The next Community Conversation is scheduled for 6:30 pm on Tuesday, September 29 at the Louisville Water Company’s Crescent Hill Gatehouse, Reservoir Avenue.  There is no agenda for the meeting and no speaker.  It’s an opportunity for you to visit with me about any concerns, issues or suggestions at a time and place we hope will be convenient to you.  It’s also a great time to see a beautifully restored historic landmark. Please mark your calendar and stop by – and bring along a friend or neighbor!

I was happy to join Representatives Jeff Donohue and Darryl Owens, Senator Perry Clark, members of the League of Women Voters and others this week when Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes announced that electronic voter registration is coming to Kentucky.  The announcement was made at the Lang House, headquarters of the League of Women Voters of Louisville, on South Ewing Avenue in D9.  

Secretary Grimes announced that citizens will be able to register and update their registration online, hopefully by the 2016 Presidential election.  The change is being made under Kentucky Administrative Regulations.  Most states are moving toward electronic voter registration and I am glad Secretary Grimes is leading Kentucky forward in this area.  

In the meantime, voter registration for the upcoming General Election closes on October 5.  You can check your registration and print forms to make changes here: http://www.elections.jeffersoncountyclerk.org/voter_registration.shtml.  Register and vote on November 3! 

Repaving work continues in District 9.  This week crews are repaving Payne Street from Rubel Avenue to I-64 overpass.

Additional paving on Meridian near St. Matthews, more of North Hite in Clifton Heights, Mockingbird Valley Road, and other streets has been funded and will be scheduled in the future.  Please be careful around the construction crews!   

Paving is done based on road condition ratings and Metro Council recently funded an updated rating of major roads. Metro Public Works (MPW) has selected Transmap Corporation as the most qualified consultant to perform the new evaluation of pavement conditions across Louisville. The company is now finalizing the necessary city paperwork to become the official vendor for the much anticipated update to the 2013 Pavement Condition Index study. Work on data collection is planned to begin by October 5. In addition to evaluating pavement conditions, the $175,813 contract will include implementation of the MicroPAVER pavement management software program. MicroPAVER will facilitate evaluation, prioritization and budgeting of necessary improvements.

We have more paving needs than available funds and appreciate your patience as MPW works through the backlog of streets needing work.

St. Leonard School, 440 Zorn Avenue, will host an E-Waste Recycling event on Saturday, September 26 from 8:00 a.m. – Noon. This event is FREE and open to the public, but donations will be accepted for the technology program.

Commonwealth Computer Recycling will be collecting:

• Computers – desktop and laptop, mainframes, servers
• Batteries from UPS Units, laptop rechargeable, alkaline, lead, etc.
• Printers, copiers, scanners and fax machines.
• CRT and LCD monitors
• Game systems and other handheld consumer electronics
• Keyboards, mice and speakers
• Cell phones
• Printed circuit board
• Ink cartridges
• TVs will be accepted with a $5 charge.

The Paper Predator will be providing:

• Secure document destruction (cancelled checks, old income tax information, other important private documents)

One way to create a sustainable community is to encourage urban agriculture activities.  In past editions of the D9 eNews, we've featured the Billy Goat Hill Community Garden on Payne Street.   We've also featured a D9 resident whose yard is an edible garden. 

Now a local non-profit is starting a six-month series teaching urban agriculture techniques, including beekeeping, fruit tree maintenance, seed saving, and more.  Trainees will learn in the field and classroom at two mixed-use urban agriculture sites operated by Louisville Grows in Louisville’s west end, The People’s Garden and the Shippingport Memorial Garden.

The first course, “Winter is Coming,” will be held at the Shippingport Memorial Garden located at 2500 Montgomery Street on October 3 from 10 am – 5 pm.  A local, farm-fresh lunch, tea, and coffee sponsored by D9 businesses Heine Brothers and Rainbow Blossom Natural Foods Market will be served.  Steve Paradis of Fresh Start Growers Supply will present a short talk on soil, compost and amendments.  After lunch, participants will try their hand at different methods of tillage (double digging, mechanized, no-till) and learn to prepare Biodynamic Preparation 500.  Amara McCarthy of Holden Farms will do a short presentation on garlic seed varieties and the class will plant garlic and a cover crop.  Each participant will take home garlic and cover crop seed for use in their home, market, or community garden.  The cost of each individual workshop is $50 but scholarships are available thanks to funds provided by Earth Tools and Slow Food Bluegrass.

Future workshops will focus on seasonal topics including wreath making, seed starting and saving, and fruit tree planting and maintenance. The hands-on-training will build participants’ knowledge and understanding of naturally grown farming principles and practices.  During the course, trainees will connect with some of the best minds in the field.  At the end of the program each participant will have the tools in hand to be a successful Urban Grower!

No prior agricultural training or experience is needed to enter the program. The only prerequisites are an openness to learn, a commitment to hard work, and the desire to succeed.

For more information, visit the Louisville Grows website, http://www.louisvillegrows.org, or contact Valerie Magnuson at (502) 681-5106 or Valerie@louisvillegrows.org. 

