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Bridge is sound, just overcrowded

To the Editor:

Senator Roy Dyson’s recent commentary published in St. Mary’s Today is incorrect in its conclusion questioning the safety of the Thomas Johnson Bridge. Let me be direct and state to the people of Southern Maryland that the Thomas Johnson Bridge is safe. The issue isn’t safety. It is capacity and we are working with local leaders to determine viable options to address the capacity needs of this key Patuxent River crossing both in the near term and the long term.

It is important for citizens to realize that the Maryland State Highway Administration’s (SHA) paramount priority is safety. Certified inspectors rigorously inspect all SHA bridges every two years and conduct underwater inspections every four years. SHA’s bridge inspections are based on sound engineering and are done by experienced personnel who are trained to recognize potential issues long before they develop into serious problems. The Federal Highway Administration audits SHA’s bridge inspection program annually and it has repeatedly been rated as excellent.

The Thomas Johnson Bridge was built in 1977, making it a relatively young bridge. The most recent inspection was performed in September 2007, with an underwater inspection in August 2005. All major elements of the bridge were rated in satisfactory condition. Yes, some of the bridge surfaces show some minor surface deterioration, but this is in line with what is to be expected of a bridge of this age and type. The integrity of the structure beneath the surface is sound.

Senator Dyson mentioned that SHA closed the bridge 20 years ago due to structural issues. This is true. Taking that action demonstrates that SHA will do what is needed to ensure public safety, even if it results in severe hardships. The design issue that required SHA to close the bridge at that time was corrected. The corrective measures worked and they have been closely monitored ever since.

Addressing capacity is a separate issue entirely. SHA is conducting preliminary studies for another bridge now, recognizing it will take time to study, design, construct and fund such a large project. In the meantime, it serves no useful purpose for Senator Dyson to raise unnecessary alarm regarding the condition of a bridge that is in structurally sound condition.

John D. Porcari

Maryland Secretary of Transportation

 

Put Up the "NO TRESPASSING SIGNS" or Suffer the Consequences

To the Editor:

If your property lies within the St. Mary’s River Watershed, you may have some young St. Mary’s College Interns trampling on your property in the next several months. What could follow is some bureaucrat telling you you are violating county, state or federal guidelines that failed to protect the St. Mary’s River Watershed. Correcting any problem THEY might find, could cost YOU lots of $$$$$$.

Last month, the St. Mary’s River Watershed and St. Mary’s College sent out a letter outlining their $250,000 project (TAX PAYER FUNDED OF COURSE). Buried about 80% down the long and rambling letter was the statement ‘we are requesting you contact us ONLY if you object to having a field crew walking the stream on your property.’

The letter was not sent certified so how do they know in God’s name do they know if you ever got it.

This is just another example of the "save the planet environmentalists" trying to tell you what to do on your own property. This letter indicates they will be making recommendations for ‘lawn maintenance practices, tree and shrub plantings that stabilize stream banks, to recommendations for larger projects that manage runoff and restore stream habitat, to changes that improve the way the County manages sewage, to seeking landowner interest in land and habitat conservation and enhancement programs’. This letter was signed by Joe Anderson, SMRWA President and Bob Paul, SMRWA Vice-President.

These are the same guys who sat idly by and let the college build their boat house and river house (Yacht Club) within 25 feet of the rivers edge on back fill and wet lands. It is hard to comprehend millions of dollars from federally earmarked "pork" projects go into the college when the residents of Tall Timbers are told by the Army Corp of Engineers ‘there is no money to protect their property’.

Don’t be a fool! Put up your no trespassing sign or send a letter to SMRWA at PO Box 94, St. Mary’s City, MD 20686 and tell them "DON’T TROD ON MY PROPERTY!"

Donald Beck

St. Mary’s City

Fast Action to Help Elderly Neighbor at Peril

To the Editor:

Last night during the storm with the sharp lighting and heavy rain, my son (C. J. Huseman ) and my granddaughter (Kaylee Stine) and I were at home. My granddaughter wanted something to snack on so I started to the kitchen. We heard a loud and close clap of lighting. I went to my sons room to tell him to shut off everything. I then came back to the living room and opened the blinds to our picture window. As I was heading back to the kitchen (to get my granddaughter’s snack), my granddaughter yelled "Miss Pecky’s house is on fire" (who is an elderly lady who lives by herself). I went to the front door to look and all I could see was a large orange glow from the back of her house. My 17 year old son, CJ, called 911 to report the fire as I ran over to get Ms. Gibson out of the house. I was beating on the door and there was no reply so I ran to the back of the house and grabbed a water hose to spray the shed that was on fire that was less than 10 feet from her house. I continued to beat on the rear door of the house and spray the shed with water and yelling for Ms. Gibson to get out. Finally she heard me and left to get in her car to go to my house across the street. She had been in her closet hiding because of the Tornado Watch and strong winds. She had her TV turned up loud so she could continue to hear the latest weather warnings. The 7th District Fire Department responded quickly and extinguished the fire with no damage to the house. This could have been a really bad situation I feel if it wasn’t for the fast efforts of my son, CJ and the quick eye’s of my granddaughter, Kaylee. Thanks!

