Bardstown City Council
2021-2022 Goals and Projects

As a follow up to the Year-end Report from our December 22, 2020 Council meeting I would like to take some time tonight to share many of the goals and projects that the City Council and our City Staff have provided as those they feel are a priority for the next two years. Much of the real planning for projects like these occurs throughout a given year as we prepare budgets for said projects. The Council and I want to let the public know of some of the main goals and projects we would like to see start a planning process this year or next. Many will be long-term, some will be short term, and others will be more of an ongoing nature. Thus we hope to get the ball rolling on these long term projects and complete many of the short term ones. The information we will share with you tonight is by no means a full representation of all the goals and projects we have identified. They also reflect feedback from the general public that has come to the attention of the Council, staff and myself. The list includes what we feel are the most significant projects within the various departments of the City of Bardstown.

The Police Department will have focused training courses for officers that continue to improve knowledge, skills and abilities. This training is part of our accreditation process.

All of our departmental training is focused on community relations, customer relations and cultural diversity.

They will also continue to focus on strategies for reducing crime in the City of Bardstown. This year yielded another 11% decrease in crime. There was a 58% decrease in crime from 2017 to 2020.

The Fire Department will finish the upgrade of the foam unit, along with training with the bourbon industries to better protect them.

They will also be doing a risk assessment for all of the Bardstown businesses.

The Finance Department will be implementing a new occupational license fee/net profit fee software to better track and uniformly collect what is owed to the city to enhance revenue.

The City Clerk’s office will be working on changing the cemetery mapping system to combine redundant data input forms which will improve overall efficiency and record keeping.

They are also working on the purchase of a columbarium for the city cemetery during this fiscal year.

The Electric Department will be deploying new software for better trouble-shooting and analytics. They will also be adding smart equipment in the system, and rebuilding existing infrastructure with new underground and/or hardened overhead distribution lines to reduce blinks and outages both for small and widespread areas.

The Human Resources and Risk Management Department will be conducting a wage and compensation study. They will also start planning for possible future renovations at City Hall. There is a need for this to better support our growing customer base, and for infrastructure planning for our service area. This would include space for adequate staffing for City operations, as the current space is not sufficient for recent and future growth.

The Engineering Department will continue to upgrade utility infrastructure to meet community growth needs and replace aging infrastructure downtown. In addition, they will be working on getting their departments fully staffed in order to maintain quality service to the community.

Some of their key projects include upgrades to the Corman’s Crossing and Royal Crest pump stations and also upgrades to the Withrow Creek Sewer pump station and gravity trunk line. Additionally they will be working on a Hwy 150 waterline loop from Leslie Ballard Road to Poplar Flat Road.

Some future projects for our streets include a sidewalk extension on Chambers Blvd, and both lighting and drainage improvements.

The Cable and Internet Department is in the process of remodeling part of the old fire department to house the new Headend. The new facility will include new power, cooling and redundancy to ensure continued operations of the city’s video and data services for many years to come. We have plans for continued expansion and upgrades for our cable and internet service area. This requires more headend area for more equipment to support our growing fiber technology.

The Recreation Department is going to start gathering information and ideas from other facilities around the state for a multi-purpose facility. We will work to assess the needs for our community and include them in the planning. This will open many doors for recreational opportunities in our community, as well as bring in additional tourism dollars.

HRB will be working on updating their regulations, which include topics such as green energy, solar panels, and other federal regulations that have been modernized. We will work with a consultant to facilitate this update to the HRB regulations.

Our City Council members have many goals for the upcoming year including the park at 3rd and Broadway and will be proceeding with planning, design and funding options for that project. They also want to start planning for a multi-purpose sports facility.

The council would like to have a plan to combat hunger and homelessness.

They are advocating for the Western Bardstown connector project, as this would have a great and positive impact for Bardstown. In addition, they would like to complete the parking study.

The Council realizes industrial park planning is necessary, and will work towards that goal. More property is needed to support future jobs and industrial growth. We have a very limited inventory of industrial sites at this time.

They will continue to give as much support as possible to local businesses as well as contribute to Tourism and Chamber events to help bring more visitors to our community to help boost the local economy.

- Mayor J. Richard Heaton