The Lincoln Trail Area Development District has been “on the move,” both literally and figuratively.In a ceremony Thursday to celebrate its relocation to a new office in Elizabethtown, Executive Director Daniel London unveiled the first legislative priority list for the agency that represents eight counties, including Hardin County, to help spur funding of needed projects in the region.
“We have an economic development tidal wave coming our way, and it’s our choice whether it’s a soft landing or a hard landing,” London said during the ceremony referencing expected growth coming with BlueOval SK Battery Park in Glendale. “We are working feverishly here at the Lincoln Trail Area Development District in prioritizing and working through the projects across the district to make sure this is a soft landing.”
Apart from the list being a first for the district, London said what made it especially unique is mayors and judge-executives from the 27 cities and eight counties came together to produce it in a spirit of cooperation.
“This team has knocked it out of the park,” he said, including other community stakeholders who participated in the process.
As a member of the district for more than nine years, Marion County Judge-Executive David Daugherty said this is the most vibrant time he’s experience. He said none of the elected officials participating in the process had the goal “of directing all the resources” to their own counties or cities.
“These legislative priorities are more than just a list of projects and goals,” he said. “They reflect the collective voice of our communities.”
For Hardin County, several projects made the priority list as elected leaders saw the county as the central focus of economic development, London said following the ceremony.
“Everyone realizes that economic development is built on rings like a tree, if you will,” he said. “Right here at the epicenter, we have to make sure we get everything right as we branch out. That’s exactly what you’re seeing in our priorities.”
For transportation, three local projects were the ranked atop the list of nine identified priorities. Those were an ask for $25 million for a Glendale bypass, $27 million for an Interstate 65 interchange at Gilead Church Road and $40 million for a Ring Road extension from Western Kentucky Parkway to U.S. 31W. Ranking ninth was $17.3 million for a Glendale Industrial Connector.
All of these projects have been identified and studied by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 4 and have moved into the design phase.
In the utilities category, projects in the area that made the list were $350 million for a Hardin County wastewater expansion, $17.5 million for a Hardin County Water District No. 1 wholesale transmission main capacity enhancement and $4.575 million LaRue County and Vine Grove water line extensions.
Under social and human capital priorities, all three had to do with Elizabethtown Community and Technical College. The list saw $44 million for the second phase of the college’s Occupational Technical Building renovations — Phase I money already is allocated and design work is underway — and $55 million to complete a ECTC and University of Louisville engineering building at the Elizabethtown campus and $7.2 million to expand its Springfield campus.
“I really appreciate being apart of their plan and their future as we all, jointly, look to develop the best workforce that we can to meet these needs,” ECTC President and CEO Dr. Juston Pate said. “There were very few truly regional entities in our eight-county area, but with the hospital, the Lincoln Trail AD District, the college, we are truly regional partners. What I really love about what we have here is these county lines don’t divide us.”
In the final category of public protection, Glendale again was a focus with a $20 million ask for a specialized regional first responder facility the top priority of three.
While he admitted to pushing for the facility, Hardin Judge-Executive Keith Taul said “it wasn’t a big sell.”
“They really didn’t need a reminder that Glendale and Hardin County is ground zero. It’s where things are going to be impacted the most.”
Third on the list was $15 million for an Elizabethtown fire station, which Mayor Jeff Gregory said if secured would be used for one of the upcoming two planned stations.
Gregory, who also serves on the executive board for the district, said he was proud of the cooperation behind the priority list and it was time to turn it over to the state legislature to “let them do their part.”
In all, Hardin County had more than any other county with 11 of the 23 prioritized projects, which total approximately a $900-million ask of the Kentucky legislature. The legislature, which had District 24 Rep. Brandon Reed of Hodgenville and District 10 Sen. Matt Deneen of Elizabethtown in attendance at the ceremony, convenes Jan. 2 for its session to include the budget cycle.
“Progress can be found at the crossroads of patience and planning. Nobody does it better than LTADD,” Deneen said in thanking the district’s leadership and staff. “They bring all of the parties together, they have a vision, they lead us in a direction for success and they give us that road map.”
London said while that just covers the priorities, the entire list of projects would cost $1.2 billion and state funding is only part of the solution.
“This is a responsibility for all the stakeholders,” London said. “…It’s going to include a lot of efforts including grant funding, loans, fee increases, etc., but what has exacerbated the issue across our area for sometime is our infrastructure is aging.”
