North Seton-DePaul waterline update

Willets reported the status of North Seton Avenue and DePaul Street waterline replacement at the commissioners’ March meeting.

Willets reported that the project was necessitated due to the existing pipes having been found as being aged and undersized, especially regarding the need of appropriately sized pipes for fire protection.

Specifically, the pipeline replacement would take place on North Seton Avenue from North Avenue to 17349 North Seton, and on DePaul Street from North Seton Avenue to the dead-end. The pipes presently being used consist of exist of cast-iron and were installed some time before 1952.

Willets further stated at the March meeting that the USDA would not be willing to provide any funding for this project "until the water (user) rates are raised to support the infrastructure and funding requests."

Town to hold two April meetings

The Town council decided at their March meeting to hold two town meetings in April at the request of Town Manager Cathy Willets.

Willets stated that she was recommending that the board hold the first of the April meetings on April 5, and the second on April 19, attributing the necessity to the fact no meetings could not be held in February due to inclement weather, along with the backlog of town business resulting from that.

Emmitsburg was besieged by heavy snow that spanned three days from February 1st to 3rd, and a second storm involving freezing rain, wintry-mix and snow that lasted from February 15 through the 20th. The February 1-3 snowstorm produced eight inches of snow in the Emmitsburg area during that three-day event.

After town staff canceled the regular meeting that had been scheduled for February 1, the meeting was rescheduled for February 15, but this too was subsequently cancelled.

Board approves Zoom meetings

The Town Council approved the use of Zoom-only meetings in the event of inclement weather or emergency situations that potentially prevent the necessary staff from being at town meetings to facilitate the cable TV transmissions.

The recommendation made by Willets and Mayor Don Briggs was approved by the commissioners at their March meeting.

In addition to making the town meetings available live on You Tube, the town normally relies also on broadcasting the meetings on Cable Channel 99. However, broadcasting the meetings via cable necessitates that having staff must be present to operate the equipment. Two attempts at holding the town meeting in February were thwarted by winter weather which prevented staff from reaching the town hall.

Holding meetings by Zoom in-lieu-of cable would permit the meetings to continue to be held using that streaming-service as a backup, since it can be managed remotely.