Trending
ELKINS -- The newest phase of the city of Elkins' sewer separation project has gotten off to "a little bit of a rocky start," a city official said.
In last week's Elkins City Council meeting, Operations Manager Bob Pingley gave an update on the project, which got underway Feb. 1.
"Phase II of the sewer separation project … got off to a little bit of a rocky start," Pingley said. "It's a very deep trench, with very poor soil in South Elkins.
"We had some problems with close proximity to water lines. But I think we've worked through these problems, and now that the weather's improving that's going to help us too," he said.
As part of the sewer/stormwater project, crews will eventually excavate sections of 15 city streets and alleys in the neighborhood west of Wimer Field to install new, dedicated stormwater lines and related infrastructure components, including manholes and catch basins, according to information from city officials.
The first street to be excavated was Railroad Avenue, beginning where it dead ends against the south bank of the Tygart Valley River, near Kelly Foundry. Bear Contracting began work there early in February.
The sewer/stormwater separation project is the second phase of sewer-system improvements Elkins is required to implement under a 2011 consent decree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The goal of this project is to reduce the number of combined sewer/stormwater pipes in Elkins, so that sudden downpours are less likely to overwhelm the sewer system's capacity and cause overflows of untreated sewage to the Tygart Valley River.
The sewer/stormwater project, which is funded by a $4.9 million bond issue, will not result in any additional increase in sewer rates, officials said.
Pingley also provided an update on the city's water meter replacement project.
"We're getting meters in the ground," Pingley said. "A technician put them in, and we'll be reading meters later this month for monthly billing … at that point we can prove the system works, so at that point we'll ramp up installation and make a lot faster progress. We think it's coming along pretty well."
Newman Plumbing will replace the remote-read water meters currently in use by the city's approximately 4,200 water customers. These water meters are five years past warranty coverage, and about 1,300 have already failed, city officials said.
Pingley also confirmed that the city's annual Spring Cleanup event will take place despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We will have a Spring Cleanup this year," he said. "That question has been asked several times. We haven't set the dates yet, but we think it will some time in April, though. I expect in the next two weeks we'll be publishing the date.
∫∫∫
Elkins Police Chief Travis Bennett also provided information to council during the meeting.
"In the month of February, the Elkins Police Department responded to 155 calls, which generated 31 cases," he said. "That resulted in 25 arrests and 33 citations issued."
Bennett also said the hiring process for new officers for the department is going well.
"Our hiring process, last week we sent three candidates to get polygraphs, all three passed. That was great. I don't know if we've ever had every person that we sent to pass, so that is very good," he said.
"We'll go through with their backgrounds in the next week or so, and get sent for physchological testing. So we're past the hard part now, so it's looking very hopeful to get all three of them."
Second Ward Councilman Charlie Friddle asked for an update on when the department's new police vehicles will arrive.
"When we ordered them they were supposed to be 16 to 20 weeks in production, so we're still probably two months out for that," Bennett said.
In December, council approved the leasing of 12 more vehicles for the department from Enterprise Fleet Management.