Monthly Archives: August 2016

Frederick County Council voted for the hotel tax increase 4 to 3 after about an hour of sharp disagreements among six councillors split on party lines. President Bud Otis said nothing during the debate except Aye when his name came … Continue reading →

1. Confusion about how it works Helen Propheter’s staff report describes the HDIP as a ‘Rebate’ of up to 85% of hotel tax.” In this version of the program the hotel tax beyond 15% of that normally due would not … Continue reading →

The hotel boosters go to extraordinary lengths to whitewash this boondoggle. Here we have the project’s archeologist  paid jointly by Plamondon and City taxpayers getting into a verbal brawl in social media, then falsely claiming he got her fired… all … Continue reading →

Buried in the fine print of the county bill for a hike to 5 percent in the county hotel tax is a shoddy new hotel financing mechanism called a hotel development incentive program (HDIP.) This provides that up to 85% … Continue reading →

Jan, Bud: please for the sake of the County and for your own stakes stop being so stubborn about pressing ahead on the funding of the hotel with CB16-13 and the MOU Amendment. The hotel development incentive program is a … Continue reading →

Ever wondered about the parade of speakers in favor of spending public money at City Hall or Winchester Hall when they’re pushing the downtown hotel with the Mayor & Board or County Council. Simple — Richard Griffin on City staff … Continue reading →

Brian E Frosh Attorney General State of Maryland Sir, We are seriously concerned whether a Hotel Development Incentive Program (HDIP) proposed by Frederick County complies with state law, and respectfully request an opinion from you. This incentive program (HDIP) is one … Continue reading →

(comment on Jane Weir in FoFC Marriott Watch page) Yes the FNP site has been the favorite site among the project’s supporters for a long time, certainly way before the RFP14J piece of theater was staged for the public. Richard … Continue reading →

Wednesday after the Delaplaine Center event broke up I spoke with Pete Plamondon Jr for five minutes or so. I asked him what he’d do if as I expect the historic preservation regulators (MHT or HPC) rule against demolition of … Continue reading →

Demolition of historic buildings is mentioned at two points in Plamondon’s official proposal dated May 9, 2014. An earlier post only quoted from one of the two mentions — We’ll quote the two mentions at length below.