London recipient of Waterfalls Trails grant

Nita Johnson, The Sentinel Echo, London, Ky.
·3 min read

Jan. 31—Highlighting the natural beauty of Kentucky is the goal of the Kentucky Wildlands program and that effort will benefit two sites in Laurel County.

During last week's meeting of the London Laurel Tourist Commission, board members approved amending their budget to proceed with an ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) grant that will highlight Vanhook Falls and Pine Island Double Falls as part of the Waterfalls Trail.

The $15,000 grant will be divided among seven partners, giving $2,143 to each participant. The money will be used to enhance the current trails.

Kentucky Wildlands' Waterfall Trail features 17 sites from Clinton County to Letcher County. It includes the two Laurel County sites, Cumberland Falls; Eagle Falls, Yahoo Falls and Princess Falls in McCreary County; Dog Slaughter Falls in Corbin, Flat Lick Falls in Jackson/McKee; Anglin Falls in Rockcastle County, 76 Falls in Clinton County, Mill Springs Falls in Wayne County; Recreation Falls, Copperas Falls and Whittleton Falls in Wolfe County, Lick Falls in Grayson Lake State Park, Jenny Wiley Falls in Johnson County and Bad Branch Falls in Letcher County.

Another grant approved by county tourism commissioners was the Boondoggle events grant applications, submitted by Keith Cottongim. The first grant for $750 for the Laurel Lake 10K on April 13. That amount would provide shirts, awards, post race food and aid station supplies. The second grant would assist with the Laurel Lake Cross Country event on April 6. The $700 grant would supply shirts, awards and general expenses.

The Tesla charging station located behind the Tourist Information Center on Faith Assembly Church Road was another point of discussion during Tuesday's meeting. A new contract between the tourist commission and Tesla would increase the rate for each charging stall to $125 per month with a 3% increase yearly. All stalls would be solely for EV charging and the contract would extend for 7 years, renewable every 5 years after that. However, the agreement also states that either party could terminate the contract at any time, provided that a 9-month notice is given. Should the county tourism commission choose to end the contract before the time frame specified, there will be a fee outlining the costs to end the agreement.

Another section of the agreement makes Tesla responsible for the new electric usage tax recently set by House Bill 8.

Chris Robinson with the London City Tourism was present for the meeting and outlined the upcoming training from representatives with the Kentucky League of Cities. County tourism officials are welcomed to the training which involves "Tourism Under the Law." The training is set for Jan. 30 at the London Community Center.

The success of Laurel native Reed Sheppard as the 2023 Mr. Kentucky Basketball and McDonald's All Star as well as his most recent contributions to the University of Kentucky men's basketball team was a subject addressed during a prior meeting.

Board member Tom Handy brought up the topic, stating that Sheppard should be honored by his hometown for his achievements. During last week's meeting, the subject arose again, with Handy stating he would contact city tourism officials to partner for some recognition ideas within the next month.

In other business, co-director Kim Collier announced that Laurel County Judge Executive David Westerfield had re-appointed Randy Singh and Jason Handy to the county tourism board.

A new law that requires Airbnb rentals to pay the state's 1% transient tax has been a center of controversy with tourism commissions whose funding comes from such tax collections. The London Laurel Tourist Commission is one of those. Collier said that the Kentucky League of Cities and Kentucky Travel Industry Association (KTIA) had filed a complaint in December to launch a lawsuit that would force Airbnb to comply with House Bill 8 that includes Airbnb's in paying the transient tax.

HB8 went into effect on Jan. 1, 2023 and expands the transient tax to include stays at campgrounds and RV parks unless the time frame extends past 30 days. However, those must be reported to be excluded from the tax.