Roads, flooding and energy made up the bulk of the discussion at the Henderson Chamber of Commerce’s Farmers Soundoff Thursday morning at the Henderson Cooperative Extension Expo Center.
The event gathers those in the agricultural field for a Q&A with elected officials. Joining farmers Tuesday morning were Henderson County Judge-Executive Brad Schneider, Magistrate Taylor Tompkins, state Sen. Robby Mills and state Rep. J.T. Payne.
The leadoff question, from Amy Cates of Cates Farm, involved the safety and road conditions of highways in the Robards area because of the solar farm construction. Cates said roads are being damaged and those operating the trucks aren’t driving safely.
Tompkins, whose district includes the Robards area, said the companies completing the construction have “over-promised and under-delivered.”
He said bonding included in contracts with the companies will allow the roads to be rebuilt once the work has been completed. He meets with company representatives weekly and said he’d make calls as soon as Tuesday’s meeting was over.
Cates also asked about bridge rebuilds at Adams Lane and Airline Road. She said if the bridges are still down during summer, it will affect customers coming to the Farmers Market at the Henderson County Fairgrounds on Airline Road.
Schneider said work on both bridges is scheduled to be complete by the end of the year.
Schneider also addressed questions about flooding and drainage in the county. He said that the Ditch Commission, which had a loose connection to the Henderson County Fiscal Court, has been resolved and will be replaced with a Ditch District, which by statute will come under the purview of the Fiscal Court.
The district will also be able to obtain funding from county government’s general fund, and that money will be much more than what the Ditch Commission was able to obtain, Schneider said.
One of the issues in conducting work to alleviate flooding, Schneider said, is obtaining easements from property owners so that equipment and workers can get into an area. He said that county government would attempt to get permanent easements so that the continual work of alleviating flooding in the county can be completed.
Mills told the group that energy is the top issue at the state level.
“It’s the number one issue and will continue to be the number one issue,” he said.
Mills said nuclear power is an option that is being pursued at the state level, adding that “Kentucky is trying to position itself as a leader in nuclear power.”
In the past, companies didn’t want to take a chance on building nuclear power plants because of the expense, but they are becoming more affordable, he said, and added that northwest Kentucky “would be a great place to put a nuclear reactor.”
He also pushed for using fossil fuels as a baseload generator and said that renewable energy can’t provide the baseload generation needed to power the country.
Additionally, a Henderson County High School FFA student asked how solar energy will affect the average resident in Henderson County. Schneider said that the local solar projects won’t necessarily allow for individual benefits, such as bill reductions, but including solar energy in an “all-of-the-above approach” to energy allows for grid stability.