E-Town Council talks parks, stormwater, and south end development during work session

The Elizabethtown City Council met for a work session Monday evening. City Parks and Recreation Director Seth Breitner provided an update on his department’s activities. Breitner said the city’s summer camp program saw a capacity crowd of 280 total campers, and the city hopes to increase that capacity as well as add ADA accessible transportation next summer. Breitner said the American Legion Pool has seen to date 32,521 attendees, and the pool closes for the season on August 9. Breitner discussed several ongoing and upcoming projects, including work at Trooper Lake. He said the city has been working with the International Mountain Biking Association on designs for trails and a pump track. “We will be able to be a regional destination for mountain biking in the area,” Breitner said. “We are very excited about this project because I think it adds so much to what the city already has with the park system, the sports park, and everything else, and just adds another element to what we’ll have out there.” Ashton Park resident Sandy Mattingly came before the council to voice ongoing concerns with stormwater issues in the neighborhood. Mattingly said she and her neighbors have previously contacted the city regarding water runoff issues, but mitigation efforts to this point have been ineffective. “This isn’t something that happens once or twice a year,” Mattingly said. “It’s a constant recurring problem every single time we receive measurable rainfall. The current infrastructure cannot handle the volume of water we receive, and the runoff controls are completely inadequate.” City Stormwater Director Rita Davis said the city has been working with developers in the subdivision, but they will not know what sort of mitigation is necessary until development there is completed. City Administrator Ed Poppe and Business Development Officer Terry Shipp discussed proposals for supporting development on the city’s south end. Poppe said the city is still developing programs to attract new businesses, but the council requested programs that would benefit existing businesses, so Poppe said the city is proposing a grant program aimed at exterior improvements. “You paint the outside, you change the windows and doors to try to implement some things that we have encouraged through our zoning standards,” Poppe said. “You make pedestrian connections from your business to the public sidewalks that we’ve installed.” Poppe said the program will mirror the Downtown Development Grant program currently run by the city, but will cap grants at $25,000 to ensure multiple properties can take advantage. The program would also be made retroactive to last year to reward current businesses who have made additional investment. Shipp said he is optimistic that supporting the existing businesses will help encourage further growth. “You know, you spend $25,000 or $30,000 on an individual building, it makes a difference,” Shipp said. “It makes a really big difference, so it would really help, and with the new road scape and things like that I think we can see a much improved area out there.” The Elizabethtown City Council will next meet August 3.