Kara Oliver has lived in Scott County for her entire life. After Graduating from Scott County High School, Kara went to nursing school for a while until making her way back to Scott County to start working in the court house. She is now the Personnel Officer for Scott County Fiscal Court. She is in charge of payroll, retirement, benefits, sick and vacation time, and the wellness program for all county government employees. People are always coming in and out of her office to ask for help regarding their paychecks, benefits, or anything in between, and she always leads them to the right place with a smile. Kara enjoys her position because she gets to meet and talk with so many different people, and when she is not working, she enjoys spending time with her daughter.

Kara has always been a dedicated employee, but with all the recent changes with payroll and benefits, she has been working extra hard to make sure all employees are happy and accounted for.

What this means for Scott County

                The Legacy and Legends Scholarship applies to any graduate of Scott County High School or any resident who has lived in Scott County for over one year. It is a full tuition scholarship which only leaves a student to cover the costs of room, board, and any fees. This scholarship is the only scholarship that can be given by the college to a student, but the student can cover their additional costs with outside grants and scholarships that they may receive. The total cost of attendance for a year at Georgetown would be approximately $11,600 for a student receiving this scholarship making college highly affordable for eligible students. Each student still has to meet all the normal requirements for entrance into Georgetown, live on campus, and remain on good standing in their 4 years of enrollment. The money for this scholarship comes from the same place as all other scholarships: the generous gifts of donors and alumni.

                Scott County is not the only county receiving the Legacy and Legends Scholarship. Just this week, it was announced that Owen County will also be able to apply. There are actually four other counties that will be able to receive this full-tuition scholarship, but at the current time the other two counties cannot be disclosed. All four of the counties have a deep historical connection to the college. Scott County being the home of Georgetown for all these years, and Owen County for having a strong connection to the family of former President Mills. They decided on these four counties also due to financial reasoning. The goal was to reach students of counties who do not usually come to Georgetown. Dr. Jonathan Sands Wise, VP of Enrollment Management, says “It doesn’t help us to simply give a much bigger scholarship to students we were already getting. We need to get new students by doing this; that is how we help our current student body.” The current students enrolled at Georgetown that are from each of these counties will be receiving free housing equivalents to the dual occupancy standard housing cost once the scholarship is installed. Georgetown hopes that these students will see that this is a big scholarship coming their way that they had not originally planned on, and that they could not be grandfathered in because it would not help the current student body nearly as much due to real money that would be lost. Frustrations from these students are understood and recognized, and Georgetown hopes that this significant scholarship for them will help with potentially $15,000 being given to each county’s currently enrolled students.

The college had gone through a rough patch of declining growth in previous years, and they have now hit a point where growth is stable. They just enrolled the largest freshman class since 2011, but there is still major growth that needs to happen in order to develop Georgetown to the standard they wish to achieve. Sands Wise speaks on the necessity of this scholarship saying, “We need to grow to begin to do the other things we want to do and to begin living up to what student expect when they come here in terms of housing, food, class options and trip options, and that requires growth.” Sands Wise and the other members of the board project that they will have enough beds to house the immediate effects of the scholarship considering that the historic enrollment had been around 1300 students and currently there are just over 900. Long term, having new students coming to campus will allow the college to begin working on housing facilities that are shuttered, like Knight Hall, and potentially building new housing facilities. These options will be further discussed once the new students are enrolled.

                This scholarship came about with the new president of Georgetown College, Will Jones. He had experience with a scholarship like this with his previous college, Bethany. He came in with plans to implement the same thing for Georgetown. In one of the faculty’s earliest meetings with President Jones, he asked Dr. Sands Wise to begin crunching the numbers and seeing if it was a real possibility for the college. They had to calculate the current number of enrolled students from these counties, what kind of scholarships those students already receive, and what it would look like for the college if they did this.  They also had to make estimates of how many students it would bring in and what kind of reach they could get with counties and students that normally would not come to Georgetown. Efforts to communicate with the current students and their families are being discussed currently, and town hall meetings will be had in order to have their questions answered. Meeting times and sign ups will be announced this week.

“We really wanted to make sure that we did a program that was good for every student,” says Sands Wise, “We have been able to talk through what this would be able to do for all our students, and most of them are able to see ‘This is good for me too.’” Dr. Sands Wise and those developing the scholarship say that there will be major growth for the college allowing them to begin working on existing facilities immediately that need updates and renovations and give them the ability to control cost of attendance. Next year, they will be able to freeze tuition and keep it at the same rate for all returning students. There will be a fee applied to all students’ bills (even those receiving the scholarship) of $990 which is considerably less than they have raised tuition in recent years. Tuition for next year will not go up, but other costs will for every student. These costs will not increase more than they have historically, but it will increase by 2-3%. Without the influx of new students to Georgetown, tuition would have been raised, but thanks to this scholarship, tuition will stay the same. By bringing in these new students that would not have come to Georgetown in the first place, the college will actually be able to charge current students less. The goals of this scholarship are large, but the faculty behind these decisions are confident that they will be accomplished.

