Havre de Grace officials and the developer of the Scenic Manor subdivision off Chapel Road are working toward an amended public works agreement that both parties hope will spur development of the 84-home community, an agreement that includes significantly reduced water and sewer connection fees.
"I do believe it is a good agreement that has been worked on with great effort by both parties and that it will be beneficial to both the City of Havre de Grace and Scenic Manor," developer Michael Charlton, a vice president with the Ellicott City office of Elm Street Development, said in an email.
Charlton declined to comment further until the agreement is signed.
City officials gave their approval for the development in the fall of 2011, and construction began at the end of that year.
Scenic Manor is near the Bulle Rock community on the western outskirts of the city.
Havre de Grace Planning Director Neal Mills said Monday that no houses, nor the majority of the infrastructure, have been built yet.
"The only thing they've put down is stormwater management facilities," he said.
Mills said stormwater management ponds have been built.
Havre de Grace leaders, including the mayor, city council members and the city attorney, are working on an amended site plan and public works agreement to spur the pace of development in Scenic Manor.
"This, I really have wanted to do for a long time," Mayor Wayne Dougherty said at a recent council meeting.
A major component is the reduction of water capital cost recovery fees, which the city charges to connect to the municipal water and sewer system.
Elm Street Development is being charged $8,000 per hookup, according to a draft of the agreement.
Mills said $8,000 is the standard capital cost recovery fee, according to city code.
If the developer pays the full fee for the first 16 hookups by March 1, 2015, or within five months of when the agreement is finalized, then the fees for the remaining 68 connections will be reduced, according to the agreement.
The water fees for the next 16 connections will be reduced by $2,500 from the "prevailing rate," and then the fees will be reduced by $3,500 for the next 16 connections.
The fees for the final 36 connections will be reduced by $4,000, and the incentive program will be in effect up to 10 years after the agreement is executed, according to the agreement.