HAGERSTOWN, Md. — Engineering work for the proposed federal immigration detention facility near Williamsport has reached the utility-planning stage, with Washington County and other local service providers now calculating what would be needed to serve the site.
County Administrator Michelle Gordon told Washington County commissioners Tuesday that federal contractor KVG contacted the county in August and is preparing an engineering study covering electricity, natural gas, water and wastewater. Representatives from KVG, Potomac Edison, Columbia Gas, the City of Hagerstown and Washington County met in early September to review the facility’s anticipated utility needs.
“Staff from each of those utility service providers are calculating cost estimates for the proposed utility service needs,” Gordon said.
The meeting marks the latest step forward in planning for the controversial warehouse at 16220 Wright Road, also identified as 10900 Hopewell Road.
Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security told county officials that KVG was responsible for engineering and construction work, including assessing water and wastewater capacity. DHS said the federal government would pay required fees and infrastructure improvements if additional capacity is needed.
Gordon coupled Tuesday’s update with a pointed effort to clarify the county’s role in the controversial project.
“Washington County has made no approvals for and has not voted for this federal project,” Gordon said. She said the county was not involved in selecting the site or the sale of the property and does not have jurisdiction over the federal project.
The federal government generally is not subject to local zoning restrictions when carrying out federal functions, and DHS has not sought county zoning approval for the warehouse conversion. The county has previously said it believes land-use decisions are best made locally but lacks legal authority to stop the federal government from proceeding.
The project remains tied up in federal court. A preliminary injunction issued in April prevents the federal government from performing renovation or construction needed to convert the warehouse into an immigration detention facility while the state’s legal challenge proceeds. Federal court filings have said a stop-work order on that conversion work remains in effect.
Tuesday’s disclosure shows that planning for the facility’s utility requirements is nevertheless continuing. The project has drawn sustained opposition in Washington County, including demonstrations outside the meeting, where chanting and car horns could be heard throughout.
Protesters were again gathered outside the county administration building Tuesday, and the noise was audible enough inside the meeting that a visiting Maryland Association of Counties official joked about the “commotion out front.”
Gordon also used her remarks to push back against what she called “false information” circulating online about both the ICE project and a separate controversy over data centers.
She reiterated that commissioners have not approved a data center and that the county’s current data-center moratorium applies to unincorporated areas rather than municipalities with their own planning and zoning authority.
For the ICE project, however, Tuesday’s update provided a more concrete picture of where planning now stands: KVG is studying the utility requirements, local providers have met with the contractor, and cost estimates for serving the facility are being developed.
