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Text Box: Superintendent, George Washington Memorial Parkway, wrote that NPS is attempting to lease the tanks rather than purchasing them. Plans are, she wrote, to install them to the side of the boiler building, but if the town preferred they could be moved to the front of the building. They would be screened with a fence and vegetation. The long term plan is to install a geo-thermal field that would allow NPS to remove the tanks as well as the boiler building. Ms. Marshall wrote that they intend to submit this project (estimated to cost ($1.4 million) for funding under the proposed Economic Stimulus Package currently being considered by the U.S. Congress. She said she’d like to attend the town council’s March, 2009 meeting to inform it of the progress on this project, and that if it could be accomplished in the next 12 to 18 months, they would leave the propane tanks in their current location until the new system is installed.. At the meeting, council members were clearly upset that the town wasn’t informed of the project until it was just about to begin. While acknowledging that the park service is ‘’within its legal rights,’’ the mayor told the officials they should keep the town informed of projects in the future, noting they have an obligation to their neighbors. In addition, since officials used the word ‘temporary’ to describe the project, the town wants a letter detailing the expectation that the tanks will be gone in five years. Cathie Polak said she’s working with Congressman Chris Van Hollen’s office and others in a continuing effort to stop the installations of the tanks. .

Text Box: The National Park Service is going to proceed with plans to install two above ground propane tanks at the Clara Barton house despite vigorous objections from town residents and council members. Mayor Debbie Beers called the decision ‘’irritating,’’ especially since there are alternatives the park service refuses to consider. “It’s unacceptable to you,” Andrew Wenchel of the National Park Service icily told the council at its Dec.8 meeting, “but there’s nothing we’ve done that’s illegal or extra-legal or is not according to code.” Mr. Wenchel and acting site manager Angela Copozzi told the council the propane tanks are being installed because the Environmental Protection Agency is forcing the park service to remove the underground oil tanks. He says the move is part of an effort to upgrade the heating system for the historical site. Because the furnace was ruined by sludge when the oil tanks ran out of oil, a whole new heating system was needed. There’s been no heat in the house since Nov. 25, and the water has been cut off. Both officials stressed that the propane tanks are a “temporary solution,” and believe they’ll be replaced within five years. The use of the word ‘’temporary’’ troubled council members and Cathie Polak, whose view of Clara Barton house is already being impeded by the existing shed, which formerly contained the boiler. They said they were told 24 years ago the shed next to the underground tank was supposed to be ‘’temporary.’’In a subsequent letter, Dottie P. Marshall,