Thrasher Engineering Still Studying Alternative Proposal For Regional Sewer Plant In Pocahontas

Durbin, WV – Jonathan Carpenter says he’s continuing to evaluate a proposal from engineer Dave Rigby, for an alternative to the regional sewer plant as designed by Thrasher Engineering. Carpenter, who works for Thrasher, was asked by the Pocahontas County Public Service District board to evaluate Rigby’s plan.

Carpenter presented his findings so far to the PSD board in a meeting last week. The information in the following report is from the draft minutes of that meeting as prepared by Water Plant manager Ricky Barkley.

Carpenter says he asked Rigby for further comments about the proposal and is still waiting to hear from the busy engineer. He says he’s also met with officials from the West Virginia Dept of Environmental Protection. Representatives of the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources didn’t attend that meeting, but have since sent him information that will help him evaluate the proposal.

He says it will be evaluated based on the current regional sewer plant site at Linwood using the same factors that apply to that location such as cooling, nearby trout streams, and effluent data from Snowshoe Village. Carpenter says Rigby has been very cooperative during the review process, and he hopes to have a full report at the next meeting of the PSD at the end of June. At press time, the PSD board was scheduled to meet with Mike Shingleton of the WV DNR to hear their concerns.

Several other agenda items were considered by the board.

A standard Alternative Mainline Extension agreement with Developers, drafted by PSD Attorney Tom Michael, was offered for approval. However, PSD member Tom Shipley had not had the opportunity to review it. The item was tabled until the next meeting.

Wastewater Manager Lloyd Coleman presented a contract with Mi-Tech for the PSD’s proposed website. Tom Michael had reviewed it and suggested minor changes in wording. The board tabled this item as well, requesting that Michael once again review the contract following the requested changes.

The board approved payment of over $18,000 dollars in Region Four Planning and Development Council invoices. They also gave Coleman approval to hire 1 to 2 people for summer employment at the wastewater plant.

Thanks to Ricky Barkley for the information in this report.