What’s Open And Closed From The City And County [Updated]

Jenny Kimball from the City of Rockville was kind enough to send along some helpful information and official closings.

Clean up:

Downed trees should be reported to 240-314-8700.

Crews will pick up yard waste all week, including branches if they have been dragged to the curb. Crews will not come onto private property to pick up branches or other debris.

Recycling and refuse will be picked up on a normal schedule, although the trucks may be running late because of the expected large volume of yard waste.

Closings:

Update: You might not expect it because it’s outside but the RedGate Municipal Golf Course is closed.

Senior Center is closed.

Swim center is closed.

Civic center and all related facilities are closed (Croyden Creek Nature Center, F. Scott Fitzgerald Theater, Glenview Mansion and the Climbing Gym).

All camps and playground programs are closed.

Open!

Recreation Centers will be open on their normal schedule and open as cooling centers.
Twinbrook - 6:00 a.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Thomas Farm – 6:00 a.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Lincoln Park - 9:00 a.m. – 9:30 p.m.

Just added:
Elwood Smith - 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Montrose - 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Parents are asked to register their children when they drop them off, so they have emergency contact info.

Richard Montgomery High School will be open as a special needs shelter. People should call 311 for more information.

Also, the Drive for Supplies at Richard Montgomery High School is on today.

Montgomery County has also announced their closings:

The Bauer Drive Recreation Center along with all the other Montgomery County Recreation facilities are closed today (except for the Upper County Neighborhood, Germantown, East County Neighborhood and Marilyn J. Praisner Community Recreation Centers.)

If you want to go to the pool, the Germantown Indoor and Olney Swim Centers are open.

All other sites Montgomery County sites are closed, including the main administrative office.

All summer camps, summer fun centers and Recreation summer classes are cancelled for today

The Montgomery College Rockville campus will be closed today. (Takoma Park and Germantown campuses will be open.)

Due to storm related power outage at 255 Rockville Pike, the Occupational Medical Service (OMS) unit is closed today. All appointments are cancelled and will be rescheduled at a later date.

Remember:

When signals are out, residents should treat them as 4-way stops.
Water restrictions are still in place.

Most Rockville Cooling Centers Open Today

We have just heard from Rockville’s Recreation and Parks director, Burt Hall, who let us know that these cooling centers are open: Lincoln Park, Thomas Farm, and Twinbrook. Richard Montgomery High School is operating as a “special needs shelter” staffed by the Red Cross.

If necessary, the City can open the Senior Center and other buildings as cooling centers too.

No Activities In MCPS Buildings 7/26/10 [Updated] County and City Camps Closed

Ho boy! All activities in MCPS buildings are canceled on Monday, July 26, 2010 due to widespread power outages. This includes all academic programs, summer camps, recreation programs and summer meals.

Update: “All Montgomery County Parks and Recreation programs are cancelled for tomorrow, Monday, July 26, including, classes, camps and activities.”

Update: “The City of Rockville has canceled all summer camps and summer playgrounds, including Croydon Creek Nature Center camps, for Monday, July 26. A decision about Tuesday camps and playgrounds will be made Monday. For questions about camps, call 240-314-8620 during normal business hours Monday. For recorded information and updates, call 240-314-5023.”

Parents will be scrambling tomorrow — just like on a snow day.

Here’s a map of the Pepco power outages from their website:

Another Update: Montgomery County is reporting:

Power is out to more than 200,000 Pepco customers in Montgomery County and left nearly a third of the County’s traffic signals without power. A number of trees throughout the County are down, some closing roads. Pepco has indicated this will be a “multi-day restoration”.

This is how Pepco prioritizes:

In the event our system is damaged by severe weather, Pepco repairs equipment which will restore the largest numbers of customers first. Generally, the sequence is as follows:

Downed live wires or potentially life-threatening situations and public health and safety facilities without power.
Transmission lines serving thousands of customers.
Substation equipment.
Main distribution lines serving large numbers of customers.
Secondary lines serving neighborhoods.
Service lines to individual homes and businesses.

Mandatory Water Use Restrictions For All of Rockville

Usually when WSSC issues water restrictions it only concerns some Rockville residents, mostly in King Farm. However, as the City Manager reported last Monday, the City of Rockville is currently getting its water supply from WSSC so City of Rockville customers must also conserve.

Effective immediately WSSC is issuing Mandatory Water Restrictions for Prince George’s and Montgomery counties until further notice.

It is imperative that all business and residential customers:

Stop all outside water use – no watering lawns, no washing cars, no topping off swimming pools

Use water only as necessary – i.e., shorter showers and turn off faucets after washing hands

Limit flushing toilets (do not flush after every use)

Limit using washing machines and dishwashers (wash full loads only)

These mandatory water restrictions apply to all WSSC customers, residential and business, in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties.

