The Hardin County Fiscal Court met for their first meeting of the month Tuesday.
Hardin County Water District No. 1 General Manager Jeff Metz and Hardin County Water District No. 2 General Manager Shaun Youravich gave the court their respective companies’ annual presentations.
Metz said despite lower than anticipated revenues, District 1 was able to keep expenses under control and finished 2024 with a positive margin. Metz noted several projects which expanded the district’s water efficiency by 18 percent and connected unserved roads in the county to water service, and many projects benefited from county ARPA funding and other grant opportunities.
“That would basically be impossible without grant funding to help make that happen, so all those citizens I can assure you are greatly appreciative of being awarded those grant dollars, and we appreciate giving opportunities to expand that and get that water service to them,” Metz said.
Youravich said District 2 was anticipating a loss for sewer operations in 2024, but the BlueOval SK plant getting online in 2024 had not been anticipated in projections and instead sewer operations had more than $400,000 in revenue. Water revenue saw an increase in 2024 partially due to an extended dry season, and Youravich noted the efficiency of the district’s operations.
“We had 10 breaks per 100 miles, because we had about 1,100 miles of water main, so we were well within the excellent performance category, and when you compare that to other utilities across the U.S. the national average is 25 to 30 breaks per 100 miles,” Youravich said.
Metz said District 1 was awarded the Best Tasting Water award from the Kentucky Rural Water Association, and Youravich said Kentucky as a whole ranked third in best drinking water rankings nationwide.
The Hardin County Fiscal Court will next meet March 25.
