CITY OF WINDY HILLS

Minutes of Regular Council Meeting

February 8, 2021

The Council and Officers of the City of Windy Hills met virtually by Zoom, at 7:00 P.M.  Mayor Davis called the meeting to order.

ROLL CALL:  The following were present:

MAYOR	COUNCIL MEMBERS	OTHER CITY OFFICIALS
Helen M. Davis	Bruce Blue	Lisa Kraft
	Kate Greer	Attorney David Spenard
	Marcia Myers	Steve Teaford
	Marianne Rademaker
	Suzanne Spencer
	Laura Trachtenberg

MINUTES:

Councilman Blue moved to approve the minutes of January 25, 2021, Council meeting; seconded by Councilwoman Myers. The motion passed unanimously.

FINANCIAL REPORTS, APPROVAL OF BILLS:

The financial reports for January 2021 were moved for approval by Councilman Blue, seconded by Councilwoman Rademaker. The motion passed unanimously.

Councilwoman Myers moved to approve the January bills, totaling $41,582.66 and was seconded by Councilwoman Trachtenberg.  The motion passed unanimously.

RESIDENTS’ COMMENTS/CONCERNS:

 MAYOR’S REPORT:

Police Report: There were 105 hours of Police support. Most of the time was devoted to a single home located on Victoria. The resident was in rehab and is now home.

They also conducted 5 hours of traffic control radar resulting in no tickets or warnings. There was some disorderly conduct on Wicklow and the officer advised the young kids to go back into the house. New residents on Indian Ridge were advised not to park their cars overnight on the street. There was a homeless person who walked from downtown found wandering in the parking lot at Christ United Methodist Church. The officer sent him back downtown.

A light pole was hit at Ambridge and Itworth Court.

I was on the KLC hosted Mayor’s meeting with Governor Beshear discussing the rollout of vaccine and the amount of vaccine Kentucky will see on a weekly basis. The Governor reported his office is using a geographic cluster approach to disperse the vaccine across Kentucky.

We had a very productive meeting with the lawyers to bring them up to date about issues the City is still facing.

I sent an e-mail to the new Metro Police Chief and received a reply within 2 hours.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Finance/Ordinances:  Councilwoman Rademaker had nothing to report.

Code Enforcement – Steve Teaford:  Mr. Teaford reported he would be spending most of his time in February following up on previously registered Vacant and Rental homes that have not paid the fee. We have 17 properties in the City that need clarification.

Windy Hills Green/City Maintenance/Newsletter/Tree Board – Councilwoman Greer:

Councilwoman Greer reported the lien placed on the property on Foeburn, where the City had the tree removed, is now paid. The owner even sent a “Thank You” note to the Mayor for her patience.

Working with Bruce on the lights on the Green.

Newsletter – Councilwoman Myers:  Councilwoman Myers reported:

I sent out an eight-page print edition of the Newsletter and received positive feedback on the larger font. It included the Audit report and Code Enforcement Report as well as a clip-n-save waste pickup schedule.

I do not have a plan to send out a February Breeze. The deadline for the March issue will be March 10^th.

I monitor Next Door and have noticed quite a few new residents in Windy Hills. The Mayor asked if it would be helpful for the Council to have copies of the Welcome to Windy Hills packet to distribute to new residents.

Community Caring/Health & Fitness/Welcome to Windy Hills – Councilwoman Spencer:

Councilwoman Spencer reported the following items:

• Welcome to Windy Hills – 6 new residents in January.
• Community Caring – Little Libraries in the City – Working with Steve on Code Enforcement issues.

Public Works – Councilman Blue:

Councilman Blue reported there is bad weather with ice/snow on the way and he will be out driving around keeping an eye on the roads.  Call if you see anything that needs immediate attention.

Councilman Blue made a motion to renew the EcoTech contract for two more years. It was seconded by Councilwoman Greer. All specifications and prices remain the same for 2021-2023.

Roll Call Vote

Blue – Yes

Greer – Yes

Myers – Yes

Rademaker – Yes

Spencer – Yes

Trachtenberg – Yes

The motion passed unanimously.

Ordinances/Community Standards – Councilwoman Trachtenberg:  Councilwoman Trachtenberg had nothing to report.

City Clerk – Lisa Kraft:  Ms. Kraft reported she has received payment from 13 residents owing delinquent property taxes. The Attorneys will handle the remainder of delinquent property taxes.

