Construction of WV American Water waterline along Leetown Road near Kearneysville
Jefferson County, WV (2026 Oct 22) — At the Jefferson County Development Authority board meeting on October 20, JCDA Executive Director Daryl Cowles informed the board members that the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) had rejected the County’s application for a $75,000 grant. The JCDA had applied for the grant earlier in 2026 to fund a preliminary engineering report for water and sewer infrastructure in Summit Point. Cowles also presented the JCDA board with a $4,500 invoice from the Bowles Rice law firm.
The JCDA had hired the law firm earlier this year to draft a public-private partnership agreement between the JCDA and West Virginia American Water at the request of the Jefferson County Commission. At this week’s meeting, several JCDA board members asked for a copy of the agreement, but Cowles declined to share it, saying that he wanted to review it with American Water first before providing it to the JCDA board.
>>>More coverage of the Summit Point utility project…
Published 2026 Oct 22 in the Observer Weekly. Updated 2026 Oct 23 (image).
By Steve Pearson