BOURBON COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — When a stretch of water main broke on Thursday in Bourbon County the impact could be felt sporadically across town.
Some businesses were forced to close, while others, like Lil’s Coffee Shop, remained open. Some homes lost water, while others boiled whatever water they had that wasn’t interrupted.
“We got lucky,” said Lil’s owner, Lyra Miller.
Miller’s coffee is made through boiled water, and aside from that, they don’t do much cooking with water. But had her place lost water flow, she’d have had to shut down.
“Because we wouldn’t have had working bathrooms,” she explained.
Off Main Steet, Trackside at The Depot restaurant was forced to close, but not because it lost water flow.
“Daycares closed yesterday. So my entire day shift had no babysitters, no daycare, so we had to make a quick decision based on staff.” Said Dottie Spears.
Spears owns the restaurant, which is back in business today. They’re boiling water as required by the city and hoping for a big weekend crowd to make up for Thursday’s losses.
“It’s about 1/6 of our income. We’re open Monday through Saturday, so after you take the average, it hits pretty good,” Spears said.
Mrs. Miller knows her pain.
“Those people live paycheck to paycheck, so when their business can’t remain open, they’re in trouble,” Miller said while saying she felt bad for her fellow business owners.
“Happy People Coffee” across the street from Lil’s remained closed, as did a few others on Main Street. But City Manager Jamie Miller notified everyone in a written statement that the line repairs had been completed.
Still, she wants all homeowners and businesses to continue to boil water throughout the weekend. She noted that regular water pressure could take a little while to be restored.
