Earth Day is April 22 but there are opportunities to celebrate it in D9 - and help the planet - for the next two weeks. There's a cleanup in Seneca Park, our big Brightside cleanup starting at Bingham Park in Clifton (we need your help), several events along Beargrass Creek (including a chance to drink a beer made from creek water!), tree planting on Frankfort Avenue - and much more.  It's all in this week's eNews, including the event calendar.  Let's celebrate Earth Day all month in D9!

Registration for the Brightside & Passport Health Plan Spring Community-Wide Cleanup on Saturday, April 16th, is now open. The D9 office will sponsor a team. Volunteers will meet at Bingham Park at 8:30 a.m. for breakfast sandwiches, generously donated by the Clifton McDonald's, and coffee, provided by Heine Brothers’ Coffee. Then at 9:00 a.m. we will fan out throughout the District to clean. The District 9 office will provide bags, gloves, tools and t-shirts on a first-come, first-served basis.

If you would like to register your own neighborhood team, please click here: Click here to register your team

Join Courier-Journal’s Kirby Adams and Olmsted Parks Conservancy in an effort to spruce up D9's Seneca Park from 6:00 p.m to 8:00 p.m. tonight, April 14.  Tasks will include removing unwanted plants and mulching native trees and shrubs. Gloves, tools and refreshments will be provided. Just dress for the weather and working outdoors. Meet at Pee Wee Reese Road and Cherokee Gardens Drive.  

After several months of work, I introduced an ordinance this week which will allow eligible property owners to make renewable and energy efficient upgrades on their buildings and pay for them through property assessments.  The proposal creates an Energy Project Assessment District, or EPAD, which would allow commercial, industrial and some multi-family residential property owners to acquire private financing to put in solar panels or water conservation measures, for example -- and then repay the loans via an assessment collected by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s office, over a term of up to 20 years.

EPAD is a smart program, which assists property owners to voluntarily carry out energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, without an investment of taxpayer dollars. Because both property owners and the environment benefit, I have been happy to work on this ordinance.  It will have its first reading at Metro Council tonight.  You can read more about the ordinance in this Courier-Journal story by James Bruggers: http://www.courier-journal.com/story/tech/science/environment/2016/04/11/program-would-boost-energy-efficiency-options/82893796/

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. 

Louisville Metro Parks and Recreation will host a public meeting on Tuesday, April 19 from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. at Seneca Golf Course, 2300 Pee Wee Reese Road.  The meeting will start with a brief presentation and question and answer session facilitated by Director Seve Ghose.  After the session ends, Metro Parks and Recreation staff will be available to meet citizens individually on a variety of topics for the remainder of the meeting. This is your opportunity to talk about your parks. Join us!

Parking issues are always a concern for residents in District 9. Below are the Metro Ordinance parking regulations. Please be aware when parking near intersections and driveways that vehicles must see around you to safely enter onto the roadways. The Parking Authority of River City (PARC) and LMPD will be patrolling and citing offending vehicles. As a reminder, even if the area isn’t marked “no parking” or the curb painted yellow, the parking regulations are still in effect.

72.035 LIMITATIONS OF STOPPING AND PARKING. 

It shall be a parking violation for the operator of any vehicle to stop or park such vehicle except in a case of real emergency or in compliance with the provisions of this traffic code or when directed by a police officer or traffic sign or signal at any time in the following places:

   (A)   On the mainly-traveled portion of any roadway or on any other place in the roadway where vehicles stand in any manner other than as specified in § 72.034.

   (B)   Within an intersection.

   (C)   On a sidewalk.

   (D)   Within four feet of a public or private driveway.

   (E)   Within ten feet of a fire hydrant.

   (F)   Within a crosswalk.

   (G)   Alongside or opposite any street excavation or obstruction when stopping or parking would obstruct traffic.

   (H)   Close enough to any railroad track so as to obstruct the movement of locomotives or cars.

   (I)   Within any part of an alley within the central traffic district.

   (J)   On that portion of public property located between the sidewalk and the curb-line of the street or, where there are no sidewalks, off of any paved area.

   (K)   Within any area marked as a TARC zone.

   (L)   Within any area where official signs prohibit parking and stopping.

   (M)   In front of sidewalk ramps provided for persons with disabilities.

   (N)   On each corner and all eight sides of an intersection, within 30 feet from the beginning and/or ending of any intersection, flashing beacon, stop sign, or traffic control signal located at the side of a roadway.

Interested in disconnecting your downspout? In some combined sewer overflow (CSO) areas, MSD is offering rebates to disconnect downspouts. If you don’t live within a CSO area and are still interested in disconnecting your downspout, please follow the below links for helpful information from MSD.

• MSD Downspout Brochure – contact MSD for inspection before doing any work
• Downspout Disconnect Programs – various links on different programs
• Downspout Disconnect Guide – information on property offset and slopes

The next Community Conversation is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 21 in Louisville Water Tower Park, 3005 River Road. Join us for a conversation about our community’s health. Discuss assets, barriers and community stories about your neighborhood. Make new connections with others who live in your community and share your vision of a healthy Louisville.

We also want to hear from you on any topics, an unscripted, open conversation about D9 and the City. Please mark your calendar and join us – and bring along a friend or neighbor!

Brightside will be hosting a planting party in celebration of Earth Day on April 22nd. CSX has awarded Brightside a grant to spruce up the Frankfort Avenue corridor.  Volunteers will be focusing on tree planting along the south side of Frankfort Avenue from the Crescent Hill Library to Rastetter Avenue.

Volunteers from the community are needed to experience a hands-on educational opportunity with Brightside to help with the planting. The event will run from 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. and will begin at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church parking lot, 2282 Frankfort Avenue. Mayor Greg Fischer is expected at 10:00 a.m. This is a great opportunity to support Give A Day, get involved in your community and to give back!

Brightside is partnering with Frankfort Avenue Business Association, the Crescent Hill Community Council and Metro Council District 9. 

What better way to celebrate Earth Day than at the creek in our own backyard?  

Mark your calendars for two events: 

• Earth Day Clean-up of the Waterfront Botanical Gardens Site and Beargrass Creek, Friday, April 22, 10 am-4 pm
  Corner of Frankfort Avenue and River Road.  Take part in Mayor Fischer’s “Give A Day” and volunteer on Earth Day to help clean-up the future Botanical Gardens site. Sign-up here
• Beargrass Brew at Apocalypse Brew Works, Friday, April 22, 5 pm – 8 pm
  Apocalypse Brew Works, 1612 Mellwood Avenue, 40206

David Wicks and the Salt River Watershed Watch have partnered with Apocalypse to make Beargrass Brew, a beer brewed with cleaned water from Beargrass Creek. The beer, featuring locally grown hops, will be the first beer in over 100 years brewed using water from the creek. The Beargrass Brew will only be available Earth Day weekend, with a limited quantity of only 30 gallons and will be first come, first served. Apocalypse’s other beers will be available on tap. A suggested donation of $10 for the Beargrass Brew will go toward the Salt River Watershed Watch, which has been monitoring Beargrass Creek for the past 25 years, and been integral in seeing our own urban creek cleaned and renewed.

Cyclouvia will transform the street into a paved park where people of all ages and backgrounds can walk, bike, dance, skate, or participate in any other physical activity on public spaces that are always there but are normally reserved for automobiles. The street will be closed to motorized traffic from Stilz Avenue to Pope Street with cross traffic allowed at Ewing Avenue under traffic control officer supervision from 2:00 – 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 24th. Cyclouvia will promote healthy lifestyles and alternative modes of transportation. This event is FREE and open to the public.