Harford County holds public hearing on 2026 Water and Sewer Master Plan update; revisions include category changes and new projects
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Summary
County staff presented workbook revisions to the 2026 Water and Sewer Master Plan — including a requested sewer‑category change at 310 Niles Lane, a net reduction of 120 residential units in Table 3‑1, removal of some projects and addition of the Magnolia Sewer Petition Project and Bel Air pump station work. Public commenter John Pimalamo asked the council to address water‑quality and billing problems in Green Ridge subdivision.
The Harford County Council opened a public hearing on the county’s 2026 Water and Sewer Master Plan update and heard a staff review of workbook revisions that change project timing, reflect recent development activity, and add select capital projects.
Chris from the Division of Water and Sewer reviewed the changes: Revision 1 lists a request to change sewer category for 310 Niles Lane (tax map 55 Parcel 363 in Fallston) from S6 to S3 to allow construction drawings and infrastructure to move forward; table 3‑1 (Plan Developments) was updated to reflect one project over the last six months and shows a net reduction of 120 residential units, leaving 1,439 units remaining in the summary. County staff removed a developer‑funded Willoughby Beach Road extension and said a short Joppa Road transmission main was found unnecessary based on a 2020 system study. The updates add the Magnolia Sewer Petition Project as a county priority and include Bel Air’s request to add the Baltimore Pike Pump Station and Forcemain Replacement to the schedule.
Chris explained the meaning of sewer categories to the council: S3 indicates projects expected within 0–5 years while S6 corresponds to 6–10 years, and that an approved plan and construction drawings are prerequisites for a category change. He directed technical questions about expired preliminary plans back to Planning and Zoning.
During the public hearing, John Pimalamo of Bel Air urged the council to intervene in problems at Green Ridge subdivision, saying residents face excessively high water bills, water unfit to drink and low pressure. "Those people are suffering from excessively high water bills, water that's unfit to drink," Pimalamo said, and asked the council to find and implement a solution for roughly 1,000 affected residents.
The chair closed the hearing and said the resolution (00726) will be taken up at a forthcoming meeting for further consideration.
