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Planning commission endorses METCOM feasibility study for St. Clement Shores wastewater plant
Summary
The St. Mary's County Planning Commission voted Oct. 26 to endorse a METCOM budget amendment to fund a $70,000 feasibility study into expanding the St. Clement Shores wastewater treatment plant after staff and commissioners discussed capacity, potential users and effluent handling.
The St. Mary's County Planning Commission on Oct. 26 voted to accept a METCOM budget amendment and endorse a feasibility study into expanding the St. Clement Shores wastewater treatment plant.
METCOM Executive Director Scott Bundy told the commission the County Commissioners asked METCOM to study whether the St. Clement Shores plant can be expanded. Bundy said the commission must endorse a budget amendment before METCOM can proceed. "The County Board of Commissioners has requested that METCOM perform a feasibility study to see if the St. Clement Shores wastewater treatment plant can be expanded," he said.
The study request was paired with a $70,000 amendment METCOM will draw from a reserve account, Bundy said. Commissioners sought details on the study’s scope, who would be eligible to connect and how many additional equivalent dwelling units (EDUs) the plant should be designed to serve. Bundy said there are currently seven failing septic systems the plant could serve and that METCOM set a minimum design target as the study baseline. "There's 7 right now. We are looking at a minimum of a 50 units," Bundy said; he also noted a historically established waiting list of roughly 150 allocations that includes systems that have not yet connected.
Commissioners asked whether the study would consider changes to treatment class and where treated effluent could be discharged or reused. Bundy said the study would be comprehensive, covering treatment capacity and potential effluent reuse options, and include a soils investigation. He also described reuse already occurring at the nearby golf course and said reuse options would be evaluated as part of the study.
The commission moved to accept the METCOM budget amendment so the agency could proceed with the study. The motion passed on a voice vote with all commissioners present voting aye.
The commission discussion stressed the study is a first step and would not itself authorize construction or connections. Commissioners and METCOM staff said financing, the timing of construction and details about which properties would be allowed to connect would be decided later and likely involve additional county approvals.
