Despite legal concerns, work on drainage project to be completed soon

Drainage work near a north Corbin subdivision will be completed, but two local officials are still at odds over whether the repair project was legal to begin with and are now asking Kentucky’s Attorney General to resolve the dispute.
According to Knox County Judge-Executive Raymond Smith, work being done to install new drainage tiles near a pond in the Cardinal Heights Subdivision, off Meadowbrook Drive, was illegal because it was taking place on private property, 320 feet outside of the county’s 35-foot right-of-way; an area within which is normally performed. That’s why last Wednesday, he ordered a halt to the project.
The county workers and equipment are now gone, but a half finished job remains.
“The work was looked at a month and a half ago and was turned down to be performed by the county,” Smith said. “There’s been a little bit of confusion there. Now we are going to go back and finish the job. Whether it’s legal to be done or not, the yard is torn up and the mess is made. I think we have an obligation to fix it.”
Smith said that Magistrate Guilio Cima overstepped his authority when he asked road crews to begin the work. Only the Judge-Executive can authorize such projects. He said he isn’t sure if it was done out of genuine confusion about the legalities of drainage work, or if it was a political favor for “influential” property owners.
“This close to the election, you could look at it both ways,” Smith said. “We just want to be sure. It was quite an expensive project.”
But Cima vehemently denies the work was politically motivated and said the problem, which centers on the three-acre pond, has been an ongoing one.
“I understand that it’s two months prior to the elections, but it would take a blooming idiot to go into the most populated subdivision in Knox County, in broad daylight, and do something that’s wrong. That was not my intention.”
Cima said water from the pond had undermined the drainage system in the subdivision. He said he obtained permission from three different property owners to complete the work. He added that he has legal opinions from the Attorney General dating back decades showing the work was proper.
“If I’m wrong, I’m prepared to make it right,” Cima said. “I’ll pay for it out of my own pocket. I’m just glad the work is going to be done. When we leave there, things will be safer and our road will be protected.”
He added that Smith originally approved the project and claims he OK’d purchase orders for the materials. Smith said he did not authorize the project or sign any purchase orders, and didn’t know it was underway until he was contacted by the media.
Smith said the equipment, material and labor cost of the project is about $5,000 to $6,000. He and Cima met last Friday regarding the issue. He said they both agreed work should continue on the project and that both would abide by any legal decision. General descriptions of the project were sent to the Attorney General’s office for review.
“If stopping work that was improper and that spends taxpayer money on private property costs me politically, then so be it,” Smith said. “It is sad that sometimes politics in eastern Kentucky works a little different than state law. I want to make sure things are done right.”