Moratorium on building towers
The Emmitsburg Town Council, at their
February 4 meeting, voted in favor of a
nine-month moratorium on the building of
communication towers within the town limits. The
council felt a need to become more familiar with
matters of microwave towers in order to draft an
effective ordinance. To date two requests have
been made to install towers within town limits.
Water/Sewer Ordinance revised
The commissioners voted 4-0 to amend the
water and sewer ordinance to require that
out-of-town users of the sewer system must use
both water and sewer services. Sewer use is
billed by the amount of water used and those who
do not use town water (but have their own well)
are billed a flat rate of 6,000 gallons of water
per quarter. The town has no way of knowing the
actual number of gallons used in that situation.
They could be costing the town money or paying
for more than they use. In the future, parties
wishing to use just one or the other will be
required to pay for both.
Water discount given to schools
The council considered changes to the water
and sewer allocation chart and voted 3 - 1 to
grant a 70% discount to schools being serviced
by the local system. Town Manager Dave Haller
said this action follows similar action taken by
the county.
The Town uses a fixture chart to calculate
how many sewer and water taps are needed for
commericial buildings. Prior to this code
amendment, fixture charges to the schools were
based on fixture count. A count of 15 would
equal one sewer and water tap each. The revised
code allows schools to have a fixture count of
60 to equal one sewer and water tap each.
Example, a school with a fixture count of 172
would cost about $72,798. The revision to the
code will reduce the charge to about $18,198.
"I hope this will be seen as a support
and courtesy extended to our schools," said
Mayor Carr. According to Haller this change to
the allocation chart would create a more
favorable circumstance for any school to be
built in the future on a site within the town
limits rather than on county land.
Commissioner Hoover cast the negative vote,
citing that in his view this action extends a
discount to private schools and will burden the
town taxpayers as resident tax dollars would
subsidize out-of-town or out-of-state residents
who attend the school.
"I feel that this offer should only go
to public schools," Hoover told the
Dispatch. "Private schools are bringing
students in from other counties and states. It
is unfair to our residents to have the Town
subsidize a private school with taxpayers
dollars.
"In the example giving at the meeting
the 172 fixture count is the estimated fixture
count needed for Mother Seton School’s
renovation project. Mother Seton School pays no
taxes to the Town, and now we just reduce their
cost by $54,000. Back in the fall the Town also
gave a $5,000 donation to Mother Seton School.
" I believe Mother Seton School is a
great school. But, I also believe the school
should be treated like the private endeavor that
it is. Of the 400-450 student population at
Mother Seton School very few of them are from
the corporate limits of Emmitsburg."
Contributions to youths
In other actions the council donated $100 in
support of Courtney Tasker a 9th grade student
at Catoctin High School who lives in Emmitsburg,
who will participate in the People to People
Program in Australia this summer.
The council voted to contribute $500 to the
new Emmitsburg Endowment Fund to be administered
by the Community Foundation of Frederick County.
As the fund matures, 80% of the dividends will
go to scholarships for Emmitsburg high school
students and 20% will be directed toward youth
services and activities in Emmitsburg. The town
joins several other private donors in raising
the $5,000 minimum to open the Fund which was
organized by the Emmitsburg Business and
Professional Association.
No more penny/nickel parking
Commissioner Boyle announced that all of the
town’s parking meters are now 10- and 25-cent
meters. There will be no more penny or nickel
parking.