Lawrence County, Kentucky

LAWRENCE COUNTY , KENTUCKY them.” Industrial parks are another area Lawrence County is improving. Kentucky Power Company, a subsidiary of American Electric Power (AEP), is currently developing the area around the Big Sandy Power Plant. A lot of clean-up and testing had to be done, but that’s mostly completed. “There is also EastPark, an industrial park company,” says Jobe. “It encompasses multiple counties, five different code regions, and provides land for developing small businesses or large industries. Just last summer, EastPark was awarded $4 million dollars to make improvements to its industrial park just west of Ashland, approximately 40 miles north in Boyd County. There is even a $1.7 billion aluminum mill proposed, which we hope will be fruitful for Lawrence County.” Ongoing projects are essential especially in terms of infrastructure. According to Slone, “We’re about two to three weeks from completion on a large sewer project. They are putting down asphalt now. We basically installed new sewer and new storm drains in a mostly residential section. It involved many households and cost about $4 million dollars. The project reduced the amount of storm water going to the Louisa Wastewater Treatment Plant. It is older and needs to be replaced. But before we replace it, we want to get the storm water out of the system. Then we don’t have to build a plant big enough to treat water that doesn’t need to be treated.” The City of Louisa is also increasing the walkability of the community. A recently conducted survey showed it was an important concern for residents. Louisa’s Riverwalk is one project that will certainly improve this. Although still underway, once finished it will consist of walking trails along the Big Sandy River, an amphitheater, and even zip lines. Next on the agenda is improving bike access. Slone says that they have looked into it, but the county lacks the street space to accommodate bike lanes. So, they are now looking at alternative sources. He gives the example of the upcoming overhaul of Louisa’s main area of Madison Street. Since it is a state road, the state is preparing to completely redesign the traffic flow, which includes bike access. Engineers are taking into account how the street can be more bike friendly, which will be a vast improvement to the downtown core. That project is slated to begin this summer. In terms of recreation, the county isn’t short on magnificent outdoor spaces. There is the stunning Yatesville Lake State Park, which is home to the Yatesville Lake, Yatesville Lake State Campgound, and the Yatesville Lake Golf Course. There are also many trails to choose from, including the Mary Ingle Trail and the Pleasant Ridge Trail System. Lawrence County is only about 62 miles from the famous Hatfield- McCoy Trails in West Virginia – highly regarded as trail systems for off-highway vehicles. The county even has a new business renting side-