(6/2021) Rural Broadband Pilot Program

Frederick County has been awarded a $202,012 grant from the State of Maryland Rural Broadband Office which will be used to expand broadband capabilities into a portion of the Rocky Ridge community, County Executive Jan Gardner announced today. The pilot program is part of a larger strategic plan being developed to ensure more residents can connect to fast and reliable internet service. Access to broadband is vital for most residents. The service is necessary for many job applications, teleworking, online education, shopping, and staying connected to family and friends. A comprehensive Rural Broadband Study conducted in 2020 for Frederick County found that thousands of residents have no access to broadband service, and many more are underserved with slow or spotty connectivity.

"We know that bringing connectivity to unserved and underserved areas of the county supports our economy, and allows work and education to happen anywhere, anytime," Executive Gardner said. "The pilot program in Rocky Ridge is a small step. We know it will take a combination of approaches over several years to close the digital divide in our community."

The grant Frederick County received is to support the expansion of broadband into rural areas in coordination with a private internet service provider. Comcast, which maintains an extensive network in more densely populated areas of the county, agreed to partner on the pilot project. Details of the project will be determined in the coming weeks, including the route of the network. Individual property owners along the route will choose whether to connect their properties to Comcast’s infrastructure.

The Rural Broadband Study estimated that it will cost $20.5 million to run a "backbone" network of fiber to connect three geographic areas of Frederick County that currently are not served by broadband. A fixed-wireless network could also help to bring broadband to unserved and underserved rural areas. County Executive’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2022 includes a $1 million investment to advance solutions for rural broadband.

The Rural Broadband Study is available online at www.FrederickCountyMD.gov/8142/Rural-Broadband-Information. The public information briefing can be viewed at www.FrederickCountyMD.gov/FCGtv.

Household Hazardous Waste Drop-Off

The Division of Solid Waste and Recycling (DSWR) will host a Residential Household Hazardous Waste Drop-Off event for residents of Frederick County on Saturday, June 12, from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. The event will be held rain or shine, at the new location of 21 Stadium Drive, Frederick in the upper parking lot of NYMEO Field (Keys Baseball Stadium).

This event provides an opportunity for appropriate, safe disposal of household items that contain hazardous components. There is no charge for residents to drop off accepted materials. Only Frederick County residential waste is accepted; no business waste is permitted.

County residents may bring household materials such as: aerosol paints, brake fluid, flares, compact and tube fluorescent light bulbs and ballasts, fungicides, household cleaners, insecticides, mothballs, old fuel, pesticides, photographic chemicals, pool chemicals, rechargeable batteries (not alkaline), stains, sealants, smoke detectors, solvents, thinners and general household items marked ‘hazardous’ or ‘toxic. Materials will be processed by a contractor for safe disposal at this event.

Please note that items not accepted at this event include: ammunition, biomedical waste, explosives, firearms, fire extinguishers, LED light bulbs, medicines, paint, pressurized tanks (such as for propane, helium, or freon), and radioactive materials. Other disposal or recycling options exist for these materials; please visit the DSWR website at www.frederickcountymd.gov/hazwaste for detailed instructions. Also, items accepted year round for recycling or regular disposal at the DSWM facilities, including alkaline and lead-acid batteries, electronics, motor oil, antifreeze, sharps, solidified paint, tires, household trash or recyclables, are not collected at this special event.

To receive automatic reminders for this and future events, please visit the DSWR website, www.FrederickCountyMD.gov/recycle, and click the "My Reminders" link to subscribe. The DSWR office may also be reached by calling 301-600-2960.

Grant Awarded to Survey African-American Cultural Resources in Northern Frederick County

The Frederick County Division of Planning and Permitting, together with the Catoctin Furnace Historical Society Inc. and the African American Resources Cultural and Heritage (AARCH) Society of Frederick County recently received a $50,000 grant from the Maryland Historical Trust. The grant will support a project entitled "Recovering Identity: Northern Frederick County Cultural Resource Survey," which will identify and record existing structures associated with African Americans in northern Frederick County.

African Americans have long been left out of historical narratives and their contributions to the development and cultural heritage of the County, State and Nation often unrecognized. This grant-funded project is the beginning of a county-wide effort to identify and survey architectural resources and create an overall historic context statement associated with African Americans throughout Frederick County.

"It is fundamentally important that we understand our history and how we got to where we are today to inform our actions to make real progress for the future," Frederick County Executive Jan Gardner said last month when she announced funding for AARCH in her proposed budget. She cited the importance of AARCH’s work "to tell the story of life for African Americans in Frederick County over the course of history."

AARCH president David Key stated, "AARCH is pleased to join in this effort to discover more about the African American experiences in the northern part of the county. This is an opportunity to better educate ourselves and to provide a more in-depth narrative to the many untold stories of the past."

The grant will fund a comprehensive architectural survey of previously undocumented buildings and landscapes associated with African Americans in the area north of Lewistown, east of the Washington County border, west of the Monocacy River, and south of the Pennsylvania border. This region has never been studied for African American resources.

Outside of Catoctin Furnace, in which at least 271 enslaved and freed African Americans lived and worked between 1776 and the 1840s, little is known about the African American presence in the north county. The goal of the project is to recover information about African Americans who lived and worked in the northern sectors of Frederick County and to identify building types that have ties to the African American community.

Subsequent years will find this methodology, combining public and private research and planning expertise, replicated by the Division of Planning and Permitted, AARCH, and potentially other historical societies to complete comprehensive survey work and historic context statements regarding African Americans throughout Frederick County.

Catoctin Furnace Historical Society President Chris Gardiner stated, "CFHS is thrilled to be a partner in recovering the rich but overlooked history of African Americans in northern Frederick County. This is the first step in righting the centuries long wrong."

The project meets the goals of Livable Frederick to document Frederick County’s heritage and will assist the County with planning and preservation efforts. It is hoped that this project will also stimulate discussions among the community and provide additional discoveries regarding the African American experience in this part of the county. Subsequent forums will focus on African American communities in Lewistown, Emmitsburg, Catoctin Furnace, Creagerstown, and other heretofore unidentified communities of African Americans in the north county.