Electric line delivers county $628,000 shock

Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2008

Instead, Singleton Electric Co. workers found that the pipe was full of water. After 30 years of sitting in the moist ground of the county’s Mattawoman stream basin, the conduit finally succumbed to the elements.

‘‘It poses a real threat of catastrophic failure,” William Shreve, the county’s facilities director, told the commissioners last week. ‘‘I need to emphasize that it is very urgent. ... Any failure in this line could take out a significant portion of this plant.”

Shreve asked for and got $628,000 to hire Singleton to immediately replace the plant’s 15,000-kilovolt line.

Commissioners’ President F. Wayne Cooper (D) questioned if the county should award a no-bid contract to the company.

According to county media information officer Crystal Hill, the county can issue a no-bid emergency contract if the situation poses ‘‘a danger to the health and welfare of the public.” Hill said there is no limit to how large such contracts can be.

‘‘It’d be difficult to get another price in this short time period,” Shreve replied.

Cooper asked if Shreve could have another company at least estimate the cost of the line and ‘‘keep people honest.”

‘‘I don’t believe we can get someone else for the same price,” Shreve said.

Melvin C. Beall Jr., director of planning and growth management, supported Shreve, saying that audits of Singleton’s jobs for the county have found that they charge fair prices.

Officials were aware that the conduit needed replacement. The commissioners approved money this year for the design of a power cable replacement project at the site. Construction money was allocated for fiscal 2010, which starts 11 months from now. But the presence of water in the line prompted emergency action.

County mullingBB gun law

A pair of laws concerning BB guns and scrap metal dealers failed to gain traction in Maryland’s last legislative session, but they might have found new life in Charles County.

A bill that would have outlawed concealment of BB guns on one’s person or in one’s car didn’t make it out of committee at the General Assembly session. But the county commissioners have asked County Attorney Roger Fink to draw up a change to the county’s local law that would ban the practice.

The Charles County Sheriff’s Office endorses such a bill, having stated that BB weapons are realistic-looking, widely available and are being used in armed robberies.

Commissioner Samuel N. Graves Jr. (D), a former sheriff’s officer, noted last week that ‘‘some people have been killed, because they were carrying an air gun” that was mistaken for a real gun by police officers.

‘‘They’re trying to eliminate loss of life,” Cooper agreed.

The commissioners asked for a local draft of another state bill, which would have required scrap metal dealers to record the identities of people who sold to them. The law was designed to stem the tide of metal thefts that have occurred as commodity prices have risen. It sailed through the House of Delegates, but was scuttled in the Senate.

‘‘I think it’s horrible that you have people stealing from cemeteries,” Commissioners Edith J. Patterson (D) said, referring to the recent theft of brass flower vases from local graves.

Arts center gets support

The commissioners expressed tacit support last week for a proposal to create a county arts center at the Smallwood Village shopping center in Waldorf.

The county’s planning staff presented a report estimating that ‘‘Space 235,” offered by Smallwood landlord Saul Properties at a reduced rental rate, could make a feasible community arts center.

The report presented two lists of possible renovations to the space, a basic list that would make the space usable for approximately $120,000 and a ‘‘wish list” that would meet many artists’ needs for $275,000. The report further estimated that the space would require about $100,000 a year to operate.

‘‘Some of the costs are essential; some are things we’d like to have,” said Commissioner Gary V. Hodge (D), who helped local artists enter talks with Saul.

Hodge called the center an ‘‘extraordinary leap forward for the arts in Charles County.”

More than 30 local artists and their supporters came to the commissioners’ meeting room last week to show support for the report.

Diane Rausch, president of the Charles County Arts Alliance, said the report outlines an idea the group envisioned in its own Arts Vision 2020 plan, published this month.

Rausch urged the commissioners to support and fund the plan, ending with the famous maxim of painter Henri Matisse: ‘‘Creativity takes courage.”

‘‘I think this is a very important project for the future of our community,” said Commissioner Reuben B. Collins II (D.