Isn't the high school determination outside the jurisdiction of the City Council?? Why should this be an election issue if it is outside the Council's jurisdiction?

What is the big deal about enrforcing our current parking laws? Wouldn't that alleviate parking problems except perhaps for certain festivals?

Is there a reason the police do not enforce the parking laws now?

The Lily Run flooding issue needs to be resolved once and for all! All the homes in this low lying area are prone to flooding from a creek that receives much runoff from many storm drains and since it is within the Havre de Grace City limits, residents deserve and need this issue resolved. Just because it is only a portion of residents that are affected, doesn't make it any less valid or important an issue. The City of Havre de Grace must address this issue , one that affects the residents and taxpayers who have been living with this problem for years and years. This is not an issue that is popular or one that brings in revenue from tourism, but one that is often swept under the rug for lack of urgency but it is an urgent problem! I will vote for the candidates who will listen & give thought to a Lily Run resolution.

I think there already was a resolution. I know that a consulting engineer has mapped the watershed and is at some stage of working on how to address the flooding. I'm not sure how far along this is, or whether funding exists to do the actual work. Haven't heard a peep out of City Hall about it for about a year now.

With the cost of fuel constantly rising, I would like the council to address pedestrian traffic. Many things in HdeG are within walking distance but we don't have ease of movement of our pedestrian or bicycle traffic. Specifically, look at foot traffic down 155 (there is an entire community 'trapped' on the MES side of 155 with no choice but to use a car or put their lives in danger on foot or bike going down the hill) . Also, take a closer look at the crossings 'over' 40. Sidewalks, crosswalk buttons and even a pedestrian bridge would be a REALLY good thing - both alliviating congestion, bringing more people downtown without increasing the need for parking and yes, even improving the health of our citizens because we would have better access. I'd also like the council to address sidewalks throughout town where mailboxes are set right in the middle of the walk way. This is not handicap accessible nor is it safe for our children (specifically, take a look once again in the MES resdiential area). How about taking a look at "malfunction junction" (Ohio, 40 & Otsego instersection) and making a 'fix' of that mess. This isn't 1955. The intersection simply does not work any more and it is becoming an increasing danger. I've heard the rumors that with BRACS it will be taken care of but to date nothing has been addressed.
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Address the traffic on 155 and access for the communities on the quarry side to be able to get out safely. Either have a police cruiser sitting there to catch the people speeding up the hill and 'around the corner' or give us a traffic light. Easy solution is to make Graceview one way INTO the community, move bus traffic down Bern to Eugene and put a light at the end of Eugene onto 155. It is a hideous mess at almost any time of the day - and it is a danger to the parents picking up their kids from MES as well as buses getting out onto 155.

Lilly Run: I believe the City has been working on this for a long time - looking at all options to pay for such a huge engineering design - including state and federal grant applications. Anything done along Rt 155 or Rt 40 would be through State Highway Administration. Before you vote for any one person that makes a bunch of promises sounding like they are going to cut all your fees and taxes, you must remember these decisions are made by a majority vote of all the elected officials - not just one. Let's think about what has already been accomplished over the past 4 years with the limited funds available - neighborhoods are cleaner and safer, police and fire departments are well equiped, and public information has always been availabe through the City website or simply by calling and asking.

Proactive City support of tourism bicycling/hiking, beginning with the proposed Joe K to Susquehanna State Park trail (working with Vulcan Quarry). The Quarry has already made great progress. The HdG to Conowingo bike and hike trail will bring thousands of visiting recreational family cyclists to town to stay in B&B's, dine at our restaurants, and shop in our downtown stores. It's already half there; it's time to get the job done.

Pedestrian traffic is a great segway into a gripe of mine. I pick my grandaughter up after school on Juniata and am amazed that no one gets killed there at dismissal time....I also feel like I am in some game of chicken with drivers when I walk my dog and cross Union Ave at crosswalks. A real shame for a tourist driven city.

I’m all for improving tourism in HdG. I’m going to second what Biller’s Bike said, “Proactive City support of tourism bicycling/hiking” And on a similar note; I’m going to come out and say some of the buildings in town are just plain ugly. That cinder block building on the corner of Pennington and St John is an eye sore. The building where the Stop and Shop was is old, dirty and ugly too. I know knocking down buildings is expensive and impractical, but let’s make some sort of plan to improve and beautify our future. Stop approving ugly.

