Kentucky
American, Owenton mayor pleased
with
Lexington water vote
Water
lines could reach 80 percent of county by 2007
By JOSHUA COFFMAN
Landmark News Service
Water (wah-tur), n. 1.
A cool clear fluid needed by all living things. 2. A subject
of sometimes red-hot debate in many Northern and Central Kentucky
communities.
Water is no stranger to controversy in the Bluegrass State.
Lexington citizens recently considered a much-discussed measure
on November ballots to condemn privately owned Kentucky American
Water and dissolve the company’s Fayette County holdings
into a public utility.
Owenton city leaders voted to sell its local water system to
the same company last year.
Voters in Lexington opted last week, by a 61-39 measure, to
reject the initiative that would have turned the water works
over to the city, and they sent several politicians supporting
the measure packing along with it.
Kentucky American officials and Owenton’s mayor believe
Lexington’s citizens made a wise choice.
“Personally I was glad for that, because I have a problem
with a company doing an excellent job … and somebody coming
in and trying to condemn,” Mayor David “Milkweed”
Wotier said.
Kentucky American spokeswoman Susan Lancho said the company
had concerns about Owenton and other nearby communities it served,
because those customers would not get to vote on the issue.
“We feel it’s very good news for not only Fayette
County but surrounding counties, as well,” she said about
last week’s vote.
Wotier said he believes, after last year’s sale of the
water system, the company helped the city of Owenton catch up
with state regulations more speedily at a time when the municipality
was financially strapped.
“I think Kentucky American has ironed out a lot of wrinkles
for us,” he said, noting that the partnership, in one
form or another actually goes back several years. “They
were able to lend us the resources, whether it be technology,
manpower or expertise.”
Local leaders hope the partnership with Kentucky American will
allow water lines to be extended to 80 percent of Owen County
by the end of next year, and company officials hope improvements
being made now can continue fostering the partnership for years
to come.
“I think it’s been a good relationship,” Lancho
said of the work done locally between Kentucky American and
city and county officials.
Kentucky American plans to finish a regional treatment plant
on the Kentucky River in southern Owen County by 2010 to service
Central Kentucky.
“This area has grown a lot and we’ve actually outgrown
our water supply,” Lancho said.
Linda Bridwell, American Water’s engineering director
for Kentucky and Tennessee, said the plant would likely absorb
future growth in the area, but she said the existing plant in
Owen County would not likely see any downsizing as a result.
Other ongoing projects include moving its water intake operation
to the Kentucky River to improve water quality and using a stand-by
pump to kick in when a primary pump underperforms — like
in the summer of 2005, which Wotier called “a terrible
summer for us.”
Also with the new pump “you won’t see a drop in
the lake like in the past few summers,” Bridwell said.
Additionally, Kentucky American is upgrading its maps of local
water lines to a digital version and installing a communication
system to let plant workers monitor offsite water tanks located
throughout the county, among other improvements.
Yet another change at Kentucky American will soon take place
— one involving its ownership.
Lancho said Kentucky American’s parent company, German-based
energy company RWE, has plans to get out of the water business
and offer publicly-traded stock in an initial public offering
(IPO).
Of the 29 states in which the company operates, 13 require approval
of an IPO by a public-service commission, according to Lancho.
So far, four states have approved the move. Company representatives
met with a commission in Kentucky and are awaiting the outcome.
“There shouldn’t be significant changes” for
customers, Lancho said.
Meanwhile on the city level, Wotier said Owenton officials have
set aside the proceeds from the sale of its water system in
a savings fund.
“We’re not anxious to do anything with that right
now,” he said, though one possibility is using the money
in lieu of a city beautification grant the city applied for
but did not receive.
Such a plan could include hanging banners in the downtown district,
adding benches and paving a sidewalk from downtown to the park.
“We want to do something specifically for the town,”
Wotier said.
