20050921 Carroll Airport outlook good

Carroll Airport outlook good

Westminster Advocate: http://westminsteradvocate.com/

Historical Perspective: Carroll Airport outlook good

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

(586 words)

One board of commissioners after another, since the 1940s, has helped bring the Carroll County Regional Airport to the first-class facility that we know today, worthy of being named Maryland “Airport of the Year.”

The journey has been hard and not without controversy.

In the early 1970s, I would tag along to breakfast at Baugher’s with community leaders such as Bobby Warner, Scott Bair Jr., Jim Erb and Tom Senseney Sr. The airport was the often the center of contentious debate.

The Democratic Advocate reported on July 15, 1971, private developers wanted to take it over, and Commissioner John D. Meyer would have nothing of the idea. In September 1971, Meyer went on WTTR and said the county intended to develop its own land for an airport. On November 29, 1971, the Advocate said developers offered the commissioners $150,065 for the airport.

In a controversial decision, the commissioners said no.

Meyer announced: “I feel the county needs an airport for the proper economic development of the county … Nothing we do benefits everyone, and there are those that will disagree. But I feel aviation is just like TV; it’s here to stay. I feel it’s very important to the future growth of the county.”

The county forged ahead, and by the late 1970s, a 2,290-foot runway was constructed. In the mid-1980s, a 20-year master plan was adopted. The runway was extended to 5,100-foot runway by 1994.

Vivian Laxton and Gary Horst helped me bring the airport story up to date. I also interviewed some pilots. Horst has done an excellent job shepherding the airport to profitability and excellence in the last number of years.

In one of my favorite stories about Horst, on April 9, 1997, Max Bair, Horst and I flew out of the airport to do a site visit on a solid waste bioconversion facility in Tennessee. We flew down in a very small plane, sort of like being strapped to a surf-board with two lawn mowers attached for propulsion …

Today, the 5,100-foot runway is the sixth largest non-military runway in Maryland and handles about 100,000 flights a year. The airport has struggled financially in the past, but any initiative of this significance will have its setbacks. The airport is operated from its own enterprise fund, not through the county’s general fund, and a profit is projected for the 2006 fiscal year from nearly $2 million in gross revenues.

What is to be applauded is the perseverance on the part of the commissioners to plow ahead. Forget about any past mis-steps, real or imagined, and let’s concentrate on the lessons learned, the achievements and the future.

For Carroll to continue to attract economic development in today’s extremely competitive landscape, it is imperative that we capitalize on niche assets in place. The airport is a huge draw for new tax base and high-paying jobs.

I am looking forward to the completion of the airport’s Technical Advisory Committee’s new master plan. Carroll will greatly benefit from more corporate hangars, replacing the 20 by 80 foot retrofitted tin construction shed that currently serves as its terminal and extending the runway to 6,500 feet.

This committee, comprised of Martin Pittenger, Donald Vetter, Douglas Pollard, Brian Stites, Bonnie Jones, Jeffrey Smith, Edward Goldman, Peter Welles, Kevin Utz, Wray Mowbray, David Taylor and Tina Thomas, has worked hard for all us, and we owe them a big “thank you.”

The airport is critical to our economic future, and we must move forward, with all due, well-planned and thoughtful speed.

Cross posted.

— Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster.

E-mail him at kdayhoff(at) carr.org

Kevin and Mr Moose in San Diego California

Kevin and Mr Moose in San Diego California

The Adventures of Mr. Moose

September 18, 2005

Kevin and Mr. Moose take a moment to rest in the shade in San Diego, California, September 18, 2005

20050918 SD Southpark KED Moose

Kevin Dayhoff www.kevindayhoff.net http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/

20050908 Loose pigs no longer terrorize Marston

Loose pigs no longer terrorize Marston area

By Carrie Ann Knauer, Times Staff Writer

Carroll County Times

Thursday, September 08, 2005

Residents in Marston say they haven't seen any loose pigs in their neighborhood since the county Right to Farm Reconciliation Committee made its ruling five months ago stating that the loose pigs were probably wild.

Elizabeth Cavey, of Bowersox Road, said she had seen the pigs last winter when they were running loose and tearing up people's lawns, but said she hasn't seen any since the reconciliation committee meetings. Cavey, who said she never believed the pigs were feral, thinks local landowners may have shot and killed all of the loose pigs.

Officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture visited the Marston area about six weeks ago in search of feral pigs, said Bill Powel, county ag preservation administrator and supervisor of the ag reconciliation committee. Four people searched the woods and farms in the area for several hours and were unable to find any pigs or recent evidence of pigs, he said.

The USDA officials have offered the county to search the area again later this fall to look for more evidence. Powel said the date of that investigation has not been set.

Powel said that he has not had any residents call him to report loose pigs or other livestock roaming through their yards. He said it's possible that between the Humane Society of Carroll County trapping the pigs and the local landowners shooting them, there may not be any more feral pigs.

Richard Spriggs, a Marston Road resident, said he has lived in the area for more than 30 years and he had never heard of wild pigs living in Marston before this case came up last winter. Spriggs said that regardless of where the pigs came from, he hasn't seen any in a long time.

While Marston residents haven't reported any more problems with loose pigs or other livestock coming from the Schisler farm, the Schislers have still had problems with their neighbors. On Aug. 28, the Schislers reported to the Maryland State Police that someone had shot one of their cows.

According to the police report with the Carroll County Sheriff's Office, Carroll Schisler Sr. said he was walking through his field at about 2:20 p.m. on Aug. 28 when he saw a calf standing near a Brahman cow that was lying on its side. Schisler told the police he approached the cow to investigate its health and saw that it had been shot in the head. He called the police to report the incident, which is still under investigation.

The Schislers could not be reached for comment regarding the incident, but Carroll Schisler Sr. did testify during the ag reconciliation meetings that he had had problems during the winter with neighbors shooting his livestock on his property.

Powel said he had not heard about the Schisler's cow being shot, and said he was sorry to hear that the incident had happened. Assistant County Attorney Tim Burke said that the law states that people may not shoot trespassing animals unless the property owners are in imminent danger, and shooting animals that are not trespassing is not allowed.

Anyone with information regarding the shooting is asked to call Deputy Sherri Martin at 410-386-2900.

Story so Far

More than a dozen residents gave testimony to the Right to Farm Agricultural Reconciliation Committee between January and March about loose pigs trespassing on their property, uprooting their grass with their snouts and chasing the homeowners and their children.

Residents testified that they believed the pigs were coming from Carroll Schisler Sr.'s farm in the 2500 block of Marston Road. Several residents said they had confronted the Schislers about the pigs and the Schislers offered to shoot the pigs for them, which residents took to mean that the Schislers owned the pigs and were responsible for them.

Agricultural experts from the University of Maryland Cooperative Extension testified that the pigs in the photographs provided by neighbors did not look like the quality of pig a farmer would raise to make money from, and said that the pigs possibly were feral, probably having escaped from a farm at some time and reverted to a wild state.

In addition, the two experts visited Schisler's farm and examined his pigpen. They determined that it was an adequate pen that should be able to contain his pigs.

The reconciliation committee decided that the pigs were likely feral pigs. However, regardless of whether the pigs belong to Schisler, the committee ordered the Schislers to repair their fence to the standards appropriate for the types of animals he pens - sheep, goats, horses and cattle - to the recommendations of the cooperative extension.