Design standards -- should they be part of a new zoning code?

Capital Spending -- current budget reflects the following capital expenditures: Lewis Lane and CSX Railroad track, $600,000; Old Bay Lane, federal grant, $700,000; Canvasack Drive, $350,000.00; Hutchins Park, $115,700.

Do you agree that these are the priority areas we should spend our capital improvement money? Obviously, the Old Bay Lane is not exactly city money, as it is a federal grant, but what about the rest???

Mmmmmmmm - I can't see why Canvasback needs $350,000 in improvements/repair. That is one that I would have to question. Don't they have a HOA that is suppose to provide for upkeep, etc. of their community? We have plenty of communities without HOA's that need road repair.

Gotcha, thanks :)

I'd like to see the city government encourage a grocery store to open in Havre de Grace again, as has happened in Fallston. I miss having one I can walk to!
Maybe an Aldi's?

The most important matter for HDG at this time is the water and sewer issue. Will the proposed 10% rate increase be a long term solution? Has the City done all it can do to provide an efficient w/s operation? W/S affects every resident, business, and visitor of HDG and therefore should be a priority for the HDG government.

Another election issue: "Should the City's payroll, number of employess, staffing be: 1. increased; 2. decreased or 3. remain the same?"

Havre de Grace has a well deserved reputation of being unfriendly to business. I'd like to hear the candidates explain their views on economic development, and how city government can encourage and support existing businesses while working to bring new business to the city.

The elephant in the room that is our water and sewer system certainly is a major issue. We have incurred a huge debt that is well beyond the capabilities of 12000 people to pay. Soaking developers has driven business away, as has the generally anti development attitude of the current adminstration.

Right now, we are writing grants applications to pay the interest on the loans we have. That ain't sound fiscal policy!

Unfortunately, I gather from the rumor mill that some people are trying to scare city employees (particularly at the water and sewer plants) into believing that they are going to be targets of some sort of big layoff if things change in town. This is not true to my knowledge.

Canvassback Drive has been falling apart almost since it was surfaced years ago.

I do not know what the $115K for Hutchins Park is for. We spent $350 getting it to its current state not ten years ago.

I'd like to address the Water & Sewage issue...first, I do not believe that most of the residents of HdG know why the Wastewater Treatment Plant was upgraded, causing the rate increase. This upgrade was mandated by the state environmental agency (MDE) that regulates them...the upgrade ensures more nutrient removal which in turn, cleans up the Chesapeake Bay. Plus the upgrade was long overdue because of the antiquated equipment (much of this equipment such as in the main pumping station, and the main clarifier itself, was installed in 1965!), so the added housing developments on the hill and surrounding HdG put a strain on the antiquated equipment, causing many breakdowns, repairs and replacements. It was clear that this upgrade was imminent on many levels. The state, in my understanding, gave HdG a grant to help with the cost of this upgrade, but I do believe that the grant did not cover the full expense of this upgrade, so the taxpayers had to fill the gap. Unfortunately, they are not happy with the increase in water & wastewater rates, but someone has to pay for the upgrade, and as long as people are benefitting from wastewater treatment, then it just makes sense they they absorb the cost...it is a service to the community & the environment, after all!

The person that mentioned that the mindset of the present HdG administration as "anti-development" is not a fair assessment, in my opinion. I have to say that in the last 10 years, I have seen enormous development in HdG...from the towering new condo building down by the lighthouse, to the vast sprawl on the hill, HdG has grown by leaps and bounds. We need to be mindful of this "growth" regarding our schools, hospital, police, public works and how they can support more growth.

Havre de Grace is my childhood home, my adult home and if it is to be my senior home, I hope that it retains its "small town flavor" as it strives to make improvements in the life of it's residents. It is a balancing act and one that must be done with maintaining the integrity & the charm of HdG...the very thing that attracts so many people to call it home.

I love the idea of a new HdG high school with a magnet program.

I also love the idea about a grocery co-op in downtown HdG.

The city must somehow address the "cut through" traffic through the Grace Manor development between Chapel and US 40. While I'm sure the Lewis Lane extension and connection to Chapel was planned, the way it cuts through this development was poorly designed and implemented.

Havre de Hills was permitted the way it was under the specific understanding that Lewis would remain all no parking, which is why it's only 18' wide. The city allowed the developers to configure the subdivision more like a typical row house community with allys in the back and rear parking.

