The Westminster Common Council considered last night a bill that would provide tax breaks to people who renovate properties in the city's historic district.

If the measure is approved, property owners would not see any tax increases for up to 10 years.

For example, if a rundown property was assessed at $50,000 and improvements raised its value to $75,000, the owner would not have to pay taxes on the increased valuation for 10 years.

The measure was introduced by Westminster Town Center Corp., a nonprofit group of city officials and residents. No vote was taken on the proposal, but the council will study the plan and decide how best to implement it.

"We certainly feel it would be an incentive for people who own businesses or houses in a historic district to fix up, renovate or spruce up older parts of the city," Mayor Kenneth A. Yowan said. "Sometimes the incentives that work best are the ones with dollar signs behind them."

In another matter, the council for a second time postponed a request by Robert Bizzarri to have the Countywide Taxi & Transportation Service transferred back to his ownership. Bizzarri was placed on a year's unsupervised probation in November 1997 after he was charged with altering a check for a fare from $4 to $400. He transferred ownership to his mother, Betty June Bizzarri, in September 1997.

The council was scheduled to address the issue at its previous meeting but postponed a decision because Bizzarri did not show up. He also did not attend last night, although he had been informed of the meeting.

Westminster Police Chief Sam R. Leppo said Bizzarri's taxi insurance expires at the end of the month and that if he does not have it renewed by then, "I'm pulling his license, period."

Westminster residents would be left without taxi service.

The council also approved a bid by Dixie Construction Co. of Harford County to replace a water main that runs along Carroll Street between Main Street and Milton Avenue.

The new main would be 8 inches in diameter, replacing two 4-inch mains, said Thomas B. Beyard, Westminster's director of planning and public works.

Dixie Construction bested eight other companies with a bid of $142,475.

Preliminary plans to spruce up City Hall's exterior, place a new sign at the building's entrance and do additional landscaping at Mather's Park behind City Hall were also reviewed by the council.

Yowan announced that the city would get an unofficial visit Thursday from Lord Mayor David Harvey of Westminster, England. Harvey is traveling to Georgia on business, then to Maryland to visit a friend.

Pub Date: 3/23/99