Scott County is getting into the Christmas spirit down on Main Street! Every year, a tree is donated to be displayed in downtown Georgetown and decorated for Christmas by several departments of the county. This year’s tree was donated by a citizen on Bunker Hill Drive and it is currently being assembled and decorated outside the court house. The Scott County Road Department, Georgetown Public Works, and Georgetown-Scott County Tourism Commission come together every year to put on an amazing Christmas tree display for citizens and visitors alike. This year, the Georgetown-Scott County Parks and Recreation also assisted with ornaments to be put onto the tree.

Kayla Moses is a Deputy Jailer for the Scott County Detention Center. She grew up in Scott County and went to SC High School before going off to Ohio where she studied and played basketball for the University of Dayton. After graduating, she came back to Scott County and has been here for 6 years working in the jail. She has several responsibilities as deputy jailer such as intake of inmates which includes fingerprinting, medical scanning, taking pictures, and making sure they do not have any sort of contraband on them. Once inmates are taken in by the jail, Moses ensures the safety and security of all inmates making sure there are no fights or unusual activity and by doing searches of the area for contraband.

The job can be dangerous, but Moses always stays on her toes and is prepared for anything that might come her way and says that she likes the unpredictability that comes with the job. She deals with so many inmates in a day and never knows what they could be thinking or feeling in that moment. Some might be combative while some might be very emotional and scared. She knows how to communicate with the different types of inmates saying, “you’ve got to give respect to get respect… it’s all about how you talk to people.” She says that some people just have a bad day, get caught up in the wrong things, and make mistakes, but that doesn’t mean they do not deserve the same respect or that they are all bad people.

Moses says that she has grown a thick skin working in her field, and she enjoys almost all aspects that come with the job. She works the 12 hour night shift most days of the week; 7pm-7am. The hours can be tough, but she still enjoys what she does in serving Scott County. She is excited for new challenges and goals she has set for herself and hopes to continue up the ladder in her field to possibly work in the Federal level.  

The final design process of the Weisenberger Mill Bridge has officially begun and the project team is moving forward with the single lane bridge alternative after 6 years of planning and preparation. Magistrate Chad Wallace has stood behind the citizens of his district (District 3) to work in voicing their concerns and developing their plans for this new bridge.
The delays were due to the federal funding process, environmental reports, and historical preservation. The purpose of the project is “to provide a safe structurally sound crossing on Weisenburger Mill Road over the South Fork of Elkorn Creek, while limiting impacts to the surrounding environment.” This project will also improve response times for emergency services for these citizens.
The new bridge parts were built in a factory in Chattanooga, TN and brought to Woodford to be assembled. The new bridge was moved into place this afternoon.

Scott County Fiscal Court is excited to see the effects this project will have in improving the quality of life for both Scott County and Woodford County Citizens.

Expanding Broadband Internet is an important issue for all citizens whether it is for farmers in our rural areas, students trying to submit homework, or anyone trying to do work from home. Adequate internet is important to our county, and the Scott County Fiscal Court is working to bring greater access to Broadband to a wider range of our community.

Judge Covington has made it a priority to meet with several Internet Service Providers over the past months trying to expand access to broadband in the rural parts of our county.

In 2007, the Green River Area Development District (GRADD) in Western KY formed a public private partnership with an Internet Service Provider (QWireless) and seven counties from the GRADD. The partnership was developed to provide high-speed internet to residents of the seven counties focusing on the rural areas in these counties. The project is now called ConnectGradd and covers some 2,660 square miles and has approximately 2000 subscribers.

Judge Covington initiated a meeting that was hosted on November 20^th with representatives from the GRADD and local elected officials from the BGADD. Jiten Shah of the GRADD shared their story of how they have expanded options for Broadband connectivity in their communities by using a Direct Wireless solution for providing connectivity. Direct Wireless uses existing structures (water tower, 911 radio towers and other existing infrastructure) to transmit a signal to provide broadband to the home.

Judge Covington has spearheaded the push with the BGADD to create a similar project in Central Ky and Scott County.

Leadership at the Bluegrass Area Development District intends to propose at the Dec. 18th Board meeting to advertise a Request for Information “RFI” from Broadband companies to propose plans to provide Broadband in the Rural areas of our BGADD counties.

