The expansion of higher education opportunities should be the top priority in Harford County through the next decade, according to a task force's report issued to County Executive Eileen M. Rehrmann last week.
The Futures Commission, a 30-member volunteer board appointed by Mrs. Rehrmann in January, was asked to identify and set priorities on key areas of concern to residents into the 21st century and to recommend strategies for dealing with those concerns.
Issued in a public ceremony at Harford Community College on Tuesday, the board's report narrowed an initial field of 50 issues to six.
The other strategic priorities, in order, were:
* Increase attention to providing quality child care services.
* Maintain an emphasis on balanced economic development.
* Construct public facilities that build communities.
* Invest in police, fire and emergency services.
* Refocus public schools on teaching skills necessary to succeed in the next century.
The final report was based in a large part on the commission's interpretation of results of a community survey distributed last summer to 33,000 households, a 40 percent random sampling of the county. It also was based on residents' comments at eight town meetings held throughout the county last fall and the commission's review of about 60 relevant documents, including the latest census reports.
"One of the key findings was that there is great diversity in what people think and want for the future of Harford County," said Ronald Eaton, chairman of the commission's research design work group. Despite the diversity, the commission found that certain issues were of more concern to residents than others, he said.
Fifty-eight percent of survey respondents said they would like a four-year college degree program in the county and nearly 60 percent would like graduate programs, according to the report.
With those statistics in hand, the commission made higher education its first priority and put the Higher Education and Applied Technology Center near Aberdeen at the center of its recommended strategies.
The HEAT Center, a collaborative vision of the county executive, Harford Community College and the state, is a planned high-technology campus and industrial park where bachelor's and master's degree candidates will study alongside high-tech businesses. Groundbreaking for the first academic building was in August.
The report also said residents want more affordable, quality child-care services in the county. "The issue really is affordability," Mr. Eaton said, "because the expense of quality care drives people into low-quality situations."
Commission members recommended providing tax incentives to child-care centers, encouraging private sector programs and expanding partnerships with public schools.
"There were strong feelings on many of the issues and there were many disagreements among the commission members," said Warren Hartenstine, chairman of the strategic initiatives work group who described the lengthy process of narrowing the strategic issues from 50 last winter to a handful.
In the end, he said, commission members agreed on six areas of concern, although there was not complete agreement on the final order of priorities.
The most significant data in the commission's report was the citizen survey, which asked residents about their use of and need for services in health care, commerce, transportation, public safety and welfare, education and recreation.
Forty-four percent -- 14,646 households -- returned the completed surveys, Mr. Eaton said.
He noted that the typical respondent was 42 years old, married with two children, college-educated and employed full time. Seventy percent of the respondents were female. The average combined household income was slightly more than $50,000 a year.
Besides determining residents' concerns, the commission was charged with projecting demographic changes in the county and assessing their impact.
The final report projected that the number of residents over age 60 will grow substantially by 2010. In 1990, 12 percent of Harford's population was over 60. By 2010 it is expected to rise to 18 percent.
Among the survey's other findings:
* The cost of health care did not concern residents as much as the convenience of it, particularly of dentists and family physicians.
* More than 93 percent of the respondents supported preservation of existing farmland in the county and fewer than 27 percent believed that facilities and services were adequate to support further development.
* For the most part, residents are not leaving the county to buy groceries, hardware or cars, but they are going elsewhere for furniture, appliances and large consumer goods. Only 34 percent wanted to see more retail stores in the county.
* Sixty percent of the respondents work outside Harford County, and the average drive to work is 22 miles one way. Almost 75 percent said they would change jobs to work in Harford County.
* More than 65 percent agreed that the county faces problems with juvenile delinquency and crime, teen-age drug and alcohol abuse and teen-age sexual behavior and pregnancy. While 85 percent said they felt safe in Harford County, nearly 65 percent think that violence and crime are problems in the county.
* More than 80 percent said they were satisfied with their education and their children's education in Harford County, although fewer than 29 percent attended Harford public schools.
* Nearly 60 percent said county roads are inadequate for handling traffic flow and 92 percent said traffic is getting worse.
"There was clearly a statement that we are not in the position to support growth from a facilities and services standpoint," said Mr. Hartenstine.
He noted that 73 percent of the residents said public transportation is important to the future of Harford County, but only 30 percent said they would use it and 85 percent of them drive alone to work every day.
"There is a real cultural issue there that won't be easy to get to," Mr. Hartenstine said.
"This is one of the most significant commissions we've put together," said Mrs. Rehrmann.
"This will not be an idle document that goes on the shelf," she continued. "It will be an active document and the basis for a revised strategic plan and for setting benchmarks for the future."
She said her Cabinet will use the report as it begins to update a strategic plan at its meeting in January.