Boone County judge/executive sends letter asking SD1 to explain sewer route through Pille property

Boone County Judge/Executive Gary Moore submitted a letter to the leadership of Sanitation District 1, asking the agency to provide county residents with greater clarity on why it selected its current route for the Central Boone Conveyance Project.

Supporters of Gayle Pille, a Boone County landowner and naturalist whose property will be affected by the project, have protested the proposed route throughout September, urging the fiscal court to influence SD1 to reroute the sewer line away from her property.

“I am sensitive to the impacts on our citizens even when projects benefit the community at large and I understand the desire for Gayle Pille to have well-reasoned answers to the question as to why the current route was deemed to be the best option for the project,” read a portion of Moore’s letter.

SD1, Northern Kentucky’s public sewer and stormwater utility, is constructing the Central Boone County Sewer, a nearly $40 million, four-phase infrastructure project designed to increase wastewater capacity in the county’s center. The project will redirect wastewater currently flowing to the Dry Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant in Villa Hills westward to the Western Regional Water Reclamation Facility in Petersburg. 

One phase of the project involves using eminent domain, the government’s authority to acquire private property for public use without the owner’s consent, to construct a sewer pipeline across Pille’s property. 

Pille owns 45 acres in central Boone County, which she has long worked to preserve as a natural area. She plans to donate the land to the Boone Conservancy, a nonprofit land trust, upon her death, ensuring it remains a community nature preserve.

However, to move the project forward, SD1 secured seven easements on parts of her property.

After SD1 and Pille failed to reach a buyout agreement for her land, the agency sued her in the Boone County Circuit Court. Following months of legal proceedings, Boone County Circuit Court Judge James Schrand ruled in favor of SD1, effectively condemning Pille’s property for the sewer project.

In protest of the plan, neighbors and allies of Pille’s have publicly opposed SD1’s use of eminent domain to secure easements across her property for a new sewer project. A group of Pille’s supporters has staged multiple protests outside SD1’s Fort Wright headquarters. Supporters also addressed the Boone County Fiscal Court at its Sept. 8 and Sept. 22 meetings, asking county officials to press SD1 over the sewer line.

“We understand that this court cannot decide Gayle Pille’s eminent domain case, and we are not asking you to take over SD1’s engineering decisions, but there is a difference between not controlling SD1 and having no role at all,” Pille supporter Jennifer Watts told the fiscal court on Sept. 22. “This court is the elected governing body of Boone County. You speak for the county’s residents, property owners, environmental resources, and financial interests. You have the ability to put Boone County’s position on the public record and to communicate that position directly to SD1.”

Moore reiterated that he believes it would be irresponsible for the fiscal court to attempt to influence SD1’s decision, arguing that the utility has more information about the project and is better positioned to determine the appropriate route. Moore said his request was intended to advocate for residents, not interfere with SD1’s engineering decisions. 

In addition to Moore’s letter, Commissioner Chet Hand said he emailed SD1 Executive Director Adam Cheney, asking him to present a report to the fiscal court explaining the rationale used to select the specific route.

This article includes reporting from LINK nky’s Nathan Granger.