Metro Council - Regular Meeting

We're so thankful that we don't have to bring in water or use any type of bottled water for that process. We're proud to give Matsupai the Made with PureTap seal of approval. Thank you for your commitment to quality and for using Louisville PureTap. Cheers.

Yes, a professional such as an architect or engineer or a property owner can apply for the permit without selecting a contractor. However, the permit won't be issued by our department until a licensed contractor is selected and verified. We can only issue permits to contractors who are licensed or verified property owners. So it's a good idea to have some research before applying for a permit and find a contractor who is licensed by searching online.

Hi, I'm Christopher Grimes with Tetra Tech. This is a groundwater monitoring well. Today we are going to yank it out of the ground and properly abandon it. That's just the fancy term for pulling the well out of the ground after it's no longer of use and returning the ground to as close to a natural state that we can. We've got our guys coming up with a drill rig right now, a geoprobe. We're going to pop the lid on this. This well here, it goes down to the water table, and it allows us access to get groundwater data. And we would know if there's any kind of contamination, anything that you don't want in the groundwater, we would be able to find with that process. The data has come back clean, all good. They gave us the approval to pop these out of the ground and seal the ground up. We're gonna pull out what is the casing of the well. It's a two inch PVC pipe that goes down sort of like a drinking straw down to the water table. Now that we've got the PVC out, we are going to hook up the auger bits and we're gonna start drilling down and removing the soil that was directly around the casing in the ground. We drill down almost to that five feet, add another bit on top, drill down to another five feet until we've reached the bottom of the well. And now we're pulling that auger bit out and as you pull that out there's dirt that comes out with it. We're scooping that up with a shovel or picking it off with our hands and putting it into the 55 gallon drum there where it'll reside until we send it off to a lab and the lab tells us what's in it. Of course we don't know until we get our analytical results back. We're going to take bentonite chips. Bentonite is a type of clay. It's a hydrating clay. It swells whenever water gets inside of it. Once the bentonite is hydrated, it forms a really tight seal. Just cut the bags open, let gravity take the chips down the hole. This is the final step in the process. Just putting a little topsoil on it for a little beautification. Eventually grass is going to grow right over top and you'll never know it was there. And that's the last process in abandoning a groundwater monitoring well.

I'm Michelle Mudd, and this is my partner. Katie Reiser. And we are here at Club Pilates Highlands.

We opened Club Pilates Highlands in January. We are located at 2200 Bardstown Road on the corner of Dundee and Bardstown. at the Douglas Loop. We are open seven days a week. We have classes as early as 6 a.m. and as late as 6.30 p.m. We have 64 classes a week and counting.

Our clients range anywhere from 14 to 90 years old. So if you're asking or wondering who Pilates is for, it's for everybody. Pilates, we use our own body weight. We use that to strengthen our muscles, to lengthen, to stretch. And as I learned through Pilates, and you will learn too when you come in, everything starts from the core.

Yeah.

Metro TV, 30 seconds. All right. Hello, I'm Councilman Jonathan Joseph, Chair of the Appropriations Committee. This is a regular meeting of the Appropriations Committee on July 22nd, 2026. It is 3 p.m. This meeting is being held pursuant to KRS 61.826 and Council Rule 5.8. With me in chambers, we have Councilman Herndon, Councilman Leninger, Councilman Sime, Councilwoman Shanklin, Councilman Bratcher, and we have a excused absence from Vice Chair Parker. We do have enough members for a quorum. The first item of business is an ordinance appropriating $10,000 from District 3 Neighborhood Development Funds to Metro Parks to fund the Gems, Not Jails program to be held June 23rd to August 4th, 2026 at the South Louisville Community Center. This comes from Councilwoman Parrish-Wright. Do we have a motion? And a second. Thank you. Properly moved. Please.

Hello, Ben Harland, Councilwoman Parrish, Rights Assistant. This is part two of the first part of the Gyms Not Jails program that we decided to extend to teach young people for free boxing lessons. They're not sparring with each other. The costs will go to the boxing coaches and for additional equipment to meet the demand.

Thank you. Are there any questions or concerns? Councilman.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Not a concern. Just wanted to say I think this is an excellent program, and I commend the District 3 office and Councilwoman Parrish-Wright for taking care of a youth in her district like this and the rest of our city. I'm sure this is going to impact lots of kids throughout Louisville.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman. Anyone else? Okay. Hearing none, this item requires a roll call vote.

