Open For Business

Local News

Related Photos

January 26, 2007

Will lake thrive despite crisis?

By CHRIS HARRIS, Staff Writer The Commonwealth Journal Fri Jan 26, 2007, 07:52 PM EST

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The State Commerce Cabinet is selling this message to the Lake Cumberland area: Everything’s going to be just fine.

Key representatives from Gov. Ernie Fletcher’s administration met with officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Friday, as well as officials from the Commerce Cabinet, the Department of Tourism, Military Affairs, Emergency Management, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet, Homeland Secu-rity, Transportation Cab-inet, and SEKTA (South Eastern Kentucky Tourism Association). The purpose of the meeting was evaluating strategies for alleviating any negative ramifications of lowering the water level of Lake Cumberland.

Chris Gilligan, Commun-ications Director with the Department of Commerce, said it was vitally important to stress that the situation was not one of “imminent danger,” but merely a high risk.

“(Figures show) about $153 million in economic impact for the four-county lake area,” said Gilligan. “No one knows what exactly the impact would be. One of the fears of the tourism folks is (the effects of the perception that) the lake is dried up and the sky is falling. That’s completely erroneous.”

The dam is exactly the same as it’s always been, Gilligan said. It’s just that the methods of evaluating its status have changed — they’re “more complex” and “multi-tiered” as compared to the past.

Moreover, those already anticipating spending their summer on the lake will still find plenty to enjoy.

“One of the things we focused on (at the meeting) was that even with the reduced lake level, Lake Cumberland is still the third largest lake in Kentucky,” said Gilligan.

Indeed, at 37,680 acres, it ranks behind only the Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley. Better still: “The third-largest ranking doesn’t change at 723 or 680 feet, and it doesn’t come close to getting down to number four,” noted Gilligan.

The Corps of Engineers gave an in-depth factual briefing on the history of the dam and mindset surrounding the recent decision, as well as the process of going forward. One key point is that the target date for the 680-feet elevation is Feb. 12. The water will be lowered four to six inches per day until it reaches 687 feet, then a foot per day until it reaches 682 feet, followed by a slower reduction until the target level is reached.

Also addressed was the fact that eight boat ramps will remain open at the new elevation, with the possibility of extending more.

Both a hard copy and electronic record of the questions posed at Wednesday’s town hall-like meeting at The Center for Rural Development were given to the Corps. They anticipate being able to answer those questions by next week.

One way to access that information will be by an e-mail newsletter and the Commerce Department’s Web site. Of the approximately 200 people at the town hall, those placed on an e-mail contact list will receive a sort of electronic newsletter keeping the situation up to date. That information will also be available at www.commerce.ky.gov, at the bottom of the homepage in the news section.

“It’s going to be an irregular update, just snippets of useful information,” said Gilligan. “(It won’t hold) a definitive answer, but it’s a good general overall update to keep everyone informed. ... It’s one way to help get new information back to folks.”

He added that every public speaking appearance possible will be taken advantage of to promote the “mantra,” as Gilligan put it, that the lake will be open for business this summer. In fact, First Lady Glenna Fletcher has immediately begun work recording a series of radio spots which include that message.

We’re taking advantage of every opportunity ... (to say that) the lake is still open and it’s still the third-largest lake in Kentucky,” said Gilligan. “The governor has directed us to do everything we can to help soften the blow.”

Text Only

Local News

Eubank woman keeps the faith as she battles cervical cancer
February 11, 2012 1 Photo
Congressional districts set
February 10, 2012
Kentucky exempt from NCLB regulations
February 10, 2012
Survey may attract commercial passenger service
February 9, 2012 1 Photo
Hal Rogers defends Somerset’s Streetscape project
February 9, 2012 1 Photo
Somerset on verge of becoming natural gas hub
It sounds like a Buck Rogers fiction series, but it’s true. The city of Somerset is about to become the energy hub of Kentucky, maybe even regionally or nationally.
Somerset Mayor Eddie Girdler, gas company manager Dan Henderson and city engineer Reggie Chaney discussed the grandiose energy network this week with a reporter for the Commonwealth Journal. It’s more than a vision. City officials say it’s about to become reality.

February 9, 2012 1 Photo
Old districts are back ... for now
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Such is the legislative redistricting debacle in Frankfort.
Judge Phillip Shepherd in Franklin Circuit Court on Tuesday tossed out the General Assembly’s controversial redistricting plans and reverted everything back to where it was before.

February 9, 2012
Fast-moving blaze guts mobile home off Slate Branch Road
February 2, 2012 1 Photo
Big Bang Theory
Pulaski County is not at war. The booming you may hear at dusk is mock cannon fire to scare away birds.
Stuart Spillman, environmental director for the Lake Cumberland Health Department, said at least three cannons are on loan from the department to residents who want to scare away swarms of starlings and blackbirds settling in to roost.
He said a cannon is being used by a resident on Laura Lane off Ky. 39; another is in the Oak Hill Road area and a third is on Ashurst Street in the eastern part of Somerset.
Spillman said a timer on each cannon allows it to “fire” at whatever frequency is desired. The cannons must be used as the birds circle before going to roost. “After they settle in, nothing will chase them out,” Spillman said.
The Health Department doesn’t operate the cannons unless there is a specific complaint in an area where there are lots of birds, Spillman noted. He said so far this year the birds are not as bad as in the past.

February 2, 2012
Boil water advisory is lifted countywide
The water controversy that Pulaski County has been boiling over — so to speak — for the last week is finally over.
At 10 minutes after noon Wednesday, the “boil water” advisory for the Western Pulaski Water District was lifted — almost a full week after the problems began around 1 p.m. last Thursday.
Prior to that, the Somerset Water Service — along with the other water providers in its system, including Science Hill Water, Southeastern Water, and Eubank Water — lifted their advisories, with Somerset on Saturday afternoon and the last, Southeastern, by Monday morning. Western Pulaski was the last in the system to complete sample testing for potential contaminants, due to not being able to access its Pikeville-based testing lab until Monday.
Somerset Mayor Eddie Girdler thanked the public for its patience and understanding during the duration of the boil water advisory — put in place to keep citizens from drinking water that could have been contaminated after an accident last Thursday at the water plant site — and also thanked all the city employees for their hard work during this time.
“The boil water advisory went about as well as would be expected,” said Girdler.

February 2, 2012
More Local News Headlines

Local News

Search Results

Related Photos

Open For Business

Will lake thrive despite crisis?

Site Map