Thwarted by the Harford County Council in a previous bid to buy contaminated waterfront property for a public park, County Executive David Craig used another lever of government in late December to buy a portion of the property, and hopes to buy the remainder through the county budget he will propose in April.
The $700,000 purchase approved December 19 by the Harford County Board of Estimates consists of .8 acres located at 627 Water Street in Havre de Grace, paid for with county funding for land acquisition, according to Craig. He said the seller was Stonebridge Bank, which held the property in foreclosure.
The approved deal also included $50,000 escrowed by the seller to cover environmental cleanup costs, Craig said following the discussion and vote that were held in a closed session of the Board.
Decisions on land acquisition can be discussed in a closed session so as not to affect negotiations, however the votes should be held in public, Council President Billy Boniface said following the session. Boniface sits on the seven-member BOE, which is chaired by the county executive, per the county code. Boniface said he was one of two “no” votes on the measure, which passed 4 to 2 with one member absent.
If at first you don’t succeed…
Craig’s earlier attempt to buy the waterfront property was in October, through legislation he proposed to purchase 627 Water Street for $770,000, and a 3.7 acre group of parcels known as 649 Water Street for $2.7 million. The legislation called for a multi-year installment purchase plan, which requires council approval.
Councilwoman Mary Ann Lisanti, representing Havre de Grace, co-sponsored the bill, which she said would allow vital connections to existing trails and parkland.
Council members agreed there were merits, however, Boniface and others objected to the terms. They said the purchase prices were based on outdated appraisals, plus the environmental cleanup costs – not factored into the price – could become a burden on county taxpayers.
Former uses of the waterfront properties include storage of fuel and pesticides, according to an Opinion of Probable Cost commissioned by the Craig Administration from Geo-Technology, Inc. (GTA). The company in May 2013 estimated the cleanup cost to range from $336,000 to $1.65 million, depending on how much of the land had to be remediated. The estimates assumed that, aside from petroleum, no other contaminants requiring remediation would be found.
The legislation authorizing the purchase of both properties required the respective sellers to escrow a total of $250,000 for clean up, but Boniface said at the time that the full cost of remediation should be borne by the sellers. He later said the petroleum contamination could be the “tip of the iceberg.”
Craig’s legislative effort to buy the properties failed in a November 5th vote of 5 to 1, with Lisanti the only “yes” vote and Councilman Dion Guthrie abstaining.
Since then, another assessment of 627 Water Street valued the property at $70,000 below the purchase price Craig originally proposed, down to the $700,000 approved December 19th. Craig said the lower assessment valued the property as a passive park rather than a potential residential development.
The approved price does not include cleanup costs, Craig said, however, another environmental review is being done on the property, which he called the “cleanest” of the waterfront parcels.
Asked who would pay if cleanup costs exceeded the $50,000 to be escrowed by seller, Craig said, “It won’t.” When pressed, Craig said that the city of Havre de Grace committed to pay for it.
Havre de Grace Mayor Wayne Dougherty did not respond to a request for comment.
Responding to questions from The Dagger, Erin L. Schafer, chief of the property management division in the county department of procurement, clarified in a December 19th email:
“The County Executive and the Mayor are working towards an MOU in this regard; so far it has been verbal discussions. When I have a written agreement I will be happy to provide a copy.”
Following the Board of Estimates vote, Boniface said that Craig was fully within his rights to buy the property as he did, but council approval would be needed for additional funding of the waterfront project, such as to construct the park at 627 Water Street, or to buy the larger property at 649 Water. “The well is run dry until he gets more money from the council,” Boniface said.
649 Water Street
The primary owners of 649 Water Street are trusts for various family members of Baltimore developer John Paterakis, according to an October memorandum from Schafer that was prepared in response to earlier questions from council members.
Craig said that he plans a second attempt to buy that property by including it in the fiscal year 2015 capital improvement program budget he will propose to the county council in April.
The budget proposal will be his last as county executive. Craig is term-limited and running for governor.
While acknowledging that the council could remove the project before approving the county budget overall, Craig made a pitch for the park: ‘Wouldn’t it be better to have that than 15 – 25 townhouses there?”
“Sitting in the Middle”
Given that the county now owns a portion of the waterfront property literally at the center of the controversy, Council President Boniface offered his personal view of the council’s next dilemma:
“[By] buying the middle piece, now he’s trying to leverage us to buy the other piece. What are we going to do with one parcel sitting in the middle?”
