Rep. Smith updates fiscal court on projects in Knox

Emily Adams-Bentley, The Times-Tribune, Corbin, Ky.
·3 min read

May 4—KNOX COUNTY — "A lot of pluses are happening in our county," State Representative Tom O'Dell Smith told the Knox County Fiscal Court on Wednesday.

Smith updated the fiscal court on state funding coming in to complete road and other projects throughout the county, including road projects happening at KY-459, improvements to the safety intersection of US-25 and KY-3439, Brush Creek Bridge, the bridge at KY-459, traffic safety updates on US-25, KY-11, Judge Street and KY-830 from US-25 in front of Lynn Camp schools.

He also said the county would be getting $1.3 million for water and sewage updates for the East Knox Water District with hopes of finding more funding for the project, adding that he had recently received a call from someone in the Stinking Creek area who did not have fresh, running water.

"In today's time, everybody should have fresh water," he said.

One upcoming project to look out for, Smith said, is the addition of another industrial park to the county, as the Southern Kentucky Business Park on the Corbin Bypass is quickly filling up.

"We had a situation that has happened today on the Bypass—it's a good thing, our Industrial Park has filled up," he said. "We're down to the last site, the last building and it'll be full."

Smith said officials have found a potential site for the new industrial park, hoping to bring more jobs into Knox County.

Becky Miller with KCEOC Community Action Partnership also updated the fiscal court on the construction work happening in the former Barbourville Nursing and Rehabilitation Center building, as Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College has partnered with KCEOC and Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program (EKCEP) to bring a campus to Knox County.

Miller said the renovations are at a 95 percent completion with plans of a grand opening event in August.

The renovated 37,000 square-foot facility will offer career-ready, fast-track certificates and other credentials at the campus, including some medical, IT, general education and direct skills programs.

Miller said earlier in the week, she visited the Mint Gaming Hall in Franklin where she explained that the facility would offer training for the workforce.

"Once I talked about the facility, they were so excited to know this was available and it will be utilized by many different skills that they are looking to bring into our area," she said. "Longterm, it's going to really impact our community, our region and I'm really excited to see where it goes from here."

In other fiscal court business, the court:

-Approved the reappointment of Cloyce Hinkle to the Artemus Fire Protection Taxing District, as his term is set to expire June 30, 2022. The reappointment will be for a three-year term.

-Approved payments of $1,000 each to the Barbourville and Corbin Senior Citizens Centers, which had been closed for an extensive period of time due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

-Approved the county attorney's delinquent tax report for March in the amount of $12,951.56. Delinquent tax notices will be going out this week.

-Approved the motion to hold a public hearing on the request to close a portion of Emma Lane prior to this month's Knox Fiscal Court meeting at 12 p.m. on May 25.