Baxter Extending Sewer On Ward Mill Road

Baxter will begin work for a sewer extension project on Ward Mill Road this April.

Mayor John Martin said the quarter mile of sewer line will connect to Anatolia Granite & Marble’s new facility.

“We’re going to self perform a lot of it as far as just laying the line,” Martin said. “We got our trenchers. We can do that ourselves, but what we had to do is bring an outside company in to do the boring.”

Martin said an outside boring company is needed to tunnel under a railroad by the road. Martin said the digging aspect of the project is still out for bid, but results should come back in time to start the project next month.

“There is a lot of things that you have to provide to the railroad as far as a large amount of insurance coverage to do the boring under their track,” Martin said. “So that kind of limits the number of people that can even do this job, but we got it out now. We feel pretty comfortable we can get someone to do the boring.”

Martin said getting to this point has been a long process, because the city needed a permit to dig under the track and an easement to go across a private property. The project is mainly funded through an $86,000 Appalachian Regional Commission Grant.

Anatolia Granite & Marble is expected to open this May. Neighboring company Fixtur World Designs will also benefit from the new line.