Following is the text from the Summer, 2010, City of Indian Hills Newsletter:
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SUMMER IN INDIAN HILLS
We have had a very mild and wet spring and our City is in what seems to be a very good condition. Much of this is due to the good weather, but a great deal is due to the fine work done by Public Works Director Jim Graven and his crews. We continue to make an effort to maintain the aesthetics of our City and over the last few years we have done a tremendous amount of trimming, planting, curbing and lighting, This has worked extremely well in making Indian Hills the beautiful community that we all enjoy. We think we have recovered a great deal from the two severe storms of last year. We did have a set-back this spring at the Moccasin entrance to the City. We updated the entrance island several years ago and planted 5 trees. This spring we noticed that one of the trees was failing; after having our tree experts look at the trees, we were told that all of them were infested with emerald ash borers, and that they should be removed as soon as possible. This was accomplished, and we now have planted new white dogwood trees and hopefully they will grow to enhance the Moccasin entrance. The trees have recently been lighted, which improves the entire area. (We did wait until after Derby to do this work.) We are providing other maintenance work in the City. At our May City Council meeting we acted on the recommendation of Councilman Joel Deming and Public Works Director Jim Graven to pave Hempstead Road from Blankenbaker Lane to the old Winding Falls boundary line. This will take place very soon. We apologize for any temporary inconvenience this work will cause for our residents Another improvement that will happen this spring is the lighting of lower Indian Hills Trail at River Road and possibly a sign advising that this is the boundary of Indian Hills. Another area that we are assessing is the fountain at the corner of Rudy Lane and Brownsboro Road. This fountain is somewhat dated. We are having problems each year with the plumbing and pumping of the fountain, and will make a decision as to the future of this particular corner and its maintenance guidelines. As you know, maintenance can be expensive. WE NEED YOUR HELP Speaking of plants, we are having issue with individual properties in the City where trees and shrubs are growing into the roadways. It would be appreciated if each of you takes a look at your own property and then determine if your plantings are extending into the roadways and need to be trimmed, and then please do so! This is a problem mainly along Indian Hills Trail and Westwind Road. REMINDERS Now that we are in the height of our mowing season, we ask that all residents be considerate of your neighbors, not only when you mow your own lawn, but also when you hire private agencies to mow for you. Sunday mowing is never acceptable, particularly by private lawn services. In addition, mowing in the evening (after 6:00 p.m.) is not desirable. We thank you for your attention in this regard A MESSAGE FROM COUNCILWOMAN NANCY STABLEIN ATTENTION - I have had a lot of phone calls about residents not putting the trash and waste containers out of sight or in the garage. Please be considerate of your neighbors. Thanks. DATES TO REMEMBER
COPS CORNER
FIREWORKS As Summer approaches, you may feel tempted to use fireworks to celebrate Independence Day or another special occasion. We have received complaints of residents using fireworks this Spring, and ask that you be courteous to your neighbors. Families with pets or children that are afraid of the loud report of fireworks can prepare for holidays such as the 4th of July, but not for any random evening. Along with the courtesy factor goes the legal factors … most common fireworks are not permitted under Kentucky law. Below is a list of permitted and prohibited items: Permitted: Snakes, smoke devices, wire sparklers, and trick noisemakers. Prohibited: Any device that has wings, fins, or another mechanism that causes the device to fly; or if the label includes "explosive", "emits flaming pellets", "flaming balls","firecracker", "report", or "rocket." CRIME ALERT & EMERGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION Many residents continue to sign up for the Police Department's Crime Alert E-mail Program, but for the program to fully succeed, we need everyone to enroll. This e-mail list is only used to notify the members of recent criminal activity, and members can withdraw at any time. Likewise, our Resident Emergency Contact Forms continue to come in, but we would like to see more participation. To date we have received 323 forms, which is just over 25% of the homes in Indian Hills. Both programs are available by visiting our website www.ihpd.org. [Direct links: Crime Alert - Contact Form] CENSUS We thank all of you who participated in the 2010 U.S. Census. When compared to national statistics provided us, Indian Hills is ahead of the national average in response. This is very helpful to us as we do receive monies from the government based on population. It is so important to have an accurate census. A WORD ABOUT GARBAGE PICKUP Last year at this time we were embarking on a contract with a new sanitation collection company called Eco-Tech. Now, a year later, we report that we could not be more pleased with our decision to hire them as our contractor. They have been courteous, accessible and responsive. They do a good job. We hope you agree. BUDGET At the May City Council meeting we had the first reading of our budget for fiscal year beginning July 1, 2010 and ending June 30, 2011. We are happy to report that once again we have a balanced budget, a nice surplus, a rainy day fund and no tax rate increase. What more could we ask? The second reading will take place at our June 17 meeting, and once approved will be published in the Courier-Journal and also will be in our City autumn newsletter. We are fortunate that FEMA covered the majority of the $140,000 that was spent on the damage caused by the two severe storms that we experienced this past year, and that the current contract with Eco-Tech Sanitation helped to put us in this favorable position. Our Doctor of Dollars Councilman Lyle Spalding does a superb job of keeping his thumb on our City's purse strings. We are truly blessed to have him and our able Accountant Robin Stilger. F.Y.I.
Have a wonderful summer, a safe summer, and most of all, have a summer in which you enjoy each other!
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