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From the Desk of
County Executive Jan Gardner

(10/2019) A Favorite Time of Year

Cool temperature and hints of orange in the trees can only mean one thing Ð autumn has arrived! It's the time of year when people flock to northern Frederick County to admire the area's beauty.

October kicks off with the always touching National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend in Emmitsburg. This year, the weekend includes a special local touch with the long-awaited dedication of the etched glass display of firefighters at the Frederick County Fire & Rescue Museum. Thanks to

the efforts of Museum President Chip Jewell, the 1,500-pound etching will be dedicated at the museum on Friday, October 4th. I hope you can join us for the ceremony that evening.

Thurmont residents are getting ready for the huge crowds that fill the streets for Colorfest. One of the largest outdoor craft shows on the East Coast, Colorfest has showcased our community

to the region for the past 59 years. It's a great place to pick up holiday gifts or enjoy a homemade apple dumpling. See you there the weekend of October 12 and 13.

Good News for the Fire Service

I'm excited to share that Frederick County has received a $5.5 million federal grant to pay for 38 additional career firefighter positions. This is fabulous news! We will be able to improve response times, reduce overtime, and better support our volunteer companies. Our fire service is excited and grateful for the funding for these needed positions.

The grant is from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) program. Frederick County's grant is one of the largest SAFER grants awarded in the country. The funds allow us to add positions earlier than would have been possible otherwise. The County budget already includes the local cost share for this grant.

Last year, the County's combination volunteer and career fire service responded to about 35,000 calls. Frederick County is committed to delivering high quality public safety services to our residents.

Saving Money - Lowest Interest Rate in County's History

One of my top responsibilities is to protect taxpayers and save money. That's why I'm proud that the County will save millions of dollars as a result of receiving the lowest interest rate in our

county's history when we sold bonds last month. The savings, well over $10 million, allows the County to do more Ð like build another fire station or branch library or to improve a road.

We will pay an incredibly low 2.16% in interest on our bonds. That's because Frederick County has earned the highest possible bond rating, AAA, from all three New York bond-rating agencies. It's like having the best possible credit score. We will save millions of dollars as we pay for the construction of needed schools, roads, and more. We also saved nearly $2 million by refinancing some older bonds, just like a homeowner might refinancing a mortgage to save money.

Our savings are a direct result of our excellent bond ratings. Fewer than 50 f the nation's 3,000 counties can boast three AAA bond ratings. The New York rating agencies visited Frederick County this summer to see all the good things happening in our community.

They were impressed. After their visit, they wrote about our excellent management and expressed their confidence in us. The historically low interest rate indicates that the market agrees: Frederick County is well managed, fiscally conservative in our budgeting, and a great place to do business!

Livable Frederick Wins Award

Over the past few years, I've written several times about Livable Frederick, a new and innovative way to plan for Frederick County's future. Livable Frederick looks at our health, economy, transportation, the arts, education, ad the environment, and how all these areas work together to deliver a high quality of life in our community.

In September, we celebrated the official adoption of the plan with a special signing ceremony. I was joined by members of the County Council, the Planning Commission, the Livable Frederick Steering Committee, work group participants and staff. We were excited to learn that the plan has been recognized as the '2019 Outstanding Plan' by the American Planning Association's Maryland Chapter.

Livable Frederick was shaped by the people who live and work in Frederick County. It will serve as a model for other communities in Maryland. Livable Frederick was developed through unprecedented public input with over 200 public meetings, surveys and the plan incorporates over

15,000 individual comments. For the first time, we used computer modeling and scenario testing to see the impact of our choices on our transportation network, the environment, and job growth. Instead of focusing on zoning, like previous plans have done, Livable Frederick is built on a shared community vision.

The Livable Frederick Plan includes no new growth areas and no new zoning. How we will implement the plan is by conducting small area plans or corridor plans with lots of public input. The first area to be reviewed will be our primary business corridor along MD 85 and MD 355. The second area of focus will be protecting the environmental and natural resources around Sugarloaf Mountain. Staff has already started gathering data and background information to kick off these two efforts.

Livable Frederick also provides a framework for county government operations with many of the goals and initiatives wrapped into the strategic plan for county agencies and departments.

Some of the goals and initiatives will also be community efforts with non-profits and other organizations working to implement some of the ideas in the plan.

Livable Frederick will help manage growth better, support preservation of our agricultural areas, protect our cultural amenities and historic assets, and avoid costs or negative impacts to our budget through good decision-making.

There is a lot of good news in Frederick County! As always, if you have questions or concerns or a good idea, you can contact me at 301-600-3190 or send an email to jgardner@frederickcountymd.gov.

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