On Monday January 5th, members of the Democratic Caucus elected Councilman David James of District 6 to serve as Majority Leader and Caucus Chair for 2015. The Caucus also selected Councilwoman Madonna Flood from District 24 to serve as Vice-Chair.
James was first elected to the Metro Council in 2010 and then reelected in 2012. He represents the Old Louisville and California neighborhood area along with a portion of the University of Louisville.
In 2013, Councilman James served as Majority Leader and Chair of the Democratic Caucus and has chaired the Council’s Public Safety Committee.
 The Unity Holiday Celebration for District 6 was held on December 20th at California Leisure Park located at 963 Dixie Highway, and it was a great success.
The park was lit with Christmas lights for the community to enjoy. The River City Drum Corp jump started this event with a great performance. Those who attended where all able to hear the angelic voices of the First Gethsemane Praise Team and watch the graceful movements of their Dance Team.
A huge ending to the night was the arrival of Santa Claus himself to bring all great gifts for Christmas. And for one good little boy and one good little girl a bike was given away as well.
We look forward to making this Unity Holiday Celebration bigger and better this year with more lights and performers. And we hope to see you all in attendance, you never know what Santa might bring you!!
SPECIAL THANKS TO all volunteers for this event as well as Michael Scheser and Ronaldo of Ronaldo Designer Jewelry for the donation of the two bicycles.
Without you this event would not have been s success!!
The annual program that helps prevent disconnection from utility services for low income residents of Louisville begins Monday Jan. 12, 2015. LIHEAP, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, is operated by the Department of Community Services' Louisville Metro Community Action Partnership (CAP). The Crisis Phase of LIHEAP will run from Jan. 12 - March 31 or as long as available funds last.
Residents wishing to apply must have an appointment. Appointments must be scheduled in person beginning Jan. 8 between 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Jan. 9 between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. at the Urban Government Center, 810 Barret Ave, 40204.
Applicants must be Jefferson County residents with a household income at or below 130% of the federal poverty guidelines (e.g. for a household of four, the gross monthly income cannot exceed $2,584.00). For the Crisis Phase, applicants must have received a brown, disconnection notice from their utility service provider, or an eviction notice if their utilities are included in the rent.
The following documentation must be presented when scheduling an appointment:
1) Picture ID (if available)
2) Most recent LG&E bill (must be a brown bill), or an eviction notice if utilities are included in the rent
Starting Jan. 12, appointments will be issued at all three locations listed below on weekdays 8 a.m. - 1 p.m. based on funding and appointment availability. Upon registering for an appointment, residents will receive an appointment slip verifying the appointment date, time and location. (Note: All offices will be closed on Jan. 19 for MLK Day and the East Office is closed for LIHEAP on Fridays.)
Central Office -- Urban Government Center, 810 Barret Ave., Room 127, 40204; 502-574-1157
East Office -- Newburg Community Center, 4810 Exeter Ave., 40218; 502-574-1270
South Office -- Southwest Government Center, 7219 Dixie Hwy; 502-574-1272
The following documents must be presented at the time of the LIHEAP appointment:
• Picture ID for head of household (if available)
• Proof of all household income (all members) for the preceding month (food stamp award letter, Social Security award letter, pay stubs, etc.). All households with no income – and who do not receive food stamps -- must have a Proof of No Income form completed prior to applying for benefits. Forms are available at the 810 Barret office, Room 127 or at www.louisvilleky.gov (search for “LIHEAP”).
• Social Security card(s) or official documentation with social security numbers or Permanent Resident Card Numbers for everyone living in the household.
• Most recent heating bill or verification from landlord that heating expenses are included in the rent (i.e. lease agreements).
• Clients who receive a Utility Allowance must provide proof they have applied at least 80% of that payment to a utility.
Benefits provided by this program are paid directly to the applicant’s heating vendor.
Individuals who are unable to apply for this program in person may send a representative on their behalf with a note including the applicant’s signature and phone number. Call 574-1157 for more details on how this process works. Residents who are homebound -- which means a medical professional can verify they are confined to the home -- and who are unable to send a representative, may call 574-1274.
LG&E reminds customers that it is their responsibility to make arrangements to ensure continued service. Please contact LG&E’s customer service office at 589-1444 if you cannot make a payment in full and need to set up payment arrangements.
 The District 6 Satellite Office will have new hours for 2015. Currently the hours are Tuesday and Thursday from 10am to 2pm. Starting January 12th, the District 6 Satellite Office will be office only on Tuesday from 10 am to 2pm. For those who do not know, the address to the Satellite office is 219 West Ormsby Avenue. We welcome all to stop by during our new operational hours, and we thank you for your continued support.
If their are any question regarding the District 6 Satellite Office please feel free to contact our office at 502-574-1106.
 The Louisville Extreme Park will be closed from January 7 through January 21 to accommodate a major phase of construction work at the site.
