At the City’s December Mayor and Council workshop, Councilman Chris Tillman brought to light the limited capacity of the Town's water supply and the large number of potential development projects that are in the pipeline. Tillman questioned if the City would have the water supply to continue going forward with not only the developments on the books, but developments on the horizon, such as Sewell’s Farm.
City Manager Jim Wieprecht reminded the Council that water use is discussed extensively during the Preliminary Plan stage of any development—specifically how much water and sewer service would be needed per house and how much is actually available.
As of December of 2023, the City has 42,085 gallons per day of water available for new homes; however, several thousand gallons of the available water is expected to be needed for development projects in the works such as the 50-unit Garnet Ridge development and the Evapco expansion.
Wieprecht noted that the Mountain Brook development—a 454-home development, which at this time, has not presented its finished Preliminary Plan. Based upon what is presented to the planning commission, something may have to be done to increase the City’s water supply.
When asked how the City would increase the supply of water to accommodate future growth, Wieprecht explained that Well 17 on Sells Mill Road is capable of providing more water than it currently is. In order to increase the permitted allocation for that well, the City will need to acquire water recharge easements on acreage within the same aquifer. However, he said, even that well has it limits, and that if the City is going to continue to grow, the City will need to add new wells and recharge easements on land within the well’s aquifer.
Once recharge easements and eventually new wells are added and connected to the City’s water system, the City would need to revisit their water benefit assessment fees. Doing so would help recover the costs of providing the new water supplies. Essentially the Town would be ‘forward funding,’ where the City pays for the easements, construction of the wells and pump houses and connecting pipes up front and is reimbursed for the cost through fees paid on home construction as they are connected to the water system. This is currently including a Water Benefit Assessment fee of $5,110 and Sewer Benefit Assessment fee of $7,790 for each new home.
Water and sewer rates that pay for the day-to-day operation of the existing City water and sewer system will remain stable through the remainder of the City’s fiscal year, which ends on June 30. The cost of 1,000 gallons of water use is $7.25 and sewer fees is $14.24 per 1,000 gallons.
Taneytown is not the only municipality keeping a weary eye on its water supply. An application for a new brewery in Emmitsburg drew concerns when it was revealed that it would use over 5,000 gallons of water a day, equivalent to 20 new homes.
