Bainbridge

The groundbreaking for the first building in the redevelopment of Bainbridge Naval Training Center could be held early next year. Paul Gilbert, Cecil County economic development director, will present a proposal to county commissioners Tuesday to allow the county to borrow from a state low-interest loan program to construct a 30,000- to 40,000-square-foot structure at the former Navy boot camp. "My goal is for the grading of the property to begin the first of next year," said Harland R. Graef, chairman of the Bainbridge Development Corp.

PORT DEPOSIT - Jackson House, one of the few buildings still standing at the former Bainbridge Naval Training Center on a plateau overlooking Port Deposit and the Susquehanna River, produces a flood of emotions for Michael Miklas Jr., a 74-year-old Charlestown resident who was stationed at the base in the early 1950s. "It was a real good life for three months," Miklas said of the time he bunked with three other guys in a room on the second floor of the stately structure that was once part of the prestigious Tome School.

Town officials in Perryville and Port Deposit are close to reaching an agreement on a new regional water system that would remove the last major hurdle to one of the biggest development projects in the state: the redevelopment of the former Bainbridge Naval Training Center. State, county, town and Bainbridge Development Corp. officials say the towns are close to resolving their difficult off-and-on negotiations of the past four years and agreeing on a joint-use water system. "We are working on [a memorandum of understanding]

Town officials in Perryville and Port Deposit are close to reaching an agreement on a new regional water system that would remove the last major hurdle to one of the biggest development projects in the state: the redevelopment of the former Bainbridge Naval Training Center. Officials with the state, county, town and Bainbridge Development Corp. say the towns are close to resolving their difficult off-and-on negotiations of the past four years and agreeing on a joint-use water system. "We are working on [a memorandum of understanding]

Public comment essential at meetings Although Bainbridge Board Chairman [Harland R.] Graef teaches a leadership seminar at Cecil Community College, one wonders if public comment in open meetings registers as a valued element in such political leadership? As in four previous meetings, Bainbridge Board's "Order of Business" agenda for Feb. 17 omitted any place for public comment, reflecting the anti-public attitude of the board's leadership. Board Member Dennie Poist brought this omission to attention by commenting on many complaints made to him concerning suppression of public comment.

The groundbreaking for the redevelopment of the Bainbridge Naval Training Center could come within 18 months, said Richard Alter as he signed an agreement worked out between a group of Maryland developers and the Bainbridge Development Corp. Alter is president of Manekin LLC in Columbia. Other members of the development team formally called MTPM LLC, include Clark Turner, president of Bel Air-based Clark Turner Cos.; and John Paterakis, a commercial developer in Baltimore. The Bainbridge Development Corp.

The development of the former Bainbridge Naval Training Center in Port Deposit will mark the arrival of Cecil County as a major growth hot spot in Maryland and boost Port Deposit's future, according to several prominent economists and local officials. "Bainbridge will kick-start a significant economic resurgence of Cecil County," said Anirban Basu, chairman and chief executive of Optimal Solutions Group in Baltimore. "Cecil County's time is coming. In the next 10 to 15 years it will be one of the leading growth counties in the state."

Developers win preliminary OK for Bainbridge plan Maryland developers have received preliminary approval to redevelop Bainbridge Naval Training Center, which has been closed for almost 30 years. The approval for a 1,200-acre facility came Monday in a divided vote by the board of the Bainbridge Development Corp. Two of its nine members resigned in protest of the agency's handling of the redevelopment bid. Cynthia Rossetti, the board's chairwoman, also stepped down from her post. She indicated she might resign from the quasi-public agency created by the legislature in 1999 to oversee development of the former Navy boot camp.