The Capital from Annapolis, Maryland • Page 21

(Capital Television Comics rundel Report FRIDAY July 18, 1997 Hechinger merger: No effect seen here ASSOCIATED PRESS TROY, Mich. Kmart and Leonard Green and Partners have reached an agreement to combine Hechinger Co. and Kmart's Builders Square into a $4.5 billion enterprise. Leonard Green and Partners will own 100 percent of the new company in the agreement announced yesterday. But Michigan-based Kmart will receive a warrant to purchase a minority interest later.

home improvement chain, with 279 stores in 29 states and the District of Columbia. It will be headquartered at Hechinger's current offices in Landover, and the Hechinger name will remain on stores such as those in Annapolis, Glen Burnie and Pasadena for now. Retail chain, Builders Square to join forces John Hechinger chairman and chief executive officer of Hechinger, said the combined company will have the strength to succeed in a competitive market. The company has posted three consecutive annual losses. It has declining sales and a poor bond rating.

Hechinger A sales have sunk from $16 in 1994 to under J24a March- Anthony Petrillo will serve as acting chief executive officer of the new company. Marvin Rich, an executive vice president at Kmart, said the retailer is pleased with the deal. Kmart has been selling off subsidiaries for years in an effort to concentrate on its core business. Kmart's Builders Square is based in San Antonio, Texas, and operates 162 home improvement stores -primarily in the Midwest and Southwest. Leonard Green and Partners is a Los Angeles-based firm that specializes in reorganization and buyouts of Hechinger was founded in 1911 by Sidney Hechinger.

By the time he died in 1958, the Maryland company had grown to 128 stores in 24 states. By 1989, its earnings reached a high of $48.8 million. Members of the Hechinger family with large stock holdings in the company have been selling stock at a considerable pace since 1993. Three Hechinger family members, including the wife of John Hechinger Sr. and two of her daughters, have each sold nearly half their holdings about 370,000 shares.

Hechinger was losing its battle with Home Depot analysts said. In March, Hechinger launched an aggressive customer service campaign as part of an effort to compete with Home Depot Inc. Atlanta-based Home Depot entered the suburban Maryland and Virginia, including ones in Annapolis and Glen Burnie. The program included hiring and retraining sales staff in its Baltimore stores and offering customers discounts when the service doesn't live up to standards. David Trozzo the Capital Above Air Force 1st Lt.

Nell B. Nipper and MaJ. Bob Ranck walk past tents at a new training site In Davldsonvflle lint north of Route 50. The 89th Airlift Wing from Andrews Air Force Base will start using the site next week. Some of the will Include the firing of Wank ammunition and use of smoke grenades and mock chemical attacks.

Below, Airman 1st Class Adam Kennedy, left, and Staff Sgt. Robert Dearrfe set. up phones at the training ground, located at the Air Force's Davldsonvllle Transmtttal Site. Under seige Air invadfes Davidsonyilie By KARESSA E. WEIR A appear the gunshots and smoke grenades exploding over Davidsoftyillejaext week won't be an attack on south county.

They are part of a permanent "tent city" the Air Force has constructed at its Davidsonville Transmittal Site. The 89th Airlift Wing of Andrews Air Force Base will start the site next week for training exercises, some of which will include blank ammunition, smoke grenades and mock chemical attacks, officials said. want the local area and understand why we are doing this to save time and taxpayer money," said spokesman 1st Lt. Neil Nipper of Andrews Air Force Base. "So if in the middle of the day next week, residents hear machine-gun fire it's not a drug war, just us training." Tbetransmitter site, located Just the Air Force's global communications network.

The communication activities will remain, Lt. Nipper said. Previously, the 300-member ground-support squadrons have had to travel to other bases in Florida and the Southwest to train for overseas deployments, he said. The Davidsonville site will save them huge amounts of time and money for each of their quarterly "operation readiness exercises," he said. "Davidsonville is just 20 minutes from the base, and well have everything set up there," Lt.

