Mountain water project on hold
By Naomi Smoot, Journal staff writerCHARLES TOWN - A massive infrastructure project on Jefferson County's Blue Ridge Mountain is being put on hold as officials await information from an upcoming study.
"We are going to wait for the county to do the well testing as they plan to do on the mountain," said Peter Appignani, Jefferson County Public Service District board member.
The wells are being drilled to help determine whether a mountain water source might exist to service three communities that are reportedly in need of improved water quality and quantity.
Nearly a year ago, members of the Public Service District partnered with private utility company Jefferson Utilities Inc., in an attempt to undertake a project aimed at making the necessary improvements.
The project is expected to cost nearly $18 million in its most recent form, and is slated to include a new water source for residents in Keyes Ferry Acres, Harpers Ferry Campsites and Westridge Hills. Just where that water source will come from remains a controversial issue.
Officials earlier discussed the possibility of linking the mountain water systems with a valley water source. More recently, discussions turned to the possibility of a new water treatment plant that would service water taken from the Shenandoah River.
That approach, however, reportedly would have increased the project's price tag dramatically, a point that raised questions for state agencies that were being asked to help provide funding for the effort.
In a recent letter from the West Virginia Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council, the agency expressed reservations about plans by JUI and the county's Public Service District to use a Shenandoah River water source. The agency encouraged less costly alternatives, including the possibility of drilling a well on the Blue Ridge itself.
Appignani said members of the Public Service District are interested in seeing the results of a series of test wells that the Jefferson County Commission plans to drill on the mountain before they proceed. This could provide additional information to use as they chose a water source for the project.
"It's kind of hard to make a decision without the information in front of you," he said.
County employees are in negotiations with two companies that could be hired to undertake the test wells. County Engineer Roger Goodwin said he plans to come before the Jefferson County Commission in the next two to three weeks to have commissioners choose which company to use. Once that happens and the work gets under way, he said it likely will take several months to complete preliminary work and research, drill the wells and then draft a final report.
"You're looking at about five months," he said in a phone interview Wednesday.
Lee Snyder, owner and operator of JUI, said he was not pleased with the prospect of putting the project on hold while the wells are drilled.
"I'm not acting to put anything on hold," he said. "I think any action to delay is simply a failure of county government to act in the best interest of the customers on the mountain. I'm concerned that the focus of things is on delaying them instead of fixing them."
Snyder noted that water source studies already were conducted to evaluate the valley water source, and wells already exist on the Blue Ridge. Those wells, he said, do not indicate a sufficient water source to supply the three communities.
The county has budgeted $30,000 for its test well project.
Snyder said close to $200,000 already has been spent on the mountain water project itself. That money, which came from a grant, has been used to design the project.
"That seems to be forever the outcome of these things. We spend a lot of money and accomplish nothing," Snyder sa
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