Calvert County Health Department Plans Free Rabies Clinics
The Calvert County Health Department is offering three free rabies vaccination clinics during the month of October. The clinics will be held from 10am to 12pm on:
-- Saturday, October 4th at Northern High School
-- Saturday, October 18th at Huntingtown High School
-- Saturday, October 25th at Patuxent High School
Cats, dogs, and ferrets must be in a carrier or on leash and muzzled, if necessary. The clinics are open air with no special facilities to vaccinate animals that cannot be restrained, such as feral or stray animals, by the owner.
To get a 3-year rabies shot, owners should bring proof of prior vaccination. Calvert County pet licenses will also be available with proof that animals have been spayed/neutered.
For more information, call the Calvert County Health Department at 410-535-5400 or 410-535-3922. Visit online at www.calverthealth.org.
Applications Now Accepted for the Calvert County Purchase and Retirement Fund Program
Owners of Agricultural Preservation Districts May Apply for the Purchase and Retirement of Transferable Development Rights
The Calvert County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) and the Agricultural Preservation Advisory Board announce the opening of the application period for the county’s Purchase and Retirement Fund program. Through the program, Transferable Development Rights are purchased, retired and permanently removed from the market to protect farmland from development.
Applications are accepted from the owners of Agricultural Preservation Districts and ranked by an established formula. The purchase price approved by the BOCC is $3,750 per Transferable Development Right.
The application deadline is Friday, Dec. 5, 2014, at 4:30 p.m. Applications are available on the county website under Forms in the Community Planning and Building section. Completed applications should be sent to Community Planning and Building, Attention-Veronica Cristo, 150 Main St., Prince Frederick, MD 20639 or emailed to cristova@co.cal.md.us.
The Fiscal Year 2015 county budget includes $1.25 million for the Purchase and Retirement Fund. More than $500,000 of the total comes from the Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission, with $200,000 from agricultural transfer taxes dedicated to land preservation. Remaining funds come from the prior year land preservation fund balance; none are taken from the county’s General Fund.
The Purchase and Retirement Fund program is part of Calvert County’s longstanding effort to preserve agricultural land. The county has preserved more than 28,000 acres of productive farms and forests over the past 30 years.
To learn more about the Purchase and Retirement Fund program, contact Rural Planner Veronica Cristo of the Department of Community Planning and Building at 410-535-1600, ext. 2489, or email cristova@co.cal.md.us.
Community Volunteers Honored as Calvert's 'Beautiful' People
Each year the Board of County Commissioners hosts the Calvert You Are Beautiful awards, a celebration of those who make Calvert County a great community. It is an honor for us to recognize the volunteers who work in a wide variety of ways in support of their neighbors.
The 2014 ceremony, held Sept. 16, honored 13 nominees. From these outstanding volunteers, Betty Jane Reynolds of Prince Frederick was named the 2014 Volunteer of the Year.
Reynolds, a retired former teacher who worked with children with disabilities, was nominated by Brenda Wallace. She is described as a generous, kind-hearted person who volunteers with women's shelters, the hospital gift shop, Calvert Pines Senior Center and at polling sites during elections. A breast cancer survivor of 15 years, Reynolds is also active in Relay for Life activities. We offer her our sincere gratitude for her service to our community.
We also applaud the 12 Calvert You Are Beautiful nominees who have given freely of their talents to serve Calvert County:
-- Janet Addiss
-- Grace Mary Brady
-- Jeannie Cousineau-Stone
-- Rhonda Crawley
-- Laurence "Larry" Donnelly
-- Mary B. Hollinger
-- Marian Johnson
-- MaSara Myers
-- Patricia A. "Mitzi " Poole
-- Barbara Scanlan
-- Teena M. Umphries
-- James "Jim" Wilson
View photos online at http://www.co.cal.md.us/index.aspx?nid=1489
Public Meeting Scheduled for New Dunkirk Park Master Plan
The Calvert County Division of Parks and Recreation and Division of Natural Resources are hosting a public meeting Thursday, Oct. 2, 7 p.m., at the Northeast Community Center in Chesapeake Beach to present the final draft of the master plan for a new park to be located on Ward Road in Dunkirk.
The Master Plan Steering Committee will present the draft park master plan which has been developed based on the identified needs of the county and the input provided during a June 2014 public meeting. The Oct. 2 meeting will be the final opportunity for citizens to view the plan and provide input toward its refinement.
Parks and Recreation and Natural Resources are developing a master plan for the 209-acre property, which was purchased by the county in Fiscal Year 2013. The purchase was funded by the Calvert County Youth Recreational Opportunities Fund, a state grant administered by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
For more information, call the Division of Parks and Recreation at 410-535-1600, ext. 2649.
Calvert County Emergency Management Division to Conduct Quarterly Test of Alert and Notification System Sirens
The Calvert County Department of Public Safety, Emergency Management Division, will conduct a full-cycle test of the alert and notification sirens throughout southern Calvert and St. Mary’s counties on Monday, Oct. 6, 2014, at noon.
The full-cycle test includes a three-minute activation of all sirens within the 10-mile area around Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant. All citizens are asked to remember the scheduled testing and relay the information to friends, family and neighbors.
The testing is conducted to enhance siren operation and increase public awareness of the alert and notification siren system. If the sirens sound at any other time, residents should tune to one of the local radio stations listed below for information and instructions.
Emergency Alert System stations include:
-- WPTX 1690 AM Mechanicsville
-- WYRX 97.7 FM Lexington Park
-- WTOP 103.5 FM Frederick
-- WKIK 1560 AM La Plata
-- WKIK 102.9 FM California
-- WPRS 104.1 FM La Plata
-- WSMD 98.3 FM Mechanicsville
-- WNNT 100.9 FM Warsaw
-- WGOP 540 AM Pocomoke
-- WCEM 1240 AM Cambridge
-- WCEM 106.3 FM Cambridge
-- WCEI 96.7 FM Easton
-- WRAR 105.5 FM Tappahannock
-- WEMD 1460 AM Easton
Contact the Calvert County Division of Emergency Management at 410-535-1600, ext. 2638, for additional emergency or disaster preparedness information.