Let's go ahead and call the work session to order, if we could please. Is there anyone here who wishes ... Is there anyone here who wishes to comment on issues that are on today's agenda? I see none. We don't have a docket to approve today, but we do have a summary from the October 13th, uh, meeting to approve. I have a motion by Council Member Ellinger and a second by Council Member Blues to approve the October 13th summary. Any discussion? Council Member James. Yes, Mayor, one moment, I need to look at my ... look at the summary. Mayor, I, I was not present at the meeting, I was ill. Um, but I did go back and look at the tape, and I have a question about quorum. Um, beginning from ... If you look on page nine, there was a motion made, and it was a seven to one vote. Um, and then every motion from that point, just curious about quorum. Checked with the Department of Law, uh, towards the end of the work session and was advised that we, uh, have to have 50%, more than 50% here, which would mean eight would constitute a quorum for work session. I believe 10's required for a council meeting. Okay. Thank you. That's all I have. Anything further? Motion is to approve the, uh, October 13th summary. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Oppose, no. Motion carries. We don't have any budget amendments. We do, however, have some new business items. I have a motion from Council Member Beard to approve the new business items. Do I hear a second? Council Member McCord has seconded that motion. Any discussion? All in favor of approving the new business items in, please say aye. Aye. Oppose, no. Motion carries. We're now down to, uh, the inter-governmental committee report. Council Member James. Thank you, Mayor. Um, inter-governmental met. Council Member Meyers shared a meeting in mine and Council Member Figel's, um, absence. Um, that's my co-chair. She was sick too. She had some sympathy pains for me. Um, we had, um ... It was pretty much Harold Tate on the agenda, um, DDA and their roles and responsibilities, as well as the east end and central sector plans. As far as DDA role and responsibilities, um, there was some discussion regarding, um, comparisons of, of our local DDA with some other cities. Um, and Harold was asked questions about that, and asked to report back on several things. There were no motions that came from that. Um, Harold presented, um, east end implementation schedule that we've been working on, um, in conjunction with David Moaney and Brandy. Her last name escapes me at the moment, that's working in his office on the east end implementation. There were no questions about that, um, related to the east end implementation, and he also, um, submitted guiding principles for central sector, which Harold's been working with me, Tom Blues, and maybe Council Member Lawless. I'm not sure if she's ... She's not been at, at the meetings where Tom and I have been, but I'm probably talking a little bit to her about central sector issues too, maybe. Um, but unfortunately, there were no questions or discussion about that either. Um, but there seemed to be, um ... S- there was a lot of discussions, nothing related to motions. Um, the summaries in there for your review. Um, the, uh ... an update of committee items looks like Counselor Meyers, um, thought that the issue of oath of office should be put on the agenda for next, um, month's discussion, and there were absolutely no motions that came from that meeting. They adjourned. Thank you. Any questions for Council Member James? Council Member Martin. Thank you, Mayor. I just have a change. Uh, uh, I guess, a correction on summary. I guess I'd have to go back and listen to it, but I ... On page 38 of the docket, indicates that I said that we should change our rules to not allow any type of demolition. I don't believe that's what I said. The, the point I was making is that the council could have changed its rules and not allowed any type of demolition prior to, uh, uh, a building permit, uh, being issued. This is for Center Point. ... and I indicate the planning department doesn't recommend that because it allow, uh, buildings to fall into dilapidated use and would result in, in boarded up buildings in Lexington. But I just wanna clarify the record there. Thank you, Mayor. Council Member Martin, can you ... Yes. You're saying that it -- instead of saying the council should change its rules and not allow, are you saying could, you wanted to say could? I, I believe my comment was that the council could have changed its rules. Uh, there's been some criticism that, that, uh, that Center Point was allowed, they were allowed to, to demolish a, a city block. Uh, but th- our ru- current rules actually allow that. And so the po- the discussion was, uh, you know, is that a good thing or, or not? I, I certainly didn't make a recommendation that we, we did that, and so I just wanna clarify that that was not my recommendation, but that certainly would have addressed that issue. Thank you, Mayor. We'll have Vicky change that. Thank you. Any other questions or comments about the Intergovernmental Committee report? All right. We'll move along. The next item on the agenda that was circulated, uh, last week was a traffic update presentation. The, uh, individuals involved with that are ill today, but, um, I understand that, uh, some issues pertaining to the Lyric came up at the, uh, council meeting last Thursday evening, and Ms. Rabo wanted to address those briefly, I think with Mr. Clark and perhaps Council Member James, uh, too. So if there's no objection- Yes, sir. ... now might be an appropriate time to, to, uh, deal with that. All right. Um, thank you, Mayor. Um, as you all recall from last Thursday evening, we discu- we were discussing the board makeup and Council Member Meyers made a motion to amend the ordinance, and that motion passed, and the conversation was to continue the conversation today. Um, and so we will do that. I was able to get Jim Clark to come, and so I'm going to, um, ask him to come up here and share his thoughts, and I think Council Member James might have a few words as well. Um, and then I think we talked about putting the ordinance on for second reading for next Tuesday's meeting, the special meeting on the 27th, and at that time, if Dr. McCorvey is able to come, we could continue the conversation one more time if you'd like, or he could send you something in writing in the meantime. But to get us going today, if, um, Jim Clark could come and share his thoughts, and this is about, everybody I think remembers, but this is about whether or not the, um, mayor and should continue to appoint the members and the council confirm forevermore. Good afternoon. I'm Jim Clark, President and CEO of Lexarts, and I understand the council's desire to exercise oversight on this, um, project. I think that could probably, probably be best achieved through the oversight of the management agreement between the Lyric Theatre Corporation and LFUCG for the facility. My concerns about having a, a mayor appointed and council confirmed board is that it would appear to the rest of the community that this was a quasi-government agency, which I think would hamper fundraising efforts. It would look like the organization, the corporation is tied very closely to the government, and I think in this period of challenging fundraising, you need to have a board that is equipped to be fundraisers, to be very proactive in, in going out into the community and also from national sources to seek funding. Also, the, um, I think if the board was in perpetuity appointed by the government, there are times might be concerns in the community that the decisions or the, the actions of that board are more politically motivated rather than culturally or artistically motivated. So I think also in, in keeping with what is normal within this community that our largest arts organizations have self-electing boards of directors. They are measured on their effectiveness. Um, they self-regulate, um, but also the funding community responds to how well they are doing and how efficient they are. So I think in a way, it, to have a freestanding, self-elected board would probably be the most efficient and effective way of understanding how the community is responding to the effort, efforts of the lyr- Lyric Theatre Corporation. All right. I see where a couple of folks have indicated a desire to speak. Council Member Beard? Thank you, Mayor. Uh, Jim, thank you for coming, and, um, I'm gonna ask you, how do you foresee at the beginning of this process putting together a board? I mean, it would have to be, as I see it, it would have to be done by the mayor- Right. ... initially- Correct. ... and then, and then people move off as they're rotated off and be replaced by the existing board. Right. But we, a- at some point, all of those things that you mentioned could be said about the board for the first three years or the first five years or whatever anyway, could they not? Uh, yes, but I think it's understandable since the, uh, LFUCG is what has caused the corporation to come into existence, that having it appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the council in its inaugural board makes sense, and then it's allowed to self-elect after that. And I- I- ... believe there will be staggered terms, correct? Two year and four year? I'm not sure exactly what the, the ... There'd be staggered, I'm not sure. Is it every two years, three years? How, w- what <affirmative ? Our charter requires that there be four year terms, but we're allowed to stagger the initial terms at two years and four years. So in the beginning, half the board would serve two terms, the other half would serve a four-year te-- excuse me, a two-year term and a four-year term, split. Kind of like council people and mayors. Similar. But as soon as the, um- And at large. ... the half that serves the two-year term finishes their first term, then they would be, um... it would turn into a four-year term from thence forth. Ah, is that... Is there any problem with that impairing, uh, fundraising? Because fundraising, obviously, we're gonna look, we're looking at a five-year horizon as far as continual support is concerned, and those first five years, um, ho- ho- hopefully people would, would look a bit further that down the road and, and, than have us kill the deal. And I think they would. I think that would be easily explained if, if the- Okay. ... board members or, or staff were asked about that. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mayor. Council Member Myers. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you for coming in, Mr. Clark. I got a couple of questions for you. Um, the first one is that board nominees can be sent up to either council members or the mayor, um, as it stands today, and there'd be nothing different if the mayor continued to appoint the board. So what do you think is different about the mayor appointing and the council, um, confirming that would prohibit the people that you'd want to see on the board from getting on the board? I'm not sure the... If the board is self-electing, they're not gonna be confirmed by the council in the future. Right. So I think it would be much clearer that their job is to be fundraisers, to, um, advocate on behalf of that, um, without being so closely tied to LFUCG. I think if there's that ongoing connection, it'll be perceived that that organization, the, the primary source of, of support is gonna be from LFUCG. That's my concern. Okay. My question is a little bit different though. When you're saying that if the mayor appoints the board or the council confirms, then that... It, it sounds like what you're saying and the people that you'd really want to see on that board that are about fundraising and those kinds of things wouldn't necessarily make the cut. What I'm asking you is, however that board would self-elect in the future- Right. ... those same folks could be recommending people to the mayor and to the council to be put on the board. So how do you see the mayor appointing and the council approving prohibiting the people getting on the board that you want to be on the board that can do fundraising? I think you're adding a layer of bureaucracy that's unnecessary and that other arts groups don't experience. I think you would have to have people that were politically inclined to go through that process and want to be a part of that process, as opposed to those that are sought out by their peers and have more of a direct relationship to that organization. I think you're creating a, a level of, uh, engagement that's unnecessary. Okay. I don't follow that, but my second question would be, you stated that, um, if the mayor continues to appoint and the council continues to confirm that you may end up with a situation where you have board members acting politically rather than- Right. ... I assume what you're saying is in the best interest of the organization. Can you give me an example of that today? I could see down the road, uh, eight, 12 years from now when you have a very different, uh, leadership group that might appoint people that don't have the best interest of the community or that corporation in, in their mind and would seek to either delay appointments or to put people in there that might run contrary to what the organization was trying to do. I don't see any purpose... All the conversations that led up to this was about creating an independent and freestanding