The fence surrounding the Vistas parcel was knocked down by high winds.

Tree damage in Quince Orchard Park (QOP) was especially severe on Winter Walk Drive and Summer Walk Drive and some houses are missing shutters. High winds also toppled a wildlife perimeter fence adjacent to Quince Orchard Road along the Vistas development.

At dusk, portions of Kentlands and all of QOP were in the dark while Lakelands apparently weathered the storm without a major power disruption. Power was restored in Kentlands before dawn, though QOP remains in the dark.

Power outages were also reported at Gaithersburg City Hall and the police department.

WSSC has instituted mandatory water restrictions because of a power outage infiltration issue at a power station in Potomac.

Montgomery County Public Schools and Montgomery County Parks and Recreation have closed all camps today. County officials are urging people to stay home, and they report 270 traffic lights are without power. City officials say 10 of those lights are in Gaithersburg. Motorists are reminded to treat intersections as four-way stops if traffic lights are not working.

Residents should call Pepco to report power outages at 1-877-737-2662. At press time county officials say restoration may take days. Currently, 187,000 customers are without power in Montgomery County.

Montgomery County opened two emergency shelters at Seneca Valley High School and Richard Montgomery High School at 10:00 a.m. on Monday morning.

The Washingtonian Center is one of Gaithersburg’s most popular destinations.

“We all know this is a great place to live, work, learn and play,” said Mayor Sidney Katz. “But it’s encouraging when our efforts are recognized and validated by those outside of the community.”

The magazine’s website noted: “Gaithersburg’s ability to attract start-up companies has allowed it to rebound from the recession better than many other places.”

Both the mayor and City Council member Ryan Spiegel were interviewed by the magazine several weeks ago during research for the article. Spiegel said he was not surprised by the news because he believes Gaithersburg offers “cutting edge approaches on everything from green building to affordable housing to smart growth development, as well as award-winning schools, parks and programs and a great location close to Washington and Baltimore.”

This is not the first time the city has made the list. Gaithersburg was included on the magazine’s “best places to live” list in 2008 and 2005. This year, the magazine identifies Eden Prairie, Minn., as the country’s “best” place to live, saying it is “family-friendly” and has a “dynamite economy.”

The economy also was a factor in Gaithersburg’s ranking.

“It’s nice to see the magazine focusing this time on the economic advantages for businesses and families to locate in Gaithersburg,” said Spiegel. “Our proximity to many government and private sector job centers, our fostering of high quality jobs in health care and biotech fields via our accelerator and other incentives … are some of the reasons why Gaithersburg is poised to benefit quickly and continuously as the economy recovers.”

Although Gaithersburg is ranked higher on the list than neighboring Rockville, which is listed at number 31, Katz said he considers this a regional award and many groups, including Montgomery County, are all deserving of the recognition.

Spiegel agrees. “The more that the entire region is recognized as a great place, the more it boosts all the cities and counties within the region,” said Spiegel.

“I was so excited to hear about Gaithersburg’s ranking,” said city resident Amy Howell of Lakelands. “Of course, to me it is closer to number one!”

Howell said she and her husband often pat themselves on the back for choosing Gaithersburg in which to raise their son, Perry.

“We’ve been quite happy with the schools, and we love the tightness of the community,” said Howell. “To raise an only child in such a warm and active community has been a blessing.”

“I love living in Kentlands, and I appreciate living in the city of Gaithersburg,” said city resident Robyn Renas. “I moved to Gaithersburg in 1994, not imagining that I would stay. The proximity to the Potomac River ecosystem, the agricultural reserve and to Washington, D.C., makes our little corner of 20878 a great place to stay.”

Katz said there is still more work to do to keep Gaithersburg great, and Renas agrees.

“My hope is for a renaissance of sorts to take hold of the other zip codes of Gaithersburg, especially the Olde Towne portion, so that we climb the rungs to one of the top five slots in the future,” Renas said.

The August issue of the magazine is now available on newsstands.

For more information online, http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2010/top100/.

The U.S. Geological Survey reports the epicenter was located one mile north of Gaithersburg in Germantown, although the rumbling was felt over a widespread area from Frederick to Washington, D.C., to Virginia.

Gaithersburg City Council member Michael Sesma was one of many awakened by the earthquake.

“Thought at first it was a sonic boom or an unusually low jet in very humid air but then realized what it was,” said Sesma.

Some Gaithersburg residents thought it was some kind of an accident.

“I thought a train derailed or stopped quickly as I live next to the tracks,” Tom Rowse said on The Town Courier’s Facebook page. “I then went outside and no train. Wow!”

“Sure woke me up, I thought a car had hit the house,” wrote Gaithersburg City Council member Cathy Drzyzgula on her Facebook page.

Ellen Rutt was awake when the quaking began.

“The bed shook and things rattled on the tables in our bedroom,” Rutt reported.

Lakelands resident Jodi Quinn said she and her husband felt it, too.

