Progress being made on McLean County projects

Jul. 15—McLean County Judge-Executive Curtis Dame is looking forward to getting three major countywide projects completed.

The projects include the construction of the McLean County Home Place, a new broadband and 911 tower and the digital works training facility.

"I'm excited that we're finally being able to move along with our efforts here," Dame said. "We're well on our way on each project."

The McLean County Home Place, the county's senior services center in Calhoun that burned down in December 2020, will be built in its previous location at 875 Walnut St.

A pre-bid informational meeting was held Tuesday, July 12 at the McLean County Courthouse, which was open to any interested contractors.

Fiscal Court will accept proposals until 2 p.m. July 26.

The facility is to be restored to its original size of 6,600-square-feet, with changes to the floor plan made due to the new rules for designing the facility and code requirements since the previous building was built in 1993.

RBS Design Group in Owensboro was hired as the architecture firm.

The exterior is to be full brick and will feature automatic doors and canopies above entryways in the front and back of the building, while the interior will include a multipurpose space, commercial-grade kitchen, reception area, public restrooms, staff restroom, office space, mechanical room, storage space and a separate kitchen storage area.

Dame said two recent addendums have been made to the plan — the addition of the electrical installation for a backup generator and exploring ways to increase the energy efficiency of the facility, specifically drop ceilings and spray foam insulation.

"You can see the finish line now," Dame said. "With that said, we're excited about the building, to show all the planning and hard work to not only make a replacement of the facility, but a facility that will stand, hopefully, the test of time."

The 300-foot broadband tower, which is to be built behind the McLean County Health Department on Kentucky Highway 81 in Calhoun, will help improve access to reliable broadband internet and emergency communication.

The tower will be partially funded by a $498,900 grant Fiscal Court received from the Delta Regional Authority in February.

Dame said a pre-bid site assessment took place June 29, with three to four entities showing interest in the project.

Progress has been slow, however, in terms of broadband development. Dame met with other western Kentucky judge-executives July 7 in Frankfort to discuss the need to see more movement.

"There's a new office of broadband development that is in the process of being created, and they are hiring a new director, and there will be a grant process to help utilities ... to be able to reach out and apply for these grant funds to help offset the costs of new pole installation, upgrading some of the infrastructure and really getting these projects underway," he said.

Kenergy has completed the pre-planning process to run fiber to each home, Dame said, but there are challenges regarding "overcoming the initial costs to make sure this project will bank roll and cash flow."

"There's been numbers in the millions that have been quoted that relate to what it's going to take to get this project done," Dame said. "We're talking about hundreds of miles of fiber that is going to have to be installed."

If construction began now, Dame estimates it would take three years to be completed.

McLean and other counties "have to work to access these federal and state dollars to offset the cost" due to the county not having the funds on hand, he said.

Despite the challenges, Dame said completing the project is essential.

"We needed this internet installation two years ago," Dame said. "We know that COVID highlighted the problem, but we have to work to address it, and we don't want to drop the ball now."

The digital works facility, which is part of the Chamber of Commerce's Visitor Center renovation in downtown Calhoun, is underway, Dame said.

"Construction is nearing completion on the two bathrooms upstairs and the entryway and storefronts," Dame said. "We should have an update for a new ribbon cutting for this facility (soon)."

The facility is being funded by a $99,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development and will benefit from the installation of the broadband tower and improvements to fiber access.

"Once we get reliable internet at home, it will train people to be customer service representatives and work from home and allow us to access other talent and funding pools to bring jobs here that don't require major infrastructure installation," he said.

Dame hopes that all these improvements will make the county "more competitive — not only on the small business front, but also being able to place individuals from larger corporations here in our county once we have all these capabilities."