Published: August 26, 2008 11:26 pm      

Greenup engineering study of water system ready for state evaluation

GREENUP — Greenup submitted an engineering study of its sprawling water system ahead of schedule and now is waiting for the state to evaluate it.

The study is essential to the growth of the system because the Kentucky Division of Water won’t allow further expansion until the city makes progress on fixing pressure problems plaguing several areas, according to Mayor Donna Hewlett.

Hewlett and council member Joe Mantz spent part of Monday in Frankfort with a representative of HDR/Quest, the Lexington engineering firm that conducted the study.

The study didn’t reveal problems the city didn’t already know about, Hewlett said Tuesday. It confirmed there are pressure problems in the Wolfpen, Old Steam Estates, Meade Hollow and Horn Hollow areas.

However, the study will be useful to the engineering firm in finding ways to fix the problems, she said. Solutions so far have proven elusive.

Also, a planned expansion of the system into the Schultz area in the far western part of the county is at a standstill until something is done about the problems. The city had been poised to start designing the expansion and had grant funding for engineering work when the Division of Water placed a hold on the project, Hewlett said.

The expansion, referred to as Phase 8, would supply water to about 350 households. Greenup’s water system, built over a span of years mostly through state grants, supplies water to much of rural Greenup County as well as to the city.

The state rejected three previous studies by another engineering firm; Hewlett hopes the division will accept this one.

She doesn’t know yet what position the state will take on the Phase 8 expansion now that the study is in, but hopes it will allow the city to move forward with design work.

MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2652.