Since taking office in January 2015, I have been working on a new access road for Reservoir Park and Village Manor, to be used when crossings at both Fenley Avenue and Blackburn Avenue are blocked by trains. Given the incident on Sunday, November 13, which blocked both roads for several hours, I wanted to give you an update on the status of that effort.
The plan I am pursuing will allow use of a small road at the end of Claremont Avenue by any vehicles or pedestrians when both roads are blocked by trains. That is an expansion of an earlier easement, which only allowed emergency vehicle use. A legal agreement making that change has been signed and will be effective when a new road is constructed. I also secured funds in the Metro budget to build that new road. The County Attorney is making progress on an agreement with Louisville Water Company to use a small section of road between the new access road and the Mary T. Meagher Aquatic Center parking lot. Once that is completed, Metro Public Works will contract to build the road and a gate. The plan is to open the access road gate only when the train is blocking both crossings and then close it when the roads have reopened.
Access to Reservoir Park and Village Manor has been a very long-standing problem. I hope to have good news on finally addressing it in the near future.
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MSD announced at a meeting this week that it plans trails and a trailhead at the I-64 and Grinstead CSO (Combined Sewer Overflow) Basin. The plan includes 21 parking spaces at the trailhead, bicycle racks, lawn, rain garden, stream enhancement and a wetland preservation area. Many of the proposals resulted from suggestions at previous public meetings about the basin, which will be located near the old Jim Porter’s site. MSD purchased the Jim Porter’s property as a staging area for construction of the basin and will likely sell it when the project is completed, while retaining ownership of the basin itself.
Construction of the covered, underground basin is expected to begin in the Summer of 2017 and be completed by Spring 2020. This basin will greatly lessen the occurrence of combined sewer overflows – untreated sewage – entering Beargrass Creek during rain events.
More information about the basin and an opportunity to take the meeting survey will soon be available at http://www.msdprojectwin.org/Public-Input/I64-Grinstead-Basin-Project.aspx.
Many trees have been planted in D9 over the last two years and it's important that we take care of them now, with drought conditions present and winter approaching. Trees reduce air pollution and erosion, create habitat for wildlife and other plants, and reduce Louisville's urban heat island. Planting them is great but keeping them alive is just as important.
If you have a relatively new tree in your yard or public right of way (generally, the area between your sidewalk and street) make sure it is getting enough water. As the Arbor Day Foundation says, "During the first couple growing seasons, your newly planted tree is expending a lot of energy trying to get its roots established in the soil. Especially during the first few summers of your new tree's life, it will have a difficult time dealing with heat and drought. You can make this easier by providing water and covering the soil with wood-chip mulch. Deep watering can help speed the root establishment. Deep water consists of keeping the soil moist to a depth that includes all the roots."
Read more about tree watering here.
Thanks to D9 resident Noel Rueff for this Sustainability Story reminder.
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.
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For basic details for the below case/s please visit http://www.louisvilleky.gov/PlanningDesign/. Click on “Search Case Information” link on the left navigation bar. Then select the “home” tab and select the type of case and enter the case number. For specific case information please call or email the listed case manager. If you have any questions please contact Planning & Design directly at 574-6230.
Case No. 16VARIANCE1070
You are invited to attend a Board of Zoning Adjustment review for a variance from the Land Development Code section 5.4.1.D.2 to allow a proposed garage on an R-6 zoned parcel to decrease the minimum 30% of the lot total area for the private yard area.
Subject Property: 2327 Sycamore Avenue
Case Manager: Ross Allen (ross.allen@louisvilleky.gov)
Date & Time: Monday, November 21, 2016 at 8:30 a.m. until all cases are heard
Location: Old Jail Building, 514 W Liberty Street.
Please plan to attend a meeting regarding the proposed change in zoning from R-5 to C-2 to allow “a restaurant concept by Rails Craft Brew & Eatery” at the existing Frankfort Avenue Church of Christ located on approximately a half acre at the northeast corner of Frankfort Avenue and Haldeman Avenue at 1901 Frankfort Avenue. This is a pre-application meeting hosted by the attorney for the applicant. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 22 at 7:00 p.m. at the Frankfort Avenue Church of Christ, 1901 Frankfort Avenue.
If you are unable to attend but have questions or concerns, please call William Bardenwerper at 426-6688.
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Light Up Louisville will celebrate its 36th year on November 25, kicking off the month-long celebration of Louisville’s Holiday in the City.
