By: Mike Kennedy mkennedy@railey.com 301-616-6106 February 5th, 2008 Category: Garrett County News

At their meeting on Tuesday, February 5, 2008 the Garrett County Commissioners formally opposed the proposal to put wind turbines in the Savage River and Potomac State Forests. The board of commissioners now joins local representatives in the state government - Senator George Edwards and Delegate Wendell Beitzel who are also in opposition. The board will now submit a letter to Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley stating their position.

The state of Maryland has been seeking public comment through the Department of Natural Resources (NDR) on this proposal since it was announced in early January. The DNR has set up a web site to solicit public comment until March 3, 2008. The site is at the following address - http://www.dnr.state.md.us/sustainability/wpm/ . The last time this web site was checked about 80% of those who had submitter their opinion were against placing turbines on public land.

The DNR also held two public meetings last week as well to allow the citizens of Garrett County and the entire state of Maryland to voice their opinions. One meeting was held in Garrett County at the community college and the other was held in Annapolis. About 90% of those in attendance at both meetings were in opposition. 

At those meetings many residents of Garrett County, many people who own vacation homes in Garrett County and Deep Creek Lake but live elsewhere, and many people who just visit the county regularly on vacation all voiced strong opposition to this plan. This was in addition to numerous non-profit organizations and various groups who spoke up as well - including the Garrett County Board of Realtors, the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce, and numerous eco-friendly groups such as the Sierra Club. All seemed to think any benefits derived from wind energy would in no way offset the massive destruction that would be caused in the local state parks should turbines be erected.

Even with strong opposition to this plan the Governor can still approve this plan with the swipe of a pen. No one knows if he will or won’t at this point but it’s pretty obvious that their is overwhelming opposition not only from the citizens of Garrett County but from the rest of Maryland as well.

If this proposal does get shot down, the battle for wind turbines will now turn to those projects proposed on private lands. To date, their are two projects approved in southern Garrett County on private land - but none have been built yet.

By: Mike Kennedy mkennedy@railey.com 301-616-6106 February 4th, 2008 Category: Deep Creek Lake Real Estate

Cathy Mateer, who works for the Maryland Department of General Services, has notified us that the State of Maryland is essentially shutting off the Deep Creek Lake Buy-Down Project in June of 2008.

What is the Buy-Down Project you ask?  In a nutshell - when the state of Maryland bought Deep Creek Lake in 1998 they basically bought the real estate and land that makes up the bed of the lake and a buffer strip of land of at least 25 feet in width around the entire perimeter of the lake. The state paid $9.8 million to purchase this land back in 98. In order to recoup some of this $9.8 million the state has offered adjacent landowners the opportunity to”buy-down” or purchase some of this buffer strip from the state.

The good news is that if you are a lakefront property owner the state has sold or will sell you a portion of their buffer strip for $0.39 a sq foot - which is a pretty cheap price for land. The bad news is that a conservation easement is placed on this parcel of land when you buy it. This easement basically prohibits you from cutting any vegetation (trees) or building any permanent structures on this parcel - or in other words you can’t really do anything with the land eventhough you own it! You won’t be able to cut trees so you can get a better view of the water.

From what we know about 80% of the lakefront property owners around Deep Creek Lake took the state up on this offer over the past 7 or 8 years since this project has been in existence. That’s not really surprising considering the average “buy-down” parcel cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $5,000. Since the amount of land you could buy is based on elevations - the steeper properties offered less land and hence less of a price tag - and the flatter properties around the lake were a little more expensive.

Over the past several years a lot of our past customers whom we have sold lakefront property to will  ask us - “Why should I spend money on property I can’t do anything with?? Do I really need to do this?”

Our answer back is usually along these lines - “No, you really don’t need to do this - you obviously can’t do anything with this land - however, this will be probably your one chance to buy down closer to the water at a pretty cheap price. And if you ever had to re-sell your property this buy-down parcel is just one more positive thing or amenity you can offer.”

Relating this back to real estate, overall we have witnessed that doing the “buy-down” has turned out to somewhat of a good thing for those that have sold their lakefront properties since this project has been around. For those that did it, most got all their money back out at the time they transferred their property to the new buyers - kind along the same lines of a kitchen remodel or other renovation. By having the buy-down to offer it’s just one less question mark a potential buyer will have to deal with.

If you haven’t done the buy-down yet or are still considering doing it you may have some time left. You can contact Cathy Mateer at (410) 767-5764 or e-mail her at catherine.mateer@dgs.state.md.us for more information. From what we know they are trying to finalize any existing contract by June 2008. After June 2008, you will no longer have the ability to purchase this land.