Elizabethtown Mayor Jeff Gregory shares vision for growth and community

At the April Elizabethtown/Hardin County Industrial Foundation’s Facility Managers Meeting, Elizabethtown Mayor Jeff Gregory offered a candid update about the state of the city. His message was clear: Elizabethtown isn’t just growing; it’s evolving with a focus on quality, cleanliness, and the infrastructure needed to support a modern workforce.

Here are the key takeaways from the Mayor’s update on where our city is headed.

Public Safety

Mayor Gregory emphasized that the strength of the city’s public lies in the culture of its outstanding police department. The city is doubling down on hiring the “best of the best,” focusing on character as much as capability.

“In this day and time, you can’t afford to have people in your police department that aren’t good people,” Gregory noted.

The goal is a department that feels supported by the administration while remaining strictly accountable to the community’s standards.

“First Impression” Strategy

Cleanliness isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s an economic driver. Whether it’s the dedicated public works staff walking downtown to pick up litter or the specialized leaf removal programs, the city is focused on the “first impression” for visitors and potential residents.

• New Leadership: James Henderson (former Radcliff Fire Chief) has stepped in as the new Property Inspector.
• Targeted Cleanup: Expect a renewed focus on keeping residential parks and homeowners’ associations looking their best to maintain the city’s curb appeal.

Infrastructure Investments

Managing a city settled in the late 1700s comes with unique challenges—specifically water.

• Stormwater Management: With a massive request for capital projects, the city is prioritizing $4M to $7M annually to fix neighborhood drainage issues. Mayor Gregory joked about his own “weather anxiety,” admitting he now spends rainy nights hoping the downpour stops so he doesn’t get 4:00 AM calls about flooding
• Walkability: City Engineer Michael Harris is focusing on redoing century-old sidewalks downtown and filling in gaps in newer neighborhoods. The goal is “ridability and walkability,” specifically along the 31W corridor, to help alleviate traffic by getting more people out of cars and onto bikes or their own two feet.

Parks and Recreation

The city is “not doing anything halfway” when it comes to leisure.

• Trooper Lake Mountain Bike Park: The city is expanding its 75-acre footprint with 40 additional acres to build a high-caliber mountain bike park.
• American Legion & Freeman Lake: Between new pickleball courts (which are a huge hit) and a coming “food truck loop” being built near the city pool as well as investments at Freeman Lake including new pavilions and restrooms, the city is investing heavily in “quality of life” infrastructure.

Future Investments

With growth comes the inevitable: traffic and crowded offices.

• The Roundabout Reality: Addressing the “rumbling” about traffic signals, Mayor Gregory noted that the state’s shift toward roundabouts and J-turns has improved safety across the city. While they take getting used to, the data shows a nearly 50% reduction in accidents at these intersections. Also, Bids are out for the first city-funded roundabout on Veterans Way (on the back side of the mall entrance). 
• A New City Hall: The current city hall is officially out of space. Plans are underway to build a new city hall complex on the old Etown Laundry property downtown (Highway 62 and West Main) within the next five years, moving the administration into a space that can handle the increased workload of a booming city.

Elizabethtown is in a season of massive investment. From stormwater upgrades to state-funded road expansions and world-class bike parks, the city is positioning itself as the premier hub of the region. As Mayor Gregory noted, the success of Elizabethtown isn’t an accident—it’s the result of different levels of government and community leaders finally “pulling in the same direction.”