Toonerville Trolley Neighborhood Association

February 17, 2005 - Meeting Minutes

Mar 21, 2005

TOONERVILLE TROLLEY NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
MEETING MINUTES-17 February 2005

The President, Jennifer Hamilton, called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. in the Sanctuary of St. Philip's Chapel at the corner of Woodbine and Floyd Streets. Twenty-three members and friends of the Association were present.

OLD BUSINESS

Meeting Minutes-The minutes of the Dec. 2004 and Jan. 2005 meetings were accepted without revision.

Super Bowl Party--The President thanked Paul and Marty Chism for hosting the January 16, 2005 Super Bowl party at their home. The food, beverages, and gracious hospitality was enjoyed by all who attended.

Letter to property owners - At the Jan. 2005 meeting, it was decided that Jennifer Hamilton and Irene Spicer would draft a letter to Underhill Management Company telling them that the TTNA cleaned up in front of the properties that they own on the 1100 blocks of Brook & First St. and request that they now maintain them.

Amended--Jo Ann and Jenn pulled property owner?’s names from the online PVA database. None of the properties on the 1100 blocks of First and Brook are owned by Underhill.

Action: Jo Ann Macy and Jenn Hamilton will draft a letter to all residents within the TTNA boundaries advising them of their responsibilities and informing themthat TTNA will be working with IPL and LMPD to clean up the neighborhood. Letter tobe ready for TTNA approval by March 17 meeting.

Block Captains/Place Managers - The concept and importance of Block Captains to the TTNA was discussed. Jo Ann Macy said that there were many vacant or inactive Block Captain positions and asked that people consider becoming a Block Captain for their block. No one volunteered. Jo Ann mentioned that Officer Long was interested in reinstituting the Place Manager concept in Old Louisville. Paul Chism and Dennis Lisack explained how it worked in the past and voiced theirconcerns. Officer Long will explain the concept at the March Meeting and her plans for making it more successful.

STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS

Property Improvement Committee (PIC)- No report.The meeting normally scheduled for the 2nd Thursday of the month was rescheduled to January 17 (tonight).

Zoning and Land Use (ZALU) - Jo Ann Macy attended the ZALU meeting held on 15 Jan. 2005 at the Old Louisville Information Center. Her report focused on only those issues and properties within the TTNA boundaries.

1365, 1369, 1372 S. Brook St. All are owned by Mr. & Mrs. Jeff Schooler. 1365 & 1369 were operated as the Hope Half-way Houses. 1372 was the Schooler?’s residence. The Hope House is no longer being operated as a half-way house; however, both buildings are still occupied. IPL has ongoing actions against the 1365 & 1369 properties for being operated as boarding houses. Neither have nonconforming variances to be operated as such, and Mr. Schooler did not show at the recent court hearing. ZALU will continue to monitor the situation through Michael Baugh, and hope that the situation would resolve itself in the near future without any further action on their part.

TTNA friends and members were asked to keep their eyes openfor suspicious activities at these properties and to keep an eye on any other vacant properties that they may be aware of, as vacant properties tend to attract squatters, thieves, and drugs.

Other points of interest: According to the City?’s Property Maintenance Code 156.01 Light, a basement apartment must have a minimum of 8 square feet of light for every 100 feet of floor space.

If a multi-family building sits vacant for 1 year, it automatically reverts to a single family residence. Jo Ann asked Don Driskell, our realtor/member, if potential buyers were being told this prior to purchase. Don said that the GLAR (Greater Louisville Association of Realtors) was dealing with this and some actions or their part would be forthcoming. Don suggested that it would be very helpful if when we saw realtors showing properties that we know have been vacant for more than a year that we should inform the realtor. Realtors unfamiliar with Old Louisville may not be aware of the situation.

Police Advisory Board (PAB)- The PAB member, Helga Ulrich, submitted a written report, which was read by the President in full and summarized here.

As a result of concerns expressed at the January 2005 TTNA meeting about no one answering the phones at the LMPD 4th Division, Lt Brandon wanted us to know that the normal duty hours for the desk clerk at LMPD 4th Division are 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Someone should be available to answer the phones during those hours. Any other time, Lt. Brandon is available via e-mail -- michael.brandon@lmpd.loukymetro.org
Broader concerns can be submitted to Helga Ulrich and she will present them at the next PAB meeting.

Block Watch (BW) - Jo Ann Macy reported that
BW signs are available.

Officer Long, the LMPD 4th Division Community Relations Officer, will be riding around the area with Herb Fink, the PIC Chair, to determine where and at what height the signs should be placed.

Old Louisville Neighborhood Council (OLNC) - Jennifer Hamilton reported that
OLNC is still working to get the phone booths removed that keep popping up on public property. There is nothing that can be done about phone booths on private property, such as the Ormsby Dispensary.

