A flap between local governments killed a water study. Was it a symptom of a deeper rift?

Last fall, Hagerstown officials asked the Washington County Community Lobbying Coalition for help in securing state money for a needed study of water system needs.

The coalition is a group spearheaded by the Greater Hagerstown Committee and the Washington County Chamber of Commerce to support local interests with the state government. And the water study was an issue with broader implications than just for the city, as more than half of Hagerstown's water customers are outside the city limits. State policy asks local governments to conduct these studies when its systems reach 85% of capacity.

So the coalition, which also includes local governments and civic organizations, asked the county's state legislators to draft legislation seeking the Maryland General Assembly's approval to pay for the study.

Before those bills were ever introduced, however, the chasm between the aims of the city and county governments appeared to be expanding.

When Hagerstown's mayor and council met with the Washington County Commissioners on Jan. 9, the day before the General Assembly convened, the positions on the water issue were clear: County officials wanted a regional authority to oversee water systems, and city officials wanted to maintain control over its water system.

Neither group has budged since then, but when the bills for the water study were introduced in Annapolis, both the House and Senate versions included a goal that neither the city nor the lobbying coalition had asked for: recommended governance.

In other words, in addition to studying the system's needs, the task force conducting the water study would also be recommending who should control it.

City officials cried foul.

Sen. Paul Corderman, R-Washington, told The Herald-Mail that amendments were then made at city officials' request, but in the end, the city did not support the legislation. The Senate bill was withdrawn before its scheduled hearing earlier this month. The House version is dead, too; it never got a hearing.

"Just can’t get the city and the county on the same page," Corderman told The Herald-Mail, "and that’s the bottom line.”

And it comes back down to that one concept: governance.

"This water master plan legislation proposal has been a part of the Coalition lobbying agenda for the past few years, and at no time was a regional governance authority included as part of that proposal," city Administrator Scott Nicewarner said in an email message to The Herald-Mail.

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Two pages, one book? Hagerstown, Washington County differences

Differences between the Washington County government and Hagerstown's administration are not new; county officials obviously represent a larger populace, and city officials naturally look out for Hagerstown's interests.

So there is, perhaps, an innate difference in viewpoints. But as the county seat and its largest municipality by far, Hagerstown's issues are inevitably tied to the county's … and vice versa. Infrastructure needs — water and sewer, road maintenance, emergency services — can overlap.

That's when the difference between each group's vision can lead to tension, whether the issue on the table at the moment is authority, taxes and fees, where services are provided, maintenance or who pays for capital improvements.

The water capacity issue, more prominent as development has exploded locally, is the most current example.

"We've asked to have a meeting to possibly talk about a joint water authority, and of course, they're like 'no can do if that's what you want to talk about. We're not having a meeting. So don't ask, don't bring it up. Don't request it,' " Commissioners' President John Barr told The Herald-Mail.

"Basically they've said if we're in a meeting with other subject matter, and somebody is brave enough to mention water authority, the meeting's probably over."

Hagerstown Councilman Kristin Aleshire, on the other hand, told The Herald-Mail that the county's staff had informed the city staff that "if the central governance model isn't on the table, we don't want to sit down and talk."

As a result, members of both the city council and the county commissioners have told The Herald-Mail they're considering commissioning their own water studies.

The two local governments, it seems, are at a stalemate.

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Can't we all just get along?

Hagerstown Mayor Tekesha Martinez is a trained community mediator. So the lingering impasse between the city and county governments is a potent source of frustration for her.

"I don't understand the fight," she told The Herald-Mail. "I don't understand why there would be a fight. I understand why there's differences and why there would be, you know, protection over the constituents you're elected to serve; I understand that. But Hagerstown is Washington County."

Both city and county officials cited concerns and suspicions each has about the other:

• When the council met with the county commissioners Jan. 9, Hagerstown Utilities Director Nancy Hausrath outlined projects for the city's systems over a number of years, noting their multimillion-dollar costs. Some county officials assumed the county government would be expected to help pick up the tab, but Aleshire insisted they weren't asking for anything. During last week's city council session, city officials started looking at rate schedules that will pay for the projects over time.

• County officials are concerned that because the city controls so much of the system, it's affecting further development. "The city's trying to use their water rights with annexation; they're holding hostage and moving in on a pre-annexation agreement if you want water (for new projects)," said Commissioners President John Barr. "It's very difficult … I think we're losing out on economic development opportunities because of that — some developers feel that pressure and they just get up and walk away from the table."

"Water, infrastructure, water delivery, sewer, etc., it's an inhibiting factor in the growth and development of our region," added Commissioner Derek Harvey.

