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Mileage reimbursement policies have the chairman of Leitchfield’s Utilities Commission a little vexed.

During a recent meeting, Robert Crawford questioned why employees are being reimbursed for driving their personal cars to training, meetings and other business outside Leitchfield when the city has cars they could use.

Crawford has raised this issue at previous meetings, saying it would make more economic sense for city cars to be used in these cases.

City employees have said, though, that the cars are needed for running errands locally, such as taking deposits to banks or going to the post office. Crawford countered that personal cars could be used for those errands if the city cars had been taken elsewhere.

In part, it boils down to a “morale issue,” City Clerk Erin Embry said, explaining that employees probably wouldn’t be too enthusiastic about using their personal cars to run local errands when their mileage reimbursements would likely total less than a couple of dollars.

She also pointed out that some employees don’t drive to work, and since only certain employees can make bank deposits and must make those by specific times daily, the transportation issues could cause headaches.

Utilities superintendent Kevin Pharis said his city truck could be used in those instances, and said they would look at whether changes to the vehicle use policies could be feasible.

In other action, the commission:

* Approved giving the firms building Leitchfield’s new raw-water intake project until Sept. 24 to complete the work.

It is the second extension in as many months for Clay Pipeline of Manchester and Cleary Construction of Tompkinsville to complete the roughly $5 million project.

Both firms had been given until Sept. 8 to wrap up the work, but Pharis said Clay Pipeline was having some problems locating leaks in its lines.

Final system tests are tentatively set for Sept. 18, which would give the firms five to six more days to address any issues.

Leitchfield draws water from Rough River Lake for residential and commercial use. The new intake, in a spot closer to the 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.

Clay Pipeline is building the $3.7 million pipeline, while Cleary is building the $1.076 million intake.

*Discussed the need to buy some type of boat to reach the new intake — which is about 75 yards out into the lake — for regular monthly and annual maintenance. Pharis said the city might have to rent some type of work barge for larger projects in which the intake will have to be pulled from the water, such as annual oil changes.

* Learned work is still ongoing to install utility lines to the site of the new local Elizabethtown Community and Technical College campus.