by Geoff Fox
The Town of Hancock is asking residents to keep an eye out for contractors or companies connecting to the fire hydrants in town without authorization.
In a social media post on Thursday, August 27, the town said each summer there are individuals drawing water without permission and without paying for the usage.
Only emergency personnel and licensed operators, usually town employees, are legally permitted to operate the fire hydrants.
Unauthorized use is not only theft, it’s also a serious public safety concern.
Improper hydrant operation can damage equipment, reduce water pressure needed for fire response, and, if a check valve is not used, can even introduce contamination into the town’s water system.
Town Manager Mike Faith said this isn’t the first incident the town has had with someone using a hydrant without permission, noting he caught two other attempts to use the hydrants
At that time, though, the town didn’t look to press charges for water theft on the people. Faith said the town had the person pay for the water and imposed a $500 fine.
There have been suspicions about people using the hydrants, but the two Faith said were the only two where the people have been caught.
“We could put meters on the hydrants but then we’d have to read them every quarter or every month” Faith said. “And you can’t lock the hydrants. That’s illegal and you can’t do that. So there’s not a lot options there.”
Faith said if they see someone using the hydrants that’s not a town employee or firefighter, they’d need to call Town Hall.
He couldn’t give details about the people caught last week, but once the charges are filed it would be public information.
Faith said Councilman Josh McCusker saw someone hooked to a hydrant near his house and called Faith to see if the town was selling water to anyone. After a call to the town’s operator in training, he found out the answer was no.
Police were called and found the person at another location, Faith said.
The person told the town he had a permit from the City of Hagerstown to draw water anywhere in the district, which Faith said does not include Hancock.
Faith made a call to Hagerstown asking about the permit, which they confirmed, but it was only good inside the Hagerstown city limits.
“You can’t just hook up everywhere in the county,” Faith said.
The person told Faith he’d be happy to pay for the water, but as he told the officer, town officials had already made the decision to press charges.
The town has experienced high water usage due to water leaks.
When asked if any hydrant usage that didn’t get caught contributed to the usage numbers being up, Faith said the hydrant didn’t contribute to those.
“Our highest water usage month this year has been February,” Faith said adding construction wouldn’t be drawing water at that time of year.
Faith said he didn’t think it has in the past, and he could be wrong, but he doesn’t think it’s significant.
If the water theft from the hydrants was that prevalent, people would call and let Town Hall, Faith said.
Faith noted, if the person is buying water, someone from the town would be at the hydrant at the same time so the hydrant can be opened.
There is a technique to open the hydrant and if someone untrained and unqualified opens it, the hydrant breaks, the town wouldn’t know about it.
If someone wants to buy water from the town, they’re charged the out of town rate, which is double the standard rate.
“We don’t really sell a lot of water,” Faith said. “We’re not interested in selling water to people.”
The town doesn’t make money from selling the water from the hydrants and Faith said it ties up a town employee.
The primary use of the town’s water supply is to provide water to the town’s residents.
The town asks if anyone witnesses anyone other than emergency personnel or town employees connecting to a hydrant report it immediately to the Hancock Police Department at 1-800-792-8501 or to Town all at 301-678-5688.
