The Commish Not So Happy With Septic Bill

“Wouldn’t you like to be governor for a day so you could fire Rich Hall?”

Commissioner Evan Slaughenhoupt expresses frustration over Maryland’s recently approved Septic Bill. Hall is the secretary of the Maryland Department of Planning.

Calvert County Department of Community Planning and Building Director Charles Johnston updated the county commissioners on a recent meeting he (Johnston) and members of his staff had with Maryland Department of Planning officials. Johnston’s summary, presented during the staff session prior to the commissioners’ Tuesday, July 31 meeting was not well received.

Johnston and department staff met with state officials about the possible impacts of the Sustainable Growth and Agricultural Preservation Act of 2012, which is better known as The Septic Bill. He indicated the possibility is strong that minor town centers such as St. Leonard, Dunkirk and Huntingtown, which are not served by public sewer, could have their priority funding area status compromised should the county fail to comply with The Septic Bill. Building a major subdivision or expanding a smaller residential development would appear to violate the statewide measure.

As I have stated before, I think part of the motivation behind the septic bill is to force as much of Maryland as possible into the major cities. The cities traditionally support the party in power, and Gov. O'Malley and the democrats in the legislature hope that by forcing growth into the cities, they will increase their own power. 

The commissioners were prepared for a presentation on revisions to the St. Leonard Town Center Master Plan July 31 when a brief power outage brought the session to an abrupt halt. The momentary glitch impacted the equipment being used to videotape the meeting for broadcast later, on the government cable channel. The commissioners waited while the situation was corrected. To fill the lull, Commissioner Steven R. Weems [R] performed his version of the old Righteous Brothers hit “You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feeling.” Weems received applause and soon the important but arguably less entertaining town center master plan presentation resumed without any further delays.

Steve Weems, our local commish, runs one of the two liquor stores in town.  A pretty nice guy, really.  One of the things I like about St. Leonard is that for a small town, we have all the essentials; two liquor stores, bait, and groceries.  Now all we need is fireworks and firearms.