In the spirit of cooperation, Public Service District board members amended their 2-1 vote, to a unanimous vote, Monday in a special meeting at the Jerry Holder office in Linwood.

"I was the one that was opposed to that site. I want to tell you that if my vote is going to hold up the project, I will vote the way you folks did," said PSD board member Amon Tracey. "That was my second choice anyhow. Do you know if they have to have a unanimous vote or not?"

"I don't think a 2-1 vote stops it," said PSD board secretary David Litsey. "I think a three to nothing vote affirms that we have a plan and we will stick with it. I think that gives the people in Charleston the confidence to dedicate the resources necessary to get this job done."

PSD board president Tom Shipley asked PSD board attorney Chris Negley if they could amend the resolution to indicate Tracey's stance. Negley said that the board could, and the board voted 3-0 for site 7A as the board's final selection for its wastewater treatment facility at Linwood.

"I don't want it stopped, I don't want it slowed down. I want it to go," said Tracey.

"That's the kind of thing that everybody is looking for," Negley said of the board's cooperation.

Shipley thanked the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection for its assistance in the process.

"Scott Mandirola, the [DEP] director of water and wastewater management, personally saw to it that we got an expedited waste load allocation for site 7A," said Shipley. "We had that, in hand, in less than 24 hours after we submitted it. That was his doing and we really appreciate that."

The board expressed its approval of the prompt installation of a new pump at one of its pump stations.

"We have ten or twelve stations up and down the mountain to get the sewage to where it needs to go," said Shipley in a telephone interview after the meeting. "We have dual pumps at our pump stations. One of them went out. So we were thrilled that Lloyd [Coleman] was able to get that new one installed and we can all rest a little easier."

Shipley thanked the Snowshoe Property Owners Council on behalf of the board.

"I'd like to thank SPOC. Your organization sent in a letter in support of our project to the DEP and we very much appreciate that," Shipley told SPOC member Ira Maupin, who attended the meeting.

The board experienced another budgetary blessing recently when purchasing new equipment for the Durbin water plant.

"Everything was approved at the January meeting, but what changed was the quote from C.I. Thornburg," said PSD treasurer Ricky Barkley. "The sales rep, he got us a better deal on the meters, the meter reading equipment, software, everything. The manufacturer was willing to throw a lot in free, which is a little over $5,000."

"Sounds good to me, we'll take all the freebies we can get!," joked Tracey.

Last week's meetings between the board's attorney and engineer David Rigby, the West Virginia Public Service Commission, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, and the Infrastructure Jobs and Development Council, were all a success according to Shipley.

"Our attorney and engineer met with the PSC, the DEP and the IJDC, and I think there's another meeting this afternoon," said Shipley. "I'd like to thank our attorney and engineer for arranging that meeting. It went very well. After that meeting, the state understands our position better and we understand what we need from the state better. I'm very optimistic that we're going to move forward."

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