Five Empty Storefronts

There are now five empty storefronts in the Historic District, either for rent or sale. If you have ever thought about opening your own small business, or investing in the Historic District, this may be the best time, before prices start going up again. I suppose this is an improvement over the 1980's recession, when there were seven empty storefronts.

A New Face on an Old Building

As many know by now, the town has recently moved an old building to a new location to make room for a larger parking lot. I was just contacted once again by the town manager to do an analysis on the old paint chips to determine what the original colors were. Preliminary analysis indicates that the siding was a medium green with dark yellow trim.
Work begins next week to remove the plastic siding to determine the condition of the original wooden siding. It appears that the front siding will need complete replacement, and lots of sections on the other sides will need replacement. It will be interesting to see what shows up in the form of missing trim and details after the siding is removed. Keep watching!

Here is the building in it's new location. A former 1880's period beauty, shamefully wrapped in plastic siding, plastic soffits, and plastic shutters. Hello, dumpster!

On a Positive Note...

We've been noticing some progress on ongoing projects in the town. Specifically, the Apple Butter Factory has been re-roofed, the 1880's building has been moved to make way for the new parking lot, and the new parking lot construction begins next week. So, things seem to moving along again, but wait!, this is work that was planned by the outgoing Mayor and Town Council?
What will the new "leaders" of the town when they run out of the good ideas previously initiated by the previous Mayor and Council? Better put your thinking caps on, we're still waiting to see the plan.

The Goose That Laid Golden Eggs

Once a man and his wife owned a goose that laid a golden egg every day. Although this was more than enough to take care of all of their needs and more, they thought they were not getting rich fast enough. So one day they decided to kill the goose and get all of the golden eggs at once. Unfortunately, it was just the same inside as any other goose, and there were no more golden eggs from that day forward.
In this well-known Aesop's Fable is perhaps a preview of the fate of Sykesville. You can not undo that which has been done in the name of saving money.

1. A closed Post Office will never reopen.
2. A sold Train Station will never again be an asset to the town.
3. A closed Gate House Museum will never reopen.
4. A Warfield Project in which parcels are sold off will never be anything but another eyesore of gas stations and fast food joints, and will never be an asset to the town.
5. Relationships that have been built up over decades between the town, vendors and other professionals that are ended to save a few hundred dollars can never be rebuilt.
6. When these things are gone, the businesses will leave and they will never return.
7. With no businesses to tax, government will, as it always does, start to feed off of the public. Then the residents will leave.
   

Without the tax base, local government will cease to exist. Then we can tear up the asphalt, and plant corn.

Consulting on a Historic Home

I was called by Jonathan Herman yesterday to do a little color consulting on a historic building in Union Bridge. Wow! Phenomenal 1830's period farm with barn, smoke house, pump house, original well, and original beehive oven. All newly restored, with geothermal heating and cooling, rebuilt original window sashes, original original billard room, original hand grained and faux painted interior trim, all wow. I came away with this thought... If you are doing a large scale restoration project in Carroll County, you should contact Jonathan at: http://www.hermanrestoration.com. or you shouldn't even get involved with the project.

3 Strikes and You're Out - Local Emergency Vehicle Drivers

Yesterday, for the THIRD time in 1 week, I was nearly hit by a local emergency vehicle. Three times in 1 week! At the sharp curve on Raincliff Rd., heading towards Sykesville, I met up with a huge lime green firetruck, at least 3 feet over the yellow lines into the inside of the curve. No lights, no siren, at least I didn't hear it, and on a blind curve, on wet asphalt. Only the fact that I was going slow, and skidded to the right side instead of the left saved my life. And as we know, if I had been hurt or even killed, it would have been "my fault".
Now I know local firefighters get thorough training, but am wondering why they drive so dangerously? Is not safe driving a part of their training? Is responding to an emergency call so important, that it must be so dangerous for other drivers?
How about a little more caution and attention to safe driving practices? Is it too much to ask?