Harford County officials are preparing to release months worth of research and recommendations for how to deal with the coming onslaught of growth related to new jobs at Aberdeen Proving Ground.
Next week, the BRAC Planning and Advisory Commission will make its final recommendations on how Harford can cope with thousands of new jobs slated to arrive in the area because of federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission mandates ? focusing on the county?s infrastructure, public safety and community services, education and work force preparedness and land-use issues.
Formed by County Executive David Craig in November 2005, the commission broke into four subcommittees to make specific recommendations in each of those four areas.
The recommendations will focus on specifics ? where to place schools or improve roads ? and more general concerns such as ensuring affordable housing or building a tech-savvy work force, said Anthony McClune, deputy director of planning and zoning and a member of the Land UseSubcommittee.
The education subcommittee broke down even further to talk about what kind of training and higher education its workers would need to fill the high-tech jobs being moved to Aberdeen Proving Ground, and how schools could be improved to meet the additional enrollment and demand for math and science programs, said William Securro, president of the county Chamber of Commerce.
One of the biggest difficulties, Securro said, was that the projections for new jobs have kept changing, soaring as high as the tens of thousands. The constantly moving target became a learning experience in itself, said school board member Ruth Rich.
Officials will present the report and recommendations Tuesday in a ceremony at the Higher Education and Technology Center.
