WQXE NEWS

The Radcliff City Council met for a special called meeting Friday in order to begin action on the next city budget.

“These are going to be the first readings for our budget year 2024-2025, and then we plan on having the second reading at our regular scheduled meeting, which will be Tuesday the 18th,” said Radcliff Mayor JJ Duvall.

The first readings were held on the 2024-2025 budget ordinance along with two ordinances amending parts of the city’s classification and compensation plan for employees.

Radcliff Executive Officer Ashley Russo read the budget ordinance, which details amounts set for anticipated revenue and expenditures.

Total resources available listed in the budget are:

-General Fund: $16,407,100 
-Road LGA Funds: $542,000 
-Stormwater Utility Fund: $1,334,000

Total appropriations listed in the budget are:

-General Fund: $16,407,100 
-Road LGA Funds: $542,000 
-Stormwater Utility Fund: $1,334,000

The budget, which totals about $17 million, will go up for approval on its second reading at Tuesday’s city council meeting.

The Kentucky High School Basketball Hall of Fame is getting ready to celebrate its latest class of inductees.

The Hall of Fame will honor the Class of 2024 in a ceremony at the State Theater this Saturday.

Hall of Fame Board Member Rick Walters said each year the organization reviews and approves 12 to 14 members for induction.

“For coaches, they look at their overall records and things that they won,” Walters said. “District and region titles, and how many state titles, and were they Coach of the Year, stuff like that. For players, it’s whether they were All-State players, their scoring records, and how many districts or regions they won and state championships.”

Among the inductees is former Central Hardin High School coach Terry Buckles. In a career that spanned 24 seasons, teams under Buckles posted a record of 548 and 171, winning six region championships and finishing state runner-up in 1996. Buckles was named Region 5 Coach of the Year six times.

“I’ve known Terry Buckles since he went to East Hardin and I did too, so I’ve known Terry a long time as a player and a coach, and he’s just an all-round good person, a great teacher and coach, and his players liked to play for him, I think.”

Visit the Kentucky High School Basketball Hall of Fame’s website for ticket information on Saturday’s ceremony.

Lincoln Trail Area Development District Executive Director Daniel London said each county pays 39 cents per citizen to be part of LTADD.

“You don’t want to hear about the 39 cents, you want to hear about the return on investment, because that’s what we look for,” London said. “The average return on investment last fiscal year was $270 from the ADD, so think about this: you buy a 39 cents stock, but you get $270 back, we would all buy that stock, and so the AD district is providing great support to local governments and communities as a result of that.”

London was the featured speaker at the Hardin County Chamber of Commerce’s June general membership luncheon, held at Phillips Grove banquet hall Wednesday. London discussed the major priorities of LTADD including community and economic development and workforce development.

London said the area right now is “bursting at the seams” with economic development opportunities, but major infrastructure improvements are needed to prepare for what is coming.

“What we came up with is almost $1 billion in infrastructure that is needed over the next six years to make this a soft landing,” London said. “That is an incredibly staggering number. This is not even all the infrastructure that’s needed for our region. We have another over $1 billion that’s not on this chart that our CED department is tracking.”

London said he wanted to clarify that the cost was not directly tied to major developments like BlueOval SK in Hardin County and Nucor in Meade County.

“We have significant issues with our infrastructure all across the state that can’t keep up,” London said. “Now, has the BlueOval project as well as others moved that timeline up? That’s when we’re replacing it? Absolutely. That is absolutely fair, but at the end of the day, this is all spending that has to happen at some point to continue the growth that we have.”

London touched on some of the recent studies that LTADD has been a part of, including a look at the lack of available childcare in the area that shows more than 2,000 work-willing adults would be able to return to the workforce with an increase in available childcare services and a housing study that shows Hardin County is about 4,500 housing units short of current needs. A transportation study that is looking at possible public transportation options for Hardin and Meade counties should be completed by September. Those studies and more information can be found on the Lincoln Trail Area Development District website.