Parks and Sustainability Committee Meeting Summary - August 6, 2026
Parks and Sustainability Committee Meeting - August 6, 2026
On August 6, 2026, at 3:03 PM, the Louisville Metro Parks and Sustainability Committee met in Council Chambers and virtually. All six committee members were present: Chair Khalil Batshon (R-25), Vice Chair Paula McCraney (I-7), and members Crystal Bast (R-14), Jennifer Chappell (D-15), Anthony Piagentini (R-19), and Betsy Ruhe (D-21). The committee considered three agenda items: one ordinance held in committee, one resolution approved, and one resolution tabled for further discussion.
Consent Calendar
- O-108-26 (Foraging Ordinance): This item remained held in committee.
- R-091-26 (Iroquois Park Playground Rubber Mulch Grant): The committee voted to recommend approval and send the resolution to the Consent Calendar, where it will be heard at the Metro Council meeting on August 13, 2026.
Discussion Items
- R-091-26 – Grant Acceptance for Iroquois Park Playground Rubber Mulch Project: Jason Canuel, Director of Louisville Parks and Recreation, presented the grant of $75,000 from the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet, Department for Environmental Protection. The grant funds a poured-in-place rubber surface for the playground at Iroquois Park, using Kentucky-sourced recycled rubber. Committee members Piagentini, Batshon, and Ruhe asked about the grant's scope and the material's safety (head impact attenuation). The motion to recommend approval, made by Councilman Piagentini and seconded by Councilwoman Bast, passed by voice vote.
- R-142-25 – Urban Forest Master Plan Resolution: Michelle King, Executive Director of Louisville Parks and Recreation, and Mesude Ozyurekoglu, Assistant Director of Urban Forestry, presented the much-anticipated financial impact statement. The total estimated cost for full implementation of seven Metro government actions was $13.41 million, comprising $5.44 million in initial equipment costs and $7.82 million in new recurring annual costs (on top of $2.1 million in existing recurring costs). The bulk of the cost came from Action 1.3: Metro government taking over full care and management of street trees (currently the responsibility of adjacent property owners). Committee members questioned the sustainability of the plan given $179 million in overall parks deferred maintenance. Councilman Piagentini suggested a phased approach and a dedicated hearing. Councilwoman Bast noted current staffing cannot keep up with existing tree maintenance. Cindy Sullivan, CEO of Trees Louisville, reported that 18 of the 33 plan actions are already being implemented by various community organizations. The committee voted to return the resolution to the table and then postpone it (table) by voice vote, scheduling a future meeting for detailed discussion.
Key Outcomes
- O-108-26 remains held in committee.
- R-091-26 was recommended for approval and sent to the Consent Calendar for the August 13, 2026 Metro Council meeting.
- R-142-25 was tabled (postponed) by voice vote, with plans for a dedicated committee hearing to further explore phased implementation and clarify resolution language.
Meeting Transcript
But you need enough to be able to mix this around and dredge them. And then this is just optional. I've added this over the years. It's a little garlic powder and some paprika. It gives it a little kick. And we're just gonna simply dredge our slices. They have enough moisture to to pick this up. You can I've seen recipes where you can dip in uh milk or buttermilk first. My family just went straight to the dry cornmeal. You could almost call it a rub. So I'm gonna finish dredging all of these and then we're gonna take this to the stove and fry these babies up in some hot bacon grease. Alright, we've got our bacon grease uh heated up to about 350. It's starting just to smoke. That's where you want it, and it's a nice cast iron skillet, and we're just gonna add our slices one at a time. We're gonna let these fry up a couple of minutes. We just want them golden brown on each side. You wanna work in these small batches because you want to give your slices some frying room. Whenever you're working with hot grease, I always think it's a good idea to use a shield. You want to check these. This has been on for about three minutes. So I'm just gonna check the colors. And yes, I think that's a perfect golden brown color. So now I'll just turn all these over and we'll finish cooking. And I'm gonna get these plated up, but I'm also gonna whip up a little dipping sauce that Jessica gave me a recipe for, which we'll talk about later. But first, let's go watch her make a bourbon cocktail. Today we're gonna make a bit more of a fruit forward cocktail than we usually do, because I think it'll pair really nicely with the fried green tomatoes. And I've dubbed this one the Louisville Bell. So we're gonna use Kentucky bourbon, cranberry juice, fresh squeezed lemon juice, fresh squeezed lime juice, and one teaspoon of sugar. Alright, so I've already got ice in my cocktail shaker, and I'm gonna go ahead and pour in two ounces of the bourbon. Today we're using Jefferson's dessert. Also gonna use two ounces of the cranberry juice. Is how you know if you want to shake your cocktail. And here's my lemon and lime juice that I've already squeezed. And we're gonna go ahead and put in that teaspoon of sugar as well, and just give this a good shake. And we're just gonna serve this up in a martini glass. It's a nice pinkish red color, which is a little bit reminiscent of the paddle wheel on the bell volume. So that's how we kind of landed on this name. So there you have it. The Bell Volvo. Jessica, I think your sauce recipe really pairs nicely with this. You know, I didn't want to do the traditional Rimelade since we just had that with the chicken lippers that we did recently. I like the flavor of this. Yeah, this pretty much goes with anything, and it's real simple. It's just mayo, cumin, chili powder, and I usually use Tabasco sauce, but any hot sauce. And this recipe actually kind of has a history with my family. We actually call it Jessica's sauce because I've been making it since maybe I was like five. But it was based off of this recipe from a restaurant called Myra's that used to exist. Well, actually, two of my uncles worked there. But when they closed, they didn't have the rest before this, so my mom and I and the family we kind of just concocted what we thought was a close approximation. And so we've been making it ever since.
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