Spend, spend, spend. “Wouldn’t it be better to have that than 15 – 25 townhouses there?” Maybe not, in my opinion. Wouldn’t it be better to have an expanded tax base, rather than to purge monies out of an already weakened treasury? Where is the business sense here?
I am all for this! That area is kinda crappy for folks to walk by to get to the lock house from downtown where so much work has already been done. I support the land acquisition, the Garrett Island thing, the preserving the land for future generations to marvel in the beauty of the river, the shuttles – all of it. I can’t fund anything but I would like to help out wherever and whenever I can – volunteering to clean, prep, maintain, rally, fundraisers… You name it I want to help make this happen!
So *you* can’t fund anything but the rest of us chumps can? Where exactly do you think the money comes from?
So Nick Contis also finally gets to tear down much of the Downtown district he owns and build his silly hotel. Tricky Shifty nick wins again. So kiddies pay money to campaigns and you too can be a rich man in a poor mans county.
Thieving, corrupt, predictable Craig. How much do you get from this deal; or is calling it Craig Park 2 just that twistedly important to you?
Craig’s sneaky Christmas present to his chronies. This is the same type of corruption which O’Malley and Brown are being investigated through State contacts. Now he has to figure a way to buy the other two parcels for his Baltimore connection and the other for his builder friend and not a word from the local paper. Thank goodness for the Dagger.
Amazing we have money for things like this but teachers just need to accept that there’s no money and everybody is hurting.
It was funny, as I watched Christmas Vacation this year, I saw the scene where the boss cut the Christmas bonuses and immediately thought of David Craig and his self serving ways.
I think Jesse Bane want to buy the property (it won’t cost anything of course) to land his helicopter!
The real story. Clarke Turner bought a lot of this with the intention of developing it. Even had talks with Prices Seafood about putting another restaurant on the property. Clarke couldn’t sell said land and is hurting with the downturn in housing. So Clarke Turner gives lots of money to campaigns of most of the people who voted on this. This is nothing more than a bailout for Clarke Turner. STOP BAILING OUT PEOPLE WHO MAKE BAD BUSINESS DECISIONS.
The proverbial nail on head.
Way to go Brian. The Craig controlled press has kept this quiet. Can you say arrogance? Craig put Havre de Grace in Debt before he ascended to the throne at the county and now he is doing the same thing to the county. Next he will bankrupt the state taking what little is left after O’Malley gets through.
This is an utter falsehood and easily refuted. You may disagree with the purchase of the property, but to fabricate a lie about debt is stupid.
Craig spent all the funds from the city hiring his friends to director positions and firing the old ones, but still had to pay them to sit home. He answer raise taxes ten cents.
And this too is incorrect. The property tax increase was to make up for reductions in State funding. The increase has also been wholly rescinded so the rate is at 2003 levels. Again, disagree with the purchase all you wish but stop the lying.
Sorry Chief, Owemalley already beat him to it.
Maybe Wal-Mart should have looked into buying all that property.
LOL Help me Harford Countians, if no Park, No Wal-Mart, then what do you all want built there? Section 8 Housing? Sounds good, thumbs up.
How about leave it the f*** alone. Trim the shrubs up a bit and allow it to remain one of the few spots in the area that the public can access the waterfront.
I think you miss the point. Nobody objects to a park. The objection is forcing the taxpayers to pay waterfront prices along w unknown costs for cleanup. Would you buy a house w no roof and not adjust the price for the cost of the roof? Unless you’re an idiot you wouldn’t but that’s exactly what this is and the only reason it’s being handled this way smacks of cronyism and corruption at it’s worst. The county exec has an obligation to a fiduciary duty to the public purse and he’s using that purse to take damaged property off the hands of his developer cronies w our money and it needs to be investigated by authorities.
If it’s true that the Mayor agreed to pay for the clean up, then he needs to go along with Craig’s son and the other three stooges Bill, John and Dave. These back room deals need to be stopped.
Dougherty agreed to have the City pay for the clean up because he has $1.6 million a year coming into the city coffers from the residents of Bulle Rock who receive virtually no services from the City other than processing its poop. It is so ironic that the Bulle Rock residents who were promised a marina on the site by the Greek baker now must pay to clean it up. Talk about adding insult to injury. Perhaps the Bulle Rock folks need to hire a good lawyer to start to rectify the injustices.
