After hearing pleas for county water from citizens from the Cana area on Sept. 10, the Carroll County Public Service Authority agreed to include Meadowbrook Road in the Cana Water Extension Study. The four who spoke complained of not only a lack of water, but water that contained a strong sulfur smell.

“I don’t have any water,” said Angela Jones. “My father-in-law has drilled four wells. The last one was 500-feet deep and lasted only three weeks.”

Jones added she was not alone. “No one on our hill has water. I can give you a list of 10 to 15 names of people who don’t have water. “I have a friend, and she and her children take baths in the same water, and the water smells like sulfur. We need water as soon as possible.”

Danny and Shirley Vaughn also addressed the board about their water problems.

“I’ve got a 500-feet-well and it pumps about a half-gallon a minute, so water would be greatly appreciated,” said Danny.

Shirley added, “There are times we go in and we can’t take a bath. We can’t wash clothes; we can’t do a lot of things.”

Rodney Combs is better off than some of his neighbors, but it has been expensive.

Combs said he was forced to drill a new well in September of 2008, then again in February of 2009. Since it was producing only “16 gallons per minute,” Combs said he was forced to drill another well “a long way” from his house in order to provide enough water for his family.

“Using both the wells, we now have plenty of water at this time, but a lot of my neighbors don’t,” said Combs. “We need water on the dry ridge of Meadowbrook in Cana.”

William Payne, who represents the Fancy Gap District on the board, read a letter from Shannon and Lisa Ayers, “life-long residents” of Meadowbrook.

The Ayerses paid $5,000 to have a 415-feet well dug, then had to dig an additional 210-feet. After drilling, they “noticed a strong sulfur odor” to the water.

“We need a water filtration device, but we do not have enough water to operate a filtration system. Water would be greatly appreciated,” their letter read.

“The goal of the PSA is to get water to everyone in the county who needs it,” said Dr. Tom Littrell, the Pipers Gap representative, who then asked County Administrator Gary Larrowe if extending water to the Meadowbrook section had “ever been considered.”

Larrowe answered, “Not that I’m aware of.”

“There certainly seems to be a need for water there. I would certainly encourage us to take a look,” said Littrell.

Larrowe pointed out that “the policy of the PSA is that if 51 percent of the people along the route must sign up if you add (Meadowbrook) into the project study area.”

He added that a “sparkplug, someone to go door to door to get signatures,” would also “help with the feasibility study.”

Later in the meeting, following Larrowe’s reports on the various PSA projects, Larrowe recommended the board “make a motion to include Meadowbrook in the Cana project.” Payne made the motion and it was approved unanimously.

“That’s one brick in the wall, but we’ve got to start somewhere,” said Littrell.

In his report on PSA projects, Larrowe announced that $100,000 in funding for the Fancy Gap Water and Sewer Study had been received from the Southwest Regional Water/Wastewater Construction Fund, as well as $100,000 for the Exit 1 water improvement project. In addition, the Southwest Virginia Regional Water/Wastewater Technical Assistance Fund will provide $7,500 for the Oakland/Pipers Gap Water Study, $6,000 for the Sheeptown Water Study and $6,000 for the Cana Water Extension Study.

As to the Fancy Gap Water and Sewer Project, Larrowe noted that 94 percent, or 63,700 feet of water line, has been installed, and lines are currently being flushed and pressure tested in advance of being placed in service.

In other action, the board declared four vehicles surplus, and decided to sell them on GovDeals.com, a site that allows various government agencies to sell surplus and confiscated items online. The four vehicles are a 1996 Chevrolet S10, a 1990 Chevrolet service truck, a 1994 GMC Jimmy and a 1999 Ford Taurus.