Ellicott City, MD 

Last night, about 15 Howard County bicycling advocates attended the Howard County Council Capital Budget Public Hearing, showing support for County Exec Calvin Ball’s proposed $2.2 million budget for bicycling infrastructure. Thank you, Doctor Ball!

After years of attending hearings and meetings, sending letters and emails, making calls and collecting signatures, all for better, safer bicycling in Howard County, it appears success is around the corner. This would not have happened without the dedicated support of Bike HoCo, the Horizon Foundation, and the American Heart Association.

At tonight’s hearing, Marian Vessels, Kevin McAliley (Wild Lake Village), Nikki Highsmith Vernick (Horizon Foundation) and Jack Guarneri (Bike Hoco), all gave testimony in support of the proposed bicycle friendly budget. Visit Horizon’s twitter feed to learn more.

At this point, it’s up to the County Council to determine a budget. Here’s the Howard County process, from their web page:

Each year, the County Executive presents a proposed budget for the following fiscal year to the County Council.  The Council may decrease proposed expenditures, but may not increase them or change the form of the budget.  The Council adopts a budget each year on or before the first day of June.

In celebration, a few of us headed down to The Judges Bench for a drink. I sipped on a chocolatey Boulevard Whiskey Barrel Stout. This boozy 8-oz. pour was sweet and smooth, an appropriate nightcap to a successful evening.

Cheers!

Warren