Somerset Council approves budget amendment, annexation request
Aug. 9—Somerset City Council approved a couple of items of business, while Mayor Alan Keck pledged the city's assistance to those affected in eastern Kentucky's historic flooding at Monday's City Council Meeting.
The council approved a budget amendment which will reflect a $250,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) the city received to go towards replacing water meters.
This change in the city's official budget coincides with a number of resolutions passed at the previous meeting. The grant will pay part of the costs associated with changing out water meters that are equipped with radio signal emitters.
The new meters can be read from inside a vehicle, speeding up a process that at this time requires a meter reader to physically walk from one meter to the next.
In July, Water Department Manager Dana Whitis said that all of the city district's meters could be read in two days with the new system, rather than the 30 days it takes now.
The grant will help replace around 2,000 of the 9,000 meters in the city's water district.
Also at Monday's meeting, the council approved the annexation of 514 Waitsboro Drive into the city limits.
The request for this annexation was made by the property owner, prompting Councilor Jimmy Eastham to remind citizens that the city was "not in the business of forced annexation. But if somebody's interested in coming in, we can show where it's beneficial to them in a lot of ways."
Eastham suggested that anyone interested in being annexed contact the city.
Mayor Keck added that Somerset's population grew in the past year at a rate that was almost double the state average.
"It's the first time in a long time we've had some substantial population growth. Some of that is annexation, some of it is new development," Keck said.
As part of the meeting, council members asked the public to keep eastern Kentucky in their thoughts, as the area is currently dealing with the aftermath of deadly flooding.
Keck pointed out that after last December's tornado outbreak in western Kentucky, the city of Somerset assisted the city of Dawson Springs with remaking and replacing Dawson Springs's street signs that were destroyed in the storms.
Keck noted that he wanted Somerset to help cities in eastern Kentucky, but he also noted that SPEDA President/CEO Chris Girdler has often reminded him that after the initial wave of help, volunteer support may wane and six months later there is no one to aid with recovery.
Therefore, Keck said he wanted to wait a while before deciding on where and how to help.
"I want to do something as a city. I think it's important for us to take part. One of the ideas or thoughts is to pick a community or two and take them on as a sister city," Keck said.
Carla Slavey can be reached at cslavey@somerset-kentucky.com
