Depending on the direction that the funding takes with CDBG, Rural Development, Rural Water, Kentucky Infrastructure Authority and several other sources, the project could be as much as $3 to $4.5 million. That would get most of the rest of the county, said Howard K. Bell Engineers Inc. engineer Bill McDonald.

H.K. Bell engineers and Pennyrile Area Development District representatives met with Caldwell County Judge-Executive Van Knight and Water District Administrator Harley Lowery this week to look at the plans and schedule grant hearings.

PADD will work with the grant application, be financial administrator, work with employee regulations and compensation, and do the clearinghouse for the new water project.

“We have driven the roads, looked through the surveys and done a house count,” said McDonald. Bell is ready to proceed.

“You really need to be ready to bid this out when you apply for the money,” said PADD’s Phil Weimer.

“We want to borrow all that we can too,” said Lowery. “I don’t mind operating on a shoestring if it’s going for water.”

Weimer said that Caldwell County will be applying for funds from a $12 million pot. The county is eilgible to apply for up to $1 million. The application period is open April 3 through February.

A public hearing for the CDBG program is planned here on April 2.

McDonald said that CDBG is the most restrictive type of money that can be put into a project. It will be based on low to moderate income households in the area where water lines are installed.

“But this is free money and it really goes a long way,” he said.

Knight said that the county has a verbal commitment from federal legislators for Caldwell County’s water projects. He said that Cong. Ed Whitfield, Sen. Jim Bunning and Sen Mitch McConnell had agreed to support direct funding for the county.

McDonald said that the state RD office is supportive of the proposed project for Caldwell.

Lowery said that as the county looks at the balance of unserved areas, many will be short lines or routs that serve only one customer. “I’d like to see something that I heard PADD was looking at — providing the engineering services, and we do the job.”

Knight said that the county built a water line in the White Sulphur area without supplemental funds. Caldwell County has $200,000 in the budget for water lines. “That’s very unusual to have that much set aside for a county this size…In fact, I don’t know of any other county that puts money in water lines,” he said.

“I get calls daily from people who want water and were missed on the first projects.”

He pointed out that the county has equipment and manpower and could do the job cheaper that a contracted project. However, an engineering certification is required for the water lines to be approved under the Division of Water, and a county participating in federally funded projects risks loss of funds by not following guidelines.

“We’re really not big enough to take on a whole project, but we could do those short pieces,” Knight said. He pointed out that anywhere water has gone in the county the population has grown to make use of it.

“I am really proud of what we have done. We had the lowest number of water users in the state in 1994. There were 99 customers and it has grown to about 1,500…But, that is still not enough.”

“We shouldn’t be satisfied until everyone in this county has water,” said Lowery.

He said about 12 to 16 percent of the county residents will be unserved after the next project, proposed with the CDBG application, is built.

“If you can go from 4 percent to 85 percent in 8 to 9 years, it’s pretty good,” said Knight.