NEW BUSINESS:  None

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:  None

ATTORNEYS COMMENTS:  David Spenard was in attendance tonight but had no report.

Comments/Questions to the Council as a Whole:  Resident Martha Davis asked the council to check the culverts behind the Brownsboro Shopping Center.  She reported that there was trash and debris.

 

Councilwoman Greer moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:28 P.M., seconded by Councilwoman Trachtenberg and the motion passed unanimously.

 

 

__­_____          __________________                                                ­­­­­_______________________

Helen M Davis, Mayor

Lisa Kraft, City Clerk

 

CITY OF WINDY HILLS

Minutes of Regular Council Meeting

March 8, 2021

The Council and Officers of the City of Windy Hills met virtually by Zoom. at 7:00 P.M., Mayor Davis called the meeting to order.

ROLL CALL:  The following were present:

MAYOR	COUNCIL MEMBERS	OTHER CITY OFFICIALS
Helen M. Davis	Bruce Blue	Lisa Kraft
	Kate Greer	Attorney Clay Barkley
	Marcia Myers	Steve Teaford
	Marianne Rademaker
	Suzanne Spencer
	Laura Trachtenberg

MINUTES:

Councilwoman Greer moved to approve the minutes of the February 8, 2021, Council meeting; seconded by Councilwoman Myers. The motion passed unanimously.

FINANCIAL REPORTS, APPROVAL OF BILLS:

The financial reports for February 2021 were moved for approval by Councilwoman Rademaker, seconded by Councilman Blue. The motion passed unanimously.

Councilwoman Rademaker moved to approve the February bills, totaling $42,429.24 and was seconded by Councilwoman Greer.  The motion passed unanimously.

RESIDENTS’ COMMENTS/CONCERNS:  Julie Mitchell Tyler introduced herself. She is on staff at Sojourn.

MAYOR’S REPORT:

Police Report: There were 101 hours of Police support. They conducted 5 hours of traffic control radar resulting in no tickets or warnings. There were a couple of reports of suspicious persons but no individuals were found.

“Office update:  As reported previously, Lisa sent out delinquent tax letters to our residents who have not paid. She has compiled a list of delinquent taxes so we can begin filing liens.

I was on a Zoom meeting with JCLC and the new Metro Police Chief. I thanked her for her quick response to my email regarding our “nuisance” property. Another Mayor asked her about dealing with properties that had drug issues. She explained that due to limited resources, Metro will not raid a property unless said property is associated with violence and guns. It is a “bang for bucks” theory.

She said cities should enforce their ordinances via civil courts and hold the property owners accountable. She said this is a very effective strategy that worked in Atlanta and this is the approach that I have taken as Mayor. I will let our lawyers update you on our outstanding issue.

The KLC hosted two Mayors’ Zoom meetings with Governor Beshear.   Governor Beshear and his Cabinet addressed the Covid updates As you know group, 1-C was eligible as of March 1, 2021. Apparently. Kentucky has been very effective in minimizing the deaths from Covid.  The Governor reported that we are in the top 10 states for the lowest per capita deaths. This is amazing considering the preexisting conditions that many Kentuckians have.

Finally, I am still working on a few outstanding issues. We are still working on the Indian Ridge property. I sent a letter regarding the rental ordinance to the executor of the estate. I did not get a response so I have turned it over to our lawyers. We are also working on a zoning issue on Kitty Hawk that our lawyers will discuss.

Per, Windy Hill Ordinance 37.070, I am proposing Pat Cole to fill the vacant position of Chair of the Ethics Board.”

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Finance/Ordinances:  Councilwoman Rademaker had nothing to report.

Code Enforcement – Steve Teaford:  Mr. Teaford reported he had sent out his February report. There are 59 rental homes and 16 are in Coach Gate. There are 4 vacant homes in Windy Hills. He will be sending out letters to owners with addresses outside of Windy Hills.

He reviewed the ordinances pertaining to the placement of Little Libraries for Councilwoman Spencer.

Windy Hills Green/City Maintenance/Newsletter/Tree Board – Councilwoman Greer:

Councilwoman Greer reported she had contacted Mike Hayman about pruning trees. Adam Vogelsang will begin the pruning tomorrow. She took down the water bags on the Green and Westport Road and they will be stored in Marianne’s garage until needed.

Adam Vogelsang fixed the lights on the entrance of Rudy Lane and Brownsboro Road.