Dont down play the bulle-poo. There is A LOT of bullshit that streams down from BulleRock.
Bulle Rock homeowners have their own HOA to blame.
Richard Alter of Manekin, LLC is going to leave the homeowners in a financial hole since he controls the HOA and owes it a great deal of money. Manekin, LLC is never going to pay it.
Keep electing John, you poor pitiful Havre de Gracians. Unfortunately your idiocy is costing the entire county much needed funds.
that area is in extremely bad shape, I go fishing there and the docks have huge holes in the wood, pieces of meal sticks out. The area needs work. If you don’t agree go there yourself and go walk on the dock, oh and bring a flotation device!
The City or County government could put up chain-link fencing to close off access to the docks. Safety concerns solved without spending millions of dollars this project will eventually cost Harford County taxpayers. Just another swansong for HdG by the outgoing CE whose political career is about to come to a close.
Dont worry. It will soon be part of the Havre de Grace Green Way. Giving Mary anne Lasanti an additional 20K per year on top of her 75K per year salary. She will make it alllllll bettter.
Thank god, a New hot topic that isn’t about HCPS.
Joe, I was thinking the same thing. With a small exception, it does give the teachers argument more validity. If the money is available for this property; the money is available for employee raises in all county departments. Again, glad the subject has shifted off the BOE battle.
Might be time to reexamine who and how the BOE is formed. The only positions on the board not reporting to or appointed by the county exec are the council president and a single citizen selected by the council president. That means you only have two votes independent of the exec – smoke and mirrors, kangaroo court – call it whatever you want. Wanna bet the only other no vote was the citizen appointed by the council?
remember craig loaned millions to turner for beechtree housing development
Somewhere in the meeting notes regarding approvals for Beechtree (on-line at the County website) I read the developers stating how fast Beechtree would be sold out once the BRAC moves started. What they didn’t count on is that NJ folks with children wanted the Bel Air schools (not Aberdeen schools.) Also, many people didn’t move, and instead telecommute, or do a combination of a few days here sharing a rental with others and telework from home in NJfor the balace of the workweek. I drive by Beechtree every day and 2+ years after the last BRAC moves (15 Sep 2011,) they are still trying to sell those places. Somebody didn’t do their homework on that deal.
Yeah the greedsters bought up all the property, asked way to much for the real estate and the BRAC peeps all moved elsewhere. Now they are all broke. Just ask the Duncans.
Craig can buy waterfront property with tax dollars, but he hasn’t given County employees raise in five years and word is it’ll be at least another five years before we get one! What a crock of $hit!
Don’t forget how Craig stomped his feet like a child having a tantrum until agreement was made (forced) to rebuild Havre de Grace High at the expense of other schools more in need. I don’t know who he thinks he is, but the arrogance of this man is astonishing. I hope this bad deal doesn’t go through but if it does and the clean-up ends up costing more, Craig and those on the Council who vote for it should be held personally liable. I definitely believe that an investigation into Craig’s “business”dealings is in order.
Go to Havre de grace high, you think its ok the place is falling a part, maybe when you need to flush the tiolet just take a bucket of water in with you. Can we say Asbestos, can we say in rough shape.
Can you prove any of your claims? Most of the problems with Havre de Grace High Schools could be prevented if the school board made sure people did their jobs.
Well, you cant make Union employees do their jobs. Silly Rabbit.
I and every other union employee take offense with your comments. We are union because we take pride in our work and do it well.
Really Ryan?
So you believe union workers work harder and are more productive than non-union workers?
If that were true wouldn’t those greedy capitalists seek out union workers to get a piece of that increased productivity instead of employing those non-union slackers?
I think everyone should unionize. Workers should be fairly compensated and fairly treated. Our country was built by union workers. Non-unon workers often are taken for granted and mistreated.
Yeah the greedsters bought up all the property, asked way to much for the real estate and the BRAC peeps all moved elsewhere. Now they are all broke. Just ask the Duncans.
Burbey you are a one of the biggest reasons the education system is failing. Your gimme more collectivist ways of thinking have truly led to a lost generation. I am extremely proud that I was able to offend you.
Please enumerate how I am, “One of the biggest reasons the education system is failing”. Also, could you please explain to me what my, “Your gimme more collectivist ways of thinking” are and how they, “have truly led to a lost generation”?
