June 2008

By FRANK M. JOHNSON, Mayor of Mt. Airy
As published June 4, 2008

1. Downtown Rebuilding. For months after the September fires, visitors to downtown would linger at the gates and observe the burned out site of the Bohn and Watkins Buildings. Today, visitors now see the outlines of the replacement for the Bohn Building and the 114 Main Street project. The Watkins Building has been revised and received final approval, and should begin construction soon as well.

2. Activities for Youth and Teenagers. The recent resident survey, as well as the teen survey that went along with it, noted a need for activities for youth. Volunteers and the Parks and Recreation Commission are working on this issue. The basement of town hall is now, with adult volunteer help, open on Friday nights from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Donated couches, a TV and other items have helped us to make this new “teen center”available. In the future, it is possible that this will extend to Saturday nights as well, and may involve other activities over time. Please note that at least two adult volunteers are always on site, and all such volunteers must pass a criminal background check, under State law.

3. Skate Park Fees Reduced. The results of the teen survey indicated that 35% of teens don’t use town facilities because of the cost. With Summer around the corner, in order to better allow teens to use the skate park, town staff have reduced daily fees from $5.00 to $1. This is a safety issue as well, as some drivers nearly hit skateboarders downtown this spring.

The Parks and Recreation Commission will be assessing how this change works over the next several months. At the same time, enforcement has been increased against the use of skateboards in the street, including on Main Street and downtown. Please note that for those caught in violation of the rules, resident troopers will confiscate the skateboards until parents come in to retrieve them.

4. Cable Changes are Coming. After several months of planning, Comcast will, over the next several weeks, be moving town cable TV subscribers to a unified cable lineup under the Carroll County franchise. During June, Comcast will be making changes to current Frederick subscribers household by household, switching out cable boxes and making wiring changes outside.

More information will be provided by Comcast over the next week. Everyone receiving cable will have access to all local government channels for both Frederick and Carroll counties, some on the analog spectrum and some on the digital spectrum, for a total of nine. That should be the only major change for Carroll customers. For current Frederick customers, this will mean new services such as Cable On Demand and more channels. Otherwise, the cable lineups should be nearly identical.

5. New Recycling Bins. Over the last few weeks, new recycling bins have been delivered. For the Frederick side of town, Frederick County government provided the bins and provides recycling services every other week. For the Carroll County side of town, these services are provided by the town directly and will continue for the time being on a weekly basis.

Many seem satisfied with the larger bins, which are intended to encourage more recycling by providing more room. Many may not know that recycling is mandated within town limits, but our purpose is to make recycling as easy as possible. In addition to this being the right thing to do to reduce waste, it will also save tax dollars.

Landfill fees are now about $250,000 a year, and will be going up substantially for trash. Since there is no cost at all to dispose of recycling (other than the cost for the trash contractor to pick it up), more recycling will help the town maintain a low property tax rate.

6. Commission and Task Force openings. The town has openings on the Beautification Commission and Sanitation and Recycling. The Growth Task Force, which is following up with the town resident survey and working on several projects in cooperation with the Planning Commission, also has a few openings.

Contact town hall at 301/829-1424 or mtairy2@comcast.net, or email the mayor at frankmjohnson@verizon.net, if you are interested.