KINGWOOD — In a partnership, the Preston County Economic Development Authority and the Preston County Commission have presented five projects for potential consideration for Community Project Funding. The initiative allows members of U.S. Congress to directly address the most significant needs of the communities they represent.
At their Tuesday meeting, County Administrator Kathy Mace said two large-scale projects, one medium project, and two small projects were submitted to U.S. Congressman David B. McKinley’s office for funding consideration.
The projects were submitted for consideration by Roberta Baylor, executive director of the PCEDA.
“We sit down (commissioners and PCEDA) and talked about potential projects,” Baylor said. “We tried to identify the projects that would have the most positive impacts on residents and on the business climate of the county.”
One of the large projects submitted was the Town of Rowlesburg water treatment plant and sanitary sewer system upgrades. The estimated cost of the project is $11,150,000. The reason for seeking the funding for the project is because the existing WWT lagoon system is failing and there are several issues with the existing collection system. The town cannot add any new customers to the system, per Department of Environmental Protection order, until the project is completed. This prohibits business and residential growth in the town.
The second large project submitted was the PSD 4 water source and treatment plant expansion project. The estimated cost of this project is $11,545,861. The reason for seeking funding for this project is because the existing water plant is running up to 16 hours per day. Wells would be developed to add additional water sources. Due to additional wells, the existing treatment plant would have to be upgraded to handle increased treatment. Today, the PSD does not have the capacity to handle many additional customers. Their service area (northern Preston County along Interstate 68) is the fastest-growing part of the county and is also home to the industrial park. Without this project, continued growth and development is threatened.
The medium project submitted was the Preston County fiber-to-the-home broadband project. The project is estimated to cost $9,000,000 and would construct 308.7 miles of fiber to the home and two wire centers to service 2,404 households in Preston County that are without internet service at broadband speeds.
The first small project submitted was the PSD 1 water treatment plant and water line upgrades project. The cost of the project is $633,000, plus soft costs. The project would upgrade the existing water treatment plant, replace roughly 3,500 feet of water line and construct an additional settling pond. The project is needed to provide more reliable water service to customers who are experiencing issues. The additional settling pond is needed because the number of customers has increased, and this has caused the PSD to be out of compliance with its NPDES permit. (An NPDES permit is typically a license for a facility to discharge a specified amount of a pollutant into a receiving water, under certain conditions.)
The second small project submitted was the Town of Bruceton Mills Big Sandy channel modification and parking lot. The cost of the project is $86,000, and would consist of removing a mid-channel sediment bar to create a bankfull bench on the right bank of the river. The bankfull bench would be seeded and vegetated with a native riparian buffer to provide erosion controls and channel stability during high-water events. Construction of a parking lot (12,040 square feet) would allow for parking for people who are using the area for recreation, fishing and business. The project is needed to reduce and/or eliminate flooding in the town during high-water events.
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