A Westminster developer has two weeks to begin putting in water and sewer lines and 45 days to finish the project in the Robert Mills Rundevelopment, or the City Council will seek bids for the work.
Foxfire Properties has failed to put water and sewer lines, as well as roads and street lighting, in its section of the development, holding up other builders, city officials said. The work was to be completed by September 1991.
Christopher Howell and Sam Rothblum, representatives of one of the developers, Daybreak Estates Corp., asked the council Monday to intervene.
A letter of credit is still pending, and the city will usethat to complete the work if Foxfire fails to do so, said City Manager Joseph A. Mangini Jr.
"Clearly, the city should take some action," Mangini said. "Clearly, the public works agreement has been violated."
Councilman Thomas J. Denike said he found it "distasteful" that the panel had to become involved.
RECYCLING BIDS EYED
DATELINE: TANEYTOWN
TANEYTOWN -- City officials hope to seek bids for a citywide trash and recycling service by the end of the week.
CouncilmanThomas J. Denike raised several technical concerns about the proposed bids Monday. Subsequently, the council and city staff determined tires would be eliminated from trash pickup, and customers would be billed on their water and sewer bills. He also asked the staff to look into whether the city could receive a discount for prompt payment of fees.
City officials hope to award a contract by April 13.
In other matters, the council:
* Approved spending $389 to purchase a fax machine.
* Voted to annex 0.98 acres on Trevanion Road.
* Agreed to maintain pool membership rates at last year's levels. Prices are $120 for city families, $150 for out-of-town residents, $75 for individual city residents and $90 for out-of-town individuals.
AMENDMENT IS PASSED
DATELINE: SYKESVILLE
SYKESVILLE -- The council passeda zoning ordinance amendment Monday night allowing the Planning Commission to review plans for small-business sites needing building permits or zoning certificates for improvements.
Previously, the commission had no power over major renovations or construction of sites with fewer than three businesses.
In other action:
* Allen Gillistold the council he does not have the $2,000 needed to buy a small strip of land on Sandosky Road adjacent to his auto repair business.
The council offered to let him pay for the property in four monthlyinstallments, and he agreed to pay the total by June 30.
* Mayor Lloyd R. Helt Jr. re-appointed Francis "Hick" Manner and Peggy Sellers to the Board of Zoning Appeals.
Robert E. Hall was not re-appointed pending notification that he wants to stay on the board. A fourthalternate member is needed; interested residents can call Town Manager James L. Schumacher at 795-6390 for details.
* The council discussed using part of the impact fee on new homes to renovate the old maintenance shed into a police station.
Schumacher said he would have to analyze the impact of the new homes on the police station to determine how much money might be available for the project. CouncilmanJonathan Herman, who does renovations and restorations, suggested the station could be done in phases as money becomes available.
LEHIGH DROPS PROJECT
DATELINE: UNION BRIDGE
UNION BRIDGE -- Lehigh Portland Cement Co. has dropped plans to participate in a county proposal to burn Carroll and Baltimore trash in company kilns.
"We decided not to participate in the project," said David Roush, plant manager. "That decision is based on financial and operational considerations."
Roush declined to comment further on the company's decision.
Last month, Commissioner Elmer C. Lippy appointed a committee of countystaff to study the possibility of having some of Carroll's trash turned into fuel for Lehigh Portland Cement.
Carroll has been approached by Baltimore County about contributing some of the "combustible materials" from its waste stream. Diverting material from the county waste stream would preserve the life of county landfills and could save money, Lippy said.
Roush had said the company would consider theproposal as long as it could provide low-cost fuel for the plant.
Lippy said he was disappointed with Lehigh's decision.
"It could have represented a good partnership between Carroll and Baltimore counties and private enterprise," he said.
ANOTHER CUT IN STORE
Officials running the county's aging programs believe they may have seen the worst of the state's budget cuts in programs for the elderly, but they feel there may be one more to come.
