June’s Taneytown Wine, Music & Art Festival resulted in the city losing money, but the event was still considered "a success."

Parks & Recreation (P&R) Director Lorena Vaccare stated at the July meeting of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board (P&RAB) that "Even if it (the festival) wasn’t a profitable event for the city - we did have a loss from it - I still consider it as a success. Everybody had a good time. It was received as better than previous years."

The director did not state the amount of the loss to the city.

Vaccare said the event posed "a long day for some of us," noting that threatening weather ultimately had put a damper on the event. However, she said, "Overall, I think it went well."

The director noted that three wineries, four breweries, three distilleries and 23 artisans and other vendors attended. "Food trucks did exceptionally well," she said, "They were very happy."

The beverage vendors did "okay," she said, but some suggested that next year the town should probably not sell tickets for unlimited wine-tasting. "They’re not selling their product if people are just getting tastings after tastings," she said, adding, "Why buy the cow if you’re getting your milk for free?"

Other than that, she told the advisory board, "We will be cutting certain expenses for next year’s event, and changing some other aspects, just to reduce those losses and maximize the profits for the vendors."

‘Building improvement’ money sought

Taneytown staff are seeking thousands of grant dollars to put towards improving building facades and other improvements.

City Manager James Wieprecht informed the City Council at their July workshop that recently hired Economic Development Director Jay Meashey was seeking a resolution from the council to proceed with filing a grant application with the state Department of Housing & Community Development (DHCD) for $65,000 for building improvement purposes within the city’s Community Legacy area.

Previously, such grants were awarded for facade work, but Wieprecht stated that DHCD had suggested to Meashey "rebranding it (the grant application) as more building improvements and making some funds available for things beyond facades, particularly for commercial buildings

Due to time constraints to file, the council approved by consensus to permit Mayor Bradley Wantz to sign the application, and have it sent off to the DHCD as soon as the final document could be prepared by the City Attorney Jack Gullo.

Bollinger: A park in the making

Taneytown’s Bollinger Park, to be located off Francis Scott Key Highway, could receive a federal grant, which, if approved, could be applied to the development of the future park.

Lorena Vaccare, director of Parks & Recreation, stated at the July meeting of the city Parks & Recreation Advisory Board that the Maryland Department of National Resources (DNR) suggested that Taneytown apply for a federal Land and Water Conservation Fund grant for possible funding for the park.

The Taneytown application would be submitted to the National Park Service via the DNR. Vaccare stated the amount to be sought would be around $230,000. However, she noted that the city would be competing with other grant applications from around the country, adding, "So keep your fingers crossed."

Vaccare said staff is still waiting to hear from the Maryland Department of Transportation regarding the state’s Recreational Trails Program awards, the announcement of which could be forthcoming within a few weeks.

The director noted that the city was denied Maryland’s Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area funding because there were "too many applications and not enough funding," additionally stating that "They did not like that our trail was going to be only six-feet wide and not ten, as the state apparently prefers." She said the city park was put on the reserve list for future consideration.

Bollinger Park will be a nature park, and will include a walking, jogging, and biking trail, a pollinator garden with apiary, and a meditation garden, along with the possibility for an observatory, constructed and operated by the Westminster Astronomical Society.

Food truck event kicks off

Taneytown’s Family Fun Food Truck Fridays debuted during the week of July 19 with their first event on July 23. The food truck event will continue through the summer.

P&R Director Vaccare informed the P&RAB at their July meeting that the weekly food truck event, being held at the Taneytown Memorial Park, will feature a number of food truck vendors.

In addition to a variety of food trucks, the city will also have pony rides, a bounce house, a petting zoo, balance beams, and a disc jockey to provide entertainment. The food trucks to be featured will be rotated so that the same trucks will not always be participating.

Family Fun Food Truck Fridays will be held every Friday through August 27.

Sewell annexation advances

Efforts by the owners of a Christmas Tree farm to develop the property into an "age-targeted" housing project, continue to progress through various reviews as the proposal winds its way towards fruition.

The 125-acre farm-tract in question is owned by the Sewell family and is located north of the city limits.

City Attorney Jack Gallo told the City Council at their July workshop that they will have all of the documents addressing the proposed annexation in their hands before the August meeting.

The attorney previously advised the council to address the annexation before considering the actual development proposal, since addressing the details of the development would be all for naught, if the annexation wasn’t approved first.

The annexation package will include the property plat, which Gallo said can be tweaked as desired, the proposed annexation agreement, and the proposed annexation resolution.

He said, regarding the agreement, "The things we (Gallo and Town Manager James Wieprecht) want are in it. There are things that we might not want that are in it," but he said he would leave those issues up to the applicant to consider addressing, or for council to address.

Gallo further said, "There needs to be an order to things. We need to agree to the annexation agreement first before we introduce the annexation resolution."