Mount Airy planning commission sends county draft of water resources element to state for 60-day review

The Mount Airy Planning Commission voted unanimously Sept. 29 to forward Carroll County27s draft Water Resources Element to state agencies for the statutorily required 60-day review, the commission confirmed after a presentation by Carroll County staff.

Carroll County planner Brenda Denny told the commission the Water Resources Element, first adopted in 2010, is an element of local master plans intended to ensure jurisdictions consider the availability and adequacy of public water, wastewater and stormwater when planning for future growth. "The purpose of doing the water resources element was to make sure that jurisdictions were considering the availability and adequacy of public water and wastewater and also, now stormwater, in considering, your future plans for growth and development," Denny said.

The countywide draft treats a small number of town-specific items as Mount Airy sections appended to the broader document. Denny summarized the county's methodology and the document27s main findings for Mount Airy: the plan applies a conservative approach that factors in drought contingencies and the potential loss of a highest-producing well; using that method Mount Airy is rated in a "yellow" category, meaning the town does not meet all long-term needs under worst-case assumptions but can likely overcome those constraints by measures such as increased appropriations of current sources, development of additional sources, or targeted improvements.

Denny noted items listed as possible actions for Mount Airy, and which the town could pursue voluntarily, include: connecting the Twin Arch mobile home park to town water, planning for PFAS treatment and other emerging-contaminant responses, pursuing water reuse for high-use commercial users, and prioritizing infiltration/inflow (I&I) reduction to gain wastewater capacity. On stormwater she said Mount Airy and the county are co-permittees on the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System permit and already have programs to address existing impervious-area treatment and TMDL compliance, so stormwater is not, by itself, identified as a limit to future growth.

Commissioners pressed for clarity on the county27s assumptions and whether the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) would approve increased appropriations of existing wells; Denny and town staff repeatedly said MDE decisions cannot be guaranteed and would depend on engineering and regulatory review. Town Water & Sewer Commission chair John Swanson and the town engineers told the commission they had reviewed the draft and were comfortable with sending it out for state review.

Commissioner Hadley moved to forward the draft Water Resources Element to state agencies for the 60-day review and comment period; Commissioner Beinecke seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Next steps in the process, as Denny described, include the concurrent 60-day review by state agencies and a county-hosted public information period and joint public hearing of the nine planning commissions that participated in the countywide document. State and public comments may prompt revisions; each municipal planning commission will then make a recommendation to its elected council, and state law now requires elected officials to hold a public hearing before adopting an element. Denny told the commission the draft is expected to be revised further before final adoption and that municipalities should continue to update numbers periodically.

Commissioners asked staff to circulate the Mount Airy section of the draft and to coordinate follow-up questions. The commission27s vote to forward the document begins the state review timetable; the Planning Commission did not adopt the document for final use but approved sending the draft for comment and state review.