The water main, which connects Rockville’s Water Treatment Plant (WTP) to Rockville’s water customers, has been out of service since July 12 due to the water main breaks on July 7th and 12th. The Department of Public Works is working to find the problem and have the pipes repaired.

This has been some summer with both WSSC and Rockville experiencing major water delivery problems!

Sunday Storm Rips Through Rockville (UPDATE)

A very powerful storm plowed through Rockville about 3:30 Sunday afternoon, accompanied by brief, torrential rains, high winds, lightning, and a tornado warning for Montgomery County.

While brief, the storm caused damage throughout Rockville, from Lincoln Park to the West End. Power was out for much of Rockville. Downed trees and limbs crushed fences, blocked roads and, in at least one case, crushed a vehicle.

[UPDATE:] MD-28 was blocked in both directions at Thomas Street by a tree that fell completely across this main thoroughfare into Town Center:

[UPDATE:] The City of Rockville reported that it lost power. “The powerful line of storms also knocked out power to the Rockville Swim and Fitness Center,” according to a City press release, “and to traffic signals along Routes 28 and 355 and elsewhere in the city. In addition to the power outages, the severe storms downed numerous trees throughout the city.”

This tree, at the intersection of N. Van Buren St. and W. Montgomery, fell forward into the street and crushed a vehicle:

In Lincoln Park, Rockville Central reader Cheryl Kagan called to report a downed tree that had brought down power lines and caused a great deal of damage.

While the effect of the storm was to cool temperatures slightly, authorities said that a heat warning remained in effect until 8pm. Monday’s highs are expected to be in the 80′s, and less humidity is expected.

As an aside, when I called Pepco to report my home’s power outage, the recording that acknowledged the report told me they expect power to be restored by September 10, at 1pm. Here’s hoping it doesn’t take that long. (In fact, I am told the message is due to a backup in the computer system. As crews assess damage we should get a better picture.)

If you had damage from the storm, please let us know in the comments.

Tour Deep Into The New Courthouse Construction

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The new District Courthouse under construction at Rt. 28 and Maryland Avenue towers over the surrounding buildings. Since I live right off Maryland Avenue and pass the bustling site regularly, I jumped at the chance to see this state-of-the-art building before its completion. Mostly curious but also just plain nosy, I’m wanted to witness the hard work that goes into making a building from the inside. I’m sure we’ve all noticed it from the outside. How could you not?

Here’s a look on the inside along with some terrific views of Rockville:

Aileen Klein and City staffer Rocio Estrada helped Trapper Martin arrange the tour for the Town Center Action Team (TCAT). Carl Fox from the Department of General Services was the main tour guide explaining the safety concerns and building features. Our instructions were to look down even when you were looking up since debris is standard on a construction site. There are no elevators so our group walked up the stairs then crossed the floors to the other side. With temperatures in the 90’s and long pants with boots, this was one hot excursion.

The contract completion date is December 4, 2010. However, in mid-June the schedule was 15 days behind due to the snow last winter. There are also about $200,000 worth of change orders. Between 125-170 workers are on the site daily and that number will increase when the interior work starts. After the building is completed, it will take another month to furnish the 165,000 square foot structure. Mr. Fox said he would be happy if it was done by his birthday so we had to ask the date. February 1st. So, my unofficial guess for an actual “in business” date would be sometime in March, but construction always takes longer than the longest guess.

The project is on budget. The bid was competitive not lowest-bid, but Coakley Williams Construction wound up being the most qualified and they made the lowest bid. This brought the project in substantially below the amount expected and even with a contingency fund, money was given back to the State coffers.

Here’s the basic layout of the new building.

Security gates on Vinson Street will give access to the driveway down to the garage entrances for prisoners, judges, and administrators. Prisoners will be taken into two garage entrances next to a special door for the judges who have their own underground parking (23 spots) and private elevators to the floors with courtrooms and the clerk’s office. Cameras and electronic security blocks will be used for this area including a separate loading dock for deliveries. Prisoners will enter the building then immediately go to a caged area with 11 holding cells. The prisoner elevators will also have cages built inside so there is no way someone could get out.

The main entrance on Rt. 28 will serve everyone else entering the courthouse with metal detectors and a complete security system. The three-story windowed atrium will have three-glass door entrances. The exterior is limestone from Arkansas and black granite.

If you’re curious about the two-story section of the building jutting out to the street, the first floor will be used for building services and the public defenders’ offices while the second floor holds the clerk of the courts, high-density file storage, and the cashier (for paying fines).

The courtrooms will be on the 3rd, 4th and 5th floors. One section of the 4th floor will be a multi-purpose room. The bowed ceilings being installed will absorb sound so that when the double doors to the courtrooms are closed, they will be soundproof. No one will be able to listen at the door.

The judges chambers face City Hall to the south and the courtrooms are in the interior of the building without windows. Each of the judges’ chambers will have a closet and bathroom with a sink.

