-
Martin County lands historic $26M WWATERS funding
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — For years, Martin County’s water crisis was measured in indignities. Brown water in bathtubs. Buckets carried up hillsides. Faucets that could not be trusted. A community forced to document its own hardship again and again, hoping that somewhere beyond the mountains, someone in power would finally pay attention.…
-
Martin County Judge/Executive presses state officials on $40 million water bid
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN FRANKFORT — Martin County Judge/Executive Lon Lafferty and other local officials met Tuesday in Frankfort with state leaders to discuss the county’s grant applications for nearly $40 million from the Kentucky Water and Wastewater Assistance for Troubled or Economically Restrained Systems (WWATERS) program. The General Assembly created the program in…
-
Martin County wins $4.8 million for sewer upgrade, awaits news of WWATERS grants
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — As Martin County waits on news of state funding to address its drinking water system, federal lawmakers have approved $4.8 million to modernize a long-troubled wastewater treatment plant in Inez. The funding, announced Thursday by U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, is part of a broad federal appropriations package. Martin…
-
Martin County Water cannot afford another miss in Frankfort
Kentucky’s new WWATERS program was created for communities like Martin County—places where decades-old infrastructure, chronic underinvestment and limited local resources make safe, reliable water and wastewater service an everyday challenge. Yet last year, when Kentucky lawmakers awarded more $75 million to distressed utilities across the state, Martin County received nothing. Not one project. Not one…
-
$24M rejection: Martin County Water District threatens legal action
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — The Martin County Water District is weighing legal action against the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority and Big Sandy Area Development District, claiming the flawed scoring of the county’s water and sewer project applications cost one of Kentucky’s most distressed districts $24 million in critical funding. The issue centers on…
-
Martin County ‘cheated’ out of water and wastewater funding
BY LISA STAYTON MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — When House Joint Resolution 30 came up for a vote in the state Legislature on Feb. 27, Representative Bobby McCool voted “no,” citing the bill’s failure to allocate funding to Martin County despite its long-standing water and wastewater issues. McCool congratulated the water and wastewater recipients listed in…
