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Folk singer Peggy Seeger returns to Chevy Chase roots. A-10

The Gazette DAMASCUS | CLARKSBURG

DAILY UPDATES ONLINE www.gazette.net

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

25 cents

County OKs two new fire stations

Grappling greatness

Projects in Cabin John, Clarksburg, Glen Echo, Kensington and Rockville delayed

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BY

RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER

TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE

Damascus High School’s Mikey Macklin (top) claims the 113-pound championship over Chopticon’s Jarrett Arnold by a 5-4 decision on Saturday night in the Class 4A-3A state wrestling tournament at the University of Maryland’s Cole Field House in College Park.

Sports trainers prowl the sidelines County schools considering a second year for pilot program n

BY

LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER

Dr. Carter Mitchell said he was on the sideline of a high school football game this school year when a player was hit and fell to the ground. Mitchell ran out on the field with Becky Taylor, a certified athletic trainer assigned to Sherwood High School in Sandy Spring as part of a pilot program that started this year at

11 Montgomery County public high schools. “When I got out there, he couldn’t feel his legs or arms and couldn’t move his legs or arms,” said Mitchell, an orthopedic surgeon at MedStar Montgomery Medical Center in Olney who works closely with Taylor in the program. For Mitchell — who attends some Sherwood games with Taylor — the incident highlights the importance of having trainers at school games. “It’s having trained professionals on the sideline when they’re needed,” he said.

See TRAINERS, Page A-6

TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE

Becky Taylor, a certified athletic trainer with MedStar Sports Medicine, works Tuesday with a student at Sherwood High School in Sandy Spring.

Planning for new fire stations in Glenmont and White Flint will go ahead, while fire stations in several other Montgomery County communities will be delayed after a vote by the Montgomery County Council. The council voted 9-0 during a work session Tuesday to approve recommendations by its Public Safety Committee to move forward with planning for the two projects included in the Capital Improvements Plan submitted in January by County Executive Isiah Leggett, while agreeing with the committee’s recommendations to delay renovations to stations in Cabin John, Clarksburg, Glen Echo, Kensington and Rockville. A plan to create a schedule for replacing equipment for the county’s fire department also was deferred until more information becomes available about the county’s operating budget, again following the committee’s recommendation. The Glenmont project is budgeted for the $12.1 million in Leggett’s proposed capital plan, according to a county staff report. It would build a 19,150-square-foot fire station across the street from the old one at Randolph Road and Georgia Avenue to make room for an improvement to the intersection. Construction on the project is expected to begin in the fall, and the station is expected to open in early 2016. Crews from the station will work out of the former site of the Wheaton Rescue Squad facility on Grandview Avenue while the new station is built. Councilwoman Nancy Floreen (D-At Large) of Garrett Park

Child care, affordable housing eyed for capital projects This year marks first using assessments for affordable housing, child care in some projects n

BY

RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER

Should a day-care center be located in a fire station? Could affordable housing be built within a county library project? This budget year is the first in which county staff will evaluate certain capital spending projects to look at their viability for including affordable housing and child care. The changes stem from two 2013 council bills that took effect within the past year. The affordable housing law requires the county’s Office of Management and Budget to look at factors such as the feasibility of including affordable housing units in Capital Improvements Program projects such as libraries and firehouses, what impact a project would have on the supply of affordable housing in the area and what types of budget adjustments would have to be made to support it. Including affordable

See PROJECTS, Page A-6

See STATION, Page A-6

County asks state to pony up $12.3 million for its projects n

$3.5 million for Strathmore tops county’s wish list BY

KATE S. ALEXANDER STAFF WRITER

Money to expand The Music Center at Strathmore and renovate the Strathmore Mansion is among the 31 local funding requests Montgomery County lawmakers have asked of the state. Lawmakers annually ask the state to borrow money to help fund capital

projects in their district. The requests are known as “bond bills.” This year, state lawmakers from across the state have asked for about $40 million for projects in their districts. “It’s tough,” Sen. Roger Manno said. “We’ve got about one-third of that [to work with].” Only $15 million — $7.5 million in each chamber — is expected to be given to local projects in the fiscal 2015 capital budget that Gov. Martin J. O’Malley (D) proposed. Montgomery’s delegation has asked

for a total of about $12.3 million. The requests range from $60,000 for a Metropolitan Ballet Theater relocation and expansion to $3.5 million for the project at Strathmore in North Bethesda. Also on the list are $2.5 million for a new Silver Spring Volunteer Fire Station and $200,000 to restore the historic Seneca Store in Poolesville. Manno (D-Dist. 19) of Silver Spring said the county does not lobby collectively for any projects. Rather, each senator and each delegate generally pushes for the projects in the districts

SPORTS

BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW Five Montgomery County basketball teams advance to high school state semifinals.

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they represent. Lawmakers spent all day Saturday and Monday morning listening to requests. “It’s an open process and it’s a fair process,” Del. Craig J. Zucker said. “Each organization gets to come to Annapolis and demonstrate the need for their project. It’s a great opportunity for the state to help invest in the community.” Zucker (D-Dist. 14) of Brookeville said all of the Montgomery projects are connected to lawmakers making the requests, but the project at Strathmore

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is a priority for the county and “should be a priority for the state.” “I hope it gets the funding it needs to make the needed renovations,” he said. Members of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee and House Appropriations Committee will pick which projects to recommend for funding during the next few weeks as they finalize the capital budget. The budget then goes to the House and the Senate for votes. kalexander@gazette.net

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