OCEAN PINES To combat
"stagnation," the Worcester County
Commissioners will look to extend
county water and sewer services
into the Pines Plaza area.
The general consensus was that
the project should act as an eco-
nomic booster shot to a struggling
location. However, some on the
commission worried about how the
county will recoup its initial invest-
ment into the project, which is esti-
mated to be about $500,000.
Public Works Director John Tus-
tin asked the commissioners Tues-
day for permission to seek bids for
the water and sewer extension.
"There is no funding for this project
at this point," he said. "We would like
to get the bids out and get the prices
and then come back before you."
The current $500,000 figure is
only a ballpark guess, according to
Tustin.
Once bids are collected, the
county will consider moving ahead
with the installation of 1,600 linear
feet of gravity sewer and 2,300 lin-
ear feet of eight-inch waterline to
the Pines Plaza. The project will
generate 120 new EDUs. Extending
the service to the plaza will hopeful-
ly spur growth, said Tustin, adding
that the project cannot realistically
happen without county involvement.
"Without the county building the
project, it is not going to happen.
You know that the Pines Plaza has
been sitting there for years barely
going," he said. "We need to do
something to spur the economic de-
velopment in that area and water
and sewer facilities will do that."
Commissioner Virgil Shockley
questioned how the project will play
out financially. With all of the busi-
nesses that the extension will serve,
Shockley wondered why the onus
was on the county to pay for the
entire up-front cost.
"Nobody wants to ante up to be-
gin with?" he asked.
Businesses in the plaza aren't in-
dividually large enough to lead the
charge for the extension, answered
County Attorney Sonny Bloxom.
Tustin agreed that there's hesitation
for any single business to put mon-
ey on the line first without knowing
all of the costs, an opinion shared
by Commissioner Judy Boggs.
Boggs, who represents Ocean
Pines, also underlined how necessary
the project is, stating that the plaza is
in desperate need of a jumpstart.
"Nobody wants to start it. And
[Pines Plaza] is more than just lying
there dormant," she said. "It's a
blight now on the area."
County Hopes Utility Extension Saves Pines Plaza
Page 10
July 5, 2013
The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch
By TRAVIS BROWN
STAFF WRITER
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Because the Pines Plaza is
heading toward a pending sale/auc-
tion, Tustin noted the amount of at-
tention focused on the area. He felt
that it's important to get the ball roll-
ing on extending services. Shockley
clarified that he is not opposed to
moving forward with the project but
wanted to make sure that, if the
county picks up the initial bill,
there's some mechanism in place to
recover the funds.
"I'm not saying that we shouldn't.
I'm not saying that we initially should-
n't," Shockley said. "I just want to
know when the pay back is coming."
Businesses that attach to the
provided water and sewer will be
paying for it and that money should
eventually cover the start-up costs
that the county will absorb, replied
Tustin.
"We will be charging them for the
EDUs when they hook-up," he said.
The figures he quoted to the
commission Tuesday were $11,417
per EDU for sewer and $3,000 per
EDU for water.
The schedule on how businesses
will pay that is something that the
commission can set later, said Tus-
tin. In a memo to the commission,
he also stressed that exact costs
will not be known until "bids are in
hand."
The commission voted unani-
mously to grant Tustin permission to
move forward to collect bids and
then return to the commission.
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