Extension to Keno boat ramp may be added this summer

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June 12, 2011

By HEATHER TOMLINSON, CJ Staff Writer Commonwealth Journal The Commonwealth Journal Sun Jun 12, 2011, 07:00 AM EDT

Somerset — Lower lake levels? Soon, that’ll be a problem of the past for one southern Pulaski County community.

Work should begin shortly to extend the boat ramp in the Keno Community, located in far southern Pulaski County. That boat ramp has been left unusable by the lower lake levels, which resulted when engineers several years ago moved to take pressure off of the ailing Wolf Creek Dam while undergoing repairs.

“It’s been a couple of years it’s been going on,” said Calvin Bell, property manager at Lake Cumberland Resort, during the May 10 Pulaski County Fiscal Court meeting. “We talked about the fact that the boat ramp there at the Keno Community has been out of the water since the lake had dropped and we wanted to figure out how to extend it.”

Lake Cumberland Resort is located in the Keno Community and overlooks the Roberts Bend part of Lake Cumberland. The resort features cabins, cottages and larger estate homes. Around 60 residents are also located on Keno Road, said developer Tony Del Spina, who also attended the May 10 meeting.

“We knew at that time public funding would be difficult but our goal was to get the ramp extended and try to get it done by this year,” Bell said.

Bell said the only option appeared to be private funding when those interested in extending the ramp sat down to discuss the issue two years ago. It was during the May 10 fiscal court meeting that Bell announced enough private funding had been raised to cover the cost of the ramp extension.

The cost estimate for that project stood at $128,500, Bell told the court. Bell later told the court during the May 24 meeting that around $65,000 had been donated by around 75 property owners and developers. The additional money had been donated by Spina.

“We do have that funding available and we’d like to see about moving forward,” Bell said to the court on May 10.

Those involved noted that, as of May, the original Keno boat ramp was actually usable, thanks to higher lake levels caused by the delay of draining Lake Cumberland’s waters into the swollen Mississippi River.

“All we want is, once the lake is drained, they can go into operations,” Del Spina told the court.

The lake level reached 726.1 feet — high enough to bring water to what has been dry land the past several years — while the Army Corps of Engineers held water this spring to mitigate flooding on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. At last report water was being released through the dam at 28,000 cubic feet per second and the lake had fallen to 703 feet at 10 a.m. Monday, June 6.

The higher levels have served to delay work on the extension, but that may have turned out to be an advantage, as the county warned Bell and Del Spina in May that work couldn’t begin until it was officially bid out through open court and accepted.

“There should be no cost incurred by the county itself,” Del Spina said to the court. “This gives everyone the opportunity to use this boat ramp.”

Still, Pulaski County Attorney Martin Hatfield said the county cannot move forward with construction until the bidding process is carried out.

“We’ve just got to make sure that administratively and legally we jump through the correct hoops.” Hatfield said on May 10.

Del Spina expressed some concern over the time frame for the bidding, noting that the private donors had contributed under the condition that the ramp would be completed by July 1, “barring an act of God.”

But Del Spina added that the higher lake level is just that, and Hatfield pointed out that the time frame is moot until the lake is back down to 680 feet.

“From a legal standpoint, I’ll do all I can to facilitate it,” Hatfield said.

By the time the May 24 Pulaski County Fiscal Court meeting rolled around, bidding had already been advertised and carried out, and the court moved to accept the bid of $124,475 for work to the ramp from Conley Gregory Construction.

That’s on the condition that work begins as soon as the lake is lowered to 680 feet.

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Pulaski carries Girdler to win

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary election, it was impossible to miss the colorful signs dotting nearly every Pulaski roadway. The names in the race for the 15th State Senatorial District seat popped out: A.C. Donahue. Chris Girdler. Mark Polston.

Once citizens hit the ballots, however, the results mirrored the dimensions of the signs themselves: Chris Girdler stood the tallest.

Girdler, deputy district director for Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers, ran away with the votes inside Pulaski County’s borders, earning 3,926 votes for 62.05 percent of the total number cast.

That number more than doubled the next highest vote-getter, businessman Mark Polston, who raked in 1,624 votes for 25.67 percent.

However, Polston — who owns Classic Carpet, a home-flooring business located just off the southern 914 bypass — can claim a moral victory ... three of them, in fact. In all three counties in the district other than Pulaski — those being Adair, Casey, and Russell Counties — Polston actually edged out Girdler.

In Adair, Polston beat Girdler 629 to 394. In Casey County, it was 538 to 417, and in Russell, it was 1,862 to 1,038.

Polston said he just “couldn’t pull it out with the numbers” and that “the machine worked for” Girdler in Pulaski County.

“I think that was their strategy — I think they had a Pulaski County strategy all along,” said Polston. “They played the political game well.”

Polston said the difference between his and Girdler’s campaigns was that “mine was a very, very grass roots campaign,” he said. “I did not have a political machine behind me. I understand how this process works, and in this instance, he prevailed.”

As for why Girdler didn’t take three of four counties, the winning candidate — since there are no Democrats in the race, winning the Republican primary was effectively a final victory for Girdler — said he didn’t have an answer for that.

However, “I believe things happen for a reason and I hope the long and strenuous campaign will only heighten my desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past,” said Girdler.

“Regionalism is a goal of mine, and I look forward to helping all four counties,” he added, noting that he campaigned heavily in each of them.

Sen. Vernie McGaha, the long-time state senator whose seat the candidates were vying for, actually supported Polston after Liberty’s Todd Hoskins dropped out of the race earlier this month.

Donahue, a local attorney, got 556 votes in Pulaski County, 8.79 percent of the vote. He only received 145 votes in Russell County, 74 in Adair County, and 75 in Casey County, where hometown candidate Hoskins almost matched him with 71 votes despite no longer being officially in the race.

Polston said he’s “still digesting” what happened, and though “the process has been a very good experience for me,” he wouldn’t commit to running again in the future. “I wouldn’t shut the door to anything, but I’m not opening any doors either.”

Still, “I think I got a lot of people involved in the process that had not been involved before and would not have been otherwise,” he said. “A lot of people got out and worked really hard, got motivated to talk to friends and neighbors. I think a lot of people became involved through this campaign that are going to be involved for a long time.”

Girdler stressed his “positive message” and said that Rogers is a “mentor and good friend” that he would turn to for advice in dealing with a frequently combative legislative body in Frankfort, one for which Girdler hopes to help change the culture.

Girdler said that he was “confident and optimistic” during the day Tuesday because he’d “worked extremely hard.” Nevertheless, the realization that he’d won gave him “chill bumps,” he said.

“I’m absolutely honored,” said Girdler. “The position of state senator is more than an honor, more than an office. It’s a charge to keep, and I will give it my all.

“I pledge to be the people’s state senator,” he added. “I look forward to working with everyone to move this region forward.”

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