Denton Charrette

Denton, Caroline County
Maryland

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

2,966 $1,528,000 1,136 $34,036,824 $22,002

Town Background

The Town of Denton began as a settlement at Pig Point, a small area on the Choptank River, the largest tributary on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay, in the middle of Maryland's Delmarva peninsula. Soon after 1791, just after the Revolutionary War, the village became the Caroline County seat and the name changed to Denton. By 1827 a market place opened in a public square where farm produce was sold. Much of the historic architecture in the business district was devastated in 1863 when a company of Union soldiers stationed as guards in Denton celebrating the fourth of July with skyrockets accidently set fire to a shop building. Yet the town survived as a key governmental and commercial center of Caroline County, which by 1870 had a population of nearly 10,000. Denton currently has a population of 2,977.

No longer dependent on the Choptank River for transportation, the town is adjacent to Route 404, the heavily traveled highway taking vacationing tourists from Washington, Baltimore and points north to the Eastern Shore and the Atlantic beaches.

According to a recent study, the town has experienced surges in residential, commercial and industrial growth in the last fifteen years as a result of migration and sprawl from development surrounding Annapolis, Baltimore, Washington, D.C. and Dover, Delaware. The median individual income is $11,388, and about 18% of the town is below the poverty level. One third of the population over 25 years old dropped out of high school or completed less than the 9th grade.

The economy of Denton and Caroline County is predominantly agricultural, but manufacturing, health and related service industries are growing in importance. The largest provider of jobs in Denton is the Caroline County government, followed by two manufacturing firms, an electric utility and the state government. The employment base in Caroline County as a whole, though, is acknowledged to be less than the labor pool, and the county "maintains the highest out-commuter rate on the Eastern Shore". Denton's economic development commission has developed an industrial park, which is currently 47% occupied.

Denton is close to tax-free shopping in Delaware and struggles to maintain a competitive edge with its downtown area. There is an effort underway to revitalize the central business district, including recent improvements to street surfaces, sidewalks and increased enforcement of building codes.

The Issue

Denton's current sewage treatment facility has a capacity of 400,000 gallons per day (gpd) with average flow currently running at 300,000 gpd. It has been estimated that there may be as much as a 30% I & I (inflow and infiltration) problem. Although stormwater may present a problem , the town does not have a plan for stormwater management. In addition, parts of the town are not yet metered.

Plans to upgrade and expand the waste treatment system began in 1990. There was widespread recognition that if the sewer system was not expanded, a building moratorium would be necessary which would completely halt all new economic growth, both residential and commercial.

Drinking water is provided by two deep wells which tap the Piney Point Aquifer, and a third well is planned. The water is chlorinated, but the State Department of the Environment has informed Denton that its water contains 218 milligrams of sodium nper liter (recommended is 20 m/l). Average current production of nwater is 390,000 gpd, while capacity is rated at 1,300,000 gpd. Water is stored in three elevated tanks, one of which is in the nDenton Industrial Park, and new water distribution lines were installed in 1984.

Environmental Context

Despite the advantages of Denton's location cited above, there is one strong disadvantage: the town is downstream from a number of large poultry processing plants that send nutrient-rich wastes into the Choptank River. Denton has the closest treatment facility to the plants and is required, by default, to remove these nutrients. Maryland Department of theEnvironment's permit requires a "zero" discharge of nutrients, yet Denton is taking in water that is already laden with nutrients. Denton is unable to control the pollution from upstream but is effectively being held responsible for its removal. In addition to threatening Denton's riverfront recreational businesses, the polluted Choptank also empties into the Chesapeake Bay right over shellfish beds.

As a result, a town of about 3,000 people has a $4 million infrastructure problem. An engineering firm was hired in 1991 to analyze options for the town to upgrade the wastewater treatment plan and expand the wastewater/water service areas in the town.

Project Financing

Five alternatives were analyzed by the engineering firm with a goal of ultimately increasing wastewater capacity to 900,000 gpd. One option, a proposal to build a new plant with a 650,000 gpd capacity with the ability to expand to 900,000 gpd, would cost $3.3 million with an annual operating and maintenance budget of $186,890 per year.

Recommendations and Observations

1. Implement various water conservation measures in municipal offices and develop incentives to encourage citizens to do the same, such as tax breaks or credits offered to landlords who install low-flow toilets and shower heads--couple this with a community awareness program on water conservation.

2. Install full water metering in all residences, and commercial and industrial units--problems cannot be solved until the full extent of the problem is known.

3. Investigate regional facilities management possibilities, such as regional management companies that may provide centralized billing or administrative services, to reduce administration costs through greater economies of scale.

4. Using a combination of grants and low-interest loans from available federal and state programs, upgrade the facility only to the minimum currently needed-- have developers and future businesses pay for the upgrades that will be needed in the near future.

5. Use any available funding to first investigate and resolve the high I & I problem--there may be capacity at the plant if the excess flows are reduced