Easement

The commissioners unanimously agreed Tuesday to accept a conservation easement on a 150-acre tract near Clear Spring. The easement was donated by owner Roberta M. Niklewski on the property at Rockdale Road. The commissioners agreed to pay $19,800 for administrative and settlement costs. The easement will extinguish rights to develop 10 parcels on the property, but the Niklewski family can still develop two.

Basement door easement approved By JULIE E. GREENE julieg@herald-mail.com Sharpsburg Town Council members approved an easement Monday night permitting a resident to have a cellar entry using a public sidewalk. Town Council members voted 4-1 to grant the easement Fonda Ghiardi requested for her 201 W. Main St. home. Ghiardi wants to convert an adjacent log structure into a kitchen and said she needs an outdoor cellar entry to maintain access to a furnace and water heater in her cellar.

Easement granted for handicapped ramp An easement has been given for the construction of a ramp outside the former People's building in downtown Hagerstown. The ramp is expected to be along the West Washington Street side of the building and is intended to make the building handicapped accessible. The easement, which is needed because the ramp will go on the city-owned sidewalk, was unanimously approved by the City Council earlier this week. The ramp would extend about 3 feet into the sidewalk, which is more than 11 feet wide at that point, according to city documents.

WILLIAMSPORT - A local farming family is doing its best to help agriculture stay a part of Washington County's future forever. Dairy farmer Harry Strite said Monday afternoon that he and his father, Ellis, and their families have agreed to sell Maryland an easement on their Kemps Mill Road farm under the state's farmland preservation program. "The main reason is, we see farmland disappearing at a rapid rate and if somebody doesn't do something, we're not going to have any farmland for the next generation ... whether it's our family or somebody else," Strite said during a break from milking his herd.

The Berkeley County Farmland Protection Board on Thursday approved a preservation easement for Boydville, the 200-year-old mansion in Martinsburg that was spared from burning by direct order of President Lincoln in the Civil War. The easement for the late Georgian-style home at 601 S. Queen St., along with a conservation easement for the acreage around it, ultimately will be held by the farmland protection board when the 13-acre estate is sold...

A 65-acre property in Washington County is one of two that has been permanently preserved by the State of Maryland. Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown and the Board of Public Works approved the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) easement this week. The 65-acre Edwin David easement, on property owned by the David family, will protect water quality along 7,000 feet of ditches and tributaries to Dog Creek and Little Dog Creek. Forested and vegetative stream buffers will work to filter stormwater runoff that will feed into these creeks, the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay. The David property includes two other creeks and two natural springs that will be protected by the buffers.

Board of Zoning Appeals alternate appointed The Washington County Commissioners appointed Tom Oyster of Hagerstown as an alternate to the Board of Zoning Appeals at Tuesday's meeting. Commissioner Bert Iseminger nominated Oyster. The appointment was approved 5-0. County approves airport easement The Washington County Commissioners Tuesday approved 5-0 an easement that allows the county to meet the runway protection zone requirement by the FAA for Hagerstown Regional Airport.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- Berkeley County Farmland Protection Board Executive Director Gregory L. Carnill on Thursday told the Berkeley County Commission since the board went into effect, close to 2,900 acres under easement in the county are more protected and the total easement value is about $20 million. In 2000, Berkeley County was the first county in West Virginia to create a farmland protection board, he said. About 27 landowners have applied to participate in 2009-10, and all areas have the opportunity to participate, Carnill said.

The Mid-Maryland Land Trust is holding a landowner outreach meeting on Friday from 1:30 to 4 p.m. at the Wacohu Grange Hall, Huyetts Crossroads, 16412 National Pike, just west of the intersection of U.S. 40 and Md. 63. Mailings were sent to all property owners and farms of 20 acres and more. All property owners interested in land preservation, recent federal and state income tax benefits associated with donated easements and estate planning issues are encouraged to attend. Refreshments will be served.

