The Caldwell County Water District’s progress in providing water service across the county may soon serve as a formal example for other water utilities to follow.

Water District Manager Dixie Cayce told the utility’s board of directors Thursday that he had been approached by representatives of the Kentucky Rural Water Association about having the utility serve as a “model district” in a new KRWA program.

KRWA reps “said there are a bunch of troubled districts out there,” Cayce said.

Under the model district program, KRWA would bring representatives from those districts to Caldwell County to learn about various aspects of the local water district’s operation — leak protection, flushing, and the like, he said.

Board member Pat Fralick asked if the district’s financial and administrative practices would also be shared with the visiting districts.

Cayce said the billing system and basic record-keeping techniques may be shown, but no in-depth information or private customer data.

And, if the water district chooses to participate in the program, that participation will not be immediate.

“This time of the year, it’s just not good,” he said, noting an ongoing rate analysis by the state’s Public Service Commission and heavy maintenance requirements during the summer months.

KRWA officials said there was no problem with waiting until later in the year, he said.

Board attorney Bill Adams said the KRWA interest in the utility was well-deserved.

“We were so far behind for a long time,” he said. “We’ve made remarkable strides.”

• The summer season is forcing water district employees to flush lines every day, Cayce said.

Opening hydrants to flush the lines helps keep disinfectant by-products out of the system, especially in dead-end lines, he said.

He told the board that the district’s water cost would likely be higher because of the flushing.

“It’s always pretty high these three months,” he said.

In other business:

• Cayce said Public Service Commission officials who had been working on the district’s rate analysis had been pulled off the project to handle an Atmos Energy settlement, but were now back on the water rate analysis.

Results of the analysis, and the PSC’s recommendation for a possible rate increase, should come at the district’s next meeting, set for Thursday, Sept. 13.

• Engineer Bob Pickerill said contractor negotiations for the district’s Phase VII Change Order 4A and Change Order 8 projects had resulted in a $5,965 reduction in the contractor’s original cost estimate.

Change Order 4A now carries a cost of $50,749, and Change Order 8 will cost approximately $159,876, said Pickerill.

Twin States Utilities crews began work on the line installation projects this week, with work on Markham Road, he said.

The Princeton-Olney Road, Longbreak Road, Lance Nichols Cemetery Road, Hayes Spring Road, Livingston Cemetery Road and Markham Road are roads targeted for line installation in the project.

The contractor has asked for the district to release funds held as retainage for Phase VII Change Orders 1B, 2, 4, 6 and 7, the engineer said.

There is still a small amount of cleanup and other work left to do, he added, but recommended approval of the release of retainage when that work is completed.

The district is holding about $38,000 in retainage for those projects.

• The board approved an engineering pay request of $7,544.69 from Pickerill’s firm, Howard K. Bell Consulting Engineers.

The invoice reflects 100 percent completion of design, bidding and negotiation for Phase VII Change Orders 4A and 8.