Albany City Council, in the wake of last week’s dangerous ice storm that caused some damage, wrecks, closings and more importantly, residents without electricity or water for up to hours or days, held a special call meeting Monday evening.

The session was called in lieu of four council members requesting the session and included two items of business for discussion, water distribution and crisis response.

The 50 minute session, which saw no actual votes taken, included discussion with water plant employees, Monarch Engineer David Bowles and four members of the public who had concerns of no, or little ,water pressure.

Councilwoman Sarah Wilson-Browning opened the meeting by discussing “steps to take going forward,” noting in her opening remarks that the city did not have the funding to purchase a new generator for the water treatment plan.

In fact, an estimate for such a generator, including development, contingency, engineering design, inspection and other associated costs tallied $1,719,000.00.

Browning did say, however, the city had other options and she had been in contact with Melissa Melton, a Technical Assistant Provider with RCAP, which is funded by USDA Rural Development and others. Melton had noted there could be opportunities for assistance through the Lake Cumberland Area Development District.

Melton also referred her to a program called KY WARN, a utilities helping other utilities program.

Browning said that Melton, formerly from Cumberland County, had offered to meet with the local city council to explain RCAP’s services.

At that point, councilman Joe Stockton asked some questions about the generator’s cost of Bowles and Kenneth Delk with the water department, and the possibility of smaller generators at pump stations and other issues, like the boil water advisories that have been in effect since the ice storm event.

Browning noted she knew there was not an overnight fix for the water problems.

Councilwoman Tonya Thrasher said she would welcome RCAP representatives to a council meeting to present their proposals for assistance.

Delk, in commenting on the boil water advisory, said that the advisory would be lifted in parts of the county as early as (this past) Tuesday.

Penny Dalton, who has experienced either low water pressure, or having no water at all at times for about a year now, asked water department employees if all lines in the county connect.

Dalton said their residence may have water at 4:30 in the morning and no water by 6 a.m. Delk attributed this to the probability that no one is using water early in the morning, but later, people begin to use the water causing the low pressure and outages in the area the residents were referring to.

The majority of the water problems in the area the residents was referred to was between Hwy. 696 South (the Concord Church Road) and Old Monticello Road.

Delk said the water department had narrowed down an area where a leak might be that is causing the problems that have seen some residents in the area with water, while nearby neighbors are out of water.

He further said that the lines in the affected area are tied to the new lines that will be run to the Bald Rock/Duvall Valley areas, where currently the Albany Fire Department is hauling water almost daily to the Bald Rock water tank, which was also mentioned by the residents during the discussion.

Delk said representatives of the Kentucky Rural Water Association were to be in Albany this past Tuesday using a leak detector to locate specifically where a leak might be.

“When the power at the water treatment plant went down, we had to recharge the entire system,” Delk said.

He did add that the lines in the area discussed Tuesday night were tied to the Bald Rock and Duvall Valley line problem, which prompted Dalton to ask if their area would have to go another year experiencing the problems.

Dalton did note at different times during the discussion that she was not blaming the water department employees and thanked them for their hard work in trying to repair the problems.

Councilwoman Thrasher told the residents in attendance that in a nutshell, the issue occurred years and years ago when different sized lines were tied together that lead to the Bald Rock area, coupled with the influx of more homes and the building of numerous poultry houses which require large amounts of water, especially during summer months.

One resident, Jason Pitman, who has been living in the area a couple of years, said he had been without water for eight days and Delk offered some suggestions on where he may be able to go to obtain water in emergency situations.

Albany Mayor Lyle Pierce asked Bowles if there was “any way to ‘speed up’” the process of starting work on the water lines to the Bald Rock area.

The engineer said that about 20 more easements were needed, and it has been a slow process. He further noted a couple of residents had not been willing to agree to sign easements, but had not given a direct “no” on the matter.

Some council members said they would be willing to talk to those residents about the situation if it would help.

There was only a brief discussion on the crisis response item listed on the agenda.

Dalton suggested an emergency response line at city hall, saying that during the water and power outage, she had called the local 911 and was told basically not to call, but did understand, noting they were probably overwhelmed with not only the power and water, but several accidents going on due to road conditions.

Browning also asked if there was a specific emergency response plan in place, noting this area was also a region for tornadoes.

Most council members agreed that a meeting with the county and Emergency Services to discuss such a plan for all residents to follow in emergencies may be the best course of action.

The city council’s next regular meeting will be held Tuesday, March 2, at 5 p.m., at City Hall.