Tuesday, April 2, 2013
The money would go to infrastructure repairs and stormwater management.
Howard County Executive Ken Ulman unveiled a $442.4 million capital budget on Monday that would dedicate more than $14 million for stormwater projects across the county, including about $1.3 million in Ellicott City’s Historic District. The new stormwater management fee will fund some of the stormwater projects. In addition, $3 million of the proposed budget would be used in the Historic District “to provide a variety of repairs to public infrastructure and other community improvements and needs,” including, potentially, land acquisition. In January, Director of Special Projects Steve Lafferty said that the “community improvements” would include sidewalk and curb repairs. The fiscal year 2014 capital budget proposal also allocates about $…
Friday, March 29, 2013
The fee will be constant for three years.
Two months after Howard County Executive Ken Ulman announced the creation of a new stormwater management fee, the County Council approved a fee that property owners will see on their tax bill beginning in July. This new fee will help satisfy a 2012 state mandate that requires larger jurisdictions to collect money to develop a stormwater management program. The county commissioners set the rate at $15 per 500 square feet of impervious surface for three years. That means the owner of a home with 2,640 square feet of impervious surface would pay $75 per year. A larger home with, for instance, a longer, impervious driveway totaling 12,540 square feet, would pay $375 per year. As for the rate three years from now, stormwater manager Jim …
Friday, January 25, 2013
County official says a rebuilt Lot D, updated stormwater management and land acquisition are all on the table.
Ellicott City's Historic District may get a redesigned parking lot D, better storm water management and even the acquisition of new land, according to a county official. Steve Lafferty, director of special projects for the Department of Planning and Zoning, said that Howard County Executive Ken Ulman has proposed pumping more than $3 million of next year’s capital budget into planning and implementing improvements in downtown Ellicott City. A portion of the money would fund the beginning of a project to “rebuild or rethink Lot D,” the parking lot behind the Howard County Welcome Center, Lafferty said. That includes trying to open up the river, changing the parking alignment and creating better storm water management. Work on any …
Thursday, January 24, 2013
The fee, proposed to satisfy a new state law, would pay for mitigation projects to protect the Chesapeake Bay.
Howard County Executive Ken Ulman has submitted legislation to the County Council to create a stormwater utility fee – a new revenue stream mandated by state law (attached). “This is a step we have to take, and it is a step that is right to take,” Ulman said when he announced the legislation with Councilman Calvin Ball, D-2. “Howard County will do its part to keep our waters clean. Uncontrolled stormwater runoff is a significant problem that has been overlooked too long.” Stormwater runoff – rainwater that is not absorbed into the ground, but rolls along impervious surfaces, picking up debris, fertilizer and other pollutants – is a major source of pollutants in the Chesapeake Bay. In 2012, the Maryland General Assembly passed a law that …
Friday, April 15, 2011
Council members want the county to seek speed control strategies beyond speed cameras.
Howard County department heads faced hours of stern questioning from the county council Thursday on the proposed $179 million of spending in the FY12 capital budget. The Department of Public Works fielded much of the scrutiny after County Executive Ken Ulman highlighted stormwater management and infrastructure improvements as some of the most important additions to the FY 2012 budget, alongside education. Speed Control The issue of speeding in communities and school zones drew a lot of discussion as the county considers speed cameras as a possible remedy to what Councilwoman Courtney Watson called “the number one complaint from citizens in the county.” The proposed FY 2012 spending budget for intersection improvements, which includes speed…
Elizabeth
3:51 pm on Sunday, March 31, 2013
Ulman needs to go. Why the hell do people keep voting these guys in? Why don't Ulman stop the county for paying his full time "Police Protection" and use some of that money to pay these ridiculous new taxes. He thinks he has a shot at becoming the next Governor? I can't stand him. Always looking for a photo op. more ›