Resident urges faster Swaddell Bridge replacement, raises concerns about DNR oversight and advisory board

A resident speaking during public comment at the Nov. 4 Garrett County commissioners meeting urged the county to expedite replacement work at Swaddell Bridge, suggested reusing the existing footprint to shorten construction time, and provided informal cost estimates for a concrete deck.

The speaker said the temporary bridge "predated" the current commissioners and argued the county could replace the structure quickly by using the existing footprints and staging steel and cranes on both ends. The resident said a 6-inch concrete deck, sidewalls and pier work would require about 110 cubic yards of concrete at roughly $200 per yard — a figure the speaker calculated to be about $220,000 — and that an 8-inch deck would raise the estimated material cost to about $268,000. The speaker did not identify supporting documentation for those figures during the meeting.

The resident also said the county has already spent money on buttoning up approaches and that reusing the current footprint would avoid additional costs and delays. Commissioners offered to set up a follow-up site visit and meeting to review the bridge; one county official said staff would provide contact information to arrange that meeting.

The resident asked whether the delayed 60% review by the state Department of Transportation was related to a pending court case. A county official responded that the review has been delayed and that the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has not yet completed a "de minimis" determination; the official said "it's all DNR at this point," indicating that further action awaits that state determination.

Separately, the same speaker said the local advisory board that previously offered input on lake and watershed management had effectively disbanded, describing instances where DNR officials and the attorney general reportedly told the board it "had no standing." The speaker said former officials and stakeholders would be willing to draft an amendment to the enabling legislation to create a state-level advisory board to DNR and requested the commission's support to introduce that amendment during the Maryland General Assembly's winter session, with a draft targeted for mid-December.

Commissioners said they would collect the speaker's contact information following the meeting to arrange a site visit and follow-up discussion. The speaker framed several technical and timeline claims as personal observations and did not provide supporting engineering reports or formal cost estimates during the public comment period.