Under the American Rescue Plan, Danville is receiving approximately $4.3 million, and Boyle County will get about $5.8 million. The primary uses for these funds are for water and sewer projects, as well as expanding broadband connectivity.

There’s also approximately $1.1 million allocated to the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority to be used for Boyle or Danville under the Cleaner Water Program for Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Allocations Based on County Population.

According to letters submitted to Boyle County Judge-Executive Howard Hunt from Carrier outlining projects needed in Perryville and Junction City, “the city of Danville is seeking an interlocal agreement with Boyle County Fiscal Court in administering a portion of its aforementioned ARP funding allocation for the upcoming fiscal year,” which he said would aid in the stabilization of sewer rates by strengthening existing infrastructure in Perryville and Junction City.

“An agreement of this caliber will make great strides in alleviating a portion of future debt service relative to imperative sanitary sewer modernization and capacity upgrades,” Carrier wrote.

Wagner said with the proposed projects using ARP funds, planning and engineering efforts need to take place as well as advertising for bids. “We’ll be lucky if we can get it done in 2022. I would hope we could, especially for Parksville — those water tanks — but we’ll be ready when we can.”

The following is an overview, after a couple of meetings and a water summit on July 16 between city and county officials and employees and other partners, when discussions were held as to how the ARP  funds should be spent.

Perryville

• Perryville’s wastewater treatment plant needs upgrading, including its mechanical screening, filters, meters and other facets, said Danville Utilities Director Marshall Carrier.

• The Leonard Field pump station needs an emergency pumping connection and other requirements mandated by the Kentucky Division of Water. Pump stations typically have a 15- to 20-year life cycle, but it and the waste water treatment plant are approaching 30 years old, said Danville City Manager Earl Coffey, so they need upgrades. This pump station handles most of Perryville’s wastewater, said Boyle County Administrator Julie Wagner.

• Another expense will upgrading the aging pump station behind the old City Hall, which collects wastewater west of the Chaplin River. This needs replacement pumps and other components, Wagner added.

• A pump station on Third Street could be beneficial to increase capacity for and replace components on for potential future home development on nearby land, Carrier said.

Wagner said the total cost for these projects would be $1.25 million pre-depreciation, $1.65 million depreciated.

She said one of the goals of the projects is to reduce sewer rates in Perryville, possibly up to 5%, though it could be lower. “However, what this will do is stabilize the rates for 20 years,” she said. “So they will not have a rate increase for 20 years if this all gets done.”

Junction City

• York Lane pump station is over capacity, so the city and county want to replace its pumps to increase capacity, and replace the electrical panels that were repaired 14 years ago, Wagner said. There are costs associated with pumping back to Danville, so these improvements will help some with sewer rates, she explained.

• Knob Lick pump station needs a new pump and new force main, Wagner said.

Junction City, like Perryville, is anticipated to have up to a 5% decrease in sewer rates and the 20-year rate stabilization with completion of proposed projects, she said.

The cost for these projects is a projected $842,315 pre-depreciation, approximately $1.16 million depreciated. This does not include any lines that might need to be run, should the need arise.

Parksville Water District

Debbie Webb, general manager at the Parksville Water District, originally gave a list of 11 projects to Boyle County officials when they met with her in January, Wagner said. They knew they couldn’t do them all, but they will do some.

• The number one project is to replace waterlines across 10 creeks, Wagner said. There are lines running under creeks, and when the creeks wash out the lines pop up, and they’re eroding.

• Three glass-lined water storage tanks need to be cleaned and the seams resealed. Wagner said the bolts that hold everything together are rusting and there is too much weight on them, so they need to be replaced. Part of expense will be installing temporary tanks as well. The Parksville Water District will get three new tanks before the existing ones go bad, Wagner said.

“If they go bad, they don’t have any water.”

• The third project will be a Parksville Cross Pike interconnection with Danville. This would include a new 2,500-foot line to connect with Danville’s lines in case of an outage on Lebanon or Perryville roads, Wagner said.

The total for these three projects will be around $1.25 million. Webb had asked for $2.3 million, and for more projects to be completed, but Wagner said that amount will not be possible.

Broadband

There will be approximately $1.8 million left of ARP funds to expand broadband and internet. Wagner said planning is still in process, but Boyle County and Danville want to take broadband to Forkland, between Perryville and Springfield, around the Danville-Boyle County Airport, and perhaps elsewhere including on Perryville Road.

The money to expand broadband will likely involve more partners and planning, she said.

KIA funds

The $1.1 million allocated to the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority will be used to bring infrastructure to Gwinn Island. Lake Village Water District did not receive ARP funds, so the planned use for this money will be to expand sewer services there, since currently people are using septic tanks. Wagner said homeowners may face the expense of a tap-on fee.

The deadline to decide how to allocate these funds from the KIA is Nov. 19.

Danville

A breakdown of how Danville will utilize its ARP funds includes fixing the Spears Creek pump station, services for the north side of Gwinn Island and installing fiber-optic internet infrastructure through city water lines as well as a few other projects.