By the time you read this, the Town of Marlinton will have held a special meeting for the Second Reading of an Ordinance to continue to move forward with a combined water/sewer/storm-water project.
How and why is this project of great importance to see through to completion?
In years past, the Town has spent thousands of dollars in fines related to certain violations of regulations, as required by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and other corresponding state Division of Environmental Protection (DEP) violations. Furthermore, these violations and associated fines will continue – again and again – without the improvements this proposed project will provide.
In 2021, while grant applications were being made for this project, the Second Avenue lift station experienced a total failure of operation.
Even then, the deteriorated conditions of that section of the system included rotten side-rails which contributed to the delay in proper repairs. These types of repairs and replacements are extremely expensive. With assistance from our Engineer, the Town was very fortunate to secure a “critical needs grant” of $100,000 from the Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council (IJDC) to make those repairs.
According to the best estimates of project engineers, the total costs of this project and all improvements is approximately $27,399,440. A huge amount for a small Town. Much of the present downtown water-sewer system is 60-100 years old. Repairs will never be any more affordable than they are now. Replacing the entire system would be $100 million plus.
Thanks to Region-4 Staff and others, the grants awarded to this project currently stand at 70% of total. This is $19,080,040 of the total improvements that do not have to be financed by our residents or businesses. This is an amount of grant dollars that may not be available in the coming years. Grant dollars that should not be denied.
Rest assured, the Public Service Commission (PSC) and funding agencies will not authorize a loan that the fee structure will not support. Likewise, user fees will not be allowed beyond what is considered reasonable. Also, this is exactly why medium household income (MHI) is a measure used in the formula, to determine eligibility for financing.
Sam
