By a 2-to-1 margin, the 28 households on the road just outside Emmitsburg¹s limits voted to help pay to have a new water line run to their homes. Eighteen households cast votes for the project, nine were opposed, and one didn’t vote.

The vote results mean the residents will pay 25 percent of the cost of replacing the existing line. They’ll be offered the option of paying no more than $3,000 up front for their share or paying up to $16.67 extra on their monthly water bill. The exact cost won’t be determined until project bids are received.

Linda Junker, a Mountain View resident who was at the forefront of the replacement-line talks, said she voted for the new line because it’s badly needed and the cost seemed reasonable. "We’ve been talking about this since the early ‘90s," she said, "and the (project) cost and (water) quality didn’t improve. Given the cost factor, I just thought this was as good as it would get.

"I do think the town is acting as best they can, given their own financial situation."

The town will pay for the project by floating bonds through the Maryland Water Quality Financing Administration. They’ll repay the bonds, at a 1.1 percent interest rate, over 20 years.

David Haller, Emmitsburg’s town manager, hopes bid packages can go out within 60 days. A temporary, above-ground line must be built to provide water to homes during the expected 90-day construction period, so he said it’s likely that work won’t begin until spring.

Ms. Junker said she hopes the town can help any affected resident who faces hardships because of the cost increase. She also said that getting a fully functional line could increase property values and lower some people’s homeowners insurance premiums.

Though he’s all for having better water, Blaine Ridenour voted in the minority. His position is that replacing the line should be the town’s responsibility.

In the past, the town paid for water and sewer improvements with money from its general fund, which is primarily filled by tax dollars. Because Mountain View’s residents live outside the town limits, they don’t pay taxes. Those residents, however, pay a premium for water and sewer service. It has been as much as 50 percent more than town residents paid, but that percentage has dropped gradually. That extra money, Mr. Ridenour argued, should have more than covered the replacement line’s cost.

"I’m disappointed," he said. "I can’t believe anybody would want to pay for something that’s already been paid for 30 times over."

Mr. Haller, however, questioned whether that assessment was accurate. He said out-of-town customers historically paid no more than 10 percent more than town residents for water and sewer service until 1998. That extra amount, he said, wasn’t as great as the amount of tax dollars spent on the systems.

Mr. Ridenour believed his neighbors don’t realize that for some, their costs won’t end with the monthly payment. Many of the older homes on the road may need to have the pipes to their houses replaced. He said that could result in an immediate need to pay as much as $1,700.

Once residents start paying on the water line, Mr. Ridenour and Larry McKenna believe Mountain View customers should pay the same as town residents for their water. The town has established a fund to pay for water and sewer capital projects, and part of what every customer pays each month is funneled into that account.

Mr. McKenna didn’t think the residents should have to help pay for the line, but he voted for it because he’s tired of having "terrible" water. He said that eliminating the additional amount Mountain View customers pay for water would be "fair and equitable treatment to all parties."

However, he’s not optimistic that will happen. He suggested it to the town at one of its water-line meetings, but the commissioners didn’t discuss it. Mr. Haller said he’s recommended schedules in which in-town and out-of-town rates would become equal, but the board hasn’t approved a plan.