Originally appeared in The News-Enterprise | Dec. 18, 2024
fter purchasing property earlier this year, the Elizabethtown-Hardin County Industrial Foundation is moving closer to developing it as a new industrial park.
The property at 1750 Gaither Station Road along South Ring Road had a first reading Monday at Elizabethtown City Council for annexation into the city.
The 154-acre property is owned by the foundation, Mark and Wesley Thomas and Aulback Pence LLC and sits along the Western Kentucky Parkway. It is part of a development by the industrial foundation near the parkway’s corridor to attract new manufacturers.
The property was purchased in parts with about 86 acres of it being purchased in July for $960,638 and approximately 29 acres bought in October for $219,015.
Once annexed, the property will be zoned Industrial-2.
Second reading for the property is expected when council reconvenes in the new year at its Jan. 6 meeting.
The annexation was part of a rash of year-end business council completed.
A first reading also was held to annex property at 1001 Ring Road, near its intersection with Ring Road.
The property is adjacent to property recently rezoned to make way for a Kroger development and plans for that development show a retaining basin on the property being proposed for annexation. No other developments for the property proposed for annexation have been announced.
Council approved a zoning map amendment for 3500 Leitchfield Road from urban residential, mixed use (R5) and high density (R6) to planned neighborhood residential.
The 37.53 acres at the intersection with Ring Road is proposed to be the Ascend Subdivision.
The preliminary plat for the property is proposing it be subdivided into 176 lots — 173 of them for single residential homes — all with access coming from a proposed internal seven city street network.
The other three lots will be used for the mail kiosk, detention or floodplain compensation, and a future park, which is being dedicated to the city.
Council also approved a municipal order to contract with CMW for professional design services for the Elizabethtown Parks and Trails Conservancy Project, which is to be developed at the city’s Nature Park and Freeman Lake Park. The contract is for $150,000 of the $1 million grant the city received from the state for the project.
In another project, council approved a change order for $102,450.40 for bore work for the city’s South Ring Road Sanitary Sewer Project.
The original bid forth work was for $71,908.85 from Frederick & May Construction.
In explaining the need for the change order, City Administrator Ed Poppe explained when boring, workers did not hit any rock opening up a hole causing a need to address the issue to include filling the hole with rock.
The council also approved a contract amendment with HDR for its work to develop preliminary design plans, specifications and estimates for the construction of a new regional wastewater facility. The contract fee was increased by $10,000.
In other businessThe city has received a clean financial audit from RFH.
“That’s what you’re looking for when you get an audit,” RFH Partner Heather Cochran said in presenting the finding. “… That’s as good as it gets. That’s what you’re looking for.”
The auditors also did not identify any deficiencies or material weaknesses in internal controls and no instances of non-compliance.
In a ceremony following the meeting, the 2025-2026 City Council of Tony Bishop, Marty Fulkerson, Tim Isaacs, Lamar Jones, Julia Springsteen and Mika Tyler were sworn in.