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Ravenswood to Get State Funding for Extension of City Sewer Lines

Posted on: Thursday, 9 March 2006, 18:00 CST

By Jennifer Ginsberg, The Charleston Gazette, W.Va.

Mar. 9--A Ravenswood sewer line extension received a little more financial help from a state agency Wednesday.

West Virginia Housing Development Fund board members voted to buy up to $2 million in bond anticipation notes to be issued to the city of Ravenswood. The city will use the money to extend its sewer lines to two manufacturing facilities, K.S. of West Virginia and K.A. of West Virginia.

K.S. employs about 90 people and is operating with a sewage treatment facility that is near capacity. K.A. is still under construction. Company officials expect to have the building completed by April 1 and eventually employ about 100 people.

K.S. opened in 1995 and has since built four additions to its manufacturing facility that sits on 40 acres near Interstate 77. The company's workers stamp metal, assemble small, precision stainless steel parts, insert injection molding and make dies for the automotive industry.

Workers at the new plant will stamp small- to medium-size precision parts out of metal, and weld and assemble parts for the automotive industry.

The sewer extension will also serve potential customers in the recently annexed Jackson Crossing, a 405-acre site that developers want to use for light commercial, industrial and residential projects.

The line will also connect the Northern Jackson Public Service District to Ravenswood to serve 400 more commercial and residential customers.

The project involves about 13,000 feet of new sewer lines, a new lift station and an upgraded lift station.

The overall project already has several sources of funding. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is paying for the $1.5 million Northern Jackson part of the project. The West Virginia Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council is paying $2.3 million to Ravenswood to upgrade its existing sewer treatment plant.

The housing fund's money is a short-term loan that Ravenswood will pay off within six years when it receives a long-term bond from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utility Service, said Joe Hatfield, the fund's executive director.

Board members preliminarily approved a loan for up to $3.7 million for a business park in Jefferson County. The proposed Burr Business Park Phase Two is about five miles north of Charles Town and will be between two business parks that are operated by the Jefferson County Development Authority. The new phase will have 44 units zoned for commercial, industrial, office and retail use.

This is the final phase in the development of the 455-acre Bardane and Burr Business Park complex. The first phase is home to 58 companies that employ about 2,200 people. The second phase is on 160 acres and could create about 2,600 jobs when fully occupied.

To contact staff writer Jennifer Ginsberg, use e-mail or call 348-5195.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Charleston Gazette, W.Va.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Charleston Gazette

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