“I’d just as soon they stayed away from (my property,) but you can’t fight it,” Bruce McMillian said about a set of high-voltage power lines that East Kentucky Power Cooperative proposes to run across Madison County from a generating plant in Clark County to a substation near Lancaster in Garrard County.
McMillian, who lives on Dale Hollow Lake near Byrdstown, Tenn., drove to Richmond on Thursday with his wife to attend an open house that EKPC conducted at the Best Western-Holiday Plaza on the Eastern Bypass to provide information to property owners potentially effected by the new set of lines.
McMillian said he owns property near the Garrard County substation.
“You can fight them, but you can’t win,” McMillian said. “You’d just end up losing money in attorneys’ fees, so I guess we’ll just roll with the punches.”
Macmillan’s wife said, “We don’t like power lines, but we realize they are necessary. We like to flip a switch and have the lights come on.”
EKPC, a non-profit power generating cooperative, will seek to purchase easements with property owners along a corridor 150 feet wide that will run for about 36 miles, mostly in Madison County, said company spokesman Nick Comer.
As a public utility, EKPC has the power of eminent domain to condemn the property of unwilling sellers.
For most of its length, the new corridor will parallel a set of existing EKPC lines, Comer side. As the line passes Richmond to the northeast, crossing Jacks Creek and Tates Creek roads, EKPC is looking at two alternatives corridors, both with wide latitude.
After meeting with EKPC officials, Jeptha Fortney, who owns farmland in the Red House community, said, “We live with a set of power lines that already runs across our property. I guess we can live with another one.”
Fortney would like for the new lines to follow a different path from the existing set, however.
“We told them we’d rather have the new lines run along the south side of our property instead of parallel to the existing lines on the north side,” he said. “That would put it farther away from our barn.”
“That’s the kind of information we were looking for at these open houses,” Comer said as he and EKPC employees were packing up their displays. “To the extent possible, we will try to accommodate the property owners’ desires.”
Some 77 property owners and 17 other interested persons attended the Richmond open house. Up to 171 property owners in Madison County could be affected by the new lines, Comer said.
EKPC will attempt to minimize impacts, visual, environmental and otherwise,” Comer said. The lines will probably be borne by steel, H-frame supports. Right-of-way negotiations will be conducted in the spring of 2007 with construction likely to begin in 2008 with completion in 2009.
“The new lines are necessary,” Comer said, “to keep pace with the tremendous growth in Kentucky and the accompanying demand for electricity.”
EKPC generates electricity for 16 local cooperatively distributors in Kentucky and will soon add a 17th.
Bill Robinson can be reached at brobinson@richmondregister.com or at 623-1669, Ext. 267
Homepage
Related Photos
-
Nancy Taggart
Property owners discuss power line proposals
- Local News
-
Trash overflows Thursday from a trash bin and garbage is strewn about a Big Hill Avenue mobile home park Thursday. Veolia Environmental Services will remove the trash bin today because the owner has not paid his bill, said interim City Manager Jimmy Howard. The city will remove any remaining trash, Howard said. What options residents will then have for trash disposal is uncertain.
-
Trash piling up at mobile home park
Uncollected household waste at a mobile home park on Big Hill Avenue in Richmond will draw a notice of violation from the Madison County Health Department and is prompting the city to clean up the site on its own.
-
Realities of prescription pill abuse spark another summit
Prescription drug abuse has become so prevalent in parts of Kentucky, people are buying Mason jars of clean urine at flea markets and under the table at tobacco stores so they can pass drug tests.
-
Tackling childhood obesity
NFL football player and former University of Kentucky running back Artose Pinner autographed lunch bags, footballs, notebook paper and anything Glenn Marshall elementary students could find (including arms and hands) during his visit Thursday to kick off the Fuel Up to Play 60 (FUTP 60) grant program.
-
Police charge two with making meth
A traffic stop late Tuesday evening ended in two arrests for manufacturing methamphetamine.
A Richmond Police officer working traffic enforcement on the Robert R. Martin Bypass stopped a vehicle at about 11:50 p.m. for a traffic offense. The officer discovered several methamphetamine precursors and paraphernalia in the vehicle that police say were tied to one of the passengers in the vehicle, Curment Nicholas Carpenter, 40, of Lexington Road. -
Man pleads guilty to driving to Richmond for sex with girl
(Editor’s note: This story contains graphic information some readers may find offensive.)
An Indiana man will serve at least 10 years in prison for traveling to Richmond to have sex with a 13-year-old girl, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Lexington.
-
Trash piling up at mobile home park
- Sports
-
-
H.S. GIRLS BASKETBALL: Southern pulls away
For three quarters, Madison Southern and Model were locked in a tightly contested battle.
-
H.S. Basketball: Central gets back on track
suffering their first loss of the season earlier in the week, the Indians (23-1) went back to the basics Friday against Pulaski County.
-
EKU BASKETBALL: Road trip rolls on for Colonels
The Eastern Kentucky University basketball teams are on the road today for a doubleheader at SIU Edwardsville.
-
H.S. GIRLS BASKETBALL: Southern pulls away
- Lifestyles & Community
-
-
Managing the calving season
Providing sound management during the calving season can mean more live calves.
Excessive losses can mean the difference between a year’s profit or loss for a beef producer.
It is important to have a short calving period to allow frequent observation and assistance if needed. - Spinach: It’s not just for Popeye anymore
- Topping trees is a bad practice
-
- Viewpoints
-
-
In defense of southern-fried Paula Deen
Celebrity chef Paula Deen lustily massages salt into "a mighty fat hog,” as the dogs circle the cooking island. For the yams, “I’m only using half a stick of butter,” she drawls before breaking into high laughter. Deen’s popular Food Network show does southern cooking with no brakes on the pork fat, butter, sugar or other dietarily incorrect ingredients.
- GOP makes Obama look good
- The real State of the Union
-
Killer of Fla. Girl Found in Landfill Gets Life
Army Orders Bradley Manning Court-martial
Cancer Charity Revives Breast-screening Grants
Heavy Snowstorm Hits Colorado On Its Way East
2nd Teacher From LA School Arrested on Sex Claim
Prosecutors Close Armstrong Inquiry, No Charges
Sights and Sounds: Football Fans Pour Into Indy
Unemployment Rate Down to 8.3%
Obama: Still Far Too Many Americans Need Jobs
GOP: Jobs Numbers Welcome, Can Do Better
Fla. Man Adopts Girlfriend in Legal Battle
More Deaths As Egypt Clashes Continue
Raw Video: Prince William in Falklands
Egpyt Protesters Blame Police for Soccer Deaths
'Lucky' 9-Year-Old Receives 6-Organ Transplant
Raw Video: Michelle Vs. Ellen in Pushup Contest
First Person: Will Peyton Manning Stay in Indy?
Egypt Shaken After Deadly Soccer Riot
New Suits, New Starts for New York's Unemployed
Hall of Famer Dorsett Speaks Out on NFL Injuries
