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John Preece Park will be getting some new amenities in the near future.

The Jessamine County Fiscal Court voted to create a master plan for the park at its meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 5.

The Court voted to accept a proposal to hire CNW Engineers and Landscape Architects to build up the park’s amenities.

 In May, after installing turf donated by the New Orleans Saints, the Fiscal Court announced that the first phase of the improvements to the park had been completed. 

The Court’s partnership with CNW Engineers and Landscape Architects marks the beginning of the second phase.

Jessamine County Judge-Executive David West said the Court will add amenities like bathrooms (an improvement from the porta-potties on site), concessions and adequate parking. T

This phase will also include grading some of the sports fields to prevent flooding of the fields after light rain, which sometimes leads to game cancellations. 

In addition to the aforementioned amenities, West said the Court would like to incorporate a walking path into the park, allowing family members to stroll while their children play or practice sports or to use passively.

“One of the fundamentals of a healthy society is being able to safely bike, safely walk, safely jog, so it’s exciting,” West said. 

This is one of many walking paths the county is funding. 

The Journal previously reported about the planned 10-foot-wide shared-use path that will be built in the county from U.S. 68 to KY 2827. 

The city of Nicholasville and the Fiscal Court are equal partners on the project. 

“It’s something we’re looking forward to,” West said

Website update

During the meeting, the Court voted to update the county’s website: www.jessamineco.com

A county employee team was chosen to select a company to get the job done. 

The team includes county administrator Kelly Woolums Morris, planning and zoning director Jeremy Young, human resources director Todd Chapman, 911 director Chris Bowman and IT Director Don Rehmel. 

West said that the hope is to give the website a fresh coat of digital paint and that the process is in its nascent stages.

“We’re really just getting ready to update our website, and I put several of our employees on it to be able to say what their department needs are. It’s basically a fresh up on our website to bring it more up to date,” he said.

Fire district tax rate

The Court voted to accept a new fire district tax rate of .056 cents per $100 evaluation.

The rate is down from last year. 

This tax rate paid by county residents directly funds the Jessamine County Fire District services.