ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, September 19, 1995                   TAG: 9509190033
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

MERRIMAC SEWER PROJECT STARTS

Montgomery County officials broke ground Monday on a nearly year-long construction project that will bring sewer service to 350 rural Merrimac-area homes, three-quarters of them with low to moderate incomes.

Prillaman & Pace Inc. will construct the $1.9 million sewer project, which is being paid for through a combination of grants and low-interest loans from the federal and state governments.

The groundbreaking started work on a project that's been more than three years in the planning. "I'm ready to see dirt fly," said Cindy Martin, the county's former grants coordinator who handled much of the planning.

Ira Long, member of the county Board of Supervisors and chairman of the Public Service Authority, said the project is one that he's been looking forward to - so much so that he accidentally showed up for the groundbreaking an hour early.

Standing near the intersection of Merrimac and Oilwell roads, Long recalled the former coal-mining community that stood there during his youth in the 1930s and '40s. Because of high sulfur content, ground water quality was bad. Moreover, much of the land was unsuitable for septic systems, Long said.

Three years ago the county built a water line to serve much of the community. The next part of the equation is solving the sewage problem.

Supervisor Larry Linkous, who grew up nearby, credited Long for getting the project under way. "He's pushed this along and that's the reason it happened," Linkous said.

Seventy-six percent of the households to be served by the new line have low to moderate incomes. The project includes 25,000 feet, or nearly five miles, of sewer line, 150 manholes and a pump station, said Elvan Peed, project engineer with Anderson & Associates. It will serve 90 homes and five mobile home parks with a total of 285 units. The county acquired 131 easements to build the new line, none by condemnation.

Work on the line should be completed by August of next year, and the county Public Service Authority should finish making connections by the end of next year. 


 by CNB