Newsletter – Councilwoman Myers:  Councilwoman Myers reported:  No Windy Hills Breeze was sent in February, although office e-mails and an alert were sent regarding waste services during the storms.

The March issue will be an 8-page print edition. Deadline is noon on Wednesday, March 10th with a target of having it in the homes of Windy Hills residents and friends by Friday, March 19th. Ideas for articles and photos are always welcome from council members and residents. They can be sent to marcia.myers@cityofwindyhills.com or newsletter@cityofwindyhills.com

Community Caring/Health & Fitness/Welcome to Windy Hills – Councilwoman Spencer:

Councilwoman Spencer reported the following items:

• “Welcome to Windy Hills – We had 5 new residents in February.
• Community Caring – All existing Little Libraries are at least 18 or 19 feet from the road. I would advocate for grandfathering all of them in unless Steve sees reason not to. I have marked the following additional locations for discussion with residents, Council, and Steve Teaford. (Windy Hills Green along the south portion of the walk, 304 Foeburn, 726 Waterford, and the little Island on Clerkenwell).
• The Louisville Free Public Libraries will try to open again for regular use and may make it unnecessary for Windy Hills to have 4 Little Library locations. We would revise the number of our location requests if Council can approve one on the Green and one on the little Clerkenwell island. We will continue to seek resident approval if Council cannot approve those “public” locations.”

Public Works – Councilman Blue:

Councilman Blue reported:

• “The snow removal on the first snow Monday night, in my opinion, was not handled correctly.  The second snow on Thursday was handled correctly and I had no owners call me with any problems.  The first removal was entirely different.  Some complaints were correct some were not.  The snow, on some streets, was not removed in a timely manner.
• I had a couple of young boys shovel snow off an owner’s property and many thanked me.
• I feel we need to rebid the snow removal for 2022.  We need a detailed contract as to how snow is removed; when it is removed; where the sand is stored; how we pay for the sand; how billing is done; the time period when all streets will be treated; etc. These are just some areas for the bid.
• I am OK with the way Eco-Tech handled the pick-up of trash and recycling. I did not have any complaints, but a few calls with questions.  I misunderstood my conversation with Bryan Slade about the pick-up on the recycling.  I thought he told me both recycling and garbage would be picked up on Friday.  Only the garbage was picked up on Friday, and all the recycling was picked up on Tuesday.  I take responsibility for the mistake.  I did not have comments on the issue only when it would be done.  The garbage employees pulled the containers out of the frozen snow and ice.  They did a good job.
• I checked the issue of poor drainage behind the shopping center.  I do not find an issue with standing water.  There was some water on the west side in a long drainage area, but it looked normal. “

Ordinances/Community Standards – Councilwoman Trachtenberg:  Councilwoman Trachtenberg had nothing to report.

City Clerk – Lisa Kraft:  Ms. Kraft reported she has received payments from 13 residents owing delinquent property taxes. Liens will be filed on the remaining.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:  Councilwoman Spencer’s proposal – “Free Little Libraries” – postponed until the next Council meeting.

 NEW BUSINESS:  Councilwoman Greer made a motion to approve the appointment of Patrick Cole as new Ethics Board Chair, and was seconded by Councilwoman Trachtenberg.  There was discussion by the Council. The motion passed unanimously.

Councilwoman Trachtenberg made a motion to have Food Trucks scheduled once a month in Windy Hills. Councilwoman Greer seconded. The Mayor suggested Councilwoman Trachtenberg make a motion and come back to the Council with logistics worked out in April and shoot for May. Taking a cursory polling of the Council there are 5 in favor of the Food Trucks.

ATTORNEYS COMMENTS:  Attorney Clay Barkley reported there is a Bill in the Kentucky Legislature that will likely amend the Kentucky Open Records Act and the Kentucky League of Cities is in favor of the bill. They are working with Mayor Davis and Steve Teaford on Code Enforcement issues including Indian Ridge and Rental Ordinance violations.  The Board of Zoning Adjustments will hear the variance request case in Windy Hills and the firm is drafting a letter to present to the Board using the statute KRS 100.243 (1).

Comments/Questions to the Council as a Whole:  Resident Joyce Bridge made a comment about Food Trucks. Julie Mitchell Tyler added she thought Sojourn would be a good location for the Food Trucks.

 

Councilwoman Greer moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:00 P.M., seconded by Councilwoman Rademaker and the motion passed unanimously.

