THURMONT, Md. - The Thurmont Town Commissioners unanimously voted on Oct. 16 not to annex the 210-acre Myers Farm north of town, but the town's annexation debates are far from over.

"I'm disappointed, but I'm not really surprised," said Tom Hudson with Hudson Land, the property developer, "It's a two-year effort that didn't pan out. Now I've got to move on."

He said he has grown to like Thurmont from all the time he has spent in town and if he can assist the town in any property redevelopment, he'd love to hear ideas for what he can do.

Though the commissioners said Hudson had made an attractive proposition for annexation, traffic issues and the fact that two-thirds of residents said they were against annexation in a poll Mayor Martin Burns sent out last year couldn't be overcome in the end.

"It's awful hard to ignore 66 percent of residents who responded to my poll," Burns said. "You cannot discount that. You cannot discount the election."

The Myers Farm annexation request came before the town in September 2006, though it was first reported in The Dispatch in March 2006. The plan called for 350 single family houses and townhouses, retail and commercial space, an emergency medical center and a community pool. Construction would have started in 2013 and been completed around 2021. In all, the town would have received $10-$11 million in financial incentives over the build out of the property.

"Out of the three properties for annexation this one seems to be the one that will cause the least affect on the daily lives of citizens," Thurmont resident Mary Lynch said.

She was one of 27 people who voiced their opinion on the annexation request at the Oct. 16 public hearing, which filled the commissioners' meeting room to overflowing.

Susan Hilberg doesn't live in Thurmont, but she lives near the Myers Farm. "I hope that in the decision you make tonight you listen to what your constituents have said over the past year. The majority of constituents in Thurmont do not want this annexation."

The protracted debate of the Myers annexation has split the town over growth vs. no growth and resident vs.
non-resident.

"Of 18 years I've been on the board this is one of the most divisive issues we've ever faced," said Commissioner Wayne Hooper. He later added, "I just hope that all the animosity that's been stirred up in all of this…we can put it aside."

He and other commissioners were critical of derogatory language against others that people had used in making their cases, the use of inaccurate information and the inconsistency of some of the arguments.

Burns warned, "I have never said your taxes are going to go down if we annex, but I guarantee they'll go up." In particular, the sewer rates will "go up in a significant, drastic way."

The Maryland Department of the Environment has told the town officials that the lack of money is not an excuse for not fixing the sewers so the town will have to move forward with a $4.6-million sewer system rehabilitation and a $4.5-million equalization basin.

"One of these three annexations is going to happen. I guarantee it," Burns said. He added there isn't another option for the town "unless someone bequeaths us a
lot of money."

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