Emmitsburg
Town News
Emily
Salmon
(3/7/2001)
Emmitsburg
will cut off services to those who don't
pay
Emmitsburg
residents who fail to pay the town on time
may have their local services--such as
water, sewage and trash--discontinued.
Facing a whopping
$26,000 in outstanding sewage and trash
bills, commissioners voted 4-0 at the
Monday town meeting that services billed
on a quarterly basis, such as water,
excess sewer and trash, can be
discontinued if the account is not paid
within 45 days of the billing date.
Services billed annually, including sewage
and trash services billed in July, can be
discontinued if payment is not received
within 90 days.
Town Manager David
Haller said the total of delinquent bills
was even higher - about $35,000 - until a
month ago, when town staff sent out a
persuasive third notice of delinquency to
customers. Haller said the town has about
800 households getting service, of which
126 were delinquent. He said he found that
year after year, often the same households
would wait nine or 10 months to pay their
bills.
"It's amazing
how if you look back year after a year you
run into a lot of the same account
numbers," Haller said. "It's
kind of unfair to the 80 or 85 percent of
the people who pay them right away."
Community
center estimate increased
The cost of
upgrades for a community center has been
increased by Frederick County officials
from $2.8 million to $4.2 million, Town
Administrator David Haller announced at
Monday's town meeting, which means the
town will pay an extra $70,000 for its new
offices in the center.
That brings the
town's contribution to $270,000. Haller
said the hike was due to largely major
building repairs, including foundation
problems, stormwater management and
roofing repairs.
Commissioners
voted unanimously to continue with the
project, which will give the town both
free utilities and a rent rate of $1 per
year for the first 25 years of occupancy.
Construction on
the project is tentatively set to begin in
May 2002.
When contacted
Wednesday, Lee Koontz, director of
management services, emphasized the
figures were only estimates for the
project, which has yet to go before county
commissioners.
Town
amends sign ordinance
An ordinance
regulating signs was amended by unanimous
vote at Monday night's meeting.
The new language
now gives the Emmitsburg Planning
Commission the authority to grant
variances from the code; however, appeals
for variances must follow the same
procedures as those for the Emmitsburg
Board of Appeals, including the requisite
public notice of the appeal and waiting
period.
Town
Commissioner James Hoover said
Tuesday that the amended ordinance would
give the planning commission "a
little bit of flexibility for new
businesses coming to town" that
desire signs that don't conform to code.
Read
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