Louisville / Jefferson County Environmental Trust
October 17, 2008
Location:
Joe Creason Park at the Olmsted Conservancy Conference Room, 1297 Trevillian Way, Louisville, KY
Oversight Board Members In Attendance:
Kurt Mason -Chairman
Noel Rueff -Vice Chairman
Lisa Hite for Mike Heitz
Phyllis Croce for H. Schardein
Dudley Saunders
Reba Doutrick
Carl Suk
Richard Jett for Charles Cash
Oversight Board Members Not Present:
Jim Braun
Bob Schindler
Advisory Committee Members In Attendance:
Frannie Aprile
Staff in Attendance:
Lee Wells
Theresa Senninger
Chris Cestaro (minutes)
Guests:
None.
Minutes
Kurt Mason called the meeting to order. Lisa Hite made a motion to approve the minutes from August 15, 2008 with corrections as discussed. Noel Rueff seconded the motion. The minutes were approved unanimously. Lisa Hite made a motion to approve the minutes from September 19, 2008 with corrections as discussed. Noel Rueff seconded the motion. The minutes were approved unanimously.
Land Conservation Activity
Trinity Easement Assignment (adjacent to 1860 & 2230 Outer Loop [22-2000-02]
Theresa Senninger said the assignment agreement to replace MSD as the holder of the Trinity conservation easement has been executed by all necessary parties, and has been sent through the Metro Council. She estimated that it would be signed off on by the Mayor's office and become official in about a week. We can now add that acreage officially for monitoring as holder of the Trinity conservation easement. Ms. Senninger said she spoke with an attorney for MSD, who said he is very interested in furthering MSD's role as a conservation organization.
Lee Wells asked if Phragmites reeds found on this property could be taken care of in the fall. Mr. Suk said now is the time to cut it down, then spray an herbicide on it in the spring. Kurt Mason said some communication needs to be sent to the Trinity representatives, and they should be notified about the Phragmites. Mr. Suk asked how equipment might be transported to the site of the growth; otherwise, the reeds might have to be cut down by hand. Mr. Wells said there are two side gates that might open enough to admit some heavier equipment. Ms. Hite pointed out that the Trinity High School Foundation could also take responsibility for doing this. She suggested that this might be a student "for-credit" project; however, it was not decided whether or not to send a letter to Trinity suggesting this.
Renaissance Zone CE, 2730 Outer Loop [22-2006-021] Kentucky Division of Water
Ms. Senninger said LJCET through Metro has entered into an agreed order dismissing the petition filed against the Division of Water. The Army Corps of Engineers has signed the document, the Division of Water has signed the deed restriction document. Ms. Hite said someone from the University of Louisville was interested in doing a research project on the site. Ms. Senninger said it would be appropriate to send a letter to Renaissance Zone -she will check with Monica Henderson first and let Lisa know the status.
Mr. Wells said he had contacted Redwing, and the clear-cut that he had reported was not in the area to be preserved on the easement. He said Redwing has a map showing an area to be cleared.
Monitoring / Baseline Activity
Mattingly Conservation Easement 161 Rear Outer Loop [22-2003-03]
Mr. Mason said that Wal-Mart will be putting a fence up. They have gotten a couple bids on the fence -seems to be good quality. There will be a 12-foot gate on the fence. There has been a letter drafted by Deborah Bilitski (attorney for Fletcher-Bright, owners of the property fee-simple) which will be sent to adjacent property owners; also, LJCET will be sending a letter that discusses the value of that easement and the responsibilities for monitoring that we have. Mr. Wells said he had a map that showed all adjacent properties and the names and addresses of the property owners. Mr. Mason said his letter is ready to be mailed out; a copy of the letter will be sent to Fletcher-Bright and Deborah Bilitski. Ms. Rueff suggested sending a copy of the letter to the Metro Councilmember in whose jurisdiction the property lies, and also a copy should go to Metro Call.
Mr. Wells asked Mr. Mason if Phyllis Croce had gotten back to him about where the fence should go. Mr. Mason said he had spoken with Phyllis -he described where the fence should go on the drainage ditch slope. Mr. Wells asked if there would still be access to Wal-Mart. - Mr. Mason said there may be enough room for a pedestrian to squeeze through but there would be no vehicular access.
Duncan Conservation Easement, 404 Mockingbird Valley Road [22-2004-01]
Mr. Wells passed around a chart with photos of the property. He discussed a sinkhole on the property that was accumulating downed limbs and vines. Ms. Hite suggested telling the caretaker that Metro is still doing storm debris pickup and might be able to collect this debris if it was taken to the curb. The retaining walls on the property were discussed. Mr. Suk said in places the retaining walls are 10-12 feet high, and there is some deterioration. There was some discussion about whether or not the current owner would be responsible for maintaining those walls.
Ms. Senninger said that all property owners should receive a letter after monitoring is done, informing them that monitoring has been completed and giving them the report. She asked Mr. Wells to forward his report to her so she could write the letters and give them to Mr. Mason to review and sign.
