By Mallory Panuska
FAIRMONT — Several months ago, a group of distraught Watson-area residents addressed the city’s sanitary sewer board looking for a solution to a series of sewage and stormwater issues.
Every time a heavy rainstorm would blow through the city, these residents said distressing amounts of stormwater and sewage runoff would end up on the floors of their homes, causing excessive damages.
City officials said the cause of these extensive and costly flood damages were the result of inadequacies within the combination sanitary sewer and stormwater management system installed more than two decades ago in the area.
And in an effort to correct the problems, the city began planning both a city-wide sewage system upgrade project, a portion of which laid an 8-inch pipe from Cordelia Street to Gilbob Street, and a storm sewer project near Golf Drive.
City Manager Bruce McDaniel and City Utilities Manager Dave Sago said the Gilbob Street project was completed in November, which has significantly helped the problems in the area.
“The sewer system operated well during the last heavy rains. It worked well, and there was no flooding in the area,” said McDaniel. “Our hopes are that the engineer got everything and that with (this project) and the Golf Drive storm sewer we will have these problems under control.”
Sago said there are have been two significant rain storms since this project was completed, which the system got through with no problems.
The remainder of the sanitary sewer project, which will make upgrades to the system throughout the city, is also well under way.
Recently, the slated Golf Drive storm sewer project went out to bid, and Sago said the city plans to award the bid later this month. He said Fairmont contractor Cook Brothers Inc. was the lowest bidder, coming in at about $352,000. Originally, city engineer Jim Fetty had estimated that the project would cost $340,000, which Sago said was a pretty good estimate.
Once the bid is awarded, Sago said the project will likely break ground sometime in March, with completion slated for sometime this spring.
Funds from resident storm sewer fees are paying for this project, while $1 million in grant funds and $5 million worth of bonds are financing the sanitary sewer project.
McDaniel has said the city is using money from a state revolving fund, which is actually allocated from the federal Environmental Protection Agency to the state, to pay for the bonds. He said the city is borrowing this money and paying it back over a 20-year period at a favorable interest rate.
E-mail Mallory Panuska at mpanuska@timeswv.com.
