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Painting water towers. Adding a new waters tower. Replacing lab equipment and the sewage lift station near Taco Bell. Installing 500 new radio-read gas meters.

Those are just a few of the maintenance and upgrades proposals Leitchfield’s utilities systems are proposing in new five-year plans developed for the new year.

The plans were given to members of Leitchfield’s Utilities Commission during their Thursday, Jan. 3, meeting for review.

The distribution and collection system is proposing more than $1.5 million worth of projects through 2018, including an estimated $1.3 million installation of radio-read water meters. Also on its “wish list” are replacing 5,000 feet of 6-inch water mains along Watson School Road and new water valves on North Cannon Drive behind the EMS building and at a couple of locations on South Heyser and South Claggett drives.

The water works wants to install a new 500,000 gallon water tower for the city. That project — which no cost estimate was listed for — is needed to help meet Kentucky Division of Water recommendations to have 24 hours worth of water storage. Leitchfield currently has 6 to 10 hours of storage capacity, and with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers planning to drop the water levels at Rough River Lake there won’t be much capacity at the old intake site if there is a break in the new raw water line, according to the plan.

The water works also would like to spend about $18,000 on painting the exposed steel on the intake structure, $25,000 on a new carbon machine and $20,000 on a new lime machine, and unspecified amounts on repainting the water towers and installing a propane generator at the water plant house for emergencies.

The waste water — or sewage — treatment plant is recommending more than $350,000 worth of projects, ranging from $20,000 and $5,000, respectively, for replacing the lift stations near Taco Bell and Auto Smart, to spending $80,000 to install a backup generator at the treatment plant and $25,000 on replacing and upgrading lab equipment to meet new regulations scheduled to go into effect in 2014.

The gas system’s projects, estimated to cost more than $140,000, include upgrading about 500 meters in Brownsville, Clarkson, along Highway 259 to Harned and south along Highway 187 with radio-read equipment at an estimated cost of $50,000.

Also on its project list is installing an additional 6-inch gas main along Highway 54 from Conklin Street to Scotty’s Asphalt Plant at an estimated cost of $60,000, and replacing 2,800 feet of service line along Wallace Ave.

Commissioners also heard an update on the work on the new raw water intake and pipeline. Utilities superintendent Kevin Pharis said the overall project appears to be about $300,000 under budget. The grant funding the city received to help pay for the project will be reduced by that amount.

More than $130,000 remains in contingency funding, with at least an $11,000 bill still coming from one contractor, he said. Contingency funds will be used to pay for a pontoon boat the commision approved buying last month to help reach the new intake for maintenance and repairs.