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Perry County officials outline water improvements, say winter weather drove outages
Summary
Officials told the fiscal court the county is investing in a new tank and an interconnect at Vicco and that grants and equipment (including a generator) are in place but not yet fully implemented; unusual January weather increased outages.
PERRY COUNTY — County officials described progress on water-system projects and blamed an unusually severe January for recent, extended outages, saying new infrastructure and grant-funded improvements should reduce outages over the coming year.
Speaking during the fiscal-court meeting, the presiding fiscal-court official reported that the county has sought and obtained multiple grants to address water issues but that grant-funded projects require environmental reviews, bidding and release of funds before construction and service improvements can begin. The official said those processes delay when customers see finished work but argued the county is making progress.
“We're adding a new tank and a new interconnect at Vicco,” the presiding fiscal-court official said on the record, saying the interconnect currently served about 800 to 1,000 customers and that the additional tank should allow the county to hold service for those customers longer during outages. The official also said a generator procured through a GRAMA (grant?) process is waiting on a transfer switch that has been delayed about a year and a half; the speaker said that install should be completed by next year.
The official and another meeting participant noted that county crews worked continuously through successive snow and ice events, and that January had “more consecutive days of snow than we've had since 1989,” a national-weather data point the speaker said was sourced to WLEX. They said outages and refill times are compounded by terrain and the county’s multiple storage tanks (the speaker said the county has 38 tanks and that a large leak at Robinson had drained one). The transcript records participants telling residents that grant documents and schedules are available at the county grant office for public review.
Court members urged patience while projects move through environmental and bidding steps required by the grant processes. The presiding fiscal-court official said the county expects more groundbreakings and announcements in the next 12 months and that water outages should be less frequent once the Vicco interconnect and additional tank are in service.
Ending: Officials encouraged residents to meet with county grant staff to see project timelines and to report any ongoing outages to county offices so crews can respond.
