Emmitsburg News Briefs

Danielle Ryan

Jim Moxley Memorial Rocket Club

The first date for the summer Rocket Club took place on May 22, from 2 – 5 pm in Community Park. Children ages 8-12 were invited to attend an afternoon of fun building and launching model rockets. The Rocket Club hasn’t been done for many years, and the deputies of Emmitsburg decided to put together the club once again to encourage the youth in the community to participate in a day full of fun. Deputy Rohrer and Deputy Whithouse decided to recreate the club in honor of Deputy Jim Moxley who passed away last year. The deputies intend to hold the club "meeting" once every month for the entirety of the summer, most likely through September. Deputy Rohrer mentioned that more dates will be announced soon.

Nuisance Ordinance

The Citizen’s Advisory Committee met the third Tuesday of April and discussed the Nuisance Ordinance. During the meeting, the Committee brought up some questions regarding the value of the ordinance. Firstly, why is there a need for the Nuisance Ordinance? If there is a problem with a neighbor, the individual can bring the issue up with said neighbor or contact law enforcement. The idea of a Nuisance Ordinance seems unconstitutional to some. Some Committee members voiced their concern with the wording of the document, stating that there is too much vagueness of some of the wording. It was also mentioned that within the document, there is too much penalty for landlords. A majority of members was not seen at the meeting and therefore a quorum was not met, hindering the ability to vote on the matter officially. Commissioner Joe Ritz brought the discussed points back to the Council. The topic of the Ordinance will be brought up again during the June Town Council meeting in August, after the next Citizen’s Advisory Committee meeting in July.

Scott Road Farm Barn Demolition

Zoning technician Jerry Muir attended the May 2nd Town Council meeting and discussed the Scott Road Farm Barn. Muir visited the location and spoke about the lack of safety seen within the structure, stating that it is a liability. A request for proposal to demolish the Barn and re-build a sloping, standing seam roof over the cattle shed underneath the barn was presented. Three contractors were present on the site and two of them presented a bid. The lowest bid of $36,255 was presented to the Council. Some stabilization of the walls of the building needs to be done, and a main beam needs to be replaced. The electric service needs to be moved outside the barn in order to tear the barn down. Additional water access, in addition to the well already present, will also be installed for use by boy scouts and cub scouts. Muir believes that this stabilization and replacement of the core of the structure is a main contributing factor to the high cost estimate. This project will be accounted for in the new budget. The contract was accepted by the Council with a 4 to 1 vote.