Work begins on first phase of fourth Scott County water district

~ Two schools and 720 customers will benefit from the project

BLODGETT -- Construction has started on the first phase of the Public Water Supply District No. 4 of Scott County.

"We started laying lines ... on the distribution system" week before last, project manager David Chittenden Jr. of Waters Engineering said.

Phil Lyon, treasurer for the water district, said, "I think it's long overdue. We've been working on this for over four years. This is the part that is going to make it all worthwhile. It is truly needed; we have so many people with poor water out in the county."

Martin Priggel, board member for the water district, agreed. "I really think it's going to be a big plus for Scott County," he said. "It is going to be good to get good, clean, safe water out to all rural Scott County."

Phase one will provide treated water to about 720 customers and will cover about one-third of the county's southern rural areas.

"The Scott County Central school system and the Kelly school system are both in phase one, and that is really, really important because they really have bad water," Lyon said.

Three contracts for construction of the water district were awarded May 21 to the low bidders.

"The bids were good," Priggel said. "They actually came in a million dollars under what they were projected to be, so that gives us some money to pick up some new subscribers who had not already previously enrolled."

Robertson Inc. of Poplar Bluff, Mo., was awarded the contract to build the water treatment plant; Caldwell Tanks of Louisville, Ky., received the contract for the elevated water tank; and Municipal Construction Inc. of Goodrich, Mich., is building the distribution system.

The contracts call for the water tank to be completed within 300 days of the May 21 notice to proceed, the treatment plant within 365 days, and the distribution system within 480 days.