All I have ever advocated for is improvements to our schools, appropriate funding and for the contracts of our public sector employees to be honored. Please explain how any of these things are detrimental to our schools or community.
This must be a fake Ryan Burbey. Even he couldn’t say this stuff and seriously believe it.
I have no sympathy as I attended the old Bel Air High when it was a dump. I learned just fine and went on to complete post graduate degrees. Renovations, including a new gym, were made to HDG. Yet there are schools like John Archer that are so antiquated but have little political voice.
There are other schools in the county that are in worse shape than HdG HS. They were on the list ahead of Hdg until the Tomback (under pressure from Craig) moved it to the top of the list. The only reason YBES will be funded and built before HdG is because the Fallston folks would have killed any chance Graig has (which is none) of becoming governor.
No there aren’t. I’ve been in most of the schools in the county. HdG High is by far the most outdated and dilapidated. The old Bel Air High was bad, but HdG is much worse.
You are wrong. HdG HS has its problems but it is not the most outdated and dilapidated school in the county.
You’re right. As I’ve pointed out here several times, with facts, havredegrace elementary is the oldest and least updatd school in the county. Where are your facts?
Just because a building is older does not mean it is in worse shape or provides a lesser educational experience than some newer buildings. There are other elementary schools in worse shape with more challenging learning environments for students and teachers than HdG ES. Also, the condition of the old Bel Air HS was worse than what is found in the current HdG HS.
I am a Union man, i have worked with IBEW, Teamsters, and AFSCME, AFSCME IS THE BIGGEST JOKE
Something smells fishy and it’s not the river.
Section 415 Board of estimates.
[Added by Bill No. 76-48]
(a)
There shall be a Board of Estimates composed of the County Executive, or the Executive’s designee, the President of the Council, or another Council member as the President’s designee, one citizen of Harford County, Maryland, appointed by the County Executive, one citizen of Harford County, Maryland, appointed by the Council, the Director of the Department of Procurement, the Director of the Department of Public Works and the Treasurer of Harford County. The County Executive shall be the Chair of the Board and the Director of the Department of Procurement shall act as the Secretary.
(b)
The Board shall be responsible for the awarding of contracts and supervising of purchasing by the County to the extent and in the manner provided for by the Council by law, and shall perform such other duties and responsibilities involving contracts and purchasing as may be provided for by the Council by law.
Unreal eh? I took note of the same thing. Kangaroo court comes to mind. Citizens should be outraged this committee is so politicized.
Great idea but that means Craig would give up control. Right now he appoints 4 of the 6, gives him total control.
Speaking of beechtree, I can’t believe there are people actually interested living there.
I laugh at the morons who think they are making a left hand turn onto route 7 from Stepney between the hours of 3pm and 6pm. Pro tip: make a right hand turn, drive 1/8th mile and go around the traffic circle.
The $700,000 in cash the CE found in the county’s (taxpayers) bank account would have paid to cover the cost of buses the BOE eliminated for magnet students and some walkers. Priorities indeed.
he will never get my vote for governor
This purchase of .88 of a acre of Contaminated property for $700,000.00 is an insult to the tax payers of not only Havre de Grace but the entire County. There is 4.3 acres of land for sale in Joppatown, that the residents wanted the County to buy for $ 679,500 to create a Community center, has 2 swimming pools, over looking the water, 3,700 sq ft building and roads on 3 sides of the property, a flat piece of land that has appraise for $900,000.00. Of course in this County we only pay more than a piece of property is worth. Let the corrent owners of the Havre de Grace property clean up there own mess before we consider buying this property. The estimates to clean up this Contaminated property can be up to $1,650,000.00 and can be more. Who will pay for that? Creig says “Havre de Grace will”. Wrong, thay have only agree to $50,000, where will the rest come from? You, the tax payer, if Creig has anything to do with it. Watch this year upcoming budget, he will have that money in that propose budget which amounts to over $3,000,000.00 plus clean up, that is about $5,000,000.00 and does not guarantee “clean up”. You could not give me this property considering the “clean up” problem. You want to check it out, go up there and walk the property and you will see what I mean, I did and took pictures, and will gladly share them with you. You know how to get in contact with me.
Does this mean you will not abstain from the next vote on purchasing the other properties but vote against further attempts to acquire those properties by County Government?
