VENUE CHANGE for THIS Month!

Carlos Fernandez, owner of Potomac Wind Energy located in Dickerson, MD will be here to discuss the potential for wind energy in Frederick County. Dr. Fernandez has sold and installed over 30 SKYSTREAM small wind energy systems.

Also, after Green Drinks there will be a free film about how we grow and develop our community shown at the MET. The film is the final showing of the Spring film series on sustainability. It is part of the OurCommonWEalth film series. For more information go towww.ourcommonwealth.us.
Brewer’s Alley upstairs “Booking Room” (5 to 7p.m.)
124 North Market Street
Frederick, MD 21701

Every month people who work in the sustainability field meet up at informal sessions known as Green Drinks.

These events are very simple and unstructured, but many people have found employment, made friends, developed new ideas, done deals and had moments of serendipity. It can be a force for good in our community.

The spirit of green drinks is that anyone can come, and this makes for interesting interactions. If you are interested in green, ecological, environmental, organic, renewable, and sustainability issues, you are welcome to attend.

RSVP is not required, but it would be helpful to get a head cou

Frederick Green Drinks is a great success!

At our April gathering, Michelle L. Liefke a local EcoBroker/Ecosociate launchedwww.leafkey.com. Fred Ugast president of U.S. Photovoltaics, Inc., discussed incentives available in Maryland with an emphasis on the changes enacted by the legilsature last week.

Our NEXT event is on: May 19, 2010 (Wednesday) from 5 to 7pm

Dr. Carlos Fernandez, owner of Potomac Wind Energy located in Dickerson, Frederick County, MD will be here to discuss the potential for wind energy in Frederick County. Dr. Fernandez has sold and installed over 30 SKYSTREAM
small wind energy systems.

Also, after Green Drinks there will be a free film about how we grow and develop our community shown at the MET. The film is the final showing of the Spring film series on sustainability. It is part of the OurCommonWEalth film series. For more information go towww.ourcommonwealth.us.
Quynn’s Attic
10 East Patrick Street (side entrance)
Frederick, MD 21701

Every month people who work in the sustainability field meet up at informal sessions known as Green Drinks.

These events are very simple and unstructured, but many people have found employment, made friends, developed new ideas, done deals and had moments of serendipity. It can be a force for good in our community.

The spirit of green drinks is that anyone can come, and this makes for interesting interactions. If you are interested in green, ecological, environmental, organic, renewable, and sustainability issues, you are welcome to attend.

RSVP is not required, but it would be helpful to get a head count…

Contact:
Rich Maranto
rich [at] mdgoesgreen.org

The agenda for Public Forums:

6:00 p.m. – Registration opens 1/2 hour early at all forums
6:30 p.m. – PlanMaryland Open House
7:00 p.m. – Public Forum begins; Welcome by College President
7:05 p.m. – Opening remarks by Secretary Richard E. Hall
7:10 p.m. – Background by Richard Josephson, Director of MDP’s Planning Services
7:20 p.m. – Interactive keypad polling
7:30 p.m. – Table breakout begins
8:30 p.m. – Tables report
8:50 p.m. – Next steps
9:00 p.m. – Public Forum ends

Participate in your future!

2010 Regional Working Lands Forum:  The Growing Local Challenge

Where: The Great Frederick Fairgrounds

When:  Wednesday, April 21^st

Time:  8:00 – 5:00

Registration Fee $25

Agricultural land is an integral part of our regional green infrastructure.  The 3,000 square mile Washington Metropolitan Area (WMA) is home to more than 3 million people with a population projected to grow to 4.5 million by 2030.  Given these population growth projections, there are significant challenges in meeting the growing demand for a secure, high quality local food supply.

Agricultural production and commerce continues to contribute over $1 billion annually to the local Washington economy. Given that growth projections will add an additional 2 million residents to the region in the next 25 years; can local agriculture continue to thrive and supply our region with quality local food?

The purpose of this forum is to both examine and discuss the role of agriculture in the rapidly growing WMA, as well as the opportunities that enable local agricultural producers and markets to flourish in this highly competitive landscape. Download pamphlet here.

Agenda highlights include:

• The State of Regional Agriculture;
• Capitalizing on the ‘Growing Local’ Food Movement;
• Regional Local Food Supply and Demand;
• The Green Incubator Industry;
• Cornell University’s Beginning Farmer Program;
• Impediments to Local Agriculture
• Integrating Agriculture in the Region

Come join us on April 21st, 2010 for this regional discussion about the importance of our agricultural community and how we may work together to sustain their contributions to our local economy, providing high quality local food, for a better quality of life.

