Housing authority discusses sinkhole, lease with Barren County Schools

By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1

Under the dome of the mid-morning’s pale blue sky, the board members of the Glasgow Housing Authority filed into the modestly sized conference room to discuss, among other items on their agenda, a geotechnical investigation proposal and a lease agreement with the county school district.

After the approval of the minutes of both the special-called annual meeting of June 27 and the regular meeting of December 2023, the commissioners turned their attention to a geotechnical proposal submitted by American Engineers Inc. for “exploration for the remediation of the potential sinkhole” located at one of the apartments — specifically G1– of the E P Terry Estates in Cave City, which is located off U.S. 31-W.

Rodney Sherfey, maintenance director, estimated the sinkhole to be 25-feet wide and roughly 2-feet deep. According to Sherfey, this sinkhole is not a new issue in that area. Before, he said, they were able to provide a sort of “stop-gap” by filling the hole in with 5-gallon buckets.

“We’ve been filling it up for four or five years now,” Sherfey said.

According to the AEI proposal, the geotechnical investigation will bore to 40 feet in an effort to see if there is a cave or solid rock underneath before it is refilled, Sherfey explained, and will begin four to six weeks after its approval. The total amount of the investigation is $7,498, which Sheri Lee, operations officer at the authority, said will come out of their operational reserves.

As Vice Chairman Randle Norris pointed out, this proposal is not to fix, or fill up, the sinkhole but rather to “see what’s underneath” with eventual plans to have another contract.

“This is just to have research done on what we’re dealing with, not to repair it,” Lee said.

With a motion from Commissioner Henry Royse and a second from Norris the proposal met with unanimous approval.

With that discussion finished, the commissioners moved on to a lease agreement for the Barren County Alternative School that is usually housed at the district’s College Street Campus, which, as discussed at the most recent Barren County Board of Education meeting, is unlikely to be ready by the time school starts on Aug. 14.

According to Lee, the lease agreement, which concerns the authority’s HERO Center, is much the same as the agreement made between the two entities in the spring — with the exception of the dates of the agreement, which have yet to be finalized. Using the prior lease agreement the rent is to be set at $900 a week .

There was no vote on this agreement yet as the details still need to be finalized.

The next board meeting is scheduled for Aug. 22.