Columns

At the Carroll County supervisors’ meeting Sept. 8, The Gazette’s reporter asked for more accountability in county meetings involving closed sessions.

Carroll officials have heard concerns about this topic before.

Citizen Mike Goldwasser has made appearances as recently as this month before the Carroll supervisors and the Industrial Development Authority to share public misgivings about use of closed sessions and the lack of public hearings in regard to disposition of county land.

Not all of us are fortunate enough to live in neighborhoods free of crime and drugs. Some of us are from places where drugs are sold on playgrounds or church parking lots.

Many of those who grew up in places like that choose to stay, instead of fleeing to a safer suburb. Many are law-abiding citizens who feel a sense of responsibility to set good examples for youth and try to clean up their neighborhoods from the inside.

In an age where people are looking for alternative ways of doing things, the self-help program seems like an inexpensive and practical way to get smaller water projects done in Carroll County.

The cost of everything is shooting through the roof, not the least of which is construction-related efforts.

The rise in gas prices makes it more expensive to run equipment and ship materials on any construction work, but Carroll County Public Service Authority and community members have apparently found a way around that by using the self-help program for Happy Hollow Road.

As I sit here on Main Street in Fries, I can’t help but feel patriotic pride. This is truly small town USA, the kind of a town we read about in National Geographic that observes Independence Day with old-fashioned patriotic spirit.

I am sitting in the parking lot of Fries Baptist Church, across the street from the Fries Middle School, the home of the Wildcats. There is a PA system playing patriotic songs. I can observe people that already line the street a half-hour prior to the parade.