Odom, Gray deserve our gratitude

I read with interest the article in the November 13, 2007 issue of The Progressive Journal concerning the Pageland Town Council vote against the Alligator Rural Water & Sewer Company Wastewater Treatment Facility. Let me say upfront that Kellahan and Associates Engineers and Surveyors, Inc. of which I am the president, is the design engineering firm for Alligator Rural Water and Sewer Company, Inc., and have been since its inception twenty years ago. We also, have been the design engineers for Chesterfield County Rural Water Company since 1998. I am, as I said, an engineer not a politician.
When engineers make statements and write reports, letters, and so forth for projects, their statements and reports are based on facts, figures, laws, regulations and sound engineering judgments based on training and many years of experience handed down from other engineers throughout the years. It appears to me, from reading your article, that the Mayor and some Town Council members made their statements and their vote against the Alligator Sewer Treatment Plant alternative without regard to the facts and certainly not in the best interest of their constituents. It appears that they based their vote solely on Mayor Faile’s dislike for Glenn Odom and the Alligator Rural Water and Sewer Company, Inc.
Alligator Rural Water and Sewer Company, Inc. was formed due to the fact that, some years ago, Chesterfield County Rural Water Company, Inc., chose not to extend water service in the lower part of Chesterfield County. In 1987 a few concerned citizens in the Middendorf area petitioned Chesterfield County Rural Water Company, Inc. to serve the area or release the service area to a new rural water company. At that time, Chesterfield County Rural Water Company, Inc. board of directors voted to release the area and the Alligator Rural Water and Sewer Company, Inc. was formed to serve this area.
Presently, Chesterfield County Rural Water Company, Inc. under the management of Charles Gray, and Alligator Rural Water and Sewer Company, Inc. under the management of Glenn Odom, work as partners. They have succeeded in providing quality potable water to most of Chesterfield County including the Towns of Pageland, Jefferson, Chesterfield, McBee, Patrick, Ruby and Mt. Croghan. I am sure your readers in these towns remember drinking water provided by the various towns only a few short years ago. Do you think any of them want to give up the safe, clean and abundant water provided by Chesterfield County Rural Water Company, Inc. and go back to the water previously provided by the towns? Today, because of the foresight and collaborative efforts of Alligator Rural Water & Sewer Company and Chesterfield County Rural Water Company, these towns enjoy a safe, dependable source of potable water that meets and/or exceeds all state and federal regulations and is produced by Alligator Rural Water & Sewer Company.
Fortunately, for the citizens of Chesterfield County, and without political prejudices, Chesterfield County Rural Water Company and Alligator Rural Water & Sewer Company continue to partner together, obtaining loans and grants, to provide the infrastructure necessary to supply a safe, dependable water source and distribution system throughout Chesterfield County. Alligator Rural Water & Sewer Company will construct a state of the art wastewater treatment facility that is not only safe and environmentally friendly but also promotes the sound economic development of Chesterfield County. The towns of Pageland and Jefferson have been offered, through Chesterfield County Rural Water Company, the opportunity to join this partnership for the future economic development of their towns and the welfare of their citizens.
Although I have not met Interim Town Administrator Roland Windham, it appears from the article and the transcript of his presentation to council printed in The Progressive Journal, that he is truly an administrator trying to present the facts of nine alternatives the Town of Pageland’s engineers have studied as a solution to the Town’s wastewater treatment dilemma. You can be sure that DHEC and the EPA will require the Town of Pageland to choose an alternative other than Alternative 1, “Do Nothing”. The “Do Nothing” alternative is not an option with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Fines and civil penalties will cost the Town far more than any one of the other alternatives presented.
It seems to me, as an outsider, that the taxpayers in the Town of Pageland would want the most cost effective method of treating its wastewater that provides for the economic future of the area. It is hard to believe that a mayor or council person would not want to promote a progressive economic atmosphere in the Town of Pageland. Perhaps the taxpayers in the Town of Pageland will go to the ballot box at the next election and voice their opinion.
You should also know that Alligator Rural Water & Sewer Company and Chesterfield County Rural Water Company have invested and continue to invest millions of dollars in water and sewer infrastructure to meet the current and future needs of all the citizens and promote the health, safety and economic development of Chesterfield County. It is, quite frankly, a shame that the political prejudices of some elected officials will not allow them to join with Alligator Rural Water & Sewer Company and Chesterfield County Rural Water Company in this, their endeavor.

Very truly yours,
William N. Kellahan, Jr., Kellahan & Associates
Engineers and Surveyors, Inc.