According to Lewis County Solid Waste Coordinator John Teager the program accounted for an estimated 16,500 old tires being picked up and brought to the county lot on Rt. 3037 west of Vanceburg.

Fred Kirchhoff, Environmental Technologist from the Kentucky Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet said that so far Lewis County has picked up more old tires than any other county in the area.

Teager said that 1943 tires were picked up from one location on Old Trace, another 702 came from Swearingen Branch and the balance from dump sites across the county.

Liberty Tire Company, Sugarcreek, Ohio, contracted with the state to pick the tires up. That task was scheduled for last Friday, September 19.

Kirchhoff said that Liberty had about eight markets for the old tires. They will be melted down and used for a variety of purposes. Some of them will be made into small chips used at power plants.

He said that the tires have a higher heat value than coal.

He said that this time he expects more tires would be picked up than before but at a lower cost because the contracts with the haulers came in at a lower cost.

In Lewis County 10,488 tires were removed from the county in 1999. That cost the state $13,500. The funds for the program come from a one-dollar charge for each new tire purchased in the Commonwealth. That money is put into the Waste Tire Trust Fund created for the purpose of disposing of old tires.

The current program is designed to cover all 120 Kentucky counties by the year 2005.

Teager said that the Class-D inmates from the Detention Center had worked hard to help with the program. He explained that he usually has at least four inmates helping him but at times as many as eight worked on the Tire Amnesty Program and did a good job.

County employee Mark Ginn will drive a state truck involved in the program.

Meeting in regular session this month, the Electric Plant Board of the City of Vanceburg entered closed session to discuss pending litigation with Grayson Electric in the dispute over customers in the St. Paul area.

When returning to open session Board Member Charles Ross said, "I’ll make the motion that the Electric Plant Board reject Grayson’s latest proposal but is willing to continue with the settlement agreement that has been tentatively agreed to when revised." The motion carried with a unanimous vote.

The board accepted the resignation of Donnie Ginn. Ginn’s retirement becomes effective on Friday, September 26. Board Superintendent Phil Kennedy said that he has no plans to hire a mechanic to replace Ginn but has a recommendation he will present to the board at the October meeting.

Kennedy invited the board members, Board Attorney Clayton "Buddy" Lykins, Jr., representatives of W.M. Lewis and Associates and the press to accompany him on a tour of the water system on Saturday, October 4, at 9:00 a.m. He also plans to show the board the SCATA system that will enable employees to monitor the system using computers.

The Superintendent noted that in time the SCATA system will also be set up to monitor the electric system.

He informed the board that the annual audit is done except for receiving some letters, and he plans to present that audit at the next regular session.

In his routine monthly report to the board Kennedy mentioned the system-wide electric outage when the lines at Flat Hollow were reconnected overnight on August 23. He praised Davis H. Electric for a great job in accomplishing the work.

Bob Brown of W.M. Lewis and Associates, Portsmouth, Ohio, explained that two structures were replaced at Flat Hollow. Brown said that the old conductor was pulled out and replaced because it was in bad shape.

Kennedy noted that the water in Vanceburg was turned off for a while on September 9. He said a company was digging at the site of some old gas tanks looking for contamination and severed a water line. He told the board that the unidentified company would pay for the damages.

Kennedy announced that the bond closing for the Southern Lewis County Water Project was closed on Tuesday, September 9. He said that the rates were lower than expected. The going rate was 4.5 percent but they got the market rate of 4.25 percent, and that will save the company about $80,000 over the course of the bond issue.

He told the board that 95 percent of the water lines for the project have been installed, and the new tank is going up on Indian.

Kennedy stated that the company was hoping to have 350 customers but the folk are thrilled to have water and the number of customers has already exceeded that expectation. He expects nearly 500 households to sign up to get the water.

Referring to the project he said, "We did the right thing. This water system is doing great, and I’m proud of it."

He added, "Down the road we’re going to do some improvements to the sewer system."

Kennedy said that the tree trimmers are in the area and have a lot of work to do as a result of the ice storm.

The superintendent said that the natural gas rates would be higher this winter. However, he said that he has locked in 50 percent of the rates the company pays for gas and is floating on the other half. With what the company has put aside gas rates may not increase this year.

He explained that if the company is forced to raise rates it would be by about 15 percent.

The event will include live music, apple butter, honey, homemade goat milk soap, crafts, potted mums, farm fresh vegetables, all of your fall decoration needs and much more. Browning Orchard will be among those joining the regular farmers market vendors for this special event.

As in past years, Lewis County artists and craftspeople are invited to take part in the event at no charge. Church and youth groups and other Lewis County organizations are also welcome to participate with bake sales, fundraising events and more. Set-up begins at 7:30 a.m.