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Rising Sun tightens water/sewer code, adopts capacity‑reservation agreements and raises development impact fees
Summary
Ordinances passed requiring direct building connections, minimum 8‑inch water mains, a water/sewer capacity reservation agreement with new reservation fees, and a revised fee schedule raising total benefit assessment fees to about $21,544 per EDU; the board also ratified public-works agreements and developer MOUs for Stevens Preserve and Pond/Pawn Valley.
The Town of Rising Sun approved several interrelated measures Nov. 18 that collectively change how the town manages water and sewer connections, allocates system capacity to developers and recovers infrastructure costs.
Ordinance 2025‑06 amends Chapter 8 (Water, Sewer and Plumbing) to clarify administrative authority to enforce the code, require each building to be directly connected to the public main (not merely to the property line), require written permits for connections and authorize abatement actions with cost recovery. The ordinance also strengthens engineering standards by requiring public water mains to be designed in accordance with the "10‑state standards" and establishing an 8‑inch minimum water main size for new public mains to meet fire‑suppression and potable‑water quality goals.
Ordinance 2025‑07 adds a mechanism the town calls a water and sewer capacity reservation agreement. Under the new process, a developer may pay a nonrefundable reservation fee (2% of the relevant benefit assessment fee) for an initial capacity letter or an additional nonrefundable 5% payment to reserve EDUs for up to five years. Developers who want full guarantees must pay the full impact/benefit assessment fee.
The board also approved Resolution 2025‑18, which revises the fee schedule. Town staff presented a reworked fee that the administrator described as a $3,000 water benefit recovery cost, a $6,000 sewer benefit recovery cost and a roughly $9,625 infrastructure benefit assessment component, totaling about $21,544 per equivalent dwelling unit (the transcript shows a minor typographical discrepancy that was corrected during discussion). The board approved the resolution after clarifying the numbers on the record.
At the same meeting the board ratified a public works agreement for Stevens Preserve (estimated project scope discussed at roughly $5.2 million and secured by a 110% surety bond) and approved an MOU for Pond (Pawn) Valley Farms. Town staff explained that hydraulic studies show inflow and infiltration (I&I) constraints on an interceptor sewer line in wetlands areas; developers may build the interceptor themselves (and receive fee credit) or the town may finance the work and recover costs over time from collected fees, but town staff noted risks and financing burdens if the town shoulders the work.
The measures were presented as ways to protect existing taxpayers, ensure public‑safety engineering standards, and give the town a defensible approach to managing capacity and fees amid ongoing development.
