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Council awards water/wastewater O&M contract; PFAS engineering and plant funding remain under discussion
Summary
Council approved a three-year water and wastewater operation-and-maintenance contract with Environmental Operations (first-year cost $59,232) and heard staff say a PFAS preliminary engineering report is pending review by MDE; the wastewater-plant financing and developer contributions remain unresolved.
Brett, identified in the meeting as the town operator, reported that the town advertised an RFP for water and wastewater operation and maintenance and received a single bid from Environmental Operations. He read first-year pricing for FY2025–26 at $59,232 (an increase of $2,820 from the prior amount) and outlined proposed renewal-year rates. Brett moved to approve the RFP award to Environmental Operations; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote.
On project planning, Brett said engineers will meet to discuss the town’s PFAS project and that the town is awaiting Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) comments on a preliminary engineering report. He expressed hope the PFAS project could start by the end of the year pending approvals and funding.
Council members and a meeting participant discussed the town’s longer-term wastewater-plant needs. Participants said the town lacks sufficient borrowing capacity to build a plant sized for two planned developments and discussed options including a forward-funding arrangement with developers. One participant cited a rough estimate that constructing a larger plant could add about $320 per quarter to residents’ sewer bills; council members said they were not prepared to increase bills by that amount and are pursuing alternatives. The transcript contains inconsistent spellings for a referenced developer (appearing as both “Wormald” and “Warmoth”); the article reports the ambiguity rather than correcting it.
Details: The O&M contract motion was made by Brett (speaker 6) and seconded by a council member (speaker 3); the council approved the contract by voice vote. Brett also reported that MDE has the preliminary engineering report and that the town hopes to address PFAS work and plant expansion in coming months, contingent on funding and regulatory review.
Next steps: Staff will meet with engineers and continue discussions with potential development partners about forward-funding options; the town will await MDE’s review of the PER and return to council with recommended steps.
