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The Harlan County Fiscal Court heard the annual budget report from the Harlan County Soil Conservation during the panel’s regular meeting on Tuesday, April, 16, at the Harlan County Courthouse.

Harlan County Judge-Executive Dan Mosley called on David Howard to provide the report and update the magistrates on activities by Harlan County Soil Conservation District.

“As you all know, we’re required by the division of Conservation to report on our activities once a year,” Howard said. “I’d like to let you know last year we provided matching funds, and we hired contractors and administered the installation of four septic tanks throughout the county.”

Howard told the magistrates a tree giveaway had been planned at the Harlan Walmart location on Monday, April, 22.

“We usually give about 600 trees away and promote environmental education,” Howard said. “Our district provided grants and scholarships to local students in the amount of $14,000. That’s up from $10,200 last year.”

According to Howard, approximately $1,320 was provided by the Harlan County Soil Conservation District to send 88 children to Pine Mountain Settlement School’s Environmental Education Program.

“Also to promote environmental education, we provided funding and materials for our annual Art and Essay Contest for high school, elementary and middle school students,” Howard said. “We awarded cash prizes of approximately $1,650 to 40 different students.”

Howard advised the District is additionally partnering with the Harlan County Extension Office.

“We’re currently in the process or reviewing and accepting applications for grants – that’s the tobacco settlement money for agricultural projects – in the amount of about $55,000,” Howard said. “This coming year, that amount will increase to about $70,000.”

Other Harlan County Soil Conservation District activities included aiding a local farmer with securing approximately $20,000 of state funds for farm improvements and working with the Division of Abandoned Mine Lands to secure a grant to be used to construct kayak launching facilities at locations including along the Cumberland River.

“We’ve also met with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Martins Fork Lake to look at putting a launch in there at the beach recreation area,” Howard said. “Since the county maintains that area, we’d like to ask if we can partner with the Corps on the installation of that launch.”

Mosley asked the magistrates for a motion to collaborate with the Harlan County Soil Conservation District on the construction of a kayak launch facility at the recreation area at Martins Fork Lake.

The motion was made and passed by the magistrates with no objections.