Podickory Point Community Association
Waterway Improvements Committee
2006 - 2007 Chairperson - Ginny Jones
Jeff Wilson and George Gauniel
Charter
In accordance with Podickory Point Community Association Bylaws Article XI, Paragraph 1(c), this Adhoc Action Committe is approved by the President of the Association, as follows: In an effort to foster and maintain the valuable navigable waterway resource of Podickory Creek and to best serve the preservation of the property values for the entire community, this Committee is charged to research all alternatives and opportunities to obtain deep water dredging for Podickory Creek and to obtain the best possible consideration from public sector funding for this action through State and Local Waterway Improvement Grants and low interest or no interest loans. All inquiries to obtain such information and project consideration may be made under the authority of the Podickory Point Community Association as the current Waterway Improvements Committee.
Announcements
February 22, 2006 Written Request by Letter under PPCA letterhead made to AA Co. DPW for Feasibility for Dredging Podickory Creek Report. This current request for consideration by the County DPW for Waterway Improvements Fund dredging is for the entire creek.
Contact made with Nancy Heagarty at AACo DPW. Nancy has affirmed that no file is open on Podickory Creek dredging in the County Waterway Improvements system. It was not on any list for consideration for County dredging. This process only begins, to obtain consideration in the County Waterway Improvements Fund list, at such time as someone makes a request and shows interest. Therefore, the current belief among many PPCA members that this creek is on a County rotation list for dredging is unfounded. Such a thing does not exist.
The PPCA request is now confirmed with a local gov't sponsor (AACo. DPW) request to Maryland DNR for the Dredging Feasibility Report to be completed. DPW tells Ginny this can take 4 to 6 months until the report is in hand from DNR. However, the County Executive takes the report prepared by DNR and at that time determines where to spend the dredging funding the County has available, or how to use grant funds that may come to the county from the State funding in matching grant, etc. The decision to recommend the creek in the FY budget or not, is determined by the Anne Arundel County Executive. (DNR will be coming into the creek and taking soundings on upper and lower creek and will be looking over the shoreline conditions.)
The State has allocated for 2006 some $4.7 million over prior years $1.5 million to (WIF) Waterway Improvement Funds. The County Executive Janet Owens is still working on obtaining more funding for future. budgets. But her tenure is over in November 2007 with election of new County Executive.
Meetings
The decision was made by the upper creek group of 10 homeowners represented at March 19, 2006 meeting at the home of Alan & Carol Brocious, to get a 3rd quote from Dissen and Juhn for coming back in the fall 2006 or in Spring 2007. They are the most natural choice since they are in the PPYC Marina channel each Spring. This will give homeowners time to put private financing in place.
An MDE application for private dredging permit will be made jointly for the lower creek by Ginny & Bill Jones and Kerry & Jeff Wilson.
General Information
March 16, 2006 Ginny Jones received historical documentation from Bob Conover regarding the prior dredging history of the lower creek and the alterations to the bulkhead. There have been maintenance dredging permits and activity nearly every 10 years since the late 1970s. There is evidence that in 1977-1978 there was a major culvert alteration beneath Tydings Road to drain the pond in the Corcoran Woods Environmental Study. This tract is administered by the Sandy Point State Park and is under the larger scope of DNR authority. Over the following 10 years, siltation caused by this restructuring and enlargement of the drainage to de-water Corcoran Woods has cost Bob Conover his waterfront, which was 70 feet and 4.5 ft. MLW in 1970. There is evidence that it is continuing as a major cause of circumstances killing our creek today. It was difficult for Conover to get assistance from either State or County officials to address this problem in the late 1980’s, because he felt at the time that neither government body would say they were responsible for the enlargement made in the culvert underneath Tydings Road. He was finally able to obtain County DPW help in re-doing the bulkhead to hold back the drainage siltation up creek from his property, but at great personal expense in conjunction with that work.
It is recommended that the PPCA position with DNR is that we need desperate help to resolve the consequences of this action. This surely was never intended to kill Podickory Creek but was meant to be a conservation action to de-water Corcoran Woods Environmental Tract.
Join Us
December 2006: UPDATE
The permit for dredging for the southern branch of Podickory Creek has been granted to The Joneses and The Wilson's. They will beging to actively solicit financial participation of the other 4 property owners along the southern creek branch. If the financial participation can be gained from the other 4 owners then a Spring 2007 project could be underway. This project would follow the April 2007 dredging of the north branch of the creek.
Contact Us
Any questions or concerns may be directed to Ginny Jones via email at the address below.
Email Us
vkjones703@comcast.net
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