County and City work together to build a better community

Small towns and rural communities throughout the United States are looking for ways to strengthen their economies, provide better quality of life, and build on local assets.

In nearby Carlisle, there are several projects in the works that will help build a stronger community.

Projects such as the 68-road construction, a new school and firehouse, the renovated library, and a revitalized downtown are just a few ways the city and the county are working together to enrich their community for future growth.

County Judge Executive Mike Pryor said there are some positive things happening in Nicholas County, such as a free meal program that will soon take place.

“We are really optimistic about a group called the United Methodist Food Ministry setting up shop here. It’s a self-funded program that will feed local children that need meals during the summer months and after school programs, plus there is the potential for them to provide food for the Head Start program as well”, Pryor said. “We are on the verge of getting the lease signed for the ministry to rent part of the old hospital building out on Concrete Road. It’s also a wonderful opportunity for the county to generate some revenue and to create a few jobs here in the county,” Pryor added.

The food program will also tie in with a project both the mayor and the judge executive have wanted to bring to Nicholas County.

“For the past two years the mayor and I have worked to get something called the Jubilee Program here. This is a faith-based, addiction-recovery type program that is tied in with Northern Kentucky University who owns what used to be the Kingsolver property. This program will provide jobs during the summer to help rehabilitate people who are recovering addicts and prepare them to get back into the work force.

Mayor Larry Jolly added, “Talks are ongoing, and we have a few more meetings to attend but they are looking at what they can do with what we call the old, old hospital out on Scrubgrass Road. We are getting closer for something to take place, we have our fingers crossed that after two years we will see the fruits of our labor.”

County Judge Executive Pryor went on to say, “There are a lot of positive things happening here, some are still in the planning stages that we can’t talk about until they are more solid, but we are optimistic good things are about to take place. When you have good schools, and roads, even walking trails and stuff for people to do, that is what inspires people to move into your community and as the population grows there could be more factories interested in locating here, and that all helps on the revenue side and keeps us from having to raise taxes. It’s simply not true that all we have concentrated on is building walking trials and sidewalks. We are not going to spend our tax dollars out of the general fund to build a walking trail. But if the opportunity comes along and we get a grant like we did for the shelter house that will enable us to build things for people to do here in the community, especially in conjunction with all the city is doing downtown, we are going to try to build those walking trails if we can, it’s the right thing to do. That’s what spurs economic growth, it makes people who visit look at us and see we are being progressive.”

Being proactive in helping your community thrive is something that Mayor Jolly said relates back to some sage advice he was given years ago.

“As a boy my grandfather told me, “son you will never catch a fish if you don’t put some bait on the hook, so I consider all that we are trying to do as bait to catch prospective businesses or someone wanting to relocate to Nicholas County,” Mayor Jolly said.