Poole s Store Public Meeting Hosted by Montgomery County Department of Parks January 29, 2011 Up-county Regional Services Center

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1 Speaker/Organization (If known) Perry Kapsch, Historic Medley Poole s Store Public Meeting Hosted by Montgomery County Department of Parks January 29, 2011 Up-county Regional Services Center Public Comment Dialogue should exist between parks and permitting. Dialogue has been initiated. Parks Response P. Kapsch Have you done energy analysis? Suggest closing store up and doing heat analysis. P. Kapsch Will the historic use of the property be allowed to continue if the store is closed for six months? Has clock started ticking on this? Delores Milmoe, Audubon Naturalist Ag services/equipment should remain in the store; Society concern for Ag/equestrian services leaving Montgomery County No, we have not done analysis, but we are aware of energy loss. We are aware of the rule and will be certain to look into it. D. Milmoe, Audubon Naturalist Society Why did Allnutt sell to M NCPPC instead of private? Have you looked into alternatives to traditional septic, like sand mounds? Speaking also for Montgomery Countryside Alliance and SLC Interested in agricultural services and agricultural equipment we get complaints that agricultural services are leaving the county from equine communities and farmers. Also, have you 1 Unable to secure loans through insurance because of flood plain. Guy and Hilda Allnutt had health issues. Wanted it off his hands. Offered to state. State couldn t afford. Hurricane Agnes. State park program to buy all stream banks. If state couldn t afford, they asked county to buy. We are open to anything, but it is what the county permitting will allow on this site.have had trouble on other sites where there is no perc in Ag. Reserve getting DPS to approve sand mound.

2 Frank Cord, Darnestown Tom Guttierez, self and equestrian community Caroline Taylor, Montgomery Countryside Alliance Tom Kettler, lifetime resident of Poolesville, frequent customer, Past President of Poolesville COC, Past Chari of EDA, Chair of Historic considered that the house could be part of the incubator farm effort? Could be showcase for sustainable incubator methods. Believe Pooles should be thrown into the list for consideration because of location. Is it possible to use grinder and pump for sewage to an approved facility? First point need store to be feed source and general store. Second, the needs of the local community should take precedence over transient or museum uses. Third, the equestrian friendly atmosphere of the place should be maintained. Fourth proceed with due care in an open manner. This is a good start and should be maintained. Customer of Poole s Store and friend of family. Want to thank the Pooles. Want to thank the County. There has been much activity. Family continues to support the community. Hope Mr. Guttierez view becomes consensus. Mr. Day is a successful businessman. The feed operation is helpful. Hope he stays for the long term. Regarding perc., do you have to have a conventional system? Can you use a sand mound as well? Can you be creative, like we were at Sugarloaf. Look at the St. Paul s Community Church as a model. Regarding cost of project, there is a talented group of expert volunteers available for you to use in a public private partnership. Think the store use should continue. Multiple uses different folks. Home builder by trade. Darby Store, getting ready to move. I would much rather see dollars invested in going into an economic center 2 DPS says we cannot tie the store to the house septic to unfortunately, no. We will explore all avenues regarding perc/septic with DPS. Parks welcomes volunteers. Thank you. Parks has a stewardship obligation to continue Darby Store project separate from Poole s Store. M. Bradford explained that every community has its priorities, and that certain monies cannot be easily

3 Medley, multiple hats. Ann Brown Mary Kay Smith, Darnestown Dick Stoner, Peerless Rockville David Weitzer, dairy farmer and Ag. Adv. Committee Ann Sturm, Sugarloaf Citizens Association with services on the C&O Canal. Without Poole s, there is nothing between Great Falls and White s Ferry, which is only open seasonally. Without Poole s, leaves a hole in the network. Thanks for listening. Appreciate the complexity. Urge you to get in a use as quickly as possible. COC would support as would Historic Medley. Can store and house be handled as two separate issues? Could store be separate concern? Could there be a plan for the house and outbuildings in the RDT zoning, an incubator idea and could it be happening separately from solving store? Customer at Poole s. Master Gardener. Poole s was a source for seed for plants. They had exceptional variety, unusual perennials not found at a big box store. Other master gardeners came as well. Unique market. Could get seeds by the ounce, and just the right amount. Close to the experience my great grandparents would have had. Might be aware of a project we did at Chestnut Lodge called Frieda s Cottage in 2007/2008. Tons of volunteer time. People loved being part of project. Would prefer you take a different attitude [than focusing on constraints]. Citing Mr. Rupert, Lead dust is nothing to be afraid of; just don t eat it. Encapsulate it. Can you bifurcate the property? Use both the warehouse and the store. It is an integral set up. Part of the Ag. Reserve. Do not have too many agricultural stores. It is particularly needed in the western section of the county. At Linden Farm at the annual meeting there, they have a composting toilet. It is beautiful. 3 transferred. To a degree, yes and perhaps, yes. Depends on what comes in from the public as far as ideas, plus depends on septic, water, any other constraints such as designations like Rustic Roads Open to ideas. What would be the benefit? Now it is all public parkland.

