The Middlesboro City Council approved three resolutions accepting grants from the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority and amending the city’s budget to show funding for repairs to sewer department’s main pump station on 15th Street and replacing a sewer line on Winchester Avenue during their regular meeting last week.

“I’m not sure of the exact amount, but all together it’s around $500,000,” Mayor Boone Bowling said. “It’s for the main pump station on 15th Street across from the street department. . . There is also a line replacement on Winchester included in that that has been in dire need.”

The resolutions were all approved unanimously accepting Supplemental Grant 21CWS113, Grant 22CWS177, and  Grant 22CWS178, and authorizing the amendment of the City of Middlesboro’s Annual Budget to reflect that funding.

According to the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority (KIA) summary, 21CWS113 is a supplemental $44,648 grant from the 2021 Cleaner Water Sewer Program. It goes along with previously awarded grant funding for a $900,000 project to replace the bar screen at the main pump station on 15th Street.

The KIA summary shows that 22CWS177 is a grant for $384,949 through the 2022 Cleaner Water Sewer Program. This grant is a reallocation of funds from a previously awarded grant for treatment plant improvements. The funds will be used to replace approximately 400 feet of 10-inch gravity sewer line along Winchester Avenue (KY 2079). The existing line has collapsed and lies under existing pavement.

The KIA summary for 22CWS178 shows it is a grant for $130,000 through the 2022 Cleaner Water Sewer Program. This is also a reallocation of funds from a previously awarded grant for treatment plant improvements. This grant will fund flow monitoring to identify problem areas within the collection system in compliance with a judgment that requires them to complete a sewer system evaluation study.