Hello! I am Scott Alexander and I'd like to share with you a few highlights of my tenure in office as Perry County Judge Executive. Despite budget shortfalls, a devastating flood and lack of revenue from coal severance tax, I believe that we have still been able to accomplish a great deal in Perry County since 2015.
During my tenure, the Perry County Fiscal Court and the City of Hazard have been awarded over $100 million in grant funds! We did this by creating a grant department that is dedicated to searching out and actively pursuing grants for which we qualify. Each grant we receive must be used specifically following the guidelines of the grant. We have grants earmarked for much-needed improvements in our water and sewer systems, waste cleanups and recycling, homeland security, economic development, transportation alternatives and recreation. We continually seek to find even more resources we can tap into through grant funding.
One of my earliest goals was to clean up Perry County so that visitors and citizens alike could enjoy the beauty of our communities. Instead of an annual county-wide spring cleanup, we opened the Perry County Garage to weekday drop offs for waste items that are too large to be picked up on sanitation routes. Whether you live within the city limits or out in the county, by just providing proof of your paid garbage service, citizens can get rid of large trash items at their convenience and free of charge. We have also provided opportunities for citizens to get rid of electronic items and even hazardous waste.
Another area in which we have made tremendous strides in Perry County is recycling. Grant funding allowed us to purchase 31 mobile recycling units, 31 cardboard recyclers, 10 mesh trailers and also create a recycling center at the county garage. Through our recycling efforts, we are providing great benefits to Perry County. Not only does it save on landfill space but it also conserves our resources and saves energy. In general, it takes more energy to manufacture materials from raw resources than it does to use recycled products. Projects that make this kind of impact are the ones we need to be educating our community about and promoting in Perry County.
We've tried to add some sources of local entertainment and we've managed to keep them free or very inexpensive so the good people of Perry County don't have to leave home to find sources of family entertainment in these difficult economic times. We created a Perry County Fair in 2015; it’s an annual 3-day event that provides the citizens of Perry and surrounding counties the opportunity to see exciting exhibitions, attractions and major musical acts...and they are all free! In 2016, we paired with the city of Hazard to create “Christmas in a Small Town,” one of the largest winter events in Eastern Kentucky! In addition to the traditional Christmas parade, we added Christmas giving trees on Main Street and we even have an artificial ice rink! We've also made several improvements in the Perry County Park, including added safety features to slow the flow of traffic as well as handicap accessibility to the park's restroom and shelters. We recently completed a refurbishment project on the tennis courts--and we added pickleball lines to them as well. We now have around nine miles of beautiful trails for walking and biking above the park. We have worked to make improvements and upgrades at Eagles Landing in Buckhorn, as well as at the Hardburly and Leatherwood playgrounds. The North Fork of the Kentucky River provides opportunities for fishing, tubing, canoeing and kayaking. Brashearville, site of the annual Battle of Leatherwood, has made several recent additions to its settlement. Recently, Leatherwood Off-Road Park became Kentucky’s largest off-road park, with over 250 miles of trails traversing over 50,000 acres of land; it offers something for everyone…from the first-time rider to the experienced thrill-seeker. We truly believe that these attractions, among others, showcase the natural beauty of Perry County. Our goal is to not only enhance Perry County for its citizens but also to access the ever-growing markets of historical and adventure tourism.
One of the first major projects that came to fruition during my tenure was the addition of the Galen College of Nursing in Perry County. In just a little over a year, we were able to develop a plan, obtain funding through a grant and other sources, find a location, design and remodel the building and begin our first classes. To do that in such a short amount of time--going through all the red tape and the strict guidelines that must be followed--is an amazing accomplishment.
One more example of the progress we have made is visible in that we have been able to invest again in our volunteer fire departments. With the loss of coal severance funds, we had been unable to support them monetarily. In May 2016, I was privileged to present the first quarterly checks in the amount of $2,500 to each of our volunteer fire departments. Each department now receives $10,000 per year from the Perry County Fiscal Court. In addition, we just relocated our ambulance service to a new state-of-the-art facility. These are only two of the many ways that you can see your tax dollars at work in your own community, improving the capabilities of our county government to provide much needed services to our citizens.
My vision is focused on the future for Perry County and I am doing everything possible so that we are ready when we discover new opportunities. I am excited to explore new avenues that will provide incentives for our young people to stay in Perry County, making a commitment to raising their families here because they see the possibilities that we are creating for the next generation.
Even though it may seem like we have a long way to go, I assure you that we ARE making progress every day. Socrates said, “The secret to change is to focus all your energy, not on FIGHTING the old, but on BUILDING the new.” Just a LITTLE bit of progress every day adds up to BIG results. We may not be where we want to be yet, but we are closer than we were yesterday. I ask for your continued support and assistance in all these endeavors