News Outlook
July 08, 2021 3
OBITUARIES/COMMUNITY
JOHN J. IARKIN
John J. Larkin, 77, of
Bath County, Kentucky,
passed away Saturday, June
19, 2021, at his home. He
was born on May 30, 1944
in Orange County, New
York, to the late John Lar-
kin and Helen Larkin. John
was proud to have served
his country as a lieutenant
in the United States Navy.
He was a graduate of The
’ State University of New
York, New Paltz, where he
received a degree in Chem-
istry and African Studies.
Most of John’s working ca-
reer was spent as a quality
control executive and con-
sultant. John loved spend-
ing time with his dogs and
horses. When he wasn't
working on the farm, he en-
joyed using his MacGyver-
like skills to fix just about
anything, and enjoyed
reading. Survivors include
his wife, Jan Simpson Lar-
kin; two daughters: Kate
Larkin of Memphis, Ten-
nessee, and Jill Haney (Jef-
fery Burns) of Mt Sterling;
one son, John Paul Lar-
kin of Preston, Kentucky;
one granddaughter, Jenna
Paige Haney of Mt Ster-
ling; and one sister, Jeanne
Reagan (Lowell) of Myrtle
Beach, South Carolina.
There will be no services
at this time. The Michael
R. Gray Funeral Home, 89
Slate Avenue, Owingsville,
Kentucky 40360 is caring
for all arrangements. To
View the online memorial
and sign the guest book,
please visit www.mrglh.
com.
The Montgomery Coun-
ty Conservation District
has received notice that a
. major soil and water stew-
ardship project has been
-' approved for the upper
' portion of the Slate Creek
‘ watershed, which encom-
passes most of the county
south of I-64 and southeast
of Mount Sterling.
The project will be fund-
ed by the Environmental
Quality Incentives Pro-
gram (EQIP) managed
by the USDA Natural Re~
sources Conservation Ser-
vice, and is focused on pro-
tecting the quality of water
treated for drinking water
purposes. Slate Creek is
thesaurce of drinking wa-
ter‘for Mount Sterling and
Montgomery County. Ap-
plications for conservation
practice funding are now
being accepted at the local
NRCS._office.
The “Slate Creek Water-
shed Protection Project”
will distribute NRCS EQIP
funding to farmers and
landowners seeking im—
provements‘on their prop-
erty which reduce erosion,
stabilize streambanks,
improve management of
anirnal waste, increase soil
health, and protect water
quality; ‘ Such practices
include fencing livestock
from stream corridors, in-
stalling upland livestock
waterers and water lines,
placing livestock shade
structures, stabilizing
strearnbanks and heavy
use areas, constructing
animal waste management
facilities, pasture renova-
tion, and soil health im-
provement.
EQIP funding is provid-l
ed at a flat rate, depending
on the conservation prac—
tice implemented. Higher
payments are available for
historically. underserved
producers, such as begin-
: ning farmers, limited re-
: source farmers, and social-
...Wm-«g. w H...‘
1y disadvantaged farmers.
EQIP rates are currently
being revised, but will like-
1y closely reflect the 2021
rates.
Interest in the project
has been growing over the
past eight years, due to the
success of a similar proj-
ect in the Hinkston Creek
Watershed, which encom-
passes the northern part of
Montgomery County and
portions of Bourbon, Nich-
olas, and Bath counties.
Farmers in the Slate Creek
watershed expressed in-
terest in support for the
types of stream protection
fencing, stock waterers,
stream crossing, erosion
control, and pasture reno-
vation projects undertaken
by Hinkston farmers. The
Montgomery County Con-
servation District has been
working with NRCS and
other partners for several
years to bring a project
for the Slate Creek area to
fruition.
While portions of Slate
Creek have acceptable
water quality, localized
sections are degraded by
high bacteria levels, sedi-
ment and siltation, and
nutrients from livestock
manure and fertilizer. The
drinking water intake for
Mount Sterling and Mont-
gomery County is located
on Slate Creek at Howards
Mill. In addition, the area
that drains into Greenbrier
Creek and the reservoir
also affect the quality of
water processed by the
treatment plant. Project
sponsors are hopeful that
producers in those areas
will take advantage project
funding to address live-
stock, soil health, and ero-
sion issues on their land.