The event, the official starting point for the holiday season, brings together citizens from all over the city, along with family, friends and visitors, to enjoy a day full of excitement, entertainment and community. The festivities continue until December 23 as Holiday in the City, a gift from MainSource Bank and powered by LG&E, provides family-friendly fun with a pop-up ice skating rink at Holiday Square, and the Holiday Market and entertainment at 4th Street Live!
Light Up Louisville will begin at 4 p.m. with the annual Run, Run Rudolph 5K. Registration is now open at www.headfirstperformance.com. Participants are encouraged to dress in their most festive holiday attire, and reindeer antlers and ugly Christmas sweaters are highly recommended. The main stage on Jefferson Street will feature live entertainment until the start of the Lots of Lights parade at 7 p.m.
The parade will start at Fifth and Jefferson streets and proceed east on Jefferson. Guests will then watch the parade travel through Fourth Street Live! and disperse at Chestnut. The parade will feature floats, bands, carolers, car clubs, children’s groups and civic organizations. The parade will end with the arrival of Santa Claus, as he and Mayor Fischer illuminate the city Christmas tree and downtown Louisville.
At Holiday Square, located at Fourth and Jefferson streets, visitors can enjoy the full-size ice skating rink, featuring real ice and skate rentals, and get a close-up view of the city’s Christmas tree. A 90-minute skating session with rentals is $10 per person. The rink will be open November 26 - January 15.
From Holiday Square, visitors will follow the new Gum Drop Trail to the Holiday Market, hosted by Fourth Street Live! Visitors will be able to browse through quaint vendor chalets and purchase unique hand-made gifts, while enjoying live entertainment at the main stage at Fourth Street Live! each week from Thursday to Sunday.
For more information, go to: www.louisvillesholidayinthecity.com
The concept is simple: some people have a coat they don’t need, and some people need a coat they don’t have. On Black Friday, Friday, November 25, the two will come together to make a difference in many lives.
Coat Exchange Sites from 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
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The Green Building, 732 East Market Street, Ted Loebenberg at 401 952-6566 info@freecoatexchange.org
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Save-A-Lot Food Store 4148 Taylor Blvd, Craig Oeswein at 367-8433 taylorsavelot@hotmail.com
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Save-A-Lot Food Store, 2626 Portland Ave, Woody Woodruff at 772-0705 woody.handinhand@gamil.com
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St. Paul AME Church, 1518 South 28th Street, Rev. Nachia Woods at 371-3041, n0wood03@gmail.com
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Family Scholar House-Parkland Campus, 1309 Catalpa Street, Harvetta Ray at 855-8569, hray@familyscholarhouse.org
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Westport Road Church of Christ, 4500 Westport Road, Donna Risley at 270-302-5900, djkrisley@yahoo.com
Collection Only Sites, Drop off Coats Until November 22:
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St. Lukes Episcopal Church, 1206 Maple Lane, Anchorage, KY, Bob LaMontagne at 253-0601, boblam12@gmail.com
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The Fashion Post, 2420 Lime Kiln Lane, Suite F, Bob Bayersdorfer at 423-6700, bob@thefashionpost.com
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The Episcopal Church Home, 7504 Westport Road, Tracy Graham at 736-7816, tracyg@echky.org
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Gilda’s Club 633 Baxter Avenue, Tracie Nash at 371-3061, tracie@gildasclublouisville.org
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Highland Coffee Company, 1140 Bardstown Road, Greg Hofer at 451-4545
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New Earth Garden Center, 9806 Taylorsville Road, Nancy Roberts at 261-0005, nancy@newearthgardencenter.com
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Westport Road Baptist Church 9705 Westport Road. Rodney 425-2350 ext 117 rodney@mywrbc.org.
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St.Matthews Chamber, 3940 Grandview Avenue at 899-2523, info@stmatthewschamber.com
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Commonwealth Credit Union, 3704 Frankfort Avenue, Abby Corder at 564-4775, accorder@cwcu.org
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Burglaries, thefts from vehicles and thefts of vehicles are continuing in D9 and Louisville Metro Police Department needs your help in preventing them. Recently, there has been a concentration of residential burglaries in the Crescent Hill neighborhood’s Emmet Field District, in and near McCready Avenue, and residents in that area are encouraged to be particularly observant and to call LMPD if you see suspicious behavior.
LMPD officers have increased patrols and have recently made arrests of some D9 burglary suspects. But our police officers also need your help. Keep your doors locked. Most of the thefts of items from vehicles are from unlocked vehicles, and many of the vehicle thefts have occurred when residents have left spare keys in the vehicle. Never leave your vehicle unlocked or leave items visible through vehicle windows.
