Town Of Bel

In 1731 a certificate of resurvey was issued to Daniel Scott called "Scott's Improvement Enlarged." This tract of land included 23 acres called "Scott's Improvement" and 393 acres called "Scott's Friendship." The land was passed down through the Scott family. Aquilla Scott laid out the original town of Bel Air, with Main Street running 39 degrees southeast to northwest. The first lot conveyed out of the town of Bel Air was by deed from Aquilla Scott to Daniel Scott, November 14, 1780. In 1782 Bel Air became the county seat, and by order the Justices of Harford County, on April 25, 1782, almost three acres were laid out to erect a courthouse and jail.

What started out as movies on a Saturday night at the Reckord Armory in Bel Air has grown into a true film festival on Main Street attracting film lovers of all ages. In its third year, the Town of Bel Air Film Festival will transform Reckord Armory into a movie house showing some of the same independent films that celebrities might have seen at Sundance, Tribeca and Toronto festivals. “We see ourselves as a legitimate film festival,” says Trish Heidenreich, director of Bel Air's Department of Economic Development, who organizes the event with Rebecca Jessop of the town's Cultural Arts Commission.

I was born in Harford County almost 40 years ago, and have lived in the Bel Air area since age 6 . . . I have been an educator in Harford County since 1976. I live in the town of Bel Air. I work in the town of Bel Air. My children attend school in Bel Air. I am associated with my father in a retail store on Hickory Avenue in Bel Air. . . .If elected, I promise you that I will:* Keep your needs at the forefront as the growth of the Bel Air area places increased emphasis on providing needed services for residents.

In 1731 a certificate of resurvey was issued to Daniel Scott called "Scott's Improvement Enlarged." This tract of land included 23 acres called "Scott's Improvement" and 393 acres called "Scott's Friendship." The land was passed down through the Scott family. Aquilla Scott laid out the original town of Bel Air, with Main Street running 39 degrees southeast to northwest. The first lot conveyed out of the town of Bel Air was by deed from Aquilla Scott to Daniel Scott, November 14, 1780. In 1782 Bel Air became the county seat, and by order the Justices of Harford County, on April 25, 1782, almost three acres were laid out to erect a courthouse and jail.

Nominations sought for annual award The Bel Air Economic & Community Development Commission is seeking nominations for the Business of the Year, to be honored at a reception next month at Rockfield Manor. Nominations will be evaluated on their most significant contribution to the community during the past year by supporting town projects, events, activities or the overall town economy. Nomination forms are available from the Town of Bel Air's Planning Department, 705 Churchville Road.

A Circuit Court judge has reversed his September decision on money charged to haulers dumping trash at Harford County landfills, saying the tipping fees are not an illegal tax.The Town of Bel Air had gone to court, alleging that the county's charge of $35 a ton to commercial and municipal garbage collectors to dump trash at the Harford Resource Recovery Center and the Harford Waste Disposal Center was an illegal tax because the fees collected were mixed...

The Gleneagles clothing plant in Bel Air, quiet and dark since it shut down last summer, will be humming with the sound of sewing machines by Christmas, the plant's new owners say.The purchase, announced Friday, of the Williams Street plant by J. Schoeneman Inc. should bring at least 125 jobs back to the plant that closed June 1."People who may have had no hope before could be back to work by Christmas," said Mark Wasserman, secretary of the Maryland Department of Economic and Employment Development, which contributed to the reopening with a $135,000 low-interest loan.

About 250 people turned out on an unusually warm fall Friday to watch WHRF-AM's "Johnny B." do his morning show atop the Bel Air parking garage -- part of the town's latest effort to get more people to use the garage."

Main Street in downtown Bel Air will undergo nearly $9 million in road improvements this year, including resurfacing, new sidewalks with accessible ramps at intersections, and additional crosswalks and traffic signs. The half-mile segment of Route 924 from Route 22 to Gordon Street handles about 15,000 vehicles daily with heavy pedestrian traffic from government offices, businesses, shops and restaurants. The State Highway Administration, which will fund $7.4 million of the project, has awarded a design-build contract to Corman Construction Inc. of Annapolis Junction and Johnson, Mirmiran and Thompson of Hunt Valley.

With plans afoot to expand a sewage-pumping station that serves the commercial district along U.S. 1 in Bel Air, the Harford Mall owners appear headed toward an agreement that would enlarge the mall's Hecht Co. anchor.Officials with BTR Realty Inc., which owns and manages the mall, are to meet early next month with representatives of the Arlington, Va.-based Hecht Co., to continue negotiations.The Hecht Co. operates 16 stores in Maryland and others in Virginia and the District of Columbia.

