The Other Utility: MetCom

Posted for St. Mary’s County Metropolitan Commission

For more than half a century St. Mary’s County Metropolitan Commission (MetCom) has served as the public water and sewer utility for St. Mary’s County.

MetCom maintains more than 300 miles of water mains, 200 miles of sanitary sewer lines, 70 wells, 39 ground-based storage tanks, 16 water towers, 52 water pumping stations, 61 wastewater pumping stations and five waste water treatment plants.

This infrastructure, spread across the more-populated areas of St. Mary’s County, in accordance with the County’s planning and growth initiatives, delivers clean drinking water and treats wastewater in accordance with all federal, state, and local standards.

Although regulated by the government, MetCom is an independent, quasi-governmental, not for profit entity. It was created by the State legislature in 1957. MetCom is not a department of the St. Mary’s County government, nor a branch of the state or federal governments. MetCom is supported exclusively by its ratepayers, without any contribution from County tax revenues. The utility serves 16,000 residential and 850 commercial customers.

Service areas are identified by the growth and planning objectives of St. Mary’s County as established by the St. Mary’s County Board of County Commissioners, the Planning Commission and the office of Land Use and Growth Management. In some instances, public sewer service may be extended to certain areas identified by the Health Department as areas of comprehensive septic failures, to prevent a public health hazard.

The Metropolitan Commission has 88 employees. It operates under Section 113 of the St. Mary’s County Code and is governed by a board of commissioners consisting of seven voting members and one non-voting member representing the Patuxent Naval Air Station. Voting members of this board represent the election district in which they reside and are appointed by the St. Mary’s County Board of County Commissioners, serving up to two three-year terms.

The MetCom Board meets every second and fourth Thursday of the month at 3 pm at the Administrative Offices located at 23121 Camden Way, California, Maryland.   Our meetings are open to the public. Anyone who wishes to be placed on the agenda to speak to the board should contact the Commission at (301) 737-7400.