Kentucky Water Commission Wins Spirit Award
McLean County's 9,500 residents are now served by five water systems, all of which nearing their functional life expectancy and struggling to meet the safe operating standards of federal regulations.
Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear and Tony Wilder, commissioner of the Department for Local Government, recently presented the 2015 Spirit of Kentucky Award to the McLean County Regional Water Commission, a partnership of city and county groups that united to centralize the region's water system. The award was presented during the 40th Annual Governor's Local Issues Conference.
"Our Kentucky counties need reliable and quality infrastructure in order to grow and thrive," Beshear said. "I commend the members of the McLean County Regional Water Commission for recognizing the value of regional collaboration and joining together to solve its county's water infrastructure needs by developing a plan to deliver safe and cost-effective drinking water from a centralized system." The commission was established in 2009 to address the region's drinking water needs and also its aging water supply systems; members include the McLean County Fiscal Court, the North McLean Water District, and the cities of Calhoun, Island, Livermore, and Sacramento. The county's 9,500 residents are now served by five water systems, all of which nearing their functional life expectancy and struggling to meet the safe operating standards of federal regulations, according to the governor's office.
The commission has secured nearly $11 million in federal and state funding to build a new 2 million-gallon capacity centralized water tank. "In this day of limited government resources, partnerships among agencies are imperative in order to develop and complete broad community infrastructure projects," Wilder said. "Members of the McLean County Regional Water Commission understood the challenges facing its independent water systems and smartly partnered to pool resources and secure the funding necessary to provide a quality, county-wide water system that will serve residents for many future generations. Congrats to the commission on its successful regional partnership and for receiving the 2015 Spirit of Kentucky Award."