Lexington firm turns in low bid for wastewater treatment facility project

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June 30, 2009

By TRICIA NEAL, CJ Staff Writer The Commonwealth Journal Tue Jun 30, 2009, 09:06 PM EDT

Somerset — A Lexington company is the apparent low bidder in a major construction project by the City of Somerset.

Mayor Eddie Girdler announced this week that W. Rogers Company bid $12,687,000 on the construction of a new regional wastewater treatment facility that will actually be an expansion of the current plant at Pitman Creek.

Eleven companies placed bids on the project. W. Rogers’ bid was about $2 million less than what had been anticipated in the city’s recently passed 2009-2010 budget.

“The large number of companies bidding on the project reflects the overall decline in construction throughout the nation and the need to have construction projects that will maintain and create new high-paying jobs in the industry,” Girdler said.

The new, expanded treatment facility is expected to meet the wastewater needs of the region for the next 20 years. The project is also designed to continue to protect Lake Cumberland environmentally.

The wastewater treatment plant expansion will increase its capacity from 3 million gallons per day to 4.4 million gallons per day.

Girdler says funding for the project has already been approved through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in the form of grants totaling $6.4 million, and a nearly $8.5 million loan from the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority.

Pulaski County residents who receive water service from the City of Somerset — basically any county residents who don’t live in Somerset, or in some portions of Burnside and Science Hill — will be sharing in the cost of the facility expansion in the form of a rate hike of approximately $6 per month. Water and sewer rates for Somerset residents will not change from the previous year.

Once the required paperwork is completed, construction on the wastewater plant should begin in about 45 days. The project should be completed in approx-imately 15 months.

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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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