Substation

For years, residents have called the brick compound in Seton Hill a "fortress," a physical barrier between their historic community and its neighbors, Bolton Hill and Mount Vernon. The high-walled, khaki-colored brick structure squeezed between North Paca and North Eutaw streets, just north of St. Mary's Park, has been there for decades. Now, BGE plans to build an electric substation inside -- one the company says is necessary to accommodate the city's growing power needs. But residents say that if BGE plans to make such a permanent footprint in their community, the outside walls of the compound should be redesigned to be neighborhood-friendly and in sync with Baltimore's plans to create visually appealing, pedestrian-friendly thoroughfares.

Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. will make upgrades to Westminster's power system, company officials told area residents yesterday, although they said the improvements are more of a nod to dissatisfied customers than the result of serious problems.BGE officials spoke to about 20 people at Carroll County Public Library in a meeting sponsored by Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett to discuss three recent power outages in the downtown area.About 1,200 BGE customers were left without power for two hours last Tuesday morning after a fencing contractor hit a wire while digging near a substation.

Residents in the westernmost parts of Anne Arundel County are disappointed that County Executive Janet S. Owens wants to sell a piece of land her predecessor bought for a police substation and recreation space in Maryland City.Although some of the newly elected officials in county government are calling the $1 million land transaction "wasteful" and say the deal violated long-practiced procedures for acquiring land, the way Maryland City and Laurel residents see it, they once again are being handed off as a political football.

After three power outages in downtown Westminster in less than three weeks, residents and business owners are looking for some answers. They may get them Monday at a meeting with Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. officials that will be sponsored by Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett.About 1,200 BGE customers were left without power for two hours Tuesday morning after a fencing contractor hit a wire while digging near a substation. The area was left in the dark Feb. 19 thanks to a faulty cable, and on Feb. 4 after a metal sign in a BGE substation fell on a wire.

When Victor Ko closes his liquor store about midnight Fridays and Saturdays, he gets a little nervous -- even though the shop is in a newly refurbished Columbia village center."

TOWSON -- A county hearing officer has given conditional approval to a developer seeking to build 22 houses on almost 50 acres near Jacksonville.Hearing officer Lawrence E. Schmidt said he was unconvinced by neighbors' assertions that the Locksley Conserve development would lead to traffic congestion, tax wells and fail to meet fire protection standards. But Schmidt said he was concerned that the development near Manor Road and Jarrettsville Pike might endanger nearby trout streams.In his 28-page ruling issued Tuesday, Schmidt said he would withhold final approval of the project until developer Barbara A. Andrews submits a storm water management plan explaining how the streams will be protected.

Helen King's universe is a tiny storefront on Hollins Street from which she surveys the hard knocks of life in Southwest Baltimore.From a city police substation at 1106 W. Hollins St., the 68-year-old volunteer gives out handfuls of food, watches out for bad guys, mediates neighborhood disputes, treats police like royalty, helps folks make their rent, and connects the needy to churches that have a little extra to give.Just last week, King reached into her own closet to help a woman whose laundry was stolen off the line.

Owners of a Mount Vernon apartment building, concerned about break-ins in the 40-unit dwelling, spent $2,000 on renovation to create a Central District police substation that will open today."

Allegheny Power Co. plans to fight a Frederick County decision that requires the utility to build walls around a proposed substation in Mount Airy, although an appeal will delay its ability to meet the area's growing power needs.The Frederick County Planning Commission voted Wednesday to require Allegheny Power to build walls to hide most equipment at its planned substation on Parrs Ridge, the highest point between the Catoctin Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay.Even with the screening, a 65-foot pole and other equipment would be visible from Interstate 70 and homes in the Mill Bottom and Penn Shop roads areas.

Allegheny Power System doesn't have to enclose with walls a planned substation near Mount Airy, the Frederick County Board of Zoning Appeals has decided.But the board's decision this week may not have settled the issue of how to screen the 34.5-kilovolt substation from traffic on nearby Interstate 70 and homes in the Mill Bottom and Penn Shop Road areas.The utility plans to build the substation on Parr's Ridge, the highest point between the Catoctin Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay."I don't see what brick walls are going to solve in this particular site," said John R. Lovell Jr., appeals board chairman, before voting to approve a slatted fence and tree screening that Allegheny Power had agreed to earlier.

