Author: D'lorah Hughes

CALL 1-800-372-7181 NOW AND LEAVE A MESSAGE FOR THE ENTIRE KENTUCKY HOUSE AND SENATE REQUESTING THAT THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY NOT MANDATE THAT AIRBNBs AND VRBOs CAN LOCATE IN ALL RESIDENTIAL AREAS IN KENTUCKY WITHOUT REGARD TO AIRBNB DENSITY AND DISTANCE FROM EACH OTHER.

This is a local issue, a cluster of short term rentals is a nuisance, and the competition from real estate speculators for properties raises home prices and takes homes out of the residential market.

The Kentucky House added the Airbnb language to Senate Bill 9 on the last day of the regular session without it being heard in a committee. If the General Assembly passes deregulation of short term rentals, we all will need to ask Governor Beshear to veto the bill. The General Assembly only has the two-stay veto session starting today to act on SB-9.

Please post this information on your social media accounts and ask your friends to participate.

The next meeting of the Mentelle Neighborhood Association will take place at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 15th in the meeting room at the back of the Children’s Advocacy Center of the Bluegrass at 162 N. Ashland Ave.

Board meetings are open to all association members.  If you have questions about attendance or have an item you would like added to the agenda, please email Acting President, Shelby Reynolds.

We hope you will join us!

Alert!  State Representative Donworth posted that the KY House has passed SB 9 which would prohibit Lexington from regulating its Short- Term Rentals (STRs) (or AirBnBs).

NOW is the time to call the Legislature and tell them that Lexington should be able to regulate what goes on in its neighborhoods!  It is easy and quick.

Call the LRC’s (Legislative Research Council) message center at 800-372-7181 and leave a message for all the members of the Senate saying that you oppose SB 9 and that you don’t want unregulated businesses in your residential neighborhood.   We have until the middle of April.

You can call every day!

We look forward to seeing Mentelle Neighborhood residents and their families Saturday at 10 a.m. for our annual Easter Egg Hunt. Thanks to the generosity of our neighbors, we have lots of eggs for another wonderful hunt this year, but could always use more! If you still plan to donate eggs, please bring those to the porch of 29 Mentelle Park by Friday evening.

We will gather in between the two medians closest to Cramer Avenue. Kids aged 5-10 will hunt on the first median (closest to Cramer) and those younger than 5 will hunt on the second median. The Easter Bunny will be with us for photos until 10:30 a.m. Complimentary coffee and Spalding’s Bakery donuts will be available for all neighborhood residents to enjoy.

Parents – please keep an eye on your kiddos as you make your way to the gathering location to ensure they don’t start picking up eggs before the hunt begins. It is incredibly tempting!

See you at the hunt!

The Fayette County Backyard Conservation Program offers a 50/50 reimbursement of up to $200.00 back for establishing, enhancing, restoring and/or maintaining a backyard conservation project. All Fayette County residents (tenants or owners) are eligible to apply.

Examples of Backyard Conservation practices include:
rain gardens, rain barrels, compost bins, pollinator gardens, beekeeping supplies, bat houses, garden plots, raised bed gardens, and more.

Applications for 2026 will exclusively be accepted online via JotForm.  More information and a link to the application form can be found here: https://www.kyfccd.org/backyardconservation

Mentelle residents are invited to join the Kenwick Neighborhood Association (KNA) for their first general meeting of the year on Thursday, March 26 at 7:00 PM at The Kenwick Community Center. There will be a brief update on neighborhood events and then introductions from all District 3 and District 5 candidates as well as two of the candidates for Mayor.

For District 3:
• Jon Larson – jonlarsonlaw.com
• Griffin VanMeter – griffinforlex.org

For District 5:
• Stephanie Hoelscher – stephforlex.com
• Michael McLaughlin – michaelforlex5th.com
• Nick Wolter – votewolter.com

For Mayor:
• Raquel Carter – https://www.raquelforlexingtonmayor.com
• C. E. Huffman – https://www.giveemhellhuffman.com

Click here for the Kentucky Voter Information Guide!   Registration deadline is April 20, 2026 4:00 p.m and the Primary Election is May 19, 2026.  

Mentelle and Kenwick neighbors met with city managers Thursday evening for the storm sewer project which will affect N. Ashland, Cramer and Mentelle Park. Ky American Water will also be replacing water
lines along the same route.

Plans are to tentatively start mid summer. Most of the discussion concerned storm water flowing down Cramer to the intersection with N. Ashland
where the water pools and presents a hazard for children walking to Ashland Elementary.  Several water inlets will be placed along Cramer to alleviate this issue.

Also discussed was a raised intersection at Cramer and N. Ashland to deal with the standing water and to slow traffic but Traffic Engineering has concerns about the cost. Sidewalk bump outs were offered as an alternative at a much lower cost.

You can click here to see and download the design drawings for the project.

REMINDER!  The meeting to discuss the storm sewer project to improve standing water and storm runoff on Cramer Avenue, Mentelle Park and North Hanover Avenue is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, March 19, in the meeting room in back of the Children’s Advocacy Center of the Bluegrass, 162 N. Ashland Ave.  You can click here to see and download the updated design drawings for the project.

Engineers will be at the meeting to answer your questions and listen to any concerns you have about the plans before final engineering drawings are completed. They also will discuss the project timeline. Also, someone from Streets & Roads will be there to hear your ideas for improving the crosswalk at Cramer and North Ashland avenues by Ashland Elementary School as part of the project.

Please join us for our annual Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 4, at 10 a.m. on the Mentelle Park medians near Cramer Avenue. The egg hunts — one for little kids up to age 4 and one for bigger kids between ages 5 – 10 — begin at 10 a.m. Bigger kids will hunt on the median closest to Cramer and the little ones will hunt on the second median. The Easter Bunny will be there as well for photos and to hand out additional treats to the kids.

This event is for ALL Mentelle Neighborhood residents, whether you have small children in your household or not. We hope that all will join us to socialize with your neighbors and celebrate the beginning of spring. Complimentary coffee and delicious Spalding’s Bakery donuts will be available.

Donations of eggs are gladly accepted! If you would like to contribute to the event, please bring plastic eggs (preferably filled with a piece of wrapped candy) in a bag to the porch of 29 Mentelle Park no later than Friday, April 3. We would love to have at least 800 eggs to make this a truly fun and special event for the children of the neighborhood. And while we appreciate the generosity of all of our neighbors, we can’t use loose candy at this time.

We hope to see all Mentelle Neighborhood residents there!