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Rate study calls for an increase of about $10 over five years for E-Town wastewater

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The city’s wastewater treatment plant was the main topic of conversation during the Elizabethtown City Council’s work session Monday.

City Wastewater Treatment Director Corey Bond gave the council a recap of the wastewater treatment plant’s operations in 2023, during which time 2.3 billion gallons of water was treated and no violations were reported to the state. Bond said the plant is operating at just under 50 percent capacity, which with anticipated growth coming to the area has the department looking at expansion.

“Right now the goal is to build a second plant that will treat mostly industrial waste, so that allows us to basically break off what’s coming from the industrial park and treating it separately and treating it differently than when we treat commercial and residential waste due to the other chemicals that would be in the water that we could remove more efficiently in a separate plant,” Bond said.

Representatives from HDR engineering presented the preliminary results of the city’s wastewater treatment plant rate study. The proposed rate increases would see the base cost for the average customer using 4,000 gallons a month go from the current rate of $18.80 to $22.09 in 2025, increasing in increments to $28.20 in 2029. 

HDR said rate revenue adjustments are necessary in order to fully fund operations, maintenance expenses, and capital improvements. HDR Municipal Client Adviser Ashley Willoughby said the increases still land Elizabethtown lower than similar-sized operations like Bardstown and Hodgenville, but are necessary to maintain baseline growth.

“Those costs that we’re experiencing from the pandemic and just general inflation are now sort of catching up to you, so we’re probably looking at having to maybe recover those costs on the front end, and then look at making sure you that are maintaining that revenue rate to cover those inflationary costs down the line,” Willoughby said.

The proposed rate increases do not account for possible expansion, which HDR said the firm is looking at alternative funding sources for but would be primarily addressed in a future rate study. City Administrator Ed Poppe said the plan is to get a rate ordinance before council in March in order to have it on the books by July.

In other meeting news, coaches and team members from the Hardin-E-Town Stampede mountain biking team came before the council to discuss the positive impact the team has had on its members and the positive impact mountain biking can have on community health. The team is planning to help with improvements to the trails at Buffalo Lake, where they will be hosting an event this August, and are asking for the city’s assistance in building a pump track or bike playground at the site.

The city will be hosting a Safe Streets for All public meeting on January 30 at 4 p.m. at the Pritchard Community Center. The meeting will be an open house format and give the community the chance to give their input on the use of funds from the grant program.

The Elizabethtown City Council will next meet February 5.

Law enforcement leaders tout collaboration in announcing 20 Flock cameras for HCS and additional cameras for Elizabethtown and Radcliff

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Elizabethtown Police Chief Jeremy Thompson, Radcliff Police Chief Jeff Cross, and Hardin County Sheriff John Ward joined Hardin County Schools Superintendent Terry Morgan and representatives from Flock Safety during a press conference at the HCS district office Monday. 

Thompson said the city is adding 10 Flock cameras to the 20 already in place, and Hardin County Schools will be adding a total of 20 across the district’s school campuses, which along with the cameras being added in Radcliff will create a strong network throughout the county.

Thompson said in their first year of operation in E-Town the cameras were used in at least 175 investigations, and expanding the safety network Flock helps create to the area schools is a logical next step.

“Each of the departments represented today have officers within the city and county schools protecting our children, protecting our staff, and we thought Flock is another great way to add additional layers of security to those schools, so that led us to the broader conversation of what we can do to improve upon that,” Thompson said.

Cross said the cameras are a valuable tool as crime has no jurisdiction.

“They’re in and out of all of our communities, and there’s a lot of folks that commit crimes that come into our communities from elsewhere, so the Flock is an instant line of communication for us to be able to communicate and get on top of these crimes that are committed very quickly,” Cross said.

Ward said the cameras provide additional eyes for law enforcement when additional eyes are harder to come by.

“For the past several years, I know ever since I’ve been in law enforcement, we’ve had to do more with less, and this Flock camera technology is a huge asset in helping us accomplish this,” Ward said.

Ward said any area business that might be interested in having a camera added at their location can contact the sheriff’s office for more information.

Hardin County Election Board approves plans for March 19 special election, May 21 primary election

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The Hardin County Election Board met Monday morning to discuss a special election and the upcoming primary election.

The board approved the proposed plan from Hardin County Clerk Brian D. Smith for a special election to fill the Kentucky House of Representatives District 26 seat vacated by Russell Webber. That district covers the western half of Bullitt County and three precincts in northern Hardin County: West Point, Fort Knox 26, and Radcliff Southeast. The term runs through the end of this year.

Smith said the new clerk’s office location at the former Nolin RECC office in Radcliff should be approved for absentee and early voting, while polling locations for election day are still being lined up. Smith said even with the special election only being for one seat the county has the same duties and responsibilities as any other election.

“We know these are always low turnout, but we can’t treat it like it’s not a real election,” Smith said. “We can’t treat it like it’s a play election. It’s the real thing.”

The special election will be held Tuesday, March 19. Candidates will be nominated by the respective political parties.

The board also approved Smith’s plan for the May 21 primary election. Smith said with 2024 being a presidential election a higher turnout is expected, but the plan already fits in with his goal of adding more polling locations, which people responded well to in 2023.

“One of the things people like is yes, there was a line, but the line moved quickly,” Smith said. “There were a couple of times we had to make some adjustments during the day. We had to send an extra piece of equipment to one location, etc., but ultimately this plan is a blend of that. It adds more locations and then it beefs up our existing locations so that we can get people through the line quickly.”

Smith’s plan would increase the polling locations on election day from 12 to 15, and would add the former East Hardin building in Glendale as an early voting location.

Visit the clerk’s office’s website for more election information.

Temperatures begin to warm after long stretch of winter weather

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After multiple days of wintry precipitation, frigid winds, and freezing temperatures, the area finally gets a bit of a break this week.

“We’re warming up into the 40s for highs by Monday, mid and upper 40s by Tuesday, and even 50s by Wednesday, so we do see a pretty good ramp-up in the warmth as we go later into the week,” said Meteorologist Dan McKemy with the National Weather Service in Louisville. 

After a day of mostly sunny skies Monday, rain showers are expected through most of the rest of the week.

Highway crews had their work cut out for them over the weekend as another round of precipitation coupled with some of the coldest temperatures of the season impacted road treatment efforts. While many of the major thoroughfares are in better condition, many lower-volume roadways are still being treated.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear is reminding Kentuckians to be safe in the cold and on the roads, with five deaths reported around the commonwealth due to the freezing temperatures last week. The governor’s office is also reminding residents in need to take advantage of the state’s emergency services as needed, which can be found at kyem.ky.gov, and is reminding Kentuckians of the state’s price gouging laws, violations of which can be reported to the state attorney general’s office.