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The City of Elizabethtown is mourning the loss of an elected official.
The city announced on its Facebook page Tuesday the passing of Councilman Bill Wiseman. Wiseman was serving his first term on the city council, and had previously served as a magistrate on the Hardin County Fiscal Court for district five.
“The City of Elizabethtown and the Hardin County communities lost a great leader in Councilman Bill Wiseman,” said Elizabethtown Mayor Jeff Gregory. “Mr. Wiseman was smart and insightful and brought a ton of experience to his leadership positions. He took a common sense approach to government at a time the common sense is less and less common. On a personal level, he was a friend to all and brought out the best of his family, friends, and work colleagues. He was always the same and a joy to be around and spend time with, and he will be missed tremendously by our whole community.”
Wiseman had filed to run for re-election. A graduate of Elizabethtown Catholic High School, Wiseman was a member of several local organizations including the Knights of Columbus and the Elizabethtown Lions Club. He is survived by his wife Patty and two children.
The Radcliff City Council met for a work session Tuesday.
The council discussed a zoning map amendment that would convert 155 Morgan Street from R-7 to Planned Unit Development Zone. Because of the use of a PUD zone, the council will also consider the property’s preliminary site plan and preliminary plats. The plan would convert the former Morgawood Mobile Home Park to 19 single-family units. City Attorney Mike Pike said the plan seems to be a good use for the 1.29 acre site.
“The PUD zone is really the only zone they could utilize to make this type of development happen because of the small size of the homes and whatnot,” Pike said. “It looks like a creative use of the property. It does appear to fit the comp. plan. The Planning Commission was all on board.”
Radcliff Mayor JJ Duvall said a citizen is requesting the city explore implementing a quiet zone train ordinance. That ordinance would bar trains from using their horns when operating in the city during overnight hours. Duvall said the city will explore the possibility of applying for federal funding because more than $500,000 would likely be needed in order to make a quiet zone possible.
“The railway would have to be updated,” Duvall said. “The railroad crossing would have to be updated, from my understanding, and really, if you implement these quiet zones, you obviously have to implement those crossings to meet the standard, to meet the quiet zone regulations.”
Members of the council expressed their support for the city to draft an ordinance that would permit and regulate medical marijuana facilities that would operate in the city after the state medical marijuana law goes into effect. Pike said it is important for local communities to get regulations on the books so that the city has a say.
“You can’t restrict those people’s usage, but what you can do is restrict time, manner, place in terms of all these various cannabis operations, so if you do nothing, then what that means is you’re allowing it,” Pike said.
Some council members had reservations as they still had questions, while others said if use is going to be permitted by the state the city might as well set itself up for potential revenue benefits as well as regulatory control. Duvall said the city will look at potential draft ordinances.
The Radcliff City Council will next meet June 18.
The Hardin County Fiscal Court met for their first meeting of the month Tuesday.
The court approved the second reading of end-of-fiscal-year amendments for the 2023-2024 county budget. The court also approved the first reading of an amendment to the county’s zoning ordinance that would reduce the size of a Rural Residential, or R-2, lot from 3 acres to 1.8 acres.
“Folks are still building homes out in the county, it’s just we’re consuming more farmland with that 3 acre minimum than we need to,” said Hardin County Planning Director Adam King. “In fact, as busy and bustling as E-Town’s getting, there’s a lot of folks that may want to move from E-Town and move out to the county to kind of have their little slice of heaven or piece of the pie.”
That’s Hardin County Planning Director Adam King. He said recent studies show that 8,811 housing units are projected to be needed by 2025 to accommodate area growth anticipated with the opening of BlueOval SK, and Hardin County is 4,578 housing units short of what is currently needed.
Hardin County Emergency Management Director Joey Scott and Hardin County Coroner Pat Elmore presented certificates of appreciation to members of the Valley Creek Fire Department for their assistance responding to a death investigation that was hampered by a hazardous material spill. Hardin County Sheriff John Ward recognized several officers for rescuing a man from a burning vehicle after a wrong-way collision on the Western Kentucky Parkway in May.
“It’s my distinct honor to have the opportunity to publicly express my gratitude and commend Deputy James “Opie” Sherrard, Deputy Nick Krone, and Lieutenant Taylor Miller for their extraordinary act of bravery and quick thinking that resulted in saving a life,” Ward said.
The Hardin County Fiscal Court will next meet June 25.