Aberdeen Now

I sat down recently with Aberdeen Mayor Mike Bennett. As he nears the completion of his second two year term I asked him to lay out his progress and accomplishments during that time. Additionally, I wanted to know what problems he identified at the inception and what he had done to resolve them. He said he encountered at least five serious issues that required fairly quick solutions or Aberdeen would not be in a position to grow economically, particularly with the influx of jobs and growth expected with the BRAC folks coming here from Ft. Monmouth, NJ.

First, the city could not issue building permits due to a lack of available water. The water situation was solved with negotiations with Harford County for a share of water from the county system. The immediate impact was to free up water allocations committed to projects that were not ready to build but the city had to make sure there would be water available when they were ready to build. This allowed building permits to be issued for new job related businesses.

Secondly, Aberdeen came under new and much more restrictive mandates for improving the quality of waste water discharge into the Chesapeake Bay. The city's waste water treatment plant is currently being upgraded to reduce the nitrogen level being discharged. This is being funded with state funds from the flush tax and the city's water and sewer fund will handle the rest of the funding.

Thirdly, the mayor said the city's infrastructure was in a serious state of deterioration. Lots of improvements have been made to the water and sewer system and its network of underground lines, pumping stations, and water plant. Although a lot has been done, the city has a projected 5 to 10 year capital program to bring the rest of the system up to par.

Another issue that faced the city was the problem of leadership in the Aberdeen Police Department. That situation appears to be much improved since the selection of long term Aberdeen Policeman Henry Trabert as the new police chief. There is a new and healthier spirit now in that department.

Lastly, the city has made serious changes to its charter which now streamlines the chain of command and effectiveness of the city manager and department heads.  This writer believes that even though the flow of work at city hall has improved there is still room for a good deal more. Response to citizens in a more timely manner and speeding up the permit process for projects is still a bone of contention to some folks.  The increase of commercial and industrial tax bases should help ease the tax impact on Aberdeen's home owners and renters.

By any measure this mayor deserves high marks for the steady and determined improvements he has made for the citizens of Aberdeen. All this has been done without much hoopla and fanfare. He just gets the job done day after day.