Water And Sewer

Proposed water and sewer rate increases would mean both good news and bad news for the county's 28,000 water and sewer customers.For most customers, the good news is that their water and sewer bills would remain the same -- at least until next year. The news would be even better for the roughly 3,600 customers who use less than 6,000 gallons of water each year: Their bills would go down because the new rates would be tied more closely to actual consumption.The bad news is that by this time next year, everyone's bills would have increased slightly -- partly to help cover increased operating expenses and partly to pay for a $46 million upgrade of the Sod Run Wastewater Treatment plant in Perryman.

The City of Havre de Grace is proposing on the May ballot to purchase a residential lot next to the Concord Point Lighthouse. A 3,546-square foot residence presently exists on the property. I am having a problem in understanding the value proposed to be paid as it relates to the benefits to be received by the citizens of Havre de Grace. Yes, it extends the city ownership of waterfront by about 250 feet between the lighthouse and the Heron Harbor Condominiums. However, the direct usefulness of the property to the citizens is questionable.

Don't fill up that fish tank too many times or let the faucet drip for days and nights. It's going to cost you. After more than a year of study and debate, the Annapolis City Council voted last week to increase water rates by 62.5 percent and sewer rates by 67.7 percent, based on the average usage of 10,000 gallons per quarter. As a result, a resident using 10,000 gallons will pay $32.10 per quarter, as opposed to the old fee of $19.75. Sewer fees jump from $27.65 to $46.39. The change goes into effect immediately.

The average citizen could be forgiven for failing to understand the way taxpayer money gets spent at the state and county level. It's as complex as a spider web, and about as easy to get tangled in. As of this week, Harford County Executive David R. Craig was getting ready to put together a spending plan for the year that begins July 1 (not Jan. 1, as the year does for most of us). His initial citizens input meeting was supposed to have been Monday, but that was delayed because of the weather.

Havre de Grace has experienced a rebirth of sorts in recent years, with new homes springing up near its revived waterfront promenade-Main Street corridor and with developers erecting thousands of offices and homes around Bulle Rock, a six-year-old golf course that has gained a reputation as one of the best public facilities in the nation. But one city councilman thinks the city may need to slow things down, at least for six months. Concerned that the city's water and sewer systems are approaching capacity, City Councilman Wayne Dougherty has been floating the idea of a six-month moratorium on new development.

IN A WESTERN corner of the Inner Harbor, the Maryland Science Center is celebrating the recent opening of a new $35 million exhibit wing. On Pier 3, the National Aquarium is halfway through an even more ambitious and expensive expansion scheduled to open a year from now. Meanwhile, at the eastern end of the harbor, at the edge of Little Italy, the Baltimore Public Works Museum is hoping to have some exterior lights installed on its pre-World War I...

Take a look at the faucet. The toilet. The clothes washer. The lawn sprinkler. People use these household fixtures day after day and probably don't have a second thought about how the water gets into the home and flushed out.For most homeowners, it's a take-it-for-granted government service: public water, public sewer. Many home hunters won't accept anything else. Yet, buying a home -- usually on large lots -- with a well and septic system doesn't have to be all that intimidating and mysterious.

An article in the Nov. 16 edition of The Sun in Anne Arundel about West County developer Warren E. Halle reported incorrectly the amount of money he owed the county in 1992 for school fees and water and sewer connection fees in his Seven Oaks development.The school construction fees were $420,000 and the water and sewer connection fees totaled $4.7 million.The Sun regrets the error.Pub Date: 11/23/97

The county Planning and Zoning Commission agreed this week to amend the county's water and sewer master plan to extend lines to the Carroll County Family YMCA.The YMCA, on a 10.3-acre site on Washington Road, was initially denied water and sewer service by Westminster officials because the facility was outside the city's planned service area.It has operated with on-site wells for water and an on-site septic system for sewage disposal.Since its opening last summer, the YMCA has experienced water and sewage problems, county officials said.

Manchester may review water systemManchester officials will meet at 6:30 p.m. today in the Town Hall with representatives of Charles County Community College to discuss a study of Manchester's water and sewer systems, Town Manager Terry Short said.The session will precede the Town Council's regular monthly meeting, which starts at 7:30 p.m.Mr. Short said the college often works with local governments on issues related to municipal water and sewer systems. College staff members may help Manchester officials write a proposal for a study of its water and sewer system.