Scott County residents can go to Frankfort to get the Real ID. 

Amber Hoffman is the Elections Coordinator for Scott County. She has lived here with her family for as long as she can remember and has called Scott County home her entire life. After high school, she applied to work in the County Clerk’s Office, and she has now worked in Scott County government for almost 18 years.

As Elections Coordinator, Hoffman oversees every election process each year. She supervises the voting department and voting registration making sure that all records are maintained and updated. A lot goes into the election process including absentee votes, evaluating and repairing any voting materials, and supplying all 46 Scott County precincts with the supplies and staff that is needed for election day. The months leading up to an election are used for making sure voters are registered and for state board elections to prepare each county for any rosters or reports they need. Hoffman’s goal for every election is to ensure that the election day runs smoothly and everyone is able to have a quality voting experience.

These elections happen only twice a year but require the entire six months ahead of time to plan and prepare. As soon as one election is completed, Hoffman begins preparations for the next. She says that holding this position means a lot to her since voting is such an important factor in our country’s values. Though it can be stressful at times, it is all worth it for her in the end. She says, “When you get through an election day, and it was successful, and everything was ran smooth, and even when there are a few bumps… it just makes you feel good to be a part of that process.”

Though this recent election just passed, Hoffman has already begun the planning process for May 2020 elections.

This week’s employee highlight is Sheriff’s Deputy Jon Wilson. Wilson moved to Scott County in January of 2018 and is coming up on his 2-year anniversary of being a Scott County Deputy. He had always been interested in working in law enforcement and says that he has wanted to be a police officer for as long as he can remember. Since the law required officers to be 21 years old, Wilson decided to enlist in the military as a police officer so that he could begin his law enforcement career earlier. He now serves the Scott County area as deputy by responding to both emergency and non-emergency calls and transporting prisoners to the Scott County Judicial Center. He also enjoys doing traffic control for the schools in the mornings.
Wilson was nominated by Sheriff Tony Hampton for always doing his job with excellence and integrity. Hampton says that Wilson is always smiling when he is both on and off duty, and everyone loves having him around to bring even more smiles to coworkers and citizens alike. Wilson’s goals for his position are to continue to work hard and prove himself to citizens as a leader and protector. Eventually, he would like to become a supervisor for the department by continuing to serve as best as he can in every new position he is put in. He says that it is an honor and a privilege to serve Scott County, and it means everything to him to be able to do so. Wilson says that serving as deputy for our county “…gives [him] purpose and a reason to get up every morning. There is nothing else [he] would rather do.”

Zack Anderson has lived in Scott County his entire life. He is married, has one 8 month old daughter, and three dogs. He decided to become a firefighter because he grew up watching his dad work in the field and thought it would be a perfect career path for him as well. Zack Anderson now works for the Scott County Fire department and has recently been awarded the Scott County Fire Department’s Meritorious Service Commendation to recognize his actions on January 22nd, 2018.
Early in the morning that day, Mr. Don Dyer and his Labrador were near a pond that had frozen over with ice. When the dog tried to walk to the middle of the pond, he fell through. Mr. Dyer tried to save him by grabbing a boat and an axe to reach his pet. When the firefighters got there, Dyer was still in the boat trying to save the dog contrary to the orders given by the firefighters to turn back. Once one firefighter made it into the water, Mr. Dyer’s boat sank putting him into the frigid water. Anderson then entered the water and broke through the ice with his arm all the way to Mr. Dyer. He got to Dyer and was pulled back in by the other men. After saving Mr. Dyer, the dog was then rescued by Anderson and another firefighter using an inflatable boat, bringing the dog safely back to his owner.
Chief Mike Fuller commends Anderson’s actions by saying that he “…upheld the highest standards of the fire service exhibiting great personal courage and resolve…” The Scott County Fire Department’s Meritorious Service Commendation recognizes firefighters that go above and beyond his or her duties in life threatening situations to save lives. That is exactly what Zack Anderson did that day. He says that firefighters train a lot; about 80% of the job is training. To fulfill a duty that they train so extensively for means everything to him. He had problems accepting the award at first because he felt that he was just fulfilling his duty as a firefighter. He appreciates the award and the acknowledgement from Chief Fuller, but he says that any firefighter on or off the truck that day would have done exactly what he did because that is what they train for every day. He says that he could not have done it without the other men on the scene, and the Scott County Fire Department deserves all the recognition and gratitude for the great people he gets to work with.
Thank you to Zack Anderson and the entire Scott County Fire Department for what you do every day for your citizens.