GREENCASTLE, Pa. - Antrim Township supervisors unanimously voted Tuesday not to approve plans for a Sky King Fireworks retail store along Mason Dixon Road in State Line, Pa. The vote followed discussion over unmet easement requirements, and safety and sales concerns by neighbors. According to Antrim Township Supervisor Scott Diffenderfer, the proposed plan did not meet the easement requirement for stormwater management. The township ordinance required the property have a 25-foot easement to manage stormwater.

The Berkeley County Farmland Protection Board on Thursday approved a preservation easement for Boydville, the 200-year-old mansion in Martinsburg that was spared from burning by direct order of President Lincoln in the Civil War. The easement for the late Georgian-style home at 601 S. Queen St., along with a conservation easement for the acreage around it, ultimately will be held by the farmland protection board when the 13-acre estate is sold...

A 65-acre property in Washington County is one of two that has been permanently preserved by the State of Maryland. Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown and the Board of Public Works approved the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) easement this week. The 65-acre Edwin David easement, on property owned by the David family, will protect water quality along 7,000 feet of ditches and tributaries to Dog Creek and Little Dog Creek. Forested and vegetative stream buffers will work to filter stormwater runoff that will feed into these creeks, the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay. The David property includes two other creeks and two natural springs that will be protected by the buffers.

The next owner of the 200-year-old Boydville estate in Martinsburg will be expected to adhere to a set of preservation and conservation easements. Exactly what the property restrictions should entail will be the subject of an Aug. 16 special meeting of the Berkeley County Farmland Protection Board, which currently owns the 13-acre property. The farmland board, which acquired Boydville in 2005 for $2.25 million, has since been unsuccessful in finding a new use for the property or a new owner.

County buys 10-acre easement The Washington County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously June 5 to approve the purchase of the Morgan Family Trust LLP easement near Chestnut Grove and Trego Mountain roads. The price will be $37,004.40 for 10 acres of easement, funded by a state land-preservation program, according to a county document summarizing the transaction. Five named to county boards The Washington County Board of Commissioners on June 5 filled positions on two boards, including: • Gladys Rojas and Bonnie Elgin were reappointed, and Loretta Wright was appointed, all to three-year terms on the Washington County Board of Social Services, according to County Clerk Vicki C. Lumm.

Work is set to begin this summer to replace nearly five miles of sewer lines in the Waynesboro area as part of a more than $5 million project, officials said. Sean McFarland, manager of the Washington Township Municipal Authority, said replacement pipes would be installed in a five-mile stretch of roadway from the authority's plant at Lyons Road on the southeast end of Waynesboro, with work continuing northward to the Gehr Road/Stottlemyer Road area. The authority's engineering firm, CET Engineering Services of Harrisburg, Pa., is finalizing the design, McFarland said.

The Washington County Board of County Commissioners will hold a public hearing on the 10-year term County Agricultural Land Preservation Districts as part of its regular meeting Tuesday. The public hearing, to begin at 10 a.m., will be held in room 227 of the County Administration Building, 100 W. Washington St. in Hagerstown. Citizens will have the opportunity to comment on the potential preservation of acreage that would be restricted to agricultural only for a period of 10 years.

Washington County is preparing to auction a historic farmhouse given to the county in 1998 during a nearby development project, Real Property Administrator Joseph F. Kuhna said. The property, known as the “French Lane farmhouse,” is off Greencastle Pike southwest of Hagerstown, between the Pilot Travel Center and Your Other Warehouse Inc. A date has not been set for the auction, but Thomas Bikle of Cochran Auctioneers said it likely would be scheduled for the first week in June.

Right-of-way agreements needed for a $6.3 million storm-water project have been reached out of court, Waynesboro Borough Manager Lloyd Hamberger said Tuesday. The borough had started eminent domain proceedings in Franklin County (Pa.) Court for the three remaining easements needed for construction equipment and fencing. However, Hamberger said agreements have now been reached with the affected property owners: Russell C. Weikert and Rose M. Halterman; Patricia A. Crouse and Larry L. Crouse Jr.; and Steven L. and Susan L. Bumbaugh.