Holiday Schedule for Independence Day

Here's our holiday schedule for Independence Day:

• County Offices – closed
• Libraries – closed (also closed on 5th and 6th)
• County liquor stores – open 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
• Recreation – all indoor and outdoor aquatic facilities will be open; Germantown Indoor Swim Center will close at 3 p.m., all other aquatic facilities will close at 6 p.m.; swim lessons will meet in morning – afternoon/evening lessons and classes cancelled; administrative offices, senior centers and community recreation centers will be closed
• Montgomery Parks – for operating schedules, including Brookside Gardens, ice rinks, tennis centers, trains and carousels, visit www.MontgomeryParks.org.
• Ride On – Saturday schedule
• Metrobus – Saturday schedule
• Metrorail – Holiday special service
• TRiPS Commuter Stores (Silver Spring and Friendship Heights) – closed
• Refuse/recycling pickup – no collection*
• Transfer Station – closed
• Parking at public garages, lots, curbside meters – free
• MCPS Administrative Offices – closed
• State offices & courts – closed

*Collection provided one day later for remainder of week (last collection day is Saturday).

Heritage Days this Weekend

Enjoy Heritage Days this weekend, June 28 and 29! This unique, countywide festival, sponsored by Heritage Montgomery, offers visitors the opportunity to discover venues from Silver Spring to Poolesville, Bethesda to Clarksburg–and everywhere in between. Learn about the history of dairy farming, railroads and trolleys, African-American communities, astronomy, local arts and culture, and outdoor recreation including hikes and walking tours. Many venues offer musical entertainment, activities and crafts for children and refreshments.

Local Election Night Coverage

Get up-to-the-minute election coverage Tuesday night from our local cable stations. Here's the full press release:

Six stations that are members in the Montgomery County PEG (Public / Education / Government) organization of community cable stations are combining resources to be the main place to find up-to-date information on Tuesday, June 24, when County voters go to the polls for primary elections concerning County Government, the County delegation to the Maryland General Assembly, Governor and other statewide races. The stations will broadcast live throughout the evening, immediately posting results made available by the County’s Board of Elections.

Primary Election Night 2014 coverage will be simulcast by:

• County Cable Montgomery (CCM: Channel 6 on Comcast and RCN, Channel 30 on Verizon)
• Montgomery Community Media (Channel 21 on Comcast, RCN and Verizon)
• Montgomery County Public Schools Television (MCPS TV: Channel 34 on Comcast; Channel 89 on RCN; Channel 36 on Verizon)
• Montgomery College TV (MCTV: Channel 10 on Comcast, RCN and Verizon)
• Rockville 11 (Rockville 11: Channel 11 on Comcast, RCN and Verizon)
• Takoma Park City TV (Takoma City TV: Channel 13 on Comcast; Channel 13 on RCN; Channel 28 on Verizon) 

Internet streaming video coverage of the broadcast will be available through the County Web site at www.montgomerycountymd.gov.

The polls are scheduled to close at 8 p.m. on June 24. Election night television coverage will begin at 8 p.m. and will continue through 11 p.m. Results of early voting—held from June 12-19—are expected to be available before 8:30 p.m. After the show ends at 11 p.m., results will continue to be updated and broadcast on CCM. Those results will run overnight and into the morning hours, with morning updates. 

The show will include a variety of political insiders looking at the chief issues voters had to consider and analyzing results as they come in. Guests scheduled include current County Councilmember Cherri Branson, who is not seeking re-election; former County Councilmembers Bruce Adams, Valerie Ervin and Mike Knapp; City of Rockville Mayor Bridget Newton; Town of Somerset Mayor Jeffrey Slavin; Mayor of Kensington Peter Fosselman; Katja Bullock, vice chair of the Montgomery GOP; Casey Aiken, host of the 21 this Week political talk show on MCM; Charles Duffy, host of Political Pulse on the Montgomery Municipal Channel; long-time political insider Steve Simon; local blogger Dan Reed, author of Just Up the Pike; and Bethesda Magazine political reporter Louis Peck.

