Lexington, KY - What a beautiful fall we had this year. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. The leaves have all fallen now and the city is working hard to help with that cleanup. Please visit the LFUCG Web site to find out when your street will be vacuumed or request a copy of the 5th District electronic newsletter that has answers to "most frequently asked questions." Contact jbloyd@lfucg.com to receive this weekly newsletter.
Recently I was appointed by Mayor Newberry to chair the newly formed Corridors Commission. While this group has been meeting since the early 1980s, it was recently officially codified via ordinance with a mission of assessing the major roads of Lexington-Fayette County -
especially the major and minor arterials -
regarding aesthetic qualities, landscaping, fencing, signage, litter control, bike and pedestrian considerations, as well as consideration of other elements relating to these areas as appropriate.
As chair of the commission, I hope to work with leaders in our community to enhance the beauty of our city's corridors and advocate greater focus on litter control. All Corridors Commission meetings are open to the public, and I encourage you to attend - the next meeting will be 11 a.m. Jan. 12 in the Government Center council chambers.
As you know, I am also chairing a Parks Funding Work Group. This group was convened to consider long-term creative resources to fund the Parks Master Plan. One idea the work group is considering is expanding the naming rights program, meaning LFUCG could solicit sponsorships for improvements to capital projects - such as refurbishment of tennis courts and playgrounds in your neighborhoods. Please give me your thoughts about this possibility.
In light of recent problems experienced by a few of our boards and commissions, several of my colleagues and I will be bringing forward an ordinance in December that will, in essence, require all boards and commission members affiliated with LFUCG (except those exempted by law) to take an oath agreeing to comply with the highest of ethical standards. The ordinance will be presented to the full council at 7 p.m. Dec. 3 in council chambers.
I recently proposed a text amendment requiring buried utilities in all new residential developments. It has successfully passed the second step of the process in becoming a new law. The text amendment passed unanimously in services committee early in the fall and passed the planning commission on Nov. 12. The planning commission is now preparing an official recommendation to be presented to the entire council for consideration.
I also wanted to mention that progress is being made on the Lexington Mall property, which cannot be publicly reported. Recent news articles have suggested that Saul Properties, a Maryland-based owner, has continued its refusal to talk with city officials. Last January, in fact, I began an ongoing dialogue with representatives of Saul Properties, and I'm working very diligently to bring forward an exciting new retail concept to replace this eyesore in our community.
Teamwork on the redesign and beautification of the High Street and Euclid Avenue intersection continues. Steve Austin has developed a conceptual design incorporating all the input from Chevy Chase area leaders. I am excited to see it. We hope to schedule a public meeting sometime in December to review and solicit additional input on the plan. If you would like to be notified of the meeting, please e-mail me at cfeigel@lfucg.com.