Hampstead officials say Antietam fiber is near completion as town advances $30.1 million water modernization

Hampstead zoning administrator Jim told the Planning and Zoning Commission on Jan. 22 that Antietam Broadband’s fiber installation is nearly complete and that the town is moving forward with a $30.1 million water system centralization and modernization project.

Jim said some overhead line work remains but that fiber is being pulled to houses and “people are actually receiving Antietam Fiber now,” with the company aiming to have service available to everyone by late February or early March.

The zoning administrator provided a detailed status update on the water program. He said a bid opening for the pipeline construction contract was scheduled for the next day, and that about 20 contractors requested the bid documents, with site visits and questions from several firms. He said the town expects multiple bids and will review references and qualifications before recommending a contractor to the town council.

Why it matters: the water project is a large, multi-contract effort to address drinking-water treatment needs, including PFAS and nitrate removal, and the town says it must proceed to meet coming state limits.

Jim described the procurement and approval steps ahead: after the town selects a bidder it will prepare a multi-part bid package for the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE). Two contract packages — for pipeline construction inspection services and for granular activated carbon (GAC) and ion-exchange equipment — have already been awarded by the town council and were submitted to MDE last week; those packages are under MDE review. Three additional contract packages remain, including two water treatment plant contracts and a water treatment plant inspection contract, he said.

The project cost estimate has increased from about $20,000,000 (the prior estimate) to $30,100,000 after scope changes and added items, Jim said, leaving an $8,000,000 shortfall. He said the town submitted an updated funding application to MDE and expects a preliminary funding indication in May and an official award notice in November 2025. Jim also said MDE’s review of a bid package could take roughly a month.

On the timetable and regulatory driver, Jim told commissioners the town is proceeding even without final funding: “we are gonna go ahead with the entire project. We feel pretty confident in our application that we sent to MDE,” and that a new state regulation setting a minimum health number for PFAS at 4 parts per trillion becomes law in July 2026. “At that point … you’re either gonna get fined or you’re gonna be shut down if you’re above that number. So we’ve gotta get below it.”

Jim said the pipeline bid opening was immediate in the procurement schedule and that the town expects contractors to start site work once contracts are awarded and approvals are in hand. He also said the town is assembling required documentation demonstrating good-faith outreach to disadvantaged and minority-owned businesses as part of the MDE package.

Other development items mentioned by the zoning administrator included an active site-plan concept review at the county for the water treatment plant footprint and pending county concept reviews for other proposals (tractor supply and a project referred to in the agenda as “waste gas and go”). Jim said Melanie Acres subdivision work is expected to start grading soon, weather permitting, and that an engineering inspection-services contract for the water installation is under negotiation and likely to begin in early February.

Ending: Commissioners asked clarifying questions about funding and timing; Jim responded that the town will pursue MDE funding and alternatives such as bonding only as a last resort. No formal votes or council actions on the water contracts occurred at the commission meeting; the items described are at the procurement and county-review stages.