Mr. Wells said Mr. Suk found a great variety of plants on the property (about 129 species.) He had pictures of all the pet cemeteries and Ms. Duncan's burial site and mapped them out.
Dudley Saunders suggested using the site as an arboretum. Mr. Suk said historic homes are used as botanical gardens in other cities. He said there were "uncommon" plants on the site, and thinks this home would be a great candidate for a restoration project. The Filson Club has the blueprints for the house. Ms. Rueff said she would call Judith Hunt (of the "Botanica" group.) Possible uses for the home and property were discussed.
Littledove Farm 15404 Taylorsville Road [22-2007-01]
Carl Suk said the Aprile property will be monitored a week from today (Friday, October 24, 2008) at about 9:30 a.m.
Musselman and Hilliard Conservation Easements 344 South Peterson Avenue [22- 2007-05]
Ms. Senninger said she received a call from Layla Musselman, who was concerned because a ½ acre of the property is supposed to be excluded from the easement. Ms. Senninger informed Ms. Musselman that the easement excluded the ½ acre she was concerned about but the fee simple transfer from the Musselman’s to the Crawfords (the current owners of the property) was where the problem was. The conservation easement covered only what the Musselman’s requested. However the fee simple transfer did not exclude the 0.5 acre the Musselman’s wanted to keep.– their surveyor did not make that clear on the plat. They are in the process of buying that ½ acre back from the Crawfords, and then the conservation easement will not have to be amended. They did not take a tax deduction on that portion, so this needs to be documented. Ms. Senninger said she can do a memo on this.
Ms. Senninger said she received a call from Layla Musselman, who was concerned because a 0.5 acre of the property is supposed to be excluded from the easement. Ms. Senninger informed Ms. Musselman that the easement excluded the 0.5 acre she was concerned about but the fee simple transfer from the Musselman's to the Crawfords (the current owners of the property) was where the problem was. The conservation easement covered only what the Musselman's requested. However the fee simple transfer did not exclude the 0.5 acre the Musselman's wanted to keep.- their surveyor did not make that clear on the plat. They are in the process of buying that 0.5 acre back from the Crawfords, and then the conservation easement will not have to be amended. They did not take a tax deduction on that portion, so this needs to be documented. Ms. Senninger said she can do a memo on this.
Dogwood Hill Preservation Easement -7001 US HWY 42 [22-2007-08]
This property still needs to be monitored before the end of this year. Mr. Wells and Mr. Suk will monitor this property on October 31st.
Mr. Suk suggested visiting properties at different times of the year (different seasons) to get a more comprehensive idea of what types of vegetation are there. He said he has a database of plants that have been found on each JCET property.
Reception Ms. Senninger said she would e-mail a list of her suggestions for people to invite; in return, she asked the Committee members to e-mail her a list of guests they would like to include. Ms. Hite said a "simple letter" should go out either Monday or Tuesday. She said she has already sent an e-mail to Bennett Knox about the possibility of getting a Parks' van to do a tour of the Peterson property. The date of the reception will be Sunday, November 9, 2008 between 2-4 p.m. at Frannie Aprile's home. Dress casual. Ms. Senninger said she will put directions to Ms. Aprile's house in the invitation letter (Mr. Wells said he will do a map for inclusion.) Ms. Rueff said she will investigate possibilities for food.
It was decided to include current easement donors and ask them to bring anyone they know who may be interested in conservation easements. Former board members should be included.
Miscellaneous
Ms. Aprile presented a report about land stewardship from the Kentucky Conservation Committee. She said they are not a land trust and as such cannot hold conservation easements, but they may be interested in what LJCET is doing in that area. Mr. Wells said he could get everyone a copy.
Reba Doutrick said that, next Thursday, the archeologist who works on the Farnsley- Moorman property will be discussing the finds that have been made on the property.
Mr. Mason said he had spoken with Don Olson (a resident of Dawson Hill Road), who owns an existing farm in the Floyds Fork watershed. Mr. Olson expressed interest in conservation easements. Mr. Mason sent him two brochures for him to review.
Mr. Mason also met with the County Attorney for Bullitt County (Walt Schuller). He and some others own a wetlands property in Bullitt County and may be interested in selling it. He is interested in having Bullitt County form something like LJCET. Ms. Hite said she had spoken with someone in Shelby County who might be interested in forming a program similar to LJCET.
Regarding the Kentucky Land Trust network/coalition, Ms. Hite said we offered to host a meeting in Louisville, but no one from the coalition has responded to us so far.
Mr. Mason said some funds are available from the USDA for entities that are set up to purchase developable land, through the new farm bill. Organizations can apply once a year (usually in November.) It was suggested that, if LJCET has an appropriate property in mind, a representative could go to the Mayor and make the suggestion.
The meeting adjourned at 3:00 p.m.