WORTHINGTON, W.Va. (WBOY) — Worthington held its town council meeting on Wednesday which considered a second reading to approve an application for a certificate of convenience and necessity to construct a water improvement project.

A project manager with the Thrasher’s Group stated that the water project that the Town of Worthington is taking on is the first phase of a water improvement project. The current minimum water bill for a resident of Worthington is $17.14 per month. In addition to that, there is a per 1,000 gallons usage charge.

For the water project that the council approved, there will be two types of rate increases, one is the going rate increase, and the other is the project rate increase. The going rate increase was already passed by the council in early February. With the increase regarding the going rate, the minimum water bill will be $21.42 per month with additional charges per 1,000 gallons used. A second reading was held for the project rate increase, during the Wednesday night meeting, these rates will only go into effect upon substantial completion of the water project.

“We are going to get new meters and my guys won’t have to worry about getting out in cold weather and stuff, the radio will read them. And there’s two, and I ask them what type of meters, one is plastic, and one is bronze, ‘I said bronze,’ because bronze will last longer than plastic. So, we are getting new meters, we’re getting a booster station to help pump the water more, and everybody will have good water pressure. They’re going to clean the tanks, there will be some lines replaced but not all of them. I just think that it is going to make for a better system,” said Melvin Lindsey, Mayor of the Town of Worthington.

The project for the improvements to the water system is approximately $3.6 million with approximately $1.5 million in grant funds. In a previous meeting, the council approved an increase in their going rate which covers everything that is non-project related.

“It includes rehabilitation of existing infrastructure such as their pressure-reducing valves, a couple of their leak detection meters, and just some areas and headaches the town has been experiencing for a while. It also includes some rehabilitation of their existing water storage tanks, they will sandblast and repaint the exterior and interior of those, and then they will also replace the existing town meters. So, meters are usually on replacement about every 10 years, and the town is proposing to go to a radio read metering software which will help them in their maintenance and daily activities,” said Kylea Radcliff, a Project Manager with the Thrasher Group.

Radcliff added that the past few years have been hard on many municipalities facing increases in water rates around the region for maintenance, upkeep, and water improvement projects.