Excerpt from the Baltimore Sun:
The Havre de Grace City Council postponed voting earlier this week on an ordinance to accept a donation of two adjacent properties from a city resident because of concerns about the cost of maintaining one of two homes, built in 1847, as well as deed restrictions prohibiting the city from selling or developing the properties.
Council members stressed they appreciate G. Barry Burns’ offer to donate the homes at 710 Market St. and the adjacent property at 319 Lafayette St. for a museum to celebrate Havre de Grace’s decoy carving and waterfowl hunting heritage, but they do not want the city to take responsibility for the property and structures without at least a thorough home inspection.
“If it’s a gift, it’s a gift,” Councilman Randy Craig said. “It shouldn’t come with the contingencies I think are unduly burdensome to the taxpayers of Havre de Grace.”
Several members of the Havre de Grace Historic Preservation Commission urged the council to accept the donation during the public hearing on Ordinance 973 held in conjunction with Monday night’s council meeting.
They stressed the commission is working to establish a foundation that would operate a museum while the city owns the Burns property in an arrangement similar ones it has with the operators of the Concord Point Lighthouse and the Havre de Grace Maritime Museum.
