Manchester Charrette

Manchester, Carroll County
Maryland

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

2,810 ? 1,001 $34,825,500 ?

Town Background

Manchester is a community of 2,800 people in north east Carroll County, at the intersection of rural route 27 and route 30. Route 30, also known as the Hanover Pike, carries traffic from Baltimore up to Pennsylvania and is the area's major thoroughfare. In fact, during the mid-nineteenth century, Manchester saw large conestoga wagons and coaches travelling between Baltimore and Hanover, Pennsylvania, trading goods and creating the need for stores, taverns and inns. Cigar manufacturing, as well as foundry and machine works, mining, coach-making and canneries were all early industries in the area.

Manchester is situated on Parr's Ridge, a major divide between the Potomac and Patapsco River drainage basins, and has the highest elevation of any town in the County (1,108 feet). The chief limitations affecting land use are steep slopes, erosion hazards, and limited depth to bedrock.

Transportation improvements of the twentieth century have brought changes to the life of this rural community. New and improved roadway systems have allowed people to live in Manchester and commute to work: Manchester is now considered a bedroom community of both Baltimore and Hanover.

The Issue

Manchester is in the midst of a major infrastructure financing problem, with many different aspects to it. The most pressing is a $200-a-day fine levied against it since July 1, 1992 by the Maryland Department of the Environment. The fine is an attempt to force the town to activate its new, but idle, waste water treatment pump station on the south side of town. Other issues to be reckoned with include strong growth pressures brought on by its proximity to major employment areas, necessitating an upgrade of waste water and drinking water facilities. Another issue involves a developer's interest in paying for a portion of the needed upgrades, but with concessions attached. Part of the problem, and possibly part of the solution, rests with the fact that Manchester sits on top of Baltimore City's water supply. How can Manchester solve the immediate problem of the $200-a-day fine, and also address some of its future growth issues?

Environmental Context

During the 1930's, Carroll County sold the eastern half of its water rights to the city of Baltimore. This means that all of the surface and groundwater located in the eastern part of the county belongs to the city of Baltimore: Carroll County does not have the right to pollute it. Historically, Manchester, located in the eastern part of the county, had been releasing untreated effluence from its sewer system directly into George's Run, which is a tributary of the Prettyboy Reservoir, a major source of drinking water for Baltimore. But in 1981, Carroll County ordered an end to the practice of releasing untreated effluence into rivers and streams. Manchester received an EPA grant to expand and upgrade its waste water treatment facility, build two additional pumping stations at the north and south end of town, and build a spray irrigation field. Because of a lack of political will, the Sewerage Expansion Plan was not initiated until 1989.

In March 1989, a three-phase expansion of the sewerage system was begun using the EPA grant. During Phase One, the sewerage treatment plant was upgraded from 250,000 gpd to 500,000 gpd, and a land application form of treatment and disposal, called spray irrigation, was implemented.

Phase 2 of the expansion included the construction of two pump stations. The southern pump station, completed in the spring of 1992, has remained idle because there are no sewerage mains or connection pipes from the houses in the area to the pump station. All the residences in the area are on septic systems, but some of the septic systems have begun to fail, creating a threat of contamination to water supplies. Because of this threat, combined with the planned growth and development of the town's southern area, the state has insisted, through a court-order and a fine, that the south pump station become operational. The problem is that there are only 88 property owners in the immediate vicinity of the south pump station, which means the per household cost to receive sewer service would be $12,610.

A developer, who is friendly with local officials, has expressed an interest in building a subdivision totaling 300 residential units, which will be near the south pump station. His proposal to the town is to build a new sub-station pump for his development, along with the necessary connecting lines and a sewer main to the south pump station which will service both his proposed development and some of the existing 88 property owners. His proposal will cut $5,000 from the $12,610 price tag required to provide sewer service to the 88 existing property owners, but he will only be able to make this offer to half of the 88 property owners. Manchester will ultimately be responsible for providing sewer service to the remaining residents in the area still on septic systems. In effect, only some of the residents of southern Manchester will pay $7,610 for sewer service, while the rest will pay $12,610. The developer, in return for his financial help, also wants Manchester to reserve capacity for his 300 homes in the newly expanded waste water treatment facility for five years.

The developer's concern is warranted. If there is new development in Manchester, it is likely that the newly expanded waste water treatment facility will not accommodate existing and new residents' needs. Those residences that are on private septic systems in the southwestern part of town, plus the projected sewer demand for undeveloped land in the area, including residential, commercial, and industrial, would require Average Day Demand of approximately 1,000,000 gpd. This far exceeds the recently expanded waste water treatment facility of 500,000 gpd. In addition, if the town continues with its land- intensive method of spray irrigation, it will also have to buy and set aside more land to accommodate the larger waste water treatment facility.

Drinking water is also a concern of the town of Manchester. The town estimates that it is currently over-extended on its water supply, so that any new development must "bring" water with them; in other words, the development must drill its own wells for its proposed new units. The town's Comprehensive Plan projects future increases in public drinking water demand from the current 260,000 gpd to about 1,100,000 gpd Average Day Demand at full build-out.

58% of the town's current capacity comes from wells. In addition, Manchester faces health issues because it sits directly on top of its drinking water supply. In a recent random check, many wells have proven to be contaminated with high nitrate levels as well as low levels of coliform, possibly from septic systems plus local agricultural practices. The town manager believes that all of the wells will have to be abandoned. Therefore, drinking water treatment facilities may have to be considered.

Project Financing

State Fine: Total cost: $200/day X 365 days = $73,000. Status: Unpaid.

Sewer Main Construction: Total cost (for main line and service to 88 property owners): $608,000. Status: No funding, but developer offer valued at $200,000.

Recommendations and Observations

1. Spread out the fee portion of the $12,610 cost to existing property owners over a longer period of time, like 20 years, but require new development to pay the fees when they get their building permit.

2. Separate out the extraordinary costs of the $608,000 associated with building on bedrock and steep terrain and finance that extraordinary cost with a zero coupon bond, so future generations, and a larger population, will bear part of the infrastructure costs.

3. Spread out the $608,000 construction costs over the southern area's full build-out potential of 1,000 housing units. Negotiate with present developers to front the construction costs now for future development, with interest. In effect, developers would own the excess capacity of the southern waste treatment system, and would finance future developers.

4. Engage in a comprehensive rate study to better determine the true costs of service delivery, and develop a more equitable rate structure based on usage. Phase out inter-fund transfers between the enterprise accounts and the general government accounts over a period of 6-8 years through this rate structure.

5. Develop a capital budget which includes a comprehensive engineering and facilities plan. Make the activation of the south pump station the first phase of a multi-phase infrastructure improvement project.

6. Encourage more County involvement in financing engineering and rate studies in partial compensation for directing growth to Manchester.

7. Consider regionalization of certain public services, like waste water and drinking water treatment, solid waste disposal, and more.

8. Because of the small, volunteer staff that usually governs local jurisdictions, there can be an "information overload" suffered by these towns as they receive publications and information from federal and state officials, plus environmental and trade associations. The state should work with the federal government to "package" or group environmental and health regulations required at the local level and a time line necessary for implementation, in order to simplify local choices and alternatives.

9. Form teams of concerned citizens and businesses to help alleviate some of the work involved in exploring rate, engineering, and demographic studies, and planning and capital budgeting activities.