Taneytown has entered into a construction contract to begin renovations of the Town Hall, which had sustained "significant" structural damage in August 2019 after the building was rammed by a pickup truck.

According to court documents, the accused driver, identified as Rodney Davis, 55, was upset over his city water bill. Mayor Bradley Wantz called the incident "nothing less than a terroristic attack on the city" in the immediate aftermath of the destruction.

Acting City Manager James Wieprecht told the town Council at their May meeting, that a contract had been signed for the City Hall renovation. Demolitions necessary for the renovations began on May 11.

Memorial Park to be 'leveled'

Several ongoing and proposed projects are expected to generate fill materials that can be used to level-off land contained within Taneytown's Memorial Park for future use.

Wieprecht told the town council at their May workshop that as the O'Brien Avenue bridge construction progresses, fill produced as a result of excavations is being transported to Memorial Park to level-out undeveloped portions of the park. The land being improved at the park will be used for new ball fields and a parking area.

In addition, he said, as the Trevanion Terrace storm-water retrofit and park-grading work progresses, and the Robin's Mill Run development project (under construction) progresses, fill generated at those projects will also be deposited at Memorial Park to help level-out the grounds.

Taneytown Crossing water deal reached

Taneytown has reached an agreement with the state Department of the Environment (MDE) regarding omissions on a map relating to the proposed Taneytown Crossing development.

City Attorney, Jack Gullo, told the city Council at their May meeting that errors included in the development water and sewer master plan had created an issue with acquiring needed state approvals. Not all the applicable pieces of land involved in the development were correctly designated and resulted in an inaccurate calculation of water and sewer usage versus capacity.

Gullo said, the compromise reached with MDE, by which the agency would approve the plan, was premised on the city’s promise to amend the master plan to reflect actual resources available and refrain from issuing any new building permits for 90 days unless they have already been preliminarily approved.

As a result of the agreement, Gullo said, "We have six weeks now to get them (the Taneytown Crossing development) across the finish line with everything else they need to have, or else the development is not going to happen."

Wine festival canceled

The June 13 Taneytown Wine, Art & Music Festival has been canceled, while the October 5 Harvest Fest and Halloween events are still on the events schedule. Taneytown Events Committee member, Linda Scheihing, said the annual wine and music festival usually draws some 65 vendors, and that last year's event drew a crowd of 400 to 500 attendees. Money raised during the course of the event goes towards Main Street Taneytown.