Essex-Middle River UDAT Ideas ScreenedRichard Berkow East County Times 12/16/2004 At the first annual Essex-Middle River Renaissance Corporation meeting this past Monday night, Neighborhood Committee Chairman Steve Verch narrated a 100-slide PowerPoint Presentation of the Urban Design Assistance Team's vision for the asset-laden area. Graciously hosted by the Lighthouse Assisted Living Facility, the visual show overflowed with imaginative potential and creative possibilities. Verch and UDAT Steering Committee Co-Chair John Gontrum urged the more than four dozen attendees to take active roles in the planning, decision-making, and implementation challenges ahead. Tellingly, the first recommendation listed by the community members to the visiting UDAT architects was "to improve the reputation of Essex-Middle River, internally and externally," the same as Dundalk's four years ago. Gontrum described the recent UDAT visit as "an extraordinarily transparent process, emanating from the bottom up, instead of the top down." Speaking to the elected officials in the audience - Councilman Olszewski and Delegates Jennings, Impallaria, and Weir - he stressed how government funding would prove the key to implementation and the strong support already voiced by County Executive Smith and Governor Ehrlich. The PowerPoint Presentation reviewed the UDAT methodology, their assessment of the bountiful assets - gifts of nature, great neighborhoods, buildings of character, buildings at pedestrian scale, numerous traffic corridors, abundant waterways, modern marinas - and their design ideas. These ranged from streetscaping to perimeter promenades, and focused on the heart of Essex, Back River Neck Road, Josenhan's Corner, Kingsley Park, Lockheed Martin, the Middle River Bridge, and the mammoth GSA Depot. With the help of the County's Office of Community Conservation, these slides will soon appear in booklet form and be made available to the public. The newly-elected officers of the E-MR Renaissance Corporation welcome everyone's input. The Board of Directors consists of Hal Ashman, Jean Flanagan, Randy Cogar, Curtis Gatterson, Julie Gaynor, Cecile Myrick, Jackie Nickel, David Ring, Steve Verch, and Brad Wallace. The President is Shawn Meyer, Vice-President Gary Jennings, Treasurer Penny Soteria, and Secretary, Bob Palmer. The treasury currently holds around $10,000.
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