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This past Monday, May 11, 2015, the Bainbridge Development Corporation (BDC) was pleased to host the Sustainable Growth Commission (SGC) at the Donaldson Brown Center for their bi-monthly commission meeting. The SGC is an entity of the Maryland Department of Planning that the State developed in 2010 to make recommendations on growth issues within the state of Maryland. The Commission is made up of representatives from State and Local government, private business and non-profit organizations. The BDC offered to host the May 11th meeting with the intent to educate the Commission members and State agencies, with the priorities of Cecil County, Port Deposit, and Bainbridge, and how those agencies play a vital role. Members met at the Donaldson Brown Center, another historical and architectural ornament in Cecil County, and we’re first taken on a tour of downtown Port Deposit and then onto the Bainbridge site. Merely reading a fact sheet, or seeing the Bainbridge location on a digital map does not do justice to the property. Commission members were able to see the magnitude of the land, its prime location, and the incredible potential that Bainbridge holds. In addition, Commission members gained a better understanding of the Tome School campus and the magnificence that sits tucked away in a corner of Port Deposit. Following the tour, the group reconvened back at the Donaldson Brown Center. County Council President Robert Hodge welcomed the Commission and discussed several of the issues the County is facing that affects growth in the County. Port Deposit Mayor Wayne Tome and Town Administrator Vicky Rinkerman touted the inviting attributes Port Deposit has to offer and the investments being made in downtown including the new welcome center and research facility, rebuilding their storm water drainage system, working with the US Army Corp of Engineers on flood mitigation, and an updated streetscape. County Representatives discussed the needs of the county including infrastructure updates and the new proposed WWTP in Port Deposit. BDC’s Executive Director communicated the value and importance of developing Bainbridge and where each of the State agencies can play a key role in bringing the project to fruition. The Commission members were updated on current issues and the status of discussions with the Navy. But the most important detail, was showcasing how the Bainbridge project fits into every goal and category of the SGC and that if there was a project in Maryland that needs their attention, and aligns with their charter, it is certainly this one. The BDC recognized the uniqueness of having members of so many influential state agencies in one room to discuss the roles they can all play in securing a successful future at Bainbridge that will be an economic engine for the Town, the County and the State. Members of the Department of Transportation, Environment, Planning, Housing and Community Development, Business and Economic Development, and Natural Resources, just to name a few, were actively engaged in the discussion and eager to help the project. Having discussions like this and one held in April with the Cecil Delegation is exactly the catalyst needed to bring all parties together to work in unison and bring development to Bainbridge. A tremendous amount of appreciation goes to the SGC for allowing the BDC to host the meeting and help make Bainbridge a state priority.

The BDC Board of Directors will be holding an open meeting this coming Monday May 18. The meeting will be held at Town Hall in Port Deposit and it will begin at 5:30PM. Anyone and everyone is welcome to attend open sessions. Our agenda is provided below. Please contact Toni Lozzi with any questions or concerns, 410-378-9200, TLOZZI@bainbridgedev.org 5/18/2015 AGENDA

The BDC is excited to announce that we will be hosting tours of the Tome School each month of the summer. The tour will be bused back with several stops and options to get off of the bus and walk the Tome campus. Our first date is Saturday May 23, 2015. The times provided are 10AM and 1PM. We ask everyone arrive 15-20 minutes before departure to ensure enough time to process paperwork. Everyone participating must provide a signed waiver and signed copy of our policies. Both are provided below. Minors MUST have them signed by their parents. Anyone who cannot furnish the paperwork will not be allowed on the tour. Due to number limits on the bus, we ask that you us the link below to RSVP if you plan to attend the tour. If we reach capacity, we will have to use a first come first served preference. Any questions can be directed to Toni Lozzi at 410-378-9200 or TLOZZI@bainbridgedev.org. BDC Address: 748 Jacob Tome Highway Port Deposit, MD 21904 SIGN UP LINK: http://vols.pt/h1gmEN Documents that MUST be signed for participation: WAIVER FOR ACCESS POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ADDITIONAL PLANNED DATES: June 14, July 25, August 22, September 12, October 10

