Construction launched on mountain water project
HENRY CLAY TWP. – Many mountain area residents will not have to wait much longer for public water as the National Pike Water Authority (NPWA) announced that the 20-mile, $7 million project is near completion at a ground breaking ceremony Monday. For Richard Dennis, chairman of the NPWA, who worked for five years to secure area interest and funding for the project, Monday was the beginning of the final stage to see his dream complete and with the scoop of a spade shovel he said symbolized the digging he has done to see the project come to fruition.
“We have worked diligently and very long hours to help this day come to pass,” Dennis said in the cool autumn sunshine at the Mountain Fellowship Center in Markleysburg. “I am very pleased.”
The completion of the project was in jeopardy in August when construction costs exceeded funds, but was bailed out by $500,000 in federal funds appropriated by U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster.
Shuster said that the project was a priority, after he traveled to the area and saw residents hauling water and buying bottled water.
“This project is critical to the residents because many are surviving on poor quality well water and having clean water is a basic need,” Shuster said. “It is important not only to live but for future economic development in the area.”
Shuster said that the project was a team effort between local and federal authorities and the NPWA and that seeing the project completed is satisfying for all parties involved.
“One of the best things about being an elected official is being able to help,” he said.
Dennis said that without the help of Shuster and U.S. Rep. John Murtha, the project would never have made it. And Shuster said that he and Murtha put partisan politics aside and worked together to help with the project.
“When it comes to projects of this kind we work hand and glove. We put partisanship aside for infrastructure development,” Shuster said.
The project consists of 106,000 linear feet or nearly 20 miles of water lines in Henry Clay, Stewart and Wharton townships and Markleysburg Borough, with about 300 residential and commercial customers receiving water.
In addition, 67 fire hydrants are being installed, two 130,000-gallon water storage tanks are being built and two well houses and treatment facilities are being constructed. The water for the system will be generated from three pumping stations along Beaver Creek Road.
The new system will cost residents $30 per month, in addition to $1,000 tap-in fee, Dennis said. He said once the project is completed the system will stretch along Route 40 from Hawes Road in Farmington to Friendsville Road in Markleysburg, with branches along Marker Road, Dinner Bell Road, Pike School Road, Flat Rock Road, Brown Hill Road and Route 281 into Markleysburg.
Dennis said DT Construction of Connellsville will complete the final construction, and Greensburg Environmental will build the pump stations.
The project was funded by $5.3 million in grants and loans from the USDA Rural Development, $850,000 in funding from the Army Corps of Engineers in Pittsburgh and Baltimore, $50,000 from the Eberly Foundation, $200,000 from Nemacolin Woodlands and $572,500 in borrower contribution.
Byron Ross, state director of the USDA Rural Development, said the project is an example of the community helping to better itself and Lenna Hawkins of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Pittsburgh agreed.
“Unless you have community leaders who are very diligent, you can’t find the money for these projects,” Hawkins said. “I commend the community here for getting this done.”
The National Pike Water Authority was formed in 1998 with the help of local municipalities to aide area residents in addressing concerns about water problems in the mountains and securing government assistance.
Dennis said that along the way there were stumbling blocks, including trying to find a suitable water source and a campaign to thwart the project by mountain residents opposed to mandatory tap-in fees. But now with voluntary tap-ins and two wells at the pumping station pusing out 700,000 gallons a day, Dennis said more residents become interested in the service daily. And Dennis said that two extensions of the water line are already being constructed along Martin Road in Henry Clay Township and Hawes Road in Wharton Township through volunteer work and DEP grants.
Dennis said that while there are no additional phases for the overall project planned at this time, he said the new volunteer programs have made him hopeful for future phases of the water line.
“I told everyone that the numbers were here, that people needed water and now it is coming to fruition.”
Dennis said the entire project should be completed by April 2004, barring any delays from winter weather.