By: Charles Romans
Carter County Times
The Olive Hill City Council had to reschedule their regularly monthly meeting for May, ultimately meeting on May 27. One of the first orders of business in the meeting was the swearing in of the members who will serve on the newly established Olive Hill Tourism Board. Those members are Jeremy Rayburn, Brittany Rayburn, Lisa Burton, Carolyn Callihan, Sue Wilburn, Robyn Adkins, and Kristen Bledsoe. After being sworn in, the city council wasted no time proposing ideas for the tourism board to consider.
Tourism boards are established to make use of the tourism tax the state allows cities to collect on restaurant purchases and hotel bills. The boards are required to use those funds to attract visitors to the cities or counties they represent. They also become part of the overall goal of a city or county to encourage businesses to relocate to their area and generally promote the growth of their region. Two of the ideas presented to the newly established board included hanging flowers on Olive Hill streets, and possible replacement of the poles supporting the Veterans Flags displayed in the city.
Olive Hill Mayor Jerry Callihan suggested that new light poles should take precedence considering that the poles could then also be used to support the flowers and flags. Bids for the flowers were $27,000 and $12,000, Callihan said at the meeting. The bid included the placement of flowers on 19 street light poles, and the difference in pricing represented whether watering and maintaining the flowers was done by the company providing them or by city employees.
There has been no regularly scheduled meeting time set for the new tourism board at this time, though it was discussed that the board would meet one hour prior to the council on the same day as the regularly scheduled city council meetings. Once the new board has time to establish times and dates, those meetings will be open to the public (with the exception of when and if executive sessions are required) and be advertised 24 hours in advance.
The city council also held the first reading of their annual budget. In the budget, municipal road aid carried forward was recorded at $70,195, and the license and permits general fund was $1,020,860. License and permits made up $13,000, interest on the general fund was $160, and Rental and Lease was $45,000. Other revenue listed was from the General Fund $33,400, with total revenue for the General Fund $1,112,620. Appropriations through administration and finance was $215,000, Fire $240,000, Police $550,000, Street $60,000, Recreation $15,620, and Public Library $27,000. Utility Fund Fines and Forfeitures were $2,500, and services were $4,270,760 with interest of $15,000. Total revenue in the budget is $4,288,264. The effective date for the official budget was set at July 1, 2025.
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
