County council says leaving Black Box was 'blessing in disguise'

The Black Box may have been declared safe to occupy again, but at least one major county entity isn't eager to move back in.

Members of the Harford County Council, whose first-floor chambers have sat vacant since early January, said they would prefer to stay right where they are, on the second floor of 18 Office Street.

"It was pretty dysfunctional over there at 212 [South Bond Street] anyway, so the move was kind of a blessing in disguise," Council President Billy Boniface said Monday. "I think in the long run it will work better if we just stay where we are."

He explained the council's office set-up in that building was poorly structured, and after talking with the staff, "we would just as soon stay."

Craig's office announced July 28 that an engineering report shows the building would be safe to reoccupy after about $64,000 in repairs are done.

Boniface said that was a shocker after the initial report implied the building was in much worse shape.

"It floored me," he said of the final report. "I'm not an engineer, I'm a farmer, but with that building, it moves a lot. It makes a lot of strange noises."

"Don't get me wrong, that's not why we don't want to move back in," he said. "We are comfortable where we are."

He noted the Black Box still has plenty of issues.

"That building has a lot of problems with it, the heating and the air-conditioning," he said.

He also said he would trust Craig's decision to allow employees to return.

"I'm sure the county executive wouldn't be moving them back in if he didn't think it was safe for them," he said.

Boniface said perhaps the Black Box is more needed for someone else.

"I know there are a lot of other departments that are fragmented now all over the place," he said. "We are leasing a lot of space that I didn't think we were going to have to do."

Councilman Chad Shrodes agreed with Boniface, saying moving back would just be another disruption.

"I don't want to go through another move. I like being in the center of town," Shrodes said. "It's a great location. It's worked out well. My only worry there is what if I forget something, left something in my office [when going to the chambers]."

Also, "the only disadvantage perhaps is parking," he said. "There's places to purchase coffee, lunch. It's just convenient."

Shrodes said he has not had a chance to look through the final inspection report on the Black Box, and is flexible about where to hold meetings.

"Whether we go to the Black Box for meetings or to the school board for meetings, it doesn't make a difference for me either way," he said.

Shrodes said he was likewise surprised the building has been declared safe.

"The initial reports made it seems like it was so bad," he said.

As far as actually moving back, "I guess we haven't really talked about it much as a council," he said. "I don't think I have much to say about it. I mean, it is a county asset."

County spokesman Bob Thomas said Wednesday he does not yet know which employees or departments would move back to the Black Box and does not know when that decision will be made.

Besides the County Council, the Department of Public Works and Cultural Arts Board were the main units forced to relocate when the Black Box was declared structurally unsound.