organization that someday could be self-sufficient. This seems to be not in line with that conversation of creating an independent and freestanding organization. So that are- to me, I think it's gonna set up in the minds of corporate donors and individual donors that this organization is a quai- quasi government, government group and not really a free-standing 501(c)(3)). Okay. Could you go back to my question though, and that is, do you have an example today where you have a board that's appointed by the mayor, confirmed by the council, and is acting politically rather than in the best interest of the, of the organization that it serves? No, I don't. So what makes you think- My concerns are with the arts organizations. I can't address things with other appointing bodies. Um, I know that there's cert- been certain controversies with other boards that have been appointed by LFUCG, so, um, I would think that perhaps you might want to have some distance from that as well. Well, I'm just trying to understand if you think that that's something that could happen down the road and there's no example of it happening today, why you think this would be different and down the road it would end up that way. I really can't answer that. Okay. Thank you, Mayor. Council member Martin. Thank you, Mayor. Um, I, I knew this was gonna be on the agenda today, so I, uh, s- have had a communication with Danielle Clore, who is the, uh, director of the Kentucky Non-Profit Leadership Initiative and Danielle sent me an article about, uh, about this issue, about appointed board members versus having a self-elected board of directors and I just wanna read something from here. It says, "Some appointed boards are reluctant, if not hostile, to engage in fundamental board activities such as fundraising." And that's really what we're talking about here. It's a really, quite a unique s- uh, function of a- an arts organization board of directors, they raise money and if, if we as a council ignore that, we're dooming these folks to failure. That's what they do. They raise money. They are the bread and butter, they are the lifeblood of a n- of a non-profit arts organizations. Um, Jim Clark is the head of LexArts. He knows more about n- arts-related fundraising than, uh, anybody, certainly in this room, but prob- probably in town. Uh, and Dr. Everett McCorvey certainly knows an enormous amount, uh, about, uh, arts, uh, related organizations and, and fundraising. I mean, these folks know how it's done and, uh, and I'm, for one, I'm extremely hesitant to go against their recommendations in this, and particularly when you get something like, like BoardSource, where this article came out of, that indicates that, that there, there's a different fundraising component f- to a n- to a, a, an appointed board versus a non-profit board, uh, a self-elected board. And so, um, given that, I think we as a, a, a council could certainly try to affect this down the road. We are gonna be, at least on the short term basis, in the n- next five years, are gonna be providing funds for these folks and should we be unhappy with, with the direction that they're going, we got our m- our handle on the money. And so I think we would have the ability to, to, to craft some policy as this board goes forward, at least in the short term, and hopefully, uh, in, in the long term, these, the- they will be able to recruit a, a strong and vibrant board, uh, that has strong community ties, uh, who will be able to, to r- in, in essence, raise the money that's gonna be necessary for this to be an independent organization. I think the, the very serious risk is that if we make this a, uh, a political appointee, uh, type of organization that the, this orga- this, this council and this city is gonna be paying the dime on for this organization in the very long term and that's what we want. We want to cull them, wean them from the government and, uh, so that they can be a vibrant, private, non-profit uh, organization. And so, uh, and so I would n- not recommend that we, uh, uh, we change it and I, I recommend that we allow this to be a self-directed board as it wa- was originally set up. Thank you, Mayor. Council member James. Thank you, Mayor. Um, I did, I watched, um, the Thursday session, the Thursday, um, council meeting, um, and did a little bit of research, um, in addition to what we already knew. Um, the, the Lyric task force, um, talked extensively about this, um, as well as, um, the group, can't remember their names, Arthur was his name, um, the consultant person that put the business plan together as well as the work group. Um, we traveled to different arts organizations, museum spaces, um, to try to figure out what was going to be the best route, um, for the Lyric to have the most succe- success and to get us to where the council want it, which was self-sustainability. Um, and, um, this was the way to do it. Um, hands down, this was the way to do it. Now, you do have two options. You can do it the way the amendment proposes, um, or you can do it the way the original proposal was. Um, of the two, there is a better, there's a better way to do it. Um, I noticed on the, there were a lot of comparisons thrown out, um, by council members on Thursday, um, so I thought it was important that we address the similarities and the differences between those organizations that were presented and I think a thing, a couple of things to keep in mind is we're talking about an arts organization housed in a government building in a government facility, so the liability of the building I think is critical and I think that is something that we do need to oversee. So they, during that meeting, Council Member Lane pointed out that we're talking about two separate issues. Talking about programming and arts, um, as one unit and then we're talking about the building as another. Liability of the building should be something that we do overseas. B- And we do that through PSAs and lease aggrievments, um, with multiple organizations and I think we can do that with the Lyric organization, um, and the way that it will be managed and, um, directed. I think that has to happen and I would never- ... we do have some organizations that are in some of our buildings without PSAs and without lease agreements and that's something that the outside agency, which council member of mine chairs, knows is very important. The strength of that PSA is our government strength. That is where we have that commitment that, and that liability to hold that organization accountable. And I think instead of having Jim Clark talk about what makes the proposal different or this organization different, the burden goes in the other hand. It's like a court case. If you're trying to prove to do something different, the burden relies on that proposal and I haven't seen anything come forward as to, why would you wanna do the Lyric different? And I think that's what we need to hear. So when I look at the arts organizations housed in government facilities, such as the Lexington Art League, they are in the Loudoun House in Castlewood. The Lexington Art League is not, their board is not appointed by the mayor, they have no PSA, but they have a lease agreement. They do their own fundraising, they conduct their business there. If they fail or succeed relies their programming that is, that-- that ends up on them. That is not based on our government and them being in our building, but they're held accountable by that lease agreement. The Kentucky Theater, the mayor does not appoint what goes on with the Kentucky Theater. We have no PSA, but we had a ma- we have a management contract, so that's another arts, you have to look at apples to apples. Um, there was something thrown out about the Lexington Center Corporation, eh, the mayor does appoint, but I don't believe they fundraise. They have revenues that are generated from things that they, that are held there. Um, so that comparison is not valid either, and there's no PSA there. The Opera House is a good comparison. As a matter of fact, we talked about the Opera House in comparison to the Lyric and its failure or success and as far as the business plan. They are not appointed by the mayor and there is no PSA. Um, there are, uh, lists here, I have all lists. Everything in the old courthouse, the Isaac Scott Hathaway, um, the Kentucky Renaissance Pharmacy Museum, the Public Safety Museum, everything in that, there is no mayoral appointment, um, on that board, for the board, and there are, um, they're under, I think they're under negotiations with their PSAs at this point. Um, so I think we have to look apples to apples, and if you're gonna do anything different, I think you're gonna have to figure out, um, why are you... why do you want it to be different? It's very clear from those of us that have worked, Council Member Lane, um, I heard some of the comments that council, uh, Vice Mayor Gray, which led me to believe he could see where we were going with it, um, but he voted in favor of the amendment, so I was a little bit confused about that. Um, but I do think that we... you could go either way, but there's a better choice. The sustainability and the fact that this could stand on its own was something completely vital. I do have a motion that I'll have to make before my time is up. I think your time just expired a moment ago. Can I make the motion? You can make the motion. Okay. This is in regards to the meeting that happ- uh, that was proposed on the 27th to have a special meeting in ad- in addition to I think there's a TIFF discussion. Um, but we needed a motion to place it on the docket, um, and that was an oversight at that time. Um, I move to place on the docket for Tuesday, October 27th, 2009, a special meeting under the second reading ordinances, the ordinance creating the Lyric Theater & Cultural Center Board. I have a motion and a second to place on the docket for the October 27th meeting an ordinance creating the Lyric Board. Any discussion on that- For the special meeting, yes. Yes. Any discussion on that motion? Uh, Council Member Gordon and Council Member Stinnet. I just had a question. You said second reading, so that would be presuming no action to change it back. That's correct. Is taken. That's correct. So if- This would be the only opportunity to add it. Yes. So if action is taken to change the ordinance, that would be first reading. That's correct. Okay, thank you. Mm-hmm. Council Member Stinnet. Just a clarification. You're, uh, you're asking to remove it from the November 5th docket, which it's already on, and place it on the October 27th special meeting docket? Um, Shea, please help with that. I asked Glenda that question, and she said that we're actually not removing it because last week's council meeting was first reading. Technically we could, she said we could move all of those items to October 27th if we wanted to. So we're moving the first reading that happened on the previous Thursday to, for this one item, to next Tuesday as opposed to November 5th. So it's a little bit of a technicality, but she's not actually removing it from the docket, it's moving the docket to an earlier day than November 5th. I just want to make sure that we didn't have that technicality and have a problem with- Right. So it will be on both dockets. No, it won't be on... instead of going to the Nov- November 5th docket, it's gonna proceed to get a second reading on the Novem- on the October 27th meeting as opposed to the November 5th meeting. So it's not being removed from a docket. It's progressing to the next earliest docket. Does that make sense? Yep, that's fine. I just want to make sure everybody- Megan's not paying attention to me, so we're good. Thank you. I did clarify this with Glen- with Glenda beforehand. Yeah, thank you, because we haven't approved the November 5th docket officially till next Tuesday. Correct. That's why. All right. Motion is to add the Lyric Board ordinance to the October 27th special meeting docket. Any further discussion? Council Member Beard, then Council Member Lawless. I just want to be clear about one, one thing. Is, is the initial board going to be appointed by, uh, the mayor or who do- if not, who does? Yes, it would be by the mayor. The initial board. I don't, I don't know if that's relevant to this motion p- in particular, but yes, the initial board, I don't... who else would appoint? Well, th- this is silent on it, but I'm, there was an implication that maybe the mayor would not appoint, at least I got that implication, but that may not have been the intention, but that, that's the way I felt. Um- I think the only issue on the floor at the moment is whether or not to place that ordinance on the docket on the 27th. Right. And right now, as I understand the ordinance, after the meeting last week, it provides for, um, the board to be- ... appointed in perpetuity by the mayor with council confirmation. So that's what would actually- That- ... appear on the docket on the 27th. Okay. Yes. But that's not what we want to do, is it? Or... That's the motion that was passed by, um, the council last week. I think the idea is to try to get it on the docket for the 27th, perhaps amend it on the 27th. Amend, amend at that point, okay. Tha- that's fine. I just- And then we have the first reading, that would make for the first reading on the 27th- Right. ... and come back on the 5th for a second reading. Yes. Okay. Fine, thanks, thank you. Okay. Council Member Lawless. Uh, I punched