Hampstead Town

The Hampstead Town Council unanimously approved a $1,210,060 budget Tuesday and, for the first time in the town's history, passed a long-term capital improvement plan.The four-year $1,962,893 capital budget includes unspent town revenues dating to 1990 and allocates money to pay for road repairs, water system improvements and expansion of town facilities."We do have money sitting around and we do have problems and we're in a good position to throw money at these problems," Hampstead Mayor Christopher M. Nevin said at Tuesday's Town Council meeting.

Injured state trooper slated to be released from hospital today A state trooper was expected to be released today from the Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he was treated for a broken leg suffered when he was struck by a pickup truck near Mount Airy while helping a motorist during Tuesday evening's snowfall, police said. Cpl. Robert Martin McAfee, 33, of the Special Operations Unit at the Westminster barracks, was injured while walking on the southbound shoulder in the 5500 block of Ridge Road (Route 27)

Plans to redevelop Hampstead's old elementary school may clear another hurdle tonight when the Town Council is expected to give developers ownership of the property for a $10 million senior housing project. If the Hampstead Town Council approves the abandonment of the property, ownership of the 87-year-old schoolhouse and its adjacent parking lot will be transferred to the development team, which includes Landex Corp. of Baltimore and Interfaith Housing Alliance in Frederick. Groundbreaking for the complex of 84 one- and two-bedroom units is set for this spring, with construction expected to take about 18 months.

Panel looking closely at rail station's fateThe ad-hoc committee to save the Hampstead rail station decided last week that sometimes it is best to look a gift horse in the mouth."

Hampstead got its wish yesterday when the Carroll County commissioners agreed to let the town proceed with a plan that would see Old Hampstead Elementary School redeveloped into housing for low-income seniors. The decision brings a tentative end to the five-year debate between town and county over the fate of the vacant school, which is maintained by the county school board. "I was confident because this plan is what's best for everyone involved," said Hampstead Mayor Christopher M. Nevin, who has described the school as a potential pillar in the town's Main Street revitalization plans.

When new Hampstead Town Council members take the oath of office, they swear to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America.But opponents of the Oakmont Green Retail Center, under construction on Route 30, said an ordinance enacted by the Town Council in January violates the U.S. and Maryland Constitutions.Legal warfare has erupted."It's like a chess game," Clark R. Shaffer, attorney for the center's opponents, said yesterday. "There are many, many possible actions that both sides could take."

Hampstead Town Manager John A. Riley, who is also a town councilman in Manchester, may be forced to choose between the two posts, the Maryland attorney general's office said Wednesday.Holding both positions simultaneously violates Article 35 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights, Assistant Attorney General Robert A. Zarnoch wrote in an advisory opinion to state Sen. Idamae Garrott, D-Montgomery.The opinion could mean that Mr. Riley will have to resign one of the two jobs."It looks like he's going to have to make a choice," Hampstead Mayor Clint Becker said yesterday.

Questions unanswered in plan for old school I am surprised and somewhat perturbed by the tone of the article written by Childs Walker in the coverage of proposals received for the Old Hampstead Elementary School ("Hampstead council OKs building transfer," Aug. 16). I was inappropriately characterized as a "petition toting resident" in a "last minute protest." It is my belief that if legitimate questions exist on a government project, that citizens have the right to first receive accurate answers before the project moves forward.

Hampstead town officials have invited residents to a long-sought meeting with an official of the Maryland Department of the Environment to answer questions and to consider remedies for the presence of the gasoline additive MTBE in some wells in a neighborhood east of town. The meeting has been set for 7 p.m. Jan. 26 at Town Hall, said Hampstead Town Manager Ken Decker, who sent letters Thursday inviting 40 to 50 area residents. Herbert M. Meade, administrator of the Waste Management Administration's Oil Control Program, is scheduled to attend.