According to Commissioner Eric Fiori in response to an email sent on this issue, he said "There is much more to the story than what’s being presented. The Ocean Pines wastewater treatment plant was taken over by the county in the early 90s because it was in disrepair and had multiple drainage ditches with raw sewage present. The county spent millions on bringing the plant back up to operating standards. That’s just a quick history of the past, but let me discuss where we are today. The Glen Riddle water tower, and the Glen Riddle sewer plant have had planned repairs for quite a few years but getting directly involved with the newer director of public works Dallas Baker those repairs have begun and should be completed by December. Glen Riddle has been paying the Ocean Pines water and sewer district for both water and pumping and hauling sewage from Glen Riddle. This created a revenue stream for the Ocean Pines district over a half million dollars annually. With the predicted operating deficit for FY 26 in the Ocean Pines sewer district this lack of revenue when the plant gets repaired as well as the water tower will result in a deficit approaching approximately 850,000 or more depending on chemical cost. This would be a yearly increase per user of $85 per year just to break even. That’s an additional $21.25 per quarter with no breakdowns or large maintenance issues at the plant. I’ve been involved with improving the water and sewer system within the county since I was elected. I’ve been at nearly every county meeting that involves waste water and lead the wastewater task force. The idea that Ocean Pines water and waste water should only increase by two dollars unfortunately is not realistic. If the Ocean Pines District has a major failure like the aging discharge pipe to the Saint Martin’s River or a large failure involving one of the concrete holding tanks just to name a few things the results could be financially a heavy burden on the 10,000 users of the Ocean Pines sewer district. Yes, other districts have accrued debt through the years. By combining the service districts, Ocean Pines users would be bearing a percentage of that cost, but large pending future repairs on the Ocean Pines plant will put the financial burden in the other direction as well and will be distributed throughout all user districts and tremendously, soften the burden of those repairs. This is not if these repairs are needed, but when. This is a very complicated issue, but for the reasons of resiliency, I must look at the county as a whole. Combining the districts overtime will not only create sustainability, but will stabilize rates in the upcoming years and into the future. I’d be happy to talk about this more. It’s tough to explain it all, but I would encourage you to go to one of the Town-hall meetings, taking place in multiple locations over the next months.

This is still just a small piece, but I did my best to give you an overall view of the situation. The offer is always there. If you want to give me a call I’d be happy to go over it in even more detail.

Thanks, Eric". Maybe Commissioner Chip Bertino can clear up this information.