Traffic Question..no answers

Here's part of an inquiry I sent to my county councilwoman in February. I just resent in hopes of a reply. In case anyone from the county is reading this, could you please answer?

Dear Mrs. Chenowith,

I’m writing now because of some traffic concerns at the Constant Friendship business area – Target, BJ’s, etc. The traffic is getting increasingly worse and I see that two more lots are up for sale. My question is in two parts.

First, the new, what I believe to be a pet store and possibly a Best Buy are being built right now. I’m saying I think, because I’ve been trying to find out what businesses are going there. I missed any sort of hearings for these businesses – or were these approved a long time ago? Is there a place on the county Web site, without knowing the zoning permit numbers or whose purchasing the land, that I could find out what’s going where?

The second part of the question is I would like to know if any traffic studies are being done on this area? The traffic on the weekends is heavy and it is very difficult to exit from the businesses. For example, if you’re taking the lower exit out of Target, you have cars coming up and down Constant Friendship Blvd., cars coming out of Lowe’s and cars coming out of Chik-Fil-A. It’s very difficult to gauge who’s coming out from where. It’s a miracle there are not more accidents just at this one spot. With the two new businesses being added to the Lowe’s site, this situation will only worsen.

I know this is a big tax base for the county, but we here in Abingdon are suffering the most from the increased number of businesses. I guess my question is threefold – is there any end in sight to the building over there?

That's it -- I just resent, because obviously I now know that the big blue sign is for a pet store (its light pollution now coming through my trees). So if anyone has any answers, please write!

Addition & Clarification. We here at TAA love some of the businesses in Constant Friendship and frequent them more than we probably should (yes, we're talking about you, Target) but my question in the letter is about the traffic pattern, and the continuous adding of businesses without consideration to how people exit from these new facilities. The letter was questioning whether this was being looked at by the county. Not that I've gotten an answer.
And please keep our arguments/comments friendly ones!

Edgewood High Gets the Short Shrift Again

Edgewood High School parents were surprised to learn last week that they were to be given only two tickets to their child's graduation ceremony. It seemed it was surprising to officials that the football field which has been a construction site for the last several months would be unavailable for commencement exercises and that the ceremony would have to be moved indoors to the school's small auditorium.

When a parent questioned the school board about why this was happening, public information director Don Morrison responded that the auditorium had always been the contingent plan for inclement weather, but that other schools had used other venues.(Question: Is construction considered inclement weather?)

A response from the EHS principal stated that school officials had tried -- and so far failed -- to find another venue to hold commencement as these other sites had been booked at least a year in advance. The principal said the school is trying to work out an arrangement with Patterson Mill High School to possibly hold the graduation there. A meeting with parents is supposed to happen sometime, although no date was given.

My question is, how did the school board not know that the field was going to be unusuable for a May graduation? Anyone who has only half paid attention to the construction would have known it would be impossible. In fact, I remember during one board meeting that I happened to catch on the public access station earlier this school year, they spoke in depth about graduation ceremonies not for this year -- but for 2009 -- and making sure they could secure locations for C. Milton Wright & Bel Air High School.

I guess I really have two questions: if the Greater Edgewood Education Foundation really wanted to make a difference, wouldn't they have been concerned about trying to secure a location for graduation instead of holding a pep rally where students got to see the Ravens' mascot?

By the way, Bel Air, Fallston and C. Milton all have space secured in Towson for their commencements.

Cub Scout Shout-Out

If you check out today's Aegis you'll see one of Abingdon's own from Cub Scout Pack 810 planting some trees at the county's annual Arbor Day event last Friday. Pack 810, which meets at St. Francis de Sales, has taken part in the event for the last several years.
If you don't get The Aegis but still want to see the photo, it's on the front page of its Web site.theaegis.com

Otter Point Events

Anita Leight has 2 events coming up. Not sure if these are still open, but why not visit over spring break? It's fun.

NO SCHOOL NATURE WALK
Friday, March 21, 9:30-11:30am
Anita C. Leight Estuary Center
Wondering what to do with your kids when you can’t drop them off at school? Why not take the day and spend some quality time with them in the woods? Bring some water, binoculars or even a lunch and have a picnic with the kids when the hike is over.
Ages: 5 - Adult, 5-10 w/adult
Fee: Free
To register or for additional information, please call 410.612.1688.

Fri.Mar. 21
FULL MOON FRIDAY NIGHT
Friday, March 21, 7:30-9pm
Anita C. Leight Estuary Center
Wander the trails of Leight Park by the light of the Worm Moon on day two of Spring 2008. Frogs should be calling, but will the worms be wiggling?
Ages: 5 - Adult, 5-12 w/adult
Fee: Free
To register or for additional information, please call 410.612.1688.
Check out more events online at the Otter Point Web site.

St. Patty's Day -- Don't Drink and Drive

The Harford County Sheriff's Department is stepping up its patrols today so don't forget to designate a driver if you're hitting any of the bars in Bel Air which are open most of the day today. This is a dangerous night to be out -- as one of my bartender friends called it, "amateur night."
The sheriff's department is going to have checkpoints throughout the county. Maybe they can catch some speeders while they're at it!

Survey Question (not mine)

Our e-mailing delegate Rick Impallaria just sent me this survey. He asked to forward it to anyone who might be interested in responding, so I'm posting it. Feel free to cut and paste. I'm printing it in its entirety:

Opinion Survey - March 14, 2008

Each year I like to do a survey of Maryland residents to determine how they feel on certain issues. After I receive your responses (which are kept confidential), I tally the results, which I share with the Caucus, the Governor's Office, and, of course, with you, the respondents. This way you can see how others in the community react on these issues. I hope you will enjoy participating in this survey and seeing the end results.

1. Do you believe that the Special Session of November 2007, which raised taxes, is now helping or hurting the Maryland economy?
Helping Hurting

2. Do you intend to support slots in the upcoming election? Yes No Undecided

3. Do you support re-regulation of the utility industries? Yes No Undecided

4. Do you support the building of nuclear power plants to supplement our energy sources?
Yes No Undecided

5. Do you support the death penalty? Yes No Undecided

6. On a scale of 1 to 10, how do you rate the performance of Gov. O'Malley?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

I will not take personally the rating for the General Assembly, so please answer honestly. We will tally the results and send them back to you as soon as we can. Please feel free to forward this survey to others you think may like to participate.

Rick Impallaria
Delegate, District 7
rick.impallaria@house.state.md.us
Mailing Address: 310 Lowe House Office Bldg., Annapolis, MD 21401

How's the (cough cough) Ozone Level?

I just read an interesting article in The Daily Record about new ozone limits. The Record reports that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a mandate Wednesday to increase restrictions on ozone limits in the atmosphere, placing 11 of the 12 Maryland counties monitored for air quality in violation of the new health standards. Only Garrett County made the cut.

Here's what caught my attention: Harford has the state’s worst recorded ozone level at 93 parts per billion. Susan Kelly, Harford's director of the Bureau of Environmental Health said the area suffers from transport winds from the Ohio Valley.

Is that why I had to get an inhaler and was diagnosed with asthma when I moved here? (Even though I'm originally from the Ohio Valley?) Also, is part of the ozone problem caused by what's being blown up at APG while I'm writing?