QUICKSIE98.3

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

Hardin County Attorney Jenny Oldham introduced Hayley Hoover with Volunteers of America, which will be helping to run the Hardin County Family Recovery Court. Hoover said Family Recovery Court is a collaborative process meant to help support families struggling with parental substance use disorder.

“The hope of FRC, as we call it, is to help reunite families faster, get the cases through court quicker, and help really sustain long-term sobriety for our parents who are struggling with substance use disorder that have children,” Hoover said.

The fiscal court approved a resolution that will allott $60,000 a year for five years to VOA to run the Family Recovery Court, with those funds coming from the county’s Phase One Opioid Settlement funds.

In other meeting news, Hardin County Coroner Pat Elmore reported on his office’s first quarter, with 301 cases responded to including two homicides. Hardin County Sheriff John Ward said in February and March his office made 199 arrests, issued 251 citations, and opened 75 criminal cases. Ward discussed some of the more high-profile incidents including the string of bomb threats made at the BlueOval SK construction site.

“We work with those in charge on scene there and give them some advice on how to handle security a little differently, and they’re not paying their workers,” Ward said. “If there’s a bomb threat and they send the workers home, they don’t continue to get paid, and for some strange reason, the bomb threats have slowed down. So go figure.”

The county’s next town hall forum will be held at 5:30 p.m. on April 30 in the fiscal courtroom. The Hardin County Fiscal Court will next meet for a regular meeting on May 14.

Arbor Day will be observed this Friday, April 26, and the City of Elizabethtown is ready to help you celebrate.

“The city’s Park and Recreation team is celebrating all week long,” said E-Town Public Relations Officer Amy Inman. “A tree can be picked up at Pritchard Community Center between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.”

All available trees are bare-root trees and are free to the public.

“Varieties include swamp chestnut, black walnut, and pecan,” Inman said. “We really love big trees here in our community, so stop by today to pick up yours.”

Contact the city’s Parks and Recreation Department for more information.

The Elizabethtown City Council met for a work session Monday evening.

Helping Hand of Hope Executive Director Hope Burke gave the council the organization’s 2023 impact report. Burke said the organization is asking the city to allot $5,000 to them in the upcoming budget. Burke said Helping Hand of Hope has never asked for financial support from the city before, but demand has been increasing on a month to month basis.

“The people that are coming to us, I know sometimes there is that misunderstanding of ‘oh, they’re just, you know, riding the system’ or ‘oh, they really don’t need this assistance,’ but they truly do,” Burke said “We have seniors that’s rent has increased anywhere from $300 to $500 a month. We have single parents that are working, actually making $20 an hour, and still can’t afford their rent with childcare, food, and everything else like that.”

Elizabethtown Mayor Jeff Gregory told Burke the city appreciates the efforts of the organization and the burden that has taken off the city.

E-Town Natural Gas Department Director Matthew Hobbes gave a department update. Hobbes said the department has been busy with several capital projects. Hobbes said project costs and increased employee pay means the city will likely need to consider a rate increase soon.

“I wouldn’t come saying that we need to raise rates unless the writing was on the wall, and it’s looking like that time is about now where we need to be doing something before you get so low that you can’t comfortably operate, so I think we need to look at our tap fees,” Hobbes said. “I think we need to look at what we’re charging for the gas going through the meters, and what you’re charging for just everyday work.”

Representatives from RSA Financial Advisors gave a presentation to the council on the status of the current market and possible financing solutions for the city, including revenue bond services. Gregory said the city’s contribution to the Buffalo Lake concert venue the city is partnering with the E-Town Tourism and Convention Bureau on will likely be paid using bonds.

The city council and the tourism bureau will meet for a joint meeting Thursday which will be followed by a groundbreaking for the Buffalo Trail Phase One project. After budget meetings start on May 6, the Elizabethtown City Council will next meet in a special meeting on May 13.