Pollution at the abandoned Navy training center at Bainbridge, near Port Deposit, is so severe that it would be “cost prohibitive” to build housing on the site, Cecil County Commissioners were told Tuesday. At the same time, another Cecil County Commissioners’ appointments controversy looms over the Bainbridge Development Corporation (BDC) board, with two key...
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Cecil County Commissioners got the preliminary bill Tuesday on how much it will cost to comply with state and federal mandates to limit pollution flowing to the Chesapeake Bay: nearly $600 million and counting. The cost per household is calculated at about $16,000, although individual property owners with septic systems could face higher costs...
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Was Willie Nelson’s song, “On the Road Again,” playing on the car radio when Cecil County Commissioner Robert Hodge (R-5) took Commissioner Diana Broomell (R-4) on a road trip Monday to see his properties in the county? Broomell has raised questions about whether Hodge’s ownership of properties in the Route 40 area might be...
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ANALYSIS State Sen. Nancy Jacobs (R-Harford/Cecil) told fellow Republicans in Annapolis Thursday night that she would not run again for the GOP Minority Leader post in the state Senate for the 2012 session, saying she wanted to explore other political options– including a possible run for governor or Harford County executive in 2014 or...
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In the aftermath of the collapse of the sale of four Cecil County wastewater plants to the private Artesian Resources firm, bringing county sewage treatment service to the Elkton West area could cost $62 million and take up to 12 years, Cecil County Commissioners were told Tuesday. A 3-2 majority of the Commissioners and...
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CECIL CHATTER: Smigiel Tries to Skewer Del. Rudolph; Here Comes the Judge? Del. Michael Smigiel (R-36) just couldn’t resist getting in a snipe at Del. David Rudolph (D-34B) even though Smigiel wants to put the House of Delegates behind him and last week officially filed his candidacy for a Circuit Court judgeship in Cecil...
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Thumbing his nose at citizen activists who have accused him of appointing political “cronies” to county positions, Cecil County Commissioner Michael Dunn (R-3) announced Tuesday that he will name Ted Patterson—a fellow member of the Smipkin political slate—to a seat on the citizens’ budget advisory committee. It was the fourth controversial appointment in about...
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ANALYSIS Former Democratic Congressman Frank Kratovil has filed as a candidate for an appointment to a vacant Queen Anne’s County District Court seat, after a proposed redistricting plan redrew the First District to be a Republican bastion favoring re-election of Rep. Andy Harris. Although Kratovil would not be precluded from also filing in January...
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Some Cecil County lawmakers are pushing to resurrect the Upper Shore Regional Council, a three-county economic development body that all but disappeared several months ago amidst financial and other problems. A council sub-group tried to meet behind closed doors Wednesday on steps to name a new executive director, but Cecil Times forced much of...
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Commentary The Cecil County Commissioners’ “Three Amigos” faction gathered after Tuesday night’s official commissioners meeting for a tete a tete at Chili’s in Elkton, multiple sources said– just hours after an Assistant State Attorney General warned them about such gatherings that could be seen as a violation of the state’s Open Meetings Act. Granted,...
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The bad news just keeps getting worse for Cecil County on costly sewage and environmental problems. Scott Flanigan, the county’s Director of Public Works and a professional engineer, delivered the latest bad news to the County Commissioners at a worksession Tuesday. In order to meet state mandates—as part of a federal requirement to clean...
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Water service provided by the Meadowview water plant in northern Cecil County was disrupted Friday for most of the day, with some business and residential customers losing all water service and others, including Gore manufacturing facilities, suffering major reductions in water pressure. The disruptions were caused by a “major system disruption” in facilities owned...
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Gov. Martin O’Malley has named Jane Cairns Murray to a vacant seat on the Cecil County Circuit Court—the first woman ever to hold a seat on the county’s highest court. Murray, 51, is a long-time local attorney and public defender office supervisor who is currently serving as a domestic relations Court Master. In that...
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The Cecil County Commissioners voted, 3-2, Tuesday to kill the long-stalled sale of four county-owned sewage treatment plants to the private Artesian Resources, a step that could ultimately cost county residents over $10 million to upgrade sewer facilities, instead of shifting that burden—and another $6 million in bond debts– to Artesian. As The Cecil...
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In a stunning blow to Cecil County economic development, Artesian Resources has notified the County Commissioners it wants to terminate its agreement to purchase most of the county’s wastewater treatment plants, due to the current political climate in which a majority of the County Commissioners has sought to derail the transaction at every turn,...
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