Mr. Chair, you have four. Oh, one moment. Yes. Is it not showing up for you? It keeps going in and out. OK. Mr. Chair, you have five yes votes.

Okay, legislation passes and will be added to the consent calendar. Thank you. Item number two is an NDF appropriating $3,260 from District Five Neighborhood Development Funds through the Office of Management and Budget to Portland Festival, Inc. to cover the cost of porta-potties for the 2026 Portland Festival held on June 5th and 6th, 2026. This item comes to us from Councilwoman Purvis. Do we have a motion? Motion. Second. Properly moved. Would you like to speak to this?

Good afternoon, Chair JJ. How are you?

Good, how are you?

I'm okay. I'm Carmen Weathers Washington, and I'm the legislative assistant for Councilwoman Donna Purvis, District 5. And this appropriation was to pay for the porta potties rental at the Portland Festival. This year's event was organized by a new group of Portland residents. This was their first time, and they really knocked it out of the park. So next year when we host this, I expect to see all of you there because it was absolutely fabulous. So thank you.

Thank you very much. Are there any questions or concerns? Okay, seeing none, this item allows for a voice vote. All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed? Okay, the ayes have it. Legislation passes. Thank you kindly. Thank you. Let the record show that we are being joined virtually by Councilman Winkler. Okay, item number three is the CIF appropriating $188 from District 5 Capital Infrastructure Funds to Public Works for fabrication and installation of an honorary street sign for Julio Rodriguez at the corner of Duncan Street and 36th Street. This item comes to us from Councilwoman Purvis. Do we have a motion?

Second.

Properly moved. This item does not require a speaker. Are there any questions or concerns? Seeing none, this item allows for a voice vote. All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed? Ayes have it. Legislation passes. Item number four is an NDF appropriating $2,120 from District 8 Neighborhood Development Funds through the Office of Management and Budget to Belknap Neighborhood Association, Inc. for electrical services to install a publicly accessible automated external defibrillator and AED tower at 2200 Bardstown Road. This item comes from Councilman Reno Weber. Do we have a motion? Second. Properly moved. This item does not require a speaker. Are there any questions or concerns? Seeing none, this item allows for a voice vote. All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed? Ayes have it, and legislation passes. Item number five is a CIF appropriating $516.10 from District 8 Capital Infrastructure Funds to Public Works for fabrication and installation of two signs and posts to be placed at 1058 Bardstown Road that will read police parking only 24 hours. This item comes from Councilman Reno Weber. Do we have a motion?

Second.

Second, thank you. Item does not require a speaker. Are there any questions or concerns? Seeing none, this item allows for a voice vote. All in favor say aye. Aye.

Aye.

All opposed? The ayes have it and legislation passes. Item number six is an NDF appropriating $73 from district non-neighborhood development funds through Public Works to Louisville Gas and Electric for the purchase and installation of a street's light shield on a light pole in the public right-of-way near 3517 St. Germain Court. This item comes from Councilman Owen. Do we have a motion? Thank you. And a second.

Second.

Properly moved. This item does not require a speaker. Are there any comments or questions? Seeing none, this item allows for a voice vote. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? The ayes have it, legislation passes. Item number seven is an NDF appropriating $120 from district non-neighborhood development funds through Public Works to Louisville Gas and Electric for the purchase and installation of a street light shield on light pole in the public right of way near 2732 Shippen Avenue. This item comes from Councilman Owen. Do we have a motion?

Second.

Properly moved. This item does not require a speaker. Are there any questions or concerns? Seeing none, this item allows for a voice vote. All in favor, say aye. Aye. All opposed? Let's have it. Legislation passes. Item number eight is an ordinance appropriating $25,000 from District 10 Neighborhood Development Funds to Louisville Metro Parks for costs associated with the following events. Camp Taylor Elementary Back to School Bash in July 2026. D10 Community Day at Louisville Tennis Center September 26, 2026. The Second Annual Horse Tournament at Camp Taylor Park November 2026, a second annual slap fest in Joe Creason Park in June 2027. This item comes from Councilwoman Raymond. Do we have a motion?

Second.

Properly moved. Do we have a speaker?

Yes, Chairman, I'm online.

Oh, hey, hello. Councilwoman, sorry I did not recognize you. Councilwoman Raymond, for the record, is in here.

I popped in, I popped in. So yes, colleagues, this is in an effort to increase efficiency because I learned over the first year, you know, we did an appropriation for this event and then another one for this event, another one for this event, and realized that we could sort of bundle them for the events that we knew were going to happen. And it's just to create more opportunities for neighbors to gather in our parks.