Sonya Burke and Susan Kenedy will anchor the three hours of studio coverage. Julie Little Rios, Valerie Bonk and Mike Bruen will provide live on-the-scene coverage from various locations around the County.

“The PEG organization stations have been working hard to redefine how they can best serve the residents of Montgomery County. Providing immediate election results is one way we can meet that mission,” said Merlyn Reineke, executive director of MCM and president of the PEG Governing Board. “From the feedback we had from our primary and general election coverage in 2010, we know that people turned to our PEG stations and viewed our broadcast via the Internet because we provided better and faster local election results than other news channels. Once again, our broadcast will be chiefly about Montgomery County results all night, but we also will be watching how the County voted in the statewide elections.”

The results will focus on election results in races for County Executive, the County Council and the County delegation to the State House of Delegates and the State Senate. Results also will be included in the primaries for Montgomery Board of Education, Governor, state attorney general and for the three Congressional districts that represent Montgomery County.

White Oak Master Plan Overview Available On Demand

If you missed the Planning Board's overview of the Draft White Oak Science Gateway Master Plan yesterday, it is now available on demand on County Cable Montgomery (choose the June 17 Council session video). The Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee as well as the full Council will be looking at the plan next month. Here's the tentative schedule:

PHED Committee meetings:

July 1 – Discussion of transportation issues
July 3 – Transportation issues, continued
July 7 – Discussion of land use issues
July 10 – Land use issues, continued
July 16 – Land use issues, continued

Full Council meetings:

July 22 – Full Council worksession
July 29 – Final vote

To weigh in, e-mail county.council@montgomerycountymd.gov.

In Person Absentee Voting Still Available

Here's the press release from the Board of Elections:

Montgomery County voters who missed the deadlines to vote by mail or online for the Gubernatorial Primary Election may still pick up an absentee ballot in person.

If you are unable to vote at your assigned polling place on Election Day, or simply prefer to vote a paper ballot, you may visit the Board of Elections in Gaithersburg at any time up to or on Election Day. The office will be open on Saturday, June 21, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., on Monday, June 23 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and on Election Day, June 24, during the hours that polls are open from 7:00 a.m. TO 8:00 p.m. The elections office is located at 18753 N. Frederick Avenue, Suite 210, Gaithersburg, which is about one and one-half miles north of Montgomery Village Avenue.

Voters who cannot come in person to the office may designate another person as their agent to obtain the application. For information on designating an agent, please contact the Absentee Office.  After June 17 voters may choose to download an application from our website, www.777vote.org, or the Maryland State Board of Elections’ website, http://elections.state.md.us.  

The Montgomery County Board of Elections wishes to remind voters that impersonating another voter or casting a ballot on behalf of another person is a crime.  If you see or hear of any attempted vote fraud, contact the State Attorney’s Office at 410-576-6300 or 1-888-743-0023 toll free in Maryland or via TDD at 410-576-6372.

For more information, call 240-777-VOTE, visit www.777vote.org or follow the Montgomery County Board of Elections on Facebook or Twitter.

Groundbreaking for North Potomac Community Recreation Center

On Saturday we celebrated the groundbreaking for the North Potomac Community Recreation Center located at 13860 Travilah Road, Rockville. This project has been a long time coming, so the shovels in the ground are great news for residents of the area.

This project provides for the design of a 48,084 square-foot community recreation center and associated site of approximately 17 acres. The building will include a full-size and auxiliary gymnasium, weight/exercise room, social hall, kitchen, senior/community lounge, arts/kiln room, game room and conference room. The outdoor features will include a playground, synthetic multiple play area, a rectangular multi-purpose field, and two multi-purpose courts. The facility will be designed to comply with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) guidelines for LEED Silver certification. The project is expected to be completed in winter 2016.

