Instead of being sold, a Taneytown police Department vehicle will continue service to the community as a vehicle for the Harney Volunteer Fire Department.

The 2011 Ford Explorer was a spare car, and the city police department generally rotates out vehicles every seven years, City Manager James Wieprecht said.

The Harney Fire Department originally requested the city sell them the vehicle for the volunteer department, but the police decided to donate it instead.

The council authorized the vehicle to be bequeathed to the fire department.

"I’m glad that we are able to help our fire companies out this way," Mayor Pro Tem Joe Vigliotti said to the council’s agreement.

"Harney is a very dependable fire department and when we get stretched thin, they are the first ones to step up and it is spectacular," Mayor Bradley Wantz said.

Well Number 8 Generator Bid Approved

A contract to begin initial work in support of the new city well number 8 was awarded to Fern Rodkey Electric for a total cost of $50,934.

The work includes pouring of a cement pad for the generator to sit on and approximately a weeks’ worth of work is expected once commenced. According to the Request for Proposals (RFP) submitted by the city, the work is expected to be completed by January 31.

Ten bids had been received for the project.

Bollinger Park Phase One Bid Approved

Both subphases for the Bollinger Park phase one project were awarded to Hobbes Excavating for a total amount of $545,808.75.

Site work includes grading of the entrance parking lot and clearing of grass on the primary loop of the pathway’s multiple purpose porous trail.

Phase one of the project’s site plan was approved at the June 22 Planning Commission meeting contingent on the final approval letters from the county review agencies.

The city has done a lot of work with Hobbes Excavating in the past "and we have been very happy with all of the work they’ve done for us," Wantz said.

The city is hopeful to break ground this Fall, presumably towards the end of October, according to Parks and Recreation Director Lorena Vaccare at the city’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board meeting on August 10.

The Parks and Recreation Department has also applied for a $5,000 mini grant through the Chesapeake Bay Trust Fund to establish the park’s new pollinator garden. If received, the ecological addition would then be completed sometime in the Spring of 2023, she said.

Vaccare credited the Public Works Department and various contractors for their dedicated work in maintenance and improving city parks.

"It’s just amazing what they accomplish," she said.