Following is the text from the Fall, 2008, City of Indian Hills Newsletter:
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OCTOBERFEST As we feel the temperatures falling, can autumn be far away? And autumn brings us to our ever-popular 24th annual family favorite event not to be missed ... the Octoberfest. Sunday, October 5, 2008 is the date; 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. is the time, and Sagamore Park is the place (at the corner of Indian Hills Trail and Old Brownsboro Road in the Country Club Section). Jim Graven, our Public Works Director assures us that he has prepared several new features that our residents, young and old, will enjoy at this year's event More details are on the flyer attached to this newsletter. You will note on the flyer that there is a reservation form at the bottom of the sheet. Please put your name, address and the number of family members who will attend. We want to have plenty of food for those who make their reservations. Click here for flyer.
SHRED IT EVENT Another City event is the third annual City-wide paper shredding which will be held on Saturday, October 11 from 9 a.m. until noon compliments of Wilson & Muir Bank on St. Matthews Avenue behind Burdorfs. This is a great opportunity to get rid of those items that you don't want to throw in the trash for fear of having someone steal your identity. You can watch the shredding of your old notebooks, letters, old checks, check stubs receipts, etc., as you enjoy a cup of coffee, Our City is grateful to Wilson & Muir Bank for providing this service for us, they will hire Shred-It, which is a local company to do the work. If you find that you cannot stay, you are welcome to drop off your shreddable items and our Police Department will monitor the process for you CITY TAXES And speaking of other fun things that happen in the fall, it is time for our City tax bills to be mailed. These bills will he sent out on approximately October 15. As we mentioned before, they are forwarded to the address provided to us by the PVA, who prepared our tax bills, If someone other than the resident pays the tax bill, it is the RESIDENT'S responsibility to see that the proper party receives the bill. So, if you have a mortgage company or insurance company who pays your bill, be sure you forward it to them in a timely manner. As always, the financial work of the City including the monthly financial statements and also the tax information is handled adeptly by Councilman Lyle Spalding. Lyle always does a great job for all of us who live in Indian Hills and is extremely dedicated to the process. CITY BEAUTIFICATION We have done a lot of work this summer to keep our City the kind of place you want to live. We have repaved some roads, installed needed curbs, cleaned up entrances, replaced numerous signs, replaced stripes and stop bars at intersections and refurbished some islands. We think that our City is in great shape. There are some items on the City agenda to be done in the near future, but we want to take this opportunity to thank Public Works Director Jim Graven for his outstanding efforts. One of the City's many improvements has been the leveling and reseeding of Sagamore Park where we have our Octoberfest. We know you will appreciate its improved “face”. The most costly single item and the one which certainly needed to be done was the repaving of Indian Hills Trail from top to bottom. This is probably our most heavily traveled road and we know you will agree that it is much improved. UPCOMING ELECTION Much has been said about the upcoming election to be held on November 4. This is an important day for all of us from a national standpoint and also for those residents who live in Indian Hills. All of our Councilmen are up for reelection. The Councilmen serve for two years; the Mayor serves for four years. As you probably know, we have nine Councilmen on the Board. Eight of the incumbents are running for reelection and no one has filed to oppose them. Our 9th Councilman, Bob Murphy, has been on the Council since the merger of the four cities in 1999. Councilman Murphy who also was former mayor of the City of Winding Falls has decided not to run for reelection. Bob has served our City extremely well and will be missed by all of us on the Board. As you know, we have tried to keep representation of every section of our City. The Country Club Section has 3 Councilmen, the Cherokee Section has 3, the Robinswood Section has 1, and the Winding Falls Section has 2. We feel that this policy gives everyone a voice. Since Councilman Murphy was from the Winding Falls Section, we have asked Steve Gruebbel who lives in that area to run for Councilman Murphy’s spot, and he has agreed to do so. Steve Gruebbel is a graduate of St. Xavier High School and of the University of Louisville Speed Scientific School (electrical engineering). Steve is retired. He and his wife Jan have two grown daughters, a grandson and a granddaughter. He has been living in Winding Fails Section since 1983, and was a Commissioner of that City for two terms before merger. For the last several years he has handled our Indian Hills website. With his current experience with this website, he certainly will hit the ground running when elected in November. (Mayor's Note: We are very fortunate in Indian Hills to have willing hardworking City Council members, who display a distinct enthusiasm for their position on the Board. As you know, no one in our City is paid for services and it is a rare City Council Meeting when anyone is absent.) CITY WEBSITE Speaking of our website, http://www.indianhillsky.org, Councilman Joel Deming who works with Steve Gruebbei on this site asked that we include information on the website in this newsletter. A copy of this information is attached to the back. KEN FLEMING We include a message from our Metro Councilman Ken Fleming. As you know, we are still in the process of upgrading our entrances at Old Brownsboro Rd and US 42 next to the Highland Cleaners, at Chenoweth Land and US 42 and at Pennington and US42. Councilman Fleming has been instrumental in providing funds and studies to make this happen, and we are sure within the next few months we will be hearing more about this. There are two issues Councilman Fleming asked us to bring to your attention:
