By Stephen Smoot
Pendleton County Commissioners in their first meeting for the month of July heard a proposal for a feasibility study. The results of that could serve as the first step toward expanding public water service from between (most likely) near Pendleton County Middle/High School in Franklin and the former Sugar Grove Navy Base.
Laura Brown cited county economic development details from Region 8’s Regional Development Plan Update for the fiscal year 2025 as part of her proposal to the commission. She stated that “only four percent of our land is suitable for development.” Bringing new development, including housing and jobs, to areas of suitable flatness in southern and eastern Pendleton County would require “more water service.”
It would also address ongoing local government issues in the area. Brown pointed out that the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection “dings the public schools all of the time” over the bus garage’s reliance on well water.
Rick Gillespie, attending the meeting in his capacity as Pendleton County Emergency Services coordinator, said that he wished to speak as both an emergency management official and as a citizen on the proposal. He called public water “key infrastructure,” then added that having the building that hosts emergency management and also the West Virginia State Police barracks for Pendleton County was akin to a “ticking time bomb.”
“We don’t have a contingency plan,” Gillespie stated, if the well fails, then called it “a train wreck deluxe” because neither facility in the building could function without water. He suggested that the county needed “a good unbiased study not looking at it through all of our different filters.”
He then suggested that one goal of the water study might explore interconnecting the water systems throughout Pendleton County. Mike Alt, Pendleton County Emergency Rescue training officer, was also present and stated that the study should also examine ways to “create redundancy and backups” within the county water system.
Alt went on to say that extending the public water lines would ensure that “a lot of homes would get an (insurance) reduction” if the extension included sufficient fire hydrants.
Carl Hevener, Pendleton County Commission president, also agreed with the utility of commissioning a study, saying, “I know some homes that would tap into it.” He added that public water “was never a push issue for Pendleton County before” because “everybody drilled wells and had springs back in the day.”
“Looking down the road 20 years is, however, how the county should view the need,” Hevener said.
Brown added that “a lot of people coming from the cities . . . are scared of community wells” drying out. Fisher Mountain has started construction of homes geared toward those seeking second or vacation homes in rural areas. She stated that they had constructed a $1.8 million water line extension to help to fill the need.
She also laid out a game plan that the county could follow, emphasizing that “we can’t silo this and say it’s a PSD (Public Service District) problem.” Brown also added that bringing together a strong slate of partners could help the county obtain help for the study and, possibly, a future water project.
“We can pull in the school system, 911, bring everyone in,” Hevener stated. Brown suggested forming a committee whose membership should include the Town of Franklin.
Commissioners unanimously approved moving forward with the study.
