Board Of Public

Gov. Martin O'Malley and state Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp made the right decision last week in approving the state purchase of a 74-acre waterfront tract on the northern tip of Kent Island known as Love Point. State Comptroller Peter Franchot's concerns about the $7.2 million purchase price deserved careful review but did not justify a decision by the Board of Public Works to reject the deal once appraisers were satisfied. As The Sun's Greg Garland reported, a critical feature of Maryland's open space program is that it has a dedicated revenue source and is nimble enough to take advantage of the opportunity to acquire choice parcels when their owners want to sell.

The state Board of Public Works agreed yesterday to spend $10.3 million to purchase 728 acres near the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge to preserve forests and farmland that had been threatened by a proposed golf resort. With Comptroller Peter Franchot absent, Gov. Martin O'Malley and state Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp approved the deal, ending a battle of more than year between developer Duane Zentgraf and environmental groups. The decision means that Zentgraf can build 675 homes for senior citizens on 328 acres along Egypt Road.

The state awarded a $41 million contract yesterday to build a new Juvenile Justice Center in East Baltimore to a company whose offer was $1 million higher than a rival firm's price.Within hours, the spurned bidder went to court seeking an order delaying construction of the the most expensive juvenile justice facility in state history.The decision to award the contract to The Poole & Kent Co. of Baltimore came on a 2-1 vote by the Board of Public Works, with Gov. Parris N. Glendening and Treasurer Richard N. Dixon outvoting Comptroller William Donald Schaefer.

BROOKEVILLE -- A combative Gov. Parris Glendening again drew a line through this town's proposed bypass yesterday, and then he drew a line in the dirt and challenged the road's supporters to cross it.Within hours, the battle for the bypass around this village in rural Montgomery County was joined once more.Glendening, surrounded by townspeople and elected officials, reiterated that the state will not pay for the $13 million road because it runs contrary to his anti-sprawl Smart Growth campaign.

In Highlandtown, he's Mayor. In Cumberland, he's Governor.And in Annapolis, as William Donald Schaefer ends his restless retirement to become Maryland's first new comptroller in 40 years, nobody knows quite how to address him."What will we call him?" puzzled House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr. "Probably, at least in public, I'll refer to him as Mr. Comptroller. Most of the time, though, I'll call him Governor, which is what I've always called him. Privately, I'll call him Don."It's a dilemma that goes beyond etiquette.

One Carroll County legislator quoted from the Bible. An Eastern Shore delegate fell humbly to one knee, if in jest. Top Republican lawmakers from Howard County figured they helped their cause by simply keeping their mouths shut.Everybody had his own strategy yesterday as Baltimore and 19 Maryland counties performed the annual ritual of pleading before the Board of Public Works for state construction dollars to build and renovate schools.Officials of the 20 jurisdictions were vying for their pieces of $62 million in school construction money that the Board of Public Works is expected to divvy up this spring.

Counties that lose state funding for local projects may seek support from Maryland's Board of Public Works, but the final decision remains with the governor and General Assembly, the state attorney general said yesterday.In an opinion requested by Carroll County legislators, Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. said county officials can ask the Board of Public Works to endorse the need for long-planned bypasses for which Gov. Parris N. Glendening has canceled funding.But even if a majority of the three-member board endorsed the projects, the governor could withhold the money under the state constitution, Curran said.

Frederick County residents will be getting a new playground soon, courtesy of a 167-acre purchase of farmland approved yesterday by the state Board of Public Works.The land along Route 144 is to be transformed into New Market District Park, with picnic areas, ball fields, playgrounds and nature trails.County officials will decide over the next few months how to develop the property, which includes fields and woods.Gov. Parris N. Glendening, Comptroller William Donald Schaefer and Treasurer Richard N. Dixon -- the three members of the Board of Public Works -- gave unanimous approval to spending $686,000 in Program Open Space money to buy the land.

IN THE OLD DAYS (THAT is, before William Donald Schaefer returned to Annapolis as state comptroller,) the governor of Maryland pretty much had his way at the Board of Public Works.If another member of the three-person board -- either the state treasurer or comptroller -- had a problem with an item up for approval, the governor would quietly smooth things out beforehand, out of public view.But with Comptroller Annoyed on the board, it's almost a given that Gov. Parris N. Glendening will run into at least one problem at every meeting.

The state Board of Public Works awarded Westminster and Hampstead $63,641 yesterday from Program Open Space.Westminster received $23,891 to buy land on Main Street that will be developed into a meeting place for downtown shoppers.Hampstead received nearly $39,750 to buy land and install playground equipment next to a basketball court on West Street, the second phase of its Towne Centre Park project.In Westminster, a 2,500-square-foot plot in front of Locust Lane Mall and across Main Street from the Carroll County public library will be turned into a common area with landscaping, park benches and a directory of downtown businesses.