Thank you very much. Are there any questions or concerns for Councilwoman Raymond? Seeing none, this item requires a roll call vote.

Council Member Winkler, or Committee Member Winkler?

Yes.

Mr. Chair, you have six yes votes.

Legislation passes and will be added to the consent calendar. Item number nine is an ordinance appropriating $18,000 from neighborhood development funds in the following manner. $11,000 from District 15 and $7,000 from District 3 to the Office of Management and Budget to Friends of Nicole 5050 Mentoring Collaborative, incorporated for costs associated with the Chris Wyandotte Career Readiness and Beautification Project. This item comes from Councilwoman Chappell and Councilwoman Parrish-Wright. Do we have a motion? Thank you.

Please.

This is for a program we're working on with Friends of a Nicole 5050 mentoring to work with young adults in the Wyandotte Park neighborhood and around to help do some neighborhood beautification projects, along with just some stuff that we're hoping to get accomplished through our Bob program. So this appropriation, $21,000 was requested. We have $18,000 committed. We are kind of looking, the appropriation took a little bit longer than planned, so the dates are a little bit pushed back, but we're still hoping to get this done, you know, kind of this season and the next, for the next six weeks or so. So we're really excited about this partnership and would love your support if anybody would like to contribute to help get us to our goal.

Okay, are there any questions or concerns? Okay, seeing none, this item will require a roll call vote.

Council Member Winkler?

Yes.

Mr. Chair, you have six yes votes.

Okay, thank you. Legislation passes and we'll be sending that to old business. Okay, item number 10 is an ordinance appropriating $10,000 from neighborhood development funds in the following manner. $10,000 from District 15 through the Office of Management and Budget to Ministries United of South Central Louisville Inc. for salaries, rent, and utility costs for the Jim King Senior Wellness Center. This item comes from Councilwoman Chappell. Do we have a motion? Motion. Second. Properly moved. Go ahead, please.

Yeah, and I have an email, but Councilwoman Raymond is also online. Her office has also generously committed $5,000 to this NDF, and we are also, so $3,000 short on this one, so we would love if you could help support this really special senior center in the Schnitzelberg neighborhood. Oh, I have a $5,000 commitment from Councilwoman Raymond from an email. But this is for the Jim King Senior Center, just kind of their programmatic funding. Council and Louisville Metro has always helped support them, so we're trying to carry it through.

Thank you. Motion to amend? Yes. Motion to amend and a second? Second. Thank you. All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? Okay. Are we asking for any more money at this time?

We are asking for $3,000 more and or it go to old business.

Yes, okay.

Okay.

Are there any questions or concerns before we move? Okay. Seeing none, this item requires a roll call vote.

Committee Member Winkler?

Yes.

Mr. Chair, you have six yes votes.

Thank you. Legislation passes and will be sent to old business. Item number 11 is a CIF appropriating $60,000 from District 18 Capital Infrastructure Funds to Public Works for a sidewalk drainage project at 4704 Low Road and a new sidewalk installation at 4408 Low Road. This item comes from Councilwoman Parker. Do we have a motion? Second. Properly moved.

I don't have anyone to speak to this one.

Colleagues, we're going to go ahead and go to item 12 and see if we can get a speaker for item 11, but we will potentially come back to that. Item number 12 is an NDF appropriating $4,000 from District 4 Neighborhood Development Funds to the Office of Management and Budget to Smoketown Community Land Trust, Inc. to cover costs for a skating rink for the Smoketown Block Party to be held August 1, 2026. This item comes from Councilman Herndon. Do we have a motion? Properly moved. Councilman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This community land trust is very robust in Smoketown. It's done some great work over time. So this street party is partially in celebration of four consecutive infill houses that they were part of getting built and also to celebrate the neighborhood generally.

Okay. Are there any questions or concerns? Councilman, will you be partaking in the skating rink?

We will see. I'm not too bad. I can actually go backwards on roller skates. Not ice skates, but roller skates.

Can I ask something?

Or at least I recall that from many, many years ago. I may find out differently very shortly.

There you go. All right. Oh, Councilwoman, I apologize. Go ahead.

It's okay. I just want to ask, is the skating rink brought in? Are they skating on the street?

I believe is being brought in. The street's not curved. I think it's gonna be a flat.

Yeah, I was looking at it, and I had it brought in. It was $4,000 just for that four hours. I said, that ain't worth it. But $4,000 for four hours. Okay, if you can afford it, that's good.

