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About 50 concerned residents crossed the boundary line between their homes in the Village of Rosemont and the City of Brunswick Tuesday night to attend a public hearing about a proposal to terminate their water service.

Only about eight Rosemont residents actually offered public comment on the subject, but their words touched on many concerns of those who get their public water service from Brunswick.

"When I grew up in Rosemont, Rosemont and Brunswick were like this," Rosemont Commissioner Tom Watson said Tuesday night, pressing his first and middle fingers tightly together. "Today there are very few business owners left in Rosemont, and the railroad is almost gone, but Rosemont and Brunswick are just as connected … We're your friends, we're your neighbors, we're not your enemy … We are willing to work with the City of Brunswick."

Their words came in the wake of what county and state officials are saying may be an unprecedented proposal to terminate water service to about 80 Rosemont residences who receive public water, effective May 25. Tuesday's hearing was limited to public comment, and the Brunswick mayor and councilmen remained mostly tight-lipped.

"Tonight the purpose is to obtain public comment before we make a decision," said Mayor Carroll Jones before the hour of testimony began.

Rosemont's water lines, like many older lines across the county, are deteriorating and will eventually require an estimated $3.3 million to replace or repair. The concern that has the two municipalities at odds is determining who owns the aging lines, and who, therefore, should foot the bill for maintaining and replacing them.

Rosemont does not have its own water service – or ambulances, fire company, police or other services – so Brunswick has sold its residents water since the village's incorporation in 1953 under an unwritten contract. As such, Rosemont and county officials argue that the lines are not Rosemont's responsibility.

"Neither the village nor the county commissioners thought it was appropriate for Rosemont to take on that burden," Michael G. Marschner, director of Frederick County's Utilities and Solid Waste Management, said at a meeting on the issue in Rosemont last month.

But Brunswick officials argue that they are Rosemont's lines and that Brunswick taxpayers should not have to pay to replace them. Brunswick resident Vivian Smith attended the meeting to make that point.

"I have an idea: if Brunswick and Rosemont are like this … why don't you come across that little line and pay taxes with me. Don't expect Brunswick to do everything for you," she said. "I don't know how much more we can pay out."

Brunswick distributed a staff report Tuesday which stated its position more clearly than it had been before. One of its key arguments is that it would be financially prohibitive for Brunswick to fix the lines, and that the city needs to keep its own residents as its first priority.

"Components of the city's own water distribution system also need to be replaced or upgraded at a cost far beyond current or foreseeable future revenues or grants," the report states. "The required replacement of the Rosemont Distribution System will benefit only the Rosemont Service Area customers, not the city's taxpayers. The city's first obligation is to its citizens whose own water distribution system is in dire need of an upgrade and/or replacement."

Rosemont, Brunswick and county officials worked for about two years toward a solution for repairing the lines, but none was reached.

On Jan. 8, Brunswick sent a letter of intent to Rosemont and county officials that asked for Rosemont, the county, and/or an association of Rosemont residents to "pursue … in good faith" a long-term water supply agreement with Brunswick under which one or more of those three parties would assume responsibility for operating and maintaining the village's water system.

Rosemont did not sign the letter of intent because it did not have the legal standing to do so, according to Rosemont Burgess Jackie Ebersole. The county responded to the letter in January by refusing to execute it.

"The county's position is that we have no jurisdiction or responsibility for the water distribution system in Rosemont, and we do not intend to enter into a long-term water supply agreement or sign the letter of intent," Frederick County Board President Jan H. Gardner told The Gazette in an e-mail in January.

Brunswick officials say it took refusals from Rosemont and the county to execute the letter, combined with the liability Brunswick says it may incur if it continues to maintain the substandard Rosemont water system, as grounds to propose cutting off water service to the village.

Knoxville resident Woody Woodrum, whose water service would be cut off under the proposal, also spoke at the hearing, ending with a question for the mayor and councilmen that is on the minds of many residents.

"I think you guys know you're not going to cut my water off," he said. "You're legally maneuvering, and I don't know what you're up to, but you're not going to cut my water off … Should I still pay my water bill?"

A second public hearing is scheduled for Nov. 25, and the Brunswick mayor and City Council say they will probably vote on the proposal at a Dec. 2 meeting.