From the Burgess - Woodsboro

Burgess Heath Barnes

As winter is hopefully ending soon, and spring gets closer, I would like to share some updates from our February meetings. We look forward to exciting things to come in the spring and summer for projects and events that we have in the works for the Town of Woodsboro.

The Woodsboro Planning and Zoning Committee held its first meeting of the year on February 7, 2022. The meeting was held to discuss a town resident’s request to make Arnold Alley an official town road so that they can possibly subdivide and build another home. At this time, the discussion is still in place, and the resident was asked to provide more documents and details about the request.

The town, in partnership the Woodsboro Fire Department, is moving forward with the plans to have a town Easter egg hunt. It will tentatively be held in the town park on Saturday, April 9 (the day before Easter). More details to come.

We continue to have an ongoing issue with cars speeding on Main Street and in front of the elementary school. Discussions were had about how we can get this ongoing problem solved and will be talked about more at next month’s meeting. I did speak with Sheriff Jenkins, and he is going to up the amount of patrol units in the area, particularly during the commuting hours to help curb this. I do request that everyone watch their speed in town, as we do have many residents that walk around town, as well as children out playing.

Town Manager Mary Rice announced that our new mower that was ordered in March 2021 has finally arrived. This will be a nice addition to have for the park area this spring and summer.

I would like to remind residents that town code prohibits any kind of livestock, such as chickens, goats, cattle, horses, etc. to be kept within town limits. We have had a couple of issues in the last few months with this, but have since been resolved.

Commissioner Dana Crum, myself, and the town employees will be meeting with a park equipment specialist this month to gather a list of new equipment needs to present to submit to the county’s Program Open Space grant for the upcoming budget year. We will also be requesting grant money to add in two new flag poles to the monument area and additional lighting where we can fly the USA, Maryland, and Woodsboro flags.

The town has begun to use its grant money that was received from the Federal Government on several of the water and sewage projects that were voted upon in the December 2021 meeting. In addition, I will be submitting the application for the small business grants to the council at the March 8 meeting. We will then start the 30-day application process. Please look for more details in next month’s article and the way to apply for the grants if you are interested.

As the weather begins to get better, the work on stage in the park will continue, as well as the building of new ADA-compliant walking bridge in the park. These projects will both need to be completed by June 1, 2022, to receive the grants that the town was approved for. The town hall building plans have been submitted to the county for review by their engineer. Once the plans are either approved or sent back to us for modifications, we can move forward with opening for bids, etc. to start the building.

The Town of Woodsboro will be hiring a part-time code enforcement officer. There will be employment ads being run in the next few weeks. As the town grows and different issues are coming up, the council has decided it is time to add a fourth employee to the town. This person will be responsible for helping to enforce town codes and working with our maintenance staff.

As always, I encourage everyone to support Glade Valley Community Services (GVCS) if you have clothes or food donations, as they are always in need of items for members of the community. For more information, please contact GVCS by email at [email protected] or call 301-845-0213.

Don’t forget to wear your green on March 17 for St. Patrick’s Day!

If you have any questions, concerns, complaints, or compliments, please feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] or by phone at 301-401-7164.