Sen. Andy Harris said public anger over the closure of a public golf course in Kingsville drove him to sponsor a bill requiring the county Revenue Authority to hold a public hearing before closing any more facilities.

"This was a fait accompli, a done deal," Harris said of the closure of the Gunpowder Falls Golf course.

About 200 people attended a March 4 meeting held by the county Department of Recreation and Parks to talk about the future of the 122-acre golf course on Raphel Road in Kingsville.

Most of those in attendance said they were supportive of maintaining the site as a golf course.

The authority bought the course for $2.1 million in 2004. The financially struggling course was closed in December and turned over to the county, at the county's request, for use as a park.

"A lot of people who attended thought there would be a discussion about the possibility of keeping even a portion of the golf course open for golf," said Harris, who represents the 7th District including Kingsville and Cockeysville. "What this meeting was really about was how to dismantle the golf course."

Five days after the meeting, Harris introduced a bill in the state Senate that would require the Revenue Authority to hold two public hearings before closing, transferring or otherwise conveying a facility or property.

If passed, the bill will not affect the Gunpowder Falls closure, Harris acknowledged.

County officials and George Hale, the authority's chief executive, testified in favor of the bill at a March 25 hearing before the Senate Finance Committee after Harris agreed to amend the bill to just one hearing.

Hale said the change "is not terribly burdensome" because the authority has only closed or sold properties about four other times in his 16 years at the quasi-public agency.

"These types of issues come up so infrequently," Hale said.

The bill received an important endorsement of support when the county Senate delegation unanimously voted to support the bill at its March 26 meeting. A lack of delegation support would mean certain death for Harris' bill.

The Senate Finance Committee could vote on the bill in the next few days and send it to a vote of the full Senate as early as this week.

The bill will need the support of the House delegation in order to receive a vote before the full House of Delegates.

Despite the late start, which often dooms bills, Harris said he is confident the bill will pass before the session ends on April 13.

Bryan P. Sears is the political editor for Patuxent Publishing Co.'s Baltimore County publications.

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