4 Knight Kiplinger, neighbor. Environmental. Good alternative. Neighbor. Is house a candidate for curatorship program? Can the residents restore it and then get reduced or no rent? Historic. Albiol family. Seneca Mill. Positive part in region. Can you describe the sequence of proposals for the store? Would you receive and consider requests concurrently with what you are doing or would we wait until it is ready? Do you have other funding ideas, such as a Foundation? Would you consider exchange of rent of store in exchange for fixing it up? If landlord doesn t have money, but folks have money? Do you have staff in next six weeks to start fixing up the store? What is the timeline? When will you call for RFP or REOI? What does it take to bring building up to code? 4 We have had some experience with that, and it hasn t been all good, but we would be willing to entertain a proposal. We will be issuing a Request for Expression of Interest. Part of the submittal would include a business plan. If proposals are acceptable, then we would issue a Request for Proposals. Need to go back and evaluate proposals. Parks has a foundation. We can arrange a lease that allows for ramping the term up. In some cases, if tenants infuse money then they don t have to pay market lease. Facilities Management has 100 staff, but we have $660,000 in capital improvements that we are currently working on in the field. We would have to look at our Major Maintenance and Capital Improvement Projects and see where this would fit. Goal is to secure the building and make it structurally sound. Provide new security. Make sure heat is on to prevent further deterioration. We own 35,000 acres of parkland with 410 parks, 60 rental houses and we have a budget that is decreasing. We have no budget currently for this project. We are awaiting analysis by architect. We are talking to DPS on code issues and septic and well. We will prepare a document explaining the zoning, road frontage, building conditions, historic status, the same information we have provided today so that everyone has same information. For this meeting, we have brought core team who will help assess proposals. We can form a partnership in examination of proposals. Also willing to accept checks.

5 Peggy Perry Kapsch Perry Kapsch Suggest you start a website. Put up architect s findings. Prioritize things that must be done. Separate what should be done from what you would like to have, but is not necessary. List the building trades. Is staff in touch with Mike Dwyer (former Parks Historian)? What is model for what you are trying to do? Not sure you have a model. Would Woodlawn be a model? 5 Also are happy if there is a Friends Group of volunteers. We are interested in the long term management of the property that serves you as a community. Parks will post information on this site and progress on our website. Go to wwwmontgomeryparks.org. Yes. Yes, you could say Woodlawn is a model. Can you speak to site security? Park Police is monitoring site, have been policing for 25 years. Conducting a Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) survey. After we do survey, will re evaluate. Takes into account lighting, tree trimming, shrubs, etc. Think Parks should recognize this is a priority. More than Darby Store. Can you redirect money? Want to recap what has been said. The passion for this store doesn t surprise me. Poole s Store and the Ag. Reserve has a place beyond geographic confines. Purpose of the staff is to support the Master Plan, p. 11. Jeremy Criss. Farming productive land is being lost. This is a syndrome. There is a passion for a robust agricultural center. When you are prioritizing projects, take that into Each community has its priorities. You cannot necessarily redirect money. It depends where money comes from. Certain money comes from ICC, for example, and is very specific. Other historic properties are funded through a grant that only applies to that project. There are many high priorities. Looking for better, newer models for a commercial establishment. Try to cut through red tape.

6 Craig Rice, County Council account. Applaud the staff. This is an open process. We remain committed to Mary Bradford and the Department. We have a vested interest in Poole s Store. This is a benchmark of the agricultural community. We want the Ag. Reserve, as a farming community, to grow and thrive. Thank you. 6