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News

Inconsistencies in Candidate Answers on Transportation and Potomac Bridge

6/12/2018

 
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​Outer beltway through the Reserve! Keep your eyes open... Because. Shifting positions.
A tale of two surveys... check out candidates' positions on transportation projects. Seems that for some, the answer really depends on who is doing the asking...
Seriously...
Just reporting here. Up to voters but inconsistency makes our job to inform ourselves... hard.
MCA survey question regarding 2nd crossing/outer beltway support...
Candidate Gabe Albernoz "I do not support M83 or a second crossing."
Yet when Suburban Md Transportation Alliance asks him if he "supports studying the concept"... the answer: ✔️yes (see question 8)
Mind you SMTA offers only yes or no option to a strategically phrased question. But yes is an answer. And no is an answer that would have been consistent with the answer on the MCA survey. You can find all the survey results on Seventh State
MCA's Survey Results are here.  Other conflicting answers include Marilyn Balcombe who says "the bridge won't happen in my lifetime" still says she'd like to see it studied.

Early Voting starts June 14 for the MD Primary!
How/Where do I vote?

Don't Flush Ten Mile Creek Protections!

1/15/2015

 
by Kristina Bostick

​Sewer Plan Threatens Ten Mile Creek

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Important Sewer Meeting: Show your support for keeping sewers out of Ten Mile Creek by attending the first meeting of the Citizens Advisory Committee for the WSSC Clarksburg-Ten Mile Creek Sewer Study on Thursday, Feb 12th from 7-9pm.  The meeting will take place at the Montgomery County Government Upcounty Regional Services Center, Room A (12900 Middlebrook Road, Suite 1000, Germantown, Maryland 20874).  The public is invited to attend and there will be time at the end of the meeting for public comment.  Three board members of the Friends of Ten Mile Creek are on the Citizens Advisory Committee and we welcome you to attend and show your support.  And if you can't make this meeting, don't worry -- there will be others so please stay tuned.

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What's Happening with... Global Mission Mega Church?

11/24/2014

 
by Caroline Taylor
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2015 GMC Update: Our Attorney, Michele Rosenfeld, delivered oral argument before the Court of Special Appeals in early December 2014 in both of the ongoing legal challenges. The site plan approval challenge that MCA filed in partnership with Sugarloaf Citizens Association is strong and was favorably heard by the Appeals Court. The oral argument in the suit filed by community members involving the Church's required secondary access road bisecting residential property bound by long standing neighborhood covenants, also quite strong, was also heard.  We are waiting for opinions in both cases.  Awaiting decisions in both cases. Read on below..

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2014 Wrap Up

11/7/2014

 
by Kristina Bostick

What has MCA done for me lately? Well...

Our Shared Environmental Resources


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Supporting a Strong Ag Sector
Connecting New and Expanding Farmers with Land

​Strengthening the Producer Community with a  Listserve and Summits
Successfully Pushing for a New Farm Pilot Program
Proud Lead Organization of the Farming at Metro's Edge Conference
Supporting A proposed year-round daily farmers market in North Potomac 
Connecting farmers with new opportunities under the new County Zoning Code

Community
Producing "Growing Legacy"  film about the Reserve for students and the public
Creating an Ag Reserve Candidate Questionnaire/Voter Resource
Creating an Ag Education Pilot - 180 students reached so farHelping to Found the MoCo Food CouncilKeeping Monocacy Elementary Open

Zoning
No Commercial Recreation or Camps in the Ag Reserve
No Sewer Extension for Mega Churches
Battling Back Plans for Massive Cell Towers

Currently working on supporting new farm businesses and expansion of sourcing local farm products in County stores/restaurants.  We are pushing to add to our farmland inventory for the LandLink program.  Our education initiative has expanded and we are working with MC Farm Bureau to secure funding for mobile ag science lab for the use of the County's elementary schools.  How about that! Every elementary school student should have exposure to what farming is all about and why our Ag Reserve is so special.

​And the list goes on and on... help us add more victories to this list- join MCA - a yearly membership is just $25
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MC Planning Board Chair: 5 Applicants - 5 Resumes

5/27/2014

 
by Caroline Taylor

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What do Candidates think about the Ag Reserve? Voters Resource 

5/16/2014

 
by Kristina Bostick
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Council Final Vote Provides Improved Protection for Ten Mile Creek

4/1/2014

 
by Kristina Bostick
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Read More

The Potomac Bridge Crossing- Studying a Bad Idea, Again

3/25/2014

 
by Kristina Bostick
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Full Council Votes for Compromise Ten Mile Creek Protection Plan 

3/3/2014

 
by Kristina Bostick
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On Peterson and Clean Water "Controversy"

2/28/2014

 
by Kristina Bostick
An article on Peterson Co.'s project "drying up in response to clean water controversy" came out from the Post and has been picked up elsewhere

Read More

Clarksburg Town Hall Wrap-Up

2/27/2014

 
by Kristina Bostick
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Ten Mile Creek- We Are So Close- Contact the Council 

2/21/2014

 
by Kristina Bostick
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Last week, a joint committee of Councilmembers approved a plan that provides protection for fragile Ten Mile Creek and the Little Seneca Reservoir which it feeds (backup water supply for you, me and 4.3 Million in the DC area). Called the "6-15-15 solution" , the joint committee’s plan allows significant residential and commercial development within Clarksburg Stage 4, while setting strict limits on imperviousness, in order to limit future additional damage to Ten Mile Creek. More on the plan here. We support this compromise plan but mitigation criteria (ex- forested buffers to protect wetlands) are an essential addition to properly protect the water supply. A full Council vote that was slated for next week has now been delayed to March 4, among other efforts to derail the process.

