Sweetheart Cup

The Hampstead Town Council has tentatively approved a redevelopment plan for the old Hampstead Elementary School, a move Mayor Christopher M. Nevin hopes will hasten transfer of the building from county to town control. Nevin calls the project, which would transform the Main Street building from a vacant schoolhouse into a low-cost apartment complex for seniors, the pillar of Hampstead's downtown revitalization effort. But the town's efforts to gain control of the building have become mixed up in the contentious relationship between Hampstead leaders and Carroll County's commissioners.

Hampstead Town Council agreed last night to pursue legal action against the owner of the neighboring Sweetheart Cup property, because concerns about a berm - a mound of dirt - built over a municipal water main have not been addressed. The extra soil could cause problems if town workers have to repair the section of pipe under the berm, said Hampstead Town Manager Kenneth Decker. The town doesn't have the excavation equipment - a backhoe and trench-shoring walls - to deal with pipe leaks so far below ground.

Carroll County Board of Zoning Appeals has approved Sweetheart Cup's once-contentious plan to build a diesel fuel tank at its distribution center outside Hampstead. The company enflamed residents last year when it announced plans to build an above-ground tank within 225 feet of homes on Houcksville Road - well within the 600-foot distance required by county zoning regulations. The company's new plan, which will place the tank 875 feet from homes, has drawn little opposition from residents or Hampstead officials.

Owings Mills-based Sweetheart Cup Co. Inc. said yesterday that it lost $584,000 in the second quarter, compared with net income of $991,000 in the year-ago period. The privately held company, which has public bonds and files financial reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission, had net sales of $219.6 million in the 13 weeks that ended March 25, up 1 percent from $217.4 million in the comparable period last year. The loss resulted primarily from increased rents and higher energy and freight charges, said Hans H. Heinsen, Sweetheart's chief financial officer.

Despite lobbying against construction of a diesel fuel tank at Sweetheart Cup's distribution center last fall, Hampstead officials said last night they have no plans to publicly oppose a new proposal for a tank there. "While it's not perfect, it's better than what it was before," Hampstead Mayor Christopher M. Nevin said at last night's Town Council meeting. The last proposal placed the above-ground fuel tank within 225 feet of homes on Houcksville Road - well within the 600-foot distance required by county zoning regulations.

When Hampstead compared its future development to the capacity of its sewer plant, it came up short - by nearly 125,000 gallons a day. The town of 4,500 has asked Carroll County, which owns and operates the plant, to pay for an engineering analysis and develop alternatives. "We have to have a facilities plan that balances," said Councilman Larry H. Hentz Jr. "We have repeatedly asked the commissioners for a plan for this area and received lip service." Among the developments that will need sewer service is North Carroll Middle School, which is scheduled for extensive renovations that will include linking to the Hampstead sewer system in 2003.

When Hampstead compared its future development to the capacity of its sewer plant, it came up short - by nearly 125,000 gallons a day. The town of 4,500 has asked Carroll County, which owns and operates the plant, to pay for an engineering analysis and develop alternatives. "We have to have a facilities plan that balances," said Councilman Larry H. Hentz Jr. "We have repeatedly asked the commissioners for a plan for this area and received lip service." Among the developments that will need sewer service is North Carroll Middle School, which is scheduled for extensive renovations that will include linking to the Hampstead sewer system in 2003.

Shares of EarthShell Corp. rose 14 percent yesterday after the company announced that it has won approval to supply a greater number of McDonald's Corp. restaurants with its biodegradable packaging. Shares of the Santa Barbara, Calif., company, which has an operating agreement with Sweetheart Cup Co. Inc. to manufacture some of its products in Owings Mills, rose 38 cents to close at $3.13. That is far below the high reached in March 1998 - the month EarthShell went public - of $23.56. EarthShell said yesterday that it won approval to supply 300 McDonald's restaurants with its biodegradable Big Mac containers.