REGULAR MEETING
March 10, 2015
4:30 PM
CITY OF HURSTBOURNE
304 WHITTINGTON PARKWAY / SUITE 100
LOUISVILLE, KY
Mayor Mary Schneider called the meeting to order.
ROLL CALL
C.A.O. Leidgen conducted the roll call. A quorum of the Commission was present.
Present: Mary Schneider, Mayor
Earl Hubbuch, Commissioner
Ben Jackson, Commissioner
Lois Wagner, Commissioner
Rusty Wells, Commissioner
Others Jim Leidgen, C.A.O.
Present: John Singler, City Attorney
Chris Crumpton, City Engineer
Faye Tanner, Recording Secretary
PLEDGE
The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mayor Schneider.
RECOGNITION OF GUESTS
Ms. Kelli Jones of Sabak, Wilson & Lingo, Inc. and Mr. Don Feibel of 6175 Emerald Parkway, Dublin, Ohio, were present to discuss their plans to construct a new restaurant named City Barbeque at 329 Whittington Parkway. Ms. Jones explained that they are in the process of preparing the plans for the approval of Louisville Metro before returning to Hurstbourne for final approval. They will be asking for a variance to exceed the maximum setback requirement and three waivers: 1) to allow an existing easement to overlap the Parkway Buffer by more than 50%; 2) to allow more than 120’ between Interior Landscape Islands; and to allow the principal building entrance to be located on the side of the wall. Their plan is to tear down the existing building and to reconfigure the parking lot. Commissioners expressed concern about the back of building and said they would need to see a landscape plan before approval is given. Ms. Jones said they would do that and make any other changes required by the Board of Zoning Adjustment.
Metro Council Member Marilyn Parker was present to give an update on some of the projects she is working on in her district. Those include the construction of sidewalks, including the ADA project in Hurstbourne; a Greenway Trail connecting under Hurstbourne Parkway at Tom Sawyer Park; parking lot, sidewalk and trees at Sawyer Park; and improvements at the Bluegrass Center for Autism.
The Commissioners asked Councilwoman Parker for assistance in getting the I-64 sound-barrier wall extended. She will look into this and report back to the City.
Brian Evans of Jefferson Development presented the latest renderings of the proposed apartment complex at the 9500 and 9502 Williamsburg Plaza which has been reviewed by the Louisville Metro Planning Commission Land Development and Transportation Committee. The Planning Commission has recommended to Hurstbourne that the proposed Detail District Development Plan be approved with certain revisions. At Commissioner Wagner’s suggestion, Mr. Evans agreed to increasing and changing the location of a wall in order to better screen the development from certain homes on Nottingham Parkway. Attorney Singler presented for discussion Municipal Order 15-14, A Municipal Order Relating to the Approval of a Detailed District Development Plan and Related Revision to the General Development Plan Binding Elements and Waivers on Property Located at 9500 and 9502 Williamsburg Plaza, Containing 5.34 Acres, Which Property is a Portion (Parts of Lots One and Two) of the Property Previously Rezoned in Planning Commission Case Number 13545; Being in the City of Hurstbourne (Case Number 14DEVPLAN1169). This MO approves several waivers, a change in Binding Element 32, and included additional binding elements. Commissioner Jackson made the motion to approve MO 15-14. His motion was seconded by Commissioner Hubbuch; motion carried.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Commissioner Jackson, after making some minor corrections, made the motion to approve the minutes with the changes. His motion was seconded by Commissioner Hubbuch. Motion carried.
TREASURER’S REPORT – Treasurer Bennett
No report.
BUSINESS ITEMS
No Business Items.
ATTORNEY’S REPORT – Attorney Singler
It was decided to postpone the discussion of a data back-up policy until a later meeting.
CITY ENGINEER’S REPORT – Engineer Crumpton
Mr. Crumpton reported that he has forwarded the revised entrance plans to Lawrence & Associates for new pricing but has not yet heard from them.
The information required for the ADA Sidewalks Project will be forwarded as soon as possible to Metro Council Member Marilyn Parker.
No response from the LDS Church has been received regarding the request for an easement to construct an entrance sign at Hurstbourne Parkway and Linn Station Road.
ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT – C.A.O. Leidgen
C.A.O. Leidgen stated he has received calls and e-mails regarding the sightings of skunks and coyotes, and requests for the City to help in the eradication of this problem. After a discussion, it was decided the City could not help in this matter for a number of reasons. It could open up requests for assistance in eliminating squirrels, moles, etc., and there was also potential liability because traps that are set might catch dogs or other household pets.
C.A.O. Leidgen presented the Resident Call Log and noted that most of the calls pertained to road issues and missed trash pickups after the recent large snow storm. In addition to complaints regarding the snow removal, the city had also received a number of compliments. Commissioner Wells said he thought there were entirely too many complaints with the snow removal through no fault of the City Office or of the contractors. He said the main streets were plowed as quickly as possible, but he held off on the secondary roads because of the expected warm-up in temperatures. He apologized for the problems when residents on those secondary streets tried to get out the next day.
Mr. Leidgen distributed a draft of a letter to go to residents about the REACH Alert program which will be implemented to communicate timely information to residents. He asked the Commissioners to give him suggestions for this letter, and also encouraged them to sign up for the system as soon as possible in order to test how it will work.
MAYOR’S REPORT – Mayor Schneider
No report.
PUBLIC SAFETY REPORT – Commissioner Hubbuch
Commissioner Hubbuch reported that the annual test of the tornado warning siren network was conducted this morning in Metro Louisville, including Hurstbourne.
CODE ENFORCEMENT/SANITATION REPORT – Commissioner Wagner
Commissioner Wagner reported that a previous bookkeeper for the City, Kathy Petricek, had recently passed away. She recommended the Commission recognize her service to the City of Hurstbourne. It was then decided that a letter on behalf of the Commission be sent to her family.
Commissioner Jackson stated that since bids will be taken soon for a new trash and recycling contract, he would like to include in those specifications the cost for a large recycle tote rather than the smaller ones that are now used. After discussion, it was decided to include that as a possible option in the new specifications along with other possible options.
PUBLIC WORKS REPORT – Commissioner Wells
Commissioner Wells and Mayor Schneider recently met with Greenscapes, who has the City’s irrigation contract, and with the City horticulturist. The irrigation system is in bad shape, and there was discussion as to the best and most economical way to replace it. It will save the City if the supplies are purchased separately through a wholesale supplier, and new technology would allow the systems to turn off automatically which would reduce the amount of water that is used. Commissioner Wells said upgrading the City’s irrigation system will save over $4,000 annually per segment in water and servicing, and there are five segments for a savings of more than $20,000.
After discussion, Commissioner Jackson made the motion to advertise for bid to initially replace two segments. His motion was seconded by Commissioner Hubbuch. Motion carried.
Commissioner Wells brought up the possibility of installing bike lanes on certain streets in the City. During discussion, there were several advantages and disadvantages mentioned for the bike lines. This will be brought up again in the future for further discussion.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Commissioner Jackson made the motion that the Commission go into closed session according to KRS 61.810(1) (b) for deliberations on the possible acquisition of real estate. His motion was seconded by Commissioner Hubbuch. Motion carried.
On the Commission’s return from closed session, it was stated that the Commission discussed the possible acquisition of real estate and no action had been taken in closed session.
ADJOURNMENT
At 7:20 p.m. Commissioner Wells made the motion to adjourn. His motion was seconded by Commissioner Hubbuch; Motion carried.