Shepherdsville leader calls 2025 "transformational year," highlights $30M aquatic center and $10M in park projects
Loading...
Summary
At the council's first January meeting, the mayor delivered a state-of-the-city overview that emphasized a $30 million borrowing for an aquatic center, roughly $10 million in complementary park amenities, lowered local taxes, and a multi-year push for hundreds of millions in road and infrastructure funding.
The meeting opened with a state-of-the-city overview in which the mayor said this year “is going to be the most transformational year probably in our history of Shepherdsville,” pointing to a package of projects the city has financed and plans to complete.
The mayor said the city has borrowed $30,000,000 for an aquatic center and has added roughly $10,000,000 for park amenities, listing an inclusive playground, a 1,600‑seat amphitheater, a dog park, disc golf, sand volleyball, basketball and pickleball courts, new landscaping and fencing, and a skate park. “This aquatic center is not just gonna be about Shepherdsville. It’s not just gonna be about Bullock County — it’s gonna be about the state of Kentucky and the regional area,” he said.
He stressed the investments were made without raising local taxes and said the council had voted to authorize the borrowing. “We did this without raising any in taxes,” he said, noting two taxes were lowered during the period in question.
The mayor also emphasized traffic and transportation as major constraints on growth. He said the city is seeking larger investments — describing a roughly $250,000,000 request to cover multiple corridors — and urged continued coordination with the state Transportation Cabinet and the city’s legislative delegation. He cited specific needs including an exit ramp at 119, widening corridors (four lanes from Salt River to 245) and another east–west arterial to relieve congestion on US‑44 and at the I‑65 interchange.
The city leader said parts of those projects will require long lead times and state action; the mayor noted Strand has been engaged to prepare a traffic study the city will use to sponsor funding requests. “Once we have that, we’re gonna take that for all of our legislators,” he said.
Why it matters: The package combines new capital facilities intended to boost local recreation and tourism with aggressive transportation and right‑of‑way planning. The schedule and sources of funding for multi‑hundred‑million dollar road projects remain uncertain because most major highways are state‑owned and require legislative or federal funding commitments.
What’s next: Construction and programming details for the aquatic center will be discussed at upcoming outreach events; the city plans to present Strand’s traffic study to state and federal representatives as part of lobbying for corridor funding.