Gov. Martin O'Malley learned last week why to hate economists. In the same week that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke declared the recession "very likely" over and less than a month after shrinking the state's general fund budget to three-year-old levels, he's now been told he must cut about $300 million right away - and instead of a $1 billion shortfall next year, it looks to be $2 billion. Forecasts, shmorecasts. Like a concrete block tossed in a pond, the ripple effect of high unemployment rates continues to spread long after the initial splash.

Children's artwork sought on conflict resolution for contest Maryland children in kindergarten through eighth grade may submit artwork for an art contest sponsored by the Maryland judiciary for Conflict Resolution Day on Oct. 15. The theme is resolving or preventing conflict - including peer mediation, apologizing, respecting differences, solving problems together, listening and alternatives to violence. Between three and five entries may be selected to become bookmarks to promote conflict resolution.

Maryland officials have barred Alan B. Fabian, an entrepreneur and one-time Republican fundraiser now in federal prison, from doing business with the state for an indefinite period. Fabian, who lived in Cockeysville, pleaded guilty last year to mail and tax fraud in connection with a $32 million fraud. The Board of Public Works, a three-member panel with purview over state contracts, approved the action Wednesday without discussion. Fabian had been notified of the proceeding and did not request a hearing, according to board records.

Proposed Arundel schools budget at $977 million Anne Arundel County School Superintendent Kevin M. Maxwell proposed a $977.4 million operating budget last night for the next fiscal year, a nearly 5 percent increase over last year's proposal. Of the $46.1 million in increased requested funding, $3.6 million will support new initiatives: $1.7 million for magnet programs at North County and South River high schools and Bates Middle School, and $1.8 million for a new student information system.

Maybe it's because we're already accustomed to talking about hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars as casually as if it were pocket change. A $250 billion outlay to prop up the country's biggest banks? Big deal, when we're already committed to spend a total of $700 billion to bail out the markets. So when the state Board of Public Works cut nearly $300 million in spending yesterday, for a moment it seemed as if they were talking about coins in between the sofa cushions. As in: Wake us up when you start talking real money.

The Board of Public Works delayed action yesterday on a contract with a bus company that failed to meet Maryland's minority business goals, though two of its three members said they believe the state has taken sufficient steps to ensure the company's future compliance. The contract with First Transit Inc. had raised the hackles of minority contractors because the company failed to meet the original goal that minority subcontractors perform 30 percent of the work. Last year, the company got a waiver from the Maryland Aviation Administration to reduce that goal to 13 percent on its contract to run shuttle buses that transport passengers to and from parking lots at the Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

Land row in Roland Park Roland Park residents are opposing plans by the Baltimore Country Club to sell some of its land to Keswick Multi-Care Center, which plans to build a $195 million continuing-care retirement community. "This is truly like a volcano erupting," said Philip Spevak, president of the Roland Park Civic League. Fire Department rating its responses Baltimore Fire Chief James S. Clack said the city Fire Department will launch a multitiered response system to save the city money spent sending unnecessary equipment on nonemergency calls and to increase the safety of emergency responders and other drivers on the road.

The Board of Public Works agreed yesterday to clarify the appointment process for advisers to the state retirement and pension system after complaints that a nominee who would have been the first African-American in that post was treated poorly. Comptroller Peter Franchot and state Sen. Catherine E. Pugh said yesterday that Larry E. Jennings Jr., co-founder and senior managing director of TouchStone Partners, a private equity firm that manages over $300 million in assets, was treated unfairly and subsequently withdrew his name from consideration, creating concern among many in the state's minority business community.

The state Department of Juvenile Services is moving to reopen Bowling Brook Preparatory School under new private management, potentially bringing back a Carroll County residence for troubled teenage boys that was closed last year when a youth died while being restrained by staff members. State juvenile service officials are expected today to ask the Board of Public Works in Annapolis to transfer the 16-acre property, which can house up to 173 boys, to a for-profit Nevada company called Rite of Passage.

The Board of Public Works berated airport management yesterday as the panel reluctantly approved a settlement reached with airlines that forgoes $32.2 million in undercharges for terminal rents, construction costs and fees at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. The state board said the Maryland Aviation Administration's errors, representing five years of uncollected charges, raises larger questions about the airport's oversight of its multimillion-dollar contracts, such as the one with concessions manager BAA Maryland Inc. now also under scrutiny.