CITY OF WINDY HILLS

Minutes of Regular Council Meeting

October 14, 2019

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	Sandy Moore
	Kate Greer	Jim Hodge
	Marcia Myers	Steve Teaford
	Marianne Rademaker
	Suzanne Spencer
	Laura Trachtenberg

MINUTES:

Councilwoman Greer moved to approve the minutes of the September 9, 2019, Council meeting; seconded by Councilman Bruce and approved unanimously.

FINANCIAL REPORTS, APPROVAL OF BILLS:

The financial reports for September 2019 were moved for approval by Councilwoman Trachtenberg, seconded by Councilwoman Rademaker, and approved unanimously.

Councilwoman Rademaker moved to approve the September bills, totaling $35,353.23 and was seconded by Councilwoman Trachtenberg.   The motion passed unanimously.

RESIDENTS’ COMMENTS/CONCERNS:  Resident Ralph Williams, addressed the Council with concerns over the poor service from Spectrum Cable Company.  Mayor Davis stated that she reported this issue at the Kentucky League of Cities meeting. Resident, Jim Ising, stated that Operation Brightside Cleanup will be on October 19 and will be meeting at Stock Yards Bank parking lot at 9:00 am.  He encouraged all to attend.  Mayor Davis thanked Mr. Ising for his help with this project.

MAYOR’S REPORT:  The September Police report:  126 hours of Police support, although only 118 hours were actually in Windy Hills.  There were 4 hours of house watch, which was a major decline from prior months.   Radar monitoring of 77 hours resulted in 3 parking citations and 4 warnings.  Based on residents’ complaints, we increased targeted overnight parking enforcement.  She advised the residents at 744 Wicklow Rd. that they were in violation of the parking ordinance and will be ticketed if they are not in compliance.

The remainder of the Mayor’s report is summarized as follows:

• Attended the Kentucky League of Cities Conference, September 24-27. She reported on these workshops:
  • KLC Investment Pool – William Seifrit, VP of PNC, will attend the November or December caucus meeting to explain more about this program.
  • Audits 101 – Learned more about the MDA (Management Discussion and Analysis). After a discussion with the Somerset City Manager, she has been working on the City’s MDA and will finish after she receives the draft auditor’s report.  She also stated that if the City received FEMA funds, the City would be required to complete an additional single audit for the Federal Government.
  • Energizing your younger residents – Included discussion on grants for shopping centers to plant container flowers and shade trees, ideas for city parks or green spaces, programming (such as movies on the Green), and more flowers to provide visual “pop”.
  • Cracker Barrel Networking – Helping the Public Works officer identify streets for repaving, census update, and a one-on-one with the KLC legal team to discuss the Green (state law says the Council cannot restrict any future councils) – Chris Johnson, KLC Municipal Law Attorney, said he would be glad to talk to any council members if they still had questions.
  • Mayor and City Clerk Handbooks – The City should have a handbook for each position. Jim Ising had started one and Mayor Davis will use this as a starting point.  The Kentucky Municipal Clerk’s Association (KMCA) will assist with the clerk’s handbook.
• Auditors – In office on September 10 and 11. Questioned why City Maintenance /Green account was over budget.  The City should have had a budget hearing to reallocate those funds, but moving forward the categories have been realigned for the 2019-2020 budget so we will not have to have a hearing.
• Attorney Hodge has filed the delinquent tax liens.
• Mayor Davis and Councilman Blue will attend a free Safety Improvements for Road Seminar on October 14, 2019.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Code Enforcement:  Steve Teaford asked if there were any questions/comments pertaining to his report for September.  There were no comments.  He also reported that there is one new rental.

City Maintenance/Windy Hills Green/Tree Board – Councilwoman Greer:  Councilwoman Greer reported on the following items:

• Tree Board meeting was held on Thursday, October 3.
• Cheri Silvey-Slusher, with the Tree Board, will notify the winners of the trees and they will be planted later in the year provided we get rain.
• City Arborist advised that all trees are in need of water, even well-established trees.
• Getting bids on removing dying trees on Ambridge, but may delay replacing.
• Councilwoman Greer has advised Brownsboro Landscaping to water the vegetation at all the entrances until the drought is over and to slow down on cutting the grass.
• Indian Ridge resident who was instructed to cut down a dangerous tree will have said tree replaced by the City when the weather is more suitable.

Newsletter – Councilwoman Myers:  Councilwoman Myers reported that the print edition of the newsletter was mailed the week of September 16th.  She and Kate Greer are streamlining the newsletter process and have extra copies to share with new residents and others.  The October Breeze deadline is Wednesday, October 16 and will be emailed to residents on October 17th or 18th.  The future deadlines are:  The Breeze – November 13 – in homes November 15.  The Print edition – December 11 – in homes December 20.  Councilwoman Myers also reported she is gathering policies and information from other cities regarding Social Media and communications.

Community Caring/Welcome to Windy Hills – Councilwoman Spencer:   Councilwoman Spencer reported there are 7 new residents.  She also reported that November 10 has been designed by Sojourn Church as a “help day” for seniors and others in need to receive help with fall clean-up jobs around their yards.  An article will be in the Breeze regarding this.  If the Church begins a snow removal program, info will be included in the print edition of the newsletter.  She is working on a new Community Caring initiative with a Windy Hills resident and individuals in the medical community to check on residents who are living alone.  She also reported there may be a donor for a new bench on the Green dedicated to the KY Orchid Society.  She stated that two Windy Hills residents will be assisting her with the holiday decorations starting in November.

Finance – Councilwoman Rademaker:  Councilwoman Rademaker reported that the City is receiving the 2019 property taxes.  She also stated that First Financial Bank has provided the City with a collateralized agreement to protect any accounts above the FDIC limits of liability.

Public Works – Councilman Blue:  Councilman Blue reported:

• Brownsboro Landscaping removed a large possum near Rudy and Ambridge
• Contacting LIBs paving to patch a few missed areas.
• Reported to Eagle Sign a loose sign on Kitty Hawk.
• Purchased a paint to cover graffiti on sign on Wexford Place and will go back to cover an additional one.
• Two flooding areas have now been repaired.
• Louisville Water has not finished the repair problem on the Green.
• Some Winter Issues to consider:
  • If irrigation system freezes in the winter – call Lawnco to repair – although it is drained in the fall.
  • If large trees need removal from winter storms, call Ken Jones with Kentucky Tree Service although Metro has been taking care of emergency storm tree work.
  • Brownsboro Lawn Care takes care of storm damage and does the City’s snow removal.
  • Power outages call LG&E power interruption line (589-1444). They have maps that show where outages are located.  Or, text:  Outage to 4LGEKU (454358)
• Area by the bridge on Rudy is still being reviewed for repair.
• Will be attending the JCLC October meeting.

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

UNFINISHED BUSINESS: None.

NEW BUSINESS: None

ATTORNEY’S REPORT:  Attorney Hodge reported that Metro is in the final stage of appealing the decision in the lawsuit regarding Metro waste services.

Comments/Questions to the Council as a Whole:   Jodi Smiley stated she will help with the cul-de-sac and Greenbriar landscaping.

Councilwoman Greer moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:44 P.M., seconded by Councilwoman Rademaker and the motion passed unanimously.

 

__­_____          __________________                                                ­­­­­_______________________

Helen M Davis, Mayor

Sandy Moore, City Clerk