WQXE NEWS

Elizabethtown Recovery Residence Enforcement Officer David Neary says prior to the March 15 enforcement date of the city’s new Recovery Residence Certification Ordinance he is reaching out to the owners and operators of the facilities to let them know what to expect.

“I’ll get to meet the people who own and operate recovery residences and let them know ‘I’m not out to get you, I’m just here to enforce what the law says,’” Neary said.

In his new position, Neary will be tasked with checking in on the more than 150 recovery residences in Elizabethtown to ensure they are in compliance with the law, which the city drafted to match state regulations. Neary said these facilities have not been regulated before, and the new law ensures people entrusting their recovery to these facilities are not being taken advantage of.

“One of the things they taught me at Treatment Court is drug addiction is a lifetime treatment,” Neary said. “You never fully recover. It’s something you’re going to have to spend the rest of your life on, and we just want to make sure that people out there saying they’re trying to help these people are truly helping.”

Neary comes to the position after an extensive career in law enforcement, and those skills are likely to come in handy.

“I’m fully sworn, that way if I should uncover something when I’m inspecting I can act upon it,” Neary said. “I have all of the authority of any police officer in the city of Elizabethtown to do that.”

The full text of the ordinance can be found on the city’s website.

The Elizabethtown Parks and Recreation Department’s Oh Snap! program will be hosting a Valentine’s dance Friday, February 9, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Pritchard Community Center.

“That’s a new one that we’re adding into the mix this year,” said E-Town Parks and Rec Programs Coordinator Adam Case. “We think it will be good. We’ve done the Halloween dance the past three years and it has always had a good turnout, so I wanted to get another dance in there and talking with some of our original Oh Snap! members they said ‘why don’t you do a Valentine’s Day Dance?’ so that’s what we’re coming up with.”

The event will feature a DJ, food, and dancing, and Case said everybody should expect to have a good time.

Snap stands for Special Needs Activities and Programs. The program has a busy calendar planned for 2024.

“It’s a group for individuals with physical and cognitive disabilities in the community that allows them to participate in various activities and programs we host throughout the year through the Parks Department,” Case said.

Learn more about Oh Snap! and purchase tickets for the Valentine’s dance by calling the Pritchard Community Center at 270-765-5551 or go to the Parks and Rec page on the city’s website.

As the city of Elizabethtown prepares to begin enforcement of its new recovery residence certification ordinance, the city has sworn in the person who will be tasked with keeping the facilities in check.

The city posted on the City of Elizabethtown Government Facebook page that former Elizabethtown Police Department Officer David Neary has been sworn in as the city’s Recovery Residence Enforcement Officer. Neary returns to service after retiring from the EPD in 2015.

Recovery residences must be in compliance with the city’s ordinance by March 15. Neary will be in charge of inspecting the facilities, of which there are more than 150 in the city. A first violation will result in a $500 per day fine, and a second violation increases the fine to $1,000 a day.

When discussing the ordinance with facility owners January 29, city attorney Ken Howard said the city is prepared to back up its new enforcement officer.

“The City of Elizabethtown is committed to its ordinance, and is committed to enforcing state law,” Howard said. “They have amended the budget last month, and have hired an individual on a full-time basis that will be the compliance officer for recovery residence law in the city of Elizabethtown.”

Elizabethtown Mayor Jeff Gregory said it is important for the city to get ready for enforcement quickly in order to prevent problems from developing later on.

“It’s not everybody, and we realize that,” Gregory said. “We know that, but there are some apples in the cart that, as you all know in any profession or anything that we do, spoil the whole bunch sometimes, so it was imperative that we look into what the issues were and try and put some kind of enforcement in place or certification, regulation in place so we could find out who is who” Gregory said.

The ordinance is available for viewing on the city’s website.