Above map shows projected extension locations for water service.
The Mt. Zion Public Service District hosted a town hall meeting at the Upper West Fork Park on Saturday, April 27th, 2024 to allow the pubic to weigh in on the possibility of an extension of the water line from the current ending location of Chloe to the Clay County line. Once there the line would be tied into a Clay county project that is currently underway extending their service to the Calhoun line.
Mark Sankoff, of Protesta Engineering told the crowd of about 30 people that the PSD had asked them to look into the extension from the southern end of the county. By extending into Clay county the PSD will have another source of water available should the source from Grantsville Municipal’s system happen to have an issue supplying water to the West Fork area.
They Mt. Zion system stand to pick up an additional 50 customers if the line goes through to the proposed areas. Although the lines may go further in the future, it would currently require booster stations costing an average of $250k to $300k which is not feasible with their current expectation of funding available.
The projected project will cost over $5 million dollars, depending upon how many customers agree to sign up for service. An ongoing issue has been providing enough water to turn over the line and keep the chlorine residual up to a legal limit at the end of the line in Chloe. The new extension would not only stabilize pressure but would allow residents to lessen the concern of losing water during a power outage which is experienced by well owners and allow residence to receive a reduction in home insurance costs. As a part of the plan they’ll be building a water storage tank that will help pressurize the line as it travels south. Mr. Sankoff readily answered questions by the residents attending regarding the amount of costs that would be incurred by those willing to sign on for service.
The three year contract for new customers on the extension would include a $100 tap fee, which will be $250 after the construction phase, and a monthly water bill that currently runs $44.16 for the base bill of 2000 gallons of usage.
The funding for this project is hoped to come from a few sources. One of the which has already been submitted to Senators Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin, and is soon to be submitted to Congresswoman Carol Miller for Congressional spending grants. If approved 80% of the project costs could be covered; but Mr. Sankoff warned that the grants were very competitive and even if approved would have to pass through the approval of the federal budget this year.
Mt. Zion PSD Board President Ari White spoke saying that the PSD would strive to get water as far as they could, so long as they had enough customers to justify the extension.
Two of the three Commissioners attended the meeting, Roger Propst and Kevin Helmick.
Commissioner Helmick asked about a prior petition that had obtained 117 signatures of residents desiring water. Mr. Sankoff said that they’ll visit that, but a new petition needs to be signed to find out the current need. He also said that although a petition is important, it is the signed user agreements that show commitment to the project and will carry the greater weight.
Commissioner Roger Propst told those attending that he believed that the commission is in full agreement to go to the end of the road to get them water saying that there is also money set aside in the county budget to extend water service in the County. He encouraged them to speak to their neighbors about the opportunity knowing that their voice would potentially go further on increase interest in the extension.
