Anthony Cloud

Staff Writer

Some of Brownies Creek’s water problems may be relieved in several months thanks to an upcoming water project.

Pineville Utility Manager Bill Bunch stated the county has given the utility commission approximately $943,000 to rehab the Brownies Creek water system.

“The Brownies Creek water service reliability is horrible,” said Bunch. “It’s almost an act of faith to get into the shower.”

The water service in Brownies Creek has shown to be unreliable for a few years, going out multiple times for long periods of time. Though the water project will not totally fix the problem, Bunch hopes that it will help.

The money from the county will be used to replace some of the high pressure lines — the ones that are most problematic. Information has been given to Vaughn and Melton Engineering, who designed a project to replace large problem areas.

An area between the pump station and the tank will be fixed, along with sections between the tank to Shillalah Garage.

Bunch stated the project should replace a good amount of the bad pipe.

There was no date scheduled for the beginning of the project.

Another project mentioned during the Pineville City Council meeting involved Woodland Hills and Paula Drive. Bunch said the areas will receive a new pump station and tank.

The project is being funded by House Bill 608 money. The pump station and tank have already been ordered and the project is expected to begin in early January.

Mayor Sherwin Rader asked Bunch about the progress on the Virginia Avenue project as well. Bunch said they took a step back to do some study work on the project.

“I want to make sure that when we are done, we’re done,” said Bunch. He said he does not want to have another $2 or $3 million project after the project is completed.

Bunch said they have conducted flow monitoring and cleaning work on the project. He also stated they have done an assessment of all the sewers from Kentucky Avenue to the floodwall.

Bunch said the commission is looking at phasing the project instead of completing and funding the full $6 million that it will cost to complete it.

On another note, Bunch said all the refinancing of the rural development debt is complete. The bond was sold two weeks ago and the interest rate is lower than the original proposal. The final closing of the bond sell was completed on Tuesday.

With the rate change, the commission is saving the rate payers about $11,000 a year on average, according to Bunch. The bond is a 30-year bond.

Anthony Cloud is a staff writer at the Middlesboro Daily News. He can be contacted via email at acloud@heartlandpublications.com or by phone at 606-248-1010, ext. 208