Cynthiana water job nears end

By Dave Pearce

A Cynthiana, Ind., water project years in the making, is heading into the final stages and should be operational by the end of this year. The best part of the project, according to the town’s attorney Steve Brock, is there is no rate increase expected in the town at this time. The town is looking into a 15-year bond issue of no more than $320,000 that would keep rates constant. Brock stated he will conduct a rate study to be sure the rates would not go up.

According to town supervisor Ken Corbett, the project will be good for everyone affected. The project began to get underway in December of 2022 after several years of problems and hours of discussion.

The price of the small parcel of land in Cynthiana was determined about four years ago and was just under $10,000 and is now owned by the town. The parcel was laid out in the 1960s and will serve as the housing and the point of entry for all Cynthiana water customers. The water purchased from German will be metered at the Point of Entry before it goes into the Town of Cynthiana’s distribution system.

Currently, the German Township water supplied to the town is piped and pumped around the town some 4000 feet and through farm fields and is estimated to have been put in service back in the late 1970s.

“Arsenic was such a problem back then in the city wells that the town had to begin purchasing all their water from German Township,” Corbett explained. “Now, those wells have not been used since around 2007 so that 4000 feet of pipe runs through farm fields and causes issues. It is old and this project will make the point of entry a much shorter distance and it will remain a closed pipeline where nothing can get into the water supply. There are no wells involved.”

Corbett explained that replacing the 4000 feet of pipe would have cost more than the point of entry and the entirety of the new project.

During the January meeting of the Cynthiana Town Board, the contractor for the final stages of the project will be Keiffer Brothers Construction. OCRA (the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs) approved the purchase of the land necessary for the project and a special meeting of the board will be upcoming to for discussion of the bond ordinance.

“We will no longer have 4000 feet of pipe to maintain and the meter readings will be done electronically on all new water meters once the project is complete,” Corbett explained. “Hopefully these new meters will be able to detect quickly when someone has a leak or things such as that. Right now, we go around and read the meters manually and we won’t have to do that anymore.”