 

 

__­_____          __________________                                                ­­­­­_______________________

Helen M Davis, Mayor

Lisa Kraft, City Clerk

 

CITY OF WINDY HILLS

Minutes of Regular Council Meeting

April 12, 2021

The Council and Officers of the City of Windy Hills met virtually by Zoom. At 7:00 P.M., Mayor Davis called the meeting to order.

ROLL CALL:  The following were present:

MAYOR	COUNCIL MEMBERS	OTHER CITY OFFICIALS
Helen M. Davis	Bruce Blue	Lisa Kraft
	Kate Greer	Attorney Clay Barkley
	Marcia Myers	Steve Teaford
	Marianne Rademaker
	Suzanne Spencer
	Laura Trachtenberg

MINUTES:

Councilwoman Greer moved to approve the minutes of the March 8, 2021, Council meeting; seconded by Councilman Blue. The motion passed unanimously.

FINANCIAL REPORTS, APPROVAL OF BILLS:

The financial reports for March 2021 were moved for approval by Councilwoman Rademaker, seconded by Councilwoman Myers. The motion passed unanimously.

Councilwoman Myers moved to approve the March bills, totaling $43,462.72, and was seconded by Councilwoman Trachtenberg.  The motion passed unanimously.

RESIDENTS’ COMMENTS/CONCERNS:  None

MAYOR’S REPORT:

The Mayor reported for the Police Report: There were 107 hours of Police support but part of the listed activity was outside of Windy Hills. Again, most of the time was devoted to a single home located on house watch. There were 57 activities reported on the police watch and 41 of the activities were devoted to that house.

They also conducted 4. 5 hours of traffic control radar resulting in no tickets and 2 warnings. There was a fireworks complaint at a home on Wicklow Road. The resident said that they only shot off a “few” fireworks but it went on for several minutes and the neighbors called the Mayor because they thought it was gunshots.

She met with Chief Throneberry where he informed her that Graymoor-Devondale Police are raising the hourly rate again by $2 per hour. If we maintain the same contract, the cost will go up $2400 per year.

She reported that she was on a Mayors’ Zoom meeting with Governor Beshear where gave an update on the Covid vaccine rollout and the Federal Covid funds. Windy Hills should be receiving information from the State by Mid-May regarding City Covid allocations for 2021.

She was on a “virtual” lunch meeting with Congressman Yarmuth and other female Mayors in honor of International Women’s Month. She is working through the JCLC and Councilwoman Paula McCraney to schedule a meeting with Jefferson county small city officials to discuss all of the proposed LDC Reform Project changes. Many of the changes are “benign” or positive. Other changes would have a negative impact on our City. The specific sections include residential setbacks, land density issues, and ancillary dwelling issues. She will keep the city apprised of the proposed changes.

The Spectrum Franchise Agreement is up for renewal and we will address some of our quality of service issues before we sign a new contract.

There was vandalism of a small structure on the Pohl property.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

 Finance/Ordinances:  Councilwoman Rademaker reported she and the Mayor will begin working on the budget.

Code Enforcement:  Steve Teaford asked if there were any questions/comments pertaining to his report for March. He also reported he will be working on rental inspections. There are 62 rental homes, 17 are in Coach Gate, and there are 4 vacant homes.

He also stated that ” I am working with the owners of two homes to get them cleaned up so they won’t become a nuisance”.

Windy Hills Green/City Maintenance/Newsletter/Tree Board – Councilwoman Greer:

Councilwoman Greer reported there are 4 trees on Ambridge to be removed.

Windy Hills received Tree City Recognition again. She talked to Mike Hayman about pruning trees. Adam was working on the pruning but stopped until the trees finish budding out.  Adam Vogelsang is mulching.

Newsletter – Councilwoman Myers:  Councilwoman Myers reported:  In late March an eight-page print issue of the Windy Hills Newsletter was sent to all residents (approximately 1200 households). It is also posted on the Windy Hills website as part of the archive of back issues of print and digital newsletters.

The next two issues (April and May) will be the digital Windy Hills Breeze. The deadlines will be Wednesday,  April 14 and May 12th respectively. Since The Breeze is an e-mail, we can only take a maximum of about 6 articles before it gets too long. The Breeze works well for announcements and photos.

