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Residents voice concerns about paying for sewer service not rendered; chairman abruptly silences public comment
“Wait. Please stop right there. We don’t bash Alliance. That’s not what we do here, so I’ll ask you to stop there, respectfully.”—Jimmy Don Kerr, Martin County Utility Board chairman BY LISA STAYTON MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — Two residents of Inez, Tena Jarrell and Drewie Muncy, expressed dissatisfaction with the Martin County Sanitation Board during…
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Former County Attorney paid 12 years for sewer service that was never connected
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — Former Martin County Attorney Drewie Muncy has paid the Martin County Sanitation District a sewer bill for over 12 years but has never been hooked to the service. Muncy told sewer board members in a meeting April 25 that he had made multiple requests to the district to…
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County announces sewer line extension for Davella
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — Martin County Sanitation will spend $1.1 million of $3.1 Congressional earmark funding to add 92 new customers to the sewer system in the Davella/Debord area. Big Sandy Area Development District director Eric Ratliff attended a special meeting Friday of the Martin County Fiscal Court to ask magistrates to…
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‘Water Day’ music and art festival coming to Inez
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — Martin County Tourism is joining with Austin Shuck’s Appalachian Pioneer Program to bring a mural to downtown Inez and kick it off with a “Water Day” music and art festival in mid-May. Tourism chairperson Nita Collier said in a Tourism Commission meeting Monday that she had been working…
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Martin County Water manager resigns, takes job at Paintsville Utilities
BY PHILL BARNETT MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — The Martin County Water District general manager Craig Miller has resigned to take a job working for Paintsville Utilities. Miller tendered his resignation Feb. 27 to Alliance Water Resource, the contractor that manages MCWD. According to Miller, he starts work April 3 for Paintsville. “I am proud of…
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Ancient water tank cause for concern for Inez family
Land slippage dangerously close to Turkey Hill home BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN “It looks like if you touched it, it would blow out.” –Okey Mills INEZ, Ky. — Looming above Okey Mills’ home on top of Turkey Hill is what appears as a relic of a bygone (not-completely-gone) era – a rusty water storage tank…
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Martin County Water District back-dates lease agreement
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ, Ky. — Martin County Water District voted to back-date a contract to lease five vehicles from the financially struggling sewer district for $1 a month. Jimmy Don Kerr, the chairperson of both district boards, said in a water board meeting last month that a question arose about the water…
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Sewer leak stinking up Inez
BY PHILL BARNETT MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — The odor is overwhelming at the mouth of Saltwell Road along Route 645, residents say. As the complaints pile up, waste from a Martin County Sanitation District sewer lift station runs into Saltwell Creek, causing untold environmental damage. The lift station has been overflowing nonstop for weeks. Residents…
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Attention Martin County Water customers: Possible outages for leak detection work
INEZ — Martin County Water District will begin leak detection in the Inez pressure zone starting Friday night around 10:30 p.m. Alliance Water Resources announced Tuesday that the work would be performed at night to limit the effect on customers. The announcement states: “This will be the first time such leak detection has been performed…
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‘East Kentucky Flood’ documentary premiere
The Center for Rural Strategies’ film will air on WYMT Jan. 30 at 7:30 p.m. Communities emerged battered but not broken, revealing the strength and resiliency that’s persisted after the storm of a century. The film reveals stories from the flood that killed 43 people across East Kentucky. WHITESBURG — By the time retired coal…
Category: Water Crisis
