Mar 3, 2017 4 min read

WAYNESBURG – Plans to extend a water line along Route 18 about eight miles from Waynesburg to Nineveh, a project discussed for several years, could soon be moving toward fruition.

Southwestern Pennsylvania Water Authority, the county and townships through which the line will pass have been working to raise money to cover the match for a $2.5 million state grant the authority received for the project several years ago.

They now have the commitment of funds and were only waiting to hear if they had received an extension of the grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development. That came Friday morning.

“I was very happy to get a call (Friday) that DCED has agreed to extend the grant,” said Pam Snyder, D-Jefferson, who has been working on the project.

“With the match in place, the authority will now be able to move forward in a timely manner to get this water line constructed,” she said. “This has been a joint effort of the county, the townships, the water authority and Rice Energy, who have stepped up to see this becomes a reality.”

The Greene County commissioners approved a motion Thursday indicating they will consider contributing $300,000 toward the project from the county’s 2017 Act. 13 impact fee money.

Each of the townships also said it will consider allocating Act 13 money to the project. Morris Township said it will kick in $500,000; Franklin Township, $200,000 and Washington Township, $100,000.

The water authority also will contribute $200,000, while the largest contribution of $1.25 million will come from Rice Energy.

The state H2O grant had been awarded in 2013, though finding the money to cover the match was difficult. Vantage Energy was originally a partner in the project; but in October was acquired by Rice Energy.

The grant money had to be expended by the end of this fiscal year, which would have been difficult to complete, so an extension was required from DCED, Snyder said.

“I’m just glad it all worked out,” said Tim Faddis, who became manager of the water authority in January.

“Everybody came together to make this project possible,” he said, alluding to the county, municipalities, Rice Energy, Snyder and state Sen. Camera Bartolotta , R-Carroll.

Faddis said the project could be ready to go to bid in October and it’s possible work will begin by the end of the year.

The grant extension was welcome news to the municipalities involved in the effort.

Morris Township Supervisor Glenn Adamson said pubic water is needed in the township.

Water tests conducted several years ago revealed well water at several homes had high levels of E. coli contamination, Adamson said. The supervisors also have been looking toward the future and the need to build the township’s tax base after coal mining is done, he said.

About two years ago, the township received a donation of 100 acres of land near Nineveh from Consol Energy, which it plans to use for a single-family housing development. Consol earlier had constructed a sewage treatment plant that serves the village of Nineveh.

“We have the sewage system there, but without the water, it was not going to happen,” Adamson said.

Franklin Township Supervisor Reed Kiger said the line would benefit his township and allow it to possibly extend lines on several township roads, including Waterdam Road and Pisgah Road.

The township has said it will consider kicking in $200,000 toward the line, but that will depend on what happens when it receives its Act. 13 allocation in June, Kiger said.

Washington Township also sees the benefit of the line. The line will run through Sycamore and an area that may eventually could lose water because of mining, said Supervisor Walter Stout.

“The nice thing about it is that we’ll now have lines on several major roadways in the township,” Stout said. The township also has public water on Route 19 and 221.

In a separate agreement with the water authority, Stout said, the township also recently paid off $100,000 of the debt service on the Route 19 and Route 221 lines.

This will reduce the monthly debt service charge residents on the Route 19 and Route 221 lines have been paying from $22.69 to $11.42 a month, he said.