By: Charles Romans
Carter County Times
The Olive Hill Tourism Commission met last week for their first meeting of 2026. In the public comment portion of the meeting, the commission heard about Earthscape playground equipment for the city playground, but will wait until different options and the price of the equipment could be determined before committing to a vote. It was suggested that the new equipment would be compatible with the current improvements being made by the Trail Town organization in the Olive Hill area and enhance tourism.
Tourism President Jeremy Rayburn said that updating the playground would be desirable for the city, and cited recent upgrades at Carter Caves Park as enhancing the overall experience for visitors there. “We do need an overall blueprint for what we hope to accomplish,” Rayburn said. “And we need to determine what stages we are going to follow with the projects.”
The tourism commission has several projects that are currently pending, and commission member Brittany Rayburn pointed out that several local contractors have already committed to donating labor for the projects. The commission will be responsible for the cost of materials, or in the case of Earthscape they would be responsible for the entire cost of the project should they vote to move forward on that, but the donation of man hours in the form of labor from professional contractors will allow the commission to do more.
The commission has an annual budget, but they hope to augment that budget through grants. There are multiple grants for which they are able to apply on both the state and federal level, many of which are more closely tailored to tourism.
The commission also discussed old business, specifically the signage travelers would see as they come into Olive Hill. The signage is currently in the design phase by Signs Plus in Nicholasville, Kentucky, but a completed representation is expected to be presented to the commission for approval in January and could be voted on at the regularly scheduled February meeting. The dimension of the new sign is four feet by eight feet, with an option to increase the size. The company has agreed to install additional signs if needed or desired.
The commission was made aware that they have paid Trail Town $17,895.25 of their agreed upon funds match on the Depot improvement, with the remaining balance of the funds match expected to be around $5,000.
Potted spring flowers were also discussed by the commission. The last quote received was for installing baskets and flowers, watering three times per week, then removing them in the fall and installing fall flowers, and was submitted at $27,375. There was discussion about whether flowers should be addressed before certain repairs and cleanup were completed in the downtown area, as well as discussion of whether hanging baskets would be preferrable to ground standing planters. Pending further investigation, no vote was taken to approve the bid.
The commission also heard information about the Google site for the City of Olive Hill. Changes and updates were discussed with the commission intending to make their forms available on that site and make it easier to apply to the tourism commission for funding. The cost of subscription for that site for the 2026 year is $15.98, and the commission voted to approve the subscription.
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
