Howard County Council

Anyone thirsting for a Howard County winery tour will have to wait at least one more month to begin planning. Legislation to allow wineries in Howard County was tabled Monday night by the Howard County Council, the second consecutive year that the Ulman administration legislation has run into trouble. Council members who asked for the delay said more time is needed to iron out unresolved issues over relatively small preserved parcels of land in residential areas. Some worry they could attract too many people and too much traffic if used for wineries.

The four artists in the exhibit "Intertwined Expressions" are linked by their devotion to abstraction. Similarities in how they use coiling lines and densely layered colors make for a cohesive show at the Howard County Arts Council. These linkages are most clearly seen in the works by Peter Gordon and Allison Long-Hardy. For both artists, circular and oval shapes help anchor compositions that otherwise feature enough floating forms to verge on being formless. Gordon intensively uses pencil and crayon to almost completely cover the paper surface in such works as "Early Morning, Autumn.

The Howard County Council voted 4-1 early today to lift immediately a controversial cap on new home building permits and to wipe out a permit allocation system that builders had charged resulted in the hoarding of permits.In a separate 4-1 vote, the council defeated a bill that would have extended the cap on new housing permits through Sept. 15.The 18-month cap was to have expired March 15.Council Chairman C. Vernon Gray's bill lifting the cap extends until Oct. 31 bans on subdivision rezoning and on new subdivisions in western Howard County.

The County Council's move to revise the county ethics laws makes Howard one of the first local governments to approve the new standards mandated by the General Assembly last year. The changes, approved Monday, provide more detail in the county ethics laws regarding gifts, financial disclosure statements and lobbying provisions. It also expands the role of the county's ethics commission, requiring it to maintain an annual report of lobbying activity. The bill bans former County Council members from lobbying on legislative issues for a year after leaving office, and prohibits former employees from bidding to do business with the county on a contract for which they helped write specifications.

Sheila M. Tolliver, who was council administrator when Democrats controlled the Howard County Council four years ago, is coming back to the job now that the Democrats have won back a 3-2 council majority.At $89,752 a year, the Democrat will make substantially more than her Republican predecessor, Christopher Emery, who earned roughly $68,000 a year.Her salary also is more than $20,000 higher than it was when she was fired by the County Council after Republicans won a 3-2 majority in 1994.

The Howard County Council unanimously approved a watered-down bill last night prohibiting the Howard County government from buying items using any of 43 tropical rain forest wood products.The bill, introduced by Council Chairman C. Vernon Gray, D-3rd, follows the lead of the Baltimore City Council, which adopted a similar ban earlier this year out of concern that depletion of the world's rain forests might speed up global warming and lead to the extinction of wildlife and marine life.But the Howard County Council limited its impact by applying the ban to purchases exceeding $2,000.

After weeks of debate, the Howard County Council unanimously approved yesterday an amended package of Ulman administration legislation intended to give environmentally friendly development a strong push. "I believe this county moved forward dramatically," County Executive Ken Ulman said after the vote. Greg Fox, the five-member council's lone Republican, disagreed, saying, "It was gutted to the point where it was responsible." Fox earlier tried to have the package tabled, saying the council needed more time to consider the complex legislation.

THE LESSONS that George L. Layman has learned as a member of the Howard County Zoning Board of Appeals would make him a valuable asset to the county council. Mr. Layman successfully made the transition from outsider to insider.As a community activist more than a decade ago, he helped block construction of Route 100 through his neighborhood. But the past five years he has played a different role: passing judgment on development projects as an appointed county official. He would bring both perspectives to the council.

A YEAR AGO, conventional wisdom was that C. Vernon Gray would not run for a fifth term on the Howard County Council. However, rather than aim at becoming Howard's first African-American county executive, Mr. Gray has resorted to the relative safety of yet another campaign for his 2nd District council seat. He deserves re-election.Mr. Gray, a Democrat, is opposed by Republican Susan J. Cook, whom many countians will recall from her successful tenure on the school board from 1990 to 1996. Education remains Mrs. Cook's central focus, but she also promises to work to revitalize older neighborhoods and to address neighborhood concerns about encroaching development.