She also made the following motion:  “to move the Windy Hills community celebration from the 4^th of July to Saturday, September 25^th as a fall festival.  By that time, we hope to see most of our residents including many children vaccinated and a resulting decline of Covid cases allowing most of the normal parts of our annual celebration to be enjoyed safely”.  Councilwoman Rademaker seconded the motion.  The motion passed unanimously.

Community Caring/Health & Fitness/Welcome to Windy Hills – Councilwoman Spencer:

Councilwoman Spencer reported the following items:

• “Welcome to Windy Hills – We had 1 new resident in March.
• Community Caring – No report
• Windy Hills Green Amenities – Memorial Plaque honoring Foster Haunz is in progress. We have an inquiry about a new bench

Public Works – Councilman Blue:

Councilman Blue reported:  Working on road paving bids. No complaints about garbage or recycling this month.

Ordinances/Community Standards – Councilwoman Trachtenberg:  Councilwoman Trachtenberg reported about her Food Truck proposal. The truck would park in Sojourn Church’s parking lot on the 1st Monday in May as reported in the Windy Hills Newsletter.

City Clerk – Lisa Kraft:  Ms. Kraft reported there have been several resident calls about roosters crowing and chickens roaming free. Steve Teaford is addressing the problem.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:  Laura Trachtenberg – Food Trucks

NEW BUSINESS: None

ATTORNEYS COMMENTS:  Attorney Clay Barkley reported they are continuing to work on property nuisance issues with the Mayor and Steve, also working with the mayor on Open Records issues, and Pharma litigation.

Comments/Questions to the Council as a Whole:  None

 

Councilwoman Greer moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:01 P.M., seconded by Councilwoman Rademaker and the motion passed unanimously.

 

 

__­_____          __________________                                                ­­­­­_______________________

Helen M Davis, Mayor

Lisa Kraft, City Clerk

 

CITY OF WINDY HILLS

Minutes of Regular Council Meeting

May 10, 2021

The Council and Officers of the City of Windy Hills met virtually by Zoom. At 7:00 P.M., Mayor Davis called the meeting to order.

ROLL CALL:  The following were present:

MAYOR	COUNCIL MEMBERS	OTHER CITY OFFICIALS
Helen M. Davis	Bruce Blue	Lisa Kraft
	Kate Greer	Attorney Clay Barkley
	Marcia Myers	Steve Teaford
	Marianne Rademaker
	Suzanne Spencer
	Laura Trachtenberg

MINUTES:

Councilwoman Greer moved to approve the minutes of April 12, 2021, Council meeting; seconded by Councilwoman Myers. The motion passed unanimously.

FINANCIAL REPORTS, APPROVAL OF BILLS:

The financial reports for April 2021 were moved for approval by Councilwoman Rademaker, seconded by Councilwoman Trachtenberg. The motion passed unanimously.

Councilwoman Myers moved to approve the April bills, totaling $51,276.08, and was seconded by Councilwoman Greer.  The motion passed unanimously.

RESIDENTS’ COMMENTS/CONCERNS:  None

MAYOR’S REPORT:

Sent follow-up letters to two residents, one Deerfield Road and one on Indian Ridge Road. Continuing to work with the attorneys on Indian Ridge. We had another complaint about Deerfield Road, so I have asked Laura to handle that complaint. It concerns the tree that is partially in the road. Kate looked at the tree back in the fall.

Marianne and I have been working on the budget, spending hours reviewing the numbers, accounts, etc. The 1^st reading of the budget will be under New Business. We received the updated 2021 tax information from the PVA and those numbers were used for our budget projections.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

 Finance/Ordinances:  Councilwoman Rademaker will give her report with a discussion of the budget.

Code Enforcement:  Steve Teaford reported he has been busy with inspections of rental and vacant homes. The goal is to finish by the end of May.

Windy Hills Green/City Maintenance/Newsletter/Tree Board – Councilwoman Greer:

Councilwoman Greer reported Adam is mowing weekly and spraying weeds. The Tree Board is going to meet in July to discuss an educational activity for the September event. Cornerstone cut down 4 trees on Ambridge.

Newsletter – Councilwoman Myers:  Councilwoman Myers reported The Windy Hills Breeze was sent out to 717 residents Friday, April 16th, 58.7% of them opened it. It is also available to residents on our website under the “Residents” tab at https://cityofwindyhills.com/government/newsletters/

An additional reminder e-mail about the Food Truck opportunity was sent on Monday, May 3rd, and similar messages were posted on Next Door for Windy Hills and adjacent communities.

