Submitted photo The Town of Davis broke ground on a pair of infrastructure projects Monday. Taking part in the ground-breaking ceremony were, from left, Mary Anne Tomson, former Congressman David McKinley, Davis Mayor Al Tomson, Rhiannon Dodge, Shane Whitehair, Joni Felton, Lisa Karickhoff and John Cole.

DAVIS — The Town of Davis held a groundbreaking ceremony Monday to launch a pair of major infrastructure initiatives.

The two projects will include a sanitary sewer collection replacement and a stormwater separation system. The cost of the projects is $13.1 million, but the town has secured $11 million through a combination of grants and principal-forgiveness loans.

Between 50 to 60% of Davis’ sanitary sewer system, which is currently operating at full capacity, will be freed up after the completion of the project, officials said. The projects will separate the stormwater from the sanitary sewer systems.

The Town of Davis contributed funds to the project through the American Rescue Plan Act. Other funding sources for the projects include a Federal Direct Spending grant through former Congressman David McKinley’s office; the Governor’s Matching Fund; the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection; the Clean Water State Revolving Fund; West Virginia Infrastructure; and the Jobs Development Council.

“We were at max capacity, which meant it was very difficult to add any other homes or businesses to the Davis sewer system,” Davis Mayor Al Tomson told The Inter-Mountain Tuesday. “We received a substantial fine from the DEP a couple years ago that really made us aware of the fact that we needed to correct the situation. Working with the DEP, we’ve been able to put this project together and avoid any other fines.”

Tomson said work on the projects began Monday.

“This project is going to take approximately one year to complete,” Tomson said. “It’s going to put a brand-new sewer system in the town of Davis, and the old sewer is going to be converted into a storm water system.”

Tomson played a key role in securing funding for the project, working closely with Shane Whitehair and Lisa Karickhoff of the Region VII Planning and Development Council. Engineering for the one-year project is being provided by Rhiannon Dodge and John Cole of Rummel, Klepper and Kahl, LLP (RK&K). Construction will be carried out by D&M Construction.