The Harford County Council Tuesday introduced bills to borrow about $19 million in bonds for a variety of water and sewer projects and about $28.7 million in bonds for various other projects.
The bonds include $8 million for the Harford County Metro Area Network (HMAN), $5 million for the county's Southern Resource Annex, $3.2 million for a solid waste transfer station, $485,000 for a new allied health and nursing building, $5.9 million for the Susquehanna Center at Harford Community College, $535,000 for a expansion of Havre de Grace High School, $1.3 million for athletic field improvements at Havre de Grace High School and $4.3 million for Moores Mill Road.
Bonds for water and sewer projects include $2 million for the expansion of the Abingdon water treatment plant, $3.7 million for Baltimore City's Deer Creek pumping station, $3.3 million for Baltimore City's raw water supply, $620,000 for two Bynum Run parallels, $8.6 million for enhanced nutrient removal refinement at Sod Run, $130,000 for the abandonment of Harford Estates pumping station and $695,000 for a sludge pad cover at Sod Run wastewater treatment plant.
The projects are all line items in the 2012 budget.
The HMAN project involves consolidating the county's disparate communication networks into a single, high-speed internet and multi-service network.
The Southern Resource Annex includes the county's plan to build a Southern Precinct for the Harford County Sheriff's Office, as well as a Health Department building, on Route 40 in Edgewood.
The council also introduced emergency legislation to add $108,000 for the Ruffs Mill Road Bridge capital project to the fiscal year 2012 budget, to cover an increase in federal grant funding.
The council approved a bill prohibiting the county from discriminating on the basis of familial status.
Councilwoman Mary Ann Lisanti was out of town for the meeting.
Councilman Dion Guthrie commended a presentation on the chemical and biological defense unit at Aberdeen Proving Ground, which is set to open in September.
Guthrie said he is glad to hear there will be more jobs available for the area's young people.
"There's a lot out there, both on the Edgewood side and APG," he said.
Councilman Dick Slutzky said the council has been pretty sensitive to the needs of contractors in the APG area.
Dorothy Glackin and Earl Dennis were announced as Harford Living Treasures.
The council reappointed Rose Ann Eimer to the Harford Center Board of Directors Inc. and appointed John Bowman, Elwood DeHaven Jr. and Eve Holbrook.
Twenty-seven executive appointments to the Economic Development Advisory Board and 16 executive appointments to the Economic Development Tourism Advisory Board were also approved.
Ruth Rhymaun, of Oak Valley Drive in Bel Air, told the council she is very concerned about the lighting at night around Bel Air.
"By Jones Junction, they have put in lighting that more or less shines into people's back windows," she said.
She also said she is nervous about more traffic around a Walmart planned on Plumtree Road, explaining she lives less than a mile from the Plumtree and Route 924 intersection.
She said she would like to see Walmart conduct a more thorough traffic study.