County Council Clears Way for New Developments

The Harford County Council authorized the issuance of $18.3 million in bonds on Tuesday to finance the construction of a Wegman's grocery store in Abingdon and an office building on Bel Air's Main Street, two projects expected to create thousands of new jobs.

The council's unanimous actions make Box Hill FC, LLC eligible to receive the proceeds of $12.3 million in bonds that will finance the construction of Wegmans at 3411 Emmorton Rd. Another company, South Main Street Bel Air LLC will use $6 million in bonds to demolish a structure at 116-118 S. Main St. to make way for a 29,340 square foot office building.

Construction of Wegman's 155,000 square foot shopping center will require approximately 600 workers, a county official said. Once built, the grocery store is expected to provide 550 full-time jobs, said Jim Richardson, the county's director of economic development.

The Main Street site, which will feature a five-story tall office building, will provide an estimated 15 new jobs. Approximately 50 jobs will be created for the demolition and construction at the site.

Speaking in favor of the deals, Councilman James McMahan, who represents Bel Air's District C, said the potential job creation alone is worth the bonds being issued.

"I would hope that my constituents would hold me accountable if I neglected to take advantage of any opportunity to bring even one job to Bel Air," McMahan said.

Councilman Richard Slutzky of District E called both opportunities a "win, win, win."

"Every job that we can bring forward at this point is a job where a breadwinner is going to have the opportunity to feed his family and spend his money back in other Harford County enterprises," Slutzky said.

By passing the separate but similar resolutions, the council authorized County Executive David Craig to proceed with negotiations.

Richardson said the county had to act to use the bonds, provided by the federal stimulus package, because unused funds will vanish.

The tax-free bonds were a safe investment for the county, Richardson said, because the county incurs no liability on the money.

"The county does not place full faith and credit" behind the bonds, Richardson said. He added that the sole source of repayments to the banks would be the borrowers and their collateral.

McMahan said that Bel Air would only benefit from such a scenario.

"When the building is complete, it becomes a new property on the tax rolls for the town of Bel Air. At $6 million that's going to be a [good assessment,]" McMahan said.

The county would benefit from the Abingdon property in the same manner.

Before the vote, though, Richardson advised the Council to pass the resolution.

"We will be hurting our state if we do not pass this allocation tonight," Richardson said.

Councilwoman for District F, Mary Ann Lisanti, who represents Abingdon, said that the projects are a compliment to Harford County.

"[These are] two private companies that actually have gotten their checkbook out and said, 'Harford County is a good place to do business and I am willing to invest in the future of our economic development,'" Lisanti said.

The county will sell the bonds to PNC Bank and the National Bank of Rising Sun. The Council said this is why it was such an attractive deal.

Some of the public reached out to the council before the meeting to complain that the businesses should apply for loans from the banks. McMahan, however, said that is exactly what they are doing, but in a different form.

Added Slutzky: "In open market the banks aren't lending their money."

The benefit for the businesses in this scenario is that there is no tax on the interest of the bonds, which is made possible with the county serving as the catalyst for the transactions.

Even some of the Council members were skeptical. Guthrie asked Richardson why the county was approving something for which it would not be responsible.

"Why is this in front of us?" Guthrie said.

"It's required by the federal tax code," said Richardson, who added that it gives the county the opportunity to determine if projects are positive.

The resolution for the Wegman's-based property passed unanimously while the Main Street resolution passed by a vote of 6–0. Council President Billy Boniface abstained from the second vote because of what he identified as a potential conflict of interest due to his relationship with one of the proprietors.