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Annexation Foe Debates with Developer
Ingrid Mezo
Mike Mathis, a Frederick County resident who lives near to the Town of Thurmont, sent The Catoctin Banner a letter to the editor opposing the annexation of the
Myers’ Farm property. Mathis is not a member of the Catoctin Area Planning and Preservation Association (CAPPA), but has been approached by the group to join them in their effort to
keep the small-town atmosphere of Thurmont, and to advocate the town preserve its surrounding environmental assets, rather than allow annexations to the town for the purpose of
development.
Because we do not have an editorial page, and because we are a monthly publication, The Catoctin Banner asked Tom Hudson, the developer requesting the town annex
the Myers’ Farm so he can build a shopping area, a big box store, and 350 homes there, to respond to Mathis’ concerns.
Mathis: What is the real cost of annexation in Thurmont? Currently, there are several options for Thurmont to grow with developers with money in their hands ready
to ‘solve’ Thurmont’s current financial worries. There is a need for major septic refurbishment to the tune of $2 million. For a small town, that is a huge sum of money.
The developer looking to add 350 homes (with an eventual shopping area) is willing to "give" Thurmont that money if only the land is annexed into the town. Although
this sounds like an easy decision for Thurmont residents who are the only ones allowed to vote on the annexation [should a referendum come up], there are costs, which the developer,
the mayor, or any town officials have yet to address.
Hudson: We would most likely build the shopping area well before the residential. We also, as noted in the annexation agreement outline (see www.thurmont.com for a
PDF of the annexation information) will be offering a generous financial incentive to the Town that is in addition to the required water connection fees, sewer connection fees and
impact fees.
Mathis: If the property is annexed into the town, the town will be effectively split into two sections -connected by the most dangerous divided highway in America -
Rt. 15. The at-grade intersections have injured and killed many over the years and yet, no one is willing to talk about the cost of ‘correct’ cloverleafs, dividing and widening
secondary roads to accommodate the additional 1,500 people. Where is that money coming from?
Hudson: By my math, it is more like 1,015 people (2.9 persons per household times 350 homes) at full build out of the community.
The Town has a stringent Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance ("APFO") that this project will have to satisfy in order to obtain the approval of subdivision
preliminary plats. If our proposed road improvements are not sufficient to satisfy these APFO requirements, our project preliminary plat will be denied by the Town of Thurmont
Planning Commission. After we meet again with the State Highway Administration ("SHA"), we hope to be in a position to propose a number of safety improvements to the section of Route
15 that is adjacent to the Myers Farm.
Mathis: The developer is drilling their own well, and building their own septic system that will drain into Roddy Creek. Once built, the town will inherit the
maintenance, and repair for that.
Hudson (sewer): First off, the town does not have a septic problem, it has a sewer transmission line problem, [which will cost] between $4 and $5 million [to fix,
on top of the $1.5 million the Town has already budgeted to fix the sewer]. Incidentally, this [sewer] problem is one of the main reasons that the Town is under a Consent Agreement
with the State of Maryland. The water and sewer connection fees associated with the permits from my development plus the direct financial incentives offered would help pay for those
repairs.
We are proposing to pay for the construction of a 100,000 gallon-per-day wastewater treatment facility, as part of our community development plan. This wastewater
treatment plant will be built to Enhanced Nutrient Removal ("ENR") standards, as required by the State of Maryland.
Yes, it is true that the Town may eventually become responsible for the maintenance and repair of the proposed wastewater treatment plant, but only after the
developer operates the plant (and funds annual operating deficits) until the community is nearly built out (i.e. 5 to 10 years). When the town takes over control of the treatment
plant, the annual sewer user fees will have been stabilized and will be more than sufficient to cover the annual operating expenses and the non-annual operating expenses (repairs and
equipment replacement etc.). The plant should also turn a nice profit for the Town!
Hudson (water): I understand their concerns. I don’t think the town, nor the State for that matter, would let you do something that would negatively impact the
local aquifer, given the way the regulations and guidelines are set up by the MDE.
I have to bring my own water supply to serve all the needs of the future residents of this proposed community and the proposed retail and office users as well. The
well that I develop on site will have to produce enough water to serve the community’s projected needs or I will not be able to build the proposed community out entirely as
envisioned. I believe the mayor said the municipality would have a responsibility to hook up surrounding property owners to the Town’s water system in the unlikely event there was a
problem with the wells on their property caused by the development of the Myers Property. MDE has some very stringent guidelines governing the approval of wells in the state of
Maryland. Given what I have read, it’s very difficult to get a well approved in the state of Maryland.
We will present to the Planning and Zoning Commission sometime in February. At that presentation, I will have my water resource consultant there to answer the
detailed questions a broader water supply dialogue will generate. I will also have a sewer system consultant at that meeting to answer any technical questions that might arise
regarding the proposed wastewater treatment plant.
