County Executive Pittman Launches Four-point Plan to Ensure Safe and Secure November Election

Hello LSIA residents:

The following information is about  election voting. If you are a registered voter and are requesting an absentee ballot online you do not need to start at question 1 you may skip to question 9. Absentee ballots may be dropped out at the Board of Elections located off of Ordnance Rd in the Industrial Center or put in one of the 29 drop off boxes. Should you wish to mail your ballot the envelope will need two (2) stamps. You may also contact the Anne Arundel County Board of Elections at 410-222-6600 to request an absentee ballot.

County Executive Pittman Launches Four-point Plan to Ensure Safe and Secure November Election

Urges residents to “Protect Your Health and Protect Your Vote”

Annapolis, Md. (August 19, 2020) Today, County Executive Steuart Pittman announced plans to protect public health and voting integrity for the November 3 general election. Citing a triple threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal cutbacks to the US Postal Service, and a state retreat from mail-in voting, Pittman encouraged voters to make a plan to vote now, using one of four methods the county is providing: Vote by mail, ballot drop boxes, early voting, or voting on election day.

“We started planning for a record-setting turnout a year ago,” said County Executive Pittman. “When the pandemic arrived we staged a successful mail-in election for the primary. The Governor is not allowing that for the general election, and now the President is telling us that the Postal Service may not be able to deliver our ballots. We must protect not only the health of our residents, but also the right of our people to vote. We are moving voting locations to high capacity sites, maximizing the use of ballot drop boxes, and doing everything humanly possible to help our residents through this unnecessarily complicated election. Protect your health and your vote - request a ballot now.”

County Executive Pittman partnered with Joe Torre, election director for the county Board of Elections, to provide safe and secure options for county voters to cast their ballots. The Board is projecting a high turnout of 85 percent of registered voters, or about 337,500 voters.  In recent days, elections staff worked with Board of Education personnel to secure 25 voting locations at county schools. Schools are optimal voting centers because they have gymnasiums, cafeterias and other large areas to accommodate social distancing. Pip Moyer Recreation Center in Annapolis, Heritage Community Church in Severn and Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Hall are also serving as voting sites.

Seven of the election day sites will also serve as early voting locations, from October 26 - November 2. In addition, the county is providing 29 secure ballot drop boxes, one at each of the 28 voting locations and an additional dropbox at the Board of Elections office in Glen Burnie. Dropboxes will have 24 hour security and video surveillance and be available to accept ballots beginning October 1.

“To stay safe during this pandemic and to avoid lines during Early Voting and on Election Day, apply for a Vote by Mail ballot on our website at www.aacounty.org/vote,” said Joe Torre, election director at the Board of Elections. “When you receive your Vote by Mail ballot, please mail it to our office or drop it in a dropbox as soon as possible.”

The county is taking steps to ensure voting is safe, no matter which method voters choose. County health officials have been working with elections staff to put proper safety measures in place and train election judges and volunteers on proper COVID-19 protocols.

“Voting by mail or dropbox are the safest options to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” said Anne Arundel County Health Officer Dr. Nilesh Kalyanaraman. “If you choose to vote in person, wear your mask, maintain six feet of distance and take advantage of early voting to beat the crowds.”

County Council Chair Allison Pickard (District 2) also attended today’s event and voiced support for the county’s efforts.

“It is paramount to protect every citizen's right to vote and their ability to do so safely,” said Council Chair Allison Pickard. “I am pleased that our County Executive, Health Officer and Board of Elections have worked diligently and collaboratively to craft this plan to facilitate safe and secure in person voting and vote by mail options.” 

County Executive Pittman also announced a new county webpage to serve as a portal for critical voting information. The site, www.aacounty.org/vote, contains the full list of voting sites, links to voter registration, mail-in voting, and other important resources. The site will be updated in coming days to include a map-based utility to look up voting sites.

Full list of voting sites (early voting sites are marked in bold italics):

• Annapolis area

  • Annapolis High School

  • Bates Middle School

  • Broadneck High School

  • Pip Moyer Recreation Center

  • Rolling Knolls Elementary School

• Arnold

  • Magothy River Middle School

• Brooklyn Park 

  • Brooklyn Park Middle School

• Crofton

  • Crofton Middle School 

  • Crofton Elementary School 

• Edgewater

  • South River High School

• Fort Meade

  • Meade High School

• Odenton/Gambrills

  • Arundel High School

• Glen Burnie

  • Board of Elections office - Ballot drop box only

  • Corkran Middle School

  • Glen Burnie High School

  • Marley Middle School

  • North County High School

  • Solley Elementary School

• Hanover

  • Chesapeake Science Point Charter School

• Harwood/Lothian

  • Southern High School

  • Southern Middle School

• Laurel

  • Brock Bridge Elementary School

• Millersville

  • Old Mill High School

  • Millersville Elementary School

• Pasadena

  • Chesapeake High School

  • Northeast High School

• Severn

  • Heritage Community Church

• Severna Park 

  • Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Hall

  • Severna Park High School

### 

The Best Place

For All

Chris Trumbauer

Office of the County Executive 

Director, Policy and Communications

(410) 222-1821 

www.aacounty.org 

‘

IMPORTANT! The NEW Census Deadline is September 30th

Click here to fill out your Census now. Future funding depends on it!