The skate park, located just east of downtown at Clay and Witherspoon Streets, has been under renovation since May due to work on the Downtown Crossing of the Ohio River Bridges Project. Approximately one-third of the park was demolished to make way for construction of the flyover ramps that will support the new Louisville-Southern Indiana downtown bridge, and a new section of park is being reconstructed on adjacent property.
During the two-week closure, large-scale concrete work will be undertaken to connect the existing park with the new section. Sections of the park unaffected by the bridge work have remained open during the demolition and reconstruction period. The temporary closure in January is the first necessary closure of the entire park since the renovation work began.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has provided funding to Metro Government for this demolition and functional replacement. The project is expected to be completed by spring 2015.
 The new year has just begun and KIPDA has already released their meeting schedule for January. The first meeting will be held on January 7th at 11:30am in the KIPDA Conference Room. The KIPDA building is located at 11520 Commonwealth Drive. Since there is the possibility that a meeting could be canceled, relocated or rescheduled please call the KIPDA office in advanced at (502) 266-6084 to confirm a meeting prior to attending.
Kentuckiana Regional Planning and Development Agency will make every reasonable accommodation to assist qualified disabled persons in accessing available services or in attending agency activities. If there is a need for KIPDA to be aware of a specific accommodation, you are encouraged to contact this agency at least one week in advance of the meeting so that suitable arrangements can be considered for the delivery of the service or attendance requirement prior to the activity.
Please email jarrett.haley@ky.gov if you would prefer to receive this information by email.
The Louisville Metro Affordable Housing Trust Fund (LAHTF) is allocating $963,500 to the Habitat for Humanity of Metro Louisville (HfHML), River City Housing (RCH), and the Housing Partnership Inc. (HPI) for the purpose of providing 29 safe and affordable homes to first-time homeowners in Metro Council Districts 1-6,9,and 15. The funds are being dispersed from LAHTF’s HOMEbuyer Program, which makes homeownership affordable to low-income first-time homebuyers.
Approximately fifty percent of the $963,500 will be used by HfHML, RCH, and HPI to build and strengthen neighborhoods by converting vacant and abandoned properties into quality single-family affordable homes, one LAHTF’s priorities. Additionally, LAHTF will continue their commitment to serving very-low income households by ensuring that over fifty percent of the funding will go to assist interested low-income first-time working families earning fifty percent below of the area median income (AMI) in becoming homeowners.
The majority of the 29 homes will be completed and occupied with first-time homeowners within 12 months, and rest will be completed for new homeowners to move into by June 2016.
The LAHTF HOMEbuyer Program helps developers make high-quality homeownership affordable to low-income people by providing forgivable loans to homebuyers for down payments and closing costs. The program also provides assistance with development costs by providing assistance to cover the difference between development costs and appraisal. For more information about the LAHTF and its HOMEbuyer Program, please visit www.louisvilleahtf.org.
 Center For Neighborhoods is happy to announce the Neighborhood Institute Spring 2015!
Classes will be held at:
New Directions Housing Corporation
1000 East Liberty Street
January 27th - April 14th, 2015
(12 Consecutive weeks)
Every Tuesday
6:00 - 8:30 PM
Dinner provided.
The Neighborhood Institute Spring 2015 is open to all neighborhoods, Metro Council Districts and the whole community. There is no charge to attend.
The Neighborhood Institute is a neighborhood leadership-education program established in 1987 by the Center For Neighborhoods, a non-profit civic organization. The Neighborhood Institute equips neighborhood leaders with the resources necessary to effect positive change by acting through and with their neighborhood groups.
Each semester of Neighborhood Institute begins by identifying and assessing what class members view as being their most pressing issues. Topics often requested include:
• Getting Your Message Out
• Increasing Neighborhood Participation
• Conflict Resolution
• Working with Public Officials
• Consensus Building
• Accessing Resources
• Working with Local Government Agencies
• Organization Building
• Strategic Planning
• Planning, Zoning and Land Use Issues
• Code Enforcement
• Neighborhood Quality of Life
• Block Watch & Public Safety
Financial support for the Neighborhood Institute is generously provided by Louisville Metro Department of Community Services.
To register for the 12-week program, contact John at 502.589.0343 or johnh@centerforneighborhoods.org
Click on the Facebook icon at the bottom of this newsletter to follow Councilman James’ new Facebook page
Visit http://www.louisvilleky.gov/MetroPolice/Patrol+Divisions/ to sign up to receive the LMPD’s new crime alert update for your neighborhood. Simply select your LMPD division number, and click "Subscribe to Crime Alerts by Beat" to begin receiving the update.
Visit http://mapit.louisvilleky.gov/ and type in your address to find out when your junk pick-up date is as well as street cleanings and additional information.
If you would like to unsubscribe to this e-newsletter, please email wanda.smith@louisvilleky.gov with the subject "REMOVE". Thank you. |
