Grayson County Fiscal Court on Tuesday voted to provide additional funds to help finish the Caneyville Water District (CWD) rehab project.
The Grayson County Water District (GCWD) recently took over operations of the CWD, and as of August 1, 2022, the GCWD is “fully managing” the CWD, according to longtime GCWD Operator Jeremy Woosley.
(While managing the CWD, the GCWD cannot take “ownership” of the CWD until the water system rehab project is complete.)
The additional funds, Woosley said, are needed to complete the project due to inflationary cost overruns related to the increase in materials over the last year or so. Woosley added that the GCWD found that a water tank is leaking and needs a repair that will cost approximately $80,000.
“We were a little afraid the project would run over (budget), and it is going to, (but) it’s a little early to tell (exactly) how much,” Woosley told magistrates.
Woosley asked for and received from Fiscal Court $150,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds on Tuesday, which he noted would be “more than enough” to complete the wide-ranging water rehab project on the roughly 60 year old water system, and also allow the GCWD to complete work on the leaking tank.
Fiscal Court voted to give the project $450,000 in ARPA money in October 2021. And in March 2022, the GCWD received just over $400,000 from Gov. Andy Beshear’s Cleaner Water Program that was used to help finance the CWD upgrades. At the same time, the city of Caneyville received $63,000 to assist in replacing water lines.
The CWD has nearly 900 service customers, Woosley said.
The water system rehab project began in earnest in July 2021 when the Caneyville City Commission approved a bid for $2.3 million to upgrade the antiquated system. Officials had budgeted approximately $700,000 fewer dollars than the accepted bid, which spurred talks about the GCWD taking over operation of the CWD.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
