After struggling for more than a decade to find $46 million to replace the wastewater treatment plant serving the communities of Clifton Forge and Iron Gate in Alleghany County, Va., officials announced that the county received $10 million to use for the project, the Roanoke Times reported.
U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Abingdon) signed an oversized check for $10 million to the county to kick-start construction of a new, modernized wastewater treatment plant in Iron Gate. An additional $7.6 million will be provided in the form of a low-interest federal loan, and Boucher is also seeking money from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Agency, the newspaper reported.
County Board Chairman Steve Bennett said the project will be broken into small phases to try to involve local contractors, while also fueling residential, commercial and industrial development in the long term.
Cletus Nicely, who represents the eastern portion of Alleghany County on the board of supervisors, said the new plant will serve two exchanges off Interstate 64 that previously have been all but neglected by developers.
Nicely said he expects Exit 27, which marks the intersection of U.S. 220 and I-64, "to take off and boom in the near future" with the new wastewater plant.
Source: The Roanoke Times