This week, LMPD is emphasizing that you should never leave an unattended vehicle running. It invites vehicle theft and it is illegal. LMPD will now be issuing citations for unattended vehicles that are left running. To learn more about this and preventing vehicle theft, watch this LMPD video.
Sign up for LMPD’s weekly crime updates by clicking here and entering your email address.
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One of the ways District 9 spends your tax dollars is graffiti removal in the public rights-of-way. The Highland Commerce Guild's graffiti removal team regularly removes such graffiti when it is spotted in the District.
The best prevention of graffiti is its quick removal, since the primary goal of graffiti vandals is for their "work" to be seen. If graffiti is removed quickly, there's less payoff for the risk and work involved. If there is graffiti on your private property, we cannot remove it but encourage you to do so as soon as possible. If you see graffiti in the public rights-of-way (for example, a street wall, traffic sign or sewer grate), contact me by clicking here or calling the office at 574-1109 with the exact address and a description of the item the graffiti is on. We'll then turn it in for removal.
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I was recently contacted regarding animal waste not being picked up by pet owners in Metro Parks or in neighborhoods. Below are some reminders from Louisville Metro Animal Services (LMAS) regarding the animal ordinance and responsibility of owners.
- License animals through Animal Services, https://louisvilleky.gov/government/animal-services/services/license-your-pet
- Don’t allow your animals to habitually bark, whine, howl, mew, crow or cackle in an excessive or continual fashion.
- All animals must be kept under restraint at all times.
- Owners must always carry a suitable device for picking up animal waste and must dispose of it in a sanitary manner.
- Animal vaccinations must be kept up to date.
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Every six minutes an underground utility line is damaged because someone decided to dig without first having the underground utility lines in the area marked. Contact 811 before you dig, at least two full business days before you start your project. Click here for a brochure with more information.
The 21st Annual Santa Sprint and Stroll is on Saturday, December 3 at 9:00 a.m. at Barret Traditional Middle School, 2561 Grinstead Drive. Pre-registration runs through November 25. Save money and register early here. The run is on a 5k course along Frankfort Avenue in Crescent Hill and Clifton. Walkers can travel the same route or a shorter, one-mile route. The event is sponsored by the Frankfort Avenue Business Association to benefit United Crescent Hill Ministries. Photos with Santa begin at 8:30 a.m., bring your camera!
November is National Adoption Month and it’s a good time to learn more about foster care and adoption in Kntucky. There are always more children in need than there are available foster families. In the state of Kentucky alone, there are over 1,800 children in need of a home TODAY. St. Joseph Children's Home needs families interested in both fostering and adopting—especially those interested in sibling groups, older children, teens, children with behavior problems and children with special needs.
Take action this month to help find a child a home and end child abuse in Jefferson County. Your first step can be connecting with St. Joe's Kids by following them on Facebook and Instagram (@stjosephchildrenshome)!"
To learn more about what St. Joe's Foster Care and Adoption Program has to offer, please attend an Information Session on December 6th at 5:45pm. RSVP to Lisa Barber-Atwell at alicab@sjkids.org or call 502-893-0241.
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On Friday, December 9, 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 574-3908. 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.
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For the past several years, the District 9 office has hosted a mobile tax preparation site at United Crescent Hill Ministries, offering free tax preparation to individuals and families under a certain income bracket. Each year we depend on volunteers to help prepare taxes and greet clients at our mobile site. We have a few dedicated volunteers that help us out every year, but we need more! This year we’d like to offer additional tax preparation dates and hope you’ll consider joining our team! If you are interested in volunteering for the 2016 tax season (February-April 2017) please contact Kyle Ethridge or call 574-1109. The first volunteer training will be offered in December. Volunteers are needed to help prepare taxes AND greet clients.
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Louisville Metro residents not mulching autumn leaves into their lawns or using curbside collection will have the option to dispose of them at one of three drop-off sites now through December 3. Drop-off will not be available on November 24 and 25 in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. Only loose leaves will be accepted. Containers used to bring leaves to the drop-off sites must be disposed of off-site by residents.
Leaf drop off sites:
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Public Works Yard, 10500 Lower River Road (enter from Bethany Lane), Tuesday – Saturday from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
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Public Works East District Operations Center, 595 Hubbards Lane, Tuesday – Saturday from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
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Public Works Waste Reduction Center, 636 Meriwether Avenue, Tuesday – Friday: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Saturday: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
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Below are some Ninth District calendar events! To view a full listing of events please visit the District 9 Blog at http://district9news.wordpress.com/. If you would like to submit events to be considered for the blog calendar please email Kyle Ethridge or call 574-1109.
