Water System

Developments could generate $2.65 million in revenue City Planning Director Kathleen Maher told the Hagerstown City Council Tuesday that four developments, when they're finished, could generate about $2.65 million in annual property and income tax revenue. "Growth is having a good impact and is bringing a promising outlook for the future," she said. The developments are Hager's Crossing, Greenwich Park, Hillside Manor and Cortland (Manor and Villas). Maher said the city could use the additional revenue, among other things, to buy a fire engine and hire more firefighters and police officers.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. - New regulations approved by the Waynesboro Borough Council Wednesday night will give the municipality tighter controls over how new development affects the problematic storm-water system. The regulations come from Dennis E. Black Engineering, a Chambersburg, Pa., firm serving as the borough's consultant for repairs needed for the storm-water system prone to flooding homes and yards in quick and heavy rains. The new ordinance require that storm-water management plans be submitted for any development creating 2,500 square feet of new impervious area like blacktop or roofs.

CLEAR SPRING - Discussions to build a Sleep Inn Hotel behind the McDonald's restaurant in Clear Spring will highlight the town's agenda in 2008. Town Clerk Juanita K. Grimm said Mayor Paul D. Hose Jr. signed a letter in December to support the construction of the 79-room hotel, but town officials want to get feedback from Clear Spring residents before legislation is passed to approve the project, she said. The hotel's prospective developer, Stanley Neal, said the project is far from certain at this point.

ST. THOMAS, Pa. - A three-year moratorium on new water connections in the area served by the Bear Valley Joint Authority has been partially lifted, with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection allowing 450 connections over the next three years. "We're back in the business of selling water taps," Authority Chairman Wayne Henry said Wednesday of the revised consent order with DEP. The previous consent order banned the sale of new connections in November 2004, Authority Manager Robert John said.

Town water system surveyed by state BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. - Results of the water system survey by the West Virginia Public Service Commission (PSC) were given in written form to the Town of Bath and will be explained Nov. 6 by PSC director Geert Bakker. At the Bath Town Council meeting Tuesday night, Mayor Susan J. Webster said the town council requested the water system survey be done on the town-owned water department, Berkeley Springs Water Works. Councilman David Crosby, a Water Works committee member and chairman of the Finance committee, said the survey was done to determine water rates, water use and the costs.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. - State authorities have signed off on a Berkeley County Public Service Water District proposal to nearly double a fee for each new dwelling unit built in the county to help pay for about $30 million in projects. "No current customers are affected," Paul Fisher, executive director of the water district, said in an interview last week. The West Virginia Public Service Commission approved the increase to the water district's capacity improvement fee on Aug. 15. The fee will increase from $1,623 to $3,120, which is charged per "equivalent dwelling unit" or household, Fisher said.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - State authorities have signed off on a Berkeley County Public Service Water District proposal to nearly double a fee for each new dwelling unit built in the county to help pay for about $30 million in projects. "No current customers are affected," Paul Fisher, executive director of the water district, said in an interview last week. The West Virginia Public Service Commission approved the increase to the water district's capacity improvement fee on Aug. 15. The fee will increase from $1,623 to $3,120, which is charged per "equivalent dwelling unit" or household, Fisher said.

BEAVER CREEK - Beaver Creek Country Club's clubhouse and kitchen will remain closed until at least next week as the club's water system is modified, Washington County Health Department Spokesman Rod MacRae said Tuesday. The modifications come two weeks after Beaver Creek Country Club was closed by the health department following a rash of gastrointestinal problems in people who had visited the club. MacRae said while the water system "has not been conclusively implicated" in the outbreak, structural issues were found that need to be fixed.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. - Waynesboro Borough Engineer Kevin Grubbs and representatives from Dennis E. Black Engineering of Chambersburg, Pa., hope to walk and crawl through parts of the Borough of Waynesboro's storm water system next week. Heavy rains in 2006 prompted residents on and around Cemetery Avenue to speak to the borough council about flooding in their homes. Others on West Fifth Street complained about sewage backing up during storms. The engineers' system inspection has been delayed in recent weeks due to the threat of rain.

The Washington County Commissioners on Tuesday agreed to help Pen Mar-area residents pay to hook up to a new water system. Under the program, the commissioners will put a lien on properties with the understanding that the water allocation fees are collected when the property is sold or ownership is transferred. The program applies to 48 residents who weren't eligible for a zero percent, no-payback loan assistance program. Thirty residents qualified for the loan assistance program.