Webb passes 90,
adds to her civic
service portfolio
Sports, Page B-1
Community, Page B-5
Established 1872
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Tech park
no longer to
be marketed
nn Without
clear
vision, county
staff had little
info for investors
By JEFF NEWMAN
Staff writer
The Charles County commissioners voted 3-2 during
their weekly meeting Tuesday to remove the Indian
Head Science and Technology Park in Bryans Road
from the county’s economic
development marketing
materials.
The vote came at the
recommendation of Marcia
Keeth, acting director of the
Department of Economic
Development, and Debra
Jones, the department’s
business
development
manager, who said a lack of
vision for the tech park has
left staff unable to effectively
market it to potential investors.
The county purchased
the bulk of the 260-acre park
in August for $6.4 million as
required by the 2008 contract establishing the project
as a co-venture with Corporate Office Properties Trust
and Facchina Group of Cos.,
which included a requirement that the county buy
back about 210 acres of the
property at its 2008 price
See PARK, Page A-13
n
Charles County, Maryland
75¢
WE DNE SDA Y
NP boys, girls
swim to 3rd
place in SMAC
Root, root, root for the home team
Staff photo by GREG DOHLER
La Plata High School senior Ta’nina Bevins, 17, and fellow cheerleaders root on their Warriors during a home basketball game Friday
against rival North Point High School in La Plata. North Point held on to first place in the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference with
a 64-63 victory.
Hogan proposes repealing ‘rain tax’ County official hurt
nn Governor:
Stormwater
fee ‘universally despised’
By JEFF NEWMAN
Staff writer
Gov. Larry Hogan announced Tuesday legislation to repeal the state’s
stormwater management fee mandate,
known as the “rain tax.”
As part of efforts to abide by a 2010
order from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requiring states within the Chesapeake Bay watershed to
reduce the amount of pollutants they
contribute to the estuary, state lawmakers in 2012 passed a law mandating that
its largest jurisdictions — those with
populations big enough to require a
pollutant discharge elimination permit
from the EPA — fund stormwater management projects via remediation fees.
As the bill provided for calculating
the fee based on a property’s amount
of “impervious surface” — such as
structures and asphalt parking lots and
driveways, which increase runoff by preventing rainwater from soaking into the
ground — critics instantly dubbed the
bill the “rain tax.”
Republican lawmakers have sought
to repeal the tax since its passage, and
the issue was a key talking point for conservatives, including Hogan (R), during
the 2014 election season.
In a press conference in Annapolis announcing the repeal legislation,
Hogan called the rain tax “universally
despised,” and said only a “minority
of vocal people” oppose repeal of the
mandate.
“Dealing with the problem of stormwater management, working to restore
our most treasured asset, the Chesapeake Bay, is a goal that we all agree on,”
Hogan said. “But repealing the rain tax
has nothing to do with our commitment
See TAX, Page A-13
in plane accident
nn Transportation
injured Sunday afternoon
in a single-engine plane
crash near Fort Meade in
Anne Arundel County.
Along with Barnett, 57,
of Glen Burnie, who was
piloting the plane, Thomas
L. Cline, 82, of Silver Spring
also was seriously injured.
Both men were flown to
the University of Maryland
Shock Trauma Center in
chief, passenger
badly injured
just after takeoff
By JEFF NEWMAN
Staff writer
Charles County Transportation and Community Programs Chief Jeffry
P. Barnett was seriously
See PLANE, Page A-14
Judge rules county has the final say over St. Charles allocations
nn St.
Charles Cos. plans appeal of circuit court opinion
By JEFF NEWMAN
Staff writer
The St. Charles Cos. plans
to appeal a Prince George’s
County judge’s ruling that the
Charles County commissioners hold sole discretion over
the amount of school allocations awarded to St. Charles.
In his Jan. 26 order, Prince
George’s County Circuit Judge
Dwight Jackson granted the
commissioners authority over
the number of school allocations granted to St. Charles,
and found that St. Charles is
not entitled to a minimum of
300 school allocations annually, as The St. Charles Cos.
claims.
Developers require school
allocations in order to build
homes. The county issues allo-
cations based on the school
system’s student capacity.
The St. Charles Cos.’ position stems from a section of
Docket 90 — the document
which governs development
of St. Charles — which references a 2005 agreement
between the developer and
the county establishing “the
current baseline assumption
of the number of units per year
necessary to sustain continued
development of [St. Charles]
shall be 300 units per year.”
But Jackson noted that
Docket 90 also states, “The
determination of the number of school allocations to be
given to St. Charles shall be in
Civil rights stalwart Clyburn inspires local crowd
nn Black History
Month breakfast
hosted by Hoyer
By REBECCA J. BARNABI
Staff writer
Staff photo by REBECCA J. BARNABI
U.S. House of Representatives Assistant Democratic Leader James E. Clyburn
speaks Saturday in Waldorf at a breakfast hosted by the 5th Congressional
District Black History Month Committee. Attendees heard about Black History
Month and why it is still important today. U.S. Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, left, listens
to Clyburn.
Charles and Prince George’s
County officials and community
members came together Saturday morning to celebrate Black
History Month.
The 34th annual Black History Month breakfast was held
at the Jaycees center in Waldorf
and attended by approximately
475 officials and community
members.
U.S. Rep. Steny H. Hoyer
(D-Md., 5th) introduced keynote
speaker House Assistant Democratic Leader James E. Clyburn
(D-S.C.), and told of meeting a
young man when he started as
a member of the Young Democrats of America.
“He was on fire for justice
and equality,” and fairness,
Hoyer said. So much so that the
young man went to jail.
That young man was Clyburn.
“So Jim has seen defeat, rejection, segregation, racism, hate,”
Hoyer said, but the challenges
did not sour him. They made
him more convicted of his role,
and Hoyer said he is honored to
be Clyburn’s friend. Hoyer said
he and Clyburn have a lot in
common: they both have three
daughters and both married in
June 1961.
Clyburn said he started his
career as a public school history
See BREAKFAST, Page A-15
the County’s sole discretion.”
A dispute over the seemingly contradictory language led
the county to file a lawsuit Dec.
26 against St. Charles, seeking
a court ruling on the matter.
Jackson heard the case Jan. 15.
Taken together, the phrases
See RULING, Page A-15
Budding Picassos honored
Comptroller
Franchot
recognizes three
student artists
A-4
Inside
CommunityB-5
Editorial
A-6
ObituariesA-12
On the agenda A-2
Police news
A-11
Sports
B-1
Detectives
track suspect
Police work finds
trail of jewelry
store robber
A-11
Vol. 145,
No. 12
3 sections
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Southern
Maryland
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