Archive for January 28th, 2010

National Weather Service Center Predicts Potential Winter Storm Friday and Friday Night For Louisville

A storm system is expected to develop across Texas Thursday and move across the Deep South Friday and Friday night.  Moisture riding over the top of this system will generate light to moderate snowfall starting early Friday morning and continuing into Saturday across our region.  The heaviest snows likely will fall in the period from 9 AM Friday morning to 10 PM Friday evening, with snow beginning as early as 5 AM Friday across south-central Kentucky.  The latest forecast calls for snow totals of up a half a foot possible across parts of far South-Central Kentucky and the Lake Cumberland areas.  Further north across the Louisville/Lexington corridor, totals around 1-3 inches are possible.

There is still large uncertainty in the exact track of the storm system moving by to our south.  A more southern track would mean less snowfall from the amounts given above.  Residents of and visitors to the region should stay tuned to the latest forecast updates on this developing winter storm.

Tips for Staying Warm & Dry from the Louisville Metro Health & Wellness

•             Wear layers of cotton and wool clothing to help insulate the body

•             Slacks are warmer than dresses or skirts.  Long socks and leotards will protect the legs.

•             Mittens will keep your hands warmer than gloves.

•             Don’t drink alcohol when outside during extreme cold temperatures.

•             Be careful shoveling snow.  Overexertion may lead to a heart attack.  The signs of a heart attack include chest or arm pain, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, pain, sweating, and dizziness.

•             Stock your vehicle with blankets, a flashlight, a tin of food that requires no cooking, jumper cables, and a sack of sand and make sure you have adequate fuel in your tank before the trip.

Tips from the Louisville Water Co to prevent water lines from freezing

•        Wrap exposed pipes with insulating material. Pipes under kitchen sinks and in crawl spaces, near windows or in unheated basements are prime areas for pipes to freeze.

•        Locate your inside water shut-off valve. If pipes burst during freezing conditions, you can save valuable time and prevent water damage if you can turn the water off inside the house. The shut-off valve may be located in the basement, under the kitchen sink, in a utility closet, near the hot water heater, or even under the house in the crawl space. If you cannot locate or do not have a shut-off valve, call a plumber.

•        If you think you’ve found the shut-off valve, and to be sure it’s the right one, try turning it off.  If all your faucets are without water, you’ve found the right one. If not, try again.

•        Once you locate the shut-off valve, place a waterproof tag over it, so it’s easy for you and your family members to find if there’s ever a problem. If you need a tag, call our Customer Service department at 583-6610.

•        If your house has a crawl space, cover outside vents to prevent winter winds from entering and freezing pipes.

•        If your house has a slab foundation, keep the garage door closed. Water pipes are often located under the concrete floors of the garage.

•        If you’ve had problems with frozen pipes in the past, try running a small steady stream of water from a cold water faucet in extremely cold weather. The cost of the water is small compared to dealing with the cost and inconvenience of frozen or burst pipes.  Make sure you run the water from a faucet children don’t use — they may inadvertently shut off the faucet after using it.

Concerns about black ice

City managers are concerned about the formation of black ice on roads.  Black ice is a thin glaze of ice that forms on streets and is nearly undetectable to drivers.  The ice often forms after snow melts and re-freezes, or after a period of freezing rain.  Motorist should increase the distance between them and the vehicle in front.

Last month I tried to warn our community about the Mayor taking over the county fire districts by stacking the boards of trustees.  Today, I learned Councilman Dan Johnson has taken the first steps to merge the city and suburban fire departments.  Johnson filed a resolution asking the state legislature to look at merging the city and county fire departments.  I strongly disagree and oppose this legislation.

Please call Councilman Johnson at 574-1121
and ask him to withdraw this resolution.

Recently, the Mayor ignored the outcome of a fire board election in Pleasure Ridge Park.  Instead of seating the winner of the election, the Mayor handpicked someone to serve on PRP’s Fire Board.  I warned that the Mayor was positioning his people so he would have more control over the suburban fire departments.

The county fire departments have millions of dollars that are collected from suburban property owners and that money should stay in their fire district. This is the first step in trying to grab the budgets of every suburban fire department.  This income stream can be bonded producing hundreds of millions of dollars, like a mortgage, which can be immediately spent.  The money, however, does not necessarily go toward fire equipment, as it should, but could go to Cordish Company or other less seemly projects; like was the mayor’s intention with the Library Tax.

Abramson decided years ago not to honor the contract of city fire fighters.  As a result, he lost a lawsuit, multiple times, and now has dumped the responsibility of paying the city fire fighters back pay on the next administration.

A merger of city and county fire districts means that taxes collected in the former county could be spent anywhere in the city.

A merger would also abolish volunteer fire departments and put the city in control of all operations of every fire department in Louisville.

You need look no further than the city fire departments’ condition of their stations and their equipment to know they are underfunded, unappreciated, and ill-equipped.

As always, I will continue the fight to keep our suburban fire departments running independently of the Mayor.

Our county fire departments do a fine job in protecting our community and efficiently utilize our tax dollars to best benefit the citizens.