in to speak on the discussion we were having rather than the motion. Okay. So. Let, let's deal with the motion then. Does anyone else wish to discuss the motion to put that item on the docket for the 27th? Seeing none. Those in favor of adding it to the docket on the 27th, please indicate by saying aye. Aye. Those no. Motion carries. Now we'll go back to the screen and Council Member Lawless. Uh, uh, let me make sure. I think that was the last thing you wanted to address- My time was up. ... time was up, so Council Member Lawless. Thank you very much. I was pretty confused last Thursday or Tuesday or whatever day that was when we were voting on what we were voting on. I don't even remember how I voted. But, that being said, I fully support the recommendation of the task force and of having the mayor and council approve the, uh, original board and then it becoming a, um, self-perpetuating non-profit board and I can give many other examples that don't have anything to do with arts. Um, but you're right. You know, LexArts, uh, and occupies the Downtown Arts Center we have. So, and then we, Arts Place, uh, Loudon House, but we also have other situations like the Downtown Lexington Corporation, which is not a quasi-governmental agency, but has a non-profit foundation. And just last week, we found that they were able to go out and raise a huge amount of money for the pavilion at Cheapside Park, and had that just been given to the government, it wouldn't have opened the door for other fundraising efforts. And, uh, it's not an or- arts organization, although they do a lot of great artsy stuff. Um, I think that's another example, and I, I firmly believe that a private, non-profit, self-perpetuating board that runs the Lyric is absolutely the best way to go and the best way to raise money. And I'm hoping everybody will, um, think about that. Thank you. Council Member Henson. I'm sorry. Um, I lost Council Member Lane on my screen here. Council Member Lane. Please, Mayor. Uh, I di- I just wanted to make a short comment. I spoke out on this the last meeting, but, you know, based on the recommendations of the task force, the, uh, comments from Jim Clark and, and coincidentally, Everett McCorvey called me, uh, a couple of days ago, after the last meeting and said, you know, he thought it was important that we had, uh, a board that was self-filling in the future and not being appointed forever and ever by the mayor. I, I think the one thing that I gained from, uh, being on the workforce that oversaw the Lyric Theater is that I believe that most of the people agree that the way the Lyric Theater will be successful is it has to, uh, originate local programming that, uh, you know, draws people to come to the theater and, uh, that's gonna generate ticket sales. It's gonna generate people that wanna be on the board. It's gonna, uh, generate donations. And I feel like, um, having an independent board is really, in the long term, best interest of the Lyric Theater and I, and I strongly recommend that our council reconsider, uh, the motion on the floor and, and go with the original motion. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Hinson. Thank you, Mayor. I, I just, I have some questions about the other, um, art entities that, what is the LFUCG's financial obligation to, like the Kentucky Theater or the Opera House, or do we have a six million dollar bond on those? I, n- no, and I can't speak to the other facilities, um, at, um, I sh- I have. I can sort of answer those questions. Um, back in, I think, 1988, the urban county government invested a significant amount of money, I think it was about four million dollars- Okay. ... on the Kentucky and the state. And so we own the facility. We, we renovated it. But we enter into, every so many years, a, um, a lease agreement, a contract, with the Kentucky Theater Management Company to oversee and manage the theater. Right. We are still required for major, um, structural, you know, we're, we pay for the roof if there's a problem there. Right. But the operational costs are, um, borne by the group we enter into a contract with each year. The Opera House, I think we own. Mayor, is that correct, u- under the Public Facilities Corporation? I think that's correct. The opera house is governed by the civic, uh, Lexington Center Corporation. Right, the Irving County Government owns the building. And I, I can't speak to that. I don't know. We're getting lots of nods. I know, I think there is a public facilities corporation that, um, funding for the Civic Center and, um, Opera House in the past hav- we've helped them with their bonding. Um, I know that last year, maybe the year before, we, uh, contributed several hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Opera House for new seats. Right, and that, um, I was aware of that. Right. And I'm not opposed to to going back, you know, on the original motion, taking away the amendment or whatever, but I'm just saying, you know, if we're comparing things, I want to know all the facts and I want to know, um, I just feel like the city has a huge financial obligation to the Lyric. I want it to succeed. If these are the recommendations of the task force, but has any money been raised to date? Not yet, but there is a fundraising event scheduled for November 14th. Um, it's being organized by Jean Woods and Tom Martin and some others that will be raising money for the programming for the Lyric. Okay. Also, point of clarification, uh, Lexarts has a management agreement for the Downtown Art Center, and that agreement predates my being the head of Lexarts, but I do know that there was some sort of a miscellaneous bond issue, um, that paid for the fit-out of the Downtown Art Center, which is why 100% of the rent generated off the gallery, the restaurant, and the, uh, performances and rehearsals in the Downtown Art Center come back to LFUCG to retire the debt. Thank you. Vice Mayor Cleats. Thank you, Mayor. Um, I just wanted, Council Member James had mentioned the comments that I made last week and my vote, um, I knew that we were gonna have another bite at the apple, so I felt like out of respect to Council Member Myers, I was gonna support the amendment and that, um, we'd have a chance to talk about it more today. Um, my comments were actually to say that the Civic Center Board, when I was nominated for that board, I was very aware that it was an administrative role and, and not a fundraising role, and I think that there is an important distinction, and that, um, the model that the task force recommended after having heard this discussion today, that I'd go along with the model that the task force, uh, recommended. Thank you. Council Member Gordon. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Jim, for being here. Um, uh, last week, I was one of the council members who voted for Council Member Meyer's amendment, and I, I think at the time, I was very focused on our investment in the Lyric Theater. Um, I do have a lot of great respect for Everett McCorvey and for you, Jim Clark, um, and I remember, Council Member James has reminded me of our discussions about the Lyric Theater becoming self-sufficient. We did not want it to become our expense forever, and I appreciate your research, Council Member James, on the other arts organizations, and I'm, I, on the 27th, if there is a motion to come forward to change it back to being ultimately an independent board, I will support that. So thank you for your work on that. Thank you. Council Member Figal. Thank you, Mayor. Um, I'd, I have a couple of questions. I, I guess I just realized today that the mayor will in fact appoint the first board. Right. Uh, what are, what's the term of office on, on the first board? There are... 15 members, and half of the board will be appointed for two years, the other half, it's seven and eight, I can't remember which one, the other half, the initial appointment will, will, will be a four-year term, and that's to allow, the charter says that every two years, 50% of the board has to turn over. Okay. All right. Well, I, I, too, supported the amendment at the last meeting because I felt like that we needed, um, some representation on the board during that first, that first period of time, and so that satisfies my concern, uh, that, that, I think what we were hoping for is within five years, it would become independent, and so the terms of office of those first appointments would satisfy my concerns. Thank you. Council Member Meyers. Point of clarification, Mayor. Can you go over the speaking rules one more time? Everybody can speak, uh, for five minutes and up to a maximum of two times. Thank you, Mayor. On, on the same issue. Am I free to speak, Mayor? Am I free to speak? You're free to speak. Thank you, Mayor. For, for five minutes. Thank you. Uh, Logan, can you come up for a second? Shea has used an example of the charter- Go ahead. ... in requiring that the terms be staggered for the board members. The previous paragraph to the -- to the citing that she made in Section 2.02 of the -- of the charter says, "Terms, compensation, and qualifications of members. Except as otherwise provided by this charter or appropriate state law, all members of boards, agencies, and commissions covered by the provisions of this article shall be appointed by the mayor, subject to confirmation by the majority of the council members." So it would seem to me that the charter says that all these members will be appointed by the mayor and subject to confirmation by the majority of the council. So could you help us understand how we can get to changing this so that it can appoint its own members? Yeah. Unlike other boards and commissions, as I understand, you are actually going to authorize a 501(c)(3) to be created and the initial board will be appointed by the mayor, approved by the council, and then that entity will be a separate entity with whom you will have a relationship through a PSA. At some point, as we discussed the other night, if you decide you wanna terminate that relationship with that organization, you could do so by terminating the PSA. But once it gets up and running, it would no longer be ... It would be an independent board, the way it was originally drafted. Now, what -- what is on the table now and what received first reading the other night, will make it a true city board where the council would continue, the mayor would continue to appoint going forward all the board members subject to council approval. Okay. I don't understand that because it sounds like you're saying that the reason that it's gonna be its own entity is because it's setting up the 501(c)(3). Correct. But if they still set up the 501(c)(3), but the amendment that passed last week stands, it's still gonna have a 501(c)(3). So how does it then become different? Because y- the qualifier that you gave was that it had its own 50c13, 501(c)(3)). That's true. So that -- that doesn't seem to work. Well ... We ... In the original ordinance, we've given this board the power to incorporate. And by giving it the power to incorporate, we said, "Okay. You can go off on your own." Now, you're probably thinking of instances where a board has incorporated and we still appoint the members and we can do it either way, but there's no prohibition and, and there wouldn't be a violation of the charter to give this board the power to incorporate, set up a 501(c)(3), and then appoint its members going forward. Okay. I, I still don't quite understand that, but y- you're the attorney, so ... He gives up. That was very good. Councilmember Martin. