By Gina Holt
Enquirer contributor

BURLINGTON - Petersburg, Belleview and other neighboring areas in booming Boone County could have city water by 2004.

That's two to three years ahead of schedule and the sagging economy is actually helping to make it happen.

The county's rural water project was supposed to occur in five phases over several years but because of the struggling economy, Boone County Judge-executive Gary Moore has decided to push the project through in three phases.

Bids for the first phase of the project were more than $4 million under budget because contractors bid so low to maintain work during tough economic times.

"The bids came in much lower than we had projected," said Mr. Moore. "Because it went so well, we decided to do phase two much sooner."

As long as the county receives approval from the Division of Water and the Public Service Commission, pipes will be laid next summer.

"We're looking at providing water from the 275 interchange at Petersburg all the way down to the community of Petersburg and the community of Belleview," he said. "From there we would follow Ky. 18 back to Burlington. We're also looking at possibly including East Bend in Burlington all the way to Belleview.

"Some of those areas are still being determined, though," he said, adding that it depends on whether enough people in the area want the water, if the county receives approval from the Division of Water and the Public Service Commission.

The pipe route heads through western Boone County, a portion of the fast-growing county that remains largely rural and with a low-population density.

The pipes will not be brought to homes that don't want city water.

"Under this system, there is a monthly surcharge," Mr. Moore said. "There are no assessments. You only pay if you become a water customer. The county will put in a portion of the cost. The rest is bonded. The monthly surcharges pay off the bonds. Once the bonds are paid off, the surcharge goes away."

He was not sure how much the surcharge would be or how long residents would have to pay it but said it would probably be about $25 per month.

"Many people having water hauled are paying much more than that," said Mr. Moore. "You never have to worry about running out of water. The system will be built in a way that there will be fire protection. There will be fire hydrants, so their insurance should go down."

He said he also does not know exactly how many homes will get water or how many feet of piping will be laid.

However, he said the project is not invasive and no one will lose their homes or any property because the pipes will be put along the right-of-way.

Some Petersburg residents have mixed feelings about the possibility of having city water.

"I don't know whether we would get it or not because we have a driven well," said Marilyn Peters.

Howard Delph said he has access to fresh well water but will still probably take the city water.

"I would probably hook up to it," he said. "I wouldn't be overjoyed since I have a well, but something could always happen to a well. It could go dry or whatever. Ninety-nine percent of people want city water nowadays. It would definitely help resale value."

Mr. Moore said he is pushing the program to keep his campaign promises.

"When I campaigned for office in '98, I heard regularly from people in the rural parts that they were disappointed that Boone County had not done a better job of extending water lines to the rural part of the county," Mr. Moore said.

"We heard loud and clear that people did want public water, clean drinking water. We set out to develop a program that would be fair to all the residents.

"It does not penalize someone that does not want water. I believe that as progressive as Boone County is on other issues, that supplying clean water to residents should be a priority."