By Stephen Smoot
In recent weeks as storms batter the area, Pendleton Senior and Family Services has found itself battling concerns related to water backing up around and even inside their facility. Janice Lantz, executive director, addressed the Pendleton County Commission earlier in the month.
Last week, she spoke with the mayor, council, and administrator of the Town of Franklin.
“We can’t continue flooding as we have been,” shared Lantz.
She reiterated much of what was shared with the Pendleton County Commission the week prior. Last year, flooding caused more than $50,000 in damages that got covered by the fortuitous arrival of grant funds that helped to pay damages. Late last month, another period of heavy rain threatened to inflict severe damage on the facility again, but Lantz and staff for two hours doggedly removed water from the facility as fast as it flowed in, up through drains.
Lantz said later in the meeting, “If they didn’t have the $50,000 coming in, they would never have reopened.”
“We’re willing to work with whoever,” Lantz explained. She added that the county commission had suggested that they could have Thrasher run smoke tests to check on locations and conditions of the sanitary sewer system that drains stormwater into the river.
Frank Wehrle, town administrator, replied that “the sewer system is something we’ve been fighting a long time.” He shared that Franklin has the same problem as many other municipalities, that many residential roofs have drains that empty directly into the sewer. He added, “They’re not supposed to do that.”
Additionally, the storm that caused the recent backup of water into the senior center dumped 3.5 inches of rain in a brief period of time. The state is experiencing a year’s long natural cycle of storms that move slowly and have very severe impacts in relatively small geographical areas. Said Wehrle, “There’s no stormwater system in this city that can handle that flow.”
Another issue raised was the nature of the ground around the senior center, town park, and community building. The low water table makes drainage difficult. Kristen Dingess, council member, noted that the sanitary sewer drains in the park also back up during periods of intense rain.
Wehrle and council members cautioned that the problem did not have one comprehensive fix, but could be mitigated by other measures. They suggested that placing a back flow valve into the system could mitigate some of the issues.
That was not the only sewer issue in the Town of Franklin’s attention last week.
A decade ago was the last time the Town of Franklin raised its sewer rates. In the past several years, officials have seen government expectations of municipal waste systems expand along with the cost of maintenance and repairs.
In a public release, the Town of Franklin explained that the need for the increase “is twofold.”
“The cost of goods and expenses have increased significantly since the last rate increase 10 years ago in 2015,” it read. As those expenses rise and regular wear and tear makes repairs necessary, “the town sewer utility must continue to remain solvent in order to be able to provide sewer treatment services” while meeting debt obligations incurred from major projects.
Additionally, the South Branch watershed lies within the federally designated Chesapeake Bay region. States, including West Virginia, that signed up to be a part of the federally designated region receive significant grant funds, but also must abide by more stringent stream protections. This includes modernized sewage systems that filter more potentially damaging pollutants from the river.
To meet the “discharge requirements” imposed by federal law and West Virginia’s participation in the Chesapeake Bay program, the town must “develop a new plant beyond
our existing lagoon system” that “is necessary in order to meet existing and future discharge requirements.”
The town council has debated different plans for sewer plant improvements for several months with an eye toward balancing effectiveness and cost.
