City Of Philippi Secures $500,000 Grant For Much Needed Sewer Projects

The City of Philippi has been awarded a $500,000 grant through the Community Development Block Grant program. The funds will be used to complete a Sanitary Sewer Evaluation Survey (SSES), update the City’s Sanitary Long-Term Control Plan, and provide engineering services for a much needed upgrade to the North Philippi lift station.

“We are treating a lot of unnecessary storm water throughout our system. The SSES will help identify areas where we can eliminate large amounts of storm sewer,” said City Manager Jeremy Drennen. The City will also be upgrading their Long-Term Control Plan. Drennen also said “no one that was involved in the last update of our Long-Term Control Plan is still at the City. Updating the Plan after completing the SSES will give us a road map on how to better manage upgrades to our sanitary infrastructure.”

Another piece of the grant is an upgrade to the North Philippi lift station. Currently, the lift station is under river level several times throughout the year when the water is high. “When the river rises and that lift station is under water, bad things can happen. We have two $50,000 pumps in that life station. Muck and silt can get in that station causing significant damage to our pumps”, said Drennen.

The projects will take close to a year to complete, however, the City is anxious to get started. Drennen said, “our guys are ready to get the results from the survey. They have been doing a great job of keeping what we have under control, however, they want to move our system forward. They have inherited a tough situation, and I am thankful for their determination to see things get better.”