 A groundbreaking ceremony was held on June 23, 2008, for a $1.06 million construction project that will provide sewer service to 85 homes in Columbia. The new sewer lines are expected to be in place by the end of the year.
The City of Columbia is extending lines from its wastewater treatment plant to Green Hills Subdivision and Parrott Avenue. Eastern Kentucky PRIDE awarded the city a $350,000 grant for the project, and the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) contributed $500,000. The city is covering the remaining costs.
“We are glad to help bring relief to the 50 or so homeowners who have been struggling with septic systems that just don’t work in this terrain,” said Karen Engle, PRIDE president and chief executive officer. “With city sewer service, they no longer will deal with the smells and hazards of broken septics. Since contaminants travel very far through groundwater, all Adair Countians ultimately will benefit.”
Mayor Patrick R. Bell hosted the groundbreaking ceremony at the intersection of Green Hill Road and Kassen Road. Local officials joining the ceremony were State Senator Vernie McGaha, Columbia City Council Members June Parsons and Edwin Taylor, Columbia PRIDE Coordinator Carolyn Edwards, Adair County Judge-Executive Ann Melton, and Adair County Solid Waste and PRIDE Coordinator A.L. “Pee Wee” Sinclair.
There also were representatives of organizations involved in the project. They were Bob Mitchell, district administrator for Congressman Hal Rogers, who founded PRIDE; Karen Engle of PRIDE; Kevin Antle of Rural Development, which administers the PRIDE and ARC funding for the project; Bob Pickerill of Bell Engineering, the project engineer; and Mike Mitchum of Garrison Construction, the contractor who won the bid to install the sewer lines.
Eastern Kentucky PRIDE is a nonprofit organization that promotes environmental cleanup and education efforts in 38 counties of southern and eastern Kentucky. PRIDE was founded in 1997 by Congressman Hal Rogers (KY-5) and the late James Bickford, former Secretary of Kentucky’s Environmental Protection Cabinet.
Since 1997, local governments and low-income homeowners have used PRIDE funds to expand sewer service or install septic systems at 28,000 homes.
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