This article originally provided by The Charleston Gazette

September 8, 2006

Mingo water project completed

WILLIAMSON
By BILL LUSK, Staff Writer

Lick Creek residents will soon have access to public water.

Mingo County Commissioner Halcy Hatfield told The Logan Banner last week that work on the Lick Creek water project appears to be ahead of schedule.

“As far as I know they are running on schedule maybe ahead of schedule,” Hatfield said. “They are doing a good job.”

Hatfield said the company received the foundation for the water tank and should start building the tank within the next week. Hatfield believes once the tank is built, the remainder of the project will take anywhere from three-to-four weeks.

“They have the foundation for the water tank and hopefully next week they will start putting it together,” Hatfield said. “They could complete it by the next three-to-four weeks, but like I said it is right on schedule maybe a little bit ahead of schedule. Things look good.”

The project will cover the areas of Lick Creek, Merrimac, Sprigg and Rawl. The estimated cost of the project is $4.3 million and is grant-funded. Hatfield said funding was made possible through the Office of Abandoned Mine Lands, Small Cities Block Grant Program, Appalachian Regional Commission, the Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council, the Mingo County Commission and former governor Bob Wise.

As with any other project it took a while to get it going, but once Wise put forth the first $200,000 he helped move the project from No. 14 to No. 1 on the state’s list.

“I don’t know how he did it, but I know he just done it,” Hatfield said. “It is just like any other project it took a while to get funding, but once that was done it just moved right along.”

Cleaner, better water is on the way for residents along U.S. Route 49 and hopefully in time before Hatfield leaves office, the commissioner said.

“This is something the residents have been working on,” Hatfield said. “It looks real good and hopefully they will have it finished before I leave office.”