Lick Creek residents may believe they have heard it all before, but officials say the money for a project to bring water to their homes appears to have been secured.

On Monday, members of the Boone County Public District voted to accept $576,000 from the state of West Virginia for the water project in the community near Danville.

The money, along with $500,000 from the Boone County Commission and $537,000 from West Virginia American Water Company, when finalized, will allow crews to start digging.

Boone County Administrator Jim Gore said most of the credit in obtaining the money should go to the members of the Boone PSD. “Broaddus Lorrison, Mary Roy, Clarence Waller, Paul Ritchie and Grady Hayner worked tirelessly to make this happen.

Barring any problems, the project could begin as soon as this spring.

Gore said commissioners have decided that the next water project slated to be started by county maintenance crews would for Joe’s Creek residents.

“The commissioners are studying what we need to do in order to get Joe’s Creek started,” Gore told CVN. In order to save money and maximize the impact of public tax dollars, county crews have been successful in the past in performing the smaller water line extensions, bypassing the need to set the projects out for bid.

“We can save tens of thousands of dollars on the smaller jobs,” he said. “Our guys are pros at installing these water lines, and we can do them nearly as fast as contractors can.”

The extension would potentially serve up to 50 homes. Gore said an existing water line goes into Joe’s Creek for a short distance currently, but can go farther. In the past couple of years, Gore said county crews have installed waterline extensions at Lower White Oak, Peytona and Robinson. He said that after Joe’s Creek, the county is looking at Six Mile Road. “That is the next logical step. We need to get through Six Mile in order to get water to the edge of Corridor G in that area.

In other county commission actions, Gore said officials are working hard to get the new Racine radio tower constructed. The $130,000 project, financed partially through government grants, will be located at Snodgrass Branch Road, just down the road from the old location of the Racine Volunteer Fire Department. Gore said the Boone County Ambulance Authority recently obtained a deed to the property, and the ambulance board is working to get the project underway.

He said when constructed, the tower would enhance the radio reception for EMS, fire and law enforcement agencies working on the Big Coal River side of Boone County. “We are also trying to get a cellular phone provider to join in the project as well,” Gore said. “For far too long, people on that side of the mountain have suffered from spotty cell service, or worse, no service at all. We hope we can remedy that with this new tower.”