Mathis: However, the town officials neglect to indicate the yearly additional cost to Thurmont residents. Once the property is annexed in, then it is an equal part
of the town as any other. So, when there’s a new school to be built, it may likely be built on that property. Do the current Thurmont residents want their children bused over Rt.15
to the "new" schools? Who will be paying for those schools?
Hudson: The development will bring significant ongoing fiscal benefits to the town via sales tax revenues, property tax revenues and annual sewer and water user
fees. Additionally, the builders of the 350 homes proposed for this community will pay over $3.8 million in library and school impact fees to Frederick County.
I did look at the staff recommended Frederick County Board of Education (BOE) Facilities Plan. Based on the county’s accepted pupil generation rates every 50 single
family detached homes generate 9 primary/elementary school students, 5 middle school students and 7 high school students.
Based on my calculations, I don’t think the proposed community will overcrowd the area primary school (once the addition is completed), the elementary school or the
middle school. In fact, if there was a possibility for overcrowding, then I wouldn’t get school APFO approval. However, based on my read of the school projections, I don’t think that
will be a problem, nor is there a need for the construction of a new school.
Over the life of this project’s build out, there will be 47 new high school students living in the proposed development. Projected Catoctin High enrollment for 2009
is 1,097, and the additional students from the proposed development would put you at 1144 students. 1135 students is the state rated capacity for Catoctin High, so that would put you
9 students overcapacity in 2009. If that’s the case, and you’re 9 students over, you wouldn’t be able to get the building permits or plan approval for approximately 60 single family
lots, based on the Town’s APFO requirements.
But, with enrollments projected to decline at Catoctin High, I may just wait an extra couple of years.
Right now we’re only asking for 35 permits a year, and Catoctin High enrollments are projected to decline starting in 2010.
Mathis: Should a medical facility go there, then instead of an in-town doctor, residents can now drive to the new facilities. Who is going to pay for the police,
the fire protection (will there be a need for an additional fire station?)? It’s not the developer, that’s for certain.
Hudson: We would like to locate a medical facility on site that would be complementary to the medical services that already exist in Town.
When the shopping area is built, businesses will be relocating or establishing themselves there. These folks will be paying their fair share to the Town of Thurmont
for public safety, recreation, public works, etc. We project an average per household cost to the Town for public safety of $260 per year per residential unit or approximately
$90,000 per year towards the Town’s public safety budget.
Mathis: The developer and the town officials would have Thurmont residents believe that this growth is essential. Thurmont must grow to prosper. If that were the
case, then a larger town would have fewer problems than a smaller town. Ask New York City and see if that’s the case. How much less crime is there, lower taxes, greater services
because they have chosen to "grow into prosperity."
If you take the total Thurmont town budget and divide by the number of residents, you get a cost of town government per person. This developer is telling Thurmont
that you can add 1,500 people to the town for no additional cost. I don’t think anyone believes that.
Hudson: The Town of Thurmont had $2,583,580 in expenditures according to the fiscal 2005-2006 General Fund Budget. Based on the assumption, that there are 2,372
households in Thurmont (source - Thurmont Master Plan Survey), that works out to $1,089.20 in general fund expenditures per Town of Thurmont household. We estimate that our project,
once built out, will generate nearly $473,000 per year in tax revenue to the Town or $1,351.43 per unit. Based on 2006 dollars, the cost of services provided to the proposed
development by the Town are more than offset by the property tax revenues generated by the project.
Mathis: Annexation is expensive. Not just to the landscape, not just to the wells that will be run dry, not just to the loss of pristine land. The developer doesn’t
want you to think of any creative use for the land.
An empty field to their eyes has only one purpose – to be torn up and covered with housing and shopping. The developer may have promised thousands or millions of
dollars to the town and the town’s projects. But, what is their gain? If you have 350 houses, at an average of $250,000 that is a gross profit of $87,500,000! Who’s best interest is
the developer looking out for? Their own. At our expense.
Hudson: The $87,500,000 figure noted above is the correct calculation of the potential gross revenue for the project. The gross profit generated by the project is
but a fraction of the amount cited above considering the sizeable expenditures associated with generating that gross revenue, specifically: (i) the legal and consulting fees needed
to engineer the project, (ii) the amount needed to purchase the property from the long-time landowners, (iii) the funds needed to build the ENR wastewater treatment plant, (iv) the
yet unknown Route 15 safety improvements and other associated road improvements, (v) the water system exploration and development costs, (vi) the actual on-site development costs
associated with constructing the storm water management system, the roads, sidewalks, curbs and gutters and (vii) the actual costs to construct and sell the individual homes to
community residents.
Also, don’t forget about the financing costs associated with these property’s acquisition and development costs, nor forget about the financial incentives offered
to the Town to assist them with the funding of Town’s I&I repair bills.
Yes, I admit that I hope to make a profit on this project. Wouldn’t you want to make a return on your investment of time, money and patience, just like you expect
on your 401k mutual fund or the salary that you are paid for the services that you render to your employer or the mark up that you make on the goods that you sell to the public?
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