A St. Mary’s County Commissioner-appointed study group has recommended some changes in the requirements for hooking up to central water and sewer system when there are working wells or septic systems in place. The group has recommended law changes to allow hook ups to newly constructed water and sewer systems be delayed to up to 10 years, or upon failure of the system or an activity that requires modifications to the existing system.
For currently existing public water and sewer lines, the existing well or septic can remain until failure or “occurrence of any activity upon the property that would necessitate any modification to the existing well and/or septic system.”
The proposals were forwarded to the commissioners by letter from Department of Land Use and Growth Management Director Phil Shire. The letter says the recommendations were unanimous by the Water/Sewer Connection Policy Study Group. The group was convened after persistent complaints from several commissioners and citizens about the forced hook up for properties with functioning wells and septics. The hookups can be costly to homeowners, upwards of $5,000 for water and $20,000 for sewer.
The proposal also defines “service areas” whose definition now varies over several different regulations. The proposal says that service area boundaries should be designated by the growth area boundaries as defined in the county’s master plan. They include the Lexington Park and Leonardtown development districts, five town center and seven village centers.
The proposal was presented by Shire Tuesday at a joint meeting between the commissioners and the Metropolitan Commission (MetCom) at the county airport. MetCom Executive Director Dan Ichniowski said some jurisdictions allow the amortization of the hook-up costs over 30 years. He said the problem with that is how to pay for the upfront cost to his agency for the construction.
The proposal was met with immediate opposition from Commissioners Lawrence Jarboe (R: 3rd) and Daniel Morris (R: 2nd), the two most vocal critics of the current hook-up policy. “Citizens don’t have that kind of money,” Jarboe said. He added, “That’s a real challenge there. Even with 10 years that’s a good nut to crack.”
Morris said requiring the hook ups was a “violation of property rights.” Shire said property rights were definitely considered by the task force in reaching their recommendation.” Morris added that an option was to delay the hook-up requirement until the home was sold.
Commissioner President Francis “Jack” Russell pointed out the presentation was just for information purposes and the commissioners could hash out what to do at a later date.
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