Around Town

(July, 2010) Emmitsburg was awarded $45,000 of the $88,000 in Program Open Space funds that the State of Maryland set aside for Frederick County.

This amount will not fund both the construction of the new splash park at the town pool and the Community Park exercise trail. The commissioners are considering funding the splash park construction and pushing back the Community Park trail project, although the trail project is a bit further along in the process.

The catch is that the town will have to forward fund the splash park project, most likely using its rainy day fund, and then be reimbursed by the state.

For new projects, the state won’t be approving any until 2012 and then they will be funded on a first-come, first-served basis.

New playing field possible

During the June 21 meeting of the Emmitsburg Town Council, the commissioners decided they would like to learn whether creating a rectangular playing field for town sports is feasible.

Commissioner Tim O’Donnell asked his fellow commissioners to consider taking down the outfield fence around the softball field next to the town office in order to create a rectangular playing field that can be used for soccer, football and other sports.

Though the town maintains the field, the Frederick County Board of Education owns the field. O’Donnell read a letter from Ray Barnes, executive director of facilities services for Frederick County Public Schools, which granted permission for the town to remove all fencing around the field except for the backstop.

Town Manager Dave Haller said that the project would likely cost around $7,300. Mayor James Hoover suggested that O’Donnell work with town staff to develop a plan for undertaking the project and soliciting bids.

O’Donnell apologizes for the town

Commissioner Tim O’Donnell apologized for "misserving the community" during the June 7 town commissioner’s meeting because of the way the town handled notifying property owners during closures of the alleys where the town water line is being refurbished.

"I think we could have done better," O’Donnell said.

Mayor James Hoover pointed out that the road needed to be torn up to the work on the water line, but O’Donnell pointed out that the town could have done a better job of notifying affected property owners and planning better for the closures. For instance, the road behind the PNC Bank on East Main Street was closed on a Friday, which closed the bank’s drive-thru lane on the busiest day of the week for the bank.