Regional Park

Please pass this on to all who you feel may be interested…

Before I proceed with the main emphasis of this note, I want to remind all who may be interested that the culminating informational meeting regarding the various forms of government will be held at the new administrative building January 31 (Thursday) at 7:00 p.m. If you’ve missed the other three meetings, this will be a chance to catch up…if you did attend any or all of them, you won’t want to miss the final meeting. It has been suggested that we take (but don’t hold me to this) a fun and very informal vote from those here to see what the feeling is among those who are paying attention.

AND NOW TO THE MAIN POINT OF THIS LETTER:

We’ve been hearing many questions about the acquisition of the McMillan property to be used as a County Regional Park. Many have a negative take on this and I feel a need to clarify a few points. First, I believe there is a general lack of understanding of how the process works (not your fault, as little information has come to the public on this process...but then comes the problem of finding the means of getting that information OUT THERE.)

These negotiations have been ongoing for some time...actually every since I came on board. But every discussion has been within closed session as required by law when discussing contracts and appraisals and offers, etc. So, of course, there was no way for the public to understand detail on this acquisition and no way for the commissioners to communicate this (as closed sessions .... again by law... must be kept private.)

Some may say the land is overvalued…but then one must consider the standards that are used. There are different appraisal practices for different purposes. If the land is appraised strictly for agriculture use, one standard is used. If for commercial…another…and so it goes.

In this case, the standards used by the Open Space Program set up by the STATE (POS is a STATE program) and they have their own evaluation procedures and guidelines. This Open Space money has been set aside from a portion of recordation fees on real estate purchases and so is not from tax-payer money, as such. The POS money is collected on an ongoing basis and is available to be used by those who apply for it. If it is not used, please don’t think that it is then money that is saved. Rather if one applicant is granted the funding, then it will be awarded to another.

The money that is available through State Program Open Space is given out on the basis of very strict guidelines…one of them that appraisers from the State’s approved list are used. The county could possibly have used other appraisers not on the list….but to do so would be to risk losing consideration. So, the County did use STATE approved appraisers (two separate appraisals were conducted…to compare). The end result was that The Maryland Board of Public Works approved $2,558,000 in Program Open Space funds for the acquisition of the McMillan Farm. This funding was divided into $2,540,000 for land cost and $18,000 for incidental costs. Cecil County portion to be used for this property is $114,474. (Not bad for acquisition of 100 acres).

One misconception is that the intention of POS money is to preserve farmland. Although this is one aspect, Program open space was set up for the acquisition of parks, forests, wildlife management areas, scenic rivers, greenways, Chesapeake Bay access and other important natural and recreational areas. The preservation then goes hand in hand with setting aside areas to be enjoyed by the public. As you are well aware there are other programs actively preserving farm lands….the MALF being one.

In further explanation, I have lifted from the POS webpage the following:
Program Open Space (POS) is a nationally recognized program providing dedicated funds for Maryland's state and local parks and conservation areas. Established under the Department of Natural Resources in 1969, POS symbolizes Maryland's long term commitment to conserving our natural resources while providing exceptional outdoor recreation opportunities for our citizens.

Almost all of the land purchased by the DNR in Maryland in the last 37 years was funded at least in part through POS. Today there are more than 5,000 individual county and municipal parks and conservation areas that exist because of the program.

One of the criticisms heard against this land is that it contains wetlands. This is precisely one of the considerations that awarded us ‘points’ toward being awarded this State funding. The State considers wetlands as needing to be preserved and this was a plus in winning this acquisition. Also, consider that not all parklands are to be thought of as sites for ball fields for various sports. There is a need for walking trails, bike trails, and places to come simply to enjoy nature. We visualize that someday there may be opportunity for educational use (making use of the wetlands…bird-watching perhaps). There are many possibilities for this land.

Please know that my first consideration is the well being of the citizens. I don’t make spending decisions lightly, and at first I had many questions myself about this project. However through months of gaining detail, I’ve become comfortable that this will be of benefit to many at little cost to the Cecil County citizens. If we were to ‘ditch’ this and begin again (as some are suggesting) we would lose several more months and most assuredly would lose the POS funding that we have currently been awarded.

So, please know that I consider this a future benefit to the citizens and will support accepting this State POS money for this purchase.

Rebecca J. Demmler