THE CITY OF FREDERICK

101 NORTH COURT STREET

FREDERICK, MARYLAND 21701

UTILITY COMMITTEE

Minutes

2:00 p.m.

Tuesday, February 27, 2007, City Hall – Board Room

Aldermen Present: Alderwoman Hall (Chairman), Alderman Koontz, Alderman Imhoff.

City Staff Present: Saundra Nickols, City Attorney; Keith Brown, Acting Asst. Deputy Director of Public Works; Gene Walzl, Project Engineer; Sarah Stamper, Engineering Secretary.

Citizens/Representatives Present: Mr. Jeremy Holder, Ausherman Development; Mr. John Mazelon, Fox & Associates.

Item 1: Approval of the minutes from the meeting of August 22, 2006.

Alderman Koontz moved to approve the minutes as published. Alderwoman Hall seconded the motion and the minutes were approved.

Item 2: Discussion of a request by Fox & Associates on behalf of the owner, Clover Ridge LLC, to extend City water & sewer lines to serve the 54.2 acre parcel, TM 57 Parcel 110, located at the southeast quadrant of the intersection of Yellow Springs Pike and Christopher’s Crossing in advance of the County’s proposed roadway improvements in order to avoid open cutting the reconstructed paving section in the future. This parcel of land is currently located outside the City Corporate Limit.

Mr. Jeremy Holder, Ausherman Development, was present to represent the owners. He referenced the plan/map which was included in the agenda packets received by the committee members, and stated that they are currently finishing the Whittier project and have a rapport with the Homeowner’s Association. The County is moving forward to upgrade Christopher’s Crossing. Many of the utilities in that area are closely knitted together and the request was to extend or stub the water and sanitary sewer up to and just into the Clover Ridge LLC parcel prior to the pavement of the road to avoid cutting the road at a later date and to save the expense and the difficulty in performing the construction after the road was paved. He noted that while the property in question was not currently in the City, it was located within the current City Growth Area designated as Residential-Moderate Density and it was in the Priority Annexation Area, and was included in the City’s Future Water and Sewer Service Area. He noted that prior to the water moratorium; the process of annexation had begun, but was now on hold. He also noted that it was understood that any further extension of City utilities could not occur until the parcel was annexed into the City. Mr. Holder explained that the City’s Engineering Department was currently reviewing improvement plans for both the water and sewer line, but City Staff had concerns about approving the improvement plans as the property was not located within the City limits.

In response to questions/statements made by Aldermen Imhoff and Koontz, Mr. Holder stated that ultimately it was the intent of the developer to annex the property into Frederick City in the future, but to install the infrastructure now while the difficulty of performing the work and the expense could be minimized.

Aldermen Imhoff and Koontz wanted to make it clearly noted that it was the intent of the City to annex the property in the future as the property was within the City’s Priority Annexation Area, and was also in the corridor of other potential annexations to the City.

Alderman Koontz questioned if a condition of the approval could be that the City have the authority to inspect the infrastructure because it would be a City of Frederick waterline.

Mr. Holder responded that he assumed that the County would rely on the City to inspect the infrastructure.

Mr. Brown stated that City staff could not approve water lines to be installed to serve lots outside of the City. He also expressed concern regarding the size of the tap. Mr. Brown stated that the tap should be of sufficient size to serve the property in question in addition to other adjacent lots that may need to be served in the future. Mr. Brown recommended that the properties in the future annexation corridor be serviced from the Whittier Tank instead of the new booster tank and that the plans should be reviewed by the City’s Engineering Department to ensure that the pipes and infrastructure were designed to be adequate for all the future needs of that area.

Ms. Nickols reminded everyone that the Utility Committee was an informal committee which made RECOMMENDATIONS to the Mayor and Board of Aldermen.

Alderman Imhoff moved to recommend approval of the request to the Mayor and Board of Aldermen based on the information that the property was located within the City’s Growth Area designated as Residential-Moderate Density, was a Priority Annexation Area, and was included in the City’s Future Water and Sewer Service Area, recognizing that performing the requested construction at this time would minimize the expense as well as the difficulty of performing the task, with the condition that the design of the infrastructure be approved by the City’s Engineering Department to ensure that it would service the future needs of the property in question in addition to the other adjacent areas designated for future annexation, and recognizing the intent of both the owner and the City that the property must be annexed into the City prior to receiving any City utilities. In addition, it is noted that recommended approval of this request to lay the infrastructure at this time does not grant any guarantee now or in the future, that the City must annex the property nor obligate the City to provide any utilities.

Alderman Koontz moved to adjourn the meeting at 2:15 p.m. as there were no more items on the agenda. Alderman Imhoff seconded the motion and the meeting was adjourned.