Please click here to go to the registration form

Meeting Location:  The Great Frederick Fairgrounds Eventplex http://www.thegreatfrederickfair.com/Eventplex/directions.htm

Wood Hudson

Department of Environmental Programs

Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments

whudson@mwcog.org

(202)962-3374

777 North Capitol St, N.E.

Suit 300

Washington, DC 20002

Guest speakers were County Commissioner John  “Lennie” Thompson, who developed the proposal, and Frederick County Public Schools Facilities Services Division Executive Director Ray Barnes.

Mr. Barnes began by saying that enactment of the original APFO, as well as subsequent amendments to it, had been a significant factor in slowing growth in critically overcrowded locales so construction of the County’s school infrastructure could catch up with needs. He noted that there are still 20 schools in the county that exceed state rated capacity. However, he also explained that since the passage of the original APFO, the state has significantly dropped its capacity requirements per classroom.

The Frederick County Public School System serves the entire county, including the municipalities. So municipalities without an Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance similar to the county’s can put a more severe stress on the system through unrestrained growth, which costs county taxpayers more in taxes for school construction.

While current pressures from this imbalance are low, Mr. Barnes said, the county birth rate is experiencing a significant upward trend, which means there will be more pressure for additional infrastructure in the coming years. “The APFO contributes to reducing the operating budget of the new schools, which helps with recurring and non recurring expenses when you open a new school as well as the reducing the operating expenses for that school and others in the system,” Mr. Barnes stated.

Commissioner Thompson explained that his proposal, now law, was aimed at requiring municipalities to operate under the same Adequate Public Facilities standards as the county. “ The municipalities are complaining that we are intruding on their sovereignty by requiring them to operate under the county’s Adequate Public Facilities standards for schools,” Thompson said. He

The Board of County Commissions recently passed an ordinance (09-28-532) to provide that school adequacy provisions apply to all lands annexed into municipalities with the territorial limits of Frederick County after June 23, 2009.   Friends of Frederick County believes that this move will ensure that Frederick County Public Schools (FCPS) do not suffer from overcrowding and unwieldy large classroom sizes and that money remains in the budget for school upgrades and maintenance.

If you have kids in the public schools this issue is of concern to you!

To learn more about this ordinance and what it means for our schools please join Commissioner John L Thompson and Mr. Ray Barnes,  Executive Director Facilities Services Division FCPS, for a round table discussion.  Notes on the discussion will be released in FoFC’s INSIDER publication (see http://www.friendsoffrederickcounty.org/about-friends/issue-insiders-forum/for past newsletters).

A series of public forums will be held throughout December on the recently released draft strategy for restoring the Chesapeake Bay, a document required by a Presidential Executive Order issued in May 2009.  The public forums will feature officials from multiple federal agencies including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of the Interior and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Public feedback is important and valuable to the federal agencies. Comments may be submitted online at http://executiveorder.chesapeakebay.net by clicking on “provide comments.” The public comment period runs through January 8, 2010. The draft strategy, also available on the website, will evolve through public comments, state consultations and agency revisions before the final strategy is published in May 2010.

The public can also submit questions about the draft strategy by recording a 30-second or less video and uploading it to YouTube with a tag of “chesapeakebayeo.”  A selection of these video questions will be used at the public forums and for an online question-and-answer session with federal officials in January. People can also join conversations about the draft strategy on Facebook by visiting the Chesapeake Bay Executive Order page and clicking on discussions. Additionally, updates on Executive Order news are available through Twitter by following @chesapeakebayeo.

Public Forum Schedule

• District of Columbia: Tuesday, December 1 – 7:00-8:30 pm
• Penn Quarter Conference Center, 701 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20004 Watch a live webcast at http://executiveorder.chesapeakebay.net
• Maryland: Wednesday, December 2 – 7:00-8:30 pm  National Aquarium in Baltimore (Auditorium), 501 E. Pratt Street, Baltimore, MD 21202
• Delmarva Peninsula: Thursday, December 3 – 7:00-8:30 pm Wicomico County Civic Center (Midway Room), 500 Glen Avenue, Salisbury, MD 21804
• West Virginia: Tuesday, December 8 – 7:00-8:30 pm  Holiday Inn Martinsburg, 301 Foxcroft Avenue, Martinsburg, WV 25401
• New York: Thursday, December 10 – 7:00-8:30 pm Holiday Inn Binghamton-Downtown Hotel, 2-8 Hawley Street, Binghamton, NY 13901
• Pennsylvania: Tuesday, December 15 – 7:00-8:30 pm  Farm Show Complex & Event Center (Banquet Hall), 2301 North Cameron Street, Harrisburg, PA 17110
• Virginia: Thursday, December 17 – 7:00-8:30 pm  Nauticus National Maritime Center (Auditorium), One Waterside Drive, Norfolk, VA 23510

On May 12, President Obama issued Executive Order 13508 on Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration, the first-ever presidential directive on the Bay and the first environmental Executive Order by President Obama. The order established a Federal Leadership Committee, chaired by the U.S. EPA, and with senior representatives from the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Homeland Security, Interior and Transportation. These agencies generated seven draft reports in September 2009 that contained recommendations for addressing key challenges facing the Chesapeake Bay and watershed.

