TOWN ANNEXES SITE
NEW WINDSOR -- The Town Council will take final action on the annexation of the Gullo property at the 7 p.m. session today.
The 27.9-acre site on Route 31, south of here, is zoned industrial. Owner Jack Gullo said he hopes the annexation will help attract business to the area.
Before the meeting, the town plans a community tree-lighting service at Hillside Drive and Lambert Avenue. Residents are asked to bring a candle. Church choirs and the Boy Scouts also will participate.
Information: 635-6575.
FOREST MEASURE OK'D
MOUNT AIRY -- The Town Council voted Monday to adopt the county's proposed ordinance on forest preservation.
But the town may choose later to tailor the ordinance to Mount Airy's needs, the council said.
At its regular monthly meeting, the council approved the measure to avoid missing a Dec. 31 state deadline for municipalities to at least declare their intent on forest preservation legislation.
Also Monday, the council approved two volunteer committee appointments offered by Mayor Gerald R. Johnson Jr.
Mike Petry will join the recycling committee, while Dan Rockwell was named to the parks and recreation committee.
EAST MAIN HEARING
WESTMINSTER -- The mayor and City Council will have a public hearing at 7 p.m. Monday in the social hall of the Westminster Fire Company, 66 E. Main St., to receive the final recommendation of the East Main Reconstruction Task Force.
The recommendation is forrevised concept plans for the East Main Street reconstruction project. Public comments on those plans also will be accepted at the meeting.
Interested citizens can view renderings of the revised concept plans for the project at the Westminster branch of the Carroll CountyPublic Library, 50 E. Main St., during normal business hours throughMonday.
The mayor and council will consider the final recommendation of the East Main Reconstruction Task Force, in addition to the public comments, and render a final decision.
Once the final decision is made, the construction plans and specifications for the project will be revised to reflect the outcome of that decision.
Questionson the project should be directed to Thomas B. Beyard, director of planning, at 848-9002.
BRCG NEED QUESTIONED
ANNAPOLIS -- Delegate Richard C. Matthews, R-Carroll, is once again questioning expenditures for the Baltimore Regional Council of Governments.
"For the past 10 years I have, both publicly and privately, questioned the council's benefits, relative to its cost to Carroll County, and for that matter, any of the five metropolitan county members," Matthews said.
The council has, for the past 30 years, been offering research and technical assistance to local government.
Matthews noted that CarrollCounty joined the BRCG because membership in a regional type councilwas required by the federal government in order to receive federal sewer line funds. The county remained in the council even after the Reagan administration eliminated the sewer program, he said.
During recent budget cuts in the state government, local governments sustained a $183 million cut in state aid. Carroll County lost $4.3 million in state aid.
"It comes as no surprise to me and many others that the Regional Planning Council has been singled out as one of the ineffective expenditures assumed by state and local government," Matthewssaid.
A recent report issued by the Schaefer Center for Public Policy, noted that the RPC, with a staff of 46 and budget of $10 million, is ineffective and should be downsized and privatized.
The report added that the same job could be done by a forum of local elected officials meeting to discuss mutual concerns.
ASSEMBLY HEARING SET
WESTMINSTER -- Cuts in personnel and public service programs are among the concerns representatives from county agencies will present Monday at the regional hearing of the Maryland General Assembly in Hagerstown.
George Geise, director of Carroll's Youth Services Bureau, is encouraging agency employees to attend the open hearing, which is at 6 to 8:30 p.m., in the Hagerstown Junior College Theater.
"Thisis a perfect opportunity to let legislators know how recent budget cuts have affected our agencies," Geise said. "We want legislators to be more critical in the areas where they cut.
"They should realizehow these cuts are affecting people, and not the dollars they are saving."
The Hagerstown hearing is one of five open forums in the state during the first week of December.
The hearings, sponsored by the General Assembly, will be conducted by the four fiscal committee chairmen for the state.
Information: 848-2500.
RIVER BOARD CONSIDERED
County planners have recommended that a Monocacy Scenic River Advisory Board be appointed for Carroll to make recommendations on development, farming and zoning proposals within 500 feet of each bank of the river's main stem.
The county commissioners will consider appointing a board, which would serve along with a Frederick County contingent, and adopting the 500-foot corridor as a guideline.
The advisory board would not have decision-making powers but would evaluate how proposals for rezonings, subdivisions, public works projects, agricultural practices and other land-use issues would affect the river's water quality. They would advise local government officials.
The majority of the river's watershed is in Frederick County. The river forms the Carroll-Frederick border west of Taneytown.
A plan to protect the river was adopted by both counties and the General Assembly.
WETLANDS REPLACEMENT
The county commissioners will consider replacing wetlands lost to development in the county-owned Piney Run watershed in south Carroll to help protect water quality.
Federal law requires that wetlands -- woodlands, bogs and other areas that act as natural filters for pollutants -- be replaced either on-site or atanother location when they are destroyed for development.
County planners recommended that developers could mitigate for wetlands removal by creating new ones in the Piney Run watershed, at the developers' expense.
The county also might have to mitigate for wetlands lost as a result of road construction or other projects, said Marlene Conaway, assistant planning director.
SPEED LIMITS DISCUSSED
The county commissioners plan to schedule a public hearing to consider raising the speed limits on portions of eight roads.
The roads include: Coon Club, Deer Park, Gorsuch, Meadow Branch, Middleburg, Sullivan,Uniontown and White Rock roads.
Commissioner Elmer C. Lippy said he's already received "some flak" about the proposed speed limit increases, which were recommended by the Department of Public Works and the Maryland State Police following separate studies. Public works officials discussed details of the proposed changes with the commissioners Monday.
A Uniontown resident called to request that a lower speed limit be set as a buffer before reaching the fringes of the historic and more densely populated stretch of Uniontown Road, Lippy said.
"I expect to receive more calls," he said.
The studies recommended speed limit increases of between 5 mph and 10 mph for most stretches where changes have been considered.
The quality of the roads recommended for speed limit increases generally is good, as is the vision, Lippy said.
He said that the commissioners are not in a hurryto adopt the new limits.
"We really want to fine-tune this based on any complaints," he said.