A proposed salt dome at the Norrisville Parks and Recreation facility, adjacent to Norrisville Elementary School, drew fire at Wednesday’s Harford County Development Advisory Committee meeting.

Six residents attended the meeting to express their concerns over the proposed 8,000-square-foot highway maintenance building, which would contain salt for use on county roads during winter weather.

The salt dome is part of a two phase project to add four soccer fields and a multipurpose baseball diamond at the Norrisville Recreation Center, on the west side of Norrisville Road, at the end of Route 136. The plans were already approved by the Jarrettsville-Norrisville Community Council.

Residents raised concerns over the salt dome’s potential to contaminate local wells and injure school children when the salt trucks are in use.

“If you insist on doing this, please be careful,” Jim Wiley, of Hawkins Road, said.

The project start date for the five athletic fields and highway maintenance building proposed on 41 acres zoned agricultural will not be set until county funding is available, which may not be for two to three years, according to Arden McClune, chief of capital planning and development for the Harford County Department of Parks and Recreation.

McClune said the highway maintenance facility will not be manned and will only be used during inclement weather, which is typically when schools are closed.

McClune said the highway maintenance facility will be a self-contained structure that will not leak into the ground, but residents were still concerned about the salt off the trucks leaking into the ground.

Wiley also questioned if a salt dome was necessary considering there are only a few county roads in the northwest quadrant of the county. He said one truck load would be enough to serve the county roads in the area.

Lucy Smith, of Norrisville Road, said the county doesn’t need the salt dome or any more athletic fields.

“I have a problem with the way the money is spent,” she said, adding that keeping existing facilities open, such as the libraries, is more important than additional athletic fields.

She said not all of the county’s existing athletic fields are being used to their fullest potential.

Harford County Councilman Chad Shrodes, whose district includes Norrisville and Jarrettsville, presented DAC with a letter of suggestions for the project, which includes installation of a roundabout and preventative measures to stop salt from leaking into groundwater.

Plans for a 3,600-square-foot bank, 5,850-square-foot restaurant, 16,250-square-foot office building and a 25,500-square-foot office building at the southwest corner of the intersection of Hickory Bypass and Route 543 were also reviewed by DAC.

The four proposed buildings are part of the Wyndemede Corporate Center and will be served by public water and sewer.

Michael Byrnes, who owns a business on the adjacent property, wanted to make sure his stormwater management pond will not be used, and a representative from Baltimore Land Design Group Inc., the project’s engineer, said that is not the intention.

“For the record, I want to say most of us do approve,” Byrnes said, adding the proposed buildings will be great for the area.

The next DAC meeting will be on July 15 at 9 a.m. in the Second Floor Conference Room at 220 S. Main St. in Bel Air. It is open to the public, allowing for questions and concerns to be offered to the committee on all plans.

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