Meeting at the January Town Workshop Meeting

On January 25th, 2010 the Woodsboro Watch will be hosting a community forum to talk and learn about crime reduction. We intend to have local officials present as well as a FC Sheriff. We would like to see the interest of the community in holding quarterly meetings to talk about trends, problem locations, and possible actions we can take to deter loitering, crime, etc.



If you are interested in helping with this meeting, have interested neighbors or friends, please comment on this post and I will get in contact with you soon.



"The Watch": we need to meet soon to discuss the upcoming meeting, please contact me as soon as you can to set up a time and place. Thank you.

Robbery at Trout's Towne Restaurant

This morning at approx. 12:42am Trout's Towne Restaurant was robbed by two individuals. All told they stole about $500.00 worth of food items out of the freezer. The Frederick County Sheriff's Office was notified and have already come to the scene. If you hear anything please let Trout's or the police know. And remember that if you see anything suspicious in your neighborhood it is better to be safe than sorry, just call the police.

Next Steps for the Watch

The Woodsboro Watch will be discussed at the next town workshop to be held Monday, Nov 23.

Support Our Sheriff!

A rally to support Sheriff Jenkins and his officers is being held at Barley and Hops on November 19th from 3 to 6 pm. The Blane Young show will broadcast live from the location (930 AM WFMD). Check with the station for further details.

Changing The Way We Do Business

As the town website is currently being updated, a private forum has been brought on line for block captain only viewing and participation. That will allow block captains to carry on open dialogue among themsleves without having to mind their p's and q's. This site (Woodsboro Watch) will be used to report monthly results/summaries of block captain observations/ discussions. So you will likely see less "real time" reporting. If something of immediate interest or concern comes up, a new post will be filed rather than waiting for the monthly summary.

Anyone can still comment on Woodsboro Watch. So if you do not know a block captain to report issues to or you want to communicate with folks directly, please comment on the most recent post. Don't worry if your observation, issue or comment doesn't fit into the most recent post subject matter. If your comment warrants further diologue and doesn't naturally fit into the the existing post we'll likely make a new post to support discussion. And if you like you can keep it anonymous.

If you would like to participate as a block captain please contact the town office or any of the commissioners to get pointed in the right direction.

Site Status

Well, things don't breeze along sometimes when done by volunteers with active lives. We are still planning to shift this site to two sites. A formal monthly report site with info vetted by the block captains and then a private site for block captains to share open dialogue before deciding what is appropriate for publishing to the rest of the community.

Neoterik Bldg

There has been juveniles hanging around this building in the evening hours. Especially in the back face Adams Street.

Four-Wheelers

I spoke with one of the patroling sheriff deputies Saturday night regarding four-wheeler incidents. There have been problems with four-wheelers coming out of Woodsboro using the railroad tracks behind southern states and riding them down the Glade Valley Golf Course where then the four-wheelers proceed in riding through the course and tearing up the grass. The deputies are also aware of four-wheelers riding through town after midnight. The deputies have been more visible in the town these past few weeks.

Adams Street and Elizabeth Street

There has been reports of a red four wheeler at and around Southern States and the railroad tracks. There has been noticable beer and alcohol bottles around the area. There has been reports for juveniles on the roof of southern states as well. Police have been notified and will continue to be when noticed by residents in the area. The four wheeler is being riden on the streets of Woodsboro as well.

North Second Street

There was a party at the townhomes on North Second Street Saturday night. It apparantly got out of hand and there has been property damage done. A resident of Second Street had the window of his vehicle blown out by a fire arm. There was also a altercation between two participants of the party and they rammed each others vehicles. Not certain as to whether the police were notified at the time of the vehicle ramming but were notified regarding the shots. The police are making the presence known at this time.

Update

After about a year trying this web-based neighborhood watch approach we think we have enough experience and feedback to firm up the approach.

The plan is to transition to two sites. First will be a closed blog for town Block Captains. Captians can participate at any time and will be asked on a periodic basis (likely monthly) to report how things are going. The idea of the closed site will be to allow candid discussions of issues and concerns without concern of offending people or misinforming.

Then a site like this will be used to summarize block captain discussions and make a monthly or as-needed post. On that site the public can fully participate.

We'll try to time these changes with the town website upgrades that are underway.

Please contact the town if you are interested in participating.

Copper Oaks

Nothing to report from the Copper Oaks section of the park.

Pond Action?

Tuesday morning while walking throught the Woodsboro Park I noticed that someone may have been skating on the fish pond due to some swoosh marks in the snow covered ice. The far end of the pond looked messed up: rough surface with some sticks laying around. Later that day, during another walk through the park there was yellow barrier tape up around the messed up ice.

Soooo. I wonder if there was a mishap on the pond. Please share any info you may have. It would be nice to give the community information regarding the risks of skating on the pond.

There are signs prohibiting skating I believe and a safe shallow skating area in the park. But that smooth pond ice may have just been too tempting!

Happy New Year!

No problems to post. The Watch could use a couple more Block Captains. Still looking for help from the Copper Oaks areas and someone that lives near or frequently uses the town park. Please contact the town office if you are interested. Contact them by phone. The town e:mail has a spam filter that rejects any unapproved e:mail.