To improve the quality of our newsletter layout and provided a meaningful learning experience for a student, Mayor Davis and I have explored and secured the availability of a KCTC student to assist with our next issue. We would continue to use Minuteman Press to print a “print-ready” copy.

Our deadline for the May digital newsletter is Wednesday, May 12th at noon and for the June issue, it will be Wednesday, June 16th at noon.

Community Caring/Health & Fitness/Welcome to Windy Hills – Councilwoman Spencer:

Councilwoman Spencer reported the following items:

• “Welcome to Windy Hills – We had 5 new residents in April.
• Community Caring – No report
• Windy Hills Green Amenities – Memorial Plaque honoring Foster Haunz will be installed mid-May. His wife and daughter would like to be in attendance.

Public Works – Councilman Blue:

Councilman Blue reported:

• Street signs are repaired.
• The city engineer did a comprehensive report of the Windy Hills Streets. I would like to add potholes to the list. There was discussion about the engineer’s report amongst the council.
• No complaints about garbage or recycling.

 

Ordinances/Community Standards – Councilwoman Trachtenberg:  Councilwoman Trachtenberg reported about the Food Truck turnout. May have the Lobster Truck in June.

 

UNFINISHED BUSINESS: None

 NEW BUSINESS:

Ordinance No. 1, Series 2021/2022 – Ad Valorem Taxes – 1st Reading

Councilwoman Rademaker made a motion to have the 1st reading of the Ordinance and was seconded by Councilwoman Trachtenberg.  A roll call vote was held, and the motion passed unanimously. Mayor Davis read Ordinance No. 1 into the record.

Ordinance No. 2, Series 2021/2022 Budget – 1st Reading

A roll call vote was held, and the motion passed unanimously. Mayor Davis read Ordinance No. 2 into the record.

 

Proposal – Meet and Greet – Gathering of New Residents on the Green by Councilwoman Spencer

There was discussion amongst the Council. Councilwoman Spencer called for a Roll Call vote.

The vote was 5 no and 1 yes.

Councilwoman Greer made a proposal to have a shredding machine at the September event.  Need more information so postponed until June.

ATTORNEYS COMMENTS:  Attorney Clay Barkley said he would investigate a Storm Water Ordinance for Windy Hills.

Comments/Questions to the Council as a Whole:  None

 

Councilwoman Greer moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:58 P.M., seconded by Councilwoman Rademaker and the motion passed unanimously.

 

 

__­_____          __________________                                                ­­­­­_______________________

Helen M Davis, Mayor

Lisa Kraft, City Clerk

 

CITY OF WINDY HILLS

Minutes of Regular Council Meeting

July 12, 2021

The Council and Officers of the City of Windy Hills met at the Sojourn Community Church, 2501 Rudy Lane, at 7:00 P.M.  Mayor Davis called the meeting to order.

ROLL CALL:  The following were present:

MAYOR	COUNCIL MEMBERS	OTHER CITY OFFICIALS
Helen M. Davis	Bruce Blue – absent	Lisa Kraft
	Kate Greer	Attorney Clay Barkley
	Marcia Myers	Steve Teaford
	Marianne Rademaker
	Suzanne Spencer
	Laura Trachtenberg

MINUTES:

Councilwoman Greer moved to approve the minutes of the June 14, 2021, Council meeting; seconded by Councilwoman Myers. The motion passed unanimously.

FINANCIAL REPORTS, APPROVAL OF BILLS:

The financial reports for June 2021 were moved for approval by Councilwoman Rademaker, seconded by Councilwoman Myers. The motion passed unanimously.

Councilwoman Trachtenberg moved to approve the June bills, totaling $85,744.19, and was seconded by Councilwoman Greer. The motion passed unanimously.

RESIDENTS’ COMMENTS/CONCERNS:  

 Dannie Wallace:  Owns the property around the AT&T tower. He commented that 10 of the 20 trees, planted to replace removed bushes, have died. Mountain Cherry Laurels will not grow in direct sun and are not well suited to our climate.

Faye Gardner:  Lives on Highfield Road and has limbs hanging off a tree at the back of her property. The limbs are in the ROW and she is trying to find out how to get them cut down before they take out the cables underneath them.

MAYOR’S REPORT:

“I know we all missed our July 4th celebration but we are looking forward to our fall event. Marcia Myers will give us more details in her report.

The City was well represented at the June JCLC meeting at Independence Bank. We had an opportunity to network with our colleagues from other cities and we received a “shout out” for being so well represented.