“Freaked me and Chris out,” she said on her Facebook page. “Felt like something hit our building. The whole thing shook.”

Debi Rosen said the rumbling woke her up in Rockville.

“I thought there was an explosion close to our home,” she said. “I turned on the news sure to hear of some catastrophe … and heard it was an earthquake.”

Despite living in California for two years, it was Kentlands resident Carrie Dietz’s first earthquake.

“I had to move to Maryland to experience my first one,” she wrote on her Facebook page. “Very wild experience.”

At press time, there were no reports of damage or injuries elsewhere.

MedImmune officials said they were not aware of any impact from the earthquake on facilities at the corporate headquarters site in Quince Orchard Park. Still, they were not taking any chances at the nearby construction site.

“In an abundance of caution, we have shut down the tower cranes until they can be inspected,” said Liz Huntley, community affairs senior manager.

For more information about the earthquake, www.earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus.

The U.S. Geological Survey reports the epicenter was located one mile north of Gaithersburg in Germantown, although the rumbling was felt from Frederick to Washington, D.C.

Gaithersburg City Councilman Michael Sesma said the earthquake woke him up.

“Thought at first it was a sonic boom or an unusually low jet in very humid air but then realized what it was,” said Sesma.

Gaithersburg resident Tom Rowse said he thought it was a train.

“I thought a train derailed or stopped quickly as I live next to the tracks,” he said on The Town Courier’s Facebook page. “I then went outside and no train. Wow!”

Ellen Rutt was awake when the quaking began.

“The bed shook and things rattled on the tables in our bedroom,” Rutt said.

Rockville resident Debi Rosen said the earthquake woke her up too.

“I thought there was an explosion close to our home,” she said. “I turned on the news sure to hear of some catastrophe … and heard it was an earthquake.”

So far, there have been no reports of damage or injuries.

For more information, www.earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus

By the end of the year MTA officials hope to complete the analysis, gather public comment and submit a locally preferred alternative to the Transportation Secretary and Governor Martin O’Malley for approval to move into the preliminary engineering phase.

Read the full story in the July 20 edition of The Town Courier.

On its website, CNN/Money magazine notes that “Gaithersburg’s ability to attract start-up companies has allowed it to rebound from the recession better than many other places.”

“It’s nice to see the magazine focusing this time on the economic advantages for businesses and families to locate in Gaithersburg,” said City Council member Ryan Spiegel.

Gaithersburg was included on the magazine’s “best places to live” list in 2008 and 2005.

This year’s number one best place to live is Eden Prairie, Minnesota, according to the CNN Money website, and another Maryland city, Columbia/Ellicott City, follows at number two. The city of Rockville is ranked 31 on the 2010 list.

The report identifies development and redevelopment projects elsewhere in the city and has a special section for Olde Towne.

“The planning report is based on selected planning events which took place in 2009,” said Planning and Code Administration Director Greg Ossont. “All projects are not necessarily mentioned.”

The city set aside $50,000 in last year’s budget for Kentlands charrette implementation
initiatives, but this goes unmentioned.

“It certainly is disappointing that the planning report doesn’t mention the charrette or the Kentlands Downtown,” said Paula Ross, president of the Kentlands Downtown Partnership (KDP). “The Planning Department coordinated the Kentlands commercial district charrette and forgets about it very easily when we don’t remind them.”

Planning Director Lauren Pruss first unveiled the report in draft form at the Gaithersburg Planning Commission’s May 19 meeting in order to ask the appointed officials for input and approval.

At that meeting, Planning Chair John Bauer asked the staff to “take some credit” for their work on the Great Seneca Science Corridor with Montgomery County officials and to tout the staff’s professional accomplishments. Both were added to the final report.

“I must acknowledge that some of my comments during the review of the draft did not specifically address state requirements but were items that I felt were important to highlight,” said Bauer. “As I understand it, the intent of the report is to provide the state an overall look at planning activity in the city for 2009.”

The four-page report begins with a statement on the city’s master plan: “During 2009, the city of Gaithersburg completed work on the 2003 Master Plan update. The primary goal of the 2003 Master Plan is to balance, on a citywide basis, the competing issues and interests that affect future growth and development patterns within the corporate limits of the city.”

In the development section, the report mentions the Residences at Hidden Creek and redevelopment plans by Keystone REI on South Frederick Avenue, the Wilson project redevelopment also on South Frederick Avenue, a redevelopment project at Orchard Pond apartments, Watkins Mill Town Center and Archstone Smith redevelopment plan in Olde Towne. There is no mention of the developing Vistas residential development in QOP, the rapidly growing MedImmune campus or the GE Tech property.

An entire section is devoted to Olde Towne and mentions a marketing event touting the city’s enterprise zone planned for the spring of 2010.

There are other sections in the report about the city’s new technology, environment, ordinances, transportation, community development and historic preservation.

“Without citing specifics, I am confident that the planning staff has thoroughly fulfilled the state’s requirements for the report,” Bauer said.