All right. We offered funding, and that's what they said they wanted to spend it for, so knock yourself out.

Okay. Okay. Any other questions or concerns? Seeing none, this item allows for a voice vote. All in favor, say aye.

Aye.

All opposed? The ayes have it. Legislation passes. Item number 13 is an NDF appropriating $1,500 from District 4 Neighborhood Development Funds through the Office of Management and Budget to Platinum Shears Scholarship Foundation, Inc. for the Platinum Scholars Beauty Pathway Program as part of District 4's Life Skills for Youth Initiative. This item comes from Councilman Herndon. Do we have a motion?

Second.

Properly moved. Councilman, would you like to speak to this?

Yes, sir. This is part of the Life Skills Initiative that I began earlier this year. Platinum and Shears is the only hair school west of 9th Street, and this will cover materials and other supplies for a scholarship student.

Thank you. Are there any questions or concerns for Councilman Herndon? Seeing none, the item allows for a voice vote. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Aye. Yes, have it. Legislation passes. Item number 14 is an NDF appropriating $1,000 from District 4 Neighborhood Development Funds to Louisville Metro Police Department First Division to cover vendor costs for the annual National Night Out event to be held on August 4, 2026. This item comes from Councilman Herndon. Do we have a motion? Motion. And a second? Second. Properly moved. Councilman?

As self-explanatory, this will take place in Waterfront Park. It was there last year, and we thought it was a better location than the one we had for that district at 28th and Broadway, so it went off very well.

Are there any questions or concerns for Councilman Herndon? Seeing none, this item allows for a voice vote. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? The ayes have it. Legislation passes. Item number 15 is a CIF appropriating $188 from District 4 Capital Infrastructure Funds to Public Works for the fabrication and installation of an honorary street sign to be placed on the corner of 12th and Jefferson Streets in honor of Midzie McCauley Wilson. This item comes from Councilman Herndon. Do we have a motion? Properly moved. Councilman, would you like to speak to this?

Very briefly, Ms. Wilson has been a longtime organizer for Beecher Terrace Day, which this year is August the 8th. If you're out and about, come join us at 12th and Jefferson. She's done great work for a very long time and certainly deserves this honor.

Thank you. Are there any questions or concerns? Seeing none, this item allows for a voice vote. All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed? The ayes have it. Legislation passes. Item number 16 is an ordinance appropriating $9,922 from District 6 Neighborhood Development Funds to Metro Parks for production costs associated with the 2026 Jazz in Central Park to be held on August 23rd, 2026. This comes from Councilman Leninger. Do we have a motion? Second. Properly moved. Councilman, would you like to speak to this?

Yes, I would. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Jazz in Central Park is a long-standing tradition in District 6. We're really excited to continue to help support it. We're really excited for this year's lineup. We've been working very hard with TS Eliot, a longtime organizer in the Limerick neighborhood. We're really excited for this year. We would like to invite everyone, not just here, but anybody who's watching, please join us on August 23rd. It's back to its usual date in August this year. We're looking forward to a great time. I appreciate your support.

Thank you. Are there any questions or concerns for Councilman Leninger? Seeing none, this item requires a roll call vote.

Committee member Winkler?

Yes.

Mr. Chair, you have six yes votes.

Legislation passes and will be added to the consent calendar. Item number 17 is an ordinance appropriating $10,000 from District 13 Neighborhood Development Funds through the Office of Management and Budget to Fairdale Fair Community United, Inc. for sponsorship of the 2026 Fairdale Fair to be held October 1st through the 3rd, 2026. This comes from Councilman Sime. Do we have a motion? I second.

Second.

Properly moved. Councilman, would you like to speak to this?

Thank you, Mr. Chair, yes. This is for the annual Fairdale Fair. It's going to be held October 1 through the 3rd. All the money is being funded through the office, so we don't need any other sponsorship, but we ask you to come on out and have a good time and support this. Thank you.

Okay, are there any questions or concerns? Seeing none, this item requires a roll call vote.

Committee Member Winkler?

Yes.

Mr. Chair, you have six yes votes.

Legislation passes and will be added to the consent calendar. Colleagues, we are going to hold item number 11 until the next Appropriations Committee. And with that, we have all business taken care of today and stand adjourned.

It is a journey, but it's well worth it, though.

I think I had a really great team that was really supportive with my goals.

The course is really a gem. Most everybody in Louisville has played this golf course because it's the second oldest. Cherokee was number one. It's not hard, but it's not easy. I give lessons and run the place. These are old pictures of Crescent Hill back