County Water Letter 7.23

​Worcester County Government Office                                                                                                  7/10/23
1 W. Market Street,
 Snow Hill, MD 21863  
Attn:  Robert Mitchel, Director Department of Environmental Programs
Reference: St. Martins by the Bay Public Water
 
DRAFT
Dear Mr. Mitchell:
 We have a great sense of urgency to get answers from the County in terms of getting public water to our community.  It has been seven years since we first started the discussion of getting public water. Along with the ongoing long term well condition being precarious, we have suffered several disruptions in water service just in the last two weeks.   For several days our water has been undrinkable, and so odoriferous and yellow we cannot even do laundry.  The water situation has become intolerable.
 
  We believe three options exist: All must be considered based on affordability given this Community has 58 lots with only 54 EDUS that must be able to afford the long term expenses the USDA grant does not cover, in addition to water usage fees.   
 
1)New water mains and water services: It appears the County has decided to go with option 4 based on the Preliminary Engineers Report (PER) complied by Davis, Bowen & Friedel, Inc.  We received a copy of the PER from your office in late 2021.  This option 4 was estimated to cost approximately $1,600,000.00 which included engineering fees, permits, construction and contingencies.  Based on our recent USDA grant of $1,024,000.00 representing 41% of the total costs, this would translate into a total of almost $2,500,00.00. The difference of almost $1,500,000 may not be affordable for such a small Community. Keep in mind the Community has heard estimated numbers starting at $500,000.00, to $700,000.00 to $1,600,000 in 2021 to possibly well over $2,000,000.
 
2)Master Meter: Not contained within the PER, but I discussed with you when we (also, Bill Killinger) met in your office in April of 2022. Again, option 1 above is the most preferable long-term solution, but if it is deemed unaffordable and we do not get enough Community members to gain a needed majority affirmative vote we need other options. As you recall this option would bring water piping from Ocean Pines and terminate somewhere within the County easement inside of our community.   It would terminate with a “Master Meter” and our existing PVC piping would be connected to this meter. The HOA would devise a formula to charge homeowners based on a pro-rata basis of house square footage, or some other equitable means.
 
Worcester County Government Office                                                                                             7/10/23
        St Martins by the Bay
 
 
 
 
The County in turn would collect water fees from the HOA in lieu of individual lot owners. Again, not our most desired option for reasons stated within option 3 below, but it must be considered if option 1 above is too expensive. This we believe to more optimal and a better long-term solution than a new Community well.
 
3)New Community Well:  While not our ideal long-term solution, and only if all other options are not affordable, construct a new well and pump house in a different location. This will provide a reliable source of water for the next several decades, but it would leave in place our existing PVC schedule 40 piping which is almost 40 years old. PVC piping, like any piping, has a limited lifespan. Schedule 40 pipe has been shown to have an average lifespan of 40-60 years, so of course new piping would have to be taken into long term consideration. We believe with permitting, design, construction, new piping to tie-into a new well house, and abandonment of the old well to be in the range of $200,000.00 to $300,000.00. If option one above is not affordable, we would seek to use the USDA grant monies to exercise this option if all other options are not affordable.  
 Affordability is the major driving factor, and the sooner we get a better understanding of costs, the faster we will be able to move forward.  I have attached the questions I sent to you in April of 2022, and again in April 0f 2023 with your answers to both so as not to be redundant.  We are asking to meet with you in the next couple of weeks, so we have a better understanding of where the process stands.  The community is understandably upset about the on-going water failures, and we (County and HOA) owe them at least our best understanding of where we are in the process, and all potential costs and options moving forward.
 
Sincerely,
St Martins by the Bay
 
 
William Custead
HOA Member.
 
CC: Mary Beth Cardoza, State Senator.
Att. (2) County Questions/Answers      5/23    2 pages
        (2) County Questions/Answers      5/22    4 pages