A Few Things To Know Before The Water Tower Meeting

Tonight at Glyndon Elementary School, residents will have the long-awaited opportunity to hear from the Baltimore County Department of Public Works, which has narrowed a list of more than 20 potential sites for a water tower down to six, a department spokesman said.

All six locations are expected to be in residential areas. Debate began when residents learned that a top pick for the tower's location was a site at the corner of Timber Grove Road and Bond Avenue.

Here's what you need to know heading into tonight's meeting, which runs from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.:

1. Public Works has said the tower .

2. The tower must be built , public works director Ed Adams .

3. A group of people who live near the potential site at Timber Grove Road and Bond Avenue have mobilized against the tower's construction and website. The petition includes almost 1,300 signatures and was hand delivered to county offices earlier this week.

4. Though the meeting will include explanations from public works engineers, department spokesman David Fidler has said the . The community and the county will have to come to an arrangement everyone can live with -- the only thing that is certain, he said, is that a water tower must be built.

"It's going to be their decision," Fidler said.

5. Home property values should not be negatively impacted, regardless of where the tower is placed, a University of Maryland professor said.

6. The meeting's agenda will be similar to what is listed below, Fidler said:

6 p.m. to 6:15 p.m., Mingle, meet-and-greet-, get settled.
6:15 to 6:30 p.m., Introductory remarks.
6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., official presentation on sites.
7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., open forum for discussion. No sign-ups necessary.