Friday, May 24, 2013
The Baltimore County Council lowers open space waiver fees charged to developers but gives more money to a group that protects open space in urban areas.
Developers will pay a little less to side-step open space requirements for residential projects but a group that helps protect open spaces in urban areas of the county will get a bigger cut under a bill passed by the Baltimore County Council. The council Thursday approved the bill that lowers the county's open space waiver fees. As part of the bill, the council also approved an amendment sponsored by Councilmen Quirk and David Marks that will give NeighborSpace of Baltimore County 20 percent of the fees collected. Six of the seven councilmen voted in favor of the bill. Council Chairman Tom Quirk voted against the measure. Prior to the passage of the bill Thursday, NeighborSpace could receive up to 10 percent of the waiver fees collected …
Thursday, May 23, 2013
The timing of a bill that reduces fees for developers comes as an August deadline looms for more than a dozen projects.
The Baltimore County Council Thursday is scheduled to vote on a bill that would lower the rates charged to developers who would rather pay a fee in lieu of setting aside a portion of a proposed development as open space. Michael Harrison, a lobbyist for the Home Builders Association of Maryland, said his group asked for the rates to be updated last November—the first such change in seven years. "The fees were set at the peak of the market and developers could afford those prices," Harrison said, adding that later it became apparent that a number of developers were in danger of losing their ability to move forward because they had not yet paid the waiver fees. If the council adopts the new fee schedule, developers would pay rates equivalent…
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Councilman John Olszewski Sr. has previously abstained from votes because of his employment with an area contractor.
Councilman John Olszewski Sr. Tuesday said a failure to report a contracting job he has held for the past two years was "an oversight." Olszewski, a four-term Democrat from Dundalk, works for Mason and Son Contracting. Financial disclosure forms filed March 27 do not list the contractor as an employer. The contractor is also not listed in disclosures filed last spring for the 2011 calendar year. The disclosure form asks councilmembers to disclose any job for which they earned income outside their position with the county. "I thought that meant something else," said Olszewski, who works about 34 hours a week for the contractor. "I'm going to look into that and if I need to file an amended report I will." Olszewski has abstained from votes …
Thursday, April 25, 2013
A 2012 college teaching position held by Councilman David Marks, while legal, should have triggered an amended financial disclosure report.
Baltimore County Councilman David Marks said Thursday that a 2012 teaching job at a local university should have been part of his required financial disclosures. Marks acknowledged the job and failure to file an amended report last year with the Baltimore County Ethics Commission during an interview. "It was an oversight," Marks, a Perry Hall Republican, said after being asked about the job. The undisclosed teaching job as well as two previously disclosed consulting positions do not appear to violate county law. Marks said the teaching job will appear in disclosure forms that he has already filed that will be made public next month. Following the interview, Marks issued a statement by email: "As soon I was offered a three-month teaching …
Monday, April 15, 2013
The Baltimore County Coucil gives nonprofits a 48 percent discount that will be offset by residential property owners.
UPDATED (8:54 p.m.)—Nonprofits in Baltimore County will pay a lower stormwater management fee courtesy of residential property owners. The Baltimore County Council Monday approved new stormwater management fees by a vote of 5-2. Councilmen Todd Huff and David Marks voted against the amended bill. One of the main amendments adopted by the council reduced the fees that will be charged to nonprofits. Under the proposal submitted by County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, nonprofits would have paid $36 dollars for every 2,000 square-feet of impervious surface. The council amended the bill to reduce that fee to $20—a 48 percent discount. To offset the reduction, the council voted to increase residential fees by $3. Under the newly approved bill, …
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
The bill would impose fees on residents, businesses and nonprofits for federally mandated efforts to clean up the Chesapeake Bay.
At least two members of the Baltimore County Council say they would like to delay a vote on proposed stormwater management fees. Vicki Almond and David Marks both said Tuesday they would like to delay the vote for a month. "Considering the enormity of all this and the information that we have I would personally like us to have a little more time to come up with some amendments and really study this even further," said Almond, a Reisterstown Democrat. "I think three weeks really isn't enough to digest all of this," Almond said, speaking of a briefing the council received last month. Almond added that County Executive Kevin Kamenetz developed the new fees without involving the council or holding any public meetings. The council, in its …
Monday, March 18, 2013
County Executive Kevin Kamenetz seeks a reduction in fees charged to developers who want a waiver on open space.
UPDATED (10:07 p.m.)—Protesters will have to stay a little farther away from public and private schools if one Baltimore County Councilman gets his way. County Councilman Todd Huff, a Timonium Republican, introduced a bill Monday night that will require protesters to stay at least 300 feet from the entrance of a public or private elementary, middle or high school. Protests would be prohibited during school hours or within one hour before or after school hours. It would also be illegal to block or prevent the use of public streets, sidewalks or other spaces while protesting. Violators would be subject to a fine of $1,000 or up to a 90-day jail sentence or possibly both. "It's another layer of protecting our kids," Huff said. "That's it, the…
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Councilwoman Vicki Almond is the lone dissenting vote as an 11th hour push to table the legislation fails.
A change to how county employees appeal pension decisions was approved despite an 11th hour attempt to delay the final vote. The Baltimore County Council Tuesday night voted 6-1 in favor of the legislation that moves the appeals process from a seven-member panel appointed by the council to one of two administrative law judges appointed by the county executive. Councilwoman Vicki Almond, a Reisterstown Democrat, was the lone vote against the bill and three amendments. Almond, reading from a prepared statement, said the bill would affect the integrity of the council and "county employees for years to come." She said conflicting legal opinions offered by County Attorney Michael Field and county legislators in the General Assembly was reason …
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Wednesday, January 23, 2013
The County Council signs off on exchange of 10-acre parcels with the school system that could clear the way for the construction of a controversial new elementary school.
A land swap needed for the construction of a controversial new elementary school in Mays Chapel is one step closer to fruition. The Baltimore County Council Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution approving the swap of a 10-acre wooded property for an adjacent 10-acre property made up of ballfields that is owned by the Baltimore County Public Schools system. The school system intends to use the newly-swapped property to build a new elementary school. The swap still requires the approval of the county Board of Education. The state Department of Natural Resources must also approve the deal because of open space easements on the county's parcel. Those easements are expected to be transferred over to the new parcel. Some residents who live …
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Monday, January 7, 2013
The Catonsville Democrat said the council will have to deal with another difficult budget but there's "no political will" for a tax increase.
Newly-elected Baltimore County Council Chairman Tom Quirk is looking forward to a more collegial relationship between the council and county executive and no new taxes in the coming year. "I think 2013 is the year the county executive and the county council work together collaboratively," Quirk, Catonsville Democrat, said, who was elected unanimously by his colleagues. The relationship between the council and County Executive Kevin Kamenetz has undergone considerable strain. Quirk along with then-Council Chairwoman Vicki Almond, Councilwoman Cathy Bevins, and Councilman David Marks all opposed a pension bill that would have ended the use of overtime in the calculation for pension benefits for some county employees. The bill was part of an …
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John Wilson
7:45 pm on Friday, May 24, 2013
With all due respect Ms. Hopkins, the fee schedule and the legislation originally granting the waiver was tied to the value of land. The decrease in real estate values is not the fault of property owners. The decrease in the open space fee is just simply fair. Property values have dropped significantly. Your representation that the fee decrease results in less money to NeighborSpace is also … more ›