The Baltimore County Council held a public hearing on the proposed 2026 Basic Services Maps (Bill 37-26) followed by a work session to discuss numerous contracts, appointments, and bills. The public hearing heard testimony from residents concerned about sewer and transportation deficiencies, while the work session covered updates to animal welfare legislation, retirement system reforms, and local zoning bills.
Okay, so this meeting is for the 2026 basic services maps. Um before we begin today's work session at four, uh we are holding a public hearing pursuant to the provisions of the county charter, the county code, and the zoning regulations regarding the adoption of the 2026 basic services maps. This also includes Bill 3726, which formally adopts the basic services maps. That bill is scheduled for a vote this coming Monday at the 4th of May. Uh the rules of procedure for the public hearing are as follows. Anyone wishing to speak at this virtual hearing should have registered online using the speaker registration form on the council's virtual sessions and hearings web page. We are combining the sign-up for this public hearing and for the work session. Anyone that signed up to speak on basic services maps or on bill 3726 will be given the opportunity to speak at this public hearing. Each registered speaker will be permitted three minutes to speak. Director Lauren Buckler and her staff from the Department of Public Works and Transportation will first speak on the proposed 2026 basic services maps. I don't see you, but I guess you're here. Um is here, uh Mr. Chairman. Okay, all right. So Miss Eichholtz, uh the floor is yours. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the county council. As you know, I'm Lisa Eichholz, Deputy Director of the Department of Public Works and Transportation, and today's public hearing is for the 2026 basic services maps. This bill was originally presented at the April 14th work session. And Article 4a of the Baltimore County zoning regulations require basic services maps to be created annually for water, sewer, and transportation. On February 19th, 2026, the planning board voted to recommend adoption of the basic services maps that have been prepared and presented by DPWT. I will again provide a quick summary of the 2026 maps. For the water map, again this year, there are no deficiencies shown for the 2026 basic services map. For sewer, the 2026 sewer maps show one deficient area and two areas of concern. We have eliminated three areas of concern from the map compared to the year prior, and we continue to make significant progress on eliminating the remaining areas. The one deficient area is related to the Richland Manor Treatment Plant in Perry Hall. The county will be constructing a new Richland Manor pumping station in Force Main that will replace the existing treatment plant. The first project will be advertised this year, and all work is estimated to be complete by early 2031. Once that plan is offline, this area will be removed from the maps. We are pleased to report that the completion of significant sewer rehabilitation and replacement projects along with construction of relief sewers and subsequent flow monitoring have allowed us to close nine sanitary sewer overflow structures throughout the county during the year 2025. These overflow structures include two along Herring Run in Parkville, one in Pikesville along Marnat Road, and four along the Powder Mill in the Gwynok area. With the completion of the assessment period to verify the systems are performing as expected, we are pleased to inform you that we have eliminated these areas of concern from the basic services maps. Now there's one remaining area of concern. I'm sorry, two. One constructed overflow structure remains in the Catonsville area. This is the only remaining non-pumping station overflow structure left in the county. The county and city continue to coordinate modeling efforts to determine the full extent of that project. This area will be will remain on the map until the future project is completed. The area of concern in the Brooklyn Vincent, Brooklynville area is related to sewers near 695 that have limited capacity. The design permitting and property acquisition for a lease sewer project that will eliminate this identified restriction is in its final stages. Once this is constructed, the area will be removed from the maps. As has always been the case, DPWT will continue to review every development plan submitted to Baltimore County to assess that adequate public facilities exist to accommodate the proposed site changes. If issues are identified, system improvements to address identified deficiencies will be required before development projects will progress. For the 2026 basic services maps for transportation, the same failing intersections are on the map as the prior year. There are 11 intersections rated as failing or F. There's one intersection rated as E. Areas around a level of service E intersection would be allowed to develop develop the site if the trips generated are below the available reserve capacity. And all 12 E and F intersections are state roads, and the state rates intersections differently than Baltimore County. In closing, I want to thank you for allowing me again to present the maps for this year's 2026 basic services. Mr.