UPDATE: Salisbury say county withdraws land donation request, county says “not true”
The City of Salisbury says Wicomico County has pulled their request for the city to donate 35 acres of land, due to a water issue, however the county is saying this isn’t true.
On Monday morning, The City of Salisbury said that Wicomico County no longer wanted the forested land that is next to the Henry S. Parker athletic complex on Naylor Mill Road, because of the Paleo Channel, an ancient buried underground riverbed which reportedly supplies the city with water.
“The importance of the Paleo Channel, and the water it provides both city and county residents is an incredibly compelling reason to keep this land in its present form,” said Salisbury Mayor Jim Ireton. “We don’t have to worry though, for now Wicomico County is searching for an alternative place to expand recreational areas. That’s a good thing. I thank the many people who contacted me about the wellhead and safety buffers, and the staff at Public Works for all of the historical information regarding Paleo that they provided. Elected officials will always have to balance economics and the environment. I applaud County Executive Culver on this decision to seek land elsewhere.”
A public hearing initially scheduled about the project for July 28, was then reportedly cancelled.
On Monday afternoon, the County responded to the Mayor by saying their land donation request had not been withdrawn. They are still reportedly working to collaborate with the city on the deal. They say back in September 2014, they received a letter from Salisbury City Council President Jake Day, that said that the City Council unanimously supported the project, but under certain conditions.
The County says they then accepted those terms, and have been working for the last 10 months to meet the conditions, and get the funding for the project including a $1million dollar grant from the State of Maryland, and $450,000 from its own Tourism Fund. They say that “preliminary engineering has been completed wherein the county has exceeded State requirements for storm water management, forest conservation, Paleo Channel protection and other environmental matters.”
The County goes on to say that they are planning on continuing their efforts to collaborate with the city, and meet the conditions originally agreed upon with the Salisbury City Council.
The USSSA World Series kicks off on Wednesday, with the Henry S. Parker complex serving as the tournament’s headquarters. The event is expected to bring an estimated $20 million dollars to the area over its duration. The County says the expansion of the facility would give the ability to further stimulate the local economy, and bring a better quality of life to the area.
