WICOMICO COUNTY, MD– Wicomico County will host a public meeting Tuesday to discuss potential plans for the county's first state park.
Back in February, Maryland's Department of Public Works approved the $3.3 million purchase of a 446-acre property along Wetipquin Creek in Tyaskin.
While there is no clear timeline for the property, the meeting offers an opportunity to learn more about its current condition and future use.
The public meeting takes place at 6 p.m. on Sept. 23 at the Westside Community Center in Bivalve.
We spoke with neighbors ahead of tonight's meeting, who hope to get some answers. Some, like Jodie Jenkins, like the idea of making the area a state park.
"It opens up an area of history that so many people have not gotten to explore yet," said Jenkins. "Not only just here in what's happening here on the West Side, but in all of Wicomico County."
Others, like Susan Bowman, say they would miss the privacy in that area, and the atmosphere it creates.
"If you have a lot of people on the property over there, you're not going to have the deer," said Bowman. "You're not going to have the raccoons, you're not going to have wildlife. Even though that's the whole idea of the state park, that you'd be able to enjoy wildlife. Well, you're not going to enjoy it after you scared it off."
County officials will host Department of Natural Resources representatives and elected state officials for a pre-meeting discussion after touring the Wetipquin Creek property and other county parks. Community members are invited to join the tours at the following times and locations:
- 2:30 p.m. Connelly Mill Property (29645 Connelly Mill Road, Delmar)
- 3:15 p.m. Pemberton Park (5561 Plantation Lane, Salisbury)
- 3:45 p.m. Pirate's Wharf (4701 Whitehaven Road, Quantico)
