WQXE News

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

The council approved an amendment on its second reading which changed the zoning of 310 College Street from Urban Residential (R-4) to Neighborhood Office (C-1). That zoning change came after negative feedback from College Street area residents prompted the council to change the intended zoning from Neighborhood Commercial (C-2) to C-1 and request the city review several of its zoning change procedures. Elizabethtown Resident Brad Luebbert, who said after the ordinance’s first reading that the residents presented a survey opposing the zoning change, was disappointed in the council’s decision.

“We had a hundred people that asked you to not vote for this,” Luebbert said. “It was a hundred to one, and you guys voted to approve. Just know, I appreciate the process. I appreciate what you do, but know that 100 people, all of them, asked you not to, and one person asked you to do it, and you did.”

The first reading of an ordinance approving the annexation of about 154 acres at Gaither Station Road and South Ring Road was held. That land would be primarily zoned General Industrial (I-1) with a portion Suburban Residential (R-1). 

The council also approved a resolution opposing the centralized collection of local occupational taxes. City Attorney Ken Howard read the resolution, which expresses concerns with the state establishing occupational taxes and licensing fees, and encourages members of the Kentucky General Assembly to vote against such measures due to the impact it would have on municipal budgets.

“The receipts affiliated with these funds are recorded into the general fund of the local government and allocated toward providing critical services including police, fire, and emergency management services, public infrastructure improvements, and other critical programs and services to citizens,” Howard read.

The council approved a contract with engineering firm Jacobi, Toombs, and Lanz for engineering services on the design of the expansion of the city’s wastewater treatment facility, with the contract not to exceed $400,000. The council also approved a $44,600 contract with Revize Software Services for a redesign of the city’s website.

Elizabethtown Mayor Jeff Gregory issued a proclamation declaring Brown-Pusey House Day in recognition of the house’s 200th birthday celebrations in 2025. Gregory said the city is lucky to have such a landmark and the volunteers that make the house a community asset.

“We’ve been blessed for many years to have tremendous volunteers and great people that have seen to it that the house stays what it has been to our community and continues to mean what it means to our community, so we’re very grateful for all the work that all of you all do,” Gregory said.

The Elizabethtown City Council will next meet February 10.

Unemployment rates across the Lincoln Trail District were up in December from where they were the year prior.

The Kentucky Center for Statistics says unemployment rates increased in all 120 of the state’s counties in December.

The state unemployment average for December was reported at 5.1 percent. That is a slight increase from the 4.9 percent average seen in November, and it is up from the 3.9 percent average that was reported in December of 2023. Five counties in the Lincoln Trail District had December unemployment rates higher than the state average, with three counties below the state average.

Hardin County’s unemployment rate for December 2024 was slightly above the state average at 5.4 percent. That’s an increase from the 4.9 percent rate reported in November and an increase from the 3.8 percent rate reported in December 2023.

Breckinridge and Grayson counties posted the highest unemployment rate in the Lincoln Trail District for December at 5.9 percent. Washington County had the lowest rate in the district, and tied for the second-lowest rate in the state, at 4.0 percent.

Learn more about how the unemployment rate is calculated and find more labor market information by visiting kystats.ky.gov.

Kentucky drivers with vehicle renewals in January may have forgotten about their due date following an error with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and Kentucky Department of Revenue.

“On the 14th of this month, I was in a meeting with transportation cabinet officials,” said Hardin County Clerk Brian D. Smith during last week’s Hardin County Fiscal Court meeting. “We were told on the 14th, two weeks ago, that the notices would go out that following Friday, which is the 17th of January. That turned out to be false information.”

Smith said clerk’s offices were initially informed that the renewal notices were delayed due to mailing issues, but he was informed Tuesday afternoon that the notices still hadn’t been mailed.

Smith encouraged drivers to check their registrations to see if they have a January renewal, and if they do they need to get to the clerk’s office to renew as soon as possible.

“By law, the renewal notices are considered a courtesy notice,” Smith said. “They’re not a legal requirement for you to have that to come in and renew. We have seen a huge drop off in January renewals. We knew this was going on. The state had to know. They monitor the collections on a daily basis. They had to know renewals were down.”

Smith said he will post updates as he gets them to the Hardin County Clerk’s Office Facebook page.