Protect your HEALTH and your VOTE. Request your mail-in ballot NOW.

Plan2040: Community Engagement@Home

Dear Community Residents:

Councilwoman Lacey invites  Linthicum residents  to participate in Plan2040: Community Engagement@Home, an online open house, to comment on draft elements of Plan2040, the plan for development of Anne Arundel County for the next 20 years.

While social distancing requirements keep us from holding in person public meetings, the County has used innovative technology to set up an interactive website where you can review draft elements of Plan2040 and provide comments.

The online open house will be available from August 5 - September 10, 2020. You can visit the website any time that fits your schedule.

http://aacounty.org/Plan2040OpenHouse

Linda S. Harris

Legislative Assistant to
Councilwoman Sarah Lacey
County Council District 1
410-222-2411
410-222-6774 Fax
linda.harris@aacounty.org

More Noise & Massive Tree Removal Part of BWI Airport Planning

By: Dan Woomer

Yesterday, May 21st, the Maryland Aviation Administration (MAA) held two virtual public workshops to present the current Airport Layout Plan (ALP) which is part of an Updated Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) and Draft Section 4(f) Determination.  I attended both presentations.

The major take-a-ways for the Linthicum-Shipley community from the teleconference are:

(1)   Removal of over 2,000 Trees - over 1,000 trees on MAA property and over 1,000 trees on privately held properties - north of the airport.

(2)   83 acres on BWI property to be clear cut.

(3)   Building of a new maintenance facility resulting in an Increase in number of aircraft being maintained and serviced at BWI, which means more engine run up occurrences.

(4)   No sound diffusion or sound barriers proposed in the planned maintenance facility engine run up area.

(5)   More noise pollution from the airport penetrating into Linthicum-Shipley and our neighboring communities.

The tree removal falls into two categories:

(1)   Trees being removed or topped mandated by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requirements to maintain an unobstructed flight path into and out of the airport.

(2)   Trees being removed to clear the land for planned structures, such as the new aircraft maintenance facility.

Here’s why the designation of these two categories is important:

(1)   Trees removed by MAA to build the new structures at the airport are required to be replaced.  This can be accomplished by direct replanting (reforestation) in and around our community, or a as “credit” where trees are planted elsewhere, stripping our community of more trees and greenspaces with no remediation in and around our community.

(2)   Trees removed as part of the FAA flight path safety do NOT have to be replaced.

Bottomline, we lose our old trees and get little to nothing in return from MAA.

The two questions I asked at the morning session where:

(Q1)  With the new maintenance facility, and the increasing number of aircraft maintained, is there consideration of, or does the current planning include a sound deflection structure to reduce the engine run-up noise disturbing the local communities?

The answer: No.  No sound diffusion or sound barriers are planned.

(Q2)  Current run-up noise level, especially early in the morning, is already having a disturbing impact on the neighboring communities.  With more aircraft coming, the number of noise impact events will only increase.  And, the answer we just received was "It shouldn't be a problem?"  It already is a problem.  Why not sound barriers or sound deflectors at the engine-run up area(s)?

The answer: The new maintenance facility will be located behind Northrop Grumman which should offer additional sound diffusion, as well as the topography of the area should help.

My thoughts - While the Northrop Grumman buildings should offer some additional sound diffusion, I don’t see how the area topography will be all that helpful.

I asked the following question at the evening session:

(Q1)  The current planning includes the removal of over 2,000 trees in and around the Linthicum community.  And, you stated there should be no significant increase in the noise pollution in our community.  With the removal of a significant amount of existing sound buffering trees, coupled with the planned increase in aircraft arriving, departing and being maintained at BWI, including an increasing number of engine test run-up which is already disruptive to our community, please explain how the noise pollution in our community will not intensify?   And, with the removal of all of these trees and the clear cutting of 83 acres, how will the increase in rain/storm water runoff be mitigated, given the significant increase already experienced from all the land development all along West Nursery Road?   Do the current plans include reforestation?  If so, where in Linthicum will trees be replanted?

The answers:

(1)   Readings, modeling and analysis of airport noise in the Linthicum area is under the 65 DNL, which the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) does not require additional intervention.  MAA analysis doesn’t find the removal of these trees will have a significant impact on airport noise penetration or amplitude in Linthicum-Shipley.

My thoughts - I don’t see how the removal of a significant amount of the natural sound barrier (trees) will not result in an increase in the airport noise pollution to which our community is subjected.  Having the new maintenance facility located behind Northrop Grumman should help in the engine test run-up noise diffusion, but taking out over 2,000 trees will have not aid in the mitigation of the increased noise our community is and will be subjected to.

(2)   With the removal of the trees, rain and storm water run-off will be controlled by State and other required and recommend strategies, including collection ponds and restructured drainage to include water cleaning techniques.

