It’s no secret that Louisville Metro and other city and county governments across the state face dramatically rising pension costs. Unfortunately, the ability to raise revenue to meet them is severely limited by state law. What’s worse, some of the options the state allows for other communities, including a restaurant tax, are currently prohibited in Louisville. Why should cities like Elizabethtown be able to tax out-of-towners who eat at restaurants there, while Louisville is forbidden to do that?

Rising costs without new revenue have already led to reduced Metro services, including fewer police officers, firefighters, library services and many more.  Pension costs will continue to rise in the coming years and a bipartisan group of Louisville’s leaders – and local governments across the state - have been asking Frankfort for help. 

We need Louisville citizens to get involved in this effort! Please contact your state legislators and ask them to support efforts for additional local government revenue options.  Find your state senator and representative at this link, and contact them by phone or email to ask them to work with local officials to find a solution that will pay the bills without crippling cuts in Metro services.

There’s still time to drop off your live Christmas tree and loose leaves. Drop-off sites are available for all Louisville/Jefferson County residents at four locations. The Hubbards Lane site will also instantly recycle Christmas trees into mulch that will be offered back to citizens for home use. Those wishing to receive mulch must bring an appropriate container in which to carry it. All lights and ornaments should be removed from trees before they are set out or dropped off. Residents may also drop off loose leaves. Containers used to bring leaves to the drop-off sites must be disposed of off-site by residents.

DROP OFF LOCATIONS

Tuesday-Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Waste Reduction Center will close at 3 p.m. on Saturdays

Open now through January 31

• East District Recycling Center, 595 N. Hubbards Lane
• Public Works Yard, 10500 Lower River Road (enter from Bethany Lane)
• ShawneePark, 4501 W. Broadway (by Little League baseball field in rear of park)
• Waste Reduction Center, 636 Meriwether Avenue 

At a recent neighborhood meeting, I was asked about the status of two large Louisville Water Company projects. Here’s an update:

Lexington Road/Stilz Avenue Project

Louisville Water is in the midst of restoring a nearly 100-year-old 48-inch transmission, in an effort known as the Eastern Parkway Project. In D9, the project runs along Lexington Road from Grinstead to Stilz Avenue and Stilz Avenue between Lexington and Grinstead.  This is a major project that requires two critical steps cleaning the existing main and then “slip-lining” a new main into the old pipe.  The pipeline construction is complete on Stilz Avenue.  Crews are currently working on Lexington Road between Grinstead and Upland. 

LWC has completed roughly 40% of the project and, barring future complications, it hopes to complete construction and final restoration by May.  Paving restoration will be the final step. More on the entire project here.

Crescent Hill Generator Project

Louisville Water’s project to construct an emergency generator at the Crescent Hill Treatment Plant is roughly 85% complete.  The new traffic lights have been installed and they expect the construction to be complete around April 1.  Final restoration, including the planting of new trees, will follow final construction in early summer. More on this project here.

Louisville Water greatly appreciates your understanding as it works to complete these important projects. 

For more than six months now, contractors for Verizon have been installing fiber in sidewalks and streets in D9.   We first wrote about this in our August 1, 2019 eNews.  Since that time, we’ve dealt with multiple sidewalk closures, lane closures, sewer interruptions, and other issues. The work has moved to more and more streets and has now impacted Frankfort Avenue, Brownsboro Road and Story Avenue.

This week, I met with representatives of Verizon and its contractor to discuss the project and express concerns about its impacts on businesses and residents.   We will continue to monitor the work and do all we can to minimize the disruptions.  At the end of the project, all impacted sidewalks and streets are to be restored to their original condition.  That means, among other things, that all gravel and asphalt patches on sidewalks will be removed and replaced with concrete.

Work will accelerate soon, as fiber is pulled through conduit that has been installed. Please exercise caution on the sidewalks and streets as the work continues and let my office know if you see issues that need to be addressed.

My office is partnering with the Louisville Asset Building Coalition (LABC) to provide FREE tax preparation services again in 2020. The service is FREE if you earned $66,000 Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) or less in 2019 or if you qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Call the appointment line to see if you qualify and make your appointment! Appointments at United Crescent Hill Ministries, 150 S. State Street, will be available on Fridays beginning January 24 through April 10 between 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Please call the appointment line at 502-305-0005 to make an appointment and please share this with anyone you think may be eligible. Click here to view brochure. If you have any issues making appointments, please contact my assistant at 574-3908. Click here to view the flyer.                 