The Darlington Volunteer Fire Co. plans to build a new substation in Dublin to replace a 20-year-old facility where expansion is not physically possible. The company, which has about 100 active volunteers on its rolls, serves northern Harford County along the U.S. 1 corridor, as well as Cecil County and southern Pennsylvania. Members responded to more than 400 fires last year and made at least twice that number of emergency calls, its officials said. "We cover one of the largest areas in the county as far as geography goes," said Donald Thomas, the company's president and a member since 1971.

Police substation to close this month A police substation in a Hillendale shopping plaza will close at the end of the month, but county officials say they are searching for a new location for the service. The substation has been at the Hillendale Center since 1998. Towson-precinct officers who specialize in community outreach, state parole and probation officers, and neighborhood groups use the substation, said Bill Toohey, a county police spokesman. The lease expires May 31 and the owners of the shopping center do not want to renew it, according to county officials.

Even when help is less than four miles away, traffic and the roads can add minutes to an emergency response. A substation, built and manned by the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Co., would bring that aid closer to the company's most populous service area, along Route 924 in Emmorton. Fire officials say traffic, numerous signals, difficult turns and the circuitous route all add to the response time and clearly indicate a need for a substation to serve the neighborhoods surrounding the new Patterson Mill Middle High School.

Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. was working last night to restore power to 8,700 customers in Glen Burnie and Severna Park, a company spokeswoman said. About 5 p.m. yesterday, a problem with a supply circuit to a substation in the Earleigh Heights area caused the outage, said Kelly Shanefelter, the spokeswoman. Power was restored about 7 p.m. but was soon out again when a separate problem occurred with three supply circuits, Shanefelter said. Crews hoped to restore power by midnight last night, she said.

The city Planning Commission yesterday gave Seton Hill residents and BGE one more month to fight it out for a wall design for the Paca Street compound where BGE plans to build an electric substation. Seton Hill residents have spent two years meeting with Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. - first asking the company to put the substation somewhere else, then struggling to find a design for the station's 18-foot-high surrounding walls, one that would match the community's Victorian rowhouses and fit BGE's budget.

For years, residents have called the brick compound in Seton Hill a "fortress," a physical barrier between their historic community and its neighbors, Bolton Hill and Mount Vernon. The high-walled, khaki-colored brick structure squeezed between North Paca and North Eutaw streets, just north of St. Mary's Park, has been there for decades. Now, BGE plans to build an electric substation inside -- one the company says is necessary to accommodate the city's growing power needs. But residents say that if BGE plans to make such a permanent footprint in their community, the outside walls of the compound should be redesigned to be neighborhood-friendly and in sync with Baltimore's plans to create visually appealing, pedestrian-friendly thoroughfares.

Citing rapid growth and increasing crime, residents in the western part of the county are lobbying police and county officials for a new substation that would give law enforcement quicker access to towns near the county line, including Russett, Maryland City and Laurel. "As the population grows, you need more infrastructure," said Ray H. Szyperski, the vice president of Maryland City Civic Association. "We pay the same taxes as people in Glen Burnie. We should be getting the same types of help and material."

When Billy Schroeder bought the Giulianova Groceria & Italian Deli last year, he inherited a contract dating to 1999 for a postal substation in downtown Westminster. While he spends most of the day making Italian hoagies and meatballs, he also sends packages, prepares money orders and sells stamps at the substation tucked away in the corner of his store, across from shelves of fusili, olive oil and tomato paste. It is a convenience that Westminster residents and shoppers have come to appreciate since the city's downtown post office moved to the outskirts of town in 1998.

When Billy Schroeder bought the Giulianova Groceria & Italian Deli last year, he inherited a contract dating to 1999 for a postal substation in downtown Westminster. While he spends most of the day making Italian hoagies and meatballs, he also sends packages, prepares money orders and sells stamps at the substation tucked in the corner of his store, across from shelves of fusili, olive oil and tomato paste. It is a convenience that Westminster residents and shoppers have come to appreciate since the city's downtown post office moved to the outskirts of town in 1998.

An equipment failure at a Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. substation caused a momentary power outage in the Baltimore area last night, and an hourlong blackout in some neighborhoods. The equipment failure - in machinery that measures electrical voltage - occurred shortly before 8 p.m. at a substation near Baltimore-Washington International Airport, said BGE spokesman Robert Gould. It was unclear last night what caused the failure. The system automatically transferred power to other areas to bypass the trouble spot, Gould said.