Legg: Frankfort wants early assessment of 2008 lake levels

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Hilda Legg, executive director of the Governor’s office of Interagency Services in the Lake Cumberland Region, says state government wants to know as quickly as possible the level of Lake Cumberland next year. She emphasized that safety is top priority. File photo

July 20, 2007

Corps should be able to make projection in fall

By BILL MARDIS Editor Emeritus The Commonwealth Journal Fri Jul 20, 2007, 08:59 AM EDT

A representative from Gov. Ernie Fletcher’s office said state government wants information as early as possible about the level of Lake Cumberland next year.

Hilda Legg, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Interagency Services in the Lake Cumberland Region, said if the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers “... can give us something firm early in the fall ...” marinas can make plans and the area can be marketed for next summer. Legg made the remarks Wednesday while accompanying top Corps officials on a tour of Lake Cumberland.

Legg said state government “... would like to have assurance” from the Corps that the level of the lake won’t be lowered another 30 feet. She emphasized, however, that safety is top priority.

The Corps earlier this year directed municipalities and other water users to lower intakes to the 650-foot level in case the lake has to be dropped lower to facilitate repairs at Wolf Creek Dam. The level currently is being maintained at 680 feet above sea level, about 40 feet lower than normal during the vacation season.

Corps officials have insisted there are no plans to lower the lake another 30 feet unless there is a new crisis at Wolf Creek Dam. The dam has been classified by an outside panel of experts as in high risk of failure.

Bill Peoples, public information officer for the Corps’ Nashville District, said Wednesday that rumors making the round that the lake will be raised to 700 feet next year are “purely rumors.” He said the rumors are being fired by people wearing buttons proclaiming a 700-foot level for the lake.

An intense grouting program is under way at the dam and an assessment of the grouting’s effect will be made in the fall. Peoples said a determination will be made late this fall about what level the lake will be next year.

The $309 million rehabilitation of the unstable Wolf Creek Dam is under way and the project is scheduled to take seven years. However, Gen. Bruce Berwick, commander of the Great Lakes and Ohio River District of the Corps, said this week that if a way can be found to expedite the project, additional money will be requested to complete the dam work sooner.

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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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