15 in attendance – it was truly a busy weekend for many! After reviewing all that I had presented, the general concensus was there were too many unanswered questions regarding the position for any of us to make an informed decision either volunteer or nominate someone for the VCB. Instead, we decided to begin creating a Bozman Community Group, and to meet again this Tuesday at 7pm with the hopes that we might have more in attendance, along with someone from the Council who might be able to explain more of the questions that we have.

As there appear to be many unknown variables for all, we might also request that the deadline for application for this position be further extended so that we, along with any other villages might have a more concise description of our involvement.

Further, I would like to suggest to the council that a "town hall" meeting of sorts be organized by your office and that you go to each village. This giving you the opportunity to more clearly explain what it is that you are asking us to do and why. In my estimations, there are only perhaps 5-8 of the 22 villages that are "organized" and prepared to submit a volunteer. I believe there are many more like us, who will become involved if we have more information directly from your office. The resolution and related press from Tilghman still is not sufficient enough information for many I fear. At our meeting out of 15, there was only one resident who knew of the position. The rest, only learned of it after I stumbled across it via internet a week ago.

The foremost question was the Council's criteria for selection should more than one applicant apply from a given village, and how subsequent volunteers will also be selected. Also if there was yet a list available on the Council's website of current applicants. This was brought up as we are all concerned that someone might independantly apply for the VCB who may not be acting on or representing the best interests of the rest of the village residents as a group.

Following that a more definitive description of the volunteer's involvement in the decision making process for village comprehensive plans. The position as it is stated in the resolution essentially is creating a messenger of what will be happening with regards to future development or infrastructure improvements in our area without any solid input. If you knew how difficult it was for one person to spread the word just to get a local meeting organized, then I think you might appreciate our concerns. Additionally, your statement that people need to know what's going on "before the bulldozer shows up", short of telling everyone that it's happening, how can we as residents prevent it or have input as to why and how.

I would again like to invite you and/or the other council members to one, consider extending the application deadline. Two, host a meeting at each village for all 22 villages to inform and persuade our involvement ( please be sure that this is announced via a letter in the mail vs. an ad in the paper – not all of us read or listen to the local media) and three, attend our local meeting Tuesday evening at 7pm at the Bozman Church.

In light of recent approvals for construction of a development that will have a direct negative impact on all of the residents who live below St. Michaels, including Bozman, it is incumbent upon the council to inform us, even persuade our involvement in this venture as it is proposed.

I thank you for your time and consideration.

Tonight will be the first meeting of the Bozman Village – this being held as we have recently discovered that the Talbot County Council has passed a resolution regarding the creation of a “VIllage Center Board” comprised of the 22 villages in our county. There is to be one representative from each, meeting once a month, and will as I understand it, act as a liason between the council and the village. Also they (the VCB) will also be key in the development of plans for future zoning, development and more…The council has said that deadline for application to volunteer as a representative is May 19th. They have not stated what besides being a registered voter will be their criteria for selection…but obviously, we need to get someone put in an application, so that we are represented!

The Meeting is to be held at the Bozman United Methodist Church Saturday May 13 @7pm

Notes from the meeting will be posted so that those unable to attend can catch up and know what’s going on!