05/10/06
By Jim Joyner
Mayor Jonathan Herman couldn't sit still.
On
the tour bus leading state officials, including Lt. Gov.
Michael Steele, through Sykesville last Friday, Herman
hopped up to point the guests toward the town's historic
post office and its Centennial Fountain.
He
hopped back up when the entourage arrived at the Sykesville
Colored School House. On the bus step, he pointed out the
mill area where he hopes to soon see Sykesville's mixed-use
Riverplace project.
He
stayed standing to point out the storefronts along Main
Street that have been revived and reinvigorated by private
shop owners, and the spot where the town and private
developer Howard Saslow partnered to open a building with
shops, a restaurant and municipal parking lot.
When the mayor finally took a breather and took a seat as
the bus headed toward the Gate House Museum and Warfield,
Steele leaned over and said, "Great stuff, man, really great
stuff."
All
of Sykesville's "stuff," great and small, was on display as
the mayor, town officials and local legislators led Steele
and state department heads for a tour of the town and its
projects.
The
visit was part of a Steele initiative to visit every
municipality in Maryland. "Eighty-three down, 74 to go," the
lieutenant governor quipped as he entered Sykesville's Town
House.
Steele said the visits help state officials put faces
together with budget requests, and give all parties an idea
of how the pieces of state and local government fit together
at the community level.
"We've been doing this for three years," said Steele. "You
really get to see what's really going on in Maryland - up
close and personal - (but) the most important thing is that
we get to see what the needs are."
For
Friday's visit, Steele brought along officials from the
state's Department of Planning, Program Open Space, the
State Highway Administration, the Department of Housing and
Community Development, the Department of Environment and
others. Later in the day, the group was scheduled to visit
Carroll Community College and meet with Board of County
Commissioners President Julia Gouge; then visit the next
municipality on the list - New Windsor.
At
Sykesville, Audrey Scott, secretary for the State Department
of Planning, commented on the growth that has occurred in
South Carroll, and said the state has implemented a new
requirement that towns submit comprehensive plans for growth
that also take into account water, sewer and other
resources.
"The growth in this area is overwhelming," Scott said, "and
you need to be in the driver's seat. We want to encourage
developments and developers who will work in harmony with
local officials."
She
also noted that the administration of Gov. Robert Ehrlich
has earmarked record amounts in historic and agricultural
preservation for 2006, and encouraged town officials to
apply for funds for projects under both categories.
"We
do not want that money left on the table at the end of the
year," she said.
The
same was true for program Open Space. Chip Price, state
coordinator for POS, said that Maryland has allocated $254
million in open space funds - which can be used for parks
and recreation projects. If the town has a project that's
needed, he said, "This is the year to ask."
That prompted Herman to note that Sykesville has been
talking about developing a park on the new Warfield
Development and Cultural Center east of Route 32. Said
Herman, "We'll be talking to you."
In
fact, Herman seized on Steele's invitation to tell state
officials what's needed at the local level. In particular,
he said, the town needs state help to persuade BGE to build
a new substation on the east side of Route 32 near Warfield
and Springfield.
Herman said BGE officials recognize that it needs a new
substation, but have rejected a parcel the town offered to
provide for free and have not yet decided where to place it.
Meanwhile, he said, the town has spent $60,000 to provide
temporary utilities to Warfield to get it started.
"I've been pushing all the buttons I can push," Herman told
Steele. "We need you and your staff to go to BGE and slap 'em
around and say, 'What the ... heck are you doing?' "
Said Steele, "We'll see what we can do."
Touring the town
For
Herman, Town Manager Matt Candland and members of the Town
Council, the tour Friday presented a chance to show off some
of the progress they've made with state partnerships - and
on their own.
Key
among these, Herman noted, is the Warfield project on former
Springfield property that the state turned over as surplus.
He
also noted the new Route 32 and Springfield Avenue
intersection, currently under construction and funded with
state and local dollars.
He
praised the state's decision to let the town take the lead
on the intersection project, and said that flexibility has
led to it being ahead of schedule and under budget to the
tune of $400,000 - which will allow funding for a pedestrian
underpass at Cooper Drive onto the Warfield tract. That
project was initially earmarked to come later because town
officials thought it couldn't be afforded.
The
bus jaunt with Steele included a stop at the Colored School
House, where curator Pat Greenwald and Council member Eugene
Johnson explained how town funding and volunteer efforts had
preserved the one-room school house, and how the town hopes
to have it up and running as a teaching tool for children by
this August.
And
at Warfield, Steele met up with Fran Kirley, president and
CEO of Nexion Health, which is refurbishing one of the
former Springfield Hospital dormitory buildings into its new
headquarters. Steele and the group made their way through
the building around work crews as Kirley told him, "We
couldn't have asked for a better site."
Herman told Steele that the state's decision to make the
land surplus and turn it over to the town could ultimately
result in more than 1,000 new jobs, and said, "This is the
test - what gets done. We couldn't have done it without
you."
After the tour, Steele called the efforts of Sykesville
"awesome."
"When you see the economic development, and the focus on
keeping the town's history strong as well - that leads to a
quality of life that people want," Steele said.
"This is a mayor and a town that gets it," he said.
"Sykesville is an example of what towns can do as they
change and evolve to make things better; they've used state
resources, and their own vision, to make that happen."
State Sen. Allan Kittleman (R-District 9) called the tour of
Sykesville a chance to display the town as "a wonderful
showcase for Carroll County."
He
said the Warfield complex, in particular, was a model for
how the state, county and town can work together.
"You need to have commercial development in Carroll County,"
said Kittleman, "and Sykesville has shown real foresight in
tapping all these resources to get it done."
"A
picture's worth 1,000 words," said
Del. Susan Krebs (R-District 9B). "I think having the
lieutenant governor and the departments here shows how all
of this fits together."
"It's a model, really," she said, noting not only Warfield,
but also highway, preservation and parks initiatives. "It's
the ultimate partnership in the state of Maryland."
And
Town Council member Jeannie Nichols said she appreciated
that state officials recognize the work that towns like
Sykesville do to build and maintain communities.
"We're where the rubber meets the road," Nichols said. "We
want business and tourism, we've used Program Open Space
dollars ... and we've worked to get things done. We've shown
what's possible."
