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Tuesday night's Oxford Town Meeting was emotional and high charged. There were many topics, short term rentals, parking in town, arsenic removal from the town's water etc. Let's take an informal poll. If you had these problems in your town, which ones would you consider most serious, would you get emotional about and would you invest your time speaking about in public?
- Short term rentals
- Parking
- Flooding
- Lawn Waste Pickup
- Arsenic Removal at the Water Treatment Plant
Most normal people would say it's a close call between #3 and #5. #2 might come in as a close third.
However, if you were at the Oxford Town Meeting Tuesday, August 11th, you would notice that a majority of the time was spent on number 4, lawn waste pickup. It's quite an interesting event watching citizens stand up to the microphone and passionately and some, angrily, speak about lawn waste pickup and why it needs to be done two times a month every month of the year. Some wanted more than that.
We're talking about picking up leaves, sticks, and twigs.
The fact that the town paused pickup for two months in the summer in order for the maintenance crew to install new water meters and flood protection and then contracted with a local lawn service to do six pickups in the Fall, pushed some townspeople over the edge. How dare the town force a population of fairly high-income homeowners to either collect yard waste themselves or pay a lawn service approximately $35.00 to do so?
During the litany of speeches regarding the issue, one resident demanded that the maintenance crew come speak to the residents directly and tell him what they think about the issue. When town manager Holly Wahl attempted to speak about that, he shouted at her, "I don't want to hear from you." Nothing short of a congressional type of cross examination of the maintenance crew would satisfy him.
Stream Video - Town Hall Streams- This exchange can be found at around 1 hour twenty-three minutes
Another person got up and quoted incorrect facts regarding pickup for towns in the area. (We have provided a link to an article with correct information in our addendum) When the President of the Commission told him his time (three minutes) was up he seemed shocked that he should be held to three minutes like everyone else and said, "wow!" Then, when he was reminded that his time was up, he responded in a stern tone, "And so is yours!"
Stream Video - Town Hall Streams - This exchange begins around 1 hour fifteen minutes.
The pitchforks and torches were on display while the topic of yard waste was discussed.
Common sense did prevail will the last speaker, Will Cawley, who reminded people that property owners need to take pride in their own properties and be good neighbors. Oxford is his hometown. For that reason, he stated that maybe he has "different eyes" when he rides around town. Trash piled on the curb, trash cans left out, etc. bothers him. He and his family recently volunteered and picked up yard waste for the entire town in a gesture of good will. He loves Oxford and always has.
Stream Video - Town Hall Streams- This exchange was at 1 hour thirty-one minutes.
Most of the people who spoke were much more respectful than the first two we showed you. We don't doubt that you care about this, but it is a two-month pause!
After he spoke, the people complaining about yard waste cleared out. There were additional topics but those topics were flooding and arsenic in the water supply. Meh. Who cares?
This is where we are in Oxford after gross negligence and incompetence from 2012 to 2025. The list of endless problems the town has had because of the prior administration is staggering. Evidence of these problems turn up every day as the current office staff finds sloppy record keeping, permitting issues with incorrect or missing permits, improper monitoring of grant funded projects, blatant disregard of various laws, ordinances etc. on the books, wasteful spending and lack of consideration for the upkeep of critical infrastructure in the town.
Financial budgets were merely a "suggestion" and now the town is being asked to maintain a level of service that has drained the coffers. Free water for certain businesses, cushy leases for others, free paving of driveways for a private business, and an implied waste pickup service for lawn contractors.
Now that staff wants to follow the rules, those who had their way for twelve years are not happy. How dare they try to follow an ethical standard and the core principles of good town governance!
Unfortunately, the chickens have come home to roost and tough decisions need to be made. Personally, I'll take a little buildup of yard waste on my property if I can keep my house dry and drinking water uncontaminated.
Arsenic Removal
Perhaps people weren't listening when the town manager talked about the failure to remove arsenic from our drinking water in a responsible, consistent manner since 2012.
Here are the facts:
Arsenic in drinking water is dangerous because inorganic arsenic is a highly toxic, carcinogenic contaminant that accumulates in the body over time and can damage multiple organ systems. It's presence in the town drinking water is consistently monitored and when the levels are too high, the town quickly deals with it.
Some of the key problems with chronic exposure of arsenic in water are skin lesions, pigmentation changes, cancers of the bladder, lung, liver, skin, prostate, and pancreas, cardiovascular disease including heart attacks, diabetes and metabolic dysfunction.