Francis Huseman (Very Proud Father and Granddad)


How Much Sense Did It Make to Disband Safe Schools Task Force in Light of Continued School Violence?
To The Editor:
 
From the headlines in St. Mary's Today about the Pupil arrest records broken, to the headlines in St. Mary's Today about a Student arrested on drug charges before a ceremony, to the headlines about all day long fights at Lackey High School that resulted in 18  police officers to respond to the school, to the headlines in St. Mary's Today and the Enterprise about the stabbing at Great Mills High School.........I have to ask, folks, isn't it time to do something about it? Did we forget about the prior problems at Great Mills High School? How about Esperanza Middle School with the attempted murder of a teacher? How about the thought of a gun being brought in to Leonardtown High School with all of the SWAT teams all over the place? I can go on, but it is bad enough that these problems not only continue, but they get worse.
 
I still question why the St. Mary's County Board of Education disbanded the St. Mary's County Safe Schools Task Force. This Task Force wasn't formed to criticize. Each and every one of us was there had the intent to help in any way we could. Only our folks in Leonardtown at the Board of Education can answer this. I can only imagine the pressure not only from the media but from politicians and most importantly lawyers once they get involved.
 
In my opinion, if I was a lawyer about now, I would have a "field day" with the Board of Education... pardon the pun.  I would say, let me see, you had a Safe Schools Task Force, disbanded it, with full knowledge that problems in your schools continued to exist. In addition, you had a secondary Committee that examined the problems exclusively at  Great Mills High School in particular, then you let that committee dissolve over time as then you transferred the Principal that formed that committee to another school. And, most recent, you are quoted in the Enterprise newspaper as saying, "this is an isolated incident". In Court when comments like that are made, it allows an attorney to explore the history of violence at the school. I think he would have been better off saying the incident is still under investigation and I can't comment right now. Then, unfortunately there was a comment that the Board of Education thought scissors were used. Goodness gracious. That turned out to be wrong. It was a knife according to the Bureau of Criminal Investigations, (BCI), which is comprised of a joint effort by the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office and the Maryland State Police. Anyhow, these, and other comments like these can be seen by a jury as attempting to "downplay" the serious problems at this and perhaps other schools. 
 
I know the Superintendent. He is one of the best and an outstanding person and darn good at what he does. I couldn't think of anyone better to handle his job. It is my firm opinion that he or any of his subordinates would never intentionally downplay such a serious incident. I think every citizen can be guilty of a poor choice of words once in a while.
 
However, speaking of words, a few years ago when it became clear to me that the Board of Education did not intend to bring back the St. Mary's County Safe Schools Task Force. I took action myself as any good citizen would do. Using my knowledge of law and other aspects of my education, I took a moment and sat down to write a rather lengthy Legislative proposal which I asked our Maryland State Senator Roy Dyson to examine and then introduce the Bill I wrote. The Bill would become known as the "Blue Ribbon Panel on School Safety. During the two years that this Bill had before it was signed in to law, it became obvious to me that this Bill was equally important to Senator Dyson. Being the outstanding, dedicated Senator that we all know he is, he fought hard and long to get this Bill not only passed by the Legislators but signed in to law by a "Republican" Governor. I was told that at first the Maryland Association of Board of Education wasn't supporting the Bill. Usually with a Bill of this nature, without their support it would be dead. However, right on cue more violence occurred in schools at the time, along with other efforts in Annapolis on behalf of this Bill. The opposition gave in but with one change they requested to the Bill. It was asked for the Subpoena powers that I wanted for the Blue Ribbon Panel on School Safety to be dropped. The reason I wanted this Blue Ribbon Panel on school safety to have subpoena powers was because in my opinion the School jurisdictions State wide can easily fudge "suspension records" in any direction they want. Not to mention the pressure the school systems have from the No Child Left Behind Act. Arrest records of pupils can not be fudged because the police work in conjunction with the Board of Education to assemble this data. - (See the Dec 10th, 2006 edition of the St. Mary's Today- Pupil Arrests Break Record). I asked if they have nothing to hide, then why remove the subpoena powers? Who knows. Anyhow, in order to get the Bill passed, I had to cave in on this one change. The rest of the rather lengthy Bill was fine.
 
But, I am concerned about one or more political appointees on the Blue Ribbon Panel that Senator Dyson fought so hard to get passed and signed in to law. I very strongly hope and pray that my concerns are misplaced and without merit.
 
In closure, problems in our schools are going to continue not only in St. Mary's but throughout our State and throughout our Country. This is why I asked John Bohanan to deliver a letter I wrote to U.S. Congressman Steny Hoyer. I asked for his assistance to use my Maryland Bill that was passed and signed in to law as a "template" to introduce Federal legislation to form a Federal Panel to examine the problems and come up with solutions to bring our schools back to where they once were. I still await the response from Congressman Hoyer's office.  Doing nothing is a recipe for disaster. Doing something can not only bear fruit, but can branch out and become solid as an oak and have strong roots never to be uplifted again.
 
Roy Fedders
Dameron, Maryland


 

 
 

   


 

 

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