Union Bridge News Briefs

(5/1) At its March 25th meeting, the Union Bridge Town Council heard the Fiscal Year 24/25 proposed operating budget introduction.

Several work meetings went into the draft budget that includes expenditures and revenue of $1,174,714, according to Mayor Perry Jones.

The Town tax rate is proposed to remain at 35 cents per $100 of full value assessment of property in Town. The personal property tax rate is proposed to remain at 75 cents per $100 assessed value, he said.

Copies of the proposed budget are available for review at the Town Office and more information about the proposed budget can be found by contacting the Union Bridge Town clerk at 741-775-2711.

In other business, Town Attorney Mandi Porter introduced updates to the Town’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) for Fiscal Years 2025 through 2030.

The purpose of this program is to provide a useful guide for planning and budgeting as it anticipates future projects and areas of focus for the Town while keeping the best interests of the Town at the forefront, she said. She continued to say that a great deal of time went into developing the plan and seeing what projects the Town needs to prioritize.

According to Porter, a notable aspect of the CIP has been the inclusion of big-ticket Town projects. Moving forward, the Town is looking to change the policy to a "strictly pay as you go basis" by securing grant funding before initiating the spending of Town money on larger projects, she said.

"At least since I've been here, the Town has spent a lot of money and time on big projects. It just seems everything that needs to get done has just come all at once," Porter said.

One priority project for the Town over the last several years has been locating and purchasing land for a wastewater treatment plant. Looking at the CIP right now, funds have been budgeted for the purchase of 6 of the 12.2 acres needed at this time, she said.

Requests for proposals are currently being prepared for engineering services for the new wastewater treatment plant. The State requires the Town to competitively bid for the services, according to Councilmember Brett Grossnickle.

Another ongoing discussion has been the need for a remediation program for the Town’s drinking water to address polyfluoroalkyl contamination. According to the Union Bridge Water Quality Report, beginning in 2020, the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) initiated a PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) monitoring program. PFAS refers to a large range of thousands of human-made chemicals including cleaning products, packaging, paints, and firefighting foam and are known as "forever chemicals."

Concentrations of two of the most prevalent PFAS compounds, FFOA and PFOS, were identified in samples taken from the Town’s water system in 2022 as 3.78 parts per trillion (ppt) and 16.7 ppt, respectively.

In 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposed maximum contaminate level of 4 ppt for both PFOA and PFOS. Regulations under development will require the Town to conduct additional monitoring as well as install systems to reduce contamination to below the maximum contaminate level.

The Town is hoping for grants from the State to help put in place a process to remove the chemicals from the Town’s drinking water system. In addition, the Town has joined ongoing litigation against the manufacturers of the chemicals to recoup the costs of necessary water systems upgrades, Porter said.

In other business, work is continuing to prepare for the nationwide lead service line review and determining the exact requirements mandated by the EPA, according to Grossnickle. "We know that all the lines entering and leaving the meter pits are copper; we know that because we replaced everything some years ago, but we don’t know what’s next and what’s before," he said.

The Council was told the Dream Big Union Bridge Easter Egg Hunt on March 23rd was a great success with 45 children attending. Due to rain, the event was held indoors at the Union Bridge Church of the Brethren with fun for all with eggs, crafts, free lunch, and photos with the Easter Bunny.

Jones encouraged participation in Maryland Municipal League (MML) conferences for his fellow council members with particular focus on rising topics such as ethics and new public information: "It changes every year. In today’s society, you have to be very careful what you do and what you say," he said.