Two contracts for the water project to serve the residents of Watts and along Route 15 South were approved by the Board of the Breathitt County Water District (BCWD) at their regular meeting last Wednesday. That same meeting also marked the final regular session for Board Chairman John Lester Smith, as well as Board Members Vurl Fugate, Alma Noble, Homer Johnson and Jay Watts.

Chairman Smith and the four Board Members will be leaving the BCWD Board, once County Judge-Executive Harvey J. Richardson appoints a new group of people to serve four-year terms on the board. That announcement from the Judge is expected to be made within the next couple of weeks.

When asked who would replace them on the board, Smith politely replied, “I’m not at liberty to say.” He then told the crowd of around 35 in the Breathitt County Courthouse, “It’s been a pleasure to see all the accomplishments made in the county with water lines being laid and customers getting clean, usable water. Right or wrong, we pulled the trigger, and we did it.”

Smith also hoped the new board members appointed would be “quick learners, and would represent the county with dignity.” Staying on in his position is BCWD Superintendent Shannon Moore, who is paid a salary for his duties.

Once business was finished towards the end of the session, people in the audience and on the board paid tribute to the efforts of what the members have accomplished. “In four years, John Lester, this group and Shannon has done a yeoman’s job of getting water lines,” said Bryan Kirby of CEDA, Inc. “You folks did it by getting grants, and without borrowing any money.”

Board Member Watts praised Smith, adding, “John Lester put a lot of his time and effort on this board, and the county owes him a debt of gratitude.” Also giving high marks for the Board’s work over the last four years were O. V. Watts, who led a group of citizens living along Route 30 East in the Rousseau-Noctor area; and County Attorney Brendon Miller, who worked closely with the BCWD Board during the four-year period.

Later, Board Member Noble told the Voice, “When I first started four years ago, the only people who showed up at the meetings were us - the board members. Now, we’ve got more people showing up here, because they’re concerned about getting clean water in their communities. And we’ve made a difference in their lives by what we’ve done.”

Earlier, the county water board heard from Ora Main of Nesbitt Engineering in Lexington, who’s worked closely with BCWD on water projects for years. He gave a progress report on the projects, adding that 118 customers were hooked up to the KY 30 West project in Phase 1 and 2. Main noted that some 62 per cent of the homes were connected on the KY 52-541 project, and that 139 customers - 70 per cent of those in the area to be served - have signed up for the KY 205 project that almost finished.

Main spent most of his time discussing the Watts KY 15 South project, noting that the state Division of Water gave approval to the project, and that bids were open earlier in the day. “For Contract 1, the waterline portion of the project, we had nine bidders. For Contract 2, the construction of two tanks, we had three bidders.” He announced that the apparent low bidder for Contract 1 was Ronnie Mullins and Son at $1,573,025. For Contract 2, Main announced Laurel Construction was the apparent low bidder at $297,200. He recommended to the Board they approve the two bids, adding “We’re looking for funding to kick that project off.”

After the motion was made, the board approved the low bidders for the two contracts and to award bids to them, pending available funding.

With a group from the Route 30 East area sitting in, Kirby told them and Board that the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) through the Governor’s Office of Local Development (GOLD) was turned down for work on that water project. He said his office would simply make a new application with about a week’s delay to the schedule. O. V. Watts told Smith, Kirby and board members that “we’ve done a survey of the area along Route 30 East, and it showed 98 out of 100 people surveyed wanting water lines in their neighborhood.” Kirby told them that he appreciated their efforts, and to keep working at getting water in that region. “Probably the first of next year, during the winter, we’ll get together to work on income surveys, and to get the money for 30 East. We’ve got to get the Watts project going first. So bear with us.”

As the meeting wound down, Smith thanked those who came, and for making their voices heard. “Four years ago, four of the board members didn’t have any city water. Now they do. And in those four years, this board did our job of lobbying with our neighbors and banding together to get water service in your communities. We’ve made a lot of progress. Thank you for letting me and all of our board members serve you. It’s been real.”