Harford council clears way for sale of Joppa property once proposed for trash transfer station

The Harford County Council has agreed to declare surplus a 23.1-acre property in Joppa that once had been ticketed to become a trash transfer station, a project which area residents strongly opposed.The council unanimously approved a resolution at its meeting Tuesday night declaring surplus the property in the 800 block of Philadelphia Road, formerly known as Coleman Plecker's World of Golf, which the county acquired in 2011 for $2.9 million.Council action on the surplus resolution, which was requested by Harford County Executive Barry Glassman, clears the way for the property to be sold, subject to approval by the county board of estimates.Councilman Mike Perrone, who represents the Joppa area, hailed the decision to unload the property, amid lingering fears in the community &quot;that it could easily resurface&quot; as a transfer station.&quot;This should put everyone's mind at ease,&quot; he said.The urgency of using the site for a trash collection and transfer point ended earlier this year, when a contract kicked in between Harford and Baltimore counties under which Harford's trash can be transported directly to a transfer point in White Marsh, approximately five miles south of the Joppa site. Eventually, all of Harford's trash will go to White Marsh, with Baltimore County handling its disposal.The Joppa property was acquired at a time when Harford was under the gun to come up with a new trash disposal plan. The Army had indicated it no longer wanted to continue its arrangement with the county to buy steam from an incinerator that the county built on Army property near the Route 152 gate to Aberdeen Proving Ground's Edgewood Area in the late 1980s. The incinerator, which would have required significant upgrading to continue, closed this spring and is being demolished.Harford originally planned to use the proposed Joppa transfer station to supply a new co-generation incinerator proposed for the Fairfield area of southwest Baltimore. Joppa residents, however, challenged the plan because of the expected truck traffic and potential objectionable environmental impacts on their community.While the Joppa residents' protest persisted, the Baltimore incinerator plan, which drew opposition from residents of that community and environmental groups, collapsed after its developer failed to move forward. In June, state regulators revoked the project's permit, according to The Baltimore Sun, because no construction activity had taken place for 18 months.Glassman's administration hasn't released a timetable for selling the Joppa property.Spokesperson Cindy Mumby said last month they have had an appraisal done and would be looking to receive a price close to the appraised value. She also said there has been some interest expressed in the property, but the administration also is willing to hold it &quot;for the right opportunity.&quot;

Harford council clears way for sale of Joppa property once proposed for trash transfer station

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