Dion in this case you’re 100 percent correct. Until the EPA does digging and sampling nobody knows what’s in there or how much it might cost. If the developers thought it would be a 50k cleanup there’d be condos on it already. The developer wants out because they took a risk and lost but now want a complete taxpayer bailout. This is the kind of activity that occasionally results in a perp walk for political leaders. If they get away with corruption they get lazy and more bold and forget their fiduciary duty to the taxpayers.
Dion in this case you’re 100 percent correct. Until the EPA does digging and sampling nobody knows what’s in there or how much it might cost. If the developers thought it would be a 50k cleanup there’d be condos on it already. The developer wants out because they took a risk and lost but now want a complete taxpayer bailout. This is the kind of activity that occasionally results in a perp walk for political leaders. If they get away with corruption they get lazy and more bold and forget their fiduciary duty to the taxpayers.
Another fake poster. Guthrie would at least know how to spell the County Exec’s name by now. Wait a minute… Dion’s a Dem, isn’t he? Never mind.
Larry Hogan should post this on his Change Maryland Page…His primary victory over Craig will become much easier. Craig’s corruption matches O’Malley’s and we sure don’t need more of that.
Mr. Guthrie you are correct sir. Furthermore, Ms. Lisanti just shoved it too every resident of Harford County. Wallowing out of the swamps of the The Susqe and 95 overpass she got what she and those she represents wanted. How dare this purchase get through. We again will pay for Clark’s failure, Bulle Rock disaster continues and the cost is passed to all Harford County residents. Mr. Craig sir, I think your career just ended.
The CE abused the power of his office to complete this purchase. The Joppa property would do more for the public good to be bought and be managed by parks n recreation. The HdG property may have its merits if the clean up issue is taken up by the sellers willing to sell the property in a marketable condition. I don’t really have a problem with the purchase as in theory both of these would benefit the public good (despite what Burbey says– the county can’t devote all its resources to pay for teacher raises), the local government must provide public areas to improve the quality of life and add value to the properties around it. I do however have an issue with this transaction being completed undercover and without the proper oversight and review by the county council. Ms. Lisanti has a vested interest due to her private employment that while worthwhile, it should be mixed up with county business. I would be interested to know what Glassman has to say about this transaction and I would like to hear his position on this purchase.
Since it doesn’t involve farmland, I doubt he has any opinion he will voice openly.
meant to say Ms. Lisanti has a vested interest with her private employment and should recuse her vote from this transaction or its implementation of further allocation of funds. In addition, since the past approved budget didn’t have an allocation for this parcel in HdG, how did the CE move $$$ around without the county council approval? I thought changes in accounts need council approval. Board of estimates can only approve a purchase if there are funds dedicated for said transaction.
Anderson, Barranger, Freeman, Rehrmann, Harkins and Craig. As a lifelong Harford County Republican who remembers each of these administrations, I must say that David Craig is the absolute worst of the bunch. He is a rare combination of crooked and stupid. I thought Jim Harkins was pretty bad until Craig came along. Surprisingly, as I remember each I must say that Habern Freeman, a Democrat, may have caused the least damage to our fair County. I stopped eating at the Bayou, as seeing Craig there on free dessert nights makes me want to vomit.
don’t stop eating at the Bayou…Lou Ward andhis crew are the best, and they are totally local. didn’t know of the ‘free desert’ night…but that’s not my point…please continue to patronize the Bayou…why let a ‘freeloader’ stop you from that one simple pleasure…
maybe just go and if you see your ‘least favorite politician’…shove a piece of coconut custard in his face….
just sayin’…
also Sam, I agree on Habern…he tried and for the most part ‘did’ run the county like a business…I had great respect when he cut out budget items that were not productive….he was a stand up person.
OK Mr. Craig, I want and deserve an explaination. We in this beautiful county pay the highest tax rate in the state, most of us pay for the basic services that are included for other Counties.