We all hoped we will never have to come to the courthouse on business, but we sure enjoyed the tour. The high-up views were exhilarating without windows or walls. I felt like I was perched on a cliff. Everyone thought the time was well-spent. We’ll always know what’s behind the walls of the courthouse.

Rockville Central Website Changes This Weekend

Dear Rockville Central readers:We are aware that in recent weeks many of you have been getting error messages when you try to post comments, read articles, or generally interact with the site. This weekend we are planning to move the entire site to a new webhost provider (Dreamhost, for those who are interested in such things).It’s not as simple as just dragging a few files from one folder to another, so we hesitated to do this, but we feel it’s necessary. We’ve been developing the new site all this week, and plan to “flip the switch” over the weekend. It is possible, but unlikely, that we will have a short period of downtime as that happens. Just a heads-up!The look and feel of the new site will be the same, and the address will still be >http://rockvillecentral.com as it always is. Please let us know if you notice problems.

The only real change you may notice is that, for those articles you have signed up to receive comments on, you won’t be signed up anymore. We are not able to transfer that portion of the database. Moving forward, though, you will be able to subscribe to comment emails as before.

Thanks for your ongoing support!

Weekend to Weekend Pick 7-22-10: Wine At The Farmers Markets

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This week’s W2W Pick is all about vino. Two Maryland wineries will offer samples and sell wine at select Saturday Farmers Markets. Your first opportunity will be July 31, 2010.

Recently Max van Balgooy wrote an article Fresh And Local Farmer’s Markets for Rockville Living and he emphasized the diversity of selection at our local farmers’ markets:

If you think Farmers’ Markets are just tomatoes and squash, think again. In recent years they’ve expanded to include all sorts of things that can be grown or eaten: flowers, plants, bread, pastries, cheese, meat, sausages, honey, and even chocolates. Because much of this is produced locally by individual businesses, you find things not available in regular stores.

Well, with the addition of wine, it’s getting even more diverse! Here are the three special dates when you can actually purchase wine from local vineyards.

July 31st

Elk Run Vineyards, located in Frederick County, uses “research and technology while retaining traditions and values to produce quality wine from quality grapes.”

August 14th and 21st

Frederick Cellars, located in historic Frederick “operates two vineyards in distinctive growing areas of Maryland, including Mountain Creek Vineyards in southwestern Frederick County and Harness Creek Vineyards in Anne Arundel County. Frederick Cellars has been producing award-winning wines for more than a decade.”

Farmers Market Info

The Rockville Farmers Market takes place every Saturday from 9 AM till 1 PM in the parking lot at the intersection of Route 28 and Monroe Street in downtown Rockville. The Saturday Market will operate through November 20th.

During the past three years, I’ve often highlighted events in and around Rockville. For a year and a half I researched and wrote the Weekend to Weekend listing of all the happenings in Rockville before we asked Helen Triolo at Rockville Living to automate the process and encouraged everyone to post event announcements on her wonderful calendar. For a while I picked the best of the week to highlight here on Rockville Central. Now I’m back at it again with the W2W Pick.

Police Seek Help Locating Rockville Woman

The Rockville City Police Department is asking our help in locating a Rockville woman. Here’s some info from the City’s Press Release:

Lidia Labat, age 43, of the 1100 block of Agnew Street, was last seen on June 23 in the area of Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, located at 9901 Medical Center Drive in Rockville. She is described as a Hispanic female, 5 feet 4 inches tall, 140 pounds, with short brown hair and brown eyes.

Labat’s family reported her missing on July 17. She is known to frequent areas in Aspen Hill and Olde Towne Gaithersburg.

Anyone who has information about Lidia Labat’s whereabouts is asked to call the Rockville City Police Department at 240-314-8900.

Rockville Police: Lock Your Cars!

>We received this note from Rockville Central friend Lt. Eric Over of the Rockville Police Department. It’s focused on recent thefts from vehicles in the West End, but it’s good advice for folks who live all through town:

Over the past few weeks our police department has noticed an increase in theft from autos around the West End, specifically around Mannakee Street and extending in all directions into the neighborhoods. Most recently victims reported the glove boxes of their cars had been rummaged through and golf clubs taken from another vehicle.

We kindly ask that everyone remain vigilant about locking their car doors and keeping valuables out of sight, or out of their cars. Additionally, we kindly ask that everyone pay very close attention to any unusual activity in the neighborhoods. Activity such as persons seen walking through the neighborhoods at early morning hours, the sounds of car doors closing at early morning hours and any other activity they might consider unusual or suspicious. If someone does see or hear something and they are unable to determine if it might be a neighbor coming home late, please have them contact the police department right away at 240-314-8900 so that we can dispatch officers to investigate.

Lieutenant E. Over
Deputy Commander, ASB
Rockville Police Department