1866                             Laws of Maryland                      [Ch. 739

ANY COURT HAVING JURISDICTION. NOTHING IN THIS
SECTION SHALL PRECLUDE THE COUNTY FROM PERFORM-
ING ANY WORK WITH ITS OWN EMPLOYEES AND/OR
EQUIPMENT.

19 14. Plan, public hearings, subdistricts.
19-15.

(a)    Surveys; operating systems. To provide for the general
health and welfare of the residents of Cecil County, the County
may acquire, construct, operate, and maintain such water, sewer,
and drainage systems as it deems to be in the public interest. The
County may cause surveys, plans, specifications, and estimates to be
made for such systems. Unless all owners of land which will be served
by any such proposed improvements consent in writing to such im-
provements being made, the Commission COUNTY shall construct any
such system or extension thereof only after a public hearing held
by the County Commissioners, after giving notice thereof in two
newspapers of general circulation published in Cecil County at least
seven days prior to the hearing. At the hearing, plans and specifica-
tions for the proposed improvements shall be presented together with
the estimated costs thereof and estimated revenues to be derived
therefrom. The County may divide the sanitary district SANITARY
DISTRICT into water, sewerage, and drainage subdistricts in such
way as in its judgment will best serve the needs of the County SANI-
TARY DISTRICT, and promote convenience and economy of installa-
tion and operation, and permit the raising of revenues and appor-
tionment of costs to those served on an equitable basis, and it is
empowered to keep its books of account accordingly.

(b)    Applicants for service. If the residents of any unincorpo-
rated locality in the sanitary district SANITARY DISTRICT make
application for a water supply, sewerage, or drainage system, or
part thereof, to be constructed in their locality, the County may
require the applicants to bear the reasonable costs for any pre-
liminary engineering studies that the County deems necessary to
determine whether it is feasible to construct the improvements.
Upon the receipt of such reasonable costs as the County deter-
mines to be necessary to conduct the studies, the Director of Pub-
lic Works SANITARY FACILITIES shall have the studies made
and within a reasonable time thereafter advise the COUNTY COM-
MISSIONERS WHO SHALL THEREAFTER ADVISE THE appli-
cants of the results thereof, together with the County's determination
with respect to the application.

       (c) Plans. Prior to construction, the Director shall submit its

plans for projects and their financing to the County Commissioners
for their approval.

19-15. Extension of system when not self-supporting.

Whenever, in the opinion of the county health officer and the?

director of public works, it is necessary, for the protection of

public health, that the water supply and/or sewer systems be

extended to serve existing housing unit which previously had been

permitted to be constructed without public water supply and/or
sewer systems, the county is authorized to construct such extensions
of said systems without meeting the requirement that such project