By Charles Romans
Carter County Times
The Olive Hill City Council held their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, April 16. Mayor Jerry Callihan told the council that the water plant was progressing well, and the telemetry was nearly finished. He also told the council that he was in the process of having two motors rebuilt, and everything was coming together. During the open discussion portion of the agenda council heard from Max Hammond about new bike trails being funded through grants from the International Mountain Biking Association.
Hammond said that Trail Town had been working hard on the project for a couple of years.
“We were one of ten communities selected nationwide for this particular grant,” Hammond told the council, and presented them with a packet of supporting information.
The grant in question was the Trail Accelerator Grant from The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) in the amount of $122,500 to help bring more trails close to home in Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Grant recipients must show a strong partnership with local leaders, government entities, land managers, property owners, community groups, and mountain bike or trail organizations.
Hammond said the project had begun in 2023 but had been slowed due to restrictions on the land that have since changed. Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund (KHLCF), who oversees some of the land in question Hammond said, had restrictions that it can only to be used for research and education. The Trail Town organization had successfully petitioned several years prior to allow horseback riding on the land, but there was never any use for mountain bikes allowed.
While they’ve traditionally being against the use of mountain bikes on such land, a petition was successful in getting the KHLCF to agree to allow the use of mountain bikes.
The condition for allowing this type of use was a written agreement to maintain such trails regularly and keep them clean.
The project, which directly effects Olive Hill, is the Fire Brick Lake Family Rec Park. The project will bring natural surface trails to the town, which will serve as a model community along the Warrior’s Path, a 12,000-year-old track that Native Americans used for commerce and communication. Such projects will increase recreation and boost economies in all the small mountain towns it touches, Hammond said.
“The Kentucky Interscholastic Cycling League met with us here and told us they believe Olive Hill could become a premiere cycling destination. They are considering coaching a team here as well,” Hammond told the council.
Groups such as this promote tourism, and based upon his collected research, events draw in 182 families on average per weekend of those events.
As part of finalizing the plans, Hammond said that the City of Olive Hill would need to adopt a resolution showing their support. The council approved a resolution, and there will be a public Hearing on April 27, 11 am, at the Olive Hill Depot to give residents an opportunity to show up and voice their approval or opposition. Hammond said he hopes as many residents as possible show up to learn about how this project will impact and improve the Olive Hill community.
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
