(Meeting Updates - Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

PARKERSBURG — The sanitary sewer project for Hill Avenue is moving forward with hopes to start construction by sometime early next year, officials told the Wood County Commission on Monday.

Representatives from the engineering firm of Burgess and Niple and the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Council appeared before the commission to have county officials sign off on some of the approvals to do the public notice and other paperwork for the county to be the fiscal agent for federal grant money the county is in line to get.

The project has been in the work for a number of years with the goal to provide sanitary sewer service to an underserved part of the county which includes multiple homes along Marrtown Road and Hill Avenue as well as the Rivers Complex (a business complex on Star Avenue.). It will include sanitary sewer lines, pump stations and more. The sewers will be owned and operated by the Parkersburg Utility Board.

Commission President Blair Couch said officials have been working on getting this project ready to go since 2021.

Michael Davis, West Virginia Utility Infrastructure Leader for Burgess and Niple, said the paperwork the commission signed off on allows them to move forward with the bidding and construction for the Hill Avenue portion of the project. Burgess and Niple are the design engineers on the project.

Davis is expecting they will have all the necessary approvals in place by the end of October to where they can go out to bid on the project. He is estimating construction could begin as early as March 2026 and will take around six months to complete.

The Hill Avenue portion of the project is expected to serve around 15 residences and the Marrtown portion of the project is expected to serve over 20 residences as well as the Rivers Complex, he said.

The grant funding through the Community Development Block Grant program through the federal Housing and Urban Development agency will cover the cost of the engineering, planning and construction for the project.

The Hill Avenue portion of the project will cost $1.6 million.

The Wood County Commission is acting as a fiscal agent for the funds for the grant funding and their approval was needed for public notices and more. The money will be received by the county and paid to the PUB.

“This will allow us to move forward with the bidding and construction,” Davis said, adding they got approval for the funding in 2024.

Davis said the PUB is still seeking funding for the Marrtown Road portion.

With narrow roadways through that area, Commissioner Jimmy Colombo said the initial work will cause some traffic to be moved around to accommodate the work.

“There will be some challenges up there,” he said.

Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com.