Harford County Council President Billy Boniface delivered his annual legislative address Tuesday night, citing the economy, budget, and property tax relief as the council’s priorities heading into 2010.
Addressing the slumping economy and its impact on Harford County’s budget, Boniface cautioned not to expect much in the way of new projects or programs.
“On the operating side it’s maintaining basic services without any bells and whistles. The Capital Program for this year; if the mortar isn’t being mixed or the dirt isn’t being moved, it’s most likely going to have to wait until things improve,” he remarked.
Boniface also said the council is determined to provide property tax relief for county residents.
“We lowered the homestead tax cap from a maximum allowed rate of 10% to 5% for this year forward, something no other Council since 1991 has had the fortitude to execute. We recently removed the service charge placed on those that choose ...Continue Reading
After years of planning, months of deliberation, weeks of public hearings, and untold hours of discussion, it took only a few minutes for the Harford County Council to unanimously approve and enroll the new Comprehensive Rezoning bill Tuesday night.
In fact, the vote was so swift that County Executive David Craig – who made a special appearance in the council chambers Tuesday night – nearly missed it.
Last week, council members introduced and approved nearly 70 amendments to the Comprehensive Rezoning bill, but Tuesday night there were no amendments, no additions, and no discussion – simply a roll-call vote which resulted in a 7-0 approval of the bill.
The night got off to an inauspicious start – with a rousing intro from council president Billy Boniface (“Let’s rock!”) and a moving prayer from councilman Dion Guthrie (“God bless our pets”) – but it didn’t take long for the county to get down to, ...Continue Reading
During an oddly serene session Tuesday night, during which neither NIMBY nor developer stormed out of the chambers, the Harford County Council unanimously approved 67 Comprehensive Rezoning amendments – setting up what is expected to be a smooth approval next week of the new official Harford County Zoning Map.
Compared to the confrontational rezoning process of two years ago, which culminated with a veto by then-newly appointed County Executive David Craig and mandated restart of the process, Tuesday’s meeting was subdued and only attended by a few dozen people – mostly developers, activists, and members of the county Planning and Zoning Department.
Here is a summary of amendments and comments by district:
District A – Joppatowne/Edgewood:
“You can’t make everybody happy. You try to do the best you can and what’s best for the county,” – Councilman Dion Guthrie
Guthrie’s 14 amendments consist mainly of upzoning residential land to commercial and business property, which would ...Continue Reading
What do hermaphroditic amphibians, a moonlighting comedian, and a symbolically-snapped ear of corn have in common?
Because no sane person could ever have guessed, I’ll just come out with it: each was involved in the Harford County Council’s Comprehensive Rezoning public hearing held Thursday evening at North Harford High School.
Perhaps one-third of the 100-or-so attendees addressed the county council during what was the third and final public hearing on the Comprehensive Rezoning review.
The Facts:
- In total, 34 people spoke = 26 were in opposition to upzoning requests and 8 supported upzoning requests.
- The meeting ran from 6:30 p.m. to 8:20 p.m.
- County Council President Billy Boniface announced the county council would introduce its amendments during the August 4 council meeting and expected to vote on the Comprehensive Rezoning during its August 11 session.
The Highlights:
- A Darlington man produced a dried ear of corn from a brown paper bag and symbolically snapped ...Continue Reading
Harford County Executive David Craig said today that he will send the Harford County Council an amendment to his proposed FY10 capital budget to add funding in the “12 – 13 million dollar range” for the planned school at Red Pump Elementary.
Craig’s budget already contains a similar request for Campus Hills, although Craig said he expected that the council would essentially shift funds from Campus Hills to Red Pump and in dollar terms, “it will be a wash.” Craig said the exact terms of the amendment would be known next week.
Despite the actions he anticipated from the council, Craig said “I don’t think either school solves the problem. I think you need both schools.” Craig said he made the decision to keep both schools in his budget proposal after a private meeting with PTA leaders who told him on Tuesday that they wanted a school to move forward. ...Continue Reading
Harford County Public Schools is providing bottled water for drinking and to prepare cafeteria food at Forest Hill Elementary School in response to Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE) contamination found during routine tests of the well water supplied to the school.
In a letter dated April 17, 2009, Principal Belinda Cole said a “minimal concentration” of the gasoline additive was found on school property and assured parents that the levels found in the water are “still well below the large margin of safety prescribed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).” The letter also said the switch to bottled water and other precautions were “to protect our students and staff from any adverse odor or taste from the water.” Forest Hill Elementary School does not have access to public water service.
Here’s a copy of the letter:
Harford County Council President Billy Boniface linked the incident at Forest Hill to the dispute ...Continue Reading
A promised and highly anticipated vote by the Harford County Board of Education to get plans for Red Pump Elementary School back on track never materialized at last night’s board meeting, dashing the hopes of PTA leaders that a new school will be built to relieve overcrowding in the greater Bel Air area anytime soon.
Not only did the board fail to vote on reopening the bid process for Red Pump, the board gutted funding from the project as well. In all, a total of $12,355,000 in actual funding or hoped-for funding was removed from the board’s capital account for Red Pump, $10 million of which was transferred to Campus Hills.
Problem is, the Harford County Council has to approve all those transfers. Harford County Council President Billy Boniface said none of the Red Pump money could be used anywhere else without the approval of the council and that ...Continue Reading
The debate over whether Red Pump Elementary or Campus Hills Elementary will be built in the greater Bel Air area moved one step closer to Red Pump at a meeting between County Executive David Craig and PTA representatives Monday night.
Craig said repeatedly that he thought both schools would be needed but that the county council had the ability to remove funding from his upcoming FY10 budget for Campus Hills, and therefore the “ultimate decision” belonged to the council.
A few days after the Harford County Board of Education presented its reasons for halting plans to build Red Pump Elementary School and moving forward with Campus Hills to ease school overcrowding; the Harford County Council released the results of its own investigation at a meeting with PTA leaders in the Council chambers on Thursday.
By the end of the 2 ½ hour presentation, both Council President Billy Boniface and Vice President Dick Slutzky had presented a detailed discussion of the merits of building Red Pump over Campus Hills and also aimed the spotlight squarely on County Executive David Craig as a key figure in the controversy.
In a letter addressed to the Board of Education President Patrick Hess this week, County Council President Billy Boniface expressed concern the Board of Ed was moving ahead with work on Schucks Road Elementary before proper funding had been established for the new school.
In the single-page letter, which is dated Tuesday, Boniface requested the Board of Education “hold off on any further expenditure at this site” until Councilman Dick Slutzky can finish his investigation and provide a report on the project.
