No annexations will be granted without a development agreement, Town Manager Debra Smith said.
"If it's in town, at least we can say, 'You will pay your way,'" Smith said. If the town does not annex properties, it has no way to require developers to fund upgrades to infrastructure, she said.
The mother of a second-grader and grandmother of a fourth-grader, Margaret Baldwin said she worries most about school overcrowding.
"They need to do something with the schools," said Baldwin, who lives outside town. "Give them five years to do something with the schools because they keep adding more development."
One of the proposed annexations would include 15 acres for a new school, Smith said.
If developers want to build in town, they are limited to just 1,640 new sewer taps, Town Planner Derek S. Meyers said. The town needs to find funding for a new $13 million wastewater treatment plant, which is required by the Maryland Department of the Environment, Meyers said.
"If the developers don't come, the taxpayers pay for it, I think that's a fair statement," Meyers said.
For every new housing unit, the town collects $11,000 in sewer-tapping fees and $6,500 in water-connection fees, Smith said. The water fees go toward the town's costs in providing the service; some of the sewer fees will go toward the plant, she said.
The town also would get 30 percent of the excise tax collected within its borders, Smith said.
The council will consider all infrastructure needs - not just the sewer-tap restrictions - in deciding whether to allow developers to build in town, Smith said.
Smith said she does not know how the sewer taps ultimately will be divvied up, or how many homes might be built on the properties being considered for annexation.
Niswander said she moved just outside of town to get away from the development of the area around North Main Street, where she had lived.
"I'm not for any more development in this area," she said.
Proposed annexations
About 2,100 homes are in Boonsboro, which currently covers 982 acres, Town Planner Derek S. Meyers said.
Proposals to annex into town the following properties will be considered at a public hearing Monday. Numbers in parentheses correspond to numbered areas on the map on page A1.
· 388.32 acres, Lands of King Road Associates LLC (3)
· 5.51 acres, Lands of Curtis and Stacy Shepherd, which is surrounded by the King Road property (9)
· 41.64 acres, Lands of Austin Flook (5)
· 213.30 acres, Lands of TT&K LLC (4)
· 94.36 acres, Alternate U.S. 40 properties affected by well-water contamination (1)
· 70.25 acres, Lands of Eleanor Lakin (6)
Also shown on a Boonsboro annexation map are two other properties
· Fletchers Grove, 35.8 acres (2) - a hearing has been held, decision pending council vote
· South Main Street, 32.49 acres (8) - not actively under consideration for annexation
Public hearing
What: Public hearing on Boonsboro annexations
When: Monday at 7 p.m.
Where: Boonsboro Middle School
