Parks and Recreation System Master Plan Update (2016) parks_and_recreation_system_master_plan_update_oct | Page 483

7. Monitoring Conservation and Utility Easements
The director of Metro Parks is a member of the Louisville/Jefferson County
Environmental Trust (LJCET), a local governmental body that is responsible for holding
conservation easements for various properties across Jefferson County and for ensuring
monitoring of these properties. LJCET "helps to implement Cornerstone 2020's goals related to
parks and natural areas, greenways, historic sites and farmland" (LJCET, 2007). Currently,
LJCET holds conservation easements on 13 privately owned properties that range from historic
buildings to rare ecosystems, including Trinity Wetland, and an easement along Floyds Fork.
The director of Metro Parks delegates certain responsibilities to other Metro Parks staff including
responsibility for assisting LJCET with monitoring of sites with conservation easements. In
addition, various Metro Parks properties, including a number at the Jefferson Memorial Forest
are protected with conservation easements held by other agencies besides LJCET, including the
Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund. In 2007, Metro Parks established a position within
the Natural Areas Division with the specific responsibility of conducting monitoring of these
properties to ensure the adherence to the specific easement conditions established for these
properties. The responsibilities of this position include conducting regular site visits to
document both baseline conditions and any activities warranting attention including
encroachment, removal of natural resource, etc. These finding are reported to the appropriate
party (either the LJCET board or the appropriate Metro Parks and Recreation manager). Some of
the natural area properties for which conservation easements have been established include the
Peterson Property on Floyds Fork and the Churchman Property at the Jefferson Memorial Forest .
Utility easements, i.e., the use of Metro Parks and Recreation’ property for the purpose of
laying gas, electric, water, and/or sewer lines, is a common infrastructure issue faced by Metro
Parks and Recreation. In the future, it may be necessary for Metro Parks and Recreation to
prohibit utility easements in natural parks and areas with high biodiversity or ecological
significance, such as areas in, Jefferson Memorial Forest, and McNeely Lake. In the meantime,
Metro Parks and Recreation must have a good understanding of what is necessary for the
protection of natural resource parks and fragments during future utility easement negotiations.
Currently, Metro Parks and Recreation can require certain actions and considerations during
utility easement construction (as per the Metro Utility Policy for Parks and Parkways). These
actions and considerations include inspections before, during, and after construction, mandating
erosion control measures in excess of MSD requirements, and requiring any trees that die within
three years in construction zone must be replaced by utility company. The following lists utility
easement negotiation requirements that were developed from a recent successful utility easement
agreement in McNeely Lake Park (Appendix 3):
2. Require consultation with U.S. Corp of Engineers and the Kentucky Division of Water
during planning, if necessary.
3. Require all utility companies to hire ecological consultants that will conduct initial
threatened/rare species and archeological inventories of proposed easement sites.
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