July 4 event details

Taneytown will be celebrating the Fourth of July on July 3 at Memorial Park, with event activities beginning at 2 p.m.

Lorena Vaccare, director of Parks & Recreation, stated at the June meeting of the city Parks & Recreation Advisory Board meeting, that music will be provided by a disc jockey at the event. "We could just not rustle up a band," she said, but the DJ would be playing a variety of music, possibly including that the DJ might be taking requests.

Featured at the event will be a bounce house, a waterslide, and a dunk tank. Vaccare said she is looking for "volunteers" to be dunked and has sent invitations to the mayor and members of the council (hint, hint). Also, there will be pony rides and a petting zoo.

Several food trucks will be on-site to provide meals. Snacks, refreshments, and beverages The Lions Club will also be providing food.

The professional fireworks display will be presented by Fantastic Fireworks, with the display to commence at 9:30 p.m. The fireworks will be launched safely from a nearby field, Vaccare said, noting that the city chose to have the celebration on July 3 because fireworks displays were twice-the-price if held on July 4th.

"This should be a fantastic day," she stated, adding" I can’t wait for this one."

The rain date for the celebration will be July 5.

Bullfrog Bridge reopens

The Frederick County Office of Transportation Engineering announced on June 24 that the Bullfrog Road Bridge, which spans the Monocacy River, has been re-opened to traffic.

The bridge was closed on January 31, 2020, due to safety concerns of cracked structural members. The closure allowed the Office of Transportation Engineering and the Office of Highway Operations to make repairs to the bridge.

The structure, built in 1908 and rehabilitated in 1996 and 2010, is a single span. steel through-truss bridge of camelback design. The single-lane bridge has a span length of approximately 183 feet in length with a roadway width of approximately 13 feet.

Even with repairs, the bridge structure’s posted weight restriction of 30,000 pounds will remain in place.

Project Manager Amanda Radcliffe, Office of Transportation Engineering, stated, "The Division of Public Works appreciates the public’s patience during unanticipated closure."

Community garden discussed

Taneytown could be hosting a community garden in the near future, but discussion of such a project is presently in the very early, exploratory phase.

P&R Director Vaccaro briefed the advisory board at their June meeting that she had been having discussions with David Evans, a local, retired landscape architect, who had inquired about creating a community garden.

She stated that possible locations were discussed and the various features that might be included. One particular location that was mentioned was Roberts Mill Park, off of the small, stand-alone pavilion parking lot.

Conceptually, he envisioned an ADA-accessible, concentric design, with vegetables in the middle, and flowers on the outside, she said.

If such were to become a reality, Vaccaro stated that site security could be an issue. "I would want to make sure there is proper security there, because unfortunately -as we know from experience - ‘Great idea,’ then the second thought is, ‘What would vandals do to it?’"

She said a community garden definitely needs to be researched further, along with gathering community feedback as to what they might want to see included. She said the gardens would be volunteer-led and operated. The size of the plots, she said, would depend on how many individuals would want to be involved.

THS park gains security measures

Security lights and cameras have been installed at the Taneytown High School Park to monitor the grounds for the safety of those using the parks, and to protect the assets within the park and improvements that had been made.

P&R Director Vaccaro told the advisory board at their June meeting that the security measures were installed on June 4 and consisted of two 300-watt LED lights - one pointed at the skate lot and the other pointed towards the parking lot and the playground.

Vaccaro said the lights required a slight re-alignment after they were installed because they were "projecting now into neighbors’ windows." The angles were altered to avert the problem, she said, adding. "So we still have full light coverage, but it doesn’t look like a train is approaching the neighbors’ bedroom or anything (now)."

In addition to the lighting, three cameras have been mounted on a single pole, one of which is pointed at the skate park, a second is aimed at the pavilion and the field, and the third camera is pointed at the playground and parking lot.

The director also said that video-surveillance warning signs have been posted. "We should be all set (now) to ensure the safety and preservation of the area, its features, and park visitors," she stated.