Daviess Co. extends deal with OMU for coal combustion residuals
Current agreement has brought $4.2M to the county
Daviess Co. extends deal with OMU for coal combustion residuals By 14 News Staff | January 14, 2021 at 10:57 PM CST - Updated January 14 at 11:59 PM
DAVIESS CO., Ky. (WFIE) - The Daviess County Fiscal Court has extended its contract with Owensboro Municipal Utilities to take on coal combustion residuals for another year.
The deal, which was first signed in 2016, sees OMU pay the county for dumping coal residuals in the contained landfill, meaning no coal sediments seep into the groundwater.
Hickman has spent nearly two years as the city engineer.
âI thoroughly enjoyed my time with the city and working with everyone who was on the team,â said Hickman. âI was offered the position as general manager of the Ohio County Water District and will begin on Dec. 28.â
Hickman said the new job was an opportunity to be closer to home, stay within the same retirement system and be nearer to his family and children.
âI felt it was the best for my young family,â he said. âIt was a difficult decision because I was leaving a job and team that had no negatives.â
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There are 600 homes and businesses that are eligible to be disconnected, he said.
But disconnects will pause for the holidays.
âWe donât want to disconnect any customer,â Frizzell said.
But he said it eventually has to be done when bills arenât paid.
Frizzell said OMU has donated $26,000 to the Salvation Army this year to help people pay their utility bills.
OMU has offered customers who have fallen behind on their payments during the pandemic a plan to pay off debts over a certain number of months.
But 600 of those customers have not been able to stay on the plan, Frizzell said.
The City Utility Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to sever an agreement to purchase solar power from a planned Lyon County solar farm.
The agreement, which was signed in 2018 and set to begin in 2022 once the solar farm is built, had to be terminated because of changes that would lead to excessive fees for Owensboro Municipal Utilities, OMU General Manager Kevin Frizzell said.
Although the utility will end its contract with Ashwood Solar, there will be options to purchase power from renewable sources in the future, Frizzell said. The contract allows OMU to terminate the agreement.
Under the agreement, 5% of OMUâs power annually would have come from Ashwood Solar.