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, for, for Councilmember Meyers, a nonprofit and the folks in the audience and at home, a, a nonprofit corporation is something like creating a new person. And so it's different than like a, an entity that's created by statute, for example, like, or by a, an ordinance such as a, an independent board. And so because this is being created under the Kentucky Nonprofit Corporation Act, it ... When you create it, it, it becomes a new person and it's governed by that state statute and not by us anymore. And so it's, it's kinda like a, a little ship we can build and sort of send it off in the pond, but once it's, once it's gone, it's sort of out there. And so, uh, um, I, I ... We can in, in ... when we set this up, create different things to, to continue control. One of those things is we could say that, well, uh, in this particular nonprofit corporation, the City of Lexington appoints all the board members and I think we can do that. Uh, now if all those board members get together and say w- they don't want to be appointed by Lexington anymore, I guess they might be able to change that. But what we're talking about here is whether or not, uh, a- at the initial time we set this up, whether or not we want the City of Lexington to basically have a, a perpetual ability to, to indicate who's on the board and, or, or whether we want the board to be, sort of be self-elected which some of the folks here have indicated is, is the way many arts organizations go. So thank you, Mayor. Any further questions or comments? All right. We'll move along. Thank you, Mr. Clark, for being here with us. Uh, let me welcome to the podium, Mr. Luke Murray, who is with Awesome, Inc., to tell us a little bit about what they're doing with the business incubator on Main Street. Luke? Hello, everybody. Are you guys gonna start the clock for me up there so I can see here? It's started. It's like a buzzer. Where is it? Oh, it's there. Oh, it's, it's already going. Okay. Hello, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Luke Murray. I am an MBA graduate from UK. I'm also a medical student at UK. I'm a local entrepreneur and I've been a Lexington resident for the past eight years. Uh, I'm gonna talk about a company that I started six months ago that, uh, Mayor Newberry wanted me to present to you guys about called Awesome, Inc. Uh, I don't know if you guys have this in front of you already, but this is the one-page summary of everything that we do. Thank you... for the lights. So, I'm gonna spend most of this time talking about what you, what we do, but what I want to be clear about is that it's much more important that I communicate what we're about. We've been around six months, and ultimately what we're about will determine what we do for the next six months or six years, not what we're, what we're currently working on. So, the way that we describe what we're about is we use rules. So, you're looking at rule number four right now, and that is, "Always do something awesome over something not awesome." The idea at Awesome Inc. is to create a new cultural norm where pursuing awesomeness, or your passion, or however you would define awesome, is expected. And we really try to let people pursue whatever they wanna pursue. If that's art, or technology, or business, we l- give them free rein to do that. The only way we try to shape that direction is by encouraging them to think big, uh, in a way that doesn't just affect them, but affects those around them and their community. So, that's rule number 22, um, "Go big or, or don't be my friend." And so, we think that the best way to do this, the most scalable, impactful way to do this, is through b- is through business. So, our vision, long-term, what we're actually about is to attract and retain the highest potential individuals in technology, creativity, and startups. Another way to say this is to get the sharpest left brain and the sharpest right brain and the biggest entrepreneurial brain together to create the right environment to catalyze high-growth business opportunities. So, that's what we're about, and we do it through community. There are a whole bunch of ways we do this that I'll explain, but that's ultimately the theme you're gonna see for the day. So again, I mentioned technology, creativity, startups, and ultimately, if you want to develop community, you should probably throw a party for 'em. So, we do a lot of events which covers that. So, technology. This is Awesome Labs, and, uh, I don't know if you can see, but I'll try to use my laser pointer here. Um, what, what do I do? The bottom one? Bottoms, underneath. Oh, underneath. Oh, there it is, like a gun. Okay. Um, this is a, is a rock wall. Um, these, yes, are hammocks. Uh, what you can't see is there's a, um, there's a fireman's pole that we're working on installing so you can safely get down from the loft. Uh, the point is, this is kind of a Google-esque type of feel, so that we would attract students and young individuals that are interested in not just the technology, not just the creativity, but the merging of the two and creating that environment for them. One of the initiatives of Awesome Labs is to create products. So, one of our first products is what will soon be the largest multi-touch screen in the world displayed on our storefront just a few blocks down from you guys. Um, and it'll be approximately 30 feet, uh, in diagonal width. We're working with the UK Center for Visualization to get this done. Another thing we're doing is a labs internship, which will take student entrepreneurs or engineering students with an idea, bring them down to Awesome Inc. in January, instead of them going to Lexmark or HP to do their co-ops or their internships, they will bring their own idea and take all those successful business folks and technical minds in the city to them to help grow their idea that will hopefully become a business that employs people, uh, and that supports this community. Of course, we're recruiting from UK and other surrounding, uh, other surrounding colleges. Ultimately, also there is Hack Fusion, which is a group of technically minded individuals that are all student run and student initiated, and they have two goals. One is to teach technical skills that are relevant, and second is to apply them. And so, the one that we're working on now is, uh, no surprise, an iPhone app that will exchange information with the touch screen that Labs is working on. But ultimately, again, this is about community. So, it's not really about the touch screen or the internship. Uh, it's about people like Brian Copple, who's a UK student and works at the visualization center, Matt Smith and Justin Rainey, UK students that have started the software company. Ryan Bright here, uh, started Hack Fusion, and Nick Such, uh, is the director of Labs itself, all either students or recent graduates. Our creativity initiatives include a dance studio that's right inside the front doors, teaches ballroom and ballet, an art gallery where we've had several artists already present and been on the last three gallery hops, and a community art studio where artists can come and work, not by themselves or in their basement or some loft, but together. But again, this isn't about the studio, or even dancing, or the artwork itself, it's about community. Like Adam Martin of A. Martin Design, uh, Andy Cox, who works, um, for our art lab, and Justin Lennie, a local high school student as a matter of fact, an artist as well. Startups. We're also a co-working facility, and if you've never heard of co-working, it's a brand new movement that's, um, popping up in cities all over the nation, and it's kind of like Starbucks. You ever go into Starbucks and realize that most of the people aren't there really for the coffee, they're there for the camaraderie and a interesting place that isn't their living room to get work done? I don't know if you can tell here, but this is a couch. Um, there are no cubicles or what you would think of when you think of office space. Um, and we wanna keep it that way to encourage collaboration among those three groups. We're also a business incubator. In the past six months, we've had a couple of folks move in. Um, and then we had, um, a couple more move in, and, um, we have about, I don't know, I'd say a half, 50% more than this, uh, that, again, have moved in the past six months. And, of course, there's no surprise that it's not about the space or co-working, it's about Lisa Vaughn of ConsultWebs, that's actually a Berea company that has been commuting to come, uh, be a part of the community at times. Uh, Matt and Jenny Hogg, who are, uh- ... an educational entertainment company that go and present to communities around Lexington about drugs and alcohol. Uh, and John Williamson, uh, a local entrepreneur that's doing a real estate website that's doing w- very well, actually. And lastly, events. There are the events that Awesome, Inc. has initiated, um, and then events that we host outside. So this was the first mobile phone conference ever to happen in Lexington. Some of you have actually... I've met you at these events. Nextington is a short conference that features people and projects that are up and coming in Lexington. Um, and also StartUp Weekend, which Mayor Newberry spoke at last year, and this is a two-and-a-half-day event where five or six companies are started in that short amount of time. Again, these were all initiated or created by people that started or are members of Awesome, Inc. Then there are external communities like the Blueprint Saints, which is a comic book collaborative of 100 comic book artists in town. Yes, 100 artists in Lexington. Uh, the Lexington Ad Club, which I'm sure you've heard of, LIPA, uh, and even Ace Weekly's, um, 20th anniversary party was held at Awesome, Inc. Uh, and again, there's no surprise that this community is the focus of these events, building the community for those, uh, during the day, and again, even at night, to make this a more attractive place for the technological, creative and entrepreneurial-minded people to stay. So in summary, these are our technological initiatives, these are our creative initiatives, these are our entrepreneurial initiatives, these are the types of events that we've done. And again, they've all focused... You get it. So these are, in numbers, our summary. Uh, we were op- we opened six and a half months ago, we've spent 35 grand, we have one paid staff member, who is Pete the painter, a former homeless guy, and I want to emphasize the word former. Uh, he actually went on to paint other, um, jobs after he helped open Awesome, Inc.. This is, uh, two of our tenants that I told you about, Matt and Jenny, on their wedding night. Uh, they saw Pete downtown and wanted to take a picture of them, um, on their... right before they headed off to their honeymoon. Again, by numbers, this is how far we've come- Yay. ... in six and a half months on our own. The creative initiatives, the entrepreneurial initiatives, 15 companies, and the events, 42 events, 2,001 people in six and a half months. This , as we head towards the future, is what we need, $100,000 a year and this is what we would want to do with this. Develop product in lab and protect them. We want to build a physical studio and an online art gallery for all the creative artists that we have, an administrative assistant that all the businesses can share, as well as a full-time event coordinator. Go ahead, Chris. Perfect. I told you guys that, um, what I wanted to talk about wasn't as much what we do because we've only been around six months. Turn it up if you can please, Chris. It's coming? Great. Thank you. Um, the best way to communicate it is by doing something with you guys that we call The Thing. So we all work till about midnight, 1:00, 2:00, 3:00 in the morning, and, um, we go out and we will walk out onto Main Street if it's warm enough, we've been staying inside of our building recently, um, and we'll stop and we'll say, "Guys, we haven't done The Thing yet today." So we'll step outside and we'll say, "Hey, we need to, um, we need to remind ourselves why we're doing this." So we'll, uh, we'll look out over Main Street and we'll do that for ourselves. We'll think, "What's my definition of awesome? What would it mean to go big or don't be my friend? What does big even really look like for me?" Well, for me, it looks like students, like Nick Such. Stand up, Nick. Nick's actually, um, just graduated from UK a few, uh, a few months ago. He's heading to Stanford in two years, and he told me, "Luke, first of all, I wouldn't have applied to Stanford in the first place if I wasn't surrounded by folks that encouraged me to think big. Second of all, with these two years, I see that I could probably work for a big company or work for a small company or start my own company." You're allowed to turn it up, Chris, if you can. Oh, yeah. Okay. Cool. Um, he said, "If Awesome, Inc. wasn't around, that third option wouldn't even exist." But now he's creating this internship program that I told you about that will not only allow him to build things like this massive screen, but will bring entrepreneurs from two, three blocks away down to Awesome, Inc. every single year to try their hand at something. Not when they're 35 or 45, but when they are 21. So, he's not the only one. He's not the only one. There are, there are folks that we showed you in that presentation, um, and some of them are actually here. But what I want to encourage you guys to realize is that this is real in our heads. It's not real in these PowerPoint slides, and honestly, it's not even real down on Main Street. We're just... we have 6,500 square feet, but our, our fireman pole isn't in yet, and our rock wall isn't finished. We don't have our virtual conference room and there's not the biggest touch screen in the world down there yet. Yet. That is the key word. So that's what this song is all about. Yet. We make it real in our minds that Awesome, Inc. will be a place where every single person at UK, at Transy, at the local colleges, says, "Hey, I want to get a job there. I want to do an internship there. Or heck, I just want to go down there to those events because they're not gonna look at me funny when I say, 'I want to be the next Jim Newberry. I want to be the next mayor. I want to be the next movie star. I want to be the next Dan. I want to be the next Davis Marksberry. I want to be the next Jim Gray.'" There are people like Sereta. Stand up, Sereta. Sereta is a fashion designer, award-winning herself, and she's bringing communities together, of models, of photographers, of fashion, of fashion designers themselves. People like Brian Rainey, who have gone on to s- stand up, Brian. Stand up as I call your name, guys. Brian Rainey started a company that's one of the fastest growing software companies in Lexington and he's 27 years old. His two co-founders are standing right behind him. Stand up, Matt. Get up, Keith. Keith works for him. Right bo- right next to them is Scott, their old employer that was, encouraged them to pursue these dreams. Behind them, stand up, Bright. Bright is the founder of Hack Fusion, working on an iPhone app that'll interact with a screen that doesn't even exist yet. Stand up, Nathan. Stand up, everybody. Stand up, Rebecca. Stand up, Rob. Rebecca is our, Rebecca