Lewisport Council sets Heritage Festival lineup, advances regional water plant

The Lewisport City Council met Thursday, March 19, and City Administrator Jason Roberts provided some updates on the annual Lewisport Heritage Festival, scheduled for May 28-30.

Roberts said all of the festival bands have been confirmed except for Thursday night. He said organizers are trying to “get local and stay local,” but a few area musicians were unable to schedule that evening. They are reaching out to other performers, including Ohio County native Dakota Hayden, a country-rock singer-songwriter who appeared on American Idol, to see if he can play Thursday.

Roberts said the city has booked Hall Pass for Friday night. The Kentucky-based variety band performs classic and contemporary rock songs that evoke “music you forgot you remembered.”

The Greg Tate Band is scheduled for Saturday night. Tate, an art teacher at Hancock County High School, fronts his own group that plays Southern rock and country favorites. Bub and Company, featuring Jeremy Williamson and members of the groove-rock group Moon Crickets, will perform Saturday as well.

The Josh Mitcham Band, which blends country and Americana and played last year’s Pumpkins in the Park, is on the lineup for Saturday also. Mitcham is from the Rough River area.

Heath Eric, a regional folk-rock musician, will run the sound system. Roberts said several vendors and food trucks are already lined up for the event also.

“Everything for the festival is coming along well,” Roberts said.

In Superintendent R.J. Simpson’s absence, City Administrator Roberts gave an update. The Public Works crew has been preparing for spring before the weeds start to grow. The crew has also been doing some ditch dipping and drainage work, and two upcoming jobs involve installing tiles on Emerson and Holland Avenue.

They have also been changing out some large-capacity meters that are more accurate, one at Poplar Grove and one at The Oaks. He said it has made a huge difference on tracking the actual gallons.

Pam Hubbard, a longtime Public Works crew member, plans to return from retirement April 1 to help with mowing, working two to three days per week.

Roberts also provided updates on the regional water treatment plant. He said Bluegrass Engineering co-owner and engineer Bryan Lovan has submitted the building plans to Kentucky Housing and Building for the final construction permit.
Roberts said he and Lewisport Fire Chief Troy Roberts sent a letter to state officials asking that the city not be required to install fire suppression throughout the entire plant, which he said would significantly increase the cost. They want to limit fire suppression to one interior block room, which they say is designed so any fire cannot spread, and are considering a CO2 system in that room because water-based suppression cannot be used there.
He said the city has received the geotechnical report for the proposed elevated water tank site on the Hendricks Road property owned by Carlos Newton, and engineers found the site suitable for a tower. With that confirmation, the city can move ahead with a boundary survey, prepare the necessary documents and then proceed with purchasing the property from Newton.
In January, the council approved an option on the Hendricks Road site to determine whether it was suitable for the elevated tank that will serve the new regional plant. The option called for a $2,000 payment to Newton and a 90- to 120-day window for geotechnical drilling, which was expected to take about a week once scheduled.
City officials said acting quickly on the option kept the project on track for bidding this spring and preserved the tank’s planned height after a nearby site was ruled out when the owner declined to sell or work with the city. The Hendricks Road site, identified as an alternative with nearly the same elevation, allows the tank to be built at the original planned height while soil testing and the property purchase move forward under the option.
The regional water treatment plant will be constructed behind the Lewisport Library and is designed to serve all of Hancock County. Preliminary plans show administrative offices, a control room for plant operations, a water testing lab and a break room, with exterior designs intended to blend in with nearby public buildings.
Lewisport and Hawesville entered into a sister-city agreement to pursue the shared plant and transmission system, which allows the cities to secure the permanent and temporary easements needed for new transmission mains and helped the project qualify for about $20 million in funding, including assistance under the Clean Water Act. The two cities plan to form a joint oversight committee to monitor construction, which is targeted to begin this spring, and the regional plant could be in operation as soon as 2028 if the schedule holds.

Lewisport Police Chief Greg Linn reported 101 CAD calls for service since the Feb. 19 council meeting. He and City Officer Nick Jarboe postponed their firearms training last month due to illness and rescheduled it for Tuesday, March 24.

Linn said he and City Administrator Roberts attended the Kentucky League of Cities Conference last week in Owensboro. He said everything at the police department is going well.

The council approved Resolution 3-19-26, which sets the city’s rules for handling federal grants. The policy says Lewisport will follow federal regulations in 2 CFR Part 200, including procurement and cost rules, and the Kentucky Model Procurement Code where it applies.

Under the resolution, the city must use proper bidding or competitive proposals when required and keep full documentation of bids, advertisements, evaluations and awards. Staff must also justify the type of contract used and why each contractor was chosen.

All expenses submitted for reimbursement must be reviewed by city staff and the grant coordinator to make sure they meet federal rules, fit the approved budget and are necessary for the project. Invoices, timesheets and receipts must be itemized, and requests for reimbursement cannot be sent in until the city’s internal approvals are complete.

The council voted unanimously to adopt the policies resolution.

The permission resolution 3-19-26 authorizes City Administrator Roberts to sign documents on behalf of Mayor Chad Gregory when time sensitive action is needed and the mayor is unavailable. Many federal and state documents are time sensitive and this authority allows Roberts to sign immediately rather than scanning paperwork back and forth for signatures. The council also voted unanimously in favor of the permission resolution and it has been adopted.

The council adopted the USDA Conflict of Interest Resolution 3-19-26, which is tied to $2 million in federal funding the city received through U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie’s office for the regional water plant. The resolution states that the city has no conflict of interest in using those funds through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The policy follows federal conflict of interest rules and the Kentucky Model Procurement Code. It requires annual conflict disclosures from council members and staff involved in purchasing, written procedures for identifying and handling possible conflicts and a ban on taking part in any contract decision if a conflict exists.

The city will oversee these projects, keep all financial and administrative records for at least three years after the final report and periodically review contractors’ practices to make sure they follow the same standards.

For the Lewisport Regional Water Plant, the policy defines who counts as an “interested person,” what a financial interest is and how potential conflicts must be disclosed and resolved. It is designed to protect the city’s interests and to support, not replace, state and federal conflict of interest laws.

The first reading of Budget Amendment Ordinance 26-1 was completed by City Attorney Charles Kamuf Jr., and the second reading will be held at the April council meeting. Some minor corrections were made to the original ordinance, including simple typos in the first line.
The annual budget proposal for fiscal year July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026, with revenues including the general fund, road fund, LGA fund, gas fund, water fund, sewer fund, fire department fund, park fund, Heritage Festival fund, municipal fund and American Relief fund, was read aloud, and the budget will be printed in The Hancock Clarion after the second reading so readers can view the amounts for each; the documents are also available to the public at City Hall.
Budget Workshop

The council approved a date and time for a budget workshop for 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 22. During the meeting, the council will decide if an additional workshop is needed.

The Lewisport Volunteer Fire Department financial statement was approved by the council.

The department is recruiting new members. Applications are available at the station or can be downloaded from the pinned post on the Lewisport Volunteer Fire Department Facebook page. Completed applications may be emailed to [email protected] or mailed to P.O. Box 22, Lewisport, KY 42351. Volunteer firefighters must complete at least 20 hours of training each year.
Junior Firefighter Program
The Junior Firefighter Program is open to youth ages 15 to 17. Program details and the application link are posted on the department’s Facebook page.