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Possum Creek Water Project Officially Begins

Lisa Watson McCarty
Publisher

Water is one of the necessities of life and without it, you perish. Most fundamentally, water is essential for life. Every living organism on earth must have water in some form in order to survive.

Last Wednesday state and local politicians joined some local residents in the Possum Creek community to break ground on a new water project that will bring the “necessity” to that area.

Construction on the project is underway by Mainline Construction Co., Inc. of Clincho. Once complete the project will provide public water to approximately 84 households in the southwestern corner of the county.

The Scott County Public Service Authority received a combination of loans and grant funds for the $1.353 million project. Of that total amount, PSA received $798,270 in grant funds from the Virginia Department of Health. The remaining amount of $554,730 is in the form of a loan from VDH.

Josh Wright of Mainline Construction explained the construction company hadn’t worked on any projects in Scott County before but had completed other water line construction in the surrounding counties.

He described the project as pretty easy with some rock involved but not much. In the fairly flat terrain of Possum Creek, the land lies in rolling hills between the valleys which makes the installation of water lines much easier.

One day last week, Wright said, the crew was able to lay 820-feet of water line in about 2 hours. On most other projects that length of line would be an all-day job.

Robert Wininger, who formerly served on the State Water Control Board and on the Scott County Board of Supervisors, knows how important public water is to Scott County. He is allowing the construction company to use land he owns for the location of their temporary office.

Lenowisco Executive Director Ron Flanary welcomed the crowd to the event which was held on the site at the intersection of Routes 632 and 635. Flanary said water is an important part of improving the quality of life for residents of the county. In the Lenowisco area alone, over the past 10 years, more than 7,000 residents are benefiting from an investment of $130 million in public financing of water projects, he added.

Flanary explained the Possum Creek Water Project would also bring 21 fire hydrants to the area along 632. He said a Community Development Block Grant application for the Yuma Sewer Project had also been filed.

First District Del. Terry Kilgore said it was important to deliver as much water to citizens as possible. We need to continue to look for new water sources and ways to fund construction projects, he added.

State Sen. William Wampler pledged to hold up budget talks in Richmond if necessary to ensure adequate funding for water projects in Southwest Virginia. This is just as important as funding for the Chesapeake Bay, he remarked.

Wampler also cited the support of the Scott County Board of Supervisors as an important component of any water project in the county.

Scott County Board of Supervisors Chairman Dr. David Redwine noted he understood first-hand the lack of available water when a few years ago he delivered a colt on the same site.

If a community sticks together like here in Possum Creek, he added, that can carry you through many trials and tribulations.

Paul Fields, District 1 Supervisor and Chairman of the PSA, was described by Flanary as the best chairman of any public service authority in the Lenowisco area. Fields said the Possum Creek Water Project would enhance Scott County’s tax base by adding new homes to the area.

He also talked about an in-house project under construction along 224, Wadlow Gap Highway that will bring public water to that community.

Perhaps PSA Director Dan Danko said it best when he called water the most precious resource. Without the effort of Kermit citizens to bring public water to their community, there wouldn’t be a project in Possum Creek, he explained.

It is a team effort to begin and complete a water project, Danko added, and you must have some relentless people working in the community to make it a success.

Currently the Scott County PSA is providing water to 4,400 households in the county and they are expected to sign up more customers in the future.

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