Sept. 18, 2001
 
 We attended the Cumberland Mayor and City Council work session last evening, at which developer Kevin Bell’s 4th Street low income apartment project was discussed by our elected officials.
 
 It was quite enlightening, in a perverse sort of way.
 
 The evening began with Mayor Lee Fiedler - who never met a Cas Taylor project he didn’t like - announcing that the elected officials had given city staff a list of questions concerning the project and its impact on the city. He then said they wouldn’t review those questions and answers, but people could have access to them as they are a matter of public record.
 
 That means anyone curious about what was asked and what information was provided will have to put in a request for the information through the City Clerk’s office. So what’s the point of gathering information and not sharing it with the public, you might ask?
 
 Oh, wait, that’s right. We live in Allegany County. Never mind.
 
 Some discussion did take place last evening - Councilman Terry Rephann discussed the tax revenue generated. While Councilman Butch Hendershot and Mr. Fiedler had put the tax revenue from this project at a whopping $40,000 annually, the reality is a bit sobering. Actually, the project will probably be assessed at somewhere around $1 to $1.5 million (at the most), which will generate a whopping $15,000 annually (at the most). Will that even be enough to cover the cost of city services provided to those living in the building?
 
 Parking also came up - neighbors will be happy to know that Mr. Bell will need a parking variance for his 60-unit project, because his plan doesn’t provide the parking required for such a building. Given the narrow tar and chip roadways in that neighborhood, we’re sure neighbors won’t mind an additional 20 cars parked on their streets.
 
 Our favorite part, though, came when the officials were trying to address the question of property values in the surrounding neighborhood. Councilman Ed Hedrick, who is a realtor, announced that this project would have no more impact on surrounding property values than the Seton Drive Apartments have on properties in neighborhoods on Haystack Mountain.
 
 We’re still laughing at that one. Yeah, let’s compare a low income housing project to the high-end apartments on Seton Drive. That Ed - what a card.
 
 As the discussion moved on, Mr. Fiedler tried to tie the construction of this property to blight removal in town - we’re not sure what the connection is there, aside from the fact that more blight will result as people abandon properties to move to this Section 8 project. So where will the money come from to address that problem? Uh, they’re not sure.
 
 There was a moment at the meeting which was truly sad - Terry Bowman, of the building trades unions, spoke in favor of this project in order to provide construction jobs for his members.
 
 He spoke of the reality of his members leaving the area, as there is no work here. Most craftsmen are working outside the community now - along with a lot of other city and county residents - and he worries more of them will pull up stakes and move to communities where work is readily available.
 
 How low can this community sink? One part of our community is willing to sell their neighbors down the river for nothing more than short term employment?
 
 This has got to stop. Our construction trades men and women should be able to get work on decent projects that will enhance life here in Cumberland and Allegany County - they shouldn’t have to beg for work on projects that will create more harm than good.
 
 We’ve got to stop this cannibalism before we destroy what community we have left. Telling Mr. Bell to build his project somewhere else would be a good start.