I completed an open records request for the MSD records pertaining to drainage fees paid by our residents since 2009,  the projects completed, and the dollar amount spent in our city during this time frame. I have not received the requested documents. I did receive a notification that they are working on my request.

Our attorney, David Spenard, has facilitated a meeting with MSD, scheduled for July 13, to discuss our drainage concerns. I also replied to a resident’s email requesting information about drainage, etc. in Windy Hills.

I emailed and spoke at length with a resident regarding the pledged bank securities/assets that are held for the City of Windy Hills with the Federal Reserve. These assets cover the funds held at the bank that exceed the FDIC $250,000 insured limit. The resident and I discussed how the majority of cities because of ongoing reoccurring expenses, such as payroll, insurance, building maintenance, utilities, etc. would not be able to spread their city funds across multiple financial institutions and smoothly handle city business. I believe my answer was satisfactory.

Bruce Blue and I met with the owner of Brownsboro Lawn Care to discuss the snow removal bills. Bruce will update the Council in his report.

I filed the required annual state paperwork so we can continue to receive State funds for police protection. I also completed the state-required quarterly unemployment forms and returned the Purdue Pharma settlement forms. I agreed to complete a compensation survey for the City of Prospect. They will share the survey results with us.

I am continuing to work on 726 Indian Ridge.

Police Report: There were 105 hours of Police support. We had one dog attack. There were 12 ½ hours of radar and traffic control on Ambridge and Rudy with 3 warnings. The police made multiple checks at the Brownsboro Shopping Center. Two houses were on house watch for 2 weeks, the police helped 2 motorists with flat tires, and 2 residents were cited for overnight parking. There was a report of loud music on Bonfire but the police did not hear it.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Finance/Ordinances:  Councilwoman Rademaker reported we are patiently waiting for the Covid funds. The City ended the year in a surplus.

Code Enforcement:  Steve Teaford reported he has been busy working with 3 different residents on correcting violations of the Community Standards. This is especially important because we have had complaints from rental property owners that we hold our resident-occupied homeowners to a lower standard.  We want to treat all property owners equally.

Windy Hills Green/City Maintenance/Newsletter/Tree Board – Councilwoman Greer:

Councilwoman Greer reported The Tree Board is going to meet on July 21st to discuss an educational activity for the September event. Adam mulched the Green and pruned the shrubs. Cornerstone pruned and mulched the trees the City planted on Ambridge, but the mulch needed to be spread out. Working on a legal ad to advertise for bids for City Beautification and Maintenance. The Witch Hazel tree on Rudy is dying and will need to be replaced.  Need to talk to Rick Grismer from LG&E and find out the name of the Nursery where they bought the trees. Zelkova trees would be a hardier replacement for Westport Road.

Newsletter – Councilwoman Myers:  Councilwoman Myers reported our June edition print issue of the newsletter was sent to all residents in late June. Although the copy was submitted as print-ready ahead of the deadline, the mailing was delayed by a week due to staff shortages at Minuteman. Because we will be on a critical timeline in September in order to get the word out about the Fall Festival, we cannot have a recurrence of this delay.

KCTC student Kyle Shook did the layout for us this time. He is available to do our September issue as well, but it is likely that we will periodically have new students if we continue this method.

She welcomes feedback about the layout, format, fonts, etc. for this and previous issues.

We have already had several responses to our request for garden photos and will publish those photos in future issues of The Breeze where they can be enjoyed in full color. They can also be displayed on our website.

Our next issue will be a digital Breeze. July 28th deadline for Breeze to be sent by July 30th and September 1st deadline for the print issue to be in homes by September 11th.

Fall Festival Report and Recommendations: ” Kate Greer, Joyce Bridge, and I met on June 30th to discuss plans for the Fall Festival and consider adaptations in light of Covid and the combined fall event.

We are trying to meet community expectations of including all of the valued elements of the 4th of July Event, the Ice Cream Social, and Arbor Day while adjusting for Covid safety (especially for unvaccinated children).

Parade – Families will be asked to group together and stay 6 feet apart from others for a slow-paced parade, not a race. Forest theme for the decoration of bikes, costumes – “Woodland Creatures” (animals, fairies and elves, trees, plants).

This must be a completely outdoor event for Covid safety. All dining outside. Participants only go inside to get their food and use bathrooms. No tables set up inside (beyond serving tables). This must be publicized and monitored.

