Forced out of the Harford County Council chambers because of unsafe structural conditions in the buildling, county council members will already have safety on their minds Tuesday night when discussing an emergency act to transfer nearly a half-million dollars in the budget for the roof repair of a leaking and potentially dangerous roof at the Joppatowne branch of the Harford County Public Library.
Not long after The Dagger broke the news Monday morning that the Harford County government office building at 212 S. Bond Street was found to have serious structural deficiencies, the county council announced it would be holding its meeting Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Harford County Public Schools’ A. A. Roberty Building located at 102 South Hickory Avenue in Bel Air.
Aside from the Joppatowne Library roof, also on the county council agenda Tuesday night is an amendment of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office pension plan and the approval of more than three dozen tax credits for homeowners living near Scarboro Landfill. In all, the Harford County Council will hold public hearings for a pair of resolutions and five bills beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the council chambers Tuesday.
Resolution No. 41-10, and Bills No. 10-33 and 10-34 are related and request and transfer an expenditure of $488,391 from the General Fund because “the roof and HVAC system at the Joppa Library are in need of repair to avoid additional damage to the library.”
The text of Bill No. 10-33 mentions that the Joppa Library branch has been closed in the past for cleaning of black mold. The county treasurer has certified that the funds are available for the project.
Resolution No. 42-10 grants the request for closure of a portion of Bynum Road pending five conditions, which must be met by the developer.
Bill No. 10-35 provides for Harford County to adopt the 2009 International Building Code, the 2009 International Residential Code, and the 2009 International Mechanical Code with certain amendments generally relating to building and construction in the county and to further provide penalties for violation of the building standards.
Bill No. 10-36 is an emergency act to repeal and reenact with amendments the Harford County Sheriff’s Office Pension Plan to “…enhance the surviving spouse annuity provision under Section 5.8(b)(1)(iv); to make an adjustment to the frequency of recertification for members receiving disability benefits; and generally relating to the technical corrections and re-codification for IRS and state law compliance of a pension plan for certain law enforcement and correctional employees of the Sheriff’s Office.”
Bill No. 10-37 determines that 37 residential properties in the 3200, 3300, and 3400 block of Scarboro Road; 2900, 3000, and 3100 block of Dublin Road; 3100 block of Sandy Hook Road; 3100 block of Tucker Road; and 3200 block of Lucky Drive are entitled to a real property tax credit beginning July 1, 2011 for residing within 1,000 feet of a refuse disposal system.
The full agenda is listed below:
LEGISLATIVE SESSION DAY 11-01
PUBLIC HEARING
6:30p.m.
– Resolution No. 41-10 (Change to Capital Program – Joppa Branch Roof/HVAC)
– Resolution No. 42-10 (Road Closing – Portion of Bynum Run)
– Bill No. 10-33 (Appropriation of Funds – Joppa Branch Roof/HVAC)
– Bill No. 10-34 (Transfer of Appropriations – Joppa Branch Roof/HVAC)
– Bill No. 10-35 (Building Code, Residential Code, Mechanical Code)
– Bill No. 10-36 (Sheriff’s Office Pension Plan)
– Bill No. 10-37 (Tax Credit for Properties Near Refuse Disposal System)
*********************************************************************
January 4, 2011 7:30 P.M.
A G E N D A
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
3. OPENING PRAYER – Council Member Woods
4. PRESENTATION OF PROCLAMATION
5. CITIZEN INPUT
6. CONSIDERATION OF PETITIONS AND APPLICATIONS
7. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
8. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – LSD 10-25 (December 14, 2010)
9. INTRODUCTION AND CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTIONS
10. INTRODUCTION OF BILLS
11. INTRODUCTION AND CONSIDERATION OF AMENDMENTS
a. Amendments to Bill No. 10-35 (Building Code, Residential Code, Mechanical Code)
12. CALL FOR FINAL READING OF BILLS
13. ENROLLMENT OF BILLS
14. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
15. NEW BUSINESS
16. BUSINESS FROM THE PRESIDENT
17. BUSINESS FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS
18. COMMENTS FROM ATTENDING CITIZENS
20. ADJOURNMENT
To request disability-related accommodations, please call 410-638-3343 or 410-638-3491 (TTY)
This document is available in alternative format upon request.
www.HarfordCountyMd.gov
January 11, 2011
Is Bill 10-35 the one that the Council is trying to slip in residential sprinklers in new homes?
Ladies and Gentlemen of Harford county,
Please be aware that the Bill 10-35 is a bill that will add so many cost increases w/n the construction, renovation and repair of all of the buildings in HC, by its new requirements and demands that the costs passed down to the owners/buyers/renters will be tremendous.
Lets think this through, please. The building code has steps that each inspection has requirements/training for the inspectors. That makes sense. The county HR dept. this past year consolidated all of the inspectors under one umbrella. That means that plumbing inspectors will be inspecting electrical and carpentry, and a/c and furnaces and all of the inspectors will be able to do the same. What training will the inspectors need or have to ensure the skills that they need to inspect exist?
If that is true, that each inspector is trained to inspect all aspects of the building, when did that training happen and who is the responsible party if and when the training happened?
Case in point, the County office bldg. in Bel Air has had 2 engineers give different opinions of the problems. Who is correct? These were private contracted engineers. Where were the current county bldg. inspectors and why didn’t they catch any issues? The county owns the bldg. The inspectors work for the county. The bldg. was built in 1985. If the inspectors were following the inspection code. the bldg. ought to be safe now. When the county bought the bldg. in 1995, inspections were made. Why didn’t they find issues then? Or didn’t the employees and the folks w/n the bldg. notice any problems w/n the bldg? Something is fishy.
The bldg code, 10-35 may have some merit. Take the time now to re-evaluate it before it becomes law. It will cost each person in this county money.
This new bill, 10-35 is 50 pages long. Did all of the county council read and understand it?
The bill is going to add large costs and fees to all Harford county w/ less benefit for all. Please call your county council rep. and ask for info and study of this bill.
I saw this joke on the cable channel the other night. Everybody but Slutzky didn’t have the kahoonas to vote against this crap. Instead we heard teary eyed Woods, McMahan and Boniface talk crap about sending firemen into burning buildings. What the heck are they supposed to do. Thats why you have a freakin fire department. You know you’re gonna be running into buildings on fire. OK so next I want the council to ban dogs from the county – because when a cop has to enter a house he may get bit. Or have a bullet proof sheild immediately drop down in a doorway to protect a cop from possible shotgun blast when he has to kick a door. Police ought to be incensed by this boo hoo poor firefighther crap. I don’t understand Shrodes, he spoke about how unaffordable housing already is in Harford yet he votes for this garbage anyway. This won’t impact any of the council so no big deal for them. Guthrie, McMahan lived in their houses for years. Lisanti had been living with her mother. Don’t know about the others. They are in love with themselves and each other on the council – congratulating each other for working together when they had to move out of the black box. McMahan, thank goodness, thanked the movers who actually did the work. Guthrie made it sound like he put on his big red superman cape and moved most of the stuff himself. Now that I’ve seen this council on cable – oh my, what an eye opener. We put back in 5-6 too many incumbents. I hope other county residents will take a look at what this group is doing to us.
This was self-serving vote to make existing homes more competitive with new construction. The council members for the most part are homeowners and they want new homes to be more expensive for two reasons.
1. Make their principal and investment properties more valuable.
2, Raise property taxes since every new home will have a higher valuation.
Cowards pretending to help the public with protection they do not need and may not want.
I think they have to make principal and property more valuable.