The former Duke’s Farm property on Kentucky 10 in Maysville is now home to a national emergency disaster support company, operating under the umbrella of The Lundergan Group, which is owned and operated by Maysville natives Jerry and Charlotte Lundergan.

Emergency Disaster Services, which has locations in Lexington, Las Vegas, Del Ray Beach, Fla. and Baltimore, has “moved most of its operations” to the Maysville property, said Jerry Lundergan. The property was acquired Sept. 18 and consists of 35 acres populated by numerous tobacco warehouses and other structures.

Established in 1999, EDS will use the facility as a deployment base for its national support operations for the central and eastern United States. Jerry Lundergan cited several reasons for moving the facility to Maysville, including his ties to Maysville and a good means to restore the property; EDS contracts with Tollesboro-based Fannin Trucking to move EDS units to disaster locations; the former tobacco warehouse floors are concrete, making them appropriate for storage of the semi trailers; and Maysville’s central location to Kentucky 9 for accessibility to major interstate highways such as I-75, I-71 and I-64, which feed into areas such as Chicago, Michigan and the eastern United States.

Jerry Lundergan said during an emergency operation, 50 to 60 trailers are deployed, depending upon the type of disaster assistance required.

As examples, he cited recent utility outages in Virginia in which EDS was contracted to provide services for utility workers sent to the area. The needs of the work crews include housing, kitchen and laundry facilities, dining halls and even recreation areas. EDS can provide mobile housing units for 36 people per unit, shower units with 16 showers/per unit, as well as the other requirements to house workers for the duration of a disaster clean up.

“We build a small city,” Jerry Lundergan said of an emergency operation involving utility outages.

Other disaster relief organizations may only need mobile kitchen facilities to serve boxed lunches or to provide full scale meals for displaced persons.

“They can call us and get everything they need,” Jerry Lundergan of EDS’s services.

The units are being housed in former tobacco warehouses on the property, as well as in a outdoor parking areas. The height of the exiting warehouses has been raised to gain clearance of 14 feet so the semi trailers can be housed and serviced within the facility. In addition, extensive paving, graveling and excavating work has been underway since the purchase of the property. A stone walled entrance will adorn the entrance to the facility and chain link fencing has been installed around the perimeter of the property. Improvements also include new siding and roofing on the warehouses.

“We hope to create 10 – 15 additional seasonal positions in Maysville,” said Jerry Lundergan. “Maysville is the perfect fit for our deployment base; we know our equipment is safe and easily accessible by our transportation partners.”

On a sentimental side to the property, Jerry Lundergan said his intention is to restore the property “to some degree” of what it was years ago, when Duke’s Farm was known for its assortment of animals, including peacocks and llamas, but he said that decision will be made at a later time. His intention in possibly restoring the animal farm would be “so young kids in the community can enjoy what we did” as children.

Maysville Mayor David Cartmell and City Manager Ray Young agreed having the business located in Maysville “is an asset to the community.”

“We’re also pleased he continues to invest money in Maysville,” said Cartmell.

For information about EDS, go to www.emergencydisasterservices.com.

Contact Marla Toncray at marla.toncray@lee.net or call 606-564-9091, ext. 275.

For more area news, visit www.maysville-online.com.