The Gateway Area Development District is getting another $18 million to go toward the construction of Morehead Utility Plant Board’s new water treatment facility. The money comes from the recently passed state budget.
Joshua Farrow is Executive Director of the Gateway ADD. He said when the project began, it was estimated to cost just under $30 million.
“And then just through inflation and the time that it took to get the project to bid, it actually increased to around, $52 million is our current budget for that. It was obviously way over budget, so we worked to secure additional funding and that’s part of this $18 million,” Farrow said.
Farrow added once it’s complete, the water treatment plant will serve 64,000 people in Rowan and seven surrounding counties.
“Also, approximately 900 commercial businesses and 25 industries across those eight counties, as well. So, it definitely has a multitude of benefits, but maybe the most is just providing high-quality water to the residents of the region," said Farrow
Officials said the water infrastructure improvements include a raw water intake on Cave Run Lake and a new one-million-gallon storage tank. The project is about a year out from completion. Once the facility is up and running, it will increase the Morehead Utility Plant Board’s water treatment capacity to 12 million gallons per day.