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Commission continues work on 2025 biannual report, eyes local monitoring and river‑adjacent trails
Summary
Commissioners discussed proposed recommendations for the 2025 biannual report including online cleanup registration, expanded water‑quality monitoring, and incentives for landowner participation in walking and biking trails; the report will remain on future agendas for refinement.
Commission members spent part of the March 26 meeting updating and expanding the 2025 Sustainable Monocacy Commission biannual report and discussing feasibility of river‑adjacent walking trails.
Gary Magnuson opened the item and Eric Roberts outlined recommendations for the report including an online river cleanup registration system, additional water‑quality monitoring (including proposals for county‑level sampling), and incentives to encourage landowner participation in trail initiatives. Eric urged the Commission to take time to strengthen the biannual report rather than rush it. Drew Ferrier described upcoming sampling and monitoring opportunities and suggested inviting Brent Walls of the Potomac Riverkeeper Network as a future speaker; staff confirmed the report will remain on future agendas.
Eric also proposed renaming the agenda item to better reflect policy focus and noted he and Chair Moran raised river‑adjacent walking trails during a Bike and Pedestrian Advisory Committee meeting; BPAC is not prioritizing Monocacy River trails at this time, but the Commission was directed to an April 9 open house for the Bikeways and Trails Plan at the C. Burr Artz Library. Members discussed using the Commission’s website to provide information on microplastics and plastic‑bag reduction as educational resources to support any future policy recommendations.
