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Hagerstown staff recommend irrigation (deduct) meters for South Hagerstown High; council to consider formal vote
Summary
City staff told the mayor and council Aug. 12 that South Hagerstown High School can have dedicated irrigation (sewer-deduct) meters installed on its irrigation lines; staff recommended installation and said a council motion to authorize two irrigation meters will appear on the preliminary agenda next week and return for a council vote at a future
City staff presented a proposal Aug. 12 to install two dedicated irrigation (sewer-deduct) meters at South Hagerstown High School to measure irrigation-only flow and deduct that quantity from sewer billing. Nancy Hovrat, presenting the item, said the school has two irrigation systems (one serving the main field and one serving the baseball field) and two utility meters; both irrigation systems can be metered directly by installing census meters on the irrigation lines with radio transceivers for drive-by reading.
Usage figures presented: Hovrat said the Board of Education purchased 131,000 gallons of system allocation and used about 67,000 gallons in 2024 (a balance of roughly 64,000 gallons). For South Hagerstown High School specifically, Hovrat reported an average base usage (October–April) of about 7,400 gallons per day and higher daily usage during May–September of about 15,700 gallons per day; she said roughly 8,200 gallons per day (about 53% of the peak-season use) goes to irrigation during watering months.
Meters and rates: The proposed census meters include radio transceiver units so meter reads upload automatically; staff said the meters are bill-accurate and calibratable. Hovrat said the rate analysis now under way will include separate rate options for irrigation-only meters and that any new rates adopted by council would apply to these meters when implemented. Staff intends to return multiple draft rate models to the council as part of a broader water/sewer rate study.
Next steps: Hovrat said staff will put a motion on the preliminary agenda next week authorizing the two irrigation meters for South Hagerstown High School and will bring the item for formal council vote at a future regular session. Implementation would deduct measured irrigation flow from sewer bills per the city’s rate structure in effect at that time.
Provenance: Presentation and council questions appear in the Aug. 12 transcript; staff said a formal motion will be returned for council action.
