(3/10) The Thurmont commissioners discussed at their March 9 meeting future tree plantings that would help the town comply with state-mandated stormwater runoff-prevention and/or reduction.

According to the Center for Watershed Protection, trees help reduce stormwater runoff "by capturing and storing rainfall in the canopy and releasing water into the atmosphere through evapotranspiration."

Andrew Tuleya, with Arro Consulting, who serves as the town’s MS4 (Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System) consultant, provided the town with a presentation addressing the benefits of tree-plantings, otherwise known as reforestation … as well as other information relevant to controlling runoff.

The idea behind MS4 is to create stormwater ‘traps’ to the degree that the amount of water captured - offsets the amount of runoff being generated by impervious surfaces within a municipality … impervious surfaces being anything that is resistant to allowing stormwater to be freely and naturally absorbed by the ground.

There are a variety of measures by which municipalities can implement to achieve fulfilling a stormwater runoff baseline that must be attained in order to comply with the state laws. Each successful measure taken produces a score (referred to as "credits") which cumulatively should equal – at the least – the baseline … baseline being the final-credit total of 69.12 acres needed to achieve compliance.

For example, when it comes to tree-plantings, if 100 native (to Maryland) trees are planted on an acre of land, and at least half of them are at or more than two-inches in diameter, and they are all above a mature height of four and a half feet, then that acre multiplied by .38 generates .38 of an acre credit toward achieving the state-established baseline.

In citing some possible properties that may prove as being suitable for additional tree plantings, Tuleya suggested using two acres of land at East End Park, 32 acres at Eyler Park, and 6 acres at NCR, Inc.

Town staff could be used to carry out the plantings, thereby reducing the costs of labor. Further, some of the tree nurseries in the area may be willing to reduce the price on trees intended for municipal use, Tuleya said. He also noted that areas subject to concentrations of re-forestation could also have walking or nature-trails established amongst them.

Chief Administrative Officer James Humerick noted that trees previously purchased by the town have cost from $30 to $50 each. Mayor John Kinnaird also suggested that citizen-volunteers could be considered as a source of labor when it comes to planting the trees as well.

The town has until 2025 to complete the current round of MS4 requirements.