By: Gwynn Stewart
Ohio State Univ. Extension
Community Development Educator

The Noble County Board of Commissioners with the Noble County Water Authority (NCWA) hosted a kick-off event Sept. 27 for the East of I-77 Water Expansion project. The new service will expand water to 126 homes from Sarahsville to Pleasant City as well as provide an emergency interconnect to the Village of Byesville Water system.

“The Noble County Water Authority is pleased to be expanding services to Noble residents,” said Bob Bond, President of the Authority Board. “We are pleased to have $ 1,943,636 in grant funding through the Ohio EPA and H20 Ohio and $322,000 from the Appalachian Regional Commission to support the project as well as a $2,495,391 zero interest rate, 40-year loan from Ohio EPA to expand our local water infrastructure.”

The project will take place in Buffalo Township, along the vicinity of Noble County Road 36, Fish Road (T-108) and Lestock Road (T-105). Other extensions follow SR 285 N. and then extend slightly west and pick up various roads including, but not limited to, Old Infirmary Rd, Kirkbride Hill Rd, SR 146, and Halley’s Ridge Rd.

“This project has been years in the planning but we are excited that construction will commence in early October,” said Commissioner Brad Peoples, President of The Noble County Board of Commissioners.

Peoples added that there were many partners in planning and helping secure funding for the project including the Ohio EPA’s Division of Environmental and Financial Assistance, The Ohio Governor’s Office of Appalachia and the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), the Noble County Emergency Management Agency, Ohio State University Extension – Noble County Community Development, Ohio RCAP and Buckeye Hills Regional Council.

Assisting with engineering for the project was Morgan Coast of Vaughn, Coast & Vaughn. Selected for construction of the project was TAM Construction and Mid-Atlantic Storage Systems.

For more information, contact NCWA at 740-732-5948.

From left front row: Ohio EPA Assistant Chief Office of Financial Assistance, Jonathan Bernstein; Ohio EPA Director Laurie Stevenson; Noble Co. Commissioner Gary Saling, NCWA President Bob Bond, Noble Co. Commissioner Brad Peoples, Amber Kohler, SE Representative for Congressman Bill Johnson; and OSU Extension CD Educator, Gwynn Stewart. Back row from left: Jeff Vaughn of Vaughn, Coast & Vaughn Engineering; Mike Muncie, TAM Construction; Casey Karn, Mid-Atlantic Storage Systems; Noble EMA Director & Project Manager Chasity Schmelzenbach, Byesville Mayor Jay Jackson; Ohio Senator Frank Hoagland; Noble Co. Commissioner Ty Moore; and Director of the Ohio Governor’s Office of Appalachia, John Carey.

Photo by James Lee, Ohio EPA.