The Jessamine County Fiscal Court approved a bid for a parking lot extension at the Kendyl and Friends Playground at the City/County park which was agreed to, in principle, before the park was built earlier this year.
Three bids were placed, with STM being awarded the contract for $22,449.
A motion to accept the parking lot and trail extension for the county was made by Magistrate Kent Slusher and seconded by Gary Morgan last Tuesday. The motion passed with a unanimous vote from all fiscal court magistrates.
“This is not costing us anything. It is actually money that we generated and raised,” Magistrate Justin Ray said last Tuesday.
Ray said the project would consist of resurfacing and the trail from the existing playground gates
“The Kendyl and Friends Playground asked for a parking lot edition up there and we agreed in principle to this and I think that it is wise of us to put policy into place that any improvements be done at the fairgrounds or city/county park, since it is our property, be brought before us,” Judge-Executive David West said.
The playground is 100 percent ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible and includes a double bay wheelchair swing, an all accessible merry-go-round and different types of all-inclusive swings for those who are not in a wheelchair although require some support. The park started as a vision of the local All Abilities Drama Camp and was completed earlier this year after receiving a grant and several other donations from various donors.
“Before us is a sketch of the parking lot,” Ray said. “You can see the breakdown in the maps… (We are) simply asking for permission. Three bids were taken. The lowest bid was excepted. (We are) just waiting on permission from the fiscal court.”
Slusher asked if there would be future maintenance required.
“It would fall to the responsibility of the county, but they are actually resurfacing the top side too, so it will take several years, it is taking some of the responsibility away,” Ray said.
Magistrate Tim Vaughn asked if Parks and Rec would be responsible for the continued maintenance to the parking lot. Ray advised fiscal court would be responsible, as the park belongs to Jessamine County.
Jessamine County Fiscal Court donated the land with the Nicholasville City Commission 100 percent funding the playground in June of 2018. Currently, efforts are underway to raise funds for a splash pad which will be multi-use for everyone right next to the newly built park. The estimated cost for this project is $400,000.