County Roads That are Subject to Periodic Flooding

With heavy rain predicted for Montgomery County, please be careful when driving, and take extra care with these county roads that sometimes flood.

ROADS IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY SUBJECT TO PERIODIC FLOODING:
DOWN-COUNTY AREAS
MD 29 (Columbia Pike) at Paint Branch – N. of White Oak
MD 185 (Conn. Ave) at Rock Creek – S. of Kensington
MD 190 (River Road) at Cabin John Creek – Potomac
MD 193 (Univ. Blvd) at Sligo Creek – Wheaton
MD 586 (Viers Mill Rd) at Rock Creek – S. of Twinbrook Pkwy.
Beach Drive in Rock Creek Park – Kensington-Chevy Chase
Sligo Creek Pkwy – Silver Spring-Takoma Park


UP-COUNTY AREAS
MD 97 (Georgia Ave) at Reddy Branch – N. of Brookeville
MD 124 (Woodfield Rd) at Goshen Branch and at Gr. Seneca Creek – N. of Brink Rd.
MD 117 (Clopper Rd) at Gr. Seneca Creek – W. of Gaithersburg
MD 117 (Clopper Rd) at Little Seneca Creek – E. of Boyds
MD 355 (Frederick Rd) at Little Seneca Creek – W. of Brink
MD 121 (Clarksburg Rd) near Little Seneca Lake – N. of Boyds
MD 118 (Germantown Rd) at Great Seneca Creek – S. of Germantown
River Rd and Berryville Rd at Seneca Creek – Seneca
Blunt Road at Great Seneca Creek – S. of Brink Rd.
Davis Mill Rd at Great Seneca Creek – N. of Gaithersburg
Brighton Dam Rd at Hawlings River – NE of Brookeville
Goldmine Rd at Hawlings River – E of Olney
Zion Rd at Hawlings River – E. of Laytonsville
Hoyles Mill Rd at ford of Little Seneca Creek – Germantown, west of soccer complex
Loghouse Rd at Magruder Branch – S. of Damascus
Elton Farm Rd at Haights Branch – N. of Sunshine
Howard Chapel Rd at Haights Branch – N. of Sunshine
White’s Ferry Road and River Road – White’s Ferry

Lottery for Farmers' Market Coupons

Here's the press release about a great program to provide fresh food to low-income seniors:

A limited number of free farmer’s market coupon books worth $30 will be distributed by lottery to low-income seniors in Montgomery County on Wednesday, July 2 at 10:30 a.m. The coupon books are available to Montgomery County residents age 60 years and older whose income is less than $21,590 (family of one).

The coupons may be used at farmer’s markets in Montgomery County and participating markets in the District of Columbia until November 30, 2014.

Each eligible senior can register for the lottery between 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. at six sites throughout the county. Selection for the lottery will begin at 10:30 a.m. at each site.

The lottery for the coupon books will be held at the following locations:

Elizabeth House                                                                        Gaithersburg Senior Center
1400 Fenwick Lane                                                                  80A Bureau Drive
Silver Spring, MD  20910                                                         Gaithersburg, MD  20878

Holiday Park Senior Center                                                      Long Branch Community Center
3950 Ferrara Drive                                                                  8700 Piney Branch Road
Wheaton, MD  20901                                                               Silver Spring, MD  20901

Rockville Senior Center                                                            Waverly House
1150 Carnation Drive                                                              4521 East West Highway
Rockville, MD  20850                                                              Bethesda, MD  20814

For more information, call 240-777-3810.

Groundbreaking for Georgia Avenue/Randolph Road Intersection Replacement

What a great day to celebrate the groundbreaking for the long-anticipated interchange project to replace the existing MD 97 (Georgia Avenue) at Randolph Road signalized intersection in Glenmont. Transportation remains the top priority for Montgomery County residents who are tired of being stuck in traffic. That’s why I am so pleased the County is working with our federal and state partners on this project. Residents stand to benefit not only from congestion relief but also improved traffic safety and enhanced economic development.

