Calvert Deal to Develop Road, Bring Affordable Housing

Developer John M. Gott and Calvert County officials reached an agreement that will bring improvements to West Dares Beach Road and 24 units of modest income housing to the county.

Gott has plans to develop 240 housing units west of Calvert Pines Senior Center on West Dares Beach Road. The county agreed to the density, to provide the easements for the road construction and to be a co-applicant on any non-tidal wetlands applications. In return, Gott agreed to build a portion of West Dares Beach Road through his property and to offer the 24 units at more affordable prices.

Gott's company will begin the road improvements from Prince Frederick Boulevard. The county plans for the road to eventually connect to J.W. Williams Road.

The affordable housing will include owned and rental properties and will be priced according to federal standards.

Utility Elects Officers

The Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative board of directors recently chose officers for 2008-09.

Joseph V. Stone Jr., owner of Joe Stone Insurance Agency Stone in St. Mary's County, was elected chairman; Samuel "Jack" Hammett, owner of Hammett's Building Services of Calvert County, as vice chairman; Kenneth L. Dyson, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Charles County, as secretary-treasurer; and Fern G. Brown, domestic violence coordinator for Charles Circuit Court, as assistant secretary-treasurer.

The utility is a customer-owned electric cooperative providing electricity to southern Prince George's County and Charles, St. Mary's and all but the northeast portion of Calvert counties.

Busch Visits Southern Maryland

House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) was scheduled Tuesday to visit Civista Medical Center in La Plata, where he was to be briefed about health care challenges for rural areas, including doctor and nurse shortages.

Charles, Calvert and St. Mary's counties have "critical shortages" in 25 of 30 physician categories, leaving Southern Maryland with 44.4 primary care doctors per 100,000 residents, well below the state average of 57, according to a report released this year by the Maryland Hospital Association and MedChi.

Bush also was to visit the Southern Maryland Higher Education Center in St. Mary's and Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Lusby. The plant is owned by Constellation Energy, which recently agreed to be bought by MidAmerican Energy Holdings, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.

Votes on Pensions, Going Green

The Board of County Commissioners voted this week to keep Calvert from using money from its employee pension plans in transactions that involve county government.

The board's 3-1 vote was prompted by the controversy over county pension money being invested in Maryland Economic Development bonds used to buy the Chesapeake Hills Golf Course in 2001. The county recently voted to buy the course.