County planners outline capital-improvement priorities and draft water-resources element ahead of October deadline

Planning staff updated the commission Oct. 27 on two non-legislative items: the county’s capital-improvement program (CIP) development schedule and progress on the state-mandated water-resources element of the comprehensive plan.

Budget and capital program: Elaine Kramer reported the county’s approved FY2009 capital plan remains broadly similar to the recommended plan presented earlier in the year. Significant adjustments included a re-scoped emergency-shelter project and ongoing refinements to the adult detention center program. Commissioners asked about the projected $24–25 million cost tied to a minimum-security detention facility and about program funding assumptions; Kramer said the county monitors debt-capacity and schedules bond sales when appropriate. Kramer also noted that land-acquisition programs — including agricultural-land preservation and parks — make up a substantial portion of the six-year capital plan and that state grant availability will affect the county’s ability to buy parkland.

Water-resources element and state deadline: Jackman (planning staff) and Sue (GIS analyst/staff) briefed the commission on progress drafting the water-resources element required by recent state law. The element must inventory and project water supply, wastewater and stormwater needs and be submitted by Oct. 1 of the following year so the Maryland Department of the Environment can review it. Staff said they are layering county data into the state’s modeling tools, and drawing on related work underway: a facilities plan for the Marlay-Taylor wastewater treatment plant, TMDL/tributary strategy work, stormwater-permit planning, and an updated impervious-surface/forestry GIS layer. Staff said a first draft of the element should be ready for review in November and emphasized the work depends on data from multiple ongoing studies.

Commissioner questions focused on wastewater options for meeting new state discharge limits and whether the county will rely on land-application (spray irrigation) for future Marlay-Taylor expansions. Staff said the facilities plan will identify how capacity and effluent-quality targets can be achieved and that land-application is among the technical options under review. Staff also highlighted the county’s need to identify potential school and park sites and said work will continue through the fall for a December submission to the commissioners.

Ending: Staff will circulate a first draft water-resources element to the commission in November; the CIP group will continue finalizing project lists and funding assumptions for the commissioners’ review later in the budget cycle.