(9/25) The town of Emmitsburg is looking to re-line its sewer pipes all throughout town over the next several years, beginning with the lines on E. Main Street. Emmitsburg’s Board of Commissioners discussed the current state of the town’s sewer lines during the September 4 town meeting. Town Manager Cathy Willets and Dan Fissel, Superintendent for the Water/Sewer Department, asked the Board to consider budgeting funds over the next five to ten years to re-line sections of the road, starting with the worst section this year.

As explained by Fissel, the sewer lines all along Main Street have numerous cracks, holes and joint separations, causing Inflow and Infiltration (I&I), which is costing the town thousands of dollars. I&I by definition is when groundwater enters the sanitary sewer system through cracked pies, holes etc. Excessive I&I can cause pumps to run for prolonged periods, manholes to spill wastewater into the roads and backups within the wastewater system. Fissel reported that I&I in town has been well above average since the beginning of the year.

In regards to the expense to the town; I&I costs two dollars per 1,000 gallons of wild water. In February alone the Waste Water Treatment Plant was over capacity thirteen times, costing the town an estimated $29,514 just to treat the I&I that month. The Waste Water Treatment Plant is bringing in approximately 351 million gallons per day in excess of I&I over the yearly average. Additionally, this year 47,000 gallons of sanitary sewer overflow has been recorded. All sanitary overflows must be reported to the Maryland Department of the Environment, who will fine a town when a sanitary overflow occurs. Emmitsburg has already been fined several times this year due to sanitary overflows.

The town hopes to remedy the worst portion in town this year, by re-lining a section that extends from the square to the Dollar Store on E. Main Street and then down Creamery Road. This portion is estimated to take about a week to complete. The lines will be done in sections and no road closures or flaggers are anticipated.

Three estimates were received for the completion of the first phase of re-lining. Mr. Rehab Inc. was the lowest bidder for the scope of work including the replacement of 1,500 feet of eight inch pipe and 550 feet of ten inch pipe at a cost between $80,000-$90,000. The cost in the end, as discussed by Board members, could of course be higher. Willets stated that this would be paid for with funds from the Sewer Fund. It will be a "cash expense that the town would pay for and funding would come from the business fund as an asset addition to the balance sheet. Depreciation expense would be booked over the useful life of the asset."

The future scope of the entire project would mean starting at the pump station and working back through town. Town staff hopes to bring back a new portion that needs repaired each year to be approved by the Board of Commissioners. Town staff will also be working on a ten-year plan to fix all the lines in town and will bring this plan back to the Board for discussion and approval at a future meeting. The Board agreed that not addressing this problem now could be detrimental to the town in the future and showed support for this project.