Do you instead file your own taxes? Through the LABC website there are two options to self-file online. The “Intuit Turbo Tax Freedom Edition” is available if you have $33,000 or less in income. The software has a well-designed interview process that guides you through the process of making decisions about your filing status, inputting your income and making decisions about deductions and tax credits for which you may qualify. The other option is “H&R Block My Free Taxes”, which is available if you make $66,000 or less. This program is developed by H&R Block and uses an interview process. Please visit https://labcservices.org/index.php/free-tax-help/do-you-qualify, for more information.

Communities are stronger when people of many backgrounds have opportunities to dialogue with each other and with police. Those conversations can lead to better relationships, more equitable treatment by the police, greater police responsiveness and accountability, and greater willingness of residents to work with police. Communities can be safer for everyone.

In Louisville, we’re asking everyone to work to bridge police and community member relationships by taking part in the "Synergy Project."  The program’s public phase has just launched, after work by a steering group, composed of community members, officials and religious leaders. More about the project is in this Courier-Journal story, click here.

Please take part in these public meetings, to learn more about impediments to better relationships and to be part of the solution.  Future action sessions are scheduled for the following dates:

• Jan. 25 from 1-2:30 p.m. at the Portland Library, 3305 Northwestern Parkway
• Feb. 11 from 7-8:30 p.m. at The Salvation Army, 911 S. Brook St.
• Feb. 18 from 6-7:30 p.m. at the House of Ruth, 607 E. St. Catherine St.
• Feb. 24 from 6-7:30 p.m.  at the New Directions Housing Corporation, 1617 Maple St.

More will be scheduled and publicized on LMPD's Facebook page here. For more information, visit leanintolouisville.org/synergyproject.

Did you know Louisville is losing 54,000 trees each year from development, natural disasters, disease, invasive species and lack of tree care?

The Crescent Hill Garden Club wants to help restore the tree canopy by donating Appalachian Red Redbuds, a Kentucky native species, for planting in the neighborhood.

All Crescent Hill residents are eligible to receive free redbud trees to plant in the Crescent Hill area. Trees will be available for planting in early spring. Planting assistance will also be available if needed.

Help reverse the decline of tree cover and plan to plant a tree this spring! Trees not only beautify the neighborhood; they cool it down as well.

Those interested can contact Judy Gogan at 502.899.1899, goganonhill@aol.com or Todd Abell at 502.235.8006, t.abell64@gmail.com to sign up or for more information.

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. 

The Butchertown, Phoenix Hill and NuLu Neighborhood Plan process has kicked off. Please see below links to the project website, an online survey for residents, and more.

The first public meeting is set for Wednesday, January 29 from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. at Waterfront Botanical Gardens, 1435 Frankfort Avenue.

Project website: www.BPNplan.com

Online survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/bpnplan

Presentation: http://bpnplan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/19-0911-BPN-Plan-Neighborhood-Advisory-Group-Meeting-1-Web.pdf

Café LOUIE is back in 2020 to connect citizens to their elected representatives. From 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. each Saturday morning through March 21, participants are offered refreshments and conversation.  Elected officials will be given a brief time for prepared remarks and to answer a few pre-selected questions submitted by attendees.  The focus of these meetings is engagement through personal conversations. Every Café LOUIE is open to the public. I will be participating at D9 events on February 15 at the Crescent Hill Library and February 29 at the St. Matthews Library. Learn more about each week’s schedule at https://www.facebook.com/CafeLOUIE/.

The Miracle League of Louisville is a baseball league and complex located in Fern Creek Park which serves all children and adults with physical, cognitive, and/or emotional disabilities in Kentuckiana. The league is now seeking volunteers for the upcoming 2020 spring baseball season.  Volunteer opportunities include being a Buddy (each player in the league has their own Buddy who assists them on the field and in the dugout for each game), coach, assistant coach, umpire, team mom, or general game day help.  The spring baseball season games will be played on Saturdays from April 11, 2020 through June 13, 2020 with the exception of Derby Day and Memorial Day. The volunteer commitment will require a minimum of one hour, or longer if interested each week.  If interested in volunteer opportunities, or you have any questions, please visit www.miracleleaguelouisville.org.