As Washington County grows, concern for county’s water and sewer systems do too
The chair of the Washington County delegation to the Maryland General Assembly has been inundated hearing about a topic that often does not make news headlines, but one that could be key to the county’s growth in the years ahead.
“Everywhere we go, people are talking about water and sewer,” said Del. William Wivell, R-Washington/Frederick, to the Greater Hagerstown Committee at their pre-legislative session breakfast. “There’s never enough funding, the funding isn’t appropriate, development is halted."
According to the executive director of the Greater Hagerstown Committee, those challenges could be exacerbated and cause problems in the years to come as more people move west to call the county home, if there is not action.
“We’re getting a lot of migration from the eastern counties, Montgomery and Frederick,” said Committee Executive Director Jim Kercheval, after each of county’s six state legislators spoke. “We believe our growth is going to take off, and if that happens, we want to make sure that we aren’t forced to do moratoriums on growth because we don’t have water or sewer.”
The Greater Hagerstown Committee is seeking state financial support for an estimated $1 million study that Kercheval said could chart the water and sewer infrastructure needs in the county for future decades.
“What we’re looking to do is get a long-term, 30-year study on water and wastewater,” he said. “This would identify what infrastructure is needed, what the estimated cost for that would be, and would try to match that up to what the projected growth rate would be in Washington County.”
With water resources posing a potential obstacle to some forms of economic development (i.e., data centers), the study would be a first step to put the “problem” on paper, and as importantly, in Kercheval’s words, “what we got to do to keep up with it.”
More: 'A community problem': County's future water demands expected to cost up to $100 million
“Then,” said the former county commissioner, “hopefully, we can progressively work to stay ahead of our growth rate here, and keep up with our water and sewer infrastructure needs.”
'The budget's going to be lean this year,' state delegate says
Key to obtaining any state funding will be state Sen. Paul Corderman, R-Washington/Frederick, the top Republican on the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee.
In an interview after the breakfast, he said that despite 2024 being an election year at the federal level, the next two years at the state level are “critical” to the foundation and fiscal outlook for the years ahead in Maryland.
“Revenues aren’t growing at the pace that expenditures are,” said Corderman, in his public remarks. “That’s going to be the big challenge.”
Regarding that statewide challenge, there was bipartisan agreement, which came from state Del. Brooke Grossman, D-Washington.
“The budget’s going to be lean this year,” said Grossman, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, to the dozens on hand at the breakfast held on the campus of Hagerstown Community College.
“One of the places we saw slow faster than we thought were gambling revenues,” she said. A report from the Maryland Comptroller’s office on the state of the economy is scheduled to be complete at the end of the month.
Transportation revenue, anti-crime legislation also topics of discussion
State Sen. Mike McKay, R-Washington/Allegany/Garrett, discussed revenue in another area — transportation. He said a survey showed Allegany County residents drive the most, and expressed concern that rural residents could be overly burdened as a state commission continues work on finding solutions for declining gas tax revenue.
Kercheval of the Greater Hagerstown Committee serves on that commission and had a scheduled meeting with the group in Annapolis on Monday afternoon.
More: With gas tax revenue diminishing, Maryland commission meets to find new revenue for roads
McKay and state Del. Terry Baker, R-Allegany/Washington, a member of the House Environment and Transportation Committee, expressed their support for the widening of I-81, a project that received millions in federal funds in recent years and is still years (and millions of dollars) away from being completed. Kercheval called for starting the design and engineering of the final phase as soon as possible.
Del. Will Valentine, R-Washington/Frederick, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, and McKay, also touched on anti-crime legislation.
More: Non-fatal shootings double in Maryland in 8-year stretch. Funding to help on the way.
McKay, a member of the Senate’s Judicial Proceedings Committee, indicated that a crime package is being drafted in the Senate. He said a bill removing the addresses of judges is likely to pass this year.
More: Investigation: Where do inmates in Maryland prisons go as they finish their time?
The Greater Hagerstown Committee is scheduled to meet later this month regarding water, said Kercheval, at the breakfast’s close. The 446th session of the Maryland General Assembly is scheduled to convene in Annapolis on Jan. 10.
Dwight A. Weingarten is an investigative reporter, covering the Maryland State House and state issues. He can be reached at dweingarten@gannett.com or on Twitter at @DwightWeingart2.
RECAP: Washington County delegation winds up work at post-legislative session forum
This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: As Washington County grows, so does concern for water, sewer systems
