State money to expand the Carroll County Agriculture Center is almost a sure bet, but how much, and how much will come this year, is unknown, said Del. Nancy R. Stocksdale, a member of the House Appropriations Committee that recently heard the center's request for $950,000.

The money would go toward a $3.3 million project to expand the center, which is home to the Carroll County 4-H Fair and other events throughout the year. The expansion is expected to generate increased income from exhibits and shows.

"I think it was very well received," Stocksdale, a Carroll Republican, said of the request.

Proponents of the center's expansion had five minutes Thursday to make their case: Four people spoke, including Franklin Feeser, vice chairman of the center's board of trustees and a Taneytown hog farmer, and Bill Gavin, a member of the Neighborhood Advisory Committee to the board.

"It went great, as far as I'm concerned," said Feeser. "I just reminded them of their promise last year."

In 1996 and 1997, the state committed $400,000 to the project, to be matched by local fund raising. The board has raised $1 million in pledges and cash. Last year, the center was slated to get another $300,000 from the state, again to be matched locally, but the House committee wouldn't support the bill until the center's board addressed concerns of neighbors worried about the new building.

Since then, the board has created the Neighborhood Advisory Committee and moved the planned location of the new building to a site that was acceptable to nearby residents. Gavin told House members that his committee supported this plan.

"They promised us if we did this, we'd get our money," Feeser said.

Added costs

But the cost has gone up. The new building site will require excavating rock, removing power and water lines, cutting down several trees and demolishing older buildings between the main building and a livestock facility called the Shiloh Building. Stocksdale said she isn't sure there will be enough money to give the center $950,000 this year.

"This year we have only $14 million to distribute," Stocksdale said, and about $70 million in requests.

"If it doesn't go through this year, they may get a piece of it. I fully expect we will get at least the $300,000 we asked for last year," she said.

Stocksdale said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Howard P. Rawlings, a Baltimore Democrat, sent her and other Carroll legislators a letter last year saying that he would support the funding bill if the board reached agreement with neighbors.

"When he makes a commitment like that, if it's within his power, he will keep his word," Stocksdale said.

Ready to build

Feeser said center officials know they might not get all the money at once but are prepared to begin construction in August, after the 4-H Fair, and have the building ready for the 2000 fair.

He said the board could look at financing some of the costs.

"We explored every site that was possible, and we are definitely getting a smaller building by 15,000 feet less than we wanted, for a million dollars more," Feeser said, though the plans allow for expansion later.

"Yes, it's smaller than we wanted, but it does allow us for the future, the next generation, to extend this building," he said.

Pub Date: 3/15/99