20080511 Roads, property rights, recklessness, four letter words, reservoirs, and ruin by Kevin Dayhoff

Roads, property rights, recklessness, four letter words, reservoirs, and ruin

Long version of my Sunday Carroll Eagle column for Sunday, May 11, 2008

By Kevin Dayhoff (826 words)

Writer’s note: A shorter version of this column appears in the Sunday Carroll Eagle on May 11, 2008: Roads, reservoirs, property rights and four-letter words Below please find an earlier – longer draft of the column… KED

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Road construction and maintenance has always been a hot topic in Carroll County and recently, funding street maintenance is the cause of great concern for Westminster officials in the budget process.

History frequently mentions discussion of funding street maintenance in Westminster. In the Westminster municipal election of 1890 the issue that bitterly divided the community was the condition of the streets. Approximately 550 citizens voted in that election to decide whether or not the City should take out a bond for $25,000 for street improvements.

In another example, on April 27, 1927, an emergency bill was passed in the Maryland General Assembly that authorized Westminster “to borrow Seventy-five Thousand Dollars, to be secured by a bond issue… not exceeding four and one-half per cent… (to) be used and applied exclusively to the paving and improving of the streets, curbs, and gutters of the town…”

However, Governor Albert C. Ritchie vetoed it. 1927 was not a good year for Westminster in the Maryland legislature. Another bill passed by the legislature provided “for the extension of the (city) limits of Westminster.” It was also vetoed.

This leads me to a reader’s question from some time ago: why there are so many sharp curves on old county roads. The answer is that the roads went in between and around property lines. In days gone-by, agricultural fields and property rights were far more important than straightening out roads and using eminent domain was totally out of the question.

This brings to mind a question poised by a number of folks in the last several months: has Carroll County government ever used eminent domain in its history to acquire property?

The short answer is no – never. Eminent domain is a “four letter word” in Carroll County. Property rights have always been a sacred cow in Carroll County.

In days gone by, our county population was considerably smaller and we were a close-knit community; therefore government was always able to come to mutually agreeable terms when it came to projects involving the good of the greater community.

The long answer is that a number of years ago - in the only example of eminent domain even being discussed was a convoluted road right-of-way dispute in the southern part of the county. A solution was eventually found in which eminent domain was ultimately not used.

Recently, the term, eminent domain, has been used rather recklessly by folks that are obviously not aware of our history and traditions.

Which brings us to the anniversary of another reason eminent domain is so unpopular in Carroll County – Liberty Reservoir. One reader has asked whether or not Carroll County used eminent domain for Liberty Reservoir. Oh my goodness, what a sore subject. Again, the short answer is no – wrong government; that was Baltimore City.

On April 10, 1931, Governor Ritchie signed into law the “Legislative Act of the Patapsco River Basin,” which allowed Baltimore City to condemn and completely destroy the town of Oakland Mills in Carroll County. (Governor Ritchie must have really not liked Carroll County.)

Ill feelings about that legislation have long-since become a part of the “personality” of Carroll County. Diana Mills Scott has written an excellent account of the (horrible) “story of a Carroll County community lost to the waters of Liberty Reservoir,” for the Historical Society of Carroll County and our own Bob Allen wrote about it in the Jan. 6, 2008, edition of the Sunday Carroll Eagle ("Awash in History.")

The legislation said: “The City of Baltimore had complete authority to remove mills, factories, workshops, stores, farms, churches, graveyards, school houses, dwelling houses, out houses, or anything that hindered the updating of the Baltimore City water system.” (I’m not making this up.)

Salt is poured in the wound every time Carroll County government has to write a check to Baltimore City for Carroll County water made available by Liberty Dam(n).

Okay, now that we have got that little bit of unpleasant history behind us; last week’s Sunday Carroll Eagle history trivia question must have been much harder than I anticipated. I asked: “What American president made a whistle-stop appearance in Westminster on May 4, 1912?”

It was President Theodore Roosevelt. Only one person got it right. The person who got it right must be hiding in an undisclosed location with Vice-President Dick Cheney as they only identified themselves as “PATMD1950.” Another day – another mystery.

For this week's Sunday Carroll Eagle trivia question for the famed coffee mug, let’s try Civil War history. Who was the legendary Confederate cavalry commander, who was delayed on his way to the Battle of Gettysburg by “Corbit’s Charge,” as his unit came through Westminster on June 29, 1863. On this date in 1864, he was mortally wounding in Battle of Yellow Tavern in Virginia.

Think you know? Drop me a line at kdayhoff@carr.org, and I might just pull your name for the incredible coffee mug. And please put Sunday Carroll Eagle in the subject line. Thanks.

When he is not watching the History Channel with a big bowl of grits, Kevin Dayhoff can be reached at kdayhoff AT carr.org

Eminent domain Carroll County Commissioners

20080511 Roads, property rights, recklessness, four letter words, reservoirs, and ruin by Kevin Dayhoff