Milton Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Pumpkin Festival Returns To Milton

There will be 22 different food vendors, art exhibitions, crafts, workshops, glassblowing demonstrations, pumpkin competitions, and a petting zoo.

This year will be the 37th annual Pumpkin Festival in Milton. The park expects to have thousands of visitors over the duration of the festival. The festival was created to help farmers sell pumpkins and to celebrate the beginning of autumn.

There will be 22 different food vendors, art exhibitions, crafts, workshops, glassblowing demonstrations, pumpkin competitions, and a petting zoo.

The four-day festival ends Sunday. It starts everyday at 9 a.m. and runs until 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. On Sunday it closes at 6 p.m.

Visitors should take into account heavy traffic around the festival in travel plans.

Milton Declines Purchase Offer From W.Va. American Water

In February, West Virginia American Water made a formal offer to purchase the town’s water system for $13 million. During a public hearing Tuesday night the city voted unanimously against that offer.

An offer from West Virginia American Water to purchase the city of Milton’s water system was rejected by city lawmakers Tuesday.

Milton Mayor Tom Canterbury said the city’s water has experienced fewer problems since they started flushing hydrants twice a year. He blamed bouts of dirty or cloudy water, on air getting into the system.

Some residents present at the meeting said selling to American Water would result in a corporate monopoly and higher rates.

Last month the city purchased almost five million gallons of water from West Virginia American Water to supplement its supplies.

Currently the city’s aging water system is managed by Milton Water which expects to raise rates in the near future.

Milton To Receive Federal Funding To Help Complete Flood Prevention Project

The money comes from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help support the town’s Lower Mud River Flood Risk Management project. It would build a flood wall that would span approximately one and a half miles along the river starting from east Milton and ending at an embankment about 500 feet south of U.S. Route 60.

The town of Milton is receiving more than $190 million in federal funding for flood prevention in the area.

The plan is for the wall to be an average of 19 feet high and 26 feet at its tallest. Construction is scheduled to begin this year, according to the project’s webpage.

The webpage states the completed flood wall would “provide protection to over 600 structures including residences and businesses, along with public structures, personal property, and critical infrastructure.”

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-WV, wrote a letter of support for the project last May.

“The Lower Mud River Flood Risk Management Project will bolster flood protection by constructing a new levee and river channel, which will also move much of the town out of the flood plain, helping spur economic development and changing this flood plain from a 27-year flood plain to a 250-year one,” Manchin said in a release announcing the funding.

The project comes as a response to decades of flooding in the town, including a “once in a hundred year flood” that hit the town earlier this month.

A study of flooding in the area was completed in 1993 by the Natural Resource Conservation Service. Responsibility for the action plan was transferred to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1996.

Also announced separately was another $35 million from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act set to go towards upgrading water, wastewater and stormwater systems statewide.

W.Va. Company Brings Green Power Industry To The Nation

DC America is a start-up electric charging station manufacturer out of Milton, West Virginia.

The company’s president, Nathan Bowen, said a local electric firm and general construction firm partnered to build American made charging stations for the country’s planned electric powered car and truck expansion.

“We’ll install the stations. But we’ll also sell and ship to others across the country,” Bowen said. “If they have local contractors, they can install them themselves. We’ve got licenses all across the United States.”

Bowen said the stations use technology that limits underground disturbance and single point connection cuts installation time from weeks to days.

“Typically, a large DC fast charging station might take six to 10 weeks to construct,” Bowen said. “We can do this in our manufacturing facility, bring it out to the site, and then have it rapidly deployed. Within a day or two, you’ve got a working charging station.”

Bowen says DC America’s sales force is lining up advance orders statewide, and nationally, for patent pending delivery in 2023 — orders that include the electric powered fleet charging market.

”They have large trucks,” Bowen said. “There’s a lot of demand in those industries to go towards electrification just because of the cost of electricity. It’s a lot cheaper than running diesel trucks and the cost of maintenance.”

Bowen said the multi-port units cost from $1 to $1.5 million depending on location and utility availability.

West Virginia is committed to having electric vehicle charging stations along all its interstates within five years.

USDA Funds Water Infrastructure In Milton And Tyler County

The Mountain State is receiving funding for water infrastructure from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Senators Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is providing the City of Milton and Tyler County with $4,370,000 through the Rural Development Water and Wastewater Disposal Grant and Loan Program.

Milton will receive a $2,552,000 grant and a $1,000,000 loan to address inflow issues with its wastewater collection system. The funding will assist in extending the Milton sewer collection system along U.S. Route 60 and add a lift station to the Salt Rock Public Service District.

Tyler County will receive a $500,000 grant and a $318,000 loan to expand water distribution from Boreman Elementary to Centerville and Alma, expanding drinking water and fire protection to more residents. The funding will assist the construction of a new storage tank to prevent water shortages during dry periods. Funding will also go toward a new booster station for the water system.

“It’s not a want for water, it’s a need,” the Tyler County Public Service District general manager and chief water operator, Tina Lancaster, said. “The residents; most of them haul water daily.”

Crews Recover Body Of West Virginia Man Swept Away In Flood

The body of a West Virginia man who was swept away in floodwaters while operating a farm tractor has been recovered, authorities said.

Cabell County Sheriff Chuck Zerkle said the man was identified as Denver Edmunds, 63, of Milton, media outlets reported. His body was recovered Friday evening.

Crews were on the scene much of the day searching for Edmunds, including members of the sheriff’s department, the West Virginia Fire Marshal’s Office and the Milton Volunteer Fire Department.

Heavy rains Friday resulted in rapidly moving floodwaters several feet deep. Schools were dismissed early Friday afternoon in Cabell and Wayne counties. First responders helped guide families out of their homes in some areas.