The Ashland Board of City Commissioners heard an engineering report Aug. 28 that updated commissioners on more than 25 active projects totaling roughly $122,000,000 and previewed a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency service-line material survey planned for September. Director Barry Atkins said the survey, part of the EPA’s Get the Lead Out initiative, will ask residents to identify service-line material or allow contractors and city staff to inspect lines.

The initiative matters because identifying pipe material can reduce replacement costs for the city and homeowners, Atkins said, estimating a per-service cost savings of about $700 when a line is identified rather than replaced by default. He told the commission customers in the area south of Central Avenue between Sixth and Twelfth streets should expect yard cards and door knocks and that customers can upload survey information via a QR code or the city website.

Atkins also listed completed and active projects: eight completed projects since Jan. 1, 2025; near-finished sanitary sewer work on Carr Street, Packer Avenue and Iroquois Avenue (550 feet of new 8-inch sewer, 160 feet of lining, benefiting more than 20 homeowners and originally bid at $391,476); and an in-progress water-pressure project at Johnson Fork, Boggess Drive and Florida Street that will add two 22-gallons-per-minute booster stations and one 40-GPM booster with supplemental chlorine feed. Atkins said the booster project’s construction cost is roughly $2,700,000 and that the two recent projects he described are fully funded with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars.

Engineering staff also summarized in-house work: the department designed and oversaw the Carr Street project and reported a projected net savings of about $45,601.75 compared with the original bid. Atkins said the engineering department has completed a number of projects fully in-house, which he and commissioners characterized as a taxpayer cost-saver.

Commissioners asked questions and thanked staff for in-house work. City Manager Wheeler and other commissioners acknowledged park, police and fire support for recent events he cited while introducing the report.

The engineering presentation closed with an invitation for commissioner questions; Atkins said customers who believe their service line may be lead should contact the utility office at (606) 385-3200 for guidance.

Less urgent items discussed in the engineering update included various ongoing capital projects such as tank rehabilitation and pump-station work and scheduling details; Atkins said most yard cards for the EPA survey had been placed as of the meeting and invited follow-up questions.