An upgraded water system and a new senior citizens’ center are planned projects that give the city of Eubank a rosy outlook for 2009.
Mayor Frey Todd said a loan and grants are already approved to construct a 500,000-gallon water-storage tank, upgrade three pumping stations and lay a 12-inch water main from the south side of Eubank to the community of Highlands in Lincoln County. The improvements hopefully will lift a moratorium on new customers imposed about a year ago by the Kentucky Division of Water.
Todd said the half-million gallon water-storage tank will be built on a knob in the Pulaski community. It will replace two existing tanks, one holding 100,000 gallons and the other 200,000 gallons. Upgrading the pumping stations is necessary to pump additional water to the larger tank, the mayor said.
Todd expressed concern about a looming rate increase for customers of Eubank Water System because of increased cost of buying treated water from Somerset.
“We got a letter from Somerset telling us that water is going to cost us about 60 percent more,” said Todd. This additional cost will have to be passed on to customers and Todd described the users’ rate increase as “sizable.”
Somerset Mayor Eddie Girdler said the higher charges for water are necessary because Somerset needs to spend $25 million to expand its water-treatment plant to 15 million gallons a day. Girdler said Somerset is providing potable water to about 100,000 people in five counties and the existing plant at Waitsboro is nearing its 10 million-gallon-a-day capacity.
Eubank Water System, one of the largest in the area, serves about 5,000 customers in Pulaski, Lincoln and Casey counties. Until Somerset Water Service’s capacity is increased, Somerset has instituted a total ban on adding new, out-of-county customers to rural and municipal water systems. Any major expansions of water systems inside the county must be approved by Somerset, Girdler noted.
Eubank will borrow most of the money to upgrade its water system. Todd said the approved $4 million package from Farmers Home Administration is 70 percent loans and 30 percent grants.
Down the road, Todd suggested the possibility that Eubank Water System might build its own treatment plant on Cedar Creek Lake in Lincoln County.
Lincoln County Judge-Executive Ronnie “Buckwheat” Gilbert said the 829-acre lake is fed by more than 30 springs. Located along U.S. 150 east of Stanford, the lake has a 28-mile shoreline. It averages about 20 feet deep but is 70 feet deep near the dam.
Noting that part of Eubank extends into Lincoln County, Gilbert said no one from Eubank had mentioned a water-treatment plant to him but he indicated no opposition to consideration of the lake as a water source. He said he has thought about the possibility of capturing the overflow from a riser near the dam.
Concerning the senior citizens’ center, revised architectural plans to convert the former skating rink building on Ky. 70 into a senior facility should be ready to re-submit for bids by the end of January, Todd said.
The project is being downsized because the original advertisement for bids elicited proposals higher than available funds. The smaller project will eliminate plans for a $35,000 addition at the front of the structure for a kitchen and office space.
Todd said moving the kitchen and office inside the existing structure will reduce the size of meeting rooms and walking area. “It won’t be as large, but I think it will be big enough to serve our community,” the mayor said.
Eubank, according to 2007 census estimates, has a population of 373. Most of the city is Pulaski County but its corporate limits straddle the Lincoln County line.
Eubank City Commission has a new look, beginning this year. Connie Belcher and Alton Fulcher Jr. won seats on the commission in November, ousting Lee Coffee and Ken Nothstein. Curtis G. Todd and Edward Hicks retained their positions.
“I think we’ve all got the same goals in mind,” Todd said of the new commissioners.
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Related Photos
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Eubank Mayor Frey Todd says an upgraded water system and a senior citizens’ center are top projects for the sixth-class city in 2009. Bill Mardis photo
Eubank looking forward to upbeat 2009
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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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