By: Charles Romans
Carter County Times
The Olive Hill Tourism Commission has set their budget and city council has approved it. Jeremy Rayburn, chair of the commission, reported to the Olive Hill City Council at their last regular meeting (August 19) that the commission had approved their budget for the upcoming fiscal year, and the Olive Hill City Council voted to accept that budget.
The city also had the second reading of the city ordinance governing the operation of special use vehicles on city streets and voted to pass that ordinance. KRS (Kentucky Revised Statutes) 186.077, related to “street-legal special purpose vehicles,” or SPVs, passed June 27, 2025, but each county and city in the Commonwealth is required to adopt an ordinance governing their operation as well. The ordinance adopted by the city of Olive Hill is based upon the KRS statue, which can be found by searching the statute number on the general assembly website at https://legislature.ky.gov.
The special use vehicles must comply with all regulations for any other motor vehicle operated on city streets, and violations are subject to fines. Special purpose vehicles are prohibited on controlled access highways such as interstates. Operators must hold a valid driver’s license, and all special purpose vehicles must display a valid license plate. The use of Department of Transportation approved head protection, or a helmet, is encouraged but not required in vehicles equipped with roll cages or roll bars. Violations of these laws will incur fines beginning at $50 for the first offense and $100 for subsequent offenses, plus court costs.
The ordinance was voted on and approved by the city council.
Jennifer Meade also spoke to the city council about brownfield properties. Meade, who is a grants consultant for the city, said that she spent the week before last in Chicago at a conference on brownfield grants. Meade said she had spoken with an expert from Louisville who was going to be working with the city on brownfield property assessment.
“As we go further along in that process, I’ll be bringing to you potential project ideas,” Meade said. “Right now, we are just hammering out some details, but I will keep you updated on that.”
Councilman Eric Rayburn asked questions about the brownfield grants.
“Are there areas that have already been deemed brownfields, and are you trying to add to that?” Rayburn asked Meade.
“The assessment grant is where you do that assessment,” Meade answered. “But there are areas by their very definition that are considered brown fields.”
Meade said that one determination is what businesses have been on a property, such as the old brick yard in Olive Hill. Such properties have not been officially deemed as such by the organization that determines what is and is not a brownfield property, but Meade said that once assessed it would be.
“The phase one and two assessments are first,” Meade said. “That is where you do any testing that might need to be done, though testing does not always need to be done. You document the businesses that have been there, and that’s when they come in with their own specialists.”
Rayburn voiced a concern that once an area was deemed a brownfield it might be difficult to have that designation removed.
“For instance, if something was added to the brownfield, then it is going to bring the property value down?” he asked. “And it will also bring the value down for surrounding properties?”
“No, because part of the reason for getting a brownfield grant is the remediation,” Meade answered. “It would include cleaning up whatever is there. There could be contaminants where you would have to go deep in the soil to remove it, but if that isn’t present there would be no need for remediation.”
Meade pointed out that there was nothing stopping anyone from building in downtown Olive Hill. She did point out, however, that brownfield grants could potentially provide federal funds that could serve as an incentive to attract developers.
Brownfield grants cannot be applied to property that is already owned by the city, Meade pointed out. The property in question would need to be assessed and purchased as a brownfield property, then be remediated. Should a potential property be assessed and the city chose not to buy it, the current owner would bear no responsibility for remediation, barring any existing violations.
In other business, the city voted to adopt Ordinance 2026-1 to authorize the mayor (and successors to that title) as official project representative of a Kentucky Water and Waste Water Assistance for Troubled or Economically Restrained Systems Program Project. The city also adopted Ordinance 2026-2 to enter into an agreement with Tania’s Journey to Healing Treatment Facility to allow participants to perform community work for the city.
The city council also voted to make KYMEA the city’s exclusive supplier of electricity, effective immediately. KYMEA, the Kentucky Municipal Energy Agency, is a joint public agency that, according to their website, was “formed to facilitate effective collaboration among its members to do all things necessary or convenient to serve the current and future electric power and energy requirements of the members and to provide assistance to the members related to their electric power and energy utility systems.”
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