LINK TO ORIGINAL ARTICLE "PORT DEPOSIT — It’s going to take support from all levels of government to transform the 1,200-acre former U.S. Naval Training Center at Bainbridge into an economic engine to benefit all Maryland citizens. That’s the message delivered Monday by Bainbridge Development Corporation Executive Director Donna Tapley and Chairman Michael Pugh to representatives from Port Deposit, Cecil County, the state of Maryland and the federal government. “We hope this meeting could help us push this project forward,” Pugh said. “We need your help.” BDC officials briefed the delegation and others Monday on the status of the redevelopment of Bainbridge. “Some say nothing is ever going to happen there, but I’m optimistic,” said Delegate Kevin Hornberger (R-Cecil) on Monday after a site tour and follow-up meeting at the Donaldson Brown Center ended. About 20 officials and staff attended the meeting and tour. “There’s really two separate sites on the property,” Pugh explained for the benefit of several participants that were seeing Bainbridge for the first time. The largest site, which potentially could be the quicker site to redevelop, is the roughly 1,200-acre former Navy base. Despite the fact that there is site-wide soil contamination, Pugh said industrial use wouldn’t require remediation, so the BDC could attract prospects at that site right away, if it can receive county funding for sewer service in this year’s budget. “Commercial projects would require some remediation, but not as much as is required for residential use,” Pugh said. “That’s why the plan has changed to focus on nearly 800 acres for commercial and/or industrial users.” A 50-acre adjacent parcel, which was formerly the Tome School for Boys campus, is the other focus of development for the BDC, which has a new proposal to expand that site to include an additional 100 acres to help entice more interest. Since the former Tome School site is on the National Register of Historic Places, it increases the cost of redevelopment, which adds another challenge, according to BDC leaders. The only buildings that remain at the former school are in disrepair, which Pugh says has been caused from years of neglect that started when the Navy still owned the property. Adding to the problem was a devastating fire in September that severely damaged Memorial Hall, which was thought by many to be the premier building at the Tome School site. After years of ups and downs, the BDC is now focused on getting the U.S. Navy to pay for environmental cleanup costs. At the same time, the BDC is seeking sewer funding that will enable it to attract companies to the site sooner rather than later. In conjunction with sewer funding, officials are in the process of applying for enterprise zone designation and sustainable communities designation, which would open the door for grants and tax credits. They are already showing business prospects the site. “We’d like the state delegation to support improvements to the Interstate 95 interchange at Route 222, and we need funding for Tome School,” Tapley said. “We need the county’s support on the sewer and our federal delegation’s help to put pressure on the Navy.” The BDC is waiting for the Navy’s response to a new appraisal that was done on the property in February. “We have to hold the Navy accountable for what they did to this town and this county,” Tapley said. State Sen. Stephen Hershey (R-Upper Shore) is concerned that the condition of the buildings at Tome School may cost too much to restore. “One option would be to take it off the Historic Register, but Tome School is near and dear to Port Deposit,” Tapley said. “Right now, there seems to be interest to restoring it.” Hornberger believes the state delegation has a chance to make serious changes in the county. “This is one of the biggest opportunities we have to do something positive for Cecil County,” he said. “We’ve got over three years to figure this out.” Pugh thanked all the officials who attended Monday’s meeting. “There’s no reason we can’t make this happen if we all agree and go in the same direction,” Pugh said. “It’s the BDC’s mission to be an economic engine, maybe we’re a slow engine, but we have a capable development partner and new leadership.” "

