Mercer County Public Service District seeking water project personnel

Greg Jordan, Bluefield Daily Telegraph, W.Va.
·2 min read

Aug. 16—PRINCETON — A project attorney, appraiser, right-of-way negotiator and other professionals are being sought for a water line project designed for bring better fire protection to Mercer County communities near the Tazewell County, Va., border.

The Mercer County Public Service District, in conjunction with the Tazewell County Public Service Authority, advertised Tuesday in the Bluefield Daily Telegraph for professional services needed for a project replacing water lines in the Nemours, Yards and Wolfe communities. Installing fire hydrants and rehabilitating two Mercer County water tanks are part of the project, according to the legal notice.

Mercer County Commission President Bill Archer said citizens brought the area's water problems to his attention soon after he joined the Mercer County Commission in November 2016.

"I got calls from two or three residents in the Nemours area that expressed concern about the lack of fire protection because the water line was so small," he recalled. "They had been put in — and I'm guessing the early 20th Century — by Pocahontas Fuel. Of course, the town I think dates from 1903 where they made the blasting powder, the black powder they used to shoot coal and eventually they used it for artillery during World War I."

The aging water line is in West Virginia, but the water comes from the Tazewell County Public Service Authority. Archer said he initially thought that investing enough money for two fire hydrants would address firefighting issues, but the Public Service Commission of West Virginia would not allow hydrants because the water lines were too small to support them. The Nemours-area water lines are only 1.25 to 1.5 inches wide.

"They need a maximum of 6 or 4 inches, so when we created the (Mercer County) public service district to serve Matoaka, we as a commission asked them to look into a joint project with the Tazewell PSA," Archer said. "This has been ongoing. The initial meetings, I think, with the PSA and us were three years ago."

About $500,000 in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding has been invested for the project, Archer said. The contractor is Thompson & Litton in Princeton.

"I don't know when the completion is," he stated. "I know it's on its way and it's funded. And it's funded and I know we're working with Tazewell County."

— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com

Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com