Call to Action: take a photo of an eroded streambank #isthiserosion

Water Reporter, a mobile app and online social network is proving useful to identify streams where planting, fencing, protection and cleanups help keep our streams clean. We need to know where there are eroded streambanks – and we need citizens to help. It’s easy. It’s important for wildlife, drinking water and flood control.  

MTC developer defies County Council decision

Take Action to Stop it!   There’s a new twist in the Monrovia Town Center development. As you recall in 2015, Frederick County Council sent the MTC proposal back to the Planning Commission to restart the project review process, a huge win for taxpayers who want transparency in government and sound planning based on facts. […]

12/3/15 7PM Elected officials to approve MOU between City and Marriott: its time to ask questions!

FoFC supports downtown development of a hotel and conference center.  But this Marriott Hotel project leaves many questions that need answers: What does the Historic Preservation Commission say about putting a Marriott big box hotel in our historic district? When was it determined that TIF would be part of the hotel financing, and how do we […]

Downtown hotel good. Big box hotel that draws from our quaint historic downtown bad.

We agree, a downtown hotel is very important for economic development, and Frederick City needs one. But why are City and County officials rallying around a 7 story big box Marriott that will block the view of the spires and dominate the Carroll Creek Promenade? Just because its easy? Agreements are moving fast.  Has anyone seen […]

Rock Creek sees another clean up!

Thanks to the Frederick City Evangelical Lutheran Church Youth Group and Middletown High’s  National Honor Society volunteers, Rock Creek is tons cleaner!  And they had such a great time they might make it a regular activity!

Monday 12/7 7pm Brunswick Fire House: Speak out on solid waste plan for county

SPEAK OUT ON FREDERICK COUNTY’S SOLID WASTE:  THE COUNTY NEEDS TO HEAR FROM CITIZENS WHO SUPPORT SMART OPTIONS! It’s simple to say what you want.  Read this Common Sense Frederick Solid Waste, to help you figure out what to say.  The incinerator is fortunately no longer an option – so now is our chance to “zero […]

FNP Green Voices: Are pesticides safe?

Article written by Ellis Burruss, a Friends of Frederick County board member, owner of Bellwether Printing, and on the Brunswick City Council.   If pesticides are safe, why has Montgomery County imposed a ban on cosmetic pesticides on private lawns and certain county lands?  Read on.

So, the future is up to us…

Article printed in the Frederick News Post 5/15/15 Imagine a movie. Prologue: For eons, Native Americans call the Monocacy Valley home, then Europeans settle into this fertile pocket they call Frederick County. From the 1750s onward, the blood, sweat and ingenuity of farmers, iron workers, slaves, lumberjacks, bankers, merchants and carpenters builds Frederick into a […]

6/04/15 FoFC weighs in on ethics in Frederick County

At the recent June 4, 2015 Ethics Task Force meeting FoFC submitted recommendations and considerations on the following topics under discussion by the Ethics Task Force: Conflict of Interest Code of Conduct Independent Ethics Commission Investigative Powers Enforcement Lobbying Provisions Campaign Finance and Public Ethics Law (and Ex parte) Financial Disclosure Ethics Education Read FoFC’s […]

Monrovia Town Center and the Remand Order

When things do not seem to make sense, something usually is amiss. Land Use Attorney, Michele Rosenfeld, offers the essence of the remand order in her letter to County Council President, Bud Otis. Her letter helps to clarify the importance of looking at all the facts and understanding the importance of the administrative record. Attorney Rosenfeld, […]