The governor’s office is looking into funding options to help counties in the Lake Cumberland region scrambling to get out-of-water boat ramps ready for the tourist season and water intake pipes extended in case additional drawdowns are necessary.
Gov. Ernie Fletcher, who was in town earlier this week for the grand opening of Somerset Rail Park, said after the ceremony his staff is evaluating the situation and trying to come up with possible solutions.
Major repairs at Wolf Creek Dam have caused the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to lower the lake to 680 feet above sea level — 43 feet below the tree line — for the summer tourist season. The lower water level is intended to ease the pressure on the earthen section of the dam, which has been classified at a “high risk” of failure.
Fletcher said he was “disappointed” when the General Assembly adjourned earlier this year without funding projects associated with Wolf Creek Dam repairs.
“The House didn’t do anything ... and that was disappointing,” he said.
The Republican governor promised to help, but said his immediate priorities are making sure residents who live below the dam are safe and communities have adequate water supplies. Recreational needs are next on his list.
Water treatment systems in Somerset and Burnside have been notified by the Corps to extend their water intake pipes by the end of the calendar year. This is a precautionary measure in the event the Corps has to draw down the lake an additional 30 feet, to 650 feet, which is not in their immediate plans.
The recommended summer pool level is 680 feet, to be maintained at least through the summer months, until the situation can be reviewed in the fall.
Normal pool levels are 723 feet in the summer and 690 feet in the winter.
Mark York, chief of staff for the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet, said Somerset Water Service has made a request to GOLD (Governor’s Office for Local Development) for $565,000 of a $1.17 million project to extend its water intake pipe at Waitsboro.
Somerset is the first local water system to file a funding request with GOLD, but York expects additional requests from other agencies will be made in the future.
A delegation from Pulaski County government has met with representatives from GOLD and the state Transportation Cabinet to ask about possible funding to extend county-leased boat ramps.
The Corps already has awarded contracts to extend several of its boat ramps and is making rapid process to getting the work done well in advance of Memorial Day, the first holiday weekend of the season.
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Fletcher disappointed with House’s indecision on Wolf Creek Dam crisis
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Hal Rogers defends Somerset’s Streetscape project
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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. -
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. -
Fast-moving blaze guts mobile home off Slate Branch Road
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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. -
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.
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SCS to host Medal of Honor recipient
The message is clear: There are heroes. Even here in our own hometowns.
That’s the idea organizers hope to get across Saturday night at Somerset Christian School, when Congressional Medal of Honor winner Sgt. Dakota Meter speaks to all who choose to attend.
For further questions, ticket purchases, and sponsorship opportunities please contact Susan Adams at (606) 875-0255. -
Newspaper veteran name Publisher of Commonwealth Journal
SOMERSET — A fourth generation newspaperman has been named publisher of the Commonwealth Journal.
Rob McCullough, 50, who started working in a newspaper mailroom when he was 15, officially assumes his duties today. He succeeds Jack McNeely who has accepted a position with the Daily Mountain Eagle in Jasper, Alabama.
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Blakley receives worldwide honor
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Skip the Coffee Cup and Inhale Your Caffeine Fix
