OMU awarded nearly $300,000 for water main replacements

On Thursday, March 3, Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman presented $4,728,098 in funding to the Daviess County Fiscal Court. The funding comes through Gov. Andy Beshear’s Cleaner Water Program and the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, administered by the Department for Local Government.

On behalf of OMU, Tim Lyons, Director of Delivery, and Brad Howton, Director of Production, accepted a $297,000 grant which will be used to replace water mains on Cedar Street, Stonewall Court, Jeff Place and Birkhead Avenue.

“On behalf of the OMU Utility Commission and our customer-owners, we would like to thank the State of Kentucky and the Daviess County Fiscal Court for providing this funding from the Cleaner Water Grant Program. This grant will be used to replace water mains in parts of our system, providing for improved fire protection, increased reliability and further our commitment to safe drinking water for our community,” explained OMU General Manager Kevin Frizzell.

“Clean water is the goal of all elected officials and our residents. We are very pleased and honored to have our Lieutenant Governor in our community for this special announcement,” Owensboro Mayor Tom Watson said.

 “Investments in infrastructure, like high-speed internet, clean water, roads and bridges provide Kentucky a solid foundation for building tomorrow’s economy, today,” said Lt. Gov. Coleman.

As part of Gov. Beshear’s Better Kentucky Plan, the Cleaner Water Program is funded by the American Rescue Plan Act and administered by the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority (KIA). $250 million was appropriated through a bipartisan agreement at the close of the 2021 General Assembly for clean drinking water and wastewater grants to fund projects across Kentucky. The Green River Area Development District submitted the funding request for this project to the KIA.