is our dance teacher. She's taught over 40 students and is continuing to bring people down that love hanging out with her. Get up, Rob. Rob is running a, uh, Rob is running a unique, uh, ministry that's bringing folks together from around the world. Who else is here? Tim Savage maybe? T- Tim, stand up. Quit messing around. Tim is an innovative person as well and has launched his own businesses. This is a small fraction of the folks you saw on that screen. They're actually busy building businesses for your company and for your environment and for your, uh, community right now, so they couldn't be here. But every single one of them does the thing and gets the thing. So we decided, guys, let's go down there and tell them what we do, but let's show them what we do. That way, we either get kicked out or we're considered crazy or they get it and they understand what we're trying to accomplish. So yes, we care about technology, we care about creativity, we care about startups and we wanna create value-producing business, for you guys, but ultimately, we wanna recreate the social norm. So I hope that you pursue your definition of awesomeness for yourself. I hope this council pursues its definition of awesomeness for Lexington, because every single person at Awesome, Inc. is gonna pursue their definition of awesomeness for themselves, for the city, for the state and for the world. Thanks, guys. Thank you, Luke. Oh my God. I got, I got five seconds. Oh, thank you. Thank you, Julian. Appreciate that. Thanks very much. Several people have indicated a, a desire to ask some questions. Council member- I'm out of time, though. Should we restart the clock or something? Oh, okay. You're okay. Council Member James. Thank you, Mayor. Thanks, Luke. That was very inspiring. Thanks. And, um, it's important to dream b- big, it's really crucial. Um, the world of technology, creativity and startups is the talk of the, talk of the day, um, all over the place and I'm just curious about a couple of things. Um, we, I don't know if you know this, but we spend probably about $600,000 a year that we give to Commerce Lexington for economic development and such efforts. I just wondered the relationship that you're right there by them, um, on Main Street. How, what's your relationship like with them and how they, have they been, um, helpful to you? Commerce Lexington has been wonderful. Um, our relationship might be confusing. You may have seen us, um, we call her Aunt Jenna Greathouse. Um, but we're not actually of any relation. Um, she's been wonderful and very supportive. Uh, I, I think your question is how much money have they given us at this point, really. Well, not just money. Resources, what, what value add are they to you? Sure, sure. Uh, well, they've, um, they've given us about six or $7,000 as far as just having us continue to do what we're doing. Okay. Um, and as supportive as they can be, I guess, other tangible items besides money would be we hosted that, that mobile phone conference, which again, is the first, not just in the Midwest, but outside of San Francisco or Silicon Valley. Mm-hmm. Um, and they let us use their conference room, uh, which was after hours. Josh Fenner is a research assistant there and has been wonderful helping us out. So as healthy as that relationship can be, it is, and we use them as often as we can. Wonderful. Would you recommend other small startup companies to go to Commerce Lexington for support? Depends on what they need, I guess. Okay. All right. Um, and you mentioned something, um, I think it, to, to be in touch with 2,000 people in six months is amazing for a business. And obviously your energy draws folks in. Um, and with that, I guess the, the thought is recreating social norm. Um, and I look at who's, who came today and who was on the film and I see a lot of white males. Um, I see Sareta here, is a minority. But I'm wondering, Black males and Black women, um, how much of the 2,000 people, um, were those? Sure. Uh, we, we, we, uh, we don't do demographics. We actually, I wish I could, um, really could show you. We just write it down on the conference room wall h- how many people showed up. But to give you an example of cultural diversity, which definitely did exist, um, Kevin Duke runs a group called Primary Colors and it is a, a TV show. It's a lot of things, but it's a TV show as well as an events promotions agency that, um, that tries to feature art and culture. He himself is African American. A lot of the folks that he, um, hosts are African American. We had a, a modeling fashion show, uh, at our business incubator, art studio, technology lab, um, that was pretty much entirely African American and that was 200 strong. Um, we had a, a, one of the brands I showed you, uh, was Oneness and they are kind of a, um, a lifestyle store. So they, they sell to folks that, um, are young and care a whole lot about having the Jordan Vs, uh, tennis shoes. Those are shoes. Um, so that is a very, very mixed culture of young Black males and, uh, young white males- Okay. ... as well. All right. Well, keep up the good work. Thank you. Good job. Thank you, Mayor. Council Member Lane. How you doing? Hey. What's up? Good. Um, I was just curious, uh, how your, your business model is structured. So how you pay your bills and, you know, what's your, you know, what, what help maybe we could give you in that area. Okay. Um, well, we pay our bills, it's, uh, on- ... uh, if -- it's on here. Uh, it's pretty simple and, um, so the -- the technology, creativity, startups, I can go through those specifically. Uh, technologically, we don't make any money. That lab, uh, hopefully, when we sell that multi-touch screen to Sony for a jillion and a half dollars, then we'll be fine and I won't have to present to the council. Um, technology lab, not that I mind, of course. Uh, the tech -- the startup incubator, we charge, um, folks $125 a month, um, 15 companies. You can -- Pretty simple math there. Uh, the creative studio space, 50 bucks a month, 25 for students. Um, and then the events venue depends on the event. Uh, we try to charge 250 for non-profits and 450 for for-profits, but ultimately, um, if you're related to tech, creativity, or startups, we're gonna let you in the door. So... Do you have capacity for a lot more business? Do you want to encourage people to come and visit you and sign up for where else? What do we -- what do we actually want, Ed? I guess is that what you're asking? Yeah. Uh, yeah. We want -- we want more, um -- We want more creative people, more Saretas. We want more technical people, uh, more Nick Suches. Um, we want more entrepreneurial people, more John Williamsons or Brian Raineys. Um, we want more events, more, um, more folks that would come down and host meetings, uh, and we'd like $100,000 a year to pull that off, at least. Thank you very much. You're welcome, Ed. Council Member Lawless. Um. Hey. I know most of you all. Um, Sareta, I talked to just last week. She is an incredibly talented designer and, um, I've known her for quite a while and this is just so exciting. I'm so glad it's in the Third District. I've been there and you said it's not for people who are 30 or 40. It's for people who are 21. I'm barking at 60 and I hope I can come create- You can hope- ... a whole new career doing something. Who knows? And I hope you'll- Hopefully. ... remember me when you sell that, uh, touch- touch screen, uh, television to Sony and make a jillion dollars, but congratulations- A jillion and a half. Huh? A jillion and a half, but that's okay. It's good. We're gonna go for a jillion and a half. A jillion and a half. Yeah. But, uh, you all are -- you all are awesome. You are what the new economic development is about. Please, anybody that hasn't been there, go. It's a fabulous space and lots going on and love you to death. Thanks for being here and doing something that was so very entertaining. Thank you. You might add that to your resume. Thank you very much. Thanks to all of y'all. Thank you for that encouragement. I appreciate it. Council Member Martin. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, this -- this is certainly took me back. I -- I felt like, uh, I was back playing rock & roll at the library lounge, so, uh- Thank you. ... I appreciate your presentation. That, uh- Thank you. ... I certainly feel 22 again, not the, uh, mid-40s where I am, or I guess later 40s. I'm just guessing. Um, energy, synergy and ideas. We need -- We need Awesome Inc. times a thousand in this town. I mean, this, i- it- it's just really what we're wanting you to- to do. We want to- to make Lexington, uh, a place where- where ideas bubble up, where- where folks get together and- and- and between the two of 'em or three of 'em, they come up with better ideas than they would've by themselves. And we wanna sort of reach this critical mass of- of- of creativity and- and inspiration and- and enthusiasm and I just applaud y'all for coming down. Um, don't worry. Your turn is coming. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member McCord. Thank you. Uh, hey Luke, uh, I've been waiting- Okay. ... for someone to come in five years to present with their own soundtrack and I really appreciate you bringing that. Whoo. Cool. And, uh, ending right on, uh, your moment. You didn't go over. That was beautiful. Uh, you know, as- as I've gotten to know you guys and- and a number of you all out there individually and- and collectively as- as Awesome Inc., uh, you know, there's e- great hope, uh, for this city, uh, with the talent that's in it. And what I really like is the fact that, Luke, you can stand here and you can start to point at names and they're not just names, they're names with what's important to you and- and, uh, what is ... how you are working on changing your world, uh, that world that, uh, that you affect and, uh, that's what's really important sitting up here is we get a lot, uh ... Often times we get locked up in policy and programming and all these other things, but it really does come down to in- individuals and the talent, uh, that sits out there. So I'm- I'm honored to know many of you all personally and- and, uh, again, to- to work with you guys as- as we have to this point. Uh, I- I'm thrilled to death. There's a- a saying that I heard the other day that I think you reiterated a different way is, "Small thinking is a- just a waste of time." And I appreciate that you all don't waste any time, uh, and- and that's what we need more of and, uh, in- in this town. Um, you know, what I think I hear you saying is, there's a great deal of intentionality, uh, that you place on- on building social networks that turn into bill- business networks, and one- one of the things I'd like for you just to elaborate just a moment or two on is, going forward over this next year, um, eh, how do you see, uh, taking what you do and- and- and, uh, taking that social networking, uh, that you all have- have, uh, started to work with, moving it more towards a business network and what are the possibilities, uh, that you see? Because, again, I think it's very important for someone like yourself to walk into a chambers where often times we talk about barking dogs and noise ordinances and patching potholes, and you don't get a chance to talk about 30,000 foot, which is which I- w- where I'd rather hang out any day of the week. Tell me a little bit about what- what this next, uh, few months and the next year or so looks like through your eyes and what the possibilities are with the- with the folks that you touch. Sure. Sure. Um, so I'm gonna answer... Uh, I'm gonna tell you how we're gonna turn these communities into s- something other than people hanging out. Um- See if this still works. There you go. Okay, great. All right, so this is -- this is one of the things, Jay, uh, this product is really something that came from a bunch of -- well, a lot of these guys in the room getting together and being like, "Guys, um, let's do something awesome. Got any ideas?" And, uh, just like, just like you brought up Doug, they were just like, "Hey." One of them worked at the visualization center. Uh, another one was in like kind of advertising and thought, "Wouldn't it be awesome if we created this huge billboard?" So that actually came out of a conversation of folks hanging out and now is a tangible, uh, working prototype that you have a small amount of funding for. Um, this labs/internship, it's not really a community initiative. It's just something that Nick said, "Hey, I see friends that are smarter than me that need to get the opportunity to do things." Uh, Hack Fusion is like ... That really is not supposed to be a product. Um, they didn't get together and say, you know, Bryte didn't get together and say, "Guys, I want y'all to make this iPhone app." He just said, "Hey, I know about these things. What are things that you know? What can we teach each other? And then what can we do with that that actually matters at all?" So, um, hopefully this becomes, uh, a top-selling, uh, iPhone app and everyone wants it, because that way they can walk down Main Street, and this is what they're working on, by the way. I'm sorry, I'm gonna ruin your surprise here, Bryte. You're gonna be able to walk down the street and take a picture of something or yourself and you're gonna, maybe even from your car, pass by and take that picture on your iPhone and flick it off of your phone and it'll pop up onto the, uh, onto the screen. Someone could walk by and