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

The first reading was held on an ordinance amending the fiscal year 2026-2027 budget, which Hardin County Judge/Executive Keith Taul said primarily concerned purchases for Hardin County EMS.

“The biggest one of which is around $900,000 for some new cardiac monitors that replace some old ones that have reached the end of their life,” Taul said.

Hardin County EMS Director Mark Peterson said crews made 1,417 dispatches in June, and responded to 16,394 calls in fiscal year 2025-2026. That number is down about 300 from the previous fiscal year, continuing a general decline over the past five years.

Hardin County E-911 Director Mike Leo said dispatch answered 4,566 calls in June. For fiscal year 2025-2026, 25,390 calls were answered, up from 24,784 the previous fiscal year.

Hardin County Clerk Brian D. Smith said the Hardin County Election Board approved the addition of a new polling site.

“That still has to go through state approval, but with the state’s approval, which we anticipate, we’ll have an additional location for the three days of early voting and that same location will be available on Election Day,” Smith said.

Smith said he will announce the polling site once it is approved by the state.

The Hardin County Fiscal Court will next meet August 11.

A standing room only crowd was in attendance at the Elizabethtown Planning Commission meeting Tuesday evening as the commission considered a text amendment proposed by the city’s Planning and Development office concerning data centers.

Elizabethtown Planning and Development Director Aaron Hawkins said currently a data center would fall under existing definitions for a data processing center.

“If you look at the definition, it’s a lot older,” Hawkins said. “You can tell that this was written probably 25-plus years ago, and it has not been modified since because a lot of the items listed in that are no longer even relevant.”

Hawkins said the proposed amendment adds definitions recommended by the Kentucky League of Cities while also adding enforceable standards such as size limits, utility upgrade responsibilities, and closed-loop cooling systems. Data centers will also be limited to “accessory use.”

“So the way this is written, as these only being accessory uses, is you cannot have a data center on a lot by itself,” Hawkins said. “It would have to be affiliated with a permitted use in that zone.”

Planning Commission Chair Steve Rice said Elizabethtown can’t say a data center can’t come to the city, but they can regulate it, and he felt the proposed amendment gives the city protection before any proposals are made.

“This is a hot item, a very hot item,” Rice said. “Other communities have put moratoriums on it. I don’t think that’s going to work, so we’ve decided to be a little more proactive and take a stance on this, that we can protect ourselves in terms of what comes in here.”

The commission voted to recommend the city council approve the amendment.

In other meeting news, the commission also recommended approval for an application for construction of a cellular antenna tower to be located at 204 Ring Road. The city staff found the proposal is in line with zoning and development requirements, and an attorney representing TowerCo said the FAA said the tower will not be tall enough to require beacons.

An application concerning a Downtown District area-wide zone change was withdrawn, but Hawkins said the city is seeking more public input on the subject at public meetings to be held August 18 at the Pritchard Community Center and September 29 at the State Theater.

Tuesday’s meeting can be viewed in full on the City of Elizabethtown Government Facebook page.