The Planning Commission received a briefing on the following six active site plans and projects at their latest meeting.
Evapco presented a concept site plan for increasing the amount of parking at their facility. Along with an addition to their office space they are proposing a parking lot on Allendale Lane that would require the demolition of three dwellings that currently sit on the proposed lot location. Paul Cavenaugh of Development Design Consultants, Inc said, "They are trying to plan ahead. As the addition to the office space is added, the parking will be impacted."
He said the Allendale lot would be for office employees and would require them to cross Allendale Lane. Crosswalk striping would be put down to make the crossing safer. "When the addition is fully staffed, we expect an additional 200 employees," said Cavenaugh. When the site and preliminary plans are presented, lighting, landscaping and other details will be available.
Town staff said that Storage Toda to met with the Town’s engineer, to discuss a sewer line that runs on their property that has inhibited their building of tier new pubic storage facility. The hurdle is one of the final big issues they must deal with in their building plan.
Recovery 180 was conditionally approved in 2023 contingent on CDM Smith approving the storm water management plan. They have now officially met the contingency and are fully approved to continue to the preliminary planning stage.
Taneytown Supply, the much-anticipated hardware store on Feeser Road, is still actively in the planning stages.
The Tannery Barn, a one-of-a-kind wedding venue, is waiting on the City's consultant engineer to review plans from the developer showing additional planting areas to meet storm water management requirements.
The Mountain Brook development is waiting on discussions with Floserve in regard to the easement allowing the 454 home development to have a second way of egress. This decision also impacts the proposed bypass which would hopefully continue through the Sewell property to Harney Road.
Meades's Crossing is working on road infrastructure before the City takes over ownership of the development's roads. Town Staff said that the developer will need to repair some curbs, concrete cracks, and address a substantial issue with their sewer system. During periods of heavy rain, the pumping station in Meades Crossing shows a spike of water inflow.
City Manager Jim Wieprecht advised the developer of Meades Crossing that they would need to address this issue before the town would take over maintenance of the subdivision's roads. "We are spending millions of dollars on repairing the city's pipes to prevent groundwater from leaking into the sewer system, so we need to be sure that the issues Meade’s Crossing is having are resolved before we take over ownership."
Parks and Recreation updates
The winter weather has slowed down progress to quite a few of the Town's park improvement plans. However, Director of Parks & Recreation Lorena Vaccare assured the board, "We are doing as much as we can in between the bad weather, whether its snow, rain or too cold."
Bollinger Park continues to slowly progress toward the finish line with Contractor Steve Hobbs of Hobbs Builders working around weather delays and material shortages. The trail signage, bike rack, trash cans and dog waste station have all been installed as well as the ‘Bollinger Bears’ statue made by a local artist Noah Russell. Benches still need to be bolted into poured concrete slabs. The signal tower to power the cameras and enclosing fence is already in place. The cameras will be used to survey the entrance/exit and monitor the parking lot, and one will be aimed down the trail head. Areas of disturbance are protected by a silt fence, a sediment barrier made of porous fabric. The temporary fence must stay in place until grass grows in the spring to prevent weather from washing the grass seed away. Planting of evergreen trees is waiting for warmer weather. It can be removed once Carroll County does their final inspection.
The Memorial Park Expansion final site plan has been submitted and, once approved, the board can make plans to begin construction. Vaccare said they are also waiting to hear from Community Parks and Playgrounds to see if they are approved for a grant to help with the expansion. Work will begin this spring on a new concrete pad for the bleachers and pavilion renovations, once the weather is warmer. The Memorial Park Splash pad is waiting on the designer, Metro Recreation out of Jefferson County, to redesign the plans reflecting the board's requests before sending it back to the board for approval.
All other park improvements, as well as the completion of Bollinger Park, have been put on hold until spring due to the weather. The only project that can be done during the winter is the minor re-grading in Flickinger Park. It will encourage proper storm water runoff so areas in the park are not swampy. Both Flickinger and Roth Avenue Parks will have new concrete pathways poured when the temperatures warm up.
Playground specialists installed wood fiber mulch on all playgrounds to bring them up to code at six inches compacted depth. The only exception being the tot lot at Memorial Park because it is scheduled to be removed and replaced with a better playground and surface in the spring.
Lastly, the current secretary of the Parks and Recreation board, Mackenzie Kilby, was nominated to continue as Secretary for another year in the Parks and Recreation department. The vote was unanimous.
