The following is an email from a long-time resident of Oxford, Maryland. The resident has requested that their name be withheld. This email is the opinion of the writer. The email is not from the campaign of a candidate.
Dear Oxford Friends,
I am writing about the Commissioner Election a week from today, June 18th. I feel the town has made great progress since the last election and we need to keep up the momentum.
I am writing about two things: Annexation, and the Strand Project.
Oxford Growth and Annexation. If you had watched the Oxford Commissioners meeting on May 28th, you may come away with thinking Oxford is protected from and will not allow new growth outside the town limits. This may not be true. Some of my neighbors have been fighting against the development of one piece of property for over 24 years. If you watched the Commissioners Meeting back on April 22, 2022, you would have witnessed our old friend from "Lakeside", Bob Rauch, asking the commissioners what they thought about his development plan of some 25 homes on the "Rodney Spring" property. This property is adjacent to our water and wastewater plant. This was only two years ago.
After some discussion and our town manager briefly telling the commissioners about the property during the April 22, 2022 meeting, the Commissioners said they would get back to Mr. Rauch. Our Town Manager and Attorney mentioned they knew about the property, but we don't know if they ever got back to him. Three months later, Rauch wrote to Jimmy Jaramillo (former commissioner) on August 10, 2022, for information about the Wastewater Plant. Robert Rauch was now representing Talbot County. I do not know if his request was ever answered.
The Town has known about the "Spring" property years before our Town Manager was hired in 2012. The Commissioners had updated the Towns Growth Tier Plan in Nov. 2012, and sent it to the County and State at that time. It included the "Spring" property for future growth.
Last year, July 11, 2023, the Town Manager shared this 2012 tier map with the commissioners and said it would probably be included in the new Comprehensive Plan. This plan, SB236, shows the Rodney Spring property as Planned for Sewer and Water.
A new Oxford Tier map was created for the Comprehensive Plan, which Norm Bell heads, showing areas outside the town awaiting classification of Annexation. The final plan avoided the growth area completely. The Talbot County 2016 Comprehensive Plan shows the "Spring" property pinpointed for growth. Talbot County is also working on their new plan. The 2023 draft maps show the "Spring" property, slotted for Oxford Sewer and Water.See the two attached documents showing what I found documenting the history of this property.
The Strand Project. I don't feel the town should wait until Underwood, the Landscape company, finishes the job, like Norm wants to do. For instance, I met with our Town President at the Strand on April 9, 2024. I pointed out that Underwood was not following the approved plan showing a grass walkway along the road. We also discussed the access ramps. He thought the ramp entrance was going to be directly across from the parking lot. He left and Underwood completed the beach project two days later as we see it now.
The Strand project includes the raising of the road and parking lot, as noted at the town talk with Chris Becraft, partner of Underwood. He said, "We didn't respond to an erosion problem." "It wasn't really an erosion project, it was an elevation problem." The raising of the parking lot is another problem. Our Oxford neighbors in the Condo building next to it are seriously concerned. I believe the town needs an outside engineering consultation. The Underwood drawings were not done by a certified engineer. I believe the Strand needs attention now.
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