take that and make it big or small or throw it down the screen or draw on it. Um, uh, we've, we've al- already met with Rama Dwarahara to make sure we utilize this as a sounding board for what you guys want to communicate to the, to the city about. Those would be, those would be a couple examples. Um, those would be a couple examples, yeah. I, I think one of the things that, that many of us learned in, when we went to Austin, Texas was is that if you sit in a coffee shop in Austin, Texas for about an hour, you'll come out of there with a business, because over there sits a banker and there sits a guy that is an accountant and you've got this idea and you've got this computer program. That's what I see with you guys is, is that you're one place in Lexington where that activity can happen, where you just stumble in the door and all of a sudden you start talking about, uh, business opportunities or entrepreneurial opportunities. And I would just encourage you to do more of it. Okay. Uh, that you, I would encourage you all to invite more, more folks in to see what you do. I think you do a great job of, of hosting events, but, uh, I would challenge you to go even higher with your events. Okay. Because there's ... The one thing about Lexington, and I say this over and over and over, is that when people realize what's happening in this town and who's in this town- Yeah. ... they get excited about living here. Okay. So I would just ask you to, to tell that story more and help us tell that story more. Thank you, Luke. Thank you, guys. Cool. Um, one of the things that we'll do, uh, once we're able to close that $100,000 that we need is, um, is get this, uh, this, um, this full-time event coordinator that will, that will be able to focus on that year round. Vice, Vice Mayor Gray. Uh, thank you, Mayor. Uh, just ditto to everything everybody said. Thank you. And, uh, thanks for all you guys being here today. Sereda, I'm really glad to see you. You sent me an email and I lost it, so will you please give me your email address before you leave? Thank you. I suspect, uh, several members of the Council have had the opportunity along the way to visit business incubators in other communities and I will tell you, uh, my experience in, in visiting those places has been, uh, extraordinarily boring and not particularly, uh, productive. Uh, Awesome, Inc. has, uh, an entirely different kind of business model when it comes to doing the incubator, uh, piece and, um, it's certainly not boring by any stretch of the imagination. Uh, I, I might even say it's awesome, you know? Thanks, Jim. But, um, yeah, I, I think when we talk about economic development, we have a tendency to, uh, uh, think in terms of, uh, people in, in pin stripe suits and ties and, and the more traditional sort of business model. That is not at all what's going on at Awesome, Inc. In fact, it is an entirely different kind of business model that I think has a lot of promise for the future. And, uh, these are the kinds of folks that I hope we will continue to see in Lexington's economy for many years to come. A lot of them are product of, products of, uh, UK, Eastern, um, Transy, um, and a whole assortment of colleges and universities from this general area. I hope we will be able to create the kind of environment where you'll want to stay and you won't even wanna think about going to Stanford next. You'll just stay put. He has a reason to come back now. Well, that's right. And if you do have to leave, w- we want you to feel like you got a place here to come back to. So, um, thank you all very much for taking the time to share with us this afternoon and for all of the energy and creativity that you, you've brought to our local economy. We're very grateful. Thank you very much, Mayor Newberry. Thank you, Council. I appreciate your time. All right. Um, now, it's time for our, our last presentation today, and it's a real pleasure to welcome back a, a very familiar face to the podium, our former police chief Anthony Beatty, who's going to talk a little bit about a, uh, project on the University of Kentucky campus. Chief? Good afternoon, uh, Mayor Newberry. Uh, thanks for, uh, the opportunity to be back here in the Council. It's, uh, feels different being here this time, but I certainly appreciate the opportunity. And, uh, I'm here on behalf of the University of Kentucky. Uh, for those of you that, that I did have the pleasure of working with while I was here- ... for many years. I'm, I'm now serving as assistant vice president for campus services. And I'm here today on behalf of the University of Kentucky to talk about an initiative on campus that involves, uh, helping us with making our campus healthier, in terms of, uh, the effects of tobacco and tobacco products that they ha- th- those products have on our campus, and, uh, how we intend to make it healthier. And we do need the council's assistance in, in, uh, one matter here, and I'll bring that up in just a couple minutes. Uh, thanks again for allowing us to be here. Uh, to, to Mayor Newbury, to Vice Mayor Gray, all the council folks, and to certainly all of our friends here. Again, it's happy to be back here. The last time I was here, I think was about this time two years ago, uh, saying goodbye and, uh, thanking you all for your support and assistance, uh, through my many years with the Division of Police, but here with another hat on today. Uh, for those of you that don't know it, effective November the 19th of this year, the University of Kentucky's campus and all the properties, uh, in the city that are owned, operated, leased by, controlled by the University of Kentucky, uh, will go, uh, tobacco free. Not just smoke-free, tobacco free. And we want to talk just a little bit about that, just some facts about it, and then a little bit about, uh, how we plan to make the change on campus. With me here today are some representatives from the university who will be able to answer most of your questions. Uh, I'd like to introduce my immediate boss, Mr. Frank Butler. I think many of you know, who's here in the audience. Uh, next to him is, uh, Miss Marcy Deaton, who, uh, works with... Our legal department's been very involved with the, the legal matters concerning the tobacco-free initiative. Uh, next to Miss Deaton is Mr. Harry Dadse, who is also with our legal department, uh, who works with the UK HealthCare, the medical center side. Seated behind them is, uh, is Dr. Ellen Hahn, and I have the pleasure of co-chairing it, the tobacco-free campus initiative with Dr. Hahn. Uh, it's been a, been a pleasure because Dr. Hahn brings a wealth of knowledge and information, uh, and data, because she's done a lot of research about the ill effects of tobacco that, uh, as it affects our communities. Uh, I think back about the initiative that this council, this body, and this city took, uh, back in about 2003 when Lexington took the lead to become one of the first cities in our state to go smoke-free in indoor... uh, in all of our indoor and public buildings. And it certainly started a trend across our state and across our country, uh, in terms of, uh, other cities and jurisdictions doing the same, all in an effort to make us a healthier environment. Uh, I also think about us being a leader, and, and that's, that's being Lexington because I, I just had the occasion this morning, if you did not get to see it, uh, Lexington was ranked as the seventh best city to raise a family in on the Today Show. The seventh best city to raise a family in. And Madison, Wisconsin was one, and we go down the list. Good. Yeah. Six. Six. Excuse me, Diane. Diane was watching this morning too. Uh, we are sixth best city. The, the thing that they brought up was the fact that it was the horse country and the quality of life was good, and they talked a bit about, uh, one thing they brought up that I didn't know, that we took the deep fryers out of our public schools for a healthier eating for the kids in school. But I thought about the importance of the tobacco... of the smoke-free initiative that, that you, this council took, uh, back three years ago and, and how important it was... excuse me, six years ago, and how important it was to make Lexington a good place to live and raise a family. So I applaud you for that initiative. And in 2006, um, the University of Kentucky enacted a, uh, indoor tobacco ban, a smoke ban, in terms of its buildings and facilities on campus, and it included a 20-foot rule, which meant you couldn't smoke or use, uh, smoked cigarettes, or pipes, or t- cigars within 20 foot of an entrance, an air intake, and several other things. And then last year, in 2008, on November 20th, UK Healthcare and the medical center went, uh, tobacco... or excuse me, folk- smoke-free, uh, inside the, uh, uh, the facilities there with the healthcare. And that started a trend too, because hospitals, uh, in our city and healthcare facilities joined in, in the effort to make, uh, uh, our cities, our city healthier in terms of smoking tobacco products. Just some facts. And all this information is from Dr. Hahn, so if you have questions about data, she's the person to ask. Uh, whether you know it or not, in the United States about 18% of the population smoke or use tobacco products, but in Kentucky about 25% of our population smokes and/or use tobacco products. The annual cost in terms of lost, uh, uh, revenues and expenditures and the effect on productivity is massive. In the country, it's about $193 billion a year as a result of tobacco products, and in Kentucky alone it's $1.2 billion a year, the cost that we, uh, assume is a result of tobacco products and the ill effects. On the University of Kentucky campus, about three in 10 of our students use, uh, tobacco s- uh, products and/or smoke, and obviously this is the group of people who are targeted by today's tobacco companies. We're going on a, an initiative to become tobacco free. Uh, we're following about 305 other colleges and/or universities in the country who are tobacco free, uh, and there are many other colleges and campuses that are smoke free, and, uh, these are campuses that are exclusively tobacco free with no exemptions, no carve outs, no special areas for smoking. We're following some of our benchmarks, we being the University of Kentucky, those benchmarks being the University of Iowa, University of Minnesota, uh, Penn State, and Purdue. SEC schools that have already gone tobacco free are Arkansas, South Carolina, Florida, uh, and... Excuse me, on July 10th of next year, Ju- July of 2010, Florida will go, uh, tobacco free. Indiana and Stanford have already gone, and U of L will go in July of 2010. Bellarmine College will go tobacco free, uh, January of 2010. So we've, we've watched across the country. We've learned a lot from those campuses as they transition. And so on November the 19th of this year, uh, when the c- campus goes tobacco free, we've secured a commitment from the bureau... uh, Board of Trustees, certainly from Dr. Todd, Mr. Butler, and all the administrators on campus, and about 200 members of our committee who've been involved in some fashion... ... with making this transition occur. So it involves staff, students, faculty, staff, everyone on campus has been involved. The purpose of the, of the, the change is one purpose. It's to make the campus a healthy place to live, work, and learn. Nothing else. To make the campus a heal- healthy place to live, work, and learn. And so there were many committees involved and many folks had input. Uh, we won't go into those. But the, the administrative reg that governs it i- was already in place. It was just modified by our legal folks, and we don't have to go into the details of that because they can address that more. But the, the administrative reg covers all forms of tobacco. Now, I've been in a learning curve since I left police, uh, especially with Dr. Hahn here. I learned that, uh, about cigarettes, but more importantly about e-cigarettes and the effects that they have on us and our community. Something I knew nothing about. Cigars, pipes, hookahs or water pipes, and then she often talks about some smokeless tobacco products. We mostly know about snuff, chew. I learned something about snooze, and she can tell you more about that later. I knew nothing about that. And the policy does cover all faculty, staff, students, patients, visitors, contractors, vendors, anyone who comes to our campus. Uh, the method of this implementation will be, uh, a culture of compliance. Uh, this policy will have no, uh, citation per se. Uh, we will not be making any arrests on campus, much like what you did here in the city. Uh, we remember all the, uh, talk about the going smoke-free and the impact it would have and the number of arrests we would have to make and how many officers it would take, and none of that came to fruition. We're using the same method of, uh, implementation on campus, and that we're gonna create this culture of compliance and we know that this takes time. Because we understand and know that, uh, uh, nicotine is a very powerfully addictive substance, and it's certainly one that we have to be careful with how we make changes. We can't force anybody to change. So three things have to happen. Number one, we're commi- communicating the implemis- implementation date early and often. Uh, we're giving a clear and compassionate yet firm message in terms of what the campus expectations are. And we're training key groups on campus now. Uh, we're