Following is the text from the Spring, 2005, City of Indian Hills Newsletter:

CLEAN UP, PAINT TIP, FIX TIP Welcome to spring! It is that time of the year again when we all think about sprucing up our properties, and as a City we are in the process of working on the islands, planting, mulching, and making the City look alive again after a long winter. Speaking of winter, we spent a lot of money on snow removal and salting our roads during the bad weather. We received many compliments about having our City open very soon after the snowfalls. Many thanks to Public Works Director, Jim Graven, for his outstanding hard work. A few springtime issues to consider: * Litter We are having more and more of a problem with litter, both in the City and on our borders, especially on US-42. Please be considerate and if you see someone littering let our Police know. Certainly using the dollars we spend picking up litter could be used for a much better cause. * Building and Additions Please remember that any addition to your home that changes the footprint of the house needs to have a permit both from the City of Indian Hills and from Metro Government. Metro Government will not issue a permit unless they have a letter that a project has been approved by the City of Indian Hills. Swimming pools (which by law have to be fenced), all tree removals and any fences need to have a permit. Please contact Jim Graven (897-1227), who issues permits, or any member of the Building Committee of your Board: Councilman Jim Aubrey, Councilman Bruce Madison or Councilwoman Marie Bukowski, whose phone numbers appear in this newsletter. * Yard Sales As much as we dislike yard sales in our city, we do have an ordinance that permits a yard sale only after the Public Works Director Jim Graven has issued a permit. Any of your City Council members can see that your request gets through the proper channels. * Yard Waste As you know, under our current contract with Rumpke Sanitation, we have yard waste pickup each Tuesday (including packaged grass, leaves and bundled limbs). There is a problem in certain areas of the City where homeowners and/or their lawn care professionals will blow their grass and leaves onto City property. This is never acceptable, and we encourage all residents to respect neighbors' and City properties. FINANCE At this time of year we begin working on our budget for fiscal year 2005-06, which begins July 1 of 2005. The preliminary budget should be presented at our May Council meeting and, as mentioned in previous newsletters, the one area in which we need your help is with the insurance premium fees. As we have noted, the insurance fee income represents roughly 10% of our annual City income. The insurance companies pay this and if we do not inform our insurance companies that we are residents of Indian Hills, Metro Government will receive this money. In other words, if we do not tell our insurance companies where to send the insurance premium fees, the default option is Metro Government. As you know, Metro Government provides very little service to the City of Indian Hills; our services such as garbage collection and police protection and road maintenance all come from your 4th Class City. In conclusion, whatever dollars we get from insurance premium fees lower the number of dollars that we have to pay in City taxes. Once again we are enclosing stickers with this newsletter which can be put on your premium notices as you return your check to the insurance companies; the stickers indicate where the fees should be sent. If you have any questions about this issue or if you need more stickers, please call the City telephone line at 895-0005. As your City, we have always operated on a balanced budget , trying not to utilize our "rainy day" funds. A copy of the budget, which should be approved at our June Council meeting, will be published in the Courier-Journal Neighborhoods Section and will also be included in our summer newsletter. * Delinquent Taxes We still have some unpaid taxes for the current year. Even though taxes are a lien on the delinquent properties, in April we will file formal liens and do what is legally available to us to collect these taxes. Finally, as your City Council, we certainly appreciate the great work of our Councilman Lyle Spalding, who so very meticulously watches over our City finances. WASTE MANAGEMENT We are currently in the second year of our contract with Rumpke Sanitation and have another year to go. Our contract will expire in June, 2006. As you know, in this current contract we have once-a-week Tuesday collections of garbage, yard waste and recyclables. We will in the next few months revisit this contract and most likely rebid it early next year. We feel that Rumpke has grown to the job. We had some initial problems, but in recent times complaints have dwindled down to a "precious few." Thanks to Councilman Bob Murphy, Councilwoman Joyce St. Clair and Councilwoman Marie Bukowski for their diligent efforts to see that we obtain the best service for our residents. POLICE At our March meeting the City Council approved the budget for the Police for the next fiscal year beginning June 1, 2005. We continue to feel that our Police protection is second to none, but it comes at a great price to our City, since it represents about 50% of our budget. Chief Kelly Spratt does an excellent job of controlling expenses of his department, while providing exceptional Police protection for our residents. A copy of the Police Department's 2004 year end report is included for your review at the back of this newsletter. As you can see, they are very busy people and are involved in a myriad of activities. We would like to mention the KidPrint ID program which is one of the great services that our Police Department provides for the children in our area, not only for the residents of Indian Hills, but for the surrounding schools which Indian Hills children may attend. This program is funded by an annual grant by BB&T Bank, for which we are very appreciative. COPS CORNER By Chief Kelly Spratt As Spring and Summer arrive, we ask that our residents be aware not only of their home security, but also that of their surrounding neighbors. During warmer weather, we like to be outside as much as possible, and sometimes forget to secure the doors, assuming thatit's okay because we're "just out back in the yard". Criminals prey upon these assumptions, sometimes having an uncanny knack for finding open doors to vacant homes. After securing your door (if you are not in direct sight of it), please also pay attention to your neighbor's home, observing any unusual activity. Please call 911 or 893-2677 immediately to report any suspicious persons or activity. F.Y.I. * Development At our March meeting, we were presented with preliminary plans for a commercial development at the corner of Rudy Lane and US 42 where the Brownsboro Inn now stands. This development would entail razing the Inn and building three separate structures, one to house a Fresh Market, one a Walgreen's and the third a bank. Developers of this plan will conduct many neighborhood meetings where we will all have an input. This project would require a zoning change from its current zoning. As you will remember, our merging to a city of 4th class status gives us zoning powers and also gives us powers in zoning matters that adjoin our City. Our early concern, of course, is traffic flow in an area that already contains many traffic problems. We will closely watch this situation and keep you posted on this development. * Pet Owners We are constantly hearing from neighbors who are concerned about the waste left behind by pet owners. You are responsible for the waste left behind by your dog. If you walk your dog, you should carry with you a plastic bag or a pooper-scooper and make sure that you pick up after your pet. Also, please be considerate of your neighbors by keeping your dogs on a leash - it is the law! Your attention to these matters will be greatly appreciated. * Our City 4th of July Parade This year, the legal holiday for the 4th of July falls on Monday, July 4 and as such that will be the day for our annual parade. This parade will start at 10:30 a.m. at the corner of Tuckaho and Merrick Roads and will end on Ardsley Road, which is a cul-de-sac. Please note that this is a rain-or-shine event. As always, this is a walking parade. You are welcome to decorate yourself, your children, their bicycles, red wagons, baby strollers, etc. You are even welcome to walk along with your dog (leashed, of course). Joining us in the parade will be the Drum and Fife group of the Sons of the American Revolution, along with their own Color Guard. Also, there will be a hook and ladder truck from the St. Matthews Fire District, our own City of Indian Hills police vehicles and whoever else happens by. At parade's end, we will have plenty of bottled water, along with bowls of water for dogs. The Rascals of Ragtime, a Dixieland band, will entertain us with patriotic tunes and the SAR will fire their muskets (using blank ammunition). Festivities are usually over by 11:45 a.m. Plan to come - it's small town America at its best! All of us look forward to seeing you on Monday, July 4, 2005! Have a wonderful spring and enjoy the Derby!