WQXE NEWS

Goodwill Industries of Kentucky, the Kentucky Chamber Foundation, and Fifth Third Bank are hosting a Fair Chance Opportunity Fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Goodwill Elizabethtown Opportunity Center, located next door to Quicksie and The Wolf at 243 West Dixie Avenue.

“A lot of folks that we assist through our opportunity centers are released from jail with basically nothing to their name,” said Goodwill Industries of Kentucky Communications Coordinator Kyle Williams. “We give them a hand up, not a hand out, on their journey back to the workforce and self-sufficiency, and this is just one of the examples.”

Williams says the opportunity fair is a “full-table event.”

“Several of our community and employer partners will be there to offer a wide range of holistic services for these folks like employment opportunities, there’s going to be legal support, there’s going to be an expungement clinic that we will be hosting through Goodwill and our legal aid partners throughout the state,” Williams said.

Appointments for the expungement clinic are full, but walk-ins will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The opportunity fair is open to the public.

“The beauty of it is it’s a holistic approach to their self-sufficiency, so it’s going to be a one-stop shop where you’re going to get a lot of different resources if you’re in that justice-involved population,” Williams said.

Learn more about Goodwill’s expungement program and other services at www.goodwillky.org.

The Elizabethtown Planning Commission reviewed several property proposals during their meeting Tuesday evening.

A public hearing was held on a zoning map amendment and conceptual development plan for 707 Saint John Road. Requested by property owner Hanna Yun, the zoning would be changed from R-1 Low-Density Residential to R-6 High-Density Multi-Family Residential and C-3 Regional Commercial.

Elizabethtown City Planner Aaron Hawkins said the submitted conceptual development plan lays out a mixed-use development.

“The applicant is proposing to convert their existing single family house and residence into a clubhouse for the development as well as adding multiple hotel buildings, a commercial strip development, and multi-family buildings,” Hawkins said.

The proposed property would include 114 hotel rooms across four buildings, 126 studio units in a corporate housing unit, and a commercial building with three to five tenants. City planning staff recommended approval contingent on the implementation of screening measures to protect neighboring properties and the installation of a roundabout on Saint John Road at the property’s entrance.

Several nearby residents expressed concerns with the impact the development will have on the neighborhood including noise and light pollution, environmental impacts, and traffic hazards. Celia Thomas, who owns one of the neighboring properties, said she had concerns with the use of prefabricated modular buildings in the design.

“If this were to pass, it would set a precedent for future modular buildings in our beautiful city of Elizabethtown, and I cannot imagine anyone wanting this to happen, and if any of you all lived where I do you would not want this either,” Thomas said.

The planning commission tabled the discussion until their April 22 meeting as one of the area property owners could not be properly contacted ahead of the meeting.

In other meeting news, the commission voted to recommend approval of a zoning map amendment for 475 Hodgenville Road from C-3 to R-6 to accommodate a 288-unit apartment complex. The amended development plan for the Dixie Business Center at 4601 North Dixie Avenue, which accommodates additional business units at the site, was also approved.

The Elizabethtown City Council met for a special meeting and work session Monday evening.

During the special meeting, the council approved a resolution supporting the Elizabethtown Police Department’s application for Law Enforcement Protection Project funds from the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security. Elizabethtown Police Chief Jeremy Thompson said the funds will cover the purchase of new tasers.

“We learned of some grants through Homeland Security, and they want a resolution to make sure that we’re not only serious about it, but on down the road if there’s matching funds, in this particular instance there are not, but just part of the procedures for us to apply for this grant, so we don’t know how much yet,” Thompson said.

During the work session, Elizabethtown Wastewater Management Director Corey Bond discussed updates to the city’s sewer use ordinance needed to update definitions and reflect fee changes that are due to be approved at the next council meeting. Bond also discussed a proposed grease trap program under which the city would help businesses that are still using under-sink grease traps convert to exterior grease traps, which would put them in compliance with current city code and help keep city sewers cleaner.

“So basically in this year’s budget the ask will be $250,000 to put in,” Bond said. “The plan is to send a letter out to each one of these businesses that we know has one and ask them to basically say would you like to participate in this or not, and if not then basically you’re signing off saying that you’re aware that you’re basically not taking advantage of this program and you’re fine, unless one of these things happen then it’s completely on that business at that time.”

Members of the council expressed support for the creation of such a program.

Council members also asked for more information on the proposed creation of a stormwater utility fee. City officials said they would create a list of planned projects and projections for the council to review.

The Elizabethtown City Council will next meet April 7.