creating signage, and I brought with me just one, because we didn't get it... We did not get it in the PowerPoint. What you're gonna see very soon is about, a little bit over 300 of those signs going up all over campus, in the v- in the very, uh, very places where people will see them to send a message of what the campus is about. Uh, the other piece of this is obviously we realize that we impact folks off of campus when we, uh, make a change like this. Uh, so one of our committees that's been working very closely with the neighborhoods, the businesses and organizations that bound the properties, uh, to bring in what we're calling partners. So the folks who want to be a partner with us, whether residential or business, uh, have the opportunity, the university is purchasing the signs that allow them to become a university partner. So when they're impacted by the folks who leave campus, uh, they have the opportunity to place the signs also to let the folks know that... Same sign, just a university partner that can be placed at their home or business. The last piece and the most important piece of this is, again, realizing that this is a very powerfully addictive substance, uh, and realizing that we can't force change, we can only welcome it and usher it in, is to tha- to ba- provide nicotine replacement therapy and smoking cessation programs for those who want to quit using tobacco products. And that has certainly been, uh, been done out at the property at the university. Uh, Mr. Butler and the administration have authorized the, uh, the purchase of nicotine replacement therapies for employees who want, uh, to get away from tobacco products, and for the spouses and those who are eligible in their household under the insurance plan. Also, the, uh, nicotine replacement products are available at a much, much reduced price on campus for the students and those who will, uh, want to make the change. Specifically, we're here about a memorandum of agreement that's been worked on with the legal, legal department. I wanna thank, uh, Mr. Logan Askew and Mr. Tim Bennett, Mike Santa, and others who have been working very closely with Ms. Marcy Deaton and Mr. Harry Dadds, uh, Mr. Butler in putting together this memorandum of agreement. I wanna thank Mr. Artie Green for accommodating me and that I'd forgotten the process of how to get things to the council and, and how all this happens, so he helped me get this to you. Uh, we learned from other campus that it was important to communicate with, uh, the city that, uh, you reside in, and certainly work out agreements to understand the properties that bound, uh, our jurisdiction. So we wanna clearly define the campus boundaries, and then there's some issues that we're asking to be a- addressed in the MOU. Uh, what you see before you now is a map of the campus. We're trying to get it... It's, it's hard to see because there are right about 1,000 acres there. Uh, but there are some streets that the Urban County Council, uh, certainly control that will, uh, that are questioned for us, and, uh, we're gonna talk about the MOU. Because what it asks is that you, this council body give the University of Kentucky, uh, the revocable authority to enforce tabac- the tobacco-free policy on sidewalks, uh, to the streets, and immediately adjacent to the main UK campus, and including the Rose Street median, which you'll see on the map here. And this is for enforcement or compliance with the, uh, tobacco-free policy only, keeping in mind again that this policy is not criminal. It has no citation, it requires no judicial process, uh, once, uh, once a violation has occurred. And it also, so there is a section two that deals with the, uh, the real meat of the MOU, and then section three talks about sa- uh, section three on page two talks about signage, uh, and the university contacting the, uh, Kentucky Utilities for signage. So at issue and, and the meat of this is, uh, granting the University of Kentucky the authority, uh, to implement and, for compliance purposes, uh, enforce the tobacco-free campus policy, uh, to the, uh, to the streets and any property adjacent to the main UK campus, and including the Rose Street median on the map. Uh, there are a couple of streets, we've had con- conversation with a couple of council folks, there are a couple of streets that are not, uh, Urban County government properties, uh, those being... ... uh, US 27 Nicholasville Road, and we also found out, I'm at a bad angle here, but, uh, Euclid all the way through, uh, Winslow Street is actually state property also. So the, uh, the Irvin County government streets you'll, you'll see, uh, Cooper Drive, uh, got Woodland Avenue coming back up Columbia and Woodland and some of these areas around the outskirts here. So again, we're asking for your approval, uh, for this. We appreciate the support of the administration thus far, uh, and we're asking for approval for this to em- to allow us to gain full compliance for the policy. Thank you. And I'll take any questions and certainly those that I cannot answer will be referred to the folks who are much more in the know than I am. Council Member Gordon. Mayor- Actually, I think Council Member Stanit- Yeah, somebody just thanked me. ... was before me. I'm, I'm sorry, I'm not trying to cut you out. I didn't hear it. It's just, it's evaporating from the screen here for whatever reason. So Council Member Stanit. I just wanted to ask before I have to leave. Chief, I mean, Mr. Beatty, thank you for... 'cause I always call you Chief Beatty, so thank you. That's okay. I get it. I still get it. Thank you. Just have a question, you know, with the UK football game coming up this weekend. So are we saying that you can't smoke during football games either? Uh, that, now the policy won't go into effect until November the 19th. Well next year, then. So the foot- Well, the Tennessee- So the Tennessee game. ... the Tennessee game. Uh, and that'll be the first week of the implementation of the policy. And again, uh, uh, C- Council Member Stanit and to everyone else, we know and understand this is gonna be a progression, a, a cultural change to the campus and we'll have to move through it very slowly to make it happen. So, uh, so you are planning on enforcing game day, the alcohol and the smoking policy. We're gonna look at the Tennessee game as a model for how we approach this for next year's, uh, overall. It's more about the education piece. Sure. Uh, and when we say enforcement, there's not really a lot of enforcement. It's gaining compliance, uh, to the culture that we wanna create on campus. Uh, very much akin to what we did here with the city. Uh, it took a while for that change to happen where everybody accepted it, and now it's the norm, uh, that no one smokes in the buildings. And, and I applaud your efforts. I, I just, you know, um, it's gonna be a huge undertaking and I, I the, I always hate to have a policy, but it'd be, a, a blind eye be turned on certain days of the year. Um, I, I know you were part of, of our parking problem and we fixed that, and we started enforcing those laws that hadn't been enforced in years. And I just, you know, have some concerns about some of our public streets too, through the campus and how we're gonna be able to monitor that as a city. Uh, I assume you're talking from sidewalk back would be smoke-free and then sidewalk to the curb cut would be you're able to smoke? Oh, no. The, the, if you read the, uh, we're asking for, uh, the ability to enforce it to the curb. So they can stand in the street basically and... Yeah, we don't want anybody standing in the street. Right. But I'm just worried about, you know, you have a lo- large faculty, a large staff. I mean, this is- Okay. We understand and know that, but we certainly don't want to create any public, uh, safety hazards, any hazards, anything that becomes criminal. That's, that's what we don't want to do here. Again, I applaud your efforts. Thank you for bringing this to us. Thank you. Council Member Gordon. Thank you, Mayor. Anthony, it's wonderful to see you again. Thanks. Um, I wonder if... Oh, I have a couple questions. First of all, on Rose Street, does the university own the sororities or do the sororities own their buildings? So will this extend onto those properties? And then the same with the fraternities that are... Just a bubble can answer that one. O- Okay. Okay. Yeah, we do own, we, we own the land on which the, uh, and they have a land lease with the university for the fraternities and sororities and they will be covered by the, uh, by the smoking cessation policy. Now, does that include the ones that are off campus? There's one on, think on Aylesford. Yeah. Tho- Those are not owned by the university. They've gone and, and put those up themselves. And so it, it's ba- basically property that's owned and operated or leased by the university, so. Okay. Um, Anthony, I wanted to ask you, I, I really appreciate the time you gave to have a conversation with me about this. And could you expand on the state roads? And, um, I... One of the conversations I recently had was with, uh, Dr. Mike Karpf about the group of patients- Right. ... and employees from the medical center who go out to smoke on the sidewalk by Nicholasville Road. And you had some, I think, some insight as to where you might go in that direction with the state. Our purpose, uh, we wanna get back again to our purpose is to, to get folks to not use the tobacco products, so we prefer that folks not have to go anywhere, that eventually we get folks not to use the product. But certainly once off the property, there are areas that, uh, that individuals, uh, may be going to, and we know that. Uh, we've, it's been indicated to us that there are businesses that will welcome the folks, uh, that, uh, now currently standing on South Limestone near the entrance to the medical center. Again, for the council's information, uh, the medical center property is right about in this area, uh, and if you go through there, you see the, the folks standing on the curb is a result of the ban- ... at the medical center last year. Uh, if this is approved, we eliminate those folks who stand there. So they have to go elsewhere, uh, to private property off the campus, which is in, right across the street. The pedway is now there, that'll be in place within, I don't know, Mr. Butler, it'll be probably next sa- next spring before the pedway's open. It'll allow a safe, uh, egress and, and ingress from the campus back across Limestone. And then my final question is, do you know offhand which neighborhoods you've spoken with about this? Uh, don't know specifically. Uh, I know Lisa Higgins Hort is, uh, her committee is part of this and, and she's a part of the Town & Gown. But they've worked with the neighborhood groups and Lisa is working with UNAC, uh, to talk to them about, uh, what's happening. We did hold a, hold a public forum and made information available to the residents and businesses on the properties that- ... are adjacent to the university about this transition, about the policy. Uh, we set up for that meeting, uh, Dr. Hahn and myself and several representatives were there, and we had no one to turn out to attend to hear our plan and our discussion about the transition. Uh, we do have about 14 or 15 people who have signed up- ... uh, through Lisa Higgins Horde's group for the signs, who are gonna be partners with us off campus. Can, can the signs go in individual homeowner's yards? Yes, they can. Yes, they can. What you're seeing there is actually the prototype for campus. Over 300 of those will go on a metal post, mounted at that height, exactly what you see here. Uh, for the homes, they'll either be on a post or they can be mounted on, on the facility, home and business. Well, I so appreciate your being here, and I applaud the university for becoming smoke-free. When I think of all the issues that I've been involved with, and I'm looking at Dr. Hahn, the probably hundreds of ordinances and resolutions, this smoke-free law in Lexington was pivotal, I think, for, for our folks who live in the community and work in the community, and has had a ripple effect throughout the state. So thank you very much for your forward-thinking as far as the university's concerned. Well, Dr. Hahn was actually a part of that. Yeah. She worked very hard behind the scenes to make that transition happen too. Yes, thank you. Thank you. Council member Lawless. Thank you, Chief Beatty. Um, I didn't get a chance to... I was on my way out when you called the other day, and I wasn't feeling well yesterday, so I didn't get back to you. Um, my concern, uh, a UK Colonel reporter called me about two or three weeks ago and said they understood that the city was working with the university to, um, make our city streets smoke-free. And I asked around and I couldn't find anybody that knew anything about it, and I said, "First I've heard of it." So then when I got your MOU and you gave me a call, and I appreciate it, I think that was Friday, um, I haven't had a chance to talk to any of the neighborhoods about it. One of the things that concerns me about it is the fear I've heard from a lot of neighborhoods around UK is now when, you know, they banned alcohol and now we're, where they go to drink, now are we gonna be their ashtray? And I, I applaud the smoke-free, you know, efforts and stuff, but I feel like I, I know that UNACC only has, uh, maybe five people who are actually neighborhood