My thoughts - The answers were vague and did not layout MAA planning on specifically how the increase rain and storm water run-off and potential silting of local streams will be addressed.  The loss of forested land along the west border of our community is already dumping additional amounts of rain and storm water into the west border stream.  This increase in run off water from hard structured surfaces bring with it an increase in pollutants being dumped into the remaining border greenspace and the existing streams. 

(3)   MAA will comply with the reforestation requirements through plantings and credits.

My thoughts - As noted before, the use of “credits” translates to the planting of “replacement” trees virtually anywhere in Maryland - not replacing the loss in our community of these old trees.

Also, in the discussion on this part of the question by the panelists, it was noted during this evening session, the trees being removed as part of the FAA requirements for aircraft safety, do NOT have to be replaced.  The only trees required to be replaced are those being removed for building the new structures on the airport property.  What does that translate to?  Of the 83 acres of planned clear cutting, less than 40 acres require some reforestation mitigation.  Of the over 1,000 trees removed north of the airport, NONE require reforestation.  With the current MAA planning, our community will likely loose thousands of old trees and we will have only a small percentage of them replaced, if any at all.

The attached images are selected pages from the workshop presentation, which include an aerial image of “Off-Airport Tree Obstructions.”  Note: Every green dot is a tree to be removed.  And, a copy of the page summarizing the “Environmental Impacts.”  Note: the sub-title of the chart “No Significant Impacts (With Mitigation).” 83. Acres of forest clearing, 1,102 individual trees removed from off Airport, 1,228 trees removed on Airport, 0.57 acres of wetland impacts, 1.99 acres of wetland buffer impacts. 0.33 of floodplain impacts, 1,003 linear feet of stream impact (not counting the downstream impacts).  But according the MAA, this is not significant.  And if you don’t live in Linthicum or one of our neighboring communities, it is not significant to you.

My thoughts - This is significant to me, my neighbors, and my community.  We are forced to live with the results, impacts, and consequences.

Here’s what you can do:

The planning is open to comment and questions till COB June 4, 2020.

Send your comments and questions, which are required to be included and addressed by MAA in the final Environmental Assessment before it is sent off for evaluation by the required State and Federal government agencies.

To add your question(s) and comment(s) on the BWI ALP EA:

(1)   E-mail rbowie@bwiairport.com, or

(2) Write up and send (mail) to:

Ms. Robin M. Bowie

Director, Office of Environmental Services

Maryland Department of Transportation

Maryland Aviation Administration

P.O. Box 8766

BWI Airport, MD 21240

Important: For your comment(s) and/or question(s) to be included and addressed in the EA, your mail must be postmarked on or before June 4, 2020, and your email must be sent prior to COB June 4, 2020.

To view additional information and presentation materials, go to the MAA website at: http://www.marylandaviation.com/content/environmental/environmentaldocs.html.  Included on this website, are links to the Updated Draft EA and Draft Section 4(f) Determination, as well as aerial photos of areas to the clear cut and planned significant tree removal.

Video Meeting Etiquette Tips

As the shutdown of our businesses and the government continues to reduce the spread of COVID-19, more and more people, businesses and government are turning to online video meetings and conferences. Attached are some video meeting etiquette tips on making your video meetings efficient and focused. Feel free to use and share.

Another FREE Sidewalk Thanks to LSIA

By: Dan Woomer

As the renewal of Spring has arrived, so has LSIA work to continue the replacement of community sideways.  Having secured a grant for over $100,000 for this year’s sidewalk replacement efforts, our first project for the season is the replacement of the sidewalk on Sycamore Road, running between School Lane and Maple Road.  The second project is the replacement of the sidewalk on Maple Road, between Woodland and Longcross Roads.

LSIA’s Secretary, Kevin Plessner, dogged determination and hard work to seek grant funding from the Maryland Aviation Administration (MAA) over these past years has resulted in the replacement of many dilapidated sidewalks throughout Linthicum-Shipley.  This year’s grant took over a year of effort, and a box full of paperwork and copies. When you see Kevin, be sure to say thanks - he has and is doing great service for our community.

Your membership makes it all possible.

It is our membership that makes these and many more annual projects and activities possible.  It is our membership that gives us a loud voice in Annapolis to promote our community and seek support from the Maryland and County governments to keep Linthicum-Shipley a great place to live, raise a family, and retire.  It is your membership that makes it all possible.  The more members we have, the greater our ability to accomplish improvements and enhance our community’s quality-of-life.  The larger the membership in LSIA, the louder our voices are heard in the County and State governments. And, remember, all of the LSIA’s Board and Executive members are all volunteers who spend hundreds of hours each year working to promote, enhance, and improve all of our lives here in Linthicum-Shipley.

Here’s how you can help - Join or Renew your membership in, LSIA, still only $20 a year.  Go to www.lsia.net/store to join online, or send your check or money order to LSIA P.O. Box 143, Linthicum, MD 21090.  Be sure to include your name, full address, email address, and let us know how you want to receive your copy of our monthly newsletter The Monitor delivered to you - by Email (the default delivery method), or a print copy delivered by the US Mail Service.

So, to all who are active members of LSIA, thank you.  Be sure to talk to your neighbors about LSIA, and if they are not yet a member, please encourage them to join today.