OLCOTT, W.Va. — The Olcott waterline extension project is moving forward after nearly a decade of discussions and plans.
The $11.4 million project is going to bring water to 110 homes in the Olcott and Brounland Road areas of Kanawha County near the Lincoln County line. During its Thursday meeting, the Kanawha County Commission announced that the project is going to bid next month.
Commission President Ben Salango said longtime community activist Eddie Belcher brought the matter to his attention nine years ago.
“This has been going on since 2017,” Salango said. “I’ll never forget it; my buddy, who’s gone now, but Eddie Belcher came to me and wore me out one day about people in Olcott not having clean water. So, I went out to the little Olcott Baptist church and it was packed. They had their charts, their graphs, and everything. We started then.”
Salango said the state Public Service Commission has rubber stamped the project to move forward.
“It has been a difficult and lengthy process, to say the least,” Salango said. “We are incredibly proud to say that the PSC has approved it, and it’s going out to bid. That project is going to happen.”
Engineering company Potesta & Associates Chief Engineer Mark Sankoff said crews have been hard at work to determine the next steps.
“The plan is, this is a nearly $11.5 million project,” Sankoff said. “It’s going to bid in October. We’re going to start work in March. It’ll take until February to close this bond issue. This is a one-off, it hasn’t been done in 20 years.”
Sankoff said that they’re updating user agreements, as well as adding 41 fire hydrants in the water line’s footprint. The project was developed by the county commission, the county regional development authority, and other project partners. Sankoff noted that West Virginia-American Water Co. (WVAWC) really stepped up.
Salango echoed that sentiment, saying the success of the Olcott project wouldn’t have been possible without WVAWC.
“We send letters, we go testify in front of the PSC, but I want to thank West Virginia-American Water for partnering and helping with this project because it would not have happened, but for their assistance,” Salango said.
It’s been a long, arduous journey, Salango said, but this news brings a smile to his face.
“The hundreds and hundreds of emails that we’ve received since 2017, since that meeting; we were working on it all along,” Salango said. “It just took a long time. It’s a challenging project, it’s an expensive project, but it’s happening. We’re incredibly proud.”