Inorganic arsenic, (found in groundwater) is far more dangerous than organic arsenic found in seafood. It is odorless and tasteless so it can be consumed without knowing. Ground water sources like private wells and rural aquifers are at the highest risk of arsenic contamination.
Oxford is at risk because we use wells for our water supply and we are near farmland which may use pesticides.
In order to keep arsenic out of our water supply as much as possible, the treatment plant uses granular Bayoxide® E33 media to filter arsenic out of the water. It is consistently backwashed to remove accumulated arsenic in the media. However, this media deteriorates over time, and it must be replaced. It is supposed to be replaced every two to seven years. Oxford's hasn't been replaced since 2012.
That's not to say that the town hasn't done anything to clear arsenic out of the system. They backwash the media, but that takes considerable amounts of time, energy and money and it's not a permanent solution. The town monitors arsenic levels consistently. However, replacement of the media every two to seven years is the recommended and best way to keep levels down and water safe. Replacement costs money and somehow that money was never spent on that critical safeguard.
Here are the facts from the Oxford administration about arsenic removal at the Oxford wastewater treatment plant:
The Town of Oxford treats the Town’s water supply for arsenic removal. The Town utilizes
Bayoxide media treatment, which is an absorption process used to remove arsenic from drinking
water. The media consists of granular ferric oxide with a high surface area that selectively binds
dissolved arsenic as water passes through the treatment vessel. This process is highly effective
for removing arsenic. The treatment system requires periodic backwashing, when applicable, to
maintain proper flow and prevent media compaction. Over time, the media becomes saturated
with arsenic and must be replaced to maintain treatment effectiveness. Replacement frequency
depends on influent arsenic concentration, water chemistry, and water usage.
The Town replaced the media in 2012. Standards show that the media should be replaced
anywhere from 2-7 years.
The cost of doing that? The proposal accepted will be for $72,000. The other proposals and more information is in this document from Tuesday's meeting:
POlice coverage
Before the town meeting discussion on yard waste, Lt. JR Dobson gave the Sheriff's Office report. During his report, Dobson reminded citizens that the Sheriff's Office does not handle infractions of Oxford specific laws such as leash laws, dog waste pickup, etc.
As usual, many in the crowd only heard the part of that conversation that they wanted to hear and immediately ran to another local news outlet to spread misinformation regarding the enforcement priorities and duties of the Talbot County Sheriff's Office. They told everyone that the Sheriff's Office wouldn't enforce laws in Oxford.
We spoke to Sheriff Joe Gamble this morning to address this misinformation. Gamble told us that the Sheriff's Office can and will write citations for ANY violation of the Maryland Transportation Code, Maryland Transportation Code (2025) :: 2025 Maryland Code :: U.S. Codes and Statutes :: U.S. Law :: Justia or the Maryland Criminal Code Gateway to Maryland Law | Maryland Courts that occurs in Oxford or elsewhere in their jurisdiction. This would include, but is not limited to, speeding, drunk driving, reckless driving, disturbing the peace, illegal parking, as well as any other infraction of state law. These citations go to district court and perpetrators pay state fines.
The Talbot County Sheriff's Department does not write citations for ordinances that are strictly in Oxford regarding leash laws, dog waste pickup, trash infractions, etc. unless they violate laws in the State Codes.
To a small group of people, this is a problem.
Here is the copy of part of Lt. Dobson's Report:
Quite frankly, is dog, poop and trash patrol what we want the deputies to do? I prefer they spend their time patrolling the town for actual crimes and safety issues like they are now.
If you think about it, we are currently paying about $310,000 for police coverage under the MOU with the Talbot County Sheriff's Office. Having an Oxford police force of three including LEOPS would be about $800,000. Do we really want to spend tax dollars of an additional $500,000 a year for officers who can also cite leash laws, poop pickup, etc.? I don't. If we really want to enforce those issues, we could pay a code enforcement person an hourly wage for a few hours a week.
But, then again, the same people who are upset about this are angry about yard waste but seem oblivious to arsenic in the water supply and flooding in certain parts of town, particularly if their homes aren't the ones being flooded. They can't even acknowledge that the current Commissioners and Town Manager are fixing 12 years of mistakes and incompetence.
ADDENDUM: Includes a fact check about what other towns do. It's not important what other towns do if Oxford can't afford that. It's like being a kid and wanting the same expensive bike your friends, but your family can't afford it. You're not getting that expensive bike: Oxford Trade Off: Flood Prevention Vs. Yard Waste Removal - The Easton Gazette
Additional Information:
Mad At A Local Official? Watch What You Say - The Easton Gazette
