BY FIONA MORGAN

fiona@amnews.com

The Boyle County Fiscal Court heard a report from Heart of Kentucky Kids at their meeting on Tuesday.

Heart of Kentucky Kids representatives explained what the organization is, and talked about two projects they’ve helped with, including a new camp for kids.

Heart of Kentucky Kids is a collaborative of people interested in helping support early childhood development and kindergarten readiness. It serves Boyle and Mercer counties and is funded by the governor’s office of early childhood.

Erin Lindon, a local speech pathologist, talked about their first annual Ready 4 K camp. The camp, made possible through Heart of Kentucky Kids, gets Mercer and Boyle county kids ready for kindergarten. The camp has 100 spots, and currently they have 67 signed up.

The camp is from 9 a.m. to noon from July 24-27 at Hogsett School. It will include two free meals per day.

Lindon said the camp is bringing stakeholders together, like the Art Center, the Boyle and Mercer libraries, Parks and Rec, Wilderness Yoga Shala, Kids Can Do Pediatric Center, and local schools. She said they are in need of more volunteers.

Chelsea Clark, preschool director and elementary school director for Boyle County Schools, explained that Heart of Kentucky Kids helped start the process of getting a childcare center in the Jennie Rogers Community Center, which is a collaboration project between the City of Danville and Boyle County Schools. The childcare center will fulfill a huge need in the area and is expected to open within six months.

“We’re really about building relationships and making connections, and then those connections and relationships become the foundation for projects like this,” Clark said.

Ambulance

The court passed a motion to donate a surplus 2012 Chevrolet EC3 diesel ambulance to the BCTC Danville campus for its EMS program.

EMS Director Mike Rogers explained that BCTC sent a letter requesting them to donate two old ambulances that were declared surplus, but said that the 2012 ambulance would likely fit the school’s needs better.

Magistrates asked what the old ambulance would be worth to sell. Rogers said that a brand new ambulance would cost $250,000, but their old 2012 ambulance has 180,000 miles, and would likely sell for around $5,000.

Magistrate Tom Ellis said the county is always tight on funds and could use any money from selling the ambulance. He requested that they wait until the next court meeting to take a vote on donating the ambulance, so Rogers could find out if the ambulance could be sold for much more than $5,000. However, the rest of the court voted at the meeting to donate the ambulance, with Ellis voting no.

“BCTC is doing an EMT training program out there for us, as part of our trying to draw EMTs to Boyle County, and I think it would be a goodwill effort for us to donate it,” Judge-Executive Trille Bottom said.

The ambulance will be used in training EMTs on working in an ambulance, and the vehicle will be repainted saying “Donated by Boyle County EMS.” BCTC will bring the ambulance to recruiting events around the state.

In other business, the court:

• Heard an update on Parks and Rec operations by Mark Morgan with the Parks and Rec committee. They gave a report on what they’ve been doing in the recent months and years since Covid; for example they have a new equity committee that addresses the needs of teenagers in the community.

To hear the full report, go to the July 11 Fiscal Court meeting video on the Boyle County Fiscal Court YouTube page. The Parks and Rec committee meets on the third Wednesday of every month at 4:30 p.m. at Danville City Hall.

• Approved a quote of $39,180 from Smith Garage for a tire balancer and changer. Fleet Management Director Tommy Robertson said this purchase will save the county lots of money from having to outsource ambulance tire repairs.

• The county’s email system recently moved from .com addresses to .gov. Everyone who works for the county and in the courthouse is now receiving emails at .gov addresses, instead of .com email addresses.

• Made a motion to consider a request from the CVB board that the city and county assist with identifying, cleaning up and repairing stone fences. A conservation project of local stone fences may happen with assistance from the Kentucky Transportation cabinet. The request included no monetary value at this time.

• Recognized county employee Jennifer Abrams for 30 years of service,

• Recognized county employee Colin Shepperson for five years of service.

• Passed the second reading of a zone change for 1765 Bonta Lane near Junction City. The property is 1.7 acres and will be changed from agricultural to single family residential.