For more information,
contact the Montgomery
County Conservation Dis-
trict and the local NRCS of-
fice at 859-498-5487 x3
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Sharpsburg to host Lexington Children’s
Theater,
receive park improvements
FUNDING THROUGH ROBERT L. BROWN FOUNDATION
By Cecil Lawson
KyNewsGroup
cecil@kynewsgroup.com
There’s going to be a
lot going on in the City of
Sharpsburg the next few
weeks, and City Council
members got a preview
during a rescheduled reg-
ular July meeting on Tues-
day evening.
Council members heard
from Lisa Adkins, Direc-
tor and CEO of the Blue-
grass Community Foun-
dation, and Brian Dineen,
the Foundation’s Finance
Director, regarding up-
coming projects made pos—
sible through the Robert L.
Brown Foundation.
Brown, a resident of
Sharpsburg who owned
the long-running fam-
ily business, R. L. Brown
Company, on Main Street,
passed away in 2015. Ad-
kins said the Bluegrass
Community Foundation
had worked with him dur-
ing his lifetime and that
he left a “substantial chari-
table legacy” through the
Robert L. Brown Founda-
tion.
Adkins said that while
Brown’s foundation has
helped to maintain the
Sharpsburg Community
Center, it was ultimately
set up to “improve the
quality of life for Sharps-
burg and Bath County.”
Lori Garkovich, who
is now retired, and most
recently, Ethan Howard,
both with the Bluegrass
Community Foundaton,
have worked directly with
Mayor Dorothy Clemons
and the city along with the
Robert L. Brown Founda-
tion.
This year, Adkins said,
the foundation has helped
to pay'for eight campers
and four counselors to at-
tend the North Central
4-H Camp in Carlisle, and
it has provided funding to
keep open the Sharpsburg
Branch of the Bath County
Memorial Library five days
a week during the summer
from 9:30 to 5:30 each day.
Upcoming projects fund-
ed by the foundation also
include summer camp for
the Lexington Children’s
Theater, which will be held
July 26-30 at the Commu-
nity Center, with 26 8-to-
14 year olds in attendance,
and over half of them from
the Sharpsburg area; and
several major improve-
ments to the Sharpsburg
City Park, to include picnic
tables, trashcan, shade sta-
tion, upgrades to the bas-
ketball court, new soccer
goals, and new basketballs
and soccer balls.
Adkins said the park is
“an incredible green space
in the middle of the com-
munity,” and there are fu-
ture plans to continue with
improvements to park, in-
cluding the development
of a master plan with com-
munity input. She called
the park “a signature proj-
ect for the foundation.”
photos by Cecil Lawson.
Brian Dineen and Lisa Adkins, both standing, with the Bluegrass Community
Founda-
tion, spoke with Sharpsburg City Council members on Tuesday evening about
upcoming
projects and events made possible through the Robert |.. Brown Foundation.
Also shown
above are council members Thelma June Gulley and Patsy Richardsdon and
Mayor Doro-
thy Clemons.
Adkins said the imme-
diate park project should
be completed in time for
a Back to School Bash,
which Mayor Clemons
said is being sponsored by
Bath County 4-H and the
Bethel Homemakers on
August 5, from 5 to pm.
Clemons said the city
was “blessed and thankful
that he [Brown] thought of
us,” and Council member
David Jones said he was
appreciative of everything
the foundation had done
for the city.
Council members also
heard from Gateway Area
Development District Di-
rector Josh Farrow, who
was in attendance to dis-
cuss the upcoming Opera-
tion Gateway Kentucky as
well as other upcoming
projects for the city.
Farrow said Bath Coun-
ty‘s six public utilities
held a meeting on June
to discuss how to spend
$459,075 in funds received
by the county under Sen-
ate Bill 36.
