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From the County press release:

Release ID:	07-032
Release Date:	3/19/2007
Contact:	Tom Pogue, Community Relations Manager   240.777.7155
From:	Office of the Director

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DPWT operates an E-85 ethanol fuel pump at its depot on Crabbs Branch Way in Derwood that is available to the public as well as for use by County vehicles. The pump dispenses a blend of 85 percent corn-based ethanol, 15 percent gasoline. The price of a gallon of ethanol was $2.21 on March 19th. Prices do fluctuate, just like gasoline prices, since for one thing a portion of the blend is gasoline.

The pump accepts two major credit cards, VISA and Master Card. It will not take oil company cards. Residents can fill up at the pump 24 hours a day.

Residents must first apply for privileges to use the pump by signing a simple waiver form available from Fleet Management Services. The form waives the County of any responsibility for damages if a resident uses the fuel in a vehicle not designed for flex-fuel operation. The form may be filled out at Fleet Management’s offices at the depot, 16630 Crabbs Branch Way, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. Residents should refer to their owner’s manual or contact their dealer to determine if their vehicle is able to run properly on an 85 percent alcohol blend.

For directions to the depot and more information about using the ethanol pump, contact Fleet at 240-777-5730.

Note: If you see any of this activity going on, please call the Police non-emergency number at (301) 279-8000.

On Wednesday, I posted about more violent crime in Olde Towne. In that post, I mentioned the problems with men hanging out and drinking along a path near the school. The path I was talking about is at the top center of this image:

Following are a number of pictures taken along that path and the opposite side of the field, near Diamond Ave, taken by a Gaithersblog reader. The First few were taken in early October of 2006, at the rear of an abandoned property on Diamond Ave., near the footpath which runs along the south side of that field:

When Gaithersburg officials were notified about the problem, a crew came out within a couple of days to clean it up. Later that month, the reader noticed even more trash accumulation — consisting almost exclusively of alcohol containers — along the path at the north side of the field:

Again the City was notified. This time it was a bit more complicated because this trash was on MCPS property. My understanding is that even though it was School’s responsibility to clean it up, in the end the City wound up doing the bulk of the work, even installing some trash cans along the walk. The same Gaithersblog reader returned late last week, and found that, while much of what was there had in fact been cleaned up, as far as the activities going on in that area, things don’t seem to have changed much:

There’s broken glass (and limes) strewn all over the place. The glass appears to be mostly from Corona bottles that have been deliberately smashed on the ground.

The trash cans were about half full. Keep in mind, this is MCPS property and there are severe penalties for having alcohol on school grounds. During the reader’s visit last week, he ran into some Gaithersburg city employees who were taking a look to see what needed to be done; they said that they’d be back on Friday to clean things up yet again. The reader unfortunately got there too late to snap pictures of the crew working, but did manage to get a shot of them leaving after finishing the job:

I think that this gives a pretty good idea of what is going in that area. There seems to be routine partying along that path, and occasionally some homeless people sleeping in the woods near the schools. While MCPS is doing next to nothing to deal with the problem, the City is at least making an effort to keep the area from deteriorating into a complete dump. It is unclear why nothing appears to have been done about the routine consumption of alcohol on school property.

Again, if you see any of this activity going on, please call the Police non-emergency number at (301) 279-8000.

The City has published it’s Legislative Priorities for the 2007 session of the Maryland General Assembly. These are the things that, given their druthers, the City would have the legislature pass in the upcoming session. Key issues in here are:

• Yet more money for the Lakelands aquatic center
• More funding for the City police
• Funding for major transportation projects, specifically the CCT and the Watkins Mill Interchange
• Taxing authority issues: Exemption from the Metropolitan District Tax, authority to levy additional Hotel/Motel and Development Excise taxes
• Authority for a municipalities to be opt-out electrical aggregators. On the Takoma Park website, I found a PDF document from 2005 discussing this issue in detail. A couple of quotes from this document will go a long way toward explaining what they want to do:
  

  What is electricity deregulation?
  Generally, electricity deregulation refers to a state deciding that customers should be allowed to choose an electricity supplier by letting competition enter a market where only a regulated utility monopoly existed before. It is felt that the market forces of supply, demand, and competition will help to keep electricity costs low, and stimulate innovative new products and services that didn’t exist under regulation. Maryland began this process in 1999.

  So if there is supposed to be a choice of suppliers, why can’t we find any besides our existing utility?
  What has been found in every state where restructuring has been tried, including Maryland, is that competition only appears for large industrial customers. This is because electricity suppliers who try to recruit individual homeowners and small businesses quickly learn that the marketing expense is much too high per customer to make it worth their while, and they abandon the effort.

  What exactly is municipal aggregation?
  Aggregation in general refers to many customers joining together to form a buying group. Municipal aggregation refers specifically to the situation where a municipality organizes the pooling of its citizens to become the buying group. The municipality (or a group of them) then seeks out offers on behalf of its constituents to get a better price, terms and services than would be available to an individual.

  What is the “opt-out” part?
  If a municipality has to go out and recruit citizens to join the buying group (i.e. getting them to “opt-in” to the program), then just like when a business tries to do it, it is prohibitively expensive in time and money. Where aggregation can be successful is when it is allowed to be done another way using the so-called “opt-out” approach. This allows the city to publicly declare its intention to become an aggregating entity for its citizens through hearings and mailings, and all citizens are then included in the buying group unless they respond to the mailings or otherwise tell the municipality they wish to “opt-out” of the program.