​That's why we are asking, one more time, for you to contact the Council and get the job done. Click here for a sample email and Council contact info.

Who is "Give Clarksburg Its Due?" 

2/21/2014

 
by Kristina Bostick
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Read More

Ten Mile Creek- Council Takes Path of Increased Protection

2/12/2014

 
by Kristina Bostick
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Ten Mile Creek IS a Backup Drinking Water Source

1/14/2014

 
by Kristina Bostick
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UPDATE- A new study has shown that in the 2002 drought, around 25% of the Potomac's flow came from Little Seneca Reservoir and Ten Mile Creek. The idea that this is not a current and future water source for 4.3 Million doesn't...hold water.

In an email to supporters, Pulte Homes (one of a few developers looking to start projects in the sensitive Ten Mile Creek watershed)  said the following:

"The lake is not an emergency drinking water supply. It's a backup source of water for the Potomac River during times of severe drought. The Potomac is a drinking water source."

What? That is one serious linguistic shell game. Pulte is just one of a number of people that seem either legitimately or intentionally confused about the importance of the Little Seneca Reservoir and Ten Mile Creek.Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words- like this sign at the edge of the reservoir (again, the fact that its called a "reservoir" should give you a clue that the water is being held for later use):

Not only are the reservoir and Ten Mile Creek part of our back-up drinking water supply serving 4.3 million metro area residents, but the reservoir is checked every year to be sure it can still be called upon to supplement our water supply, as this alert from the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin to the County Exec and Council made clear this summer.  In fact, water from the Reservoir had to be  used for drought abatement in 1999, 2002 and 2010. The Commission also reports that droughts will be getting a lot more common.

So that's the Reservoir - what about Ten Mile Creek. When we say that Ten Mile Creek is the "Last, Best Stream" in the county, its not hyperbole. The creek is what is called a "reference" stream- a stream that is still pristine enough that we can compare degraded streams to it to see how bad off they are. As the first Council work session held yesterday showed, the draft planning board plan for development in the watershed would degrade Ten Mile Creek to the point that it will no longer be clean enough to serve as a reference- dirty just like the others. As one supporter asked, "can't we just have one clean creek?"So, how do we know that the proposed development will degrade the creek? Because the green parts on the right of the map below are not golf courses, that is the color of the water in our backup drinking water supply, as impacted by poorly planned development (click to see it bigger). Ten Mile Creek on the left, is still pristine and currently serves to dilute some of the degraded water. The point is- we have done this all before- the removal of forest cover, laying down impervious surface, and we can see the results.

We still have a pristine stream that serves 4.3 Million people and will only be more important in the future. The current proposals will impact our drinking water and that is why we are making so much noise.

​The Council will decide on this in February- make sure they hear from you now.

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Rally to Protect Ten Mile Creek - Jan. 27

1/1/2014

 
Join us on Monday, January 27 for a rally in advance of the Council Worksession on the Water Supply issues related to proposed development in Ten Mile Creek's watershed.

9am- The front steps of the Montgomery County Council Building: 100 Maryland Ave.  Rockville (google map)

​
Ten Mile Creek is part of the backup drinking water supply for 4.3 Million residents in the DC area.
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ABOUT US
What We Do
A Brief History
Board & AC
Staff & Volunteers
Contact
​​Buy MCA Gear
ABOUT Ag RESERVE
History of the Ag
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Threats to the Ag
​A Place with Purpose
NEWS
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Ride for the Reserve
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SUPPORT LOCAL
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COMMUNITY RESOURCES
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Montgomery Countryside Alliance
P.O Box 24, Poolesville, MD  20837
301-461-9831  •  ​info@mocoalliance.org
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MCA is proud to announce that we have been recognized for a third time as one of the best small charities in the D.C. region by Catalogue for Philanthropy: Greater Washington. A panel of 110 expert reviewers from area foundations, corporate giving programs, and peer non-profit organizations evaluated 270 applications.

​MCA is known as an effective and innovative non-profit whose efforts to preserve and promote Montgomery County’s nationally recognized 93,000 acre Ag Reserve have brought increased public and governmental support of local food production and farmland and open space preservation. Most importantly, MCA’s efforts are putting more farmers on the ground and keeping them there.
COPYRIGHT © MONTGOMERY COUNTRYSIDE ALLIANCE 2008