Both Bayview Estates and Bulle Rock were originally configured on the assumption that they would eventually connect to a Lewis Lane Extended. Had that been done, residents of both communities could drive to Lewis Lane and enter Rt 40 or go downtown without ever having to drive on Chapel Road or Rt 155. There is still enough open land to make this happen. All we need is a commitment to do it.

There has also been a lot of flack here about the water plant. A number of people seem to be highlighting the BNR upgrades which were done several years ago, and soft peddling the significantly larger, and more expensive upgrades to the plant's capacity.

The BNR improvements are, by far the least of our problems, yet seem to get the most mention here. The enlarged capacity, done in anticipation of the build out of Bulle Rock, and other as yet unspecified growth, is by far the larger financial burden, and the one that is causing the most worries.

Could you elaborate on the open land for a potential Lewis Lane extension?

If this was done, how would the residents be able to back out of their parking? Parking alines the roads. Also this area is private property. What would be the plan to allow this?

As I recall, the original idea was to connect Lewis Lane to what is now a dead end just down from the townhouses (Whitney Way or Willow Way, I forget which. When Bulle Rock was origninally platted, the cul-de-sac now called Oak Tree Drive was supposed to continue down that side of Lilly run to near where the bottom of Bulle Rock Parkway is now (that was originally supposed to be the second golf course).

The possibility of crossing the railroad at a second point is not realistic. It is nearly impossible to gain right of way access to cross railroad tracks.

They should forgo a direct crossing and build a bridge over the tracks if they could at a new point...but I know the idea is pure fantasy in regards to securing funding for such infrastructure.

Now this is real community involvement! I hope the politicians are listening . There are some great thoughts listed above. Seems like our city government gets bogged down in committees and studies and when it comes time for decisions they just don't get done. I'd like to see some teeth in our city council and some real leadership that is willing to make real decisions on all the subjects that have been mentioned above.Whatever happened to the zoning "study" and proposed changes that was being worked on this past year? Where is our final city comphrehensive plan that outlines our vision and goals for the future? We have a lot of "staffers" in our city government that do a lot of "thinking". I believe we can do with less thinking and more "getting the jobs done". Cut back on administration and divert that payroll money to things that directly benefit the taxpayers.

I would like to know how each candidate feels about releasing information about campaign contributions and campaign spending. I've never seen anything released about this for the local Havre de Grace elections, and only lately have learned that it's not required. I think voters should have that information as part of their decision making. Would any of the candidates in this election be willing to disclose this information? If one person does it, it might encourage others to do so.

Id like to have the candidates establish a"specific focused alternative energy plan". This plan would be part of the town's best practices and would be applied against every element of it's expense. Preparing a "creative approach" to sound fiscal government is the request. Offset some of those energy bills with solar, wind and tidal currents. Reward the citizen partisapants. Publisize the achievements and promote tourism through its results. "if you build it they will come"."

I'm with Miles on this! Thanks for voicing such an important issue.

More shopping in the area would be nice -- I'm tired of having to drive a half an hour to get errands done. A dog park in the area would be great!

Candidates should definitely address how to attract more commercial/retail to the city. And all commercial uses must fit the scale and character of the city - whether it's located in "Old Town" Havre de Grace or on US 40. Candidates should also address working with State Highway towards beautifying the US 40 corridor.

Smoking should be banned at Tydings Park - especially during special events (such as the 4th of July Celebration and Friday night concerts).

The walking and bicycling elements of the Comprehensive Plan should be implemented - especially the Old Town Loop and the Old Town/New Town Bikeway.

Candidates whould address extracurricular youth programs in the schools and enhancing the towns arts and entertainment ammenities.

I'd like to see public transportation in HdG - something to shuttle residents around the city and maybe connect with the train stations in Aberdeen and Perryville.

I'm also interested in know what the Candidates thoughts are on a city annexation/growth management plan.

In all of these discussions I feel Linda Borneman has touched on my greatest concerns. As someone who was born and raised in Havre de Grace, I can agree with her sentiments of "small town flavor". What makes this town such an incredible place to live and raise a family in are the people that live here. I have seen what happens to a "quaint" little place when "city" people transplant. They move to the little place, want to get involved to help make improvements and before you know it BOOM! Bel-Air!!! I want a candidate that cares about our home-town and the residents, that care about not just being here but living here. Not a candidate that is trying to better their business, or is looking for that "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" deal. Anyone have a suggestion?