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Robertson County going through rough patch with enhanced 911
By WENDY MITCHELL Staff Writer
MOUNT OLIVET -- Over the past few days, residents of Robertson County received a letter announcing a change of address for every property, to accommodate enhanced 911 emergency dispatch requirements.
The postmaster has been fielding a litany of comments.
"It has not been well accepted," said Mary LaMonda, Mount Olivet postmistress. "Most of it is because they don't understand the need for the changes and others are upset because they have had the same number for years and years and don't want to change."
Announcing the changes of street names and longer enumeration was at the hand of Buffalo Trace Area Development District which sent the letters on behalf of Robertson County Fiscal Court; it approved the names with BTADD assistance, said Bradley Gifford, Robertson County judge-executive.
"We have gotten a lot of calls today, but most of them are just confused about the road names," said Gifford, "The intention is to make the system easier on emergency responders. Once it is completed, I think it will work fine."
Some residents only had to worry about changing to a new number while others had entire road names changed.
"I don't know how they came up with the road names," said LaMonda. "We are making changes in accordance with what they (BTADD) gave us."
The "route number system" has been abolished so some roads now have multiple names, depending on which direction they are located from Mount Olivet, the county seat.
Residents on Kentucky 165 from Mount Olivet toward Bracken County now live on Oakland Road, while those in the southern end of the road live on Blue Licks Pike. This particular identification questioned, because nearby Kentucky 1029, past Johnson Creek Covered Bridge is now Blue Licks Road, a throw back to its roots as part of the original Blue Licks Road of the past century.
"It's crazy," said John Clark, who lives on the road. "All of those who voted this in ... if it wasn't so close to election day ... they'd get voted out for this."
Clark not only has to contend with a change of address on personal contacts, but an additional expense of changing about 4,000 labels he has used to identify his honey products.
The expense of changing everything from utility bills to driver licenses adds up, said Clark.
"Just the postage to send out the change of address cards to everyone I need to notify costs quite a bit," said Clark.
The changes are the talk of the neighborhood.
"My neighbor is furious." said Clark.
Some of Kentucky 1029 will also be called Burika Road, after the former hamlet at the intersection of Mount Pleasant and Kentucky 1029.
Avoiding having a road name that included a number, such as U.S. 62 East, now named Sardis Road, in addition to a three or four digit identifying number was to cut down on confusion for a 911 operator, said Laura Jefferson, project coordinator from BTADD.
"Naming the roads was the decision of the fiscal court," said Jefferson.
There is a reason for the number assigned to each property, said Jefferson.
"For example, a house with number 3434 would indicate the property is 3.434 miles from the closest intersection of the adjoining main road near Mount Olivet," said Jefferson.
While the system may be aggravating at first, the timing of the implementation of changes does give those who send out Christmas cards a chance to get the word out about the address change to friends and family, while still receiving mail from those who have not been alerted to the change. Residents have 12 months to complete the changes and place the numbers on their property where they can be see.
"I thought about painting the old address on the barn in giant letters so customers with the old labels will know where to find me," said Clark.
The ultimate goal is to get emergency help to a location as quickly as possible, said Jefferson.
"If it saves a life, it is worth it," she said.
For more area news, go to www.bracken-online.com
Contact Wendy Mitchell at wendy.mitchell@lee.net or call 564-9091, ext. 276.
The postmaster has been fielding a litany of comments.
"It has not been well accepted," said Mary LaMonda, Mount Olivet postmistress. "Most of it is because they don't understand the need for the changes and others are upset because they have had the same number for years and years and don't want to change."
Announcing the changes of street names and longer enumeration was at the hand of Buffalo Trace Area Development District which sent the letters on behalf of Robertson County Fiscal Court; it approved the names with BTADD assistance, said Bradley Gifford, Robertson County judge-executive.
"We have gotten a lot of calls today, but most of them are just confused about the road names," said Gifford, "The intention is to make the system easier on emergency responders. Once it is completed, I think it will work fine."
Some residents only had to worry about changing to a new number while others had entire road names changed.
"I don't know how they came up with the road names," said LaMonda. "We are making changes in accordance with what they (BTADD) gave us."
The "route number system" has been abolished so some roads now have multiple names, depending on which direction they are located from Mount Olivet, the county seat.
Residents on Kentucky 165 from Mount Olivet toward Bracken County now live on Oakland Road, while those in the southern end of the road live on Blue Licks Pike. This particular identification questioned, because nearby Kentucky 1029, past Johnson Creek Covered Bridge is now Blue Licks Road, a throw back to its roots as part of the original Blue Licks Road of the past century.
"It's crazy," said John Clark, who lives on the road. "All of those who voted this in ... if it wasn't so close to election day ... they'd get voted out for this."
Clark not only has to contend with a change of address on personal contacts, but an additional expense of changing about 4,000 labels he has used to identify his honey products.
The expense of changing everything from utility bills to driver licenses adds up, said Clark.
"Just the postage to send out the change of address cards to everyone I need to notify costs quite a bit," said Clark.
The changes are the talk of the neighborhood.
"My neighbor is furious." said Clark.
Some of Kentucky 1029 will also be called Burika Road, after the former hamlet at the intersection of Mount Pleasant and Kentucky 1029.
Avoiding having a road name that included a number, such as U.S. 62 East, now named Sardis Road, in addition to a three or four digit identifying number was to cut down on confusion for a 911 operator, said Laura Jefferson, project coordinator from BTADD.
"Naming the roads was the decision of the fiscal court," said Jefferson.
There is a reason for the number assigned to each property, said Jefferson.
"For example, a house with number 3434 would indicate the property is 3.434 miles from the closest intersection of the adjoining main road near Mount Olivet," said Jefferson.
While the system may be aggravating at first, the timing of the implementation of changes does give those who send out Christmas cards a chance to get the word out about the address change to friends and family, while still receiving mail from those who have not been alerted to the change. Residents have 12 months to complete the changes and place the numbers on their property where they can be see.
"I thought about painting the old address on the barn in giant letters so customers with the old labels will know where to find me," said Clark.
The ultimate goal is to get emergency help to a location as quickly as possible, said Jefferson.
"If it saves a life, it is worth it," she said.
For more area news, go to www.bracken-online.com
Contact Wendy Mitchell at wendy.mitchell@lee.net or call 564-9091, ext. 276.
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