County Agencies

Despite a robust economy, Anne Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens is considering whether to institute a hiring freeze.She said yesterday that she may prohibit the hiring of new county employees in the fiscal year starting July 1 to pay for raises for teachers and other union workers without raising taxes.That compromise aims to prevent a collision between competing promises Owens made on the campaign trail when she described herself as a fiscal conservative who would fight for the county's unionized workers.

Carroll County tested yesterday its ability to handle emergencies despite any technical glitches that might occur if some computer systems fail when the year 2000 begins.County and private agencies tested reactions to a stranded train, a jet stalled over the airport, a failed water chlorination system and a gas explosion. They simulated the evacuation of a nursing home and creation of an emergency shelter. Every event was complicated by communications outages and power failures in computer systems.

Baltimore County plans to use its cable television channel to try to get out the vote, cut crime and help commuters.The County Council began televising its meetings over the county's Comcast cable network five years ago, and planning board meetings have been broadcast to Comcast's 210,000 county subscribers for the past six months.The council, which under federal law has jurisdiction over the franchise, plans to increase the number of public programs sponsored by county agencies in the months ahead, said Thomas J. Peddicord Jr., council secretary.

25 years agoRep. Parren J. Mitchell today asked the General Accounting Office, the investigating army of Congress, to conduct a "full audit" of Newtowne 19, a problem-plagued housing development Annapolis. -- The Sun, July 8, 1971.A proposed $5.5 million detention center for juveniles in Crownsville is being opposed by many local residents and all of its county representatives to the House of Delegates. -- The Sun, June 16, 1971.Dallas G. Pace, the acting chairman of Anne Arundel County's Human Relations Commission, has placed the county's Bureau of Community and Industrial Affairs high on the list of county agencies to be investigated for discrimination.

Federal funding for Anne Arundel County shelters, food banks and other agencies that help the poor with emergency needs is down more than $40,000 from last year, but the number of people who need help is going up.The decrease, part of the congressional cutback in spending on social programs, also means the nonprofit agencies administering many of the programs will have to scramble to make up the difference.The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will give $139,637 to county nonprofit organizations recommended for grants by a board of representatives from county agencies and charities.

In conservative Carroll County, where new homes are rising as fast as a farmer's corn and government is often regarded suspiciously, county commissioners are pondering something radical: raising property taxes.Faced with out-of-control growth, the commissioners, all Republicans elected 18 months ago on an emphatic no-new-taxes platform, recently concluded a remarkable two-week marathon of public budget hearings that made clear the county must either raise taxes or slash millions from virtually every department and non-profit agency.

Here in central Carroll County, you never would have known there was much concern over the recent baseball strike.For the past two months, boys and girls have been getting ready for the start of their baseball and softball seasons. The ping of aluminum bats is almost as symbolic of spring as the chirping of birds and the smell of freshly cut grass.It's great news for these youngsters to know that their games are under way and America's favorite pastime will be played this spring. They should remember that it's only a game, and those who play should play for the sheer enjoyment of the sport.

Amid allegations of political pressure, community organizations bent on preserving Hayfields Farm are gearing up for what could become a costly development fight in Baltimore County.At issue is the future of 474 acres of historic county farmland nestled just west of Interstate 83 and north of Shawan Road in Hunt Valley.The Mangione family, developers of projects including the Turf Valley Country Club in Howard County, wants to build a country club golf course and 50 houses on the Hayfields site.

The Ruppersberger administration has nearly finished plans to rearrange several county agencies and put its own stamp on the Baltimore County bureaucracy.And after four months, County Executive C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger III and his top officials say they are getting close to hiring new leaders for five county departments.The executive wants to centralize most inspectors in one agency and cross-train them, centralize and streamline government purchasing and simplify the process for obtaining government permits.

The Howard County Council proposed this week leasing a parcel of county land to any company interested in constructing a large radio tower in the Elkridge area that also could be used by county agencies.A tower of up to 350 feet would be built near the driving range of the Timbers at Troy Golf Course, now under construction near the Route 100-Interstate 95 interchange.County officials expect an electronic pager company or -- more likely -- a cellular telephone company to build the tower. The county then would use part of the tower for 911 service, and police and fire department radios.

Baltimore County officials and Gov. Martin O'Malley took a big step Thursday toward improving the county's outdated public-safety radio network by unveiling a new digital transmission tower in Woodlawn. The tower is part of a $57 million project to replace the network by late 2011. In all, 10 new digital towers will be built around the county, and eight existing analog towers will be upgraded. County Executive James T. Smith Jr. said that the project "will further improve our first responders' ability to communicate with each other, with relevant county agencies as well as with our partners at the state and throughout the region."

