Date: September 21, 2013 Chesapeake Beach Water and Sewer Rates Referendum - A Little Background and my Response to This Mess: Stewart B. Cumbo, Councilman, Town of Chesapeake Missed the boat, ship has sailed, water under the bridge, stitch in time, etc. – all of those clichés may apply to our situation regarding annexation and the lowering of our water bills! Specifically, a developer Brooke Kaine owns property west of Chesapeake Village, and he had been trying to encourage the City Council to annex this area into the Chesapeake Beach town limits. Mahoney, Reinhardt, Beaudin and Krahling (a realtor) who are non-growth advocates have always uncompromisingly and myopically chosen to neither allow nor consider annexation. Now, Kaine at this point may or may not build on his land anytime soon! If or when he builds his residential community, it will be located here in Calvert County. And, whenever he does build, these homeowners will be on septic systems, and Calvert County will reap all tax benefits. However, an annexation of this area into the Town of Chesapeake Beach (They will be here, regardless.) could provided Chesapeake Beach with a potential for collecting millions of dollars- particularly, through water/sewer connection fees. Additionally, this annexation could give environmental protection to us by alleviating septic systems, it could allow the collection of property taxes, it could given us zoning control, and it could prevent the proposed significant increases in water and sewer rates which we are now facing. Clearly, annexation would have been beneficial to Chesapeake Beach. Be aware: This development could still come to us! Therefore, it will either work for us or against us! At this time, annexation is necessary to work for us! Mind you, I am always cognizant of keeping the small town ambiance of the Beach, and I am vigilant in keeping it that way. However, with vision on the future, sometimes adjustments are necessary for the of benefit all. The two major arguments against the annexation had been traffic on Maryland Route 261 and overcrowding of students at Beach Elementary school. Both concerns are valid, and they are being resolved: The State Highway Administration has approved funding to replace Fishing Creek Bridge to improving traffic at Mears Ave. The Calvert County School Board is addressing the overcrowding and also the under-enrollment at Windy Hill and Plum Point Elementary Schools. To reemphasize and to clarify, I am not an advocate for growth; I am always an advocate for what is best for our town. Keeping in mind the need and the cost for the ENR Project which is mandated by the State at the Wastewater Treatment Plant and knowing that our water and sewer rates for years have been the lowest in the region - It is obvious that we are going to have to change our water and sewer rate structure. But, the offer to annex Kaine’s property into the town would have off-set the payback of the ENR project, and it would have continued keeping our water and sewer rates low – Considering that, annexation continues to be our best way to proceed. Of course, we wish to remain a small town! It is and has always been my focus and effort to keep the town that way. Again, that does not always mean no-growth. It means smart growth. Remember, we are a designated town center. Had this town not stretched when it was necessary, there would be no Richfield Station, no Chesapeake Village, no Chesapeake Station, no Windward Key, and no Bay View Hills! In light of that, perhaps, neither you nor I would be here today to enjoy this lovely community. Let us work together in order to make pertinent changes to maintain the ambiance and the character of our town. Let us do what is necessary when it is necessary to keep the town viable. Therefore, I squarely and solemnly put this issue of high and increasingly higher water and sewer rates upon this group of four who apparently, I believe, serve with personal agenda and self- interest, and they do not always serve to put the town interests before their own. This is unfortunate, and this situation could have been prevented had they exercised prudence. Now, in order to save the day and for the reasons stated herein, we must act by following a plan for annexation when it presents itself – It will satisfy our current needs and future needs as we strive to keep our small town atmosphere and our water rates fair, reasonable and in check. You are aware of the self-serving and lack of compromise of members of our town council - specifically toward attempting to address the issue of Water and Sewer Rates. As you know, four members of the town council passed a resolution to adopt a new water and sewer rate structure enacted by Ordinance 0-13-8. Subsequently, a petition sponsored by Wesley Donovan sought to take to a referendum only the portion of Ordinance 0-13-8 which amended the water and sewer usage rate. I supported that resolution for a number of reasons: First, Councilwoman Beaudin and Councilman Krahling supported and advocated for the flat water rate structure. Unfortunately, throughout numerous presentations to support their proposition, they never presented accurate numbers for the cost and billing impact on the users of the system. Second and paramount, the cost to the users of the flat rate structure proposal was extraordinarily high to the majority of residential users. Some commercial user rates were even higher. A large portion of the community would see increases of 300-400 percent. This is absolutely unfair to us! Why should anyone have to absorb these rate increases in these economic times? Can the council do better? Yea, I think so. So, where have we been and where are we now? Rather than working together as a council to get the best and most affordable water and sewer rate structure, four of our council members have chosen a path to fight over the validly of the outcome of the referendum “over one contested petition circular.” The four previously mentioned council members, as you may recall, initiated “Robo calls” and their own petition supporting their flat rate structure resulting in approximately 200 signatures (less than 5% of the registered voters). Mr. Donovan’s Petition for Referendum gathered over 1000 signatures resulting in 20% of the registered voters necessary to trigger a referendum. Unbelievably, both Krehling and Beaudine now take the position as a result of Donovan’s 20% outcome, that they now represent the 80% of the remaining voters? Really! In addition, two town municipal attorneys (both a past and present Chesapeake Beach Town Attorney’s) provided written legal opinions supporting the validity and certification of the referendum. To-date, the opposing side of this issue has provided no legal written opinion to support their proposition that the referendum had failed. Paramount and as a matter of their fiduciary responsibility, these four council members failed to heed the opinion of the town attorney on the validity of the certification of the referendum. They have characterized the “Legal Opinions” as “Fluff and Bulling.” Finally after months of gridlock over a “moot” argument on the certification and validity of the referendum, last night, Thursday, September, 19, 2013, the council finally voted to set a date for the citizens to vote on the referendum (December 7, 2013). Additionally, the water and sewer rates will remain the same at the same rate prior to the passing of ordinance 0-13-8. I will recommend on December 7, 2013, that we vote against the water and sewer rate structure as approved in Ordinance 0-13-8 and send the council back to create a sustainable and affordable new rate structure. We can do better! Business or commercial, believe me - You really don’t want to see what the increase in rates will be - which 0-13-8 will cost you!
Posted on: Sat, 21 Sep 2013 22:25:50 +0000
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