Leitchfield’s city fleet could soon include a marine component, following a recent vote by the utilities commission.
Commissioners authorized superintendent Kevin Pharis to negotiate with Renegade Marine for the possible purchase of a used 24-foot pontoon.
The 2001 boat has a 50 horsepower engine capable of going about 15 mph, can carry up to 1,800 pounds and was stickered at $7,025, Pharis said.
It is needed to reach the city’s new water intake on Rough River Lake — about 75 yards from shore — for regular monthly and annual maintenance.
Pharis said the city will need something capable of carrying two to four people, tools and other gear to the site, which is about 4.5 miles from Rough River Dam State Park.
The department had been cautioned that for the first six to nine months that the new pump is in service it will need to be checked weekly, to make sure it’s working properly.
Currently the utilities department only has a jon boat — powered by rowing — to reach the site.
Leitchfield draws water from Rough River Lake for residential and commercial use. The new intake, in a spot closer to Rough River Dam, will replace the current one that goes from Peter Cave to Clifty Creek. The new spot will give the city a larger area to draw water from during winter pool, allowing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to drop the lake level. It also could allow the city to draw more water overall if needed for future growth.
A roughly nine-mile pipeline will be built to bring water from the new intake to the city’s treatment plant. The $5 million project is being wrapped up this month.
In other action at their Sept. 20 meeting, commissioners learned city officials hope to meet soon with representatives of Gov. Steve Beshear’s office to determine if any state funding might be available to help pay for extending utility lines to the site of Elizabethtown Community and Technical College’s new local campus and a proposed pool site.
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