By: Jeremy D. Wells
Carter County TimesEric Patton, water and wastewater planner with FIVCO, told Olive Hill Mayor Jerry Callihan back in October that he believed a great deal of the city’s sewage flow problems came from infiltration – or storm sewer drainage and creek water that was leaking into the city’s old sewage pipes.
He also told the mayor and council he would come up with a plan to address that issue.
At the November meeting, he gave more details of that plan, including the costs and his plans for procuring funding sources.
Patton said he believed the plan, which would start with pumping smoke through the pipes to find the areas with the worst breaks before repairing or replacing them, would cost around $3 million.
Half of that money, $1.5 million, could be received through Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) grants, he said.
The other half could be financed with federal loans that would be forgivable because of Olive Hill’s income.
Patton told the council that around $300,000 of the funds would be used for testing, with around $2 million going to repairs and the rest reserved for contingencies, fees, and other costs.
Patton said they could use some of the funds from the previous leak detection grant for this project as well.
If all goes to plan, he told council, he was hopeful he would hear something on the grants by late spring. If they proceed with that timeline, he said, they could get started on the testing and – eventually – repairs by sometime in the summer.
The next meeting of the Olive Hill City Council is scheduled for Tuesday, December 20, at 6 p.m. in the Olive Hill Senior Citizens Center.
Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com