Letters to the Editor
Does Rockhold Creek Need Another Jetty?
Dear Bay Weekly:
My family will be relocating to Tracy’s Landing in the Town Point Marina area of Rockhold Creek this summer. Our home has been in my husband’s family for close to 100 years; he and his siblings have been coming to this cottage since their births. I have been coming to this cottage since the birth of my first child nearly nine years ago and have always been struck by its beauty and peacefulness.
On this same creek, a multi-million dollar project to build a jetty has been proposed and is going forward with the Army Corps of Engineers. According to the Corps’ report, this jetty is being built to protect the local marinas and to prevent silting, which causes the creek to need to be dredged to accommodate boat traffic. However, after doing research on this proposed jetty project, homeowners in the area have raised serious questions as to the wisdom of this project.
Instead of protecting property in the creek, the proposed jetty may actually increase erosion to property behind the jetty, causing property owners to lose their land as well as causing other environmental damage. A scientist from Duke University has said that the jetty will actually increase, not decrease silting in the creek. Arizona Sen. John McCain has called the federal funding of this project “pork barrel legislation.”
Aside from the scientific errors in the Army Corps’ report, the report erroneously states that local property and marina owners support the jetty. Property owners in the vicinity of the proposed jetty are very opposed to it. The only strong supporter is a single marina owner with political ties to the local and federal officials who approved the project. Much of the original discussion about the jetty seems to have gone on in private meetings between this owner and the officials. Other marina owners have said that the jetty will not benefit their marinas.
It appears that this project is one that will cost taxpayers millions of dollars and local property owners their land. If the jetty brings a “boom” to the area, I will no longer be raising my children in the small quiet community I feel they deserve to grow up in.
— Tracie L. Tackett-Penrod, Charlottesville
Editor’s note: Read more in this week’s feature interview with Congressman Steny Hoyer.
Thinking Christmas in Tennessee
Dear Bay Weekly:
I’m from Carthage, Tennessee, and I am conducting a Christmas ornament exchange in which it is my hope to exchange a handmade Christmas ornament with someone from each of the 50 U.S. states. I would love to have the state of Maryland represented on my 2003 Christmas tree by someone in your area. Hope to hear from someone in Maryland soon.
— Teresa from Tennessee • www.geocities.com/christmasinjuly20012001
We welcome your letters and opinions. We will edit when necessary. Include your name, address and phone number for verification. Mail them to Bay Weekly, P.O. Box 358, Deale, MD 20751 • E-mail them to us at [email protected].
