Published: October 21, 2009 09:55 pm      

Let it flow

Ceremony kicks off Cannonsburg-Greenup water line project link

CANNONSBURG — It’s a flat concrete pad at the foot of an embankment, surrounded by earth that has obviously been recently turned.

Most motorists driving past it on the Northeastern Kentucky Industrial Parkway or Ky. 207 probably would ever notice it unless someone pointed it out to them.

But it’s expected to make a huge difference in the lives of several hundred Greenup County residents.

The concrete meter vault is the terminus of a just-completed water line project linking the Cannonsburg Water District with city of Greenup’s water system.

Officials gathered at the site, next to the industrial parkway’s Ky. 207 off ramp, on Wednesday for a ceremony to mark the first day of water flowing from the Cannonsburg system to Greenup’s.

“Today’s the first day they’ve received water from us,” Cannonsburg Water General Manager Danny Clarkson said.

Clarkson, state Rep. Tanya Pullin, Greenup Mayor Donna Hewlett and Greenup County Judge-Executive Bobby Carpenter were among those who grasped a large T-handle wrench and gave it a twist to open the valve and allow the water from Cannonsburg into Greenup’s lines.

The influx of water from Cannonsburg will eliminate problems that have plagued households in the Argillite area for years, including low or no water pressure and weekly boil-water advisories, officials said.

“We’ve had all our agreed orders (from the state Division of Water) lifted. This will eliminate the only thing we had left against our water system,” Hewlett said.

Tying Cannonsburg’s water system into Greenup’s involved laying 8.5 miles of line along the industrial parkway. The first was three miles long and ran from EastPark to Sand Gap; the second and just-completed phase was 5.5 miles, Sand Gap to Ky. 207, said Paul Amburgey, the engineer who oversaw the project.

The total project cost was about $750,000 and was shared by Boyd and Greenup counties, Amburgey said.

Under the arrangement between Cannonsburg and Greenup, Cannonsburg will sell the water to Greenup, whose system serves most of rural Greenup County. The connection will serve about 320 homes.

That’s roughly the number of customers Greenup plans to add to the system with its next expansion, Phase 8, which has been in the works for several years and will serve residents in the Schultz area. One of the problems holding it up has been the pressure issues in the Ky. 207 and Ky. 503 areas, Hewlett said.

“By solving this problem, it makes it possible for the city of Greenup to solve other problems,” said Pullin, D-South Shore.

Since Cannonsburg Water is the largest purchaser of water from the city of Ashland system — between 32 million and 36 million gallons a month, Clarkson said — the connection essentially links the Cannonsburg, Ashland and Greenup systems into a grid, Amburgey said.

Cannonsburg also will now be able to provide water to Greenup on an emergency basis should Greenup’s system ever fail, he said.