Illinois Valley News

Workers were outside of Bigfoot Cavern in Kerby on Monday, June 7 making the push toward the water project“s completion. (Photo by Scott Jorgensen, Illinois Valley News)

Doc Bashford and Sharon Satmor have spent the past six months preparing the newly named Bigfoot Cavern in Kerby for a grand opening.

Many fixtures already are in place, including a gigantic Sasquatch statue, an Internet jukebox, and tables and bar stools.

But two items have been holding them up “ prolonged wet winter weather and delays in completion of the Kerby Water District (KWD) project to provide a piped-in H20 supply to the community.

“Water is our main issue,“ Bashford said. “We have everything but water.“

Fortunately for the cavern“s co-owners and other Kerby residents, the project continues to move toward completion. The project was funded largely by a community development grant from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA).

John Plute, chairman of the KWD Board of Directors, said that the main pipeline to bring water from the city of Cave Junction to Kerby has been laid.

“It“s chlorinated, cleaned, flushed and tested good,“ Plute explained.

The second phase of the project involves installation of service lines to businesses and residences, Plute said. Additional delays were caused by that, but Plute said it actually will save KWD members around $3,000 each.

“We had some funds left over from the grant. We convinced USDA to allow us to hook up service lines to peoples“ houses,“ Plute said. “They rarely grant that process, but they did it for us.

“Right now, 113 people are going to receive the water pipeline, but the icing on top is that this allows them to get hooked up onto the grid, as opposed to having it be an out-of-pocket expense.“

June 1 was the original project completion date, Plute said. Grants Pass-based firm Copeland Paving & Gravel has two crews working to install the service lines, according to Plute.

“We figure they can do five installs per day,“ he said. “In three weeks, they should be completed with everyone.“

Before crews could connect the service lines, KWD had to conduct minor environmental impact statements, Plute said, and obtain permission from residents to have personnel enter their property.

A master water meter for the project already has been installed, Plute said.

“What we“re doing now is working with the city, because it“s going to do the maintenance,“ he said. “When Copeland installs the meters, we“ll log them on and set up the record-keeping for that, and it will all be done electronically.

“We“ll give the city a $172,000 system development charge, and that pays for us hooking up to them.“

Plute said that KWD also is in the process of finalizing the paperwork to close out the grant. He added that officials from the state and USDA already have completed a walk-through inspection, and “everybody likes what they see so far.“

The budding water system was used Saturday, May 22, Plute said, when personnel from Illinois Valley Fire District conducted a “burn to learn“ exercise on a donated structure in Kerby. That enabled crews to monitor the water levels, Plute said.

“It seemed to go pretty seamless, pretty flawless,“ he said. “That was the first official use of the system.“

Approximately 29 fire hydrants have been installed in Kerby as a result of the project, Plute said. Insurance rates for residents will decrease as a result, he added.

“It will go down in the future,“ Plute said. “With fire protection there, the way they do cost analysis, it drops the price of fire insurance.“

Concrete pads still must be placed around the hydrants to stabilize them, Plute said. Also required for the project is installation of “state-of-the-art“ backflow prevention to prevent the city of Cave Junction“s water supply from being contaminated, he added.

Plute said that when the project is completed, Kerby residents will have a $28 monthly water bill. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held to mark the occasion.

That should come as some relief to those who have long waited to see the small town have a steady supply of safe drinking water.

“We“ve had a couple of people get antsy,“ Plute said. “But it took 10 years to get the main pipe in the ground. It took only three months to get the authorization to hook up the service lines. For government projects, that“s warp speed.“

Plute said that the two crews are working on the hookups, with one concentrated on the downtown area.

“Our priority is to get the water for the businesses up and running as soon as possible,“ he said.

Bashford and Satmor may be pleased to hear that. When the ground dries somewhat, they plan to install gravel on the Bigfoot Cavern property. Then, when the water starts flowing, the employees that they hired weeks ago can finally get to work.

“We“re first on the list to have it,“ Bashford said.

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