Latest News, WV Press Videos

WV coalfield town gets $1.5M grant for water lines

WELCH, W.Va. — The Town of Welch received a double dose of good news Wednesday.

 Mayor Reba Honaker said the town was notified of two federal grants as part of the POWER initiative, a federal program that provides funding for communities hit hard by the declining coal industry.

“It’s been a very good week,” she said. “We are receiving a $1.5 million grant from the ARC (Appalachian Regional Commission) to replace the water lines on McDowell Street and Riverside Drive.”

Another grant for $150,000 from ARC will go to Reconnecting McDowell for the Renaissance Village housing project.

Honaker said the town has been working for two years to try to get the money to repair the water lines, which have caused many problems.

“They are about 100 years old and we have numerous spillages and water breaks,” she said. “We had one in 2011 that took out one of the resident’s back rooms when the whole hill slid down into her house.”

Honaker said the water lines have seen “one break after another because of the aging of the water lines.”

Honaker said part of the project will also be to repave the streets.

“We hope to go to bid by early spring,” she said. “It will help many residences and businesses.”

The $150,000 grant to Reconnecting McDowell is for an economic development and diversification strategy for Welch and the county centered on the Renaissance Village housing project, which will provide housing in downtown Welch for teachers and young professionals employed in the area.

Honaker said the building site has been cleared and ready for construction.

“They are ready to go,” she said. “They hope to out for bid soon (for the construction).”

Rep. Evan Jenkins, who is a member of the House Appropriations Committee, said the funding for Reconnecting McDowell is needed to help coal communities hurt by the downturn in coal.

“Providing quality, affordable housing is essential to attracting new employers and keeping young people in our state,” he said. “Without adequate housing, new teachers and young professionals will not settle down in West Virginia and will look for opportunities elsewhere – the very definition of ‘brain drain’”

 Jenkins said it’s an investment in the state’s future.

“I congratulate Reconnecting McDowell for receiving this important grant and thank them for their commitment to reinvesting in McDowell County,” he said.

On a separate entrepreneurship project, some new cabins for the growing ATV business are also being built, Honaker said.

“The ATV cabins are coming on Indian Ridge,” she said. “The developer has already purchased the property and an engineer is coming in this week to look at water lines for the cabins.”

More details will soon be coming on that private project.

“We are just so excited to see things happening here,” she said.

Contact Charles Boothe at [email protected].

See more from the Bluefield Daily Telegraph 

 

Comments are closed.

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

And get our latest content in your inbox

Invalid email address