TAYLORSPORT, Ky.
- The McGlasson family has farmed and lived on the same piece of land along the Ohio River since the Civil War. The McGlasson Fruit Stand on Ky. 8 is a Northern Kentucky shopping tradition.
So it's not surprising that when the McGlassons and their northern Boone County neighbors learned that Sanitation District No. 1 had pinpointed 43 acres of the farm as the ideal site for a new sewage treatment plant, they were angry and concerned.
''They (Sanitation District) made two offers, and both offers were turned down,'' said Lon McGlasson, a fourth-generation member of the family that runs the fruit and product farm and business. ''The farm is not for sale at any price.''
On the other side of the issue is Jeff Eger, executive director of the Sanitation District, who doesn't want to make enemies or cause anyone any problems but knows a new treatment facility is a must for Boone County.
''We have to be able to keep up with the growth and development in Boone County,'' he said. ''The Dry Creek (treatment) plant (on Ky. 8 at the Boone-Kenton line), won't be able to handle all the additional capacity. And expanding Dry Creek is not financially feasible.''
The apparent stalemate at the McGlasson property is a perfect example of the conflict between rural county residents who have farmed for generations and the march of progress and development in rapidly growing Boone County.
The Hebron area of the county, on the plateau above Ky. 8, is expanding daily with subdivisions springing up on former farm sites. All those houses must have treatment for sewage.
Mr. Eger said engineers studying sites for a new Boone County treatment facility identified five along Ky. 8, all close to the river, and listed the McGlasson property as the prime location.
''Engineers said the site made sense,'' he said. ''It was close to the Ohio River, which meant we did not have to empty into a tributary, which would be much more costly because it would require an additional phase of treatment. It has utilities on site, and it has a natural buffer with gravel mines on either side.''
The new plant will handle about 25 million gallons of sewage a day and will also be designed to take overflow from the Dry Creek facility, which treats about 46 million gallons of sewage a day.
''We want the new plant to be as close to Dry Creek as possible,'' Mr. Eger said. ''The new plant will be almost totally automated, and since we have crews working around the clock at Dry Creek, they can also respond to problems at the new plant if they are nearby.''
Mr. McGlasson presented a petition signed by over 600 people in opposition to the new plant at the farm site during a public hearing almost two weeks ago. He and other residents of that section of Ky. 8 also attended a public hearing at the district offices Nov. 6.
''We have some new information that sounds a little better,'' Mr. McGlasson said. ''Nothing is firm at this point. But the sanitation people still tell us this is the best site.''
Mr. Eger said the district's board of directors will now look at the formation of a draft of a 20-year facilities plan by December, which will then be sent to state officials.
''The board will now factor in the human side of the issue, from what we've heard at the public hearings,'' he said. ''That will be considered, along with the needs for sewage treatment.''
He emphasized that that design work on the new treatment plant must begin in the next fiscal year, starting in August 1998. The new plant would probably be running by 2001.
