City seeks feedback online

‘‘[The plan] allows a resident to know what is planned in their neighborhood and in the rest of the city,” said Joe Adkins, deputy director of planning. ‘‘... For example, if you have a vacant lot next to you, you might want to know the plans for that lot in the future.”

In an effort to get the public’s input, the planning department has scheduled a public information session for Aug. 20 to discuss issues with city planners. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the city’s annex, at 140 W. Patrick St.

A session on July 23 occurred after The Gazette’s press time.

The department has also developed a 23-question online survey to solicit views and opinions for the plan as well as an interactive map. Both are available on the city’s Web site: www.cityoffrederick.com.

On the map, users can zoom in on parts of the city and place a ‘‘pin” on a location to post a comment about specific neighborhood issues, concerns or other information. Users can also click on existing ‘‘pins” to see other comments.

Computers will also be available at the Aug. 20 session for staff to guide residents in posting comments.

Both the survey and map are online and will be posted until the beginning of September.

‘‘We want citizen input on the city,” Adkins said. ‘‘This is a very cool way to do it ... We are taking local issues to a citywide level.”

Mayor W. Jeff Holtzinger (R) praised the department’s different ways to get the public involved early in the comprehensive planning process.

‘‘It’s a great idea,” the mayor said. ‘‘It is better to get involvement up front and not at the end, so we want as much input as we can get.”

Adkins said all of the information gathered from the public will be used by the city’s planning commission to recommend a plan for approval by the mayor and Board of Aldermen. The plan must be complete by October 2009.

State pitches in morefor sign initiative

The latest state grant to help fund new signs in the City of Frederick has brought the effort close to $1 million.

Kara Norman, executive director of the Downtown Frederick Partnership, said the agency was notified last week of a $100,000 grant from the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority, under the Maryland Historical Trust. Frederick qualified due to its inclusion in the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area.

Norman said the grant requires matching funds from the city and can only be used for pedestrian signs as part of the ‘‘wayfinding” project by the Downtown Frederick Partnership to create uniform and more consistent signs for visitors to the city in vehicles and on foot.

At a Feb. 21 meeting, Frederick’s Board of Aldermen supported the grant application fund to match any award. To date, the city has allocated $200,000 in the fiscal 2009 and 2010 for the signs project.

‘‘We are thrilled ... especially to get full funding for what we requested,” Norman said.

In addition to the most recent grant, the signage project has also received a grant of $150,000 from Preserve America, a national initiative supporting historic efforts, which was matched by $130,000 in city funds and $20,000 from the Tourism Council of Frederick County. Norman said the city plans to use money from its parking fund for that match as the signs will be used at city garages, including kiosks noting nearby walking locations.

The project was also recently awarded $12,000 from the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development’s Main Street Maryland program, $10,000 of which will support the signage and $2,000 for the hanging flower baskets downtown. That brings the total amount of the estimated $885,000 project to $810,000 in local funding.

Members of the partnership and the city have planned an update on the project before the Frederick Board of County Commissioners on Aug. 12.

Aldermen ‘greenlight’better building

Frederick’s Mayor and Board of Aldermen got a taste of how the rest of the world is going ‘‘green” and pledged support to add the city to that classification.

At a July 16 workshop, deputy director for planning Joe Adkins presented the group with national, state and regional ‘‘green initiatives” in building while being mindful of the environment, including various levels of certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program through the U.S. Green Building Council.

The examples included cities such as Austin, Texas and Portland, Ore., adopting legislation and a property tax credits in Baltimore County for varying levels of LEED certification.

The city has allocated $30,000 to help train staff in LEED initiatives and the board discussed future resolutions to encourage builders to think green when developing in the city.