Visitors to Plumtree Park may see a large X painted on several trees; Public Works Director Randy Robertson said the town will take down about 10 trees as part of the Daylighting project. The town will plant about 50 additional trees there for the final landscaping as part of the stream restoration. (PHOTO BY MATT BUTTON | AEGIS STAFF / July 12, 2012) |
The Bel Air Town Commissioners are expected to accept easements at their Monday meeting, which will allow the town to continue a stream daylighting project.
The Town of Bel Air is scheduled to start a project in the coming weeks at Plumtree Park to restore a portion of the stream that had been buried. At Monday's meeting, commissioners are expected to accept two easements to complete the work.
One easement, from a property owner, will allow the town to relocate a sewer line on the lane and the other, from Plumtree Square Condominium Council, will allow the town to do grading, seeding and digging on the property.
When the areas around Plumtree Park were developed in the 1950s, the stream running through it was buried, and now travels through a concrete culvert pipe between Thomas and George streets.
As part of the daylighting project, the town will replace an existing culvert, as well as have Ecotone Inc., the contractor, create a bio-engineered streambank with Ecotone-designed rock, natural fiber matting and live branches.
Visitors to the park may see red tape on several trees; Public Works Director Randy Robertson said the town will take down about 10 trees as part of the project.
Several of those trees are dying, he added. As part of the stream restoration, the town will plant about 50 additional trees there as part of final landscaping.
Contract awards
Commissioners are also expected to vote on several contracts, including one for just over $25,000 for a new department of public works truck.
The truck the town uses, although it only has 51,000 miles on it, has extensive rust under the frame, Public Works Director Randy Robertson said.
He also presented a contract for $7,600 to clean the duct work at town hall.
For the police department, Chief Leo Matrangola introduced a $15,000 contract to buy a new speed awareness trailer, which was in the town budget.
The current one was purchased in 2004 and is scheduled to be replaced this year, Matrangola said, adding the town spent $1,300 on it last year to keep it working.
"It's a great unit, but we'd like to get a new unit that also has a message board on it," he said.
The new unit is also solar charged and will have a traffic counter on it. The town is going to sell the current trailer to Havre de Grace.
Town Administrator Chris Schlehr also asked the town commissioners to ratify two contracts relating to the new parking lot on Main Street.
One contract is $11,550 to Santos Construction for curb work and site work and the other is for $26,157 to American Asphalt for the paving, according to Schlehr.
The money came from a $27,000 cushion in the $515,000 the town borrowed for the purchase, as well as the $23,000 additional funding added in a recent budget amendment, Schlehr said.
Other business
Re-appointments are expected to be made at Monday night's meeting to the Board of Appeals and Historic Preservation Commission.
A public hearing will also be held for the development regulations amendment that adds the word non-profit to the town's definition of a group home.
Commissioners also approved the replacement of a parks and recreation storage shed.