Nipper said, The camp includes a half-dozen canvas and wood tents, designed to mimic a remote airfield anywhere intheworld. In about 9 acres of woods around the camp, trainers learn defensive techniques from foxholes and signal points, The training exercises, which usually last about five days, ammunition to make the training as real as possible. "All of it is staged but it does sound very reaL The ability to survive and operate is key to the training," he said. There will be no in-air exercises at Davidsonville, except for an occasional helicopter. Peter Perry, president of the Davidsonville Area Civic Association, said he bas-not heard anycomplaintg-oftheuunsti'uction of the site, but will have to wait and see if the actual activities are disruptive.

input or information on that," he said. "It could indeed bed problem if it's BWI sets new passenger mark Economy, low fares push surge By JEREMY SHWEDER of," said Ron Chunn, manager at Beth Wadsworth and her husband recently decided to save some money by driving to Detroit for an upcoming trip. The Crofton travel agent planned to rent a car for about $200, still much less than the nonaal $240-per- person round-trip plane fare. But then the fare of a lifetime came across her computer screen per-person round trip out of Baltimore-Washington International Airport. "We said, 'See you we're said Mrs.

Wadsworth, an agent at New Horizons Travel. Mrs. Wadsworth is one of millions of people helping BWI set passenger records. In May, almost 1.3 million passengers used the airport a 7.4 percent increase from May 1996 and an all- time single-month record there. A robust economy and lower plane fares jire several of sons for" BWf passenger surge, aviation experts said.

"There's a lot of people flying that previously may not have taken to the sky," said Karen Black of the Maryland Aviation Administration. "Previous road travelers are taking to the air as (fare) rates have come down." Many airlines flying out of BWI are reaping the benefits of the increased traffic. Southwest Airlines, for example, carried more than 250,000 passengers in May, a 61.4 percent increase from the previous year. US Airways, the largest carrier out of BWI, had a 6 percent decline in passengers compared to the previous year. Mrs.

Black credited the drop to route restructuring. Some frequent flyers and travel agents credited BWI's convenience for the overall rise. "People use BWI they like BWI because it's a good airport to get out Crofton, we're close to (Washington National Airport). People here prefer to go to BWI over National." Crofton resident Steve Younis is one of those people. As a military consultant, Mr.

Younis takes about 25 plane trips a year. "I fly exclusively out of BWI." he said. "Getting around BWI is a lot easier than getting around National or (Dulles International Airport)." Southwest, the second-busiest airline flying out of BWI, has been paying close attention to a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that could force the airline to raise its fares. The measure would alter the current taxes that airlines pay to help fund the Federal Aviation Administration.

Ten percent of all ticket fares now go to the FAA. Among other chang- rate to 7.5 percent, but would create a per-head passenger segment tax of $2. In other words, for each additional stop along the way an airline would pay $2 per person on the flight. While most of the larger airline companies support this measure, Southwest officials fear the tax will price it out of competition with airlines that make long trips with fewer stops. "The reason that we're opposed to this is that it's almost an incentive for fares to go up," said Kristie Kerr, aspokesman for.

Southwest If the measure passes, Southwest expects to pay $45 million more than it now pays in taxes in 1998, and $105 million more in taxes in 2002, Mrs. Kerr said. She also said studies have shown that for every 1 percent that an airline raises fares, it loses 1 percent of its customers. Bay dumping draws criticism Attendance light at Queen Anne's public hearing By MIMI EUBANK Staff Writer Only a handful of Queen Anne's County residents turned out last night to confront one of the stickiest topics around: a proposal to dump 18 million cubic yards of muck off Kent Island. But of the four people who commented on the planned disposal of material dredged from Chesapeake Bay shipping channels, only Del.

