Project Manager

LIBERTY - Members of the public will have a chance March 12 to voice their concerns for improvements to Ky. 1649-Dry Ridge Road when the state Department of Highways holds an information meeting. Greg Eastham, project manager at the district office in Somerset, said the proposed improvement will extend one mile southeast on Ky. 1649 beginning at the junction of Ky. 70 East. The proposed project will correct steep slopes and adverse curves along Ky. 1649, Eastham said. The state wants to make the road safer to travelers, said Eastham.

HARRODSBURG - Virginia Flanagan has been named project manager for the Kentucky Agriculture Heritage Center. The announcement came through Bruce Harper, the project's executive director whose last day on the job is today. The center will be built on property on the east side of U.S. 127 North at the intersection with Mundays Landing Road. The land was donated to the project by industrialist, philanthropist and Mercer County native Ralph Anderson. It was part of and now is adjacent to Anderson Circle Farm.

The Winchester-Clark County Parks and Recreation Board decided against changing its original structural plans for the pool project during its monthly meeting Monday night at College Park Library. Kenny Davis of Codell Construction and on-site project manager, presented the board with two updated structural options. One of the proposals featured a pre-engineered option that would have resembled a metal building, mixed with a flavor of the original design. The board selected the original facade, which will blend in with the current structure at College Park.

For years it’s been known as a Day of Caring, but while the name has changed to a Day of Action and the date switched from September to June, the results are the same; many deserving individuals and groups got help from their community on a wide range of projects from gardening to painting. This year, almost 500 volunteers in Boyle, Mercer, Garrard and Lincoln counties spread out early Wednesday morning to do good after a quick breakfast of donuts and coffee, and in Lincoln County, the workers got some last minute marching orders from Lincoln County Coordinator Ruth Smith.

Dodge-McGirr Kayla, Kelsey and Kasey McGirr announce the engagement of their father, Randale Wayne McGirr of Hustonville, to Stacey Jo Dodge of Hustonville. Dodge is the daughter of Buck and Betty Lou Dodge of Spencer, N.Y. She is a graduate of Candor High School in Candor, N.Y., and an office manager of Credit Corp. of Kentucky in Danville. McGirr is the son of Vivian McGirr of Hustonville and Johnny McGirr of Hartford. He is a graduate of Lincoln County High School and an employee of Master Seal in Junction City.

LANCASTER - Two significant road construction projects that should help people driving through Garrard, Lincoln and Madison counties may break ground in the next several years. Garrard Judge-Executive John Wilson recently met with state transportation officials to discuss the widening of portions of U.S. 27 and Ky. 52, he said during a special Garrard Fiscal Court session Friday. Earlier this year, officials completed the widening of part of U.S. 27 in northern Garrard County.

The Jessamine County Board of Education chose a familiar face Monday night as the architect for an upcoming renovation to Warner Elementary School. The board heard presentations from two firms, Tate Hill Jacobs and Murphy + Graves, at a work session April 8. Chief operating officer Jimmy Adams told the board at its May work session that the administration would be recommending Tate Hill Jacobs because of architect Margie Jacobs' familiarity with the school and her history with the district.

LIBERTY - Three alternate corridors for the $3.7 million Ky. 1649 (Dry Ridge Road) reconstruction project were viewed Monday by more than 50 people at Central Kentucky Ag/Expo Center. Representatives from the state Transportation Cabinet Department of Highways District 8 office in Somerset were on hand to explain the proposed routes along Ky. 1649, which has a steep hill and curve. The current road that is considered a hazard to motorists runs from Ky. 70 to Bowman Trail and is almost exclusively residential, according to Greg Eastham, project manager.

At a meeting last week, transportation officials said the widening of U.S. 68 is scheduled to begin next year. Keith Caudill, project manager for the state Department of Highways, oversaw the meeting held at West Jessamine Middle School last Thursday. Caudill did not give a formal presentation, but rather, brought maps of the area to be widened, which is a six-mile stretch beginning at Southland Christian Church and extending almost to the 'Y' intersection in Wilmore. The maps showed the right-of-ways that the construction will encompass, and how much it will cut into the property lines of residents living along that route.

HARRODSBURG - The panel charged with overseeing the Mercer judicial center's progress is pushing to make deadlines set out by the architectural firm the committee hired to advance the project. Dennis Arthur and Bill Pickering, of CMW Inc., project manager for the project, discussed the time line for getting the Mercer County Judicial Center completed at the regular meeting of the Project Development Committee on Monday morning. Completion of the center, according to CMW's guidelines, is set for late 2010 or early 2011.