Groundbreaking on Honeycutt Dam Road Water Project

Woodlawn, Virginia

August 16, 2010

            I am pleased to return to return to Carroll County today to join with you in breaking ground on a new public water system, which when completed will provide safe and reliable public water services for the first time to more than 40 homes in the Honeycutt Dam Road area.

          Adequate and reliable public water systems are essential to maintaining Southwest Virginia’s excellent quality of life and are critical to achieving our economic development goals for the region. For these reasons, I work actively with local governments throughout the Ninth District to secure the federal funds necessary to construct new and improve existing public water systems.

          And our work has borne fruit in Carroll County. Fifteen years ago, the Carroll County Public Service Authority provided public water and wastewater services to 1,000 Carroll County homes and businesses. Today, public water or wastewater services are available to more than 3,000 homes and businesses, and that number continues to grow.

In recent years, I have been working with Carroll County officials to assist in the County’s effort to expand its water and wastewater infrastructure into several areas of the County that currently do not have these services, including interchanges along Interstate 77, to accommodate new business and residential growth. In the past two years, we have secured the federal funding to open up three new areas of the County for development by providing water and wastewater services. These areas are Fancy Gap, the Exit 19 area and Wildwood Commerce Park, and the Exit 1 area near the North Carolina line.

Today, construction begins on another federally funded water system which will enable new residential development and improve water quality in the Honeycutt Dam Road section of Woodlawn.

Currently, residents in this area rely on wells, which have poor water quality and inadequate water quantity. In fact, many residents of this area maintain more than one well just to supply their home’s water needs.

To address this problem, at my urging, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, though its Rural Development Agency, has provided a total of  $338,000 to construct a new water system to provide safe and reliable drinking water to more than 40 homes in the Honeycutt Dam Road area and to enable future residential development in the community.

Of that total amount, $183,000 was provided as a low-interest federal loan and $155,000 was provided as a federal grant. In addition to the federal funds, Carroll County has provided $24,700 to construct the new water system.

With the entire cost of the project now in place, construction begins today on a new water system that will include the installation of 9,700 feet of six inch water lines along Honeycutt Dam Road, Falcon Drive, Hawk Landing Drive and Spring Willow Drive. The Honeycutt Dam Road water system will connect to Carroll County’s existing Gladeville-Cranberry and Woodlawn water systems, both of which were constructed with the assistance of federal funds. It is anticipated that construction will be completed later this year.

When completed, the new water system will provide safe and reliable water service to more than 40 homes and businesses in the Honeycutt Dam Road area as well as enable growth in the number of residents in this community in the future. Today’s groundbreaking truly represents another significant step in our ongoing efforts to improve and expand access to public water service throughout Southwest Virginia.

          I would like to take the opportunity of these remarks to recognize a number of individuals who have been instrumental in the success we celebrate today.

          I want to thank Ellen Davis, State Director for the Rural Development Agency, and Travis Jackson, Area Director for the Rural Development Agency, as well as their excellent staff for their successful efforts to secure this funding.

          I also want to thank Andy Jackson, Chair of the Carroll County Public Service Authority, Manus McMillian, Vice Chair, and the other members of the Authority for their continuing work to meet the water and wastewater infrastructure needs of Carroll County residents.

          I also want to thank Wes Hurst, Chair of the Carroll County Board of Supervisors, and Tom Littrell, Vice Chair, as well as the other members of the Board for their work in support of infrastructure development throughout the County.

          I also want to thank Garry Larrowe, Carroll County Administrator and Executive Director of the PSA, and his excellent staff for their ongoing efforts on behalf of Carroll County residents.

          Finally, I want to thank my Director for Community Development Derek Lyall for his excellent work in support of this project.

Today’s groundbreaking marks a major success for Carroll County. Residents in the area of Honeycutt Dam Road will benefit from the provision of more reliable water service and the enhanced opportunity for residential and economic development. For the cooperation and successful work to bring this project to construction, I want to thank all here. And I want to offer special congratulations to the residents who will soon benefit from public water services.