Minutes Caucus Meeting
St. Matthews City Council
April 29, 2025 5:00 p.m.
St. Matthews City Hall 3rd Floor
Present:
Rick Tonini, Mayor
Judi Kassebaum, City Clerk
Bernie Bowling, Councilmember
Tim Holland, Councilmember
Sarah Landes, Councilmember
Mary Jo Nay, Councilmember
Amy Olson, Councilmember
Jackie Vannetti, Councilmember
Kenan Stratman, St. Matthews Public Works Director
Trevor Cravens, HB Productions LLC
John Grantz, Entertainment Production
Mayor Tonini called the caucus meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. This meeting was for discussion purposes only. No decisions were made.
Trevor Cravens had a handout for the council with updated information and schedule for the day. The Chief and Mayor will discuss closing the road next to the Brown’s Park for safety reasons. HB Productions will have a fence in the kids’ area blocking kids from running into the road. There will be no defined area for alcohol and those over 21 will have a wristband. The original stage will not work in the area near the creek. A handmade stage will have to be built which will increase the price of the event. Final numbers are not available. Food truck fees can offset some of the increase. Trevor is meeting this week with the drone company and asked for any suggested designs. The show will be set to music played through the speakers on the stage. The League of Mascots will have 5-8 mascots roaming the park throughout the day. Bands are posting on their own social media about the event. Trevor will come to a council meeting before June 7 to go over any last-minute items.
Kenan Stratman handed out an example of the sidewalk analysis. Each street was done like the handout resulting in a report of over 1,200 pages. The report can be put in a drop box or can use teams for the council to see the entire report. Area over 2 inches cannot be cut, the sidewalk must be replaced. The analysis did not supply an overview of the city sidewalks. Kenan will see if an overview can be provided. A “wish list” is needed to determine information wanted in a walkability study. A discussion ensued with ideas for sidewalk in the City. Some streets are not big enough for a sidewalk and some streets have been studied in the past for a sidewalk. The council is interested in seeing where sidewalks are currently in the City and which sidewalks can be connected. A study would target a destination and see how people get there. Shared use paths might be good to connect the parks. They are separate from the road and allow pedestrians and bicycles to share the path. These might also be good to put on Browns Ln near churches and schools. The council would like to see sidewalk tripping hazards worked on, see where sidewalks are missing, and survey the residents to see where they would like sidewalks placed.
A long term goal is to make Community Park a baseball tournament destination. A master plan is needed to determine how to move forward.
The Mayor brought up several high dollar budget items already in the next budget. They include new computers and software due to Microsoft 10 no longer supported and Warwick Park Phase 2 and 3.
Resident John Harris provided Councilmember Olson with an article about air pollution. The council was given copies of the article.
Adjournment
The discussion ended and the meeting concluded at 6:53 p.m.
Respectfully submitted:
Richard Tonini, Mayor
Judi Kassebaum, City Clerk
