Eminent Domain

andrear@herald-mail.com WILLIAMSPORT - The U.S. Department of the Interior has made it a priority to buy a parcel of Williamsport-owned property on a "willing seller-willing buyer" basis, Bill Spinrad, land resources specialist for the National Park Service, said Tuesday. The Park Service has no intention of acquiring the one-third acre plot north of Riverbottom Park through its power of eminent domain, Spinrad said. "We want to be good neighbors," he said. Town officials on Monday briefly discussed the federal government's power to condemn the land before buying it for fair market value after Town Clerk Bonnie Errico read a letter outlining the town-owned property's importance in the Park Service's draft five-year land protection plan.

Editor's note - Please be as brief as possible when calling Mail Call, The Daily Mail's reader call-in line. Mail Call is not staffed on weekends or holidays so it is best to call Mail Call during the week. The Mail Call number is 301-791-6236. You are welcome to leave a recorded message on any subject, but some calls will be screened out. Here are some' of the calls we have received lately: "This is Tim from Maugansville. I would like to take this time to thank all the truck drivers who are out on the road every day driving hundreds of miles to bring us all the things we need in life.

andrear@herald-mail.com Some Hagerstown city officials are willing to sacrifice millions of dollars in revenue and force dozens of people from their homes and businesses to keep Washington County Hospital downtown. Others warn that the city can't afford such rich incentives. And while Hagerstown Mayor William M. Breichner and all five members of the City Council believe a new hospital would best serve county residents if located downtown, others in the community disagree.

If McClure can't stand the heat... To the editor: On July 30 I was reading an article in the paper titled "Some candidates pass on the Suns' pitch. " Many of the candidates feel that it isn't fair to charge them to speak at public forums. They also feel that by attending this event it will give the illusion they support a new stadium. To these comments I say "nonsense!" First of all, elected officials never have a hard time spending taxpayers' money on things they feel are necessary.

scottb@herald-mail.com Hagerstown Mayor William M. Breichner is offering to waive about $2.3 million in one-time water and sewer charges for a new hospital, provided it is built downtown, Breichner said Monday. The Hagerstown City Council has not voted on the offer. The incentive will be a factor in the decision about where a hospital would be built, James Hamill, president and chief executive officer of Washington County Health System, the hospital's parent company, said Monday.

scottb@herald-mail.com The Hagerstown City Council moved one step closer Tuesday to adopting a resolution to use its power of eminent domain to forcibly take land to help Washington County Hospital move if it goes to a site within city limits. In a meeting with a hospital search committee, the city also offered to give the hospital financial breaks on water, sewer and electricity if it chooses the city site, Mayor William M. Breichner said. The hospital is one of the city's top five customers for water, sewer and electricity, Breichner said.

scottb@herald-mail.com One of three proposed sites for a relocated Washington County Hospital is Allegheny Energy's Friendship Technology Park, but Hagerstown's mayor said Monday he is hoping a possible city offer to use its power to forcibly take land will result in the hospital staying within city limits. "I think the hospital committees need to know the city will step forward if need be," Hagerstown Mayor William N. Breichner said. Breichner wants the Hagerstown City Council to sign a resolution offering to use the city's eminent domain power to forcibly take land to help the hospital move, if it chooses the city site.

scottb@herald-mail.com Hagerstown City Council members Lewis C. Metzner and Penny May Nigh want the council to consider trying to forcibly take land from the Pangborn Corp. for a parking lot for Pangborn Park. Council members have expressed concern about parking at the park in light of a plan by developers Richard McCleary and David Lyles to build residential units on 6.5 acres next to the park. The site is now an overgrown parking lot. During Tuesday's council meeting, Metz-ner suggested the city consider trying to use its power of eminent domain to obtain some or all of the 3.5 acres for sale by Pangborn Corp.

Some balk on Quincy sewer By RICHARD F. BELISLE / Staff Writer, Waynesboro QUINCY TOWNSHIP, Pa. - So far about 65 percent of the more than 500 Quincy-area property owners asked to give up land for rights of way for the township's new sewer system have complied, the chairman of the sewer authority said Tuesday. Most of the rest of the owners are expected to give in without an argument, said Authority Chairman George Crouch, 83, of Quincy Village, authority chairman.