UNUSUAL ISSUES For probably the first time in our City's history, we have two abandoned houses in Indian Hills, one at 5411 Apache Road and the other at 1410 Northwind Road. We know that it is a problem for any neighbors to live near an abandoned home. In the case of the Apache Road house, this structure apparently was built on a sink hole. This house's internal walls and floor began to collapse into the sink hole. Metro Government became involved. The house was ultimately sold for foreclosure and the new owner ended up leveling the house and the property currently is a buildable lot. Both the City of Indian Hills and the Metro Government asked that a geological survey be done to determine that substantial additional support will be required. This was an eyesore for a long time for residents of Apache and Pueblo Roads. We appreciate their patience because these things do not get resolved overnight. As for the Northwind house, it has been sitting empty for a number of months. The City of Indian Hills maintains the yard by periodical mowing of the grass. We have contacted he mortgage company to see if we can get some help in the maintenance of this property. This, too, will require patience. SPRINKLER ORDINANCE Indian Hills has been in the news lately about the Sprinkler Ordinance that we passed last November, 2007. The Ordinance requires a 13-D system in any new residences built in Indian Hills. A 13-.D system deals with life safety. The sprinklers in this system are in living areas of the home, not the attic, not the basement, not the bathrooms and not the attached garages. They are required where people spend most of their time. The cost of this type of system is about as much as an upgrade in the carpeting, but has proven to save lives. This Ordinance was passed after many months of discussion and research. In May of 2008 we received a letter from the Office of Housing, Building and Construction informing us that our Ordinance was invalid in that it was more stringent than the requirements adopted by the Kentucky Residential Building Code. This code does not require any kind of sprinkler system in a single family dwelling. We have decided to ask the Attorney General for an opinion on our Ordinance and wait for his decision. In the last few days a lawsuit by the Fire Chief’s Association has been filed supporting our Ordinance. Also the Kentucky League of Cities is in support of our Ordinance and of course they support home rule. Attached to this newsletter is a copy of a Courier-Journal article written in June by Russ Sanders, former Chief of the Louisville Fire Department, that speaks volumes about fire safety. Click here for CJ article. If you have any questions or comments, please contact Mayor Eifler. COPS CORNER
A serial burglar has been targeting eastern Jefferson County since January. The burglar enters homes late at night, usually through unlocked doors, and locates the resident's purse or wallet. The Indian Hills Police Department is now investigating at least two separate burglaries and one attempt. The actual burglaries occurred during the overnight hours of September 9th in the Robinswood Section of Indian Hills. The details of these burglaries match those of previous burglaries in other neighborhoods of Jefferson County. These crimes are occurring during the daytime, when you may feel most comfortable with leaving valuables in your vehicle. We are searching for a white male driving a green Jeep Cherokee. As always, it is important to lock the doors of your home and vehicles, utilize your alarm systems, and immediately report any suspicious persons, vehicles, or activity by calling 893-COPS (2677) or 911 and asking for the Indian Hills Police. We can fight crime together by sharing information. I strongly encourage every resident to sign up for our crime alert e-mail list. This service is free, fast, and efficient. It allows our department to distribute crime information, sometimes including suspect descriptions. Please visit the department's website at http://www.ihpd.org, click on the "Crime Alert" tab at the top of the page and follow the instructions. FYI Brownsboro Inn Property This property is now in the process of being razed The new Fresh Market should be built in the near future While we do not yet know what other businesses are going to be in this center, we will let you know when we do. Azalea Restaurant Property This property has now become a historical site, so that the owners will have to get some additional approval from the Historical Preservation people before any changes are made to this property, either demolition or construction. WE'LL SEE YOU AT THE OCTOBERFEST!
CITY OF INDIAN HILLS
September 16, 2008 |