Wheeler Baker gave his support. "Do I like open water disposal? No way, I don't like it. But it's something we're going to have to live with," the Chester Democrat said during a hearing hi Centreville. The Army Corps of Engineers hasn't made a final decision on the plan to use a site northwest of Kent Island to dump materials dredged chapnals leading tn Port of Baltimore over six to nine years. Last night's meeting was the second opportunity the public has had to comment as the Corps prepares an environmental impact survey.

And although the federal government has linked $18 million for oyster restoration efforts to the use of the Kent Island dumping site -known as Site 104 the people who spoke against the plan were still skeptical. They pointed to the environmental impact, as well as the damage to the area's reputation as a seafood provider. "I think the unknown is what's most frightening for all of us," said George O'Donnell. president of the Queen Anne's County Commissioners. If dredging begins by the fall of 1998 as proposed, it won't be the first time spoils have been dumped off Kent Island.

For 50 years through 1975, materials were deposited there. By the end of that period, at least 70 million cubic yards had been dumped. Corps officials said. The site was chosen this time because it has been used before, it ing showed no harmful environmental affects of the dredging then, project manager Jeff McKee said The Kent Island site is the only open water placement planned as part of Gov. Parris N.

Glendening's proposal for dredging the main bay channels open. About 38 million cubic yards are being used to restore the eroding Poplar Island south of Kent Island. Another 30 million are being dumped in a dike on Hart-Miller Island near the mouth of the Gunpowder River. Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, who stopped in briefly during the meeting, said if anything is dumped off Kent Island, it should be limited to a two- or three-year period.

"I don't want to dump nine years of stuff at this site," Mr. Gilchrest said. In the long term, the congressman added, the state should limit traffic to smaller ships with shallower drafts, limit dredging, and look for ways to recycle dredge materials. "If we are smart, we can have a productive port and a healthy bay," he said. The next meeting on the Kent -Island held-at 7 p.m.

Tuesday at Broadneck High School. A second set of meetings will be held in November, and a draft environmental impact study will be released hi January. After a third set of meetings in February, a final survey will be released in May, followed by another public meeting. Chesapeake Harbour annexed By JEFF NELSON Staff Writer The annexation of Chesapeake Harbour on Edgewood Road passed through the city Planning Commission last night without controversy, but county officials say they might object. Annapolis is annexing the fully developed condominium and marina complex as part of a 13-year- old deal that gave the project city water in return for a promise to annex.

"This is quite a bit different from other, more controversial annexations we've looked at because this is already built out. We don't have to strain much on this one," said Wilford Scott, Planning Commission chairman. The 35-acre annexation deal now goes to the City Council for final approval. gfficialsjiotffied cjty late yesterday that their lawyers are reviewing the project, a reference to earlier county claims that city annexations violate state law by surrounding land in the county with city boundaries, city Planning Director Jon Arason said. "Our Office of Law has looked "This is quite a bit different from other, more controversial annexations we've looked at because this is already built out.

We don't have to strain much on this one." Wilford Scott, Planning Commission chairman at this and everything is OK," he said. The annexation deal will return $1.2 million to the Chesapeake Harbour Community Association that has been held in escrow since the project was built. The money would have reverted to the city had the homeowners decided not to annex as part of a deal made 13 years ago to provide water service to the project. The deal also will allow homeowners to avoid paying real-estate taxes to the city for years unlessTney'seD ffieiFpfdperty. Still, city officials say the annexation is a good deal for Annapolis.

A fiscal impact statement notes that the development will pay the city a one-time $200,000 impact fee and is expected to bring $2.7 million to city coffers over the next 10 years. The condos turn over often, and sell for anywhere between $160,000 and $500,000. The homeowners are responsible for making sure water and sewer lines and roads are up to city code. In other action last night, the commission approved a five-home subdivision on Windtsll Avenue. Several residents objected to the project, proposed by Carville Hopkins on 1.3 acres of land.

Commissioners said, however, that the "prbjecf to other houses in the neighborhood and is an example of focusing growth into urban areas. "The state has set policies consistent with just this sort of thing," Commissioner Richard Hillman said..