PARIS, Ky. (LEX 18) — For years, people who live in Bourbon County have been working with Paris city leaders and others to make a difference in Paris' West Side Neighborhood. It's been known as this city's "trash dump" for decades.
Neighborhood association president Vanessa Logan says, "A lot of people have helped us. Like we had EHI Consultants come down and just go through the neighborhood and talk about what this neighborhood...and put together a plan of what this neighborhood can be."
City commissioner Sharon Fields says, "You know the West Side Association will have to continue the work whether whoever is sitting in the mayor's seat or the city commissioner's seat, it still needs to go forward."
Residents in the area say they can remember a time when there was great pride in this community. Now, they want to get back to that place.
Community leaders met at Logan's home and discussed how things were and the changes they'd like to see.
Right now, she’s living in her grandparents’ home. She tells me that in the 1960s, the decision was made to place a waste transfer station in this area. For years the impacts have lingered.
Logan explains what it’s like on Lilleston Avenue, "On this road is where a lot of debris would be falling off of trucks because it's not really tied down or anything like that."
Now, there's a nearly $7 million project in the works to rehab this area, including a $2 million grant from Kentucky. The Bourbon County Fiscal Court donated land for relocating this facility.
Paris city manager Jamie Miller says, "We're adding a recycling center. But it's really to make this community going further, something people can be proud of."
Vice Mayor Wallis Brooks says, "So hopefully, with them moving it, we can get the park to where kids can go there; we've got a lot here behind us that we can probably do something with."
Residents can remember when the park next to the facility was used to dump and burn trash. Now, the area will be tested for pollutants. This space is set to become a park. Logan wants to see this area completely transform into a community similar to the one she remembers growing up in.
Logan says, "Hope that this facility that we're standing in right now will become something that the neighbors and the City of Paris and Bourbon County can be proud of."
For more information on the project, you can check out the “Pathway to Progress” here.
