Harrison, White provide updates on W’burg, Whitley Co. at chamber luncheon

Williamsburg Mayor Roddy Harrison and Whitley County Judge Executive Pat White Jr. served as the guest speakers at Tuesday’s Southern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce meeting at the Williamsburg Tourism and Convention Center.

Williamsburg Mayor Roddy Harrison addressed the Southern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Tuesday about delays for the expansion of the Kentucky Splash waterpark and the Cumberland Mint project Tuesday.

Harrison updated chamber members on several of the major construction projects in Williamsburg including the Cumberland Mint building and the Kentucky Splash Waterpark expansion.

Despite weather slightly delaying the construction process, the Cumberland Mint is expected to be complete in late summer or early fall this year.

The site will create anywhere from 100 to 150 jobs.

Those positions added to the 250 new jobs expected to be created as a result of the Firestone expansion and other companies, such as Teleworks, who want to remain in the area, will create approximately 500 new jobs in the area over the next several years.

Predicting the incoming onslaught of job openings, Harrison said, “I have reached out to schools and organizations to try to stay a little bit ahead of it.”

Harrison said with the new jobs, individuals graduating from high school or local educational institutions do not have to leave in order to find well-paying jobs.

As for the waterpark, the expansion has been slowed down due to an increased price tag on the project.

“I think what we are going to do is put the brakes on a little bit, sit on that money, rebid it later, pray that things come down, and maybe piece it together a little bit. I don’t want to stick anything out there that doesn’t do the waterpark justice,” said Harrison.

The originally estimated $7 million project would currently cost approximately $14 million to complete in its entirety.

The renovation to the kiddie park will continue since the supplies have already been purchased.

Harrison also discussed the growth of downtown Williamsburg including several new eateries and events in the works for 2022.

Events like Art on the Lawn, a karaoke night, Cumberland Cruise-ins and more events are planned for this year in downtown. The first annual grilling smoke-off will kick off the first Cumberland Cruise-in this year in May.

Whitley County Judge-Executive Pat White Jr. spoke about the need to expand broadband Internet access to rural parts of the county and various other projects during an address to the Southern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Tuesday.

White followed up with a discussion regarding the new transfer station’s dumping program.

Whitley County Sanitation users are able to dump large items for free while non sanitation users can dump items for a fee. The new dumping program allows individuals to discard items locally rather than travelling to London.

White said numerous road work projects are underway including HWY 92W which is supposed to be complete this year.

The construction is expected to open Exit 11 as a through exit rather than just a destination exit. White said some speculate that it will actually be faster for freight travelling to Nashville to take HWY 92W rather than attempting to use I-75.

White said the increased traffic may also lead to more business opportunities in the western portion of Whitley County.

In addition to road work, White said he has been in discussions with Spectrum in an attempt to help get rural areas of Whitley County access to internet.

White said that the biggest issue is Spectrum uses federal data to determine where the service is located in the county, but the data does not always accurately reflect which areas have service.

After meeting with Spectrum, White was given information about a company in Maryland that could assist with conducting an internet survey. This would allow the companies and city to identify more precisely which areas had access to service.

That company is expected to send a quote this week.

The April chamber luncheon is expected to be hosted at the Corbin Center. Eastern Kentucky University President Dr. David McFaddin is expected to be the guest speaker.