Howard County Executive Kenneth Ulman will forge ahead with his plan to purchase office space in Oakland Mills after getting a green light from the County Council last week.

The proposal is part of Ulman's larger plan to renovate and reorganize county offices. The $45 million project, which will span several years, was one of the most controversial in the $420.8 million capital budget that council passed May 22.

While championed by some residents as a factor in revitalizing the Oakland Mills community, the plan also met resistance from others who said it would decentralize government services and result in the sale of valuable land in Ellicott City.

Under the plan, the county's George Howard Building will undergo a one-year renovation beginning this summer, followed by renovations at the Dorsey and Gateway buildings.

In addition, the county will purchase 15,000 square feet of space in a proposed building in the Oakland Mills Village Center. The building, to be called Meridian Square, has been touted as a key component in a broader effort to revitalize the aging village.

Ulman touted the plan as an affordable way to upgrade and expand county office space. He abandoned an earlier plan to expand offices in Ellicott City as too costly when estimates on that plan exceeded $250 million, he said.

"I believe we put forward a plan that's affordable and delivers the kind of office space we need," Ulman said.

The new plan will be funded over multiple years, in part through the revenue from the sale of a 25-acre property off of Rogers Avenue, in Ellicott City, and the site of the former Gateway School, in Clarksville. Ulman also had proposed the sale of a 26-acre parcel off Martha Bush Drive, in Ellicott City, but backed away from selling that piece because of community opposition.

Project location debated

In debating the project, some council members voiced concerns over selling land near the county seat, and the viability of the Meridian Square project.

Just hours before the council voted on the budget, council member Mary Kay Sigaty, a Columbia Democrat, hammered out a list of stipulations for the project that Ulman pledged to honor.

Under the stipulations, the county would:

* not sign a lease agreement at Meridian Square until half of the building's space had been leased to other groups;

* require a fair market price for its offices;

* pay no more than other tenants per square foot of space.

Councilman Greg Fox, a west county Republican, said he voted against the budget mostly because of his opposition to the Meridian Square project, which he said would result in the decentralization of government services.

Councilman Calvin Ball, an Oakland Mills Democrat, called Fox's attempts to block the Meridian Square project "an attack on core priorities and values in our community" and countered Fox's argument that the project would decentralize services.

Ball supported the project along with Sigaty and fellow Democrat Jennifer Terrasa.

Fox's attempt to block the project failed, although he was supported by councilwoman Courtney Watson, an Ellicott City Democrat.

Watson said the stipulations presented by Sigaty would reduce the risk involved in the project if they are met.

"It's not a legal document," Watson said. "It's a handshake agreement."

E-mail Jennifer Broadwater at jbroadwater@patuxent.com.

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