Property Line

State Highway Administration officials agreed Monday to examine whether more shrubbery could be planted to separate a residential road from a new Hagerstown shopping center and a fence extended between the development and homes. cont. from front page People who live along Swann Road next to the Centre at Hagerstown expressed disappointment at what they said they regard as a failure by state officials and developers to shield their homes from noise and light from the shopping center, where some stores will open this month.

Parents who fear their children's safety might be at risk if a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter is built near Funkstown Elementary School have taken their concerns to the Washington County Board of Education. Board member B. Marie Byers said parents have several concerns, including excess traffic, the proximity of the school to the store's loading dock, dumpsters being placed near the school and the noise from construction equipment interrupting class. She also said they're worried pedophiles could mix in with the high volume of store customers and lurk around the school.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com WAYNESBORO, Pa. - A plan to build a commercial building on a hilly vacant lot on Pa. 16 East between Old Mill Road and Iroquois Trail has bumped up against controversy with the project's future neighbors over a buffer zone. The plans for Waynesboro Plaza LLC, being built by Eugene Horst, owner of the Country Corner Meat Market at 10586 Buchanan Trail East, comes before the Washington Township Planning Commission for review June 14. Jon Matre, a physician recruited by Waynesboro Hospital, moved to the area in September with his wife and two children.

There are now plans to open two Wal-Mart Supercenters in Hagerstown. Plans to build a Wal-Mart Supercenter along Edgewood Drive between Twigg Cycles and Funkstown were submitted to the Hagerstown Planning Department on Monday. cont. from front page Another one of the massive supermarket/general stores is under construction at the Centre at Hagerstown shopping plaza along U.S. 40 next to Interstate 81. That store probably will open in mid-June, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman, Daphne Davis, said Tuesday.

gregs@herald-mail.com Two proposals that would draw more than 47 acres into Hagerstown city limits near Jefferson Boulevard are on hold until an agreement is reached between neighbors of one of the properties and the property developer. The Hagerstown City Council took up two annexation proposals for discussion at its Tuesday work session. The annexation proposals, known as the Light and Crumrine annexations, were set to be introduced at the council's voting session last month, but were tabled after neighbors raised concerns over traffic and vegetation reduction.

tammyb@herald-mail.com If this week's rain was an inconvenience for most of us, it was a nightmare for several residents of St. James Village. The standing water in Michelle Gaisor's back yard Wednesday night "looked like a river," she said. Water in the street was "thigh high" on a 6-foot-tall man, Gaisor said. "It was amazing. " Her neighbor, Denise Haley, had 5 feet of water in her basement. "It was just three or four steps from my main floor," she said.

HAGERSTOWN -- A Williamsport man ordered to serve 90 days in jail for killing two dogs that were running on his property has appealed his case and is free on bond, court documents show. Jeffrey Hurd, 55, of 11845 Camden Road, killed a Labrador retriever with a high-powered rifle in July 2007 and killed a German shepherd in 2008. In each case, the dogs were chasing wild game onto Hurd's property, Washington County Circuit Judge W. Kennedy Boone III said in November. Boone heard the case Oct. 27, and in November announced he found Hurd guilty of two counts of mutilating an animal and two counts of malicious destruction of property under $500.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. - Otterbein Ministries Inc. has requested permission to erect a 50-foot-by-90-foot "Sprung" building on Otterbein's South Potomac Street campus. The Sprung Instant Structure - a first in the Borough of Waynesboro - would have aluminum framing built on a concrete slab. Dual layers of a canvas-like membrane would then be stretched across the frame. "The military is using them in Baghdad. They're quick to put up and inexpensive," said Rick Duesler, Otterbein's director of administration.

BIG POOL - Bats have been described as gentle, beneficial and necessary, but Kamela Lee of Big Pool sees things differently. cont. from front page The estimated hundreds of bats that live in the attic of her two-story wood house pose a health risk to her two children, and have largely made the house unlivable, she said. The family of four now "eats, sleeps and plays" in the 12-foot-by-12 foot, first-floor living room where blankets and pillows are stacked side-by-side with children's toys and playpens.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com WAYNESBORO, Pa. - The well is drilled, 800 feet deep. Now all that's needed is the money to pay for pumping and treating it before it can add 250 gallons per minute to Waynesboro's public water system. Drilling the well and building a pumping station and treatment plant will cost upward of $2 million, said Jon Fleagle, chairman of the Waynesboro Authority. The money will come from loans and user fees from the system's customers. A small chunk, $200,000, came in the form of a federal grant through the office of U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa.