Evening star., 1953-06-25
Lost Of q Series

lied by the 1858 Legislature to
extend its water service to Anne
Arundel and Howard Counties
in order to supply the District
Training School in Anne Arun-
del County near Laurel.
The enabling act permitted the
utility to lay much larger pipe
than would be needed to supply
the training school alone in an
ticipation of serving some of the
Howard and Anne Arundel
County residents of that area.
Negotiations are now underway
to furnish that service.
Expansion Seen.
From this small beginning,
Chief Engineer Harry B. Shaw
believes the commission some day
will be called upon to supply
services to large area of those
two counties.
He points out the commissions
chief source of water-the Pa
tuxent River dam at Brighton
and the soon-to-be-completed
Rocky Gorge dam-are just
about as close to Baltimore as
they are to Washington.
He also enviSions the day when
rapidly-growing Charles County
will ask the commission to extend
it's pipes to Southern Maryland.
Mr.. Shaw said the new $5.7
million Rocky Gorge dam will
almost double the commissions
water supply. He anticipates
that will take care of demand
until sometime in the 1960s.
After that?
"We'll probably have to go to
work on another new dam or a
similar facility" he says, maybe
on the Patuxent. maybe the Sem
eca. It depends on where de-
velopment has moved by then"
Mr.. Shaw's department, the
largest in the agency, was given
a clean bill of health in the re-
cent study report by Ford, Bacon
& Davis. Inc. New York engi-
neering consultants.
Overtime Criticized.
The only real criticism was
that there seemed to be too much
overtime paid to construction
and maintenance workers. The
report recommended that a study
be made of overall requirements
4 to reduce this overtime. Mr..
Shaw says such a study has been
made and much of the overtime
has been eliminated by changing
shifts. He added, however. that
overtime can never be eliminated
completely because so much of
the work is Of an emergency ma
1 ture.
The report also had virtually
no criticism of the water regis
trar's department, recommend
ing. however, that it be respon-
Sible to the controller, rather
than the Secretary-treasurer as
at present. This transfer is be-
ing made. the commission says.
The work in the purchasing
agents Office also was praised.
Most Of the reports criticism
was leveled at the controllers
Office and accounting depart
ment, which it said was poorly
organized and poorly operated" )"
and the commissions books and
records in general.
The New York consultants
said they found q definite lack
of control Of accounting matters
and no definite lines of authority
or responsibility"
Records Inadequate"
Stating that it was impossible
to draw a trial balance from the
general books, the report noted
that the year-end "series of
schedules and what purports to
be a balance sheet and state
ment Of revenue and expenses"
were prepared from scraps of
detailed notes supposedly repre-
senting transactions of the years
business"
Property records, the study
firm found, were totally made
quate and poorly kept" At the
time the firm completed it's study
early this year, it said, no post
ings or entries had been made
to the property accounts since
1047.
This situation warrants i'm
mediate corrective measures as
the commission, the bondholders
and the taxpayers should have
current accounting for funds ex-
pended for water and sewer
extensions and additional water
facilities"
The report recommended that
an appraisal of all commission
property be made. Commissioner
L. S. (Ted) Ray says the COM
mission is planning to have an
outside firm conduct such an
appraisal.
The commissions methods Of
keeping account of its materials
and supplies were criticized.
While the New York firm was
making its study late last year,
the accounting department. it
said. "made a futile effort" to