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.

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.

October 4 Volume 4, No. 41

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.