WQXE News

The Hardin County Fiscal Court met for their second meeting of the month Tuesday.

The court approved an interlocal agreement with Bullitt County, under which Bullitt County Emergency Medical Services will respond to the city of West Point. West Point Mayor Richard Ciresi said that agreement will have a critical impact on the city.

“This will reduce our ambulance response time in West Point from somewhere between 20 and 25 minutes to five to seven minutes,” Ciresi said. “That’s huge. That’s life and death.”

Hardin County Sheriff John Ward reported that his office made 258 arrests, issued 405 citations, and served 234 warrants in February and March. Sheriff’s Office CFO Teri Benentt said county residents have paid about $95.8 million of the more than $97 million the sheriff’s office is charged with collecting, a collection rate of more than 99 percent.

Hardin County Clerk Brian D. Smith presented area high school student Karsten Ingalls with a special honor.

“Karsten, who is not yet old enough to vote, has three times won the Secretary of State’s Statewide Essay Award, bringing honor and recognition to our community, and so I felt that was worthy of special recognition, and so Karsten, we we going to give you the honorary title of Hardin County Election Ambassador,” Smith said.

The Hardin County Fiscal Court will next meet May 13. The next Hardin County Town Hall Forum will be held in the fiscal courtroom at 5:30 p.m. on April 28.

The U.S. Army Human Resources Command will host its tenth-annual SHARP “Raise the Bars” Motorcycle Ride on Thursday, April 24.

“This event was created to bring together all of those who are all fighting against sexual assault, seeking to eliminate it, and also as a way to raise awareness of this, and show and encourage survivors, to show that ‘hey, we see you, we hear you, we’re here for you,’” said HRC Sharp Victim’s Advocate D-SAACP Level III James Frye.

The ride will go from the Maude HRC Complex, located at 1600 Spearhead Division Avenue at Fort Knox, to Silverleaf Sexual Trauma Recovery Services in Elizabethtown. Major General Hope Rampy, the HRC’s commanding general, will deliver opening remarks at 1 p.m., with riders departing for Silverleaf at 1:30. Participants will then learn about ways to support survivors.

“Just being aware of some of the things that’s going to be different,” Frye said. “A person may look a little off than what they normally do, or may be extremely, extremely focused and meticulous. It’s just different things than, ‘Hey, are you OK?’ ‘Is there anything I can do?’, and more importantly it’s being willing to listen and to hear, and having the tools available of, ‘OK, who do I talk to?’ ‘What do I do to help this individual?’” Frye said.

The ride is open to Fort Knox soldiers, family members, civilian staff, and the general public.

“The greatest thing that any person can do is help another person, so for those who ride, who support, who are even just going to show up just to say ‘I’m here,’ we are grateful because that is the most powerful thing that you can do,” Frye said. “Be willing to listen. Be willing to have empathy and compassion for your fellow person. That is what this is mostly about.”

Pre-registration is requested, but day-of registration will be accepted until noon on Thursday. Visit the U.S. Army Human Resources Command Facebook page for event information, and the Fort Knox website for access pass information.

The Elizabethtown City Council met for their second meeting of the month Monday.

The council approved two ordinances on their second readings. The first approves a zoning change for 475 Hodgenville Road from Regional Commercial (C-3) to High-Density Residential (R-6) to accommodate the construction of an apartment complex. The second approves amendments to the city’s sewer use ordinance, primarily concerning grease trap installation requirements.

“The defined structure for failure to comply with the regulations has been changed from $200 per monthly occurrence to $300 per monthly occurrence,” city Attorney Ken Howard read from the ordinance summary. “That is per a 500-gallon capacity size of interceptor.”

The council approved several municipal orders, including a $69,900 bid from Five Star Commercial Roofing Inc. for work on the Historic State Theater’s roof and a $5,975,000 bid from Dirt Works Unlimited for the Commerce Drive roadway project. Elizabethtown Mayor Jeff Gregory said the city was pleased as both of those bids came in well below engineering estimates.

Palmer Engineering was awarded a $50,000 contract to conduct an environmental assessment and archaeological evaluation for the extension of Commerce Drive through the outdoor music venue site, and to evaluate potential connections to Mulberry Street and Springfield Road, and the council approved a grant agreement with the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority that provides $756,400 for Leitchfield Road sewer line upgrades.

Council Member Tim Isaacs made a special announcement regarding an area school resource officer.

“We found out today that the Kentucky Center for School Safety, which is an organization that all public schools work with very closely for obvious reasons with its title, helping us all stay as safe as possible, they named EPD Officer Larry Robinson as the School Resource Officer of the Year for the state of Kentucky,” Isaacs said.

Gregory said Robinson has been a model for area SROs, and Elizabethtown Police Chief Jeremy Thompson said Robinson was one of two SROs when he became chief, and he is now one of 10.

The Elizabethtown City Council will next meet April 28.