Landmarks is asking realtors that sell or list property in Old Louisville to provide copies of the Design Guidelines for Historic Districts
Herb Fink is the Neighborhood Advocate for assigned/permitted parking issues
Neighborhood Cleanup and Beautification- Nancy Woodcock reported that
She cleaned up the 1100 Block First Street
Asked that TTNA members sign up to clean and keep clean 1 block in the TTNA boundaries
30 April 2005 will be the TTNA spring cleanup day followed by a picnic
The tree planting is going well
Mike Allen, pet owner and TTNA member, asked that pet owners be more conscientious about cleaning up after their pets. It makes all pet owners look bad when a few don?’t bother to clean up after their animals.

Trash Cans- Jennifer Hamilton had nothing new to report.

Action: Jennifer to check with Council Unseld?’s office (Donna Sanders) to try and find out if the trash cans have been approved and if we will have them installed by Derby.

Nonprofit Status -Phil Diblasi reported that:
The form had been completed and submitted to Lisa Kilkelly at Legal Aid. Unfortunately, new and more detailed application forms are now required. We now need a
Detailed budgets for calendar years July - Dec 2004, 2005, & 2006, showing all moneys collected and expended. In-kind services do not apply.
Two year plan of activities- Phil cautioned that efforts, such as cleaning up the neighborhood, must be very carefully worded to avoid TTNA activities conflicting with private and city responsibilities
Need to get Employer ID number.

NEW BUSINESS

2005 Dues and Budget- Jennifer read the Treasurer?’s report as submitted but summarized here:
At the end of January 2005 the Treasury had $3,064.00, including $228 from the sale of the Southwest Airline raffle tickets and the 12 members that paid dues at the January 2005 meeting
Helga is working on the database to get it ready for any future IRS audits of our Nonprofit Status.

TTNA now has a permanent mailing address--Toonerville Trolley Neighborhood Association--P.O. Box 3591, Louisville, KY 40201-3591
New dues structure--$10 individual, $20 household, $50 professional - was presented and accepted by the membership. Increased administrative costs, including bulk mailings, reviving the TTNA Newsletter, and neighborhood cleanup efforts were cited as some of the reasons for increasing the dues (which have not been increased in over 8 years).

New Committees -Jennifer explained that because we are few in number, if we want to undertake new activities as an organization, then every memberneeds to be working on a committee. The committees are:
Fundraising- Dale Tucker, Chair - Rick Tabb & Jackie Brown volunteered to be on the committee
Membership/Welcome Basket- While everyone was in agreement that this was a worthwhile endeavor, no one has volunteered to Chair the effort. Irene Spicer volunteered to be on committee
Newsletter- Jennifer Hamilton, Chair- Bill Walsh volunteered to be on the committee
Beautification/Clean-up - Nancy Woodcock, Chair - no volunteers to be on the committee
Block Watch - Helga Ulrich and Jo Ann Macy, Co-chairs - no volunteers to be on the committee

NEW BUSINESS

Potluck at St Philip?’s - Bill Walsh invited everyone to attend the monthly potluck (held on the 4th Thurs.)

St Philip?’s Newsletter - Bill Walsh said that the newsletter would be ready for distribution around March 1st and asked for volunteers to help distribute. No one volunteered.

225 E. Oak St. - Steve Zocklein expressed his concerns about the TTNA position expressed at the BOZA (Board of Zoning Adjustments) meeting on February 7, 2005. The position was contrary to what the neighbors adjacent to the property wanted and they did not appreciate being blind-sided by the TTNA.

History - Helga is the TTNA Point of Contact for zoning information. After the January 2005 meeting, she received an e-mail about the subject hearing. She sent out e-mails to everyone on the TTNA e-mail list, including the many of the folks on Oak St and St. Joseph, and asked for comment. She did get a few reasonable and well-considered comments, based on known facts associated with the property, which suggested that the subject property be grandfathered in as having a nonconforming variance. None of the e-mails informed Helga of the process required for speaking as representative of organization. She went to the BOZA hearing and presented these opinions as a member of the TTNA.

Helga was not present to present her side of the story and so there was much one-sided discussion with very little factual information presented. Finally 2 motions were presented and adopted by the members:
The executive committee would write a policy that detailed the steps to be taken prior to anyone speaking for the TTNA and what situations were appropriate for the TTNA to present an opinion
The President would write a letter to BOZA saying that Helga?’s opinions were not those of the TTNA and that the TTNA, in this instance, was in support of the 2250 rule of the Traditional Neighborhood Zoning Plan. The 2250 rules states that for a house to be converted into multifamily, at least one unit must be at least 2250 square feet. The second unit can be any size.

Oak Street Charrette - Don Driskell said that there was still a need for additional money for making the street improvements (lighting, benches, planters, etc) on Oak Street and that good news would be announced soon about a new business coming to the area.

Meeting adjournedat 8:15 p.m.
Submitted by Jo Ann Macy, Secretary