The St. Mary’s County Commissioners Tuesday initiated the process to annex their Hayden Farm property into the town of Leonardtown. The commissioners will send a letter to the town making that formal request.
The commissioners at the same time laid to rest the prospect of using some form of land application of sewage effluent on the property to accommodate the expanded jail, two schools and other potential uses on the 171-acre property on Route 245. That was opposed by some residents of adjacent residential areas, including the Leonard’s Grant subdivision.
The Leonardtown Commissioners will review the county’s request and react to it. It is expected the town commissioners will go along with the request and initiate what is a fairly lengthily process under state law.
Having the Hayden property in town could give the town the upper hand in the decision where to locate the new library. The library board wanted the library on the Hayden Farm, but the town commissioners wanted it closer to the center of town. They recently received a donated tract of land close to downtown for the library.
St. Mary’s County Director of Public Works and Transportation George Erichsen said the timing of everything could work out just about right. The completion of the $20 million upgrade to the town’s sewage treatment plant is expected in June of 2014 just a few months later than the anticipated completion of the Detention Center expansion and renovation.
Erichsen said a recent study showed enough land on the Hayden Farm property either for spray irrigation or drip irrigation. But, he said the town’s sewage treatment plant expansion allowed the town to have enough capacity for planned growth in town well into the future. The plant will be expanded to slightly less than a million gallons per day, and could be expanded to 1.2 million gallons per day at a later date.
Commissioner Daniel Morris asked Erichsen to reiterate that spray irrigation was off the table. Erichsen assured him that was the case at least for the foreseeable future. “We are talking years down the road,” Morris asked and Erichsen agreed.
Regarding the annexation, Commissioner President Francis “Jack” Russell said, “I don’t anticipate a whole lot of snags.” He added, “It appears annexation will be the best way to go.”
The commissioners unanimously approved moving forward with the process. There will be a public meeting on the library location in the near future.
