Settlements made in sewage project
By MICHAEL D. McELWAIN (mmcelwain@reviewonline.com)NEW CUMBERLAND - A settlement has been reached between the Hancock County Public Service District and four property owners, clearing the last roadblock for the long-awaited state Route 8 sewage project.
Between the four property owners, the district has agreed to pay nearly $300,000. The action was taken during Friday's special meeting of the HCPSD.
The discussions with the various landowners have been going on for months, and the deadline to close on the project's grant and loan arrangements put pressure on the district to act, according to the HCPSD attorney, Tom Decapio.
"In the last several months, the cost of construction has increased dramatically and the contractors who placed bids for their work were going to hold bids until December," Decapio said. "The board made a decision to set aside a certain amount of money to settle outstanding issues."
Decapio said contractors for the bid packages making up the entire project were forced to increase cost projections due to higher material and fuel costs.
"Based on the economic circumstances we found ourselves in and to make sure the user rates would not increase any more, the board had to make a determination that the settlement was the best way to move forward," Decapio said. "The funding that was already secured was in jeopardy of being lost, as well."
Bill Mackall, chairman of the HCPSD, signed off on the settlements after the board voted 3-0 to move forward.
Mackall said one reason for the settlement was because the funds already spent on the project could have been lost.
"There was already $1.5 million already spent," Mackall said. "That money would have been spent for no reason if this (the agreements) failed."
The HCPSD has been involved in legal wrangling from the very beginning, as several property owners had expressed concerns over the project and the way the HCPSD had gone about implementing the plans. Residents and property owners have filed motions in various courts, and one argument reached the attention of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.
In a prepared statement, HCPSD board member Jerry Everly said, "The Hancock County Public Service District is pleased to announce that the construction of the Route 8 sewage project is to begin in the next few months.
"During the last several years, there have been many misunderstandings and inconveniences that have arisen between the Hancock County Public Service District and the citizens of Hancock County.
"The Hancock County Public Service District regrets the problems that have developed and feel that all of the citizens involved in the project are now satisfied with the project going forward."
HCPSD officials would not elaborate on the "misunderstandings" or "inconveniences" but instead focused on the fact the project was going to move forward.
"In February with two new board members on line and knowledge of the possibilities of continuing litigation costs and the probability of an increase of at least 10 percent cost in the project, we made a decision to attempt to move the project forward," Everly said.
Board member Del Wright joined Mackall and Everly in voting to accept the settlements.
Decapio said the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection "insisted the project be implemented." If not, Decapio said the department would have "demanded the customers solve their own problems about bad sewage."
The state DEP has a large stake in the project, according to Decapio.
The bond council would not have closed on the grants and loans had the project faced a further delay, according to Decapio. If another appeal was filed by one of the property owners not in agreement, the delay would have meant an end to the plans and a loss of the federal Special Appropriations Grant funding a large portion of the project.
"The reason they (the property owners with objections) did not appeal is because we had tentative agreements with them," Decapio said.
According to the settlements agreements obtained by The Review, the HCPSD has agreed to pay:
- $10,000 to George F. Myers for one sewer line easement.
- $50,000 to Kenneth J. Allison and Mildred F. Allison for four sewer line easements.
- $95,000 to the heirs of the Flowers estate for sewer easements.
- $135,000 to Mountaineer Group Investments for easements and a certain parcel of land 3.9 acres in size in New Cumberland known as Deep Gut Run. The project calls for a sewage treatment plant at that location.
According to the settlement agreements, the land owners will stop any and all court challenges to the project and will be paid within 45 days after the loans close and the loan proceeds are acquired by the HCPSD.
A meeting is scheduled for Aug. 11 at 11 a.m. when HCPSD officials plan to sign papers for loan closing on the Route 8 project.
The total cost of the project is now $18,006,371.
Some 798 easements and five land acquisitions were needed for the project which, in the end, will expand public sewage service to approximately 660 residents in the rural portions of Hancock County.
More than 98 percent of those easement issues had been settled for $1 or amounts close to the appraised value of the land needed.
The subject became contentious on several occasions in the past, and members of the Hancock County Commission who provided funds for the project as well weighed in on the issue.
Commissioner Jeff Davis said on several occasions that those people taking court action were "holding the project hostage." Davis purchased yard signs reading "We support sewer project" and several residents along Route 8 placed them in their yards.
Commissioner Mike Swartzmiller said in a previous commission hearing that, "New Manchester is not a Third World country out there, but it's being treated as such," when the project was being held up due to litigation.
Dan Greathouse, president of the Hancock County Commission, has called the project "vital" to the residents.
"Thank God. I'm glad it's moving forward," Greathouse said Saturday evening in a phone interview. "There were a lot of issues on why the money had to be spent, but to not have the project go forward would have been more costly."
Greathouse praised and gave credit to the current HCPSD board members for moving the project ahead to the point where loan and grant closings can now take place.
As for the vast majority who settled for $1 or amounts close to the appraised value, Greathouse said, "I thank them because we'd never have had a project without them. I think everyone recognizes in these situations that these events can happen."
HCPSD officials said the additional funding to cover cost increases and the settlements involved will not have a further impact on customer rates.
Davis and Swartzmiller were not immediately available for comment.
