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Rising Sun adopts emergency ordinance tightening water and sewer design, franchise rules
Summary
At its Aug. 13 meeting, the Rising Sun Town Commissioners adopted emergency Ordinance 2024-08 to set minimum engineering standards for water and sewer mains, require hydrant spacing and fire-flow minimums, and require franchise agreements and inspections for third-party connections to the town system.
Rising Sun's Town Commissioners on Aug. 13 adopted emergency Ordinance 2024-08, amending Chapter 8 of the town code to set minimum design and construction standards for public water and sewer systems and to require franchise agreements for third-party operators.
The ordinance codifies technical requirements the town says are meant to protect public health and firefighting capacity. It requires town approval and town-engineer review of all public-mains designs, sets an absolute minimum water-main diameter of 8 inches and directs design to recognized engineering standards. The ordinance incorporates NFPA 1 guidance on fire hydrant spacing and fire-flow requirements: hydrants must be no more than 500 feet apart for buildings other than detached one- and two-family dwellings and no more than 800 feet for detached one- and two-family dwellings. The ordinance sets a baseline fire flow of 1,000 gallons per minute (GPM) for one hour for specified dwelling areas, with a possible reduction to 750 GPM under the NFPA criteria and with ISO guidelines used to support determinations.
The text requires third parties that extend or operate water mains within town limits or in designated future service areas to comply with town standards, enter franchise agreements approved by the mayor and commissioners, submit detailed plans and specifications for town and town-engineer review, and accept inspection and monitoring. Franchise agreements must address liability for damages, water-quality compliance with state and federal standards, protection of town infrastructure and penalties or corrective measures for noncompliance.
Town Administrator read the ordinance into the record during the meeting and emphasized that the changes align infrastructure approvals with the town's comprehensive plan and state law. Town Attorney Jay said the move followed mixed guidance from a recent Maryland Department of the Environment meeting and was intended to clarify a single, implementable standard: “we can clarify this and we can make it from 1 answer and very clear what it needs to be,” he said.
Commissioner Auggie Pearson, citing his firefighting background, urged strict enforcement of the rules and criticized Cecil County, alleging the county has delayed water expansion and favored private water suppliers. Pearson said, "Cecil County sold its water rights to Artesian years ago, and they are doing everything they can to take over the water rights of the towns." No representative of Cecil County or Artesian Water spoke during the meeting to respond to those remarks.
The ordinance passed by voice vote and was recorded as adopted on an emergency basis. The town administrator and town engineer are responsible for implementing the new plan-review, approval and inspection steps spelled out in the ordinance.