In order to encourage participants to enjoy the event from their socially distanced space on the lawn, we will reorient set up to a dinner theatre or amphitheater style with band and speakers on the side porch facing Rudy Lane and participants and blankets, chairs arranged across the lawn. Kid’s zone under the trees at the far end like last year. 1 narthex door for band and speakers. Separate door from the small room off serving room for those getting food. Ice cream on the circular drive as usual. Shredding in the back parking lot. Registration and food drop off outside so that participants stay outdoors until invited in to get food.

Because the number of participants is an unknown (with different time of year and Covid concerns), reservations for food will be essential. Residents are welcome and encouraged to come regardless but must reserve to get a meal. At registration, those who come will be checked off the list and given hand stamps to admit them to the meal line.

At this time, it appears that a potluck buffet will be allowed by health officials, but food must be served (not self-served). If conditions were to change making the potluck unwise, we are asking the caterer to estimate both a partial and a completely catered picnic. Our preference is the usual potluck.

Crafts and other activities during which children bunch around a table and share supplies cannot take place.

We must discourage people from congregating, so recommend we not rent a tent this year, but look at other options to keep cool. Since there is more shade later in the day, the picnic will be held from  – 4:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m., on Saturday, September 25.  The Council likes that idea and the vendors are available at the later time. If it rains and we cannot have an outdoor event, we will have a curbside food pickup.

The Tree Board will arrange an educational event and children’s activity (treasure hunt).

In addition, resident volunteers will be asked to oversee Covid-compliant games such as balancing small pumpkins on head relay, ring toss, etc.”

Community Caring/Health & Fitness/Welcome to Windy Hills – Councilwoman Spencer:

Councilwoman Spencer reported the following items:

• ‘“Welcome to Windy Hills – We had 2 new residents in June.
• Community Caring – No report
• Windy Hills Green Amenities – The Waters family was in town from Florida and we met regarding their purchase of a memorial bench with a plaque naming their parents who were long-time residents of Windy Hills. They understand they will be paying for the bench itself and for all materials and labor to install it.’

 Public Works – Councilman Blue:

Councilman Blue reported:  “Kate asked me to look into the cost of hiring a shredding company to come to our event.  After several calls, the cheapest I found for a Saturday is a flat rate for a truck to be on site, $300 per hour (this is a fee of $250.00 plus fuel charge and additional costs) and you must book months in advance. Not cost-effective.

Recycling has been successful with no complaints that were not solved or were not really an issue.  Garbage had two complaints, but I hopefully solved them.

The mayor asked me to attend a meeting with Brownsboro Lawn Care concerning the cost for the winter of 2020-2021 snow and ice service.  We both felt that the bill was too high for the work done.  The mayor had detailed information on weather, snow, and ice that was discussed.  After some back and forth discussion and negotiating, the decision was to pay Brownsboro Lawn Care $30,000, and end the problem.  The Mayor approved this amount.  As I discussed last meeting, there will be a specific detailed form that the next snow/ice removal and treatment company will have to follow.  Adam also stated that he needed someone to call in the middle of the night to work or not work.  I told Adam to call me day or night and I would approve or not approve what to do.

I was told the issue on Copperfield about the hole in the asphalt and breaking of the curb was neither a MSD or a Louisville Water Company problem.  With the OK from the engineer and the Mayor,  I hired Hall Contracting to find out if the issue belongs to Windy Hills’ or if it is a MSD/LWC problem.  I talked with Roscoe our contact with Hall Contracting and he is going to start on Wednesday.”

Ordinances/Community Standards – Councilwoman Trachtenberg:  Councilwoman Trachtenberg reported about the Food Truck turnout in June. The truck, Alchemy, was late in arriving. She is working with residents on a tree in the right-of-way.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS: None

NEW BUSINESS:  None

ATTORNEYS COMMENTS:  Attorney Clay Barkley responded to the following issues:  MSD meeting with attorney and Mayor, and we are working on an ordinance on swales/drainage.

Comments/Questions to the Council as a Whole:

Addison Sandefur asked about the MSD meeting the Mayor spoke about in her report.

Ralph Williams made the comment that the workspace around the metro recycling property looks terrible.

 

Councilwoman Greer moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:45 p.m., seconded by Councilwoman Trachtenberg and the motion passed unanimously.

 

 

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Helen M Davis, Mayor

Lisa Kraft, City Clerk