Deer Park Charrette

Deer Park, Garrett County
Maryland

Population: Households: Median Household Income: FY '93 Budget: Property Taxes: Assessable Base:

419 157 $22,125 $76,800 $0.75/$100 $5,860,042

Town Background

In 1774, land in the far western part of Maryland was surveyed by land speculators and named the Deer Park tract. Within a decade, three families established homes in the area, and with the arrival of the railroad, the tract became a fashionable resort town. Escaping from the summer heat of the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. areas, Presidents and other elite urban dwellers vacationed in the town's elegant riverside cottages

By 1894, the town of Deer Park was incorporated into a one square mile area, one of eight municipalities in Garrett County, Maryland. But Deer Park's fortunes declined over the next fifty years. Railroad passenger service, the town's link to summer tourists, halted when the automobile and highway diverted vacationers to other resort areas. By 1990, the town's population had dwindled to 419 and the town had slipped into an economic depression. Beautiful historic homes built over a century ago have not been maintained---no utilities are available except electricity. As a result, deteriorating homes are occasionally torn down and replaced with mobile homes that can accommodate septic tanks and take advantage of existing wells for water.

There is no central business district, and only six businesses are located within the corporate limits. A key employer in the town is Deer Park Water, a privately-owned water company located outside the town limits. The company is very jealous of its access to the water, even going so far as to purchase land adjacent to the water line to prevent other peoples' access. Also, about a decade ago, the Washington Star newspaper conducted tests of various bottled waters on the shelf in Washington, DC; the water from Deer Park, which is not treated before being bottled, was found to be contaminated with soil and fecal bacteria. The Star concluded that Deer Park water was the worst water on the shelf in DC. Since then, the company has changed hands several times, and is currently a subsidiary of the Perrier Group of America, Inc.

The Issue

Deer Park's current difficulties are due in part to the history of its infrastructure. In the 1800s, it was not uncommon to find grand homes built with wooden sewer lines discharging effluent directly into streams. The stately summer homes of Deer Park were no exception. With the loss of resort revenue, the town never upgraded its infrastructure, and the current population lacks treatment facilities, dumping raw sewage into the Little Youghiogheny River. Today, the town struggles without any of the infrastructure, including a water system, which is critical for any economic revitalization.

Proposals for development of the town have been stymied, largely because the residents of the town are risk- and debt- averse. Recently, after some deliberation, the leadership in the town determined that if a wastewater treatment alternative could be found that would cost no more than $300 per resident annually, the town would deem the project affordable.

The population of Deer Park (albeit small) presents a pollution problem to the Little Youghiogheny River, yet it lacks the financial capability to address the problems its population perpetuates. A sewer and water hook-up for a newly constructed home costs about $5,000 in Maryland in 1993. Because of the terrain and the distances involved, it will cost about $10,000 to provide newly constructed water and sewer hook-ups to the existing homes in Deer Park. Given the largely low-income population of Deer Park, who is responsible for addressing this infrastructure issue? What is our responsibility to preserve an historic town in a decayed condition?

Environmental Context

By continuing to dump raw, untreated sewage, the tiny town of Deer Park presents a pollution problem to a key tributary of the Little Youghiogheny River. Everyone agrees a waste water treatment facility and a sewerage system would be desirable. The only issue is cost and discovering a way to pay for it. From time to time in the last few decades, studies were ordered to investigate the affordability of building a sewer system. Each effort concluded that such a project would be financially infeasible. The expansion of the neighboring Trout Run sewer system and the cooperation of the Garrett County Sanitary District (GCSD) have renewed the interest of Deer Park's governing body in infrastructure development. Deer Park is now the last incorporated town in Garrett County that does not have a sewer system. The development of a uniform sewer rate for the operation and maintenance of systems controlled by GCSD has been a breakthrough for other small areas facing financial hurdles in affording needed treatment facilities.

Recently, the town has agreed to pursue the construction of a wastewater treatment system.

The option selected involves installing a collector system throughout the corporate limits of Deer Parks and installing septic tanks for each residence or business. The effluent from the septic tanks would flow into the collector system and then be transported via an interceptor line to the Trout Run Treatment Plant, which is owned and operated by the GCSD. This alternative became feasible this year since a recent rehabilitation of the Trout Run plant enlarged the capacity of the facility to accommodate Deer Park.

Another reason the project appeared feasible is a new rate system adopted by the GCSD. Since the GCSD will own and operate the plant, Deer Park residents would pay a "universal rate" which is in effect for all systems owned by the Sanitary Commission. This rate applies only to operating and maintenance costs and is presently $200 per year. This leaves $100 per year available for debt service to finance the construction of the necessary connections from Deer Park to the Trout Run interceptor, a distance of some three miles.

Project Financing

In order to secure funding for the project, representatives from the Town met with the Maryland Department of the Environment and received an informal pledge of $400,000 in grants. Additionally, the staff of the GCSD submitted an application to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farmer's Home Administration (FmHA) for total funding of $1,611,780. The FmHA would determine whether the funding would be provided through grants and/or loans according to the characteristics of the town and the project. Another financing option is the State of Maryland's "Small Cities Community Development Block Grant Program," which can provide up to $500,000 in grant funding, not only for construction costs but also for hook-up fees and the cost of the lateral connections for those residents who meet the required income limitations.

Recommendations and Observations

1. Pursue available grants which could build the basic system and cost the residents nothing but ongoing operations and maintenance costs. By building a basic wastewater treatment system aimed at serving the present population only, it is possible to begin to attract new residents and possibly new business to the town. As the assessed base begins to grow, new growth could help pay for system expansions.

2. Explore public-private possibilities with the Deer Park Spring Water Co. to prevent further contamination of their water source.

3. Explore public-private possibilities with a resort developer and/or a transportation company that would be interested in reinvigorating a former resort destination area.