This project involves constructing a new interchange to replace the existing MD 97 (Georgia Avenue)/Randolph Road signalized intersection by lowering Randolph Road nearly 25 feet to allow through traffic to go under Georgia Avenue. New turn lanes and ramps will provide turning movements. The project also includes adding one additional through lane along Georgia Avenue for a total of three through lanes in each direction. Additional improvements include extending the Glenmont Greenway Trail on the west side of Georgia Avenue an additional 900 feet past Randolph Road to Mason Street and adding new sidewalks.

The project will reduce congestion and improve traffic safety by separating through traffic by lowering Randolph Road nearly 25 feet under Georgia Avenue, which will remove traffic conflict points and provide free-flow traffic on Randolph Road through the interchange. The additional through lane on Georgia Avenue also will reduce traffic congestion and improve traffic operations for commuters, pedestrians and cyclists. Extending the Glenmont Greenway Trail will enhance access to the Glenmont Metro Station, helping to increase transit ridership. Learn more.

Properly Retire Your American Flag

Here's your chance to properly retire your American flag. The County is co-sponsoring the efforts of Chapter 641 of the Vietnam Veterans of America to collect American flags which are no longer usable. Just deposit your flag in the large wooden box in the EOB Lobby (101 Monroe Street, Rockville), and the Chapter will conduct a ceremonial American flag disposal on Flag Day, June 14, from 11am-3pm at Battery Cycles, 7830 Airpark Road, Gaithersburg. The ceremony is open to the public, so feel free to stop by.

Updated White Oak Science Gateway Master Plan Schedule

The White Oak Plan provides the County Council with the opportunity to shape the long-term goals and objectives for the area that spans Hillandale, White Oak/Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Cherry Hill. When the federal government consolidated the FDA at the White Oak Federal Research Center, it created the catalyst for business opportunities related to the federal agency. The County will re-examine the master plan as a first step toward realizing those opportunities.

There is tremendous economic development potential in the White Oak area. We are going to work as quickly as we can on this plan so that we can start bringing good jobs to that part of the County sooner rather than later.The Planning Board’s Draft Master Plan envisions the reorientation of the area’s shopping centers from the existing auto-dependent suburban model to a mixed-use area served by transit. Residents there have expressed a desire for expanded dining and shopping opportunities and more jobs closer to home.

The PHED Committee schedule regarding the White Oak Master Plan:

July 1 – Discussion of transportation issues
July 3 – Transportation issues, continued
July 7 – Discussion of land use issues
July 10 – Land use issues, continued
July 16 – Land use issues, continued

The full Council’s schedule regarding the White Oak Master Plan:

June 17 – Planning Board overview of the Draft Plan
July 22 – Full Council worksession
July 29 – Final vote

The meetings will be held at the Council Office Building at 100 Maryland Ave. in Rockville. They will be televised live on television or online by County Cable Montgomery (CCM—Cable Channel 6 on Comcast and RCN, Channel 30 on Verizon). The broadcast will be streamed at: www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council/ondemand/index.html. 

The September 2013 Planning Board Draft of the White Oak Science Gateway Master Plan can be viewed at:
http://www.montgomeryplanning.org/community/wosg/documents/PlanningBoardDraft_002.pdf.

The REVISED pages of the Planning Board Draft Master Plan (approved by the Board on December 19, 2013) can be viewed at:
http://www.montgomeryplanning.org/community/wosg/documents/attachment_1_masterplan_%20revised_pages_web.pdf.

The Planning Board's proposed amendments to the 2012-2016 Subdivision Staging Policy (approved by the County Council on November 13, 2012) that support recommendations in the Draft Master Plan can be viewed at:
http://www.montgomeryplanning.org/community/wosg/documents/attachment_2_proposed_SSP_amendmentsfinal.pdf.