Expense limits may seem like a cut-and-dried matter. But for the Howard County Council, that's hardly the case -- as evidenced by the latest chapter in the yearlong saga of council members trying to control their own spending.During Friday's council meeting, Councilman Dennis R. Schrader of North Laurel introduced two pages of formal rules for council expense limits.He hopes that if the rules are adopted, they will end the long-running argument over whether Councilman C. Vernon Gray owes the county $1,300 in travel and cellular phone expenses -- bills that some council members insist exceed a expense limit.

Listings are accepted on a space-available basis. Deadline is 5 p.m. Thursday prior to date of publication at the latest. To submit contest items, mail to Contests, Patuxent Publishing Co. Editorial, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, MD 21278; email hccalendar@patuxent.com ; fax 410-332-6336; or call 410-332-6497. Howard County Arts Council Call for Entries - Seeking submissions for its biennial juried exhibit, Art HoCo 2011. Entrants must be 18-years-old or older who live, work or study in Howard County.

After reviewing my 2011 real property tax bill, I see an increase in the amount of tax I am being assessed resulting from a reduction in the homestead tax credit by 5 percent. This automatic annual increase will continue each year until my homestead tax credit is eliminated. Why hasn't the Howard County Council addressed this issue and eliminated this automatic annual increase in real property taxes until the economy improves? As a retired senior citizen I haven't seen an increase in income for two years, but I must continue paying more taxes for the same services.

The County Council will wait until the end of the month to decide on a tax-relief measure for nonprofit swim clubs. But the five-member panel did unanimously approve an amendment that clarifies language in the pool bill to make it reflect existing state law. The credit would apply to clubs that use their facilities "exclusively to provide a recreational outlet for a local community," according to the amendment. Some officials had questions about whether the bill would conflict with state policy on credits for nonprofits.

A bill to give six private, nonprofit swim clubs a tax break and three other measures arising from contentious zoning disputes over funeral home parking and allowing outdoor social events in rural, residential areas are due for introduction before the Howard County Council on Monday night. If approved, the swimming club bill would cost the county $52,828 in lost property taxes, according to a chart prepared for Councilwoman Courtney Watson, an Ellicott City Democrat who is the main sponsor.

The gag props were new, but the result was the same for the fifth straight year, as a harried Howard County Council approved a budget for fiscal 2012 last week after delaying final votes for a frantic three hours of last-minute negotiations. County Executive Ken Ulman's $1.56 billion operating budget and $179.3 million capital plan were approved without any cuts on a 4-1 vote, with a frustrated Greg Fox, the council's only Republican, on the losing end. Ulman was pleased with the result.

Two decades ago, a speeding truck smashed into a car carrying Clare Meitl's 16-year-old daughter Jodi and two friends as they drove toward Centennial High School. One girl died and Jodi was badly injured — she spent two weeks at Maryland Shock Trauma Center and took years to recover. "She had no chance" against the truck, Meitl said of her daughter's best friend, who died. Now Meitl's only child has a young daughter and lives in the same neighborhood, and the family wants her to be safe.

David Rakes stepped down from the Howard Community College board of trustees last night because of his candidacy to represent District 2 on the Howard County Council. Maryland governors appointed Rakes to six-year terms on the college board in 1994 and in 2000. Rakes was vice chairman of the board from 1995 to 1997 and from 1997 to 1999. Two weeks ago, Rakes won the primary to become the Democratic nominee for the council seat, which represents east Columbia. "I am working as hard as I can to become a member of the Howard County Council, and therefore am not able to devote the time to the board that I believe it deserves," Rakes said in a statement.

Anyone thirsting for a Howard County winery tour will have to wait at least one more month to begin planning. Legislation to allow wineries in Howard County was tabled Monday night by the Howard County Council, the second consecutive year that the Ulman administration legislation has run into trouble. Council members who asked for the delay said more time is needed to iron out unresolved issues over relatively small preserved parcels of land in residential areas. Some worry they could attract too many people and too much traffic if used for wineries.

Courtney Watson can run for a third and final term on the Howard County Council in 2014 or for a General Assembly seat, but it must be tempting to consider running for county executive instead, because County Executive Ken Ulman is term-limited and out of office by the end of that year. "I'm done, man. I just want good people to stay in public service," Ulman commented at Watson's recent $35-per-ticket fundraiser at Serafino's restaurant in Ellicott city that drew more than 100 people.