Thurmont Receives $1.5 Million Grant for Flood Mitigation Project
The Town of Thurmont has received notification from the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) that they have been selected to receive a grant from the Maryland Water Infrastructure Financing Administration (WIFA), which will be used to fund the Emmitsburg Road Flood Mitigation Project, a project that has been in the planning stages since 2021. The WIFA funding is a grant which means no annual debt service; however, a one-time 25 percent local match is required. Engineering and design costs, which have already been incurred, totaling approximately $190,000, can be used to supplement the $375,000 match, leaving the Town with approximately $185,000 in additional funds needed to satisfy the required match.
During the September 15th Town Meeting, Commissioner Martin Burns said the funding for the project makes sense to him. “We’d be ignorant not to do this,” Burns said. “We only need to come up with $185,000 for a $1.5 million project.”
Mayor John Kinnaird agreed, stating, “We’ve been trying to resolve flooding on Emmitsburg Road for some time now, and this allows us to do it.”
The Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to fund the required match from the town’s General Fund Capital Reserve account, not to exceed $200,000.
The project has already undergone engineering and design and incorporates the following components:
Construct a new stormwater basin on property owned by the town on North Church Street.
Construct a new stormwater basin on property owned by the town on Radio Lane.
Improve the existing channel and culverts under Emmitsburg Road, connecting the two basins.
The WIFA grant will cover the costs of all three components of the project. Grant stipulations require the project to be under construction in Fiscal Year 2027, which runs from July 2026 through June 2027.
