Town
to begin
$1.7 million
sewer rehab
By Richard D. L. Fulton
News Editor
THURMONT,
Md. – The board of commissioners voted 2-0 at their Jan.
17 meeting to begin spending up to $1.7 million in state monies
to remedy inflow and infiltration (I&I) problems associated
with the wastewater collection system.
The commissioners
approved a resolution that would enable the town to spend
up to $1,731,100 in Maryland Water Quality Administration
(MWQA) funds (administered by the Maryland Department of the
Environment – MDE). Commissioners Glenn D. Muth and
Ronald A. Terpko were absent.
“We
have gotten permission from the state. We have the money lined
up from the state. And what we have to do now is we have to
do is spend the money and the state will reimburse us (by
providing the town with a low interest loan),” said
board President “Mayor” Martin A. Burns.
The money
the state is providing is not a reimbursement, but rather
a loan to help the town pay for what it does spend (up to
$1,731,100).
“That’s
good news which means the I&I sewer project will be under
way very shortly and (we can) start getting those issues resolved,”
Martin said.
Gary
Dingle, town water superintendent, told The Dispatch
the problem with I&I has being going on for years, as
it has been in many communities.
“When
I got here in 1976, we were working on I&I and we have
been working on it every since. It’s just an ongoing
thing unless you spend a lot of money (to address it in a
major way),” Dingle said, adding that the unwanted water
gets into the wastewater collection system through a number
of means including illegal sump pumps, broken pipes, and broken
manholes.
Once
the treatment plant exceeds its capacity through a dramatic
increase in I&I (also called “wild water), sewage
spills can result. “If the plant can’t take it,
then it (the wastewater) backs up and you have overflows,”
Dingle said.
Richard
K. May, Thurmont clerk-treasurer, said previously that the
town wanted to begin the work to address the I&I problems
sometime in December. However, May told The Dispatch
following the Jan. 17 meeting that procedures in reviewing
the bids delayed awarding the bid and beginning the work.
To date,
the town has received two bids to perform the proposed work,
according to May. He said the low bidder for the project was
Ross Construction, Inc., Mt. Airy, which came in at $1.6 million.
W.F. Delauter & Son submitted the high bid at $1,872,77.
(See related story “Thurmont
awards sewer contract” in this issue.)
