Expanding Snowden River Parkway in Columbia, renovating the historic Ellicott City post office and building an addition at Bellows Spring Elementary School in Ellicott City are among new major capital projects on the county’s wish list.

Paying for them, however, is another matter.

The Howard County Planning Board last week began sorting through more than $220 million worth of new and ongoing construction projects in the county and compiling a list of recommendations to present to the county executive. The final budget, which takes effect July 1, must go before the County Council for approval.

“We have a major job of setting priorities and identifying what’s important and must go forward,” County Budget Director Raymond Wacks told the board at a Feb. 12 hearing. “Much of what’s before you can’t be funded this year.”

Wacks said the list being analyzed by the board includes projects requested by county agencies, and some suggested by residents during a December public hearing.

The list includes more than $200 million worth of bond spending, compared to $100 million in bonds authorized by the county in last year’s budget, he said. The county’s Spending Affordability Committee has yet to make a recommendation on the amount of new debt the county can afford to assume this year.

Among the major new road initiatives is a four-phase, 10-year plan to widen Snowden River Parkway by adding a third lane each direction between Broken Land Parkway and Rt. 108.

“The overall growth in traffic on that road in the last few years has been going up fairly dramatically,” Public Works Director James Irvin said. “We’ve had a number of complaints about it.”

Construction on the third lane on the eastbound side between Broken Land Parkway and Oakland Mills Road would begin in the 2011 fiscal year, and work on the westbound stretch would begin four years later, according to budget documents.

For the upcoming budget, the county is proposing: roughly $1 million to begin design and land acquisition for the eastbound stretch between Broken Land Parkway and Oakland Mills Road; $500,000 for study and design work on Snowden River between Oakland Mills and Rt. 100; and $100,000 to improve the intersection of Snowden River and Broken Land parkways.

Highway projects are paid for through excise tax-backed bonds, which means the Snowden River construction will not be competing directly for money with some of the other major construction projects, Irvin said.
 
Anticipating a lean budget year, many county department heads said they tried to limit new projects this year.
 
Recreation and Parks Director Gary Arthur said his department has seven projects on the list worth a total of roughly $16 million, about $12.6 million of which would require bonds.

Included is the first phase of Blandair Regional Park in Columbia, which involves building three multi-purpose fields, picnic shelters, a playground and restrooms. Other projects on the park list include money for Troy Regional Park in Elkridge, the Robinson Nature Center in Columbia and other parkland acquisition, he said.

Several residents spoke in favor of Blandair during the hearing.

“Our citizens have been waiting since 1996 for this park to come to life,” said Bridget Mugane, who served on a Blandair planning committee and is the president of the Howard County Citizens Association.

Valerie Gross, director and CEO of the Howard County Library, said the library has only one project on the list — the new Miller Branch library in Ellicott City. The project is well into the site plan and design phase and the library is seeking $15.4 million for the project in the next year, with some money slated to come from the state, she said.

The Planning Board will hold a work session on the capital budget on Feb. 19 and is expected to issue recommendations to County Executive Kenneth Ulman soon afterward.

Wish list

The following are some of the major projects proposed as part of the county’s 2010 fiscal year budget, which begins July 1. The costs are for the 2010 budget year only.

• Renovation of the former Ellicott City Post Office on Main Street to create an Ellicott City visitors center. Cost: $1.4 million

• Construction of a 100-seat addition at Bellows Spring Elementary School to accommodate more students, and to expand the Ellicott City school’s art, music, gym and cafeteria space. Cost: $6 million

• Addition of dance studios at Hammond and Centennial High Schools, which are the only county high schools without this feature. Cost: $1.7 million

• Construction of a 20,000 square foot logistics facility for fire department equipment storage and repair at a location yet to be determined. Cost: $6.7 million

• Expansion of Fire Station No. 10 in southern Columbia with a 7,500 square foot addition. Cost: $3.1 million

• Various traffic improvements to Rt. 1 corridor. Cost: $18.3 million

• Construction of a new interchange at Rt. 175 and Oakland Mills Road and realignment of Oakland Mills Road through future Blandair Regional Park. Cost: $17.5 million

County budget documents are posted at www.howardcountymd.gov/DPZ/DPZ_HomePage.htm. Click on Boards, Commissions, Panels and Hearings on the left side of the screen and select Planning Board.

---

user comments (0)