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Aug 7, 2024 | 
citybiz.co | Mark Reutter |Baltimore Brew |Kevin Parker
day’s scheduled approval of $16 million in public funds to underwrite construction of an office building on West North Avenue proposed by P. David Bramble is just the start of what Mayor Brandon Scott has promised the developer of Harborplace. The complex deal involves more than 150 pages of lease agreements, ground rent contracts and rent schedules pertaining to Reservoir Square, Bramble’s townhouse and apartment project between the Bolton Hill and Reservoir Hill neighborhoods.
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Aug 4, 2024 | 
citybiz.co | Fern Shen |Mark Reutter |Baltimore Brew |Kevin Parker
In the wake of The Brew’s reporting – including the secret $83,675 payment to firefighter Philip Tirabassi engineered by top staffers for Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski – connections between the two are under scrutiny, including old posts on social media.
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Aug 1, 2024 | 
citybiz.co | Mark Reutter |Baltimore Brew |Kevin Parker
Mayor Brandon Scott has struck a deal with P. David Bramble, owner of Harborplace and a heavy contributor to his re-election campaign, to advance $16 million in city funds to help him erect an office building in West Baltimore. The building would house the headquarters of a small city agency, the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development (MOED), and help jump-start Bramble’s Reservoir Square project on West North Avenue.
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Jul 10, 2024 | 
citybiz.co | Mark Reutter |Baltimore Brew |Kevin Parker
Conducting a surprise visit to the Cherry Hill Solid Waste Yard this morning, Baltimore Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming found employees exposed to hazardous working conditions, including no functioning air conditioning, broken thermostats, inoperable water fountains and no ice. Cumming said about eight crews had already left the facility without access to cold water, ice or Gatorade to start their shift when she arrived.
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Jul 9, 2024 | 
citybiz.co | Mark Reutter |Baltimore Brew |Kevin Parker
Cost overruns are a frequent subject of Brew reporting, the latest being the ballooning price of waterproofing City Hall’s leaky walls and roof. But today we offer good news: the city is clawing back almost $350,000 from a contractor who repaved Roland Avenue some 10 years ago. The mile-long rebuild, from Cold Spring Lane to Northern Parkway, was originally awarded to M. Luis Construction for $3.9 million in 2012.
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Jul 8, 2024 | 
citybiz.co | Mark Reutter |Baltimore Brew |Kevin Parker
Two weeks after the mayor and city comptroller lauded the Department of General Services for keeping City Hall’s stone wall repairs “below budget,” the same agency is reporting a new set of problems that’s likely to bring prices right back up again. The historic seat of Baltimore government, housed inside white marble walls and ornate Serlian windows, continues to leak despite 31 Extras Work Orders (EWOs) and $12.4 million in authorized repairs since 2020.
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Jul 1, 2024 | 
citybiz.co | Mark Reutter |Baltimore Brew |Kevin Parker
The Baltimore County Council is set tonight to authorize $200,000 more in legal fees – on top of $350,000 already allocated – to handle a Public Information Act lawsuit seeking information about a secret payment made by the Johnny Olszewski administration to a retired firefighter. The payments going to the Baker Donelson law firm are listed on page 50 of the council’s agenda as an amendment to “complex and time-intensive litigation” with little additional explanation.
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Jun 26, 2024 | 
citybiz.co | Mark Reutter |Baltimore Brew |Kevin Parker
The Board of Estimates today approved the 31st EWO, or extra work order, to buff up and repair the white marble walls that enclose Baltimore’s seat of government, while allocating $3.4 million more to replace a roof that is “corroding to the point of section loss.” While the cost of restoring the exterior of the ornate 19th century landmark has passed the $16 million mark – making it 152% more expensive than the last full restoration in 1975-77 – the Scott administration made it a point to...
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Jun 4, 2024 | 
citybiz.co | Mark Reutter |Baltimore Brew |Kevin Parker
The Baltimore County Council voted last night to enrich its members by tying their pensions to increases in future council salaries rather than a cost-of-living adjustment offered to other county retirees. Led by Republican Wade Kach and chairman Izzy Patoka, a Democrat, the panel changed the way pension benefits are calculated for retired members. Outside of a rambling story by Councilman Julian E.
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Jun 3, 2024 | 
citybiz.co | Fern Shen |Mark Reutter |Baltimore Brew |Kevin Parker
Baltimore’s housing department today announced the termination of its contract with La Cité Development after the New York developer failed to met the latest deadline for financing its long-stalled reconstruction of Poppleton. Citing “delays and shortcomings that we can no longer endure,” Housing Commissioner Alice Kennedy said ending the agreement signed with the company in 2005 by the Martin O’Malley administration – or five mayors ago – is in the best interests of the city and community.