Senate Bill 36 was signed
into law this year and gov-
erns the allocation of $250
million from the federal
government to public wa-
ter and sewer utilities
across the state. $150 mil-
lion was allocated to all 120
Kentucky counties based
on population, $50 million
for drinking water projects
to unserved rural areas,
and $49.9 million for any
projects that go over their
county allocation. Funds
will be overseen by the
Kentucky Infrastructure
Authority.
At the June meeting,
which included represen-
tatives for the Bath Coun-
ty Water District, Bath
County Sanitation District,
City of Owingsville Water
District, City of Owings-
ville Sewer District, City
of Sharpsburg, and the
Sharpsburg Water District,
Farrow said a consensus
was reached that each of
the six districtswould re-
ceive an equal portion of
the total, or $76,512 each
for projects. Farrow said
they also agreed that if
they had» not used their
funding within a year, they
would meetagain to redis-
tribute it. 2
Projects prioritized in-
cluded tank refurbish-
ment for the Bath County
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replacement and lagoon
system cleaning for the
City of Owingsville, and se-
curity updates for the City
of Sharpsburg Packag
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Farrow noted that these
funds would not go a long
way. because of prevailing
wage requirements for
projects as well as engi-
neering costs.
Clemons said while she
appreciated the furids allo-
cated to the City of Sharps-
burg, she said that any ma-_
jor project still requires the
city to be able to maintain
it once it is built, after the
grant funds are used.
She noted that the city is
still making payments on
40 year USDA loan for its
sewer treatment plant, and
the city’s sewer service
barely breaks even each
month. She also repeated
something she said at last
month’s meeting, that calls
to expand the city’s sewer
system by Judge/Execu-
tive Bobby Rogers and oth-
ers outside-the city would
not be financially feasible /
for the city.
“I’m just looking at the
big picture. Once you
build a project, how are
you doing to keep it go-
ing,” she asked.
She added that a few
years ago, the city had of-
fered to expand its sewer
service to the Oaklawn
Subdivision, but the major-
ity of Oaklawn residents
had rejected that offer.
The city will also be re-
ceiving funds from
the American Rescue Plan
Act this year, and Mayor
Clemons said it would
“take a lawyefl torfigure
out exactly what the funds
might be used éfo’r} since
there are so many restric-
tions on how, they may be
used. Farrow agreed'and,
called the guide- -
lines “very, very picky.”
In other matters, council
members also:
- accepted a bid from
Harold Massey, to paint
the exterior of the Sharps-
burg Community Center
for $7550. Mayor Clemons .
said she had attempted to
contact Tommy Little of
Winchester to ask him to
submit a bid, at the request
of council member Rocky
Roberts, but Little had not
returned multiple calls and
messages.
- heard from Mayor
Clemons that recent pay-
ments on the city’s delin-
quent taxes how brought
down the outstanding bal-
ance to $1840.
Clemons also reported
that Sharpsburg Stop N
Shop had recently received
a civil summons from Mid-
South Capital Partners,
and she was advised by
city attorney Earl Rogers
III that the property would
likely be sold at a master
commissioner’s sale. She
noted that the property
owners owe the city $5052
in back taxes from 2017-
2020, and she had filed
a lien on the property in
2019.
Clemons told council
members that there has
been forward movement
on - a Transportation Al-
ternative Program (TAP)
grant to improve drainage
on West Tunnel Hill road
and to construct a side-
walk from the Community
Center to the City Park,
and the project should get
started later this year.
Council members
went into closed session
for about five minutes to
discuss a personnel mat- '
ter, and upon returning
to open session, voting to
give a raise to the city’s wa-
ter and sewer supervisor,
Steve Faudere, to $2000 a
month.
After re-advertising for
bids on a city—owned prop-
erty at 505 Main Street,
council members received
a single bid from Thomas
and Vicki Crouch for $8500
and voted accept the bid.
- The next regular coun-
cil meeting is scheduled
for Monday, August 2, at
6 pm. at the Community
Center.
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