Chris
Patterson
The
Town of Emmitsburg's water use
has dropped dramatically since
restrictions were implemented
in March of this year, but one
user's water consumption has
gone up 73 percent. That has
the town's officials highly
irritated.
Town
Manager Dave Haller told the
board of commissioners about
the excessive use of water by
the St. Josephs Provincial
House on South Seton Avenue at
Tuesday's town meeting. He
said that while the town's
water usage has dropped nearly
100,000 gallons per day, the
Provincial House's usage has
increased by 33,595 gallons on
average per day.
The
Provincial House is a facility
that houses around 200 people,
including retired nuns, and
provides care for both the
nuns and laypeople. The
facility also houses the National
Shrine of Elizabeth Anne Seton
and a retreat center.
The
whole town, including the
Provincial House, uses around
291,000 gallons per day. The
Provincial House is using an
average of 79,571 gallons per
day, well over one quarter of
the town's usage and equal to
249 residential homes, Haller
said.
When
the water restrictions were
implemented in March,
high-volume users (those users
using 20,000 gallons per day
on average or more) were
required to drop their usage
by 10 percent. Other high
volume users have complied,
most notably the National Fire
Academy dropped its usage by
30 percent.
Haller
said the Provincial House has
been monitored everyday since
March and it has exceeded its
target usage everyday.
Representatives at the house
have been advised of the
problems numerous times but
there has been no change, he
said.
Sister
Vincentia Goeb, administrator
of the Provincial House, said
Tuesday that the house has
been "trying very hard to
limit water use" and
understood why some people
would be upset if they did not
know the circumstances.
County
officials advised the house
about two months ago that they
could no longer use their well
water to cool the compressors
for the air-conditioning and
heating system at the
facility, Goeb said.
"Consequently,
it was not taken into account
that if we stopped using well
water, the town's water use
would increase," she
said.
Water
usage for the air conditioning
is about 50 percent of the
facility's use, she said.
Goeb
said the house's director of
plant operations met with
Haller, who told them town
representatives would work
with them on the problem.
Haller
did not return phone calls to
confirm the arrangements.
Despite
the violation by the
Provincial House, no penalty
or fine will be or has been
imposed because the language
in the water use restrictions
was too vague. The language
did not define whether the
fines would be issued daily,
weekly, monthly or quarterly
and did not clearly state how
much the fines would be for
large-volume users.
To
remedy this problem, Monday's
meeting included discussion
regarding modifications to the
water ban and clarification of
the penalties for violating
it.
After
a great deal of discussion,
the commissioners agreed to
the following modifications:
- The
Laundromat can be opened
seven days a week, instead
of the three days it is
currently permitted to be
open.
- Hand-held
hoses may be used to wash
down dog runs or animal
hutches, and for cleaning
cartridge pool filters,
however they can still
only be used between 6
p.m. and 9 a.m. Hand-held
hoses still may be used
during those hours to
water gardens and plants,
but cannot be used to wash
cars or to hose down
siding, sidewalks or
driveways.
All
other restrictions remain the
same as previously mandated in
March.
Penalties
for violating the water ban
also were modified. For
residential and other
low-volume users, the first
violation will receive a
warning, the second violation
will receive a $50 fine and
the third violation (and each
one thereafter) will receive a
$75 fine.
High-volume
users -- those using 20,000
gallons per day or more --will
be charged twice the normal
cost of the water for anything
used in excess of their target
average daily use.
For
example, under the current
water restrictions,
high-volume users are required
to use 10 percent less water
than they used in March. If a
high-volume user was using an
average of 30,000 gallons per
day in March, it is now
required to use no more than
27,000 gallons per day. The
27,000 gallons is the target
average daily use. For every
gallon over the target amount,
the user will be charged twice
the going rate normally
charged. The increase is
intended to discourage
high-volume users from
exceeding their targets.
The
new policies will go into
effect on July 10, if the
town's attorney has no
problems with the
modifications.
In
other matters, the hearing
dates for the annexation
petition by Silver Fancy Farm
Inc. were announced. The first
hearing will be by the
Frederick County Planning
Commission on Wednesday, July
17, in Winchester Hall. The
next hearing will be by the
Frederick Board of County
Commissioners at 8:30 a.m. on
Tuesday, July 30, in the
third-floor conference room of
Winchester Hall. Emmitsburg
town commissioners will hold a
public hearing on the
annexation petition at 7:30
p.m. on Monday, Aug. 5, at the
Sleep Inn at 501 Silo Hill
Parkway. The change in
location was made to allow
more residents to attend.
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