Recently moved from Northern Virginia to his dad's home in Columbia, 16-year-old Xavier T. Bates found a summer job despite the recession, thanks to some help from the federal government. Like 27 other Howard County youths, Bates is working 25 hours a week for six weeks, making $8 an hour in federal stimulus money in what officials say is the first summer jobs program of its kind in the county in years. He plans to contribute some of his earnings to his family while also saving for college, he said.

Police and firefighters using videoconferences for training. High school students taking college-level courses online. Residents telecommuting instead of racking up mileage and gas bills. Carroll County officials envision these scenarios, and more, as potential benefits of a fiber-optic cable network winding its way through the area. Today, representatives from county agencies - the government, school system, community college and library - plan to celebrate the developing 110-mile network.

Jill Farrar Planner Howard County government, Ellicott City Salary : $50,000 Age : 31 Years on the job : One How she got started: After getting an undergraduate degree in environmental studies and working for a New Jersey land conservancy, Farrar went on to earn a master's degree in geography and planning from Northern Arizona University. She worked as a planner in Arizona, relocating to Maryland last year when her husband transferred for a job. After putting in applications with several jurisdictions, she decided Howard County was a good fit. Typical day: Farrar is one of about 15 planners who review development projects as they come into Howard County for approval.

As Hurricane Mindy barreled north with 130-mph winds and the promise of a Chesapeake Bay storm surge as high as 8 feet, Anne Arundel County fire Battalion Chief John McNally and Lt. Kent Roddy were trying to keep track of the department's available manpower and debating whether to get a 6- or 10-wheel dump truck. "We're not looking for weight distribution -- just to clear roads," Roddy told McNally, who sipped a cup of coffee across a conference table. Amid renewed concerns about how agencies communicate during disasters, a regional brain trust of emergency, health and public works officials used the faux crisis yesterday to practice their planning during an all-morning exercise at Anne Arundel County fire headquarters.

3 from Towson hospitalized in N. Carolina after I-95 crash Three relatives of a Towson man remained hospitalized in the Raleigh-Durham, N.C., area yesterday after the vehicle he was driving overturned on Interstate 95 last weekend, killing the driver's brother and injuring the other passengers. The group likely was headed home to Maryland from vacation, said Jean Sehlhorst, a longtime friend of one of the car's passengers. According to the North Carolina Highway Patrol, William Sullivan, 83, of Piccadilly Road in Towson, was driving north on I-95 through Four Oaks, N.C., about 12:30 p.m. Saturday when he ran off the right side of the road in a 2004 Ford.

Harford County officials yesterday presented a sweeping plan to consolidate government services now scattered around Bel Air into a handful of facilities in the heart of the county seat, including a new $40 million administration building. The plan is part of County Executive David R. Craig's proposed $370 million in capital spending -- more than double last year's construction tab -- which the County Council began scrutinizing yesterday in an all-day work session. A new government headquarters could take up about 150,000 square feet in a five-story building on what is now a county-owned parking lot and former gas station along Churchville Road and Main Street.

State leaders approved the free transfer yesterday of 547 acres of the former Crownsville Hospital Center to Anne Arundel County, which intends to preserve the environmentally sensitive parcel as parkland with hiking trails. The Board of Public Works' unanimous vote to declare the state land west of Interstate 97 as surplus is a critical step in the county's effort to build a nearly continuous strip of open space stretching from the Patuxent Research Refuge in Laurel to Waterworks Park, just outside Annapolis.

Harford County budget officials warned agencies last week that drastic cuts could be made in their proposed budgets with requests far outpacing revenues, though County Executive David R. Craig signaled good news for the sheriff's office. Administrative Director Lorraine T. Costello and Treasurer John R. Scotten Jr. said that budget proposals for fiscal 2008 are nearly triple the amount of available cash the county could hand out. In all, agencies are asking Craig for increases totaling about $90 million, while there is only about $30 million available in new revenue.

County's lost-time injuries declining Anne Arundel County employees had fewer recorded injuries that caused time lost on the job over the last three years, County Executive Janet S. Owens announced recently. Owens said there has been a 42 percent reduction in lost-time injuries, a 22 percent reduction in work days lost because of injuries and a 38 percent reduction in federally monitored Occupational Safety and Health Administration-reported injuries. Injuries reported to OSHA require time away from work or medical treatment beyond first aid. Better risk management helped bring down the rate of county workplace injuries, Owens said.