Thursday, November 17: Crescent Hill Library, 2762 Frankfort Avenue, to host a movie discussion group at 6:30 p.m. Plan to discuss, Fried Green Tomatoes. Questions, please contact the branch at 574-1793.
Thursday, November 17: Carmichael's Bookstore, 2720 Frankfort Avenue, to host Sarah V. Combs for a book signing of The Light Fantastic at 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, November 17: Live at the Clifton Center, 2117 Payne Street, Music Maker Blues Revue at 8:00 p.m. Doors open at 7:00 p.m. This event is free, but donations will be accepted. For more information, please click here.
Friday, November 18: The Kentuckiana Regional Blinded Veteran's Group monthly meeting from 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. at the American Printing House for the Blind, 1839 Frankfort Avenue. All blinded veterans are invited to attend the meetings. Attendees are welcome to bring a brown bag lunch. Questions, please call 625-5282 or email secretary@krbva.org.
Friday, November 18: Carmichael's Bookstore, 2720 Frankfort Avenue, to host Jason Porathfor a book signing of Rejected Princesses at 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 19: Carmichael's Bookstore, 2720 Frankfort Avenue, to host Bill Noel for a signing of Dead Center, A Folly Beach Mystery at 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, November 20: St. Leonard School, 440 Zorn Avenue, to host a Holiday Bazaar from 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. in the Gym and Cafeteria. There will be a great selection of unique items hand-crafted by wonderfully talented vendors. Santa and the Grinch will visit and kids can have fun making their own crafts. Food will also be available. For every $5 you spend with a vendor, you receive a chance on a TV!
Monday, November 21: League of Women Voters, 115 S. Ewing Avenue, to host a Dinner and Democracy Panel Discussion on What's Happening with Charter Schools. Dinner is at 5:30 p.m. and program begins at 6:00 p.m. No reservation required, donations accepted. For more information call 895-5218 or email info@lwvlouisville.org.
Tuesday, November 22: Neighborhood meeting regarding proposed change in zoning from R-5 to C-2 to allow a restaurant concept at existing Frankfort Avenue Church of Christ, located at 1901 Frankfort Avenue. This is a pre-application informational meeting. The meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. at 1901 Frankfort Avenue. If you cannot attend the meeting but have questions or concerns, please contact the applicant's attorney, Mr. William Bardenwerper at 426-6688.
Thursday, November 24 & Friday, November 25: Thanksgiving Holiday - all Metro offices are closed. All collections (garbage, yard waste and recyclables) are delayed.
Friday, November 25: Frankfort Avenue will host a special Holiday Hop on Black Friday. Trolleys will run extended hours from 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. to encourage hoppers to spend the day eating, drinking and shopping along the Avenue. Free trolleys will run along Frankfort Avenue from Cannons Lane to River Road, and many businesses will host music, refreshments and special sales. For more information, visit www.fatfridayhop.com.
Saturday, November 26: Small Business Saturday! Trolleys will run along Frankfort Avenue between Noon - 6:00 p.m.
Monday, November 28: Holiday shopping night at Just Creations, 2722 Frankfort Avenue, from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. to benefit United Crescent Hill Ministries. For more information, please click here.
Wednesday, November 30: Crescent Hill Library, 2762 Frankfort Avenue, to host Booked for Lunch? at 1:00 p.m. Bring your sack lunch and sample "food for the mind" and discuss The Circle by Dave Eggers. Questions, please contact the branch at 574-1793.
Wednesday, November 30: St. Matthews Library, 3940 Grandview Avenue, to host Lost Houses of Louisville at 2:30 p.m. Our city is known as a great place in which to live but we have also lost many fine homes due to fire, urban renewal, and demo for other newer buildings. The ‘lost’ Breckinridge / Caldwell House will be included in this presentation, as well as ‘lost’ Burks Houses as well. Steve Wiser will provide a stroll down memory lane of beautiful estates and streetscapes that once graced Louisville. Questions, please contact the branch at 574-1771.
Wednesday, November 30: Crescent Hill Library, 2762 Frankfort Avenue, to host eBay for sellers at 7:00 p.m. Join for an introduction to the world of selling on eBay. Questions, please contact the branch at 574-1793.
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