  There’s a lot more detail in that document, but I think that this gives a pretty good idea of what’s going on. The document explains that forming such a buying group, where people would belong unless they explicitly bother to request exclusion, is not currently legal in Maryland; the proposed legislation is the thing that would make it legal to do this. It also asserts that the electrical utilities — PEPCO in particular — are opposed to this because it would force them to be more competitive.

Anyway, what follows is the complete text of the City’s 2007 legislative agenda, as posted on their website:

City of Gaithersburg State Legislative Priorities for 2007
Posted 12/27/2006

FUNDING

Regional Aquatic/Recreation Center - Bond Bill Needed for Construction

• Additional funding is needed to move forward with this project on Route 28 and Edison Park Drive that will serve both City and County residents.
• The project is now in design phase.
• Gaithersburg has committed $9.5 million.
• Montgomery County has committed $6 million.
• Crown Farm project developers have committed $5 million.
• $1 million bond bill is requested in the 2007 legislative session so we can move to the construction phase.

Police - State Aid Requested to Improve Public Safety

• Maryland provides $1,800 in state aid for each sworn municipal police officer. This figure has not increased since 1999.
• Additional state assistance is necessary for Gaithersburg to expand its force, which currently stands at 49 sworn officers.
• The Maryland Municipal League has made increasing this aid a key component of its legislative agenda.

TRANSPORTATION

Watkins Mill Road Interchange - Engineering Funds Need to be Increased

• The Watkins Mill Road Interchange at I-270 is critical.
• It will aid economic development and reduce congestion at one of the busiest intersections in Montgomery County
• The City and County are working with developers on the Watkins Mill Road extension.
• Gaithersburg recently approved a Road Participation Agreement that would provide for build-out in two years.
• Gaithersburg has secured 65% of the Interchange right-of-way at no cost to the state. Efforts are underway to secure the rest.
• The Interchange is in the engineering phase, but there are not adequate engineering funds earmarked for this project in FY 2008.
• The proposed Consolidated Transportation Plan only calls for $800,000 and the Department of Transportation notes that an additional $7.8 million is needed for engineering.

Corridor Cities Transitway - Make a Top Funding Priority

• Congestion on I-270 has reached intolerable levels.
• The Corridor Cities Transitway (CCT), which is supported by municipalities along the route, provides an effective light rail alternative to commuters.
• The entire right-of-way throughout the City of Gaithersburg is available for construction, and the land for the transit stations has been set aside.
• This project needs to be the next major transportation initiative in Maryland.

LEGISLATION

Metropolitan District Tax - Exempt Gaithersburg and Rockville

• Gaithersburg requests a Bi-County bill establishing that properties annexed into the City of Gaithersburg or City of Rockville since 1965 not be subject to the Metropolitan District Tax.
• This tax is used to support parks operated by the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission.
• It has never been assessed on properties located within Gaithersburg or Rockville, but a recent County Attorney’s opinion has determined that properties annexed in either City should be subject to the tax.
• Both Gaithersburg and Rockville have their own extensive parks systems and recreational programs that are funded by the respective City’s property tax revenues.

Hotel/Motel Tax- Allow Municipalities to Assess

• The City of Gaithersburg currently has 14 hotels operating within City limits.
• They require additional public services such as police protection.
• Gaithersburg requests that enabling legislation be approved allowing municipalities to assess a 3% hotel/motel tax.
  
• Most counties and the City of Baltimore currently charge a hotel/motel tax, but other municipalities do not have the authority to assess a tax of this nature

Municipal Opt-Out Electrical Aggregation- Approve

• Deregulation has not produced meaningful competition in Maryland, and our residents’ electric utility rates continue to increase.
• Like municipalities across this State, the City of Gaithersburg would like to seek competitive bids from electric providers on behalf of our residents.
• We are requesting that the General Assembly approve municipal opt-out electrical aggregation this year.

Development Excise Taxes- Enact Enabling Legislation

• The City of Gaithersburg is supportive of Rockville’s request for enabling legislation that would permit municipalities to charge development excise taxes to assist in providing the infrastructure necessary to support new development

According to this announcement,

Gaithersburg is now using B20 biodiesel, which is 20% vegetable oil and 80% diesel fuel. In this area, that vegetable oil comes primarily from soy beans. There are currently 98 vehicles in the City’s diesel fleet, including trucks, buses and other heavy equipment. Those vehicles consumed just over 50,000 gallons of diesel fuel last year. Under the new initiative, diesel fuel consumption will be reduced by 10,000 gallons.

The switch to biodiesel did not require any modifications to the vehicles. However, the City’s fuel storage tank was cleaned and improved filters were installed on the pumps prior to changing to biodiesel. In addition to reducing reliance on diesel fuel, the City is also helping with ongoing plans to reduce overall fuel consumption and emissions by including two hybrid passenger vehicles in its fleet, with plans to add more in the future.

It’s unclear if they’re getting it from Willie Nelson, and if the vegetable oil is post-consumer recycled oil or virgin oil manufactured just for this purpose.