These draft reports were integrated into a draft strategy that was released on November 9. The draft strategy contains a package of federal initiatives to restore clean water, conserve treasured places, protect fish and wildlife, and adapt to the impacts of climate change. These objectives will be accomplished by empowering local efforts, making decisions based on science and forging a new era of federal leadership and accountability. Close collaboration of efforts with the six states in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and the District of Columbia is also critical.

The seven reports that support the draft strategy have been revised since September and will be available at http://executiveorder.chesapeakebay.net. These revised reports provide many of the specific details for the federal initiatives that appear in the draft strategy. Comments on these reports will be accepted via that website and will be used as supplemental input for revisions to the draft strategy.

CONTACT: Travis Loop, 410-267-5758, loop.travis@epa.gov

Friends of Frederick County invited residents Monday to hear Russell Frisby Jr., a representative of the PATH Education and Awareness Team, present plans for the high-voltage interstate electric transmission line through Kemptown.

The meeting was moved from 4 E. Church St. to Winchester Hall after about 15 minutes, in order to accommodate those who showed up.

“There’s a lot of misunderstanding of what PATH Education and Awareness Team is and where we are going,” Frisby said. “Our mission is to educate residents to make informed decisions.”

Simply put, the need for more electricity is desperate, he said.

“Unless new transmission lines are built by 2014, we would probably have blackouts and brownouts,” Frisby said. “Right now, we’re at 100 percent capacity. By 2014, we would be over capacity.”

Maryland’s electricity needs have increased 30 percent to 40 percent over the years, but the state is relying on the same grid, he said.

Residents were adamant the lines would pose health and safety risks and affect aesthetics for hundreds of houses in the area.

The residents said Allegheny Power did not include them in its decision to build a substation so close to their homes. Part of the plan — pairing 500- and 765-kilovolt lines together — would pose health problems, they said.

“You are essentially ruining the lives of 1,300 people,” Richard Ishler said.

Others expressed similar concerns.

“We don’t mean to be confrontational, but there’s a lot of emotions surrounding this issue,” Ricky Young said. “I’m an electrical engineer and very familiar with power. I live 800 feet from the path of the proposed electric line. Please take this map back to your folks and let them see they’re placing this substation in dead center of homes.”

Several residents cited Allegheny Power’s inaccessibility. For some questions, Frisby didn’t have answers.

“Is there a way to get answers?” asked Frederick resident Bob White, who moderated the meeting.

“You hit the nail on the head,” Young said.

He said he tried to get answers from Allegheny on three separate occasions without luck.

“Allegheny Power has been the most arrogant and least forthcoming,” White said. “They do not like to talk to people. Are they set with what plans they have or is there a way for the public to be involved for an amicable solution?”

Frisby said a Public Service Commission process allows input from residents.

“The PSC is more transparent than it used to be,” Frisby said.

Frederick resident Doug Kaplan disputed Frisby’s claim that burying the transmission line was cost-prohibitive.

“Allegheny has had information that shows the cost would be much less than 10 to 20 times more to bury the lines from West Virginia to Mount Airy,” he said. “Allegheny was asked to do this study and Allegheny refused. It’s a matter of trust in the community when it comes to Allegheny.”

Public hearings will be held in Western Maryland that will allow testimony, Frisby said.

Joanne Ivancic urged attendees to insist that Leadership in Energy Efficient Design requirements are implemented in their communities.

“Get your homeowners associations to require wind and solar and share your experiences here,” she said.

Conservation measures won’t save enough power soon enough, Frisby said.

When he was chairman of the Maryland Public Service Commission, Frisby said people used wind and solar during times of high electricity prices, but stopped when prices dropped.

Frederick County Commissioners President Jan Gardner was impressed by the participation.

“There really is a lot of interest here. A community meeting with Allegheny would be very useful,” she said.

The construction of a substation is within control of the county board of appeals, Gardner said, to applause.

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=97336

Originally published November 04, 2009By Ike Wilson