Campbell County approved seeking bids for two large pieces of equipment that will help the AJ Jolly Lake dredging project.
The AJ Jolly Lake project has been ongoing for months and will continue through 2026. The project is to ensure the long-term safety and stability of the lake and dam. To support this work, at a Jan. 7 meeting, the fiscal court approved seeking bids to purchase an amphibious excavator (a specialized heavy machine that operates in shallow water) and a tracked rotating dump truck.
“Without the continued investment that we’re willing to look at, consider, yeah, it would be a nice park, but we want it to continue to be a nice park for decades,” Campbell County Commissioner Geoff Besecker said.
AJ Jolly Lake is a 200-acre fishing and recreational lake within the 1,000-acre AJ Jolly Park, the largest county park in Kentucky. The lake’s dam was constructed in 1960, and in 1983, a spillway (a structure that allows excess water to pass over or around a dam) and a bridge were built. Since then, sediment and other natural factors have gone unmaintained, lowering water levels in some places to inches.
The county voted in February 2025 to do the dredging work on the lake coves in-house to save money, with a cost of just under $3.1 million. Crews will also replace the spillway/dam at the lake. The two pieces of equipment will aid crews in that work.
The total project is estimated at $10 million, including both the dredging in-house and the contracted spillway replacement.
Campbell County Administrator Matt Elberfeld said the estimated purchase price for the amphibious excavator is about $255,000. If the county decided to rent one, it would cost about $33,000 per month, plus a $5,000 delivery charge each way. Elberfeld said the break-even point would be about seven and a half months, and the county would most likely need it longer than that.
“These machines have intrinsic value, and they don’t depreciate as much as a car does,” Campbell County Judge/Executive Steve Pendery said. “If we wanted to sell somewhere along the way, we could recover most of our money. In the meantime, there are other things to do with that equipment. For instance, there are water features on the golf course that are also silting up, and we could improve all those before we consider unloading some of this equipment.”
The tracked rotating dump truck can enter the lake, and its body can rotate, so Elberfeld said it’s easier and safer to load.
To make these repairs, the lake has been lowered 10 feet. Camping access closed on Nov. 1, 2025, and remains closed through the 2026 season, with reservations opening again in February 2027. Park admission fees were also eliminated indefinitely by the fiscal court at Wednesday’s meeting.