Article provided by the Cecil Guardian, Author: Maggie Tome "It seemed appropriate that the county’s Economic Development Commission (EDC) was at the Donaldson Brown Center to hear a talk about the development of Bainbridge. Brown was a financial titan of his era and the mansion, perched on a cliff with breathtaking views of the Susquehanna River, is a testament to his prestige and love of this area. From what I have heard about him, Brown would have loved this challenge. Bainbridge Development Corporation (BDC) executive director Donna Tapley said she is looking for the support and energy of the EDC to help make Bainbridge a priority economic development site in the county. As the economy has improved, there have been more prospects tapping on Bainbridge’s door to look at the enormous, undeveloped site. Unfortunately, infrastructure issues, lack of incentives and the need to get the U.S. Navy to settle on continuing pollution problems have made it difficult to get anyone to sign on the dotted line. Tapley said one of the partner developers even brought a prospect exclusively to Bainbridge, but the same prospect was working through the state and was directed to another site in Cecil County. County Economic Development Director Lisa Webb explained that prospects are assigned different names by economic development entities to allow companies to freely look at options without setting off alarms where they currently base their business so the county office had no idea the BDC and county economic development office were working with the same company. But the BDC wants to get an equal footing in order to set the hook and reel-in prospects. They are actively looking into Enterprise Zone status for Bainbridge as well as a designation of a Sustainable Community. Both come with incentives for those companies that settle there. The BDC also has plans to increase the sewer capacity and add sewer pipes. They will look for funding sources. Artesian Water, which offers water within Port Deposit’s town limits, has said they can get 240,000 gallons of water to the serve the site within 60 days, if needed, Tapley said. The Navy was given a revised appraisal which is being reviewed. While some may lament that it seems that it is taking forever for the Navy to act, Tapley said the Navy is being very responsive. “The Navy exceeds their usual pace with this,” she said. One of the things the BDC is trying to get across to the Navy is that the community has suffered losses because of the initial lack of movement to get rid of pollution problems and the time that has elapsed since new pollution issues were discovered by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2010. Tapley said these include the town needing to turn their water resources to a private company, the loss of a partner who was rehabbing the old Tome School and the loss of Cecil College’s math and tech building which was slated to be constructed on the Bainbridge site, but had to be moved to the North East campus or the college would have lost funding for the project. Throughout this long process with the Navy, the BDC decided they needed to revise their concept for the site. They first wanted to get Bainbridge to be more of a research and development facility, but have broadened their vision to include distribution and manufacturing. This new plan was unveiled before Port Deposit’s town board in January and presented to the County Executive and Cecil County Council in February. Tapley said the BDC is now working with the town to modify their comprehensive plan and zoning to work with the new concept. Tapley said the BDC views the arson at the Tome School’s Memorial Hall as being catastrophic, but vows the site will someday be rehabilitated and put to good use. Anyone who takes on the project will find that 100 acres of land around the historic school is included in the deal. Tapley said she is before the EDC to get ideas and encouragement for Bainbridge’s development. It is the same reason that the town of Port Deposit is planning informational signs in the downtown and why there are regular tours of the site – to get the buzz going about the possibilities at Bainbridge. Bainbridge is at a critical point, Tapley told the EDC. She expressed optimism that the BDC’s plans will result in Bainbridge becoming an economic asset to Cecil County."

The Bainbridge Development Corporation has released it's 2014 Annual Report covering the timeframe of July 1, 2013- June 30, 2014. This report includes a complete historical compilation of the BDC's activities since their development in 1999, as well as a background document on the Former Naval Training Center and the Tome School for Boys. It is an excellent source for those interested in learning about the BDC and what is happening at Bainbridge. Please click on "documents" tab to access the document.