With the coming of Casinos to Maryland, money was supposed to go to schools, Mr. O’Malley owes us an answer on that one. What I want to know is simple, with the amount of money we pay, why is the money going to fund your toy projects?? Our children’s school harrasses us daily for money to cover costs…shouldn’t the county money perhaps go to future residents rather then to your friends?? We are asked to join PTA, Of course we do, We are asked to purchase books, of course we do. We are asked to participate in spirit nights a few times a month and we try to do so. We are asked to purchase groceries at insane prices to support the school, we are asked to suppost numerous fundraisers on a regular basis that are expensive and rather difficult to afford after giving the county it’s share of taxes. We are now asked by our school to send in parts of our trash, because the school gets 1 cent per piece and 5th graders get to sort this out. Mr. Craig, WHY ARE YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS ROBBING OUR CHILDREN AND OUR WALLETS??? How many usless buildings do you really need to purchase? If I am not mistaken, there are already plenty ef expensive purchased made by your administration that sit empty. How miuch is your ego costing the children of Harford County?
The land and property purchases are but a bigger, more elaborate empire-building by Mr. Craig, fueled by an insatiable ego and quest for power. Over the past several years, the County, with Craig and his cronies at the helm, have systematically taken over a number of private, not for profit organizations and brought them under government control. The history of the nonprofits was founded on the premise that government is not and can never be all things to all people. But if you look closely at what our local government has been up to for the past several years, that is exactly what is occurring under the Craig regime.
All I know is that while Parks are wonderful, the future of our County needs to come first. Isn’t there a large Park Area already at Havre De Grace?? I checked and the county bought out a liquor store, Highs and another store right behind Main St in Bel Air. Now these buildings which were so much more important, then Education, sit vacant, while we subsidise our schools. I feel so sorry for the teachers in this county, who knows how much of their own money they have to put out just to do their job. These hardworking people and the chilldren they teach deserve better. Mr. Craig filled the County government with his friends and Croneys at a cost that none of the taxpayers in this great County deserve. He has used County Money to Bail out his millionaire friends, ( maybe hoping they will back his run for Governor?) while the working man and woman of this county and their children pay the price for his EGO. I have changed my political party for one reason Mr. Craig, so I can vote against you and your corrupt regime. Whomever runs against you, has one very hard working determined person on their team.
All I know is that while Parks are wonderful, the future of our County needs to come first. Isn’t there a large Park Area already at Havre De Grace?? I checked and the county bought out a liquor store, Highs and another store right behind Main St in Bel Air. Now these buildings which were so much more important, then Education, sit vacant, while we subsidise our schools. I feel so sorry for the teachers in this county, who knows how much of their own money they have to put out just to do their job. These hardworking people and the chilldren they teach deserve better. Mr. Craig filled the County government with his friends and Cronies at a cost that none of the taxpayers in this great County deserve. He has used County Money to Bail out his millionaire friends, ( maybe hoping they will back his run for Governor?) while the working man and woman of this county and their children pay the price for his EGO. I have changed my political party for one reason Mr. Craig, so I can vote against you and your corrupt regime. Whomever runs against you, has one very hard working determined person on their team.
I was wondering when a teacher comment would show up, don’t worry, its not always about you, thousands of other county workers haven’t received step increases either.
The county workers should be receiving their steps too. Mr. Craig has treated them poorly too.
You should be receiving proverbial steps across your face
Sorry if I confused you, you could not pay me enough to be a teacher! I do have friends who are and see how much time and effort they put into teaching, but this is not about teachers. This is about hard working parents having to suppliment their Children’s Schools while the county purchases useless properties at insane prices. We got a call last night reminding us of our spirit night this week at a local resturant, to send in our newspapers and also our recycling to help earn money for the school. This is my issue, why do the schools need all of our money when we pay high taxes and the county has money for insane expenditures. If you work or the County, God Bless You!!! All of the county employees we know are hardworking decent people who bear no blame in this insanity.
Lame duck davey strikes again, what is funny is most of the complainers voted for the idiot so you got what you wanted, keep putting them in office, reading your comments is a great source of amusement.
True and there’s a lesson there. Anybody that votes strictly over a label (R or D), is doing themselves and thier neighbors a huge disservice particularly and especially as it pertains to local politics. I would argue that nationally political leaning matters more but locally honest, diligent stewardship has almost nothing to do with party affiliation and I’d further argue that it’s much easier to be corrupt locally than nationally. Local leaders tend to be more small town, less savvy and manipulatable by those who seek to manipulate and they can hide an agenda behind a weary, workaday public just trying to feed the family so seldom keyed in on local politics until it affects them personally or negatively.
I am wondering if the Brownfields program money could be used from the state in this clean up? does anyone know?