A Few Things To Know Before The Water Tower Meeting
A public meeting will be held from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday night at Glyndon Elementary School.
Tonight at Glyndon Elementary School, residents will have the long-awaited opportunity to hear from the Baltimore County Department of Public Works, which has narrowed a list of more than 20 potential sites for a water tower down to six, a department spokesman said.
All six locations are expected to be in residential areas. Debate began when residents learned that a top pick for the tower's location was a site at the corner of Timber Grove Road and Bond Avenue.
Here's what you need to know heading into tonight's meeting, which runs from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.:
1. Public Works has said the tower ought to be built at an elevation of 700 feet.
2. The tower must be built somewhere on the eastern half of Reisterstown's fifth water zone, public works director Ed Adams said in July.
3. A group of people who live near the potential site at Timber Grove Road and Bond Avenue have mobilized against the tower's construction using a Facebook page, online petition and website. The petition includes almost 1,300 signatures and was hand delivered to county offices earlier this week.
4. Though the meeting will include explanations from public works engineers, department spokesman David Fidler has said the decision on where the water tower will go is a political one. The community and the county will have to come to an arrangement everyone can live with -- the only thing that is certain, he said, is that a water tower must be built.
"It's going to be their decision," Fidler said.
5. Home property values should not be negatively impacted, regardless of where the tower is placed, a University of Maryland professor said.
6. The meeting's agenda will be similar to what is listed below, Fidler said:
6 p.m. to 6:15 p.m., Mingle, meet-and-greet-, get settled.
6:15 to 6:30 p.m., Introductory remarks.
6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., official presentation on sites.
7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., open forum for discussion. No sign-ups necessary.
CJ
11:06 am on Thursday, October 27, 2011
Thanks for the excellent synopsis Alexander! It’s good to have this info up front so not too much of the meeting is used up rehashing "old news".
As a neighborhood Realtor however, I have to respectfully disagree with the notion that "home prices should not be negatively impacted" when in the vicinity of a water tower. I can tell you from my many years of professional experience that water towers and high tension electric towers do indeed negatively affect home prices nearby. In fact appraisers will sometimes calculate and mention "fall lines" and the mere presence of these types of structures in their reports; which can affect mortgage companies decisions to lend money for a purchase.
Regardless of that, prospective buyers virtually always consider the aesthetics and safety of these types of structures when making home-buying decisions.
Alexander Pyles
11:29 am on Thursday, October 27, 2011
Thanks for weighing in, Carl. In your opinion, how significantly might property values be impacted?
CJ
11:38 am on Thursday, October 27, 2011
In my opinion Alexander, property values and saleability could be significantly impacted. Sometimes it not so much a matter of the effect on home prices but more importantly whether it takes homes completely out of the purchase equation for some potential buyers. I've had buyers simply tell me "NEXT" when they see that a home is near a water tower or electric tower.
Bonnie Levitt
2:25 pm on Thursday, October 27, 2011
After reading the two Patch articles I can only assume that the professor interviewed had his own political agenda since he referred to Wall St. and the folks camping out-neither of which have ANYTHING to do with the Water Tower issue. It's refreshing that nobody else (irregardless of their opinion re: water tower) stooped as low as the professor. Shame on him.
Momofmany
3:45 pm on Monday, January 9, 2012
Ok, so all of you "tree huggers" can be the last to have your water restored during our next water main break. You all don't get it our water system designed >25yrs. ago is inadequate and elevated water tanks =head pressure =absolutely necessary to maintain a looped water system with the demands that ours now has with increased utilization and a "built out" community. To the realtor tell me the last time a water tower fell v. when a tree fell on a house?