The Lexington community has been undertaking massive sewer improvement projects for a decade now. City Water Quality Director Charlie Martin offered an annual update on federal consent decree projects to a council committee last week.
Although much work has been accomplished, and in many cases well under budget, Martin said 38% of the projects are still on the board. “Eight projects per year for another six years is still daunting. We’ve been doing this for ten years plus now and there’s still a long way to go. As long as we’ve got a clear view of what the finish line looks like and keep driving towards it, I think we can get there,” said Martin.
Martin says a modification in one of the city’s many sewer improvement projects may be more visible in neighborhoods, but also much less costly. A previously planned sewer line project through the historic Overbrook Farm has been scrapped. “Very, very difficult to install pipelines and heavy highway construction stuff while people are trying to board horses. We’re worked across two horse farms already and neither of them have turned out very well. And trying to do this across Overbrook, it just, I was gravely concerned we were going over the cliff in the wrong direction,” explained Martin.
Lexington’s overall federally mandated sanitary sewer and storm water improvement program carries a $590 million price tag. Martin told members of the Environmental Quality and Public Works Committee thus far improvements have been made $83 million under budget.
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