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Commissioners approve plan and loan request to connect Assateague Point and Landing to West Ocean City sewer
Summary
The board approved a multi‑step plan to hook Assateague Point and Landing into West Ocean City’s sewer system, with staff estimating an intergovernmental loan between $718,000 and $780,000 and a phased timeline for analysis, design, permitting and construction.
Worcester County commissioners on Dec. 16 approved next steps and an estimated intergovernmental loan to connect the Assateague Point and Landing service areas to the West Ocean City sewer system.
Public Works and Environmental Programs staff described a phased approach: an analysis of the existing Sunset Avenue relief sewer (about six months), followed by a new extension design (about nine months), permitting (about nine months) and construction (approximately 12 months). If the relief sewer is undersized, staff said an upsize design and additional permitting would extend that schedule.
Staff estimated total capacity‑purchase costs from Ocean City at roughly $718,000 to $780,000, allocating about $321,000 to Assateague Point and $458,000 to the Landing service area. County staff reported that, if the connection proceeds as proposed, it would add roughly $15.14 per quarter to Assateague Point sewer bills and about $35 per quarter to Landing sewer bills; staff contrasted those increases with estimated county‑repair scenarios that could have imposed far greater quarterly costs ($575 per quarter for Landings, $1,012.61 per quarter for Assateague Point).
Officials said the county will pursue an intergovernmental loan to cover the purchase of capacity from Ocean City and coordinate designs with neighboring engineers to allow potential hookups (for example, Diaconia/Deaconia and Ocean City) where feasible. Commissioners approved the recommended actions by unanimous vote.
The project team will return with detailed designs and funding agreements for future board approval; staff noted a request to amend the county water‑sewer plan and possible MDE permitting requirements.