We’d like to feature your sustainability story - a resident or business doing good things for the environment.  Riding the bus, bicycling, walking, gardening and more - our eNews will feature practices which can benefit all of us.  Send your story to Bill Hollander or Kyle Ethridge. 

Metro Public Works will be working to update the bike markings along Spring Street in the next couple of weeks. Crews anticipate the work beginning in the next few weeks. The road will be open during the work to thru traffic.

Masonic Homes of Kentucky invites you to attend a neighborhood meeting to discuss the modification to the conditional use permit and revised district development plan. Masonic Homes is proposing to construct a new 72-unit assisted living community, replacing an existing structure. Additionally, it proposes a new independent living building as part of Miralea Active Lifestyle Community. There will be 120 units with 35,000 square feet of common areas.

The meeting will take place on Thursday, October 1 from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. in the Miralea Room at Miralea Active Lifestyle Community on Masonic Home Campus, 3701 Frankfort Avenue. Attend the meeting to learn more about this proposed project and discuss any concerns you might have with Masonic Homes and its representatives.

Neither the modified conditional use permit nor the revised district development plan propose to change access to the Masonic Home Campus through the streets to the east of the property.

 Mark your calendars for all the upcoming Halloween events in District 9.

• Participate in the Mary T. Meagher Aquatic Center’s Halloween Coloring Contest! Click here to print out the coloring sheet and return it back to the front desk at the Mary T. Meagher Aquatic Center, 201 Reservoir Avenue. All entrees must be received by October 1. Winners will be announced at the October 10 Trunk or Treat event.
• Saturday, October 10 - “Trunk or Treat” Halloween Tailgating will be held at the Mary T. Meagher Center, 201 Reservoir Ave from 4:00-7:00pm. Enjoy carnival games and bounce inflatables. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Concessions will be available. In addition to encouraging families to come out and trick or treat they are also looking for volunteers to enter your car, SUV, truck or even a motorcycle as one of the Trunk or Treat vehicles.  Dress up and bring candy to give out to those who come to Trick or Treat.  For more info or to sign up to bring your car and give out candy, please contact Keith Smith, Aquatic Supervisor, 502-897-9949, ext. 26 or keith.smith@louisvilleky.gov.
• October 8-November 1 - Louisville Jack O’Lantern Spectacular, Iroquois Park. Gates open nightly at 7:15 pm.  Proceeds benefit the Louisville Metro Parks Foundation.  This year’s theme is “All the World’s a Stage”… a celebration of Academy Award-winning films, Broadway plays, TV shows, comic books, children’s cartoons and more!  Want to get in free?  Then visit the volunteer website and sign up to be a docent or ambassador for the event.  Volunteers will receive snacks, refreshments, a long-sleeve t-shirt and one free ticket to the event for every shift worked! 
• Saturday, October 24 - Halloween in Brown Park from 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. All ages welcome to join. FREE to participate! Enjoy games, music, hayrides, etc. Trick-or-treating to begin at 1:30 p.m.
• Saturday, October 31 - Halloween on Hillcrest Avenue. This time of year, Hillcrest Avenue becomes a destination where visitors can see up to fifty homes between Brownsboro Road and Frankfort Avenue all decked out for Halloween. Bring canned goods or non-perishable foods to donate to United Crescent Hill Ministries at the designated collection bins on each block.

The Clifton Community Council stages the First Annual "Chili, Chocolates, and Craft Brew Fest" on Sunday, October 18th, from noon to 7:00 on Frankfort Avenue between State and Williams streets. Enter the chili cook off – there will be two divisions (restaurant and individual) and they will be judged separately. Reserve your space by September 30. Prizes from local breweries and businesses. Celebrity Judges, 5 Chili Categories (Best Booth, Crowd Favorite, Non-Traditional/Vegetarian, Professional, Individual).Trophies for Winners, Chocolate Tastings & Competition from local bakeries, confectioners and chocolatiers. Questions please contact co-chairs Brad Curry, council Special Events chair at 418-5362 or email brad@rededgelive.com or Mike Skelton at Hill Top Tavern, 415-6405 or im-skelton@hotmail.com  for all the information.

Join us on Saturday, October 24th for a cleanup in Bingham Park, on Coral Avenue. D9 volunteers should plan to meet at 8:30 a.m. for coffee and breakfast sandwiches, and the cleanup will officially begin at 9:00 a.m. We’ll supply bags, gloves, and t-shirts on a first-come, first-serve basis. We’ll work to clean up the park and surrounding areas and then spread out in the community. Contact our office at 574-1109 or email kyle.ethridge@louisvilleky.gov to sign up for our cleanup. Let’s have a big crowd making D9 a little cleaner!

On Friday, December 11, from 8:30 am – 3:30 pm, the 9th District office, in partnership with U of L Hospital and the James Graham Brown Cancer Center, will offer FREE mammograms at the Clifton Center, 2117 Payne Street.  To make an appointment please contact my office at 574-1109.  Mammograms are for women age 40 and over. There is no cost to eligible women without insurance.  Women with insurance will need to bring their card so a claim may be filed.