By: Cheryl Mattix and Jane Bellmyer, Cecil Whig Photo by Cheryl Mattix CLICK FOR ORIGINAL STORY Bainbridge Development Corporation and developers for the 1,200- acre former U.S. Navy base unveiled a new, more industrial vision for the property Tuesday to Cecil County Council. At the same time, they reached out to the county to help them get 600 feet of new sewer line extended from the property to the county-owned sewage treatment plant in Port Deposit. “Sewer line extension is critical to move this forward,” said Ken Michaels, a development partner for Bainbridge, along with John Paterakis and Richard Alter. “This would allow us to actively market the property,” BDC Chairman Michael R. Pugh added. “We all need to work together to get this connection done,” he said, calling it “the single most important issue right now.” Michaels said his best guess is that officials could start development at Bainbridge by the end of this year, depending on a settlement with the Navy and meeting their water and sewer needs. Original development plans announced about seven years ago included a mixed-use development of residential, office, retail and industrial usage, but soil contamination discovered over the entire site a few years ago has prompted the developers to take a different look at their plans. This new vision is primarily commercial and industrial usage with only 150 acres at the former Tome School site set aside for a mixture of office, educational and residential uses. “Our original vision is un-doable now because of the amount of mitigation needed for residential development,” Pugh said. The new vision is thought to be more practical and less costly by those involved. “It’s more short-term achievable,” Pugh said. BDC leadership has been negotiating with the U.S. Navy for the last few years to find a way to clean up the site, pay for it and redevelop the 1,200 acres into a viable taxable use, which would also create jobs and boost the economy. Port Deposit Mayor Wayne Tome likes the new plan, which was presented to the town council a week earlier. “We’re going to work with the Bainbridge Development Corporation to resurrect it,” Tome said Tuesday. “We’ve already been talking about it.” One of the first projects for the town is to change its comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance to include this new concept, which scales back houses in favor of industry. The town also has to annex a small portion of land that was missed 20 years ago when a majority of the Bainbridge was annexed into town limits. “We’re looking at light industrial, straight up to warehouse distribution,” Michaels said. “We’ve had at least six new seriously interested prospects,” said Donna Tapley, executive director of the BDC, indicating that they lost a “really good food distributor prospect.” Michaels confirmed the loss, saying the prospect needed to move quickly and needed a water and sewer promise, which the developers were not able to make. He told the county council Tuesday that his development group is moving ahead with an economic feasibility study for the new vision. “Industrial use generates one heck-of-an income and a lot of taxes,” said Michaels, who has been in the real estate development business in Maryland for more than 50 years. “You’ll be flabbergasted.” Tome said he is prepared to work with the developer to make the new plan a reality. What he doesn’t want, however, is for the property to become nothing but warehouses. “We want some high-tech companies in there,” he said. “There’s still potential for some of that.” For Tome, productivity is the key to the success of the project. “The site is not producing any jobs, it’s not producing any tax revenue,” he said. “I’m tired of the ups and downs.” Michaels said he believes Bainbridge is “the perfect place for an industrial park.” “It’s got electric, gas, railroad, water and access to Interstate 95,” he said. “What else can you ask for?” The development partners for the bulk of Bainbridge have no contractual obligation to the formerTome School site, Pugh explained to the county council. “We set aside 100 acres to accompany the 50 acres of Tome School as an ancillary parcel to make it more attractive to a developer. Under any scenario, this site will require some heavy lifting,” Pugh said. In the short-term, the BDC and the development team hopes to attract commercial industrial users to the site, admitting they have more hoops to go through, but they feel it is a viable solution.

By: Lisa Tome, Herald Chronicle Port Deposit Mayor Wayne Tome , Sr. is not enthused about the most recent news from the Bainbridge Development Corporation. He's not thrilled with the U.S. Navy either... READ FULL STORY HERE

"We are still actively working with the State Fire Marshall's Office on their investigation of the fire at Memorial Hall. We cannot comment on the investigation at this time but when there is a public update available, we will certainly provide that right away. We are also working with the Deputy Fire Marshall and the Cecil County Sheriff's Office to find the best solution for the ongoing security issues at Bainbridge. We recently completed our semi-annual operations and maintenance inspection at the property. The report came back quite favorable. The only requested repairs to be made, are to the breaches in the fencing along 276. We have been focusing our property maintenance efforts on repairing the breaches along the entire property line and have made excellent progress in the past two months. Inspections are performed following the repairs and then we proceed to check the breaches to see if they are staying closed. We are very pleased to report that the repairs are holding and we are now working on closures along 276. While Memorial Hall is something of great importance to the Town of Port Deposit, Cecil County and the BDC, we unfortunately do not have an update to provide at this time. We are still evaluating options for moving forward." -Provided by Toni Lozzi, Project Coordinator

At the BDC Board of Directors Open Meeting held this evening, Thursday January 29, Martha Barchowsky was sworn in by County Clerk Derrick Lowe and Mike Pugh was re-appointed to his position. Martha replaces long-standing board member Bill Harrington who has contributed exponentially to the BDC during his tenure. The BDC is very excited to have Martha apart of the board and believes she will represent the Town very well. Former Delegate David Rudolph participated in the Open Meeting and presented a formal citation to Bill Harrington for his work on the BDC Board, for the Town of Port Deposit, Cecil County and the State of Maryland. BDC Chairman Mike Pugh also presented Bill with a token of graditude on behalf of the Board. To close out the evening, the Board presented David Rudolph with a citation of their own to show appreciation for the immense amount of work he did for the BDC from 1999-2015 while he was in office. The BDC is forever grateful to the effort David expelled in all things related to Bainbridge and the Tome School. Below are photos captured from the evening.

The Board of Directors Open Session has been rescheduled for Thursday January 29 at 5:30PM at Town Hall in Port Deposit. Refreshments will be served. Click here for Agenda

The BDC Open Meeting for Monday, January 26, 2015 has been postponed due to inclement weather. Once a new meeting date has been set, it will be announced.