Key for Washington County community growth, state water bill turned off for this year

A state bill key to the growth of the Washington County community, designed to study Washington County’s water and wastewater needs, has been put on hold this year, according to a senator who sponsored it.

“This is something that needs to be looked at for the growth of our community,” said state Sen. Paul Corderman, R-Washington/Frederick, in a March 11 phone interview, days after the bill in the General Assembly for a task force and an appropriation of $750,000 for the completion of a report was withdrawn. “Just can’t get the city and the county on the same page, and that’s the bottom line.”

The study bill, a key component of the 2024 legislative agenda of the Washington County Community Coalition (which includes the Greater Hagerstown Committee, the Washington County Chamber of Commerce and other local government and civic entities), was pitched to state legislative leaders, but fell short after a component on “governance” was added to the legislation.

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“The bill as proposed by Sen. Corderman as well as the House delegation did not reflect the proposed legislation as explained in the Community Coalition booklet and approved unanimously by all Coalition members,” Hagerstown City Administrator Scott Nicewarner said in a March 18 email. (The city and Washington County also are Coalition members.)

“The City was not consulted as to the change in proposed legislation as specified in the Coalition booklet, and the City remains un-informed (sic) to this day as to why the delegation felt the motivation to add this ‘governance authority’ concept without that consultation with City Council,” he said.

Washington County delegation chair says bill ‘will have to be postponed’

Hagerstown Councilman Peter Perini Sr. asked about the water system study legislation during the Washington County delegation to the Maryland General Assembly’s Feb. 14 meeting. A letter on the topic was sent to delegation members prior to that, Perini indicated, and the delegation chairman indicated during the meeting that he had received it.

“If (the legislation) can’t be worked out for this session, it will have to be postponed until next year,” delegation Chairman William Wivell, R-Washington/Frederick responded. The House bill never had a legislative hearing.

Corderman, the legislation’s Senate co-sponsor along with Sen. Mike McKay, R-Garrett/Allegany/Washington, withdrew the bill one day before its scheduled Senate hearing.

“Bill has been withdrawn,” Corderman, a former Hagerstown councilman, said during the March 11 phone interview, “because neither (of the) parties would support it any longer even with amendments that were made at the request of the city.”

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Jim Kercheval, the executive director of the Greater Hagerstown Committee, who discussed the idea for a bill at a pre-legislative meeting in November, said the legislation's failure came down to whether the study also should address who should be in charge of the system.

“The issue of having a discussion within a study being done on governance was the component that was added in by the county, or requested to be added in by the county,” he said, “and it wasn’t supported by the city.”

“When we were working with it with the coalition, it was basically just a general study about the infrastructure needs,” said Kercheval. “We weren’t getting into any discussions about governance.”

But county officials are concerned that Hagerstown's control over so much of the county's limited water capacity could hinder the county's development, Commissioners President John Barr said, because the city can control where water service is extended — and therefore control development.

"Something's gotta be done because we can't sit and let the city control everything and slowly watch it fall and die through disrepair or inadequacy, because we're just about maxed out as it is," he told The Herald-Mail.

"If our county is going to be progressive and move forward with development, and economic development in particular, we can't sit here and ignore our water situation."

Hagerstown controls most of the water; is system planning needed?

Kercheval, who, like Wivell, is a former Washington County commissioner, said one jurisdiction in the county, the city of Hagerstown, controls 90% of the water and the majority of the sewer users. The "sticking point" in the water study bill, he said, was the addition of the governance issue.

“It doesn’t mean that a study within the system that controls the largest part of it won’t still get done,” Kercheval said, alluding to Maryland Department of the Environment-mandated plans for water and wastewater systems.

“We were just trying to look for something a little broader that would have brought in all those other little parts,” he said, adding, for example, that Boonsboro has its own water system and Williamsport owns its piping and infrastructure, while Hagerstown provides its water.

“We’re reaching capacity levels (with the system) plus we’re seeing (population) migration growth coming in,” Kercheval said. “Now whether (the city) can get funding individually through that or through different means, they’ll have to wait and see.”

More: 'A community problem': County's future water demands expected to cost up to $100 million

Kercheval said the city can reach out to the other entities in the county as it makes its own plans.

“There’s still more collaboration that can take place,” he said. “We just got to work through those issues.”

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.

Staff writer Tamela Baker contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Washington County water, wastewater study bill withdrawn in Annapolis