But Aleshire, himself a former county commissioner, said he believes the county wants to limit the city's ability to grow. "I think the county wants a blank check over the city's utility system to dole it out without any regard for capacity issues," he said, "and at the same time, would then use it as a hamstring to additional development in the city."

• County officials believe customers outside the city are subsidizing water use within the city, because rates are higher for customers outside the city limits. Some of them also are skeptical of the city's management of its systems.

"I'm very disappointed by parochialism, and poor management as reflected in the many problems that are impacting water infrastructure, water pressure, maintenance of the main plant and other issues that have led to even no fire pressure water pressure in in areas that are sufficient that were were depending upon tanker trucks too often," Harvey said.

"I also think that you know, county residents, unfortunately have been asked to subsidize city water users in the city system, because they pay 60% more for usage and stakeholders, as users they don't have a voice at the table in the city water system."

"That's the part that I think gets me a little," Aleshire said, "is this implication that the city has somehow mismanaged this system … the city has been managing it for 100 years. It's always been solvent. It's always been in service. It's always been able to handle supply and receive flow. It has the lowest rates in the region for both water and sewer.

"I think that it's more about the politics of the city determining how to grow and extend its utility over time and what to charge for it than it is about wanting to appear 'together' on the plan," Aleshire said.

But Harvey said the county just wants to know what the best way forward for these systems might be.

"And we all recognize the city has a historical role in that, but times change," he said. "And maybe no one wants to take it over from them, but maybe there should be a different model in which more stakeholders have some influence over the decision-making and the management of it. … Why are they afraid of a study? It's not the county or the city; it's coming up with a governing set of rules and authorities that balances the needs for the region, and not just the city and not just the county."

"I think those folks certainly should have a seat at the table," Aleshire said, "which means they're welcome, just as I did, to annex into the city and become part of the properties in which the city can pledge the full faith and credit of being able to tax that property should the utility need that funding."

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Where do we go from here?

Martinez said she's baffled by the standoff. "It's a weird thing for me," she said. "I really want to understand why they would be reluctant to come together. I just don't, I don't understand that."

She's running for Congress this year, but in her time left as mayor, she said, "I would like to see this region that I love so much, this entire county, I would like to see the elected bodies — the city, the county and the schools — to come together for all the people because we're growing so rapidly and so quickly. And people are moving here and there's investment happening and jobs are being created, and we've got all these things going on.

"But I feel as though the elected officials … to all be working, definitely from local, municipal and county level, together; at least to go and advocate for the same things that we need together for in the state and the federal government. That's what I would like to see us do."

And for the next few months, she said, she plans to work on healing "that divide."

Harvey, however, said he's still trying to figure things out. And the upcoming municipal election, which will bring Hagerstown a new mayor and at least one new council member — and up to five — complicates the matter.

"I'm still in the diagnosis stage of trying to understand individuals better and meet with them," he said, but "I don't know if a counselor even would work in this case at this point, until people recognize that they have a problem and they have a need for each other or something's not working. And then what can I do about it?

"And so I'm still in the diagnosis stage to see what what opportunities there are. And it's probably going to have to wait till after this next set of elections for a fresh start. I don't think anything's much is going to happen over the next four or five months."

Aleshire said he's offered to sit down with county officials to try to find a solution.

"I offered to sit down directly, not have somebody else do it. I offered my time to sit down directly with the county and directly with Commissioner Harvey — or pick another commissioner if they want some other commissioner, whatever — with our respective staffs and find resolution to all of those topic areas the county put on the table. And they have refused that invitation. So I don't know what else to do besides say listen, 'I'm happy to meet directly myself with you and help figure these things out.' "

"I would like to think we could sit down together and work some things out," Barr said. "I'm agreeable to, if a joint water authority is a non-starter, then let's talk about something else; let's just collaborate on some other things. And then pick away at it a little at a time.

"It's like being on a big construction job and you're overwhelmed with what needs to be done. You just, you know, pick a room in the building and get that room done and then move on to the next. Basically I think that's what we have to do here. You know, it sounds easier than it can be accomplished … there's personalities involved."

And that's on both sides, he acknowledged. "That tells me that we gotta get past the personalities to start with.

"If you can't fix it, shine a light on it. I think that's where this issue is," Barr said. "I think the citizens of Washington County have just got to jump up and say 'what in the world' or you know, just bombard every one of us is elected people to say, 'get off your egos, get off your rear end, get off your whatever and fix this.' I mean, I think that's the bottom line."

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Hagerstown, Washington County governments clash on water service