Some solutions are just exemplary A general rule in marketing: when you come across exceptional service, you tell five people. However, when you are unsatisfied with a product or service, you tell 20 people. I think good news deserves equal time. This is the story of one exceptionally creative solution from The Arena Club's director of aquatics. My kids (ages 6 and almost 5) are attending the summer camp at The Arena Club in Bel Air. Carrie Shaeffer called to let me know that Hunter (my 6-year-old)

Main Street in downtown Bel Air will undergo nearly $9 million in road improvements this year, including resurfacing, new sidewalks with accessible ramps at intersections, and additional crosswalks and traffic signs. The half-mile segment of Route 924 from Route 22 to Gordon Street handles about 15,000 vehicles daily with heavy pedestrian traffic from government offices, businesses, shops and restaurants. The State Highway Administration, which will fund $7.4 million of the project, has awarded a design-build contract to Corman Construction Inc. of Annapolis Junction and Johnson, Mirmiran and Thompson of Hunt Valley.

Nominations sought for annual award The Bel Air Economic & Community Development Commission is seeking nominations for the Business of the Year, to be honored at a reception next month at Rockfield Manor. Nominations will be evaluated on their most significant contribution to the community during the past year by supporting town projects, events, activities or the overall town economy. Nomination forms are available from the Town of Bel Air's Planning Department, 705 Churchville Road.

Volunteers produced great July 4th parade On behalf of the Bel Air Independence Day Committee Inc., I wish to thank the greater Bel Air community for its response to the 2005 Bel Air Independence Day Parade. Buoyed by the most beautiful, perfect and appropriate weather in years, the large, enthusiastic crowds were well-behaved, appreciative, good-humored and very much in the spirit of our country's wonderful and patriotic holiday. I wish especially to thank the Town of Bel Air Commissioners and Town Administrator Christopher Schlehr; Police Chief Leo Matrangola; Deputy Chief Norman Ross; and Town of Bel Air Public Works personnel, without whom the parade never could have flourished.

Downtown Bel Air will experience a parking shortage of more than 800 spaces within the next five to 10 years, according to the Bel Air Town Center Parking Study's summary report. The study, released July 14, found that numerous projects in the Town Center will increase parking demands in the area. Such projects include a new District Court building, Board of Education building, Bel Air Cultural Arts complex, Ropewalk Tavern and an office building on South Main Street. Bel Air currently has about 4,585 public and private parking spaces ---- a surplus of 51 spaces, according to the report.

When Mary Towers and Bart Bodt decided to move from their Bel Air townhouse into a more spacious home in the same area, they knew one thing: They did not want a cookie-cutter house. What they found was anything but that. The couple ended up purchasing a 1930s bungalow in Ingleside. Shortly after moving in last year, they applied for and received local historic designation for the house. Their home was the last of eight along the 300 block of East Broadway that had been surveyed and were eligible to be nominated for local historic status.

When Leo F. Matrangola can't be found at his job supervising the Baltimore County Police Department's vice and narcotics unit, check for him at the nearest tennis court.But the 20-year police veteran from Street doesn't play tennis for relief from his job. Matrangola said his profession and the sport are much alike."Tennis will pump you up," he said. "It's like police work. It's very competitive."Matrangola, 38, will leave his job -- but not tennis -- April 1 to become the Bel Air Police Department's new chief.

Volunteers produced great July 4th parade On behalf of the Bel Air Independence Day Committee Inc., I wish to thank the greater Bel Air community for its response to the 2005 Bel Air Independence Day Parade. Buoyed by the most beautiful, perfect and appropriate weather in years, the large, enthusiastic crowds were well-behaved, appreciative, good-humored and very much in the spirit of our country's wonderful and patriotic holiday. I wish especially to thank the Town of Bel Air Commissioners and Town Administrator Christopher Schlehr; Police Chief Leo Matrangola; Deputy Chief Norman Ross; and Town of Bel Air Public Works personnel, without whom the parade never could have flourished.

Changes in development regulations being considered by the town of Bel Air would allow buildings downtown and along Routes 1 and 24 to be up to five stories tall, a provision that has raised some concerns among community members who feel that it's too much growth at once and could cost the community its small-town charm. The proposals, part of the town's comprehensive planning, will be considered at a public meeting at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at Town Hall on Hickory Avenue. Joan Morrissey Ward, a Democratic town commissioner, said she has heard concerns about the proposal from some residents but feels safeguards built into the review process can help allay their worries.