Aug. 8--CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- About 1,400 Putnam County residents in the Winfield and Teays Valley area will benefit from federal stimulus money for upgrades to waste and storm water drainage systems.

The Winfield Municipal Building Commission will receive a $2 million loan for storm water drainage and road repairs to the area's four largest subdivisions.

The county Public Service District also will receive $400,000 for the design phase of a wastewater project to extend sewer service to up to 430 residents along W.Va. 34, U.S. 60 and Kilgore and Rocky Step Road.

The wastewater project also will upgrade the existing sewer system in the Marina Park area.

"The $400,000 will let us move ahead with the design," said David Mercer, PSD superintendent of project development. "We were very fortune to be selected [for funding]."

The total project will cost about $8 million to complete. Mercer estimates construction should being in the spring of 2011.

"It's a big project, it's going to take some time for all the design work and we have to go through the permit process," said Mike McNulty, Putnam PSD general manager.

The project will bring public sewer systems to residents that currently use septic systems, and eliminate two private sewer plants in the Rocky Step area, Mercer said.

"The bulk of it will be along Teays Valley Road, that's over 400 costumers right there," Mercer said.

The project will not only benefit residents, but also encourage future development in the area, McNulty said.

"When you drive along Teays Valley Road, and you see all the undeveloped land along the road, when we put the public sewer in, not only are we going to be picking up all existing residents, but all this acreage is going to open up for development," he said.

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., helped secure funds for the Putnam County PSD project.

"I look forward to seeing these dollars put to good use to improve basic sanitary water service, while also improving the type of underlying infrastructure necessary to attract and retain businesses and jobs," Capito said in a statement.

In Winfield, about 1,000 residents in the Riverdale, Woodland Forest and Winfield Way Subdivisions and along Elm Street and Riverview Drive will see improvements to their storm water drainage systems.

The subdivisions are Winfield's oldest and largest housing communities in the area, Winfield Mayor Ronald Stone said. Most of the homes there were built in the 1970s and 1980s, he said.

"These are projects we've had on the plans for about four years, and haven't been able to secure funding," Stone said, "and now it looks as though we have light at the end of the tunnel."

Construction to the Riverdale Subdivision include about $800,000 worth of improvements to surface water drainage systems.

The Elm Street and Riverview Drive area will receive about $370,000 worth improvements to storm water drainage systems.

In the Woodland Forest Subdivision, construction projects will replace a bridge over a storm water drain, minor street repair and rerouting surface water. The total cost for repairs in the area is estimated to cost about $200,000.

Winfield Way residents also will receive about $300,000 worth of repairs to their storm water drainage systems.

Winfield secured the loan with a 4 percent interest rate through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Stone said. The town will repay the loan through business and occupation tax, he said.

Reach Veronica Nett at veronican@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5113.

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