Editor: Question: When is the Development Envelope not the Development Envelope? Answer: When you call it a Mixed Office and allow public water and sewer and lots and lots of buildings, roads and parking lots on agricultural land. What is a Mixed Office?  It is a designation made by the County Administration and approved by the County Council to build an Office Park at the Route 543 interchange with I-95 on the rural side of I-95.  The actual definition is this: The MO district is designed to promote major economic development opportunities, including corporate offices, research and development facilities and high tech services which create significant job opportunities and investment benefits.

Facing Havre de Grace over the next two years are many issues that have posed challenges to the city for the past several years, notably land development policy, the related matter of water and sewer service finances and the ever-present issue of the degree to which tourism is part of the city's economic base. On May 8, voters in the city will have a choice among seven people - three incumbents and four newcomers to city politics - when they cast ballots to fill three seats on the six-member Havre de Grace City Council.

Annapolis officials are poised to approve spending $12.5 million to start building a state-of-the-art water treatment facility as part of Mayor Joshua J. Cohen's proposed capital budget for fiscal year 2013. The city council has granted initial approval for the project to move forward after considering — and rejecting — an alternative plan for the city to receive its water from Anne Arundel County. The council is expected to approve funding to start work on the new plant when it votes on the budget in the next few weeks.

Our politicians in Aberdeen are back at the wheel, trying to steer residents down a path in which they have no interest. The mayor and City Council had a "retreat" at Ripken Stadium a few weekends ago, where they started to work on their plans to solve the problems here in Aberdeen. Some of the ideas have merit but are approached from the wrong angle. Mayor Michael E. Bennett proposes securing investments for a pub or bar in "downtown Aberdeen" - we can describe this as the area on West Bel Air Avenue between the train tracks - and he explains that we need to eliminate height restrictions for this to happen.

The Harford County public and municipal elected officials in Aberdeen, Bel Air and Havre de Grace need to pay particularly close attention three bills on water and sewer issues that are scheduled for hearings before the Harford County Council this Tuesday, March 13, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Though the bills to some degree reflect a move in the general direction of a unified water system for the county, the question whether the county needs such...

When he started a veterinary hospital along Generals Highway on the outskirts of Annapolis in 1974, Harrison Monk says, he was promised his business would be linked to Anne Arundel County's water and sewer services in about a decade. Greater Annapolis Animal Hospital, which now is home to 15 veterinarians, still is without those services. Now drawing water from its second well, the practice also relies on its own septic system. And because it's a business, state regulations require Monk to be certified in water inspection, which calls for him to take continuing-education classes when he says he'd rather be studying animal medicine.

A farmer who has been working through the county zoning process for two years to subdivide his 26-acre property in Freedom has been told by county officials that he may not be permitted to proceed because of new water and sewer regulations.August Meyer, who said he has spent thousands of dollars on engineering and legal fees planning to develop his property at Liberty and White Rock roads, presented his case last week at the county Health Board meeting.Mr. Meyer received a letter in January from County Attorney Chuck Thompson saying that amendments to the county's water and sewer master plan last fall had placed his property in an area designated for public water and sewer connections, said Mr. Meyer's attorney, Clark Shaffer.

Builders of new houses in Aberdeen would pay 25 percent more to connect to the municipal water and sewer system if the Town Commissionersadopt a proposal to raise connection charges.The proposal calls for a $200 increase in both the water and sewer connection fees, up from $800 to $1,000 for each service, Town Administrator Peter A. Dacey said.Resolutions for the new fees were introduced at the commissioners' meeting Monday. The board is expected to act on the resolutions at its June 25 meeting.

Having fallen for the hollow promise of easy residential development money years ago, the Havre de Grace city government is in the unfortunate situation of not being able to pay the debt service on what it has spent to make that development possible. Going back when Havre de Grace embarked upon the building boom that started with Bayview Estates and Grace Harbour, the city was limited in its ability to provide public services - specifically sanitary sewer service - to a large number of new homes.

That a few people turned up last week to have their say about the proposed changes in Harford County's Master Plan, an elemental document of land use and development policy, is both heartening and disappointing. Any time people show up to say their piece at a hearing on a key issue of public policy, it's a good thing. And the sentiment expressed is one that is often expressed when the issue at hand is development policy: People who live in Harford County chose to live here because they liked it the way it was when they moved in and would like to see that character retained.