Lexington, KY - The Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games took our community by storm. What a historic event for Lexington to be the first city in the United States to host this world-wide equestrian competition. We owe tremendous thanks to so many - to Jim Host for being the visionary for this Kentucky event; Governors Beshear and Fletcher for many years of planning; Dr. Pierce and Deirdre Lyons for making it all possible - and the many, many others who supported their efforts, especially the hundreds of volunteers from our community. Thanks also to our city for Spotlight Lexington -
what a phenomenal party we had. The mayor and his team are to be commended for their vision and dedication to making Lexington shine on a world stage.
Believe it or not, while all this was going on, the city was still at work collecting your garbage, keeping your neighborhoods safe and repaving your streets. The last phase of resurfacing is underway before asphalt plants close for winter. More streets in the 5th District will be repaved this year, due to a change in the allocation formula, giving the 5th District a bigger piece of the pie than it received in previous years.
A recent inventory showed that the 5th District had the second highest percentage of streets ranked "below 45" in the entire city. This is distressing since "65 and below" is considered substandard. Resurfacing funds have not, historically, kept pace with the rate of deterioration and many streets in the 5th District have not been repaved in decades. Late last month in the Services Committee, I initiated the creation of a five-year strategic plan to bring all substandard city streets to an acceptable ranking, with a financial plan to support annual maintenance requirements. Infrastructure maintenance is one of the fundamental purposes of city government. Lack of funding for this essential work led to the eventual failure of our sewer and storm-water systems, and our street and curb infrastructure is failing too. This plan should provide the roadmap necessary to bring city streets to an acceptable ranking, however the necessary funding must be allocated by the city council to make it happen.
Smoke testing of sanitary sewer lines has been occurring in the 5th District. This is part of the implementation plan to address violations of the Clean Water Act. The Water Quality Oversight Committee, of which I am a member, receives monthly updates on projects related to this court-mandated overhaul of our storm-water and sewer systems. The problem developed over decades of neglect and will take much time to re-mediate. Your patience and understanding will be required, particularly in older neighborhoods, as we work to bring solutions to these problems.
Leaf collection will begin on Monday, Nov. 1. Please do not rake leaves into the street, as this allows debris to enter the storm-water system, further complicating storm-water concerns. Please rake leaves to the curb and they will be vacuumed by city employees, providing vehicles are not blocking the curb. Please visit www.lexingtonky.gov to learn more about this program and find out the schedule for your neighborhood.
I enjoy hearing from you -
this is a partnership for me. Our police officers tell you this also - please don't hesitate to call when you have a concern. We're here for you.