Once the county's federalallocation arrives, there may be another reduction in state money, Jan Flora, administrator of Carroll's Office on Aging, told the Commission on Aging at its monthly meeting Tuesday.
"There is going to be a slight increase in our federal allocation, and it is possible that the state may offset any increase in federal funds," she said. "We are still living with uncertainty."
The commission also discussed whether it would be able to meet in the second-floor conference room of the senior center. Under the federal Disabilities Act, public meetings should be accessible to all disabled people. There is no elevator in the building, and it would be difficult for an disabled individual to get upstairs, Flora pointed out.
She mentioned that there was space downstairs, but that it was in use when the commission normally has its meetings.
Larry Leitch, deputy health officer for the county, volunteered a conference room in his department's library.
The commission decided that it would continue its meetings in the conference room, but would be attentive to any requests from disabled people to move it.
NEW OFFICE SPACE EYED
DATELINE: WESTMINSTER
WESTMINSTER -- The City Council Monday night discussed the acquisition of the former Westminster Auto Parts store for a new police station.
Officials received a report that there was no leakage from the fuel tank buried beneath the building.
The council also approved a $2,380 structural evaluation to determine whether a third floor could be built. Although the third floor currently is not needed, there may be need for it within 20 years.
If the third floor can't be built, the option the city has on the building probably will be allowed to expire.
"We want the Police Department to be set for 20 years, and wedo not want to have to reopen the issue," said Councilman Kenneth A.Yowan.
The council also turned down a request for the WestminsterRoadrunners to conduct a midnight run through the city June 23.
The consensus of the council was to turn down the request for the racebecause it would cost the city money to pay for the extra police needed. The council also expressed surprise that no one from the club appeared to speak on behalf of the request.
PHONE SERVICE IS CUT
DATELINE: UNION BRIDGE
UNION BRIDGE -- C & P Telephone Co. officials were unable to determine the cause of a telephone outage that left about2,000 residents here without service for 12 hours Friday.
"We suspected a cable cut, and initially, residents could dial out within the exchange," said Ed Compher, external affairs manager for C & P. He said that only phones with the 775 exchange were affected.
The outage occurred around noon, leaving residents unable to make calls. C &P; partially restored service between 2 and 3 p.m. with a temporary patch to rerouted calls.
"About 50 percent could dial out at any one time, due to the limited capacity of the patch," Compher said. "By midnight, full service was restored."
PANEL DENIES ZONING
The County Commissioners Monday denied a Finksburg contractor's request to rezone 2.7 acres near the Liberty Reservoir from conservation to industrial.
James Kibler, owner of Kibler Construction Co., had petitioned the board to rezone the parcel, part of a 9.7-acre tract he owns on the northeast side of Old Gamber Road, off Route 91, for industrialuse.
County planners recommended against reclassifying the land because the change would conflict with the county's Master Plan and pose an environmental threat to Liberty Reservoir.
Kibler, trading as James and Sons, purchased the property in July 1988 for $250,000 from Cleveland-based Sohio Oil Co., which had ceased operating a fuel terminal on the site for about six months. Kibler was planning to lease the facility to another oil company.
But Kibler didn't realize that operation of the fuel terminal was no longer permitted under county zoning laws because it had been discontinued for six months, nullifying its status as a "non-conforming" use. When the property was zoned for agriculture in 1965, the fuel station, developed in the 1940s,was allowed as a special, or non-conforming, use.
The tract was rezoned conservation in 1981 to protect Liberty Reservoir, less than one mile away. The conservation zone permits one residential lot per 3acres.
Several people attended the commissioner's meeting to takeaction on the request. The board did not discuss the zoning change.
BYPASS PARCELS BOUGHT
The county commissioners Tuesday approved the purchase of two parcels off Miller Station Road -- at a cost of $122,250 -- for the long-proposed Manchester bypass.
Owned by Patton Contractors Inc., the lots -- 1.62 and 2.75 acres -- were appraised at about $61,000 each. The project has been deferred by the state for years.