by Geoff Fox
The filtration of the town’s water was called into question by a resident during the March town meeting on Tuesday evening, March 10.
Craig Ziler, who has lived along Main Street for 12 years, town officials the water in town is “terrible” and he has replaced multiple faucets in his house and “everything to do with water.”
He asked officials if the town has a filtration system for the town’s water supply.
Town Manager Mike Faith said the town used to have a softening system for the water, but it had reached the end of its life expectancy.
To install a new water softener system, it would run the town about $250,000, so Culligan came to look at the system and suggested the town not do a softener system because the water wasn’t that hard.
“I’m with you on that,” Faith said, adding he’s on his third hot water heater and replaced his fixtures as well.
Faith said the only solution he had was to put a softener in his house and handle it that way.
With the limited funds the town has, Faith said it wouldn’t have been cost effective to install the softener on their end.
The town can treat well water, as the town isn’t getting river water, Faith said.
Ziler also addressed an idea Councilman David Kerns brought during the February meeting where building houses would bring people to Hancock.
Ziler said he was as concerned about the school as everyone else, but as a concerned citizen of the town, officials should think about industrial development and bringing jobs to town before thinking about the housing.
“We need to bring jobs into this town. That’s my opinion,” Ziler said.
Faith said he agreed the town needs jobs and gave examples of some of the job numbers brought to Hancock recently.
In talking to BFS, Faith said they’ve been doing very well with Burger King, IHOP, Little Caesar’s, and the convenience store with getting people to work there.
Minimum wage in Maryland is $15, which is higher than both West Virginia ($8.75) and Pennsylvania ($7.25) and invites people from those states to work in Maryland to make more money.
Ziler admitted he didn’t realize how many people Trulieve employed. Lanehart said the cannabis company has well over 100 people working at the South Street facility.
Story Cannabis, which occupies the former Antique Mall building on Pennsylvania Avenue, has been a net gain compared to the Antique Mall, said town officials.
Faith added Sheetz is looking to make a big investment in their property, but it’s a little complicated due to being in a floodplain, and there was someone who was looking at the former Pizza Hut building.
“I think we’re moving forward slowly,” Faith said. “It just takes time.”
Faith said that within the last 25 years, a lot of housing inventory has been taken off the market for various reasons, ranging from people buying houses and not fixing them up to trailer parks disappearing.
Lanehart said a lot of the people who lived here worked at Rayloc, Fleetwood, and other places that have since left Hancock. Rayloc is still in Hancock, just at a smaller scale.
“If you look back, that’s when everything started,” Ziler said.
Councilman Richard Strong said if people who owned buildings along Main Street did what they were supposed to do, there could be businesses along Main Street when he moved to Hancock in 2000.
Ziler pointed out the condition of the buildings and needing demolished and wondered what that does to the value of his and other homes in that area.
“The value of our homes go down because of the way the town is going,” he said.
Faith later added houses have recently been fixed up and have families living in them, duplexes have been built on Brent Street, and another property on Fulton Street is possibly being developed.
“There’s some things that you probably don’t see that aren’t advertised, but there’s some things going on,” he said. “Positive things.”
Councilman David Kerns also told town officials of a county law going into effect starting July 1 that is beneficial to Hancock and Cascade school districts, where if you build a house in either district, the person would not pay excise taxes.
“That is a huge benefit,” Kerns said.