people, um, that are involved, and, um, I'd like to talk to some of the neighborhood folks, and in fact, I'll probably be meeting with a whole bunch of them tonight to get their feedback. But my concern is that people are going to be, if they can't smoke on the st- you know, on the sidewalk there, they're gonna cross the street into neighborhoods and smoke there. And again, I applaud the effort, I support it, but I just want to make sure that neighborhood groups that are immediately around UK and will be affected by these streets being smoke-free are aware and are okay with it. Um, so that, that's my concern is- We, uh, we're doing everything we can to, to certainly be a good neighbor in this, and we understand and are sensitive to that, uh, being an issue, but going back to the point of the policy, is to, uh, not only, uh, to make it a healthy place. And so the idea is to move people away from tobacco products. Currently, and Dr. Hahn can give you the statistics, but there's a small percentage of folks who use tobacco products on campus. And as we move toward implementation and we encourage, uh, nicotine replacement and other therapies and the policy tightens up, the ideal situation is then we eliminate or minimize the number of people that are moving off the campus, uh, to other areas. Well, and I applaud that and hope that works. Uh, having struggled with nicotine addiction since I was about 10 years old , I, I know, uh, you know, prohibition doesn't work all that well. Um, so - Uh. ... um, and, and I, I think there's prevention and, and rep- you know, programs are great, but my, my concern before I can speak to this, a- and again, tonight I'm gonna be speaking with a bunch of the neighborhood associations in one place and get their feedback, but- Just, uh, we would ask that if, if, uh, Lisa Horde's group is not involved, that they be there to give factual information, or, uh, Dr. Hahn and I are available to come to those groups. We've been doing our road show, we're calling it, to many, many groups, uh, on campus and, and subsidiary groups, so we're available to do that too. Okay. I think, uh, Lisa Higgins Horde is gonna be at the meeting tonight, and I don't, it doesn't say exactly what she's gonna be talking about, but maybe she can- She can address it. ... address it with them. Or if you need myself and/or Dr. Hahn, we will certainly come to one of your meetings and talk about it. But I hope you can appreciate my concern. Understandably. Just, you know? Yes. So thank you. Sure. Council member Blues. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, Mr. Vice President, I wanted to get, get your title right. All right, thank you. Really want to thank you and the university and Professor Hahn for the, for, for, for this initiative. I know that in, in many ways it's, uh, it's, uh, kind of massive, but I think, uh, I think- ... will be a very effective, uh, symbolic move. And as you say, it- it- it- it- it is all part of the- the university's educational mission. And- and for those of us who can remember, and maybe even the mayor himself, uh, when students and professors smoked in the classroom, uh, that- it- it- it sounds, uh, astonishing and nobody would believe it at, uh, uh, you know, in- in- in this day, but, uh, you remember, Mayor? Didn't participate, but I remember. . Yes, well... Did you inhale? Well, you should have tried it. It wasn't that bad. But I'm just kidding. It was a scourge and- and- and it- and- and the fact that we, that- that- that we did smoke everywhere and- and- and anywhere sort of illustrates the extent to which there was this sort of blissful and dangerous ignorance. Uh, and now, we don't have that excuse anymore. Uh, we can't be ignorant and we have to be responsible and- and- and- and- and I really applaud the university for, uh, you know, for this, for this next step. I know there are gonna be awkwardnesses about it, but, uh, uh, but it is, but it is truly the right thing to do. Thanks so much to everybody at UK- Thank you, Mr. Wilkins. ... for bringing this about. Thank you. Council Member James. Thank you, Mayor Past Chief Beatty. Um, I think this is a bold step for UK, and I hope that you all realize, and you all know this as experts, that smoking slows, um, the healing process, so your- your, um, revenue from insurance companies will be less. So I hope you... So that's a bold move- ... that you're willing to accept that reduction in benefits from insurance companies. Um, but I wanted to ask, are you incentivizing employees with wellness programs or anything, or wellness, um, deductions on insurance and things like that if they- if they are smoke-free and there's an insurance, is there an insurance policy like for smoke-free folks versus not? That sort of thing. The university does have an excellent wellness program, but I'd have to- to more to address that, Mr. Butler probably can better do that- Okay. ... since it does have a fiscal impact. I'm not sure I understand or know what's involved with- Okay. ... that piece of this. Okay. Uh, we- we don't have basically risk-related insurance at this point, but it's something we're gonna take a look at and- and really combine it with people who participate in the wellness programs as well. We've been doing it for almost 10 years now, so the wellness part is new. The tobacco part is obviously something new to us, and we're gonna has plans to integrate that into, uh, into what we're gonna do with health insurance in the future, 'cause obviously, you know, for those folks who choose to live a l- healthy lifestyle, you know, we're paying the insurance premiums for those who- who chose no- uh, choose not to, so I think, uh, it's gonna ultimately be, um, reflected in what people pay for health insurance. Absolutely. Okay, thank you. Um, and Anthony, if, um, what... I get, this is, would be a new policy, um, for the employees and the students, faculty and such, so are there, they're gonna be handed something and sign off on their acceptance of this, or is there gonna be training for them that says, "Here's everything that's available for you." How are you getting the word out to everybody, um, on campus? Right, this is, this is actually, uh, an amended, amendment to the existing regulation to include- Okay. ... all tobacco products. Yes. Uh, and cert- there certainly is an- an exhaustive, uh, on- ongoing project now on campus, uh, to educate everyone about the, uh, the change and when it happens and what it involves. Uh, there's a bit of training for supervisors and managers on campus in terms of compliance and what the expectations are- Okay. ... for them. Uh, there is also training for student groups and- and all groups on campus. Uh, so the- the effort is being made to make sure everyone in campus is involved with the change and creating this culture, uh, of not using tobacco products on our campus. Okay. Uh, so lots of things are going on as we speak. As the signs go up, uh, there's some things that have to happen behind the sc- well, not behind the scenes, but simple things like removing, uh, trash, I mean, urns from, uh, from, uh, trash cans. All that's ongoing as we speak. Okay, great, and f- you mentioned Arkansas and South Carolina had already implemented tobacco-free? Right. Um, do you know how they're doing with compliance and, I mean, how many years out they are and how successful it's being? Dr. Hahn is the better person on the research. Okay. I would ask that she would address more of the- Thank you. ... specific questions about the data. She's in contact with the colleges and universities. Okay, thank you. Good afternoon. Hi. Um, most of these policies are relatively new around the country, so we don't have a lot of data, hard data on them. Um, some of them, like IU right across the river- Mm-hmm. ... they're probably our best example, um, they've, uh, it's been a process. I think, as Anthony said, you know, a lot of it's education. Um, a lot of it is making sure that the proper corrective action happens and that we have put that in place. In other words, the student code of conduct will, uh, come in if students insist, you know, on violating. Same with employees. Okay. Um, they can be eventually terminated if they choose to keep, uh, uh, violating. Okay. That's very typical across the country and that's what most places do. And, uh, generally they're, it's- it's, they're very well received. Yes, there are violators, but, you know, we would, uh, we expect that, um, but I think generally it changes the culture of compliance and- and people, uh, accept it, 'cause- Okay. ... primarily, you know, as Anthony said, most people don't use tobacco, and particularly students. Most students don't use tobacco either. Okay. Especially the younger ones. Okay. So it's the visitors that might be the most impacted you think? Well, on the medical campus, on our medical campus, it's primarily the visitors who come and really don't know, even though there's signs up and we tell them before they come- Mm-hmm. ... um, they still don't notice. But 9 times out of 10, our experience in the last year has been when you approach someone in a kind, compassionate way and you say, "Excuse me. I'm Ellen Hahn. I'm faculty here. Perhaps you don't know, we have a tobacco-free campus, and we'd appreciate you putting it out or going off campus," that's basically the scripting we use, 9 times out of 10, people say, "Sorry. Excuse me," and they put it out. End of story. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Um, other times we have to stop a little bit and remind them and say, um, "You know, we have patients. We have employees. We have students who are trying to quit, so we'd really appreciate your help." Mm-hmm. Um, and generally, that's enough. Mm-hmm. Um, and really, that's all it takes. It's pretty simple. Mm-hmm. Just, you know, you don't nag people to death, but you use a positive, compassionate way. And that's what's done around the country, generally. Okay. Can you, um- Once, and if it's implemented, can you come back in, um, maybe six months or so and let us know how things are moving along? We're actually doing compliance assessment. We've developed the first protocol in the country to, um, uh, figure out how to assess compliance and we'd be happy to share that with you. Okay. Yup. Thank you. Councilmember Beard. As is the case with selective memory, I'm gonna remind everybody that, uh, selective recognition of the dangers of smoking have, uh, uh, been around for a, a long time. And, um, I believe it was '64 or '65, Dr. Hahn, that, uh, uh, or '64 that, uh, the surgeon general, uh, mandated the, uh, warning on the, the cigarette packs that, uh, those of us that smoked at that time, uh, just turned the pack the other way around so we didn't have to look at it. Uh, males smoked the short non-filters. The girls smoked, uh, the filtered cigarettes. And, um, there were girls then. Yes. They were girls. And, and, and I was one of the boys. We called them cancer sticks. We called them coffin nails. And yet, at the same time, we denied that they were bad for us. Makes no sense whatsoever. And, um, I think I smoked two packs a day and maybe ate the third pack. I was that hooked. It was that, uh, that, that much of a, uh, um, a lot dr- a lot like a drug, I guess, for lack of a better term. And, um, so this is a good, very good move. I think, uh, obviously we'll get some good press out of it also, I would think, from, uh, all the various and sundry entities that might be interested in what we're doing, just as it was the case when, in, uh, 2003. So you all are to be applauded and we'll be glad to help. Thank you. Good, and we are. Dr. Hahn gets, uh, lot, has lots of contacts ac- across the country as a result of this. Oh, I'm sure she does. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Councilmember Lawless. Uh, just thank you, Mayor. Uh, just one quick note. Well, first of all, I was saying to Linda, when my youngest son was born and he had a lot of health problems and was in the hospital and we had ashtrays in the pediatric ward and smoked in the hospital. So, uh, that wasn't very good, I know, but nobody, nobody said it any differently. I do absolutely support this, and I have one other suggestion. If you could get some of those signs that says, "UK, Welcome To Our Alcohol-Free Campus" and give them to the neighborhoods, that'd probably be a really good idea too. Thank you so much. Work on it. Anything further for, uh, Council, uh, for Mr. Beatty or the other UK representatives? All right. Thank you all very much. Mayor, if I, if I may, uh, we've been working on this for five or six months now. Uh, our timeline for implementation is November the 19th and obviously deciding, uh, what the parameters are, the boundaries, and defining those for the campus impacts how we train on campus. And, and I know I've talked with Mr. Green and I know November the 5th is the next time you all meet. I know you want to meet with the neighborhood group, but we're trying to get something in place so we can wrap up our training on campus b- prior to the implementation date. So if anything can help us with, uh, speedy, uh, getting this on the docket and, and either before November the 5th and it would help us a lot. We appreciate everything you all do. Thanks for your time. We appreciate, uh, all that you all do and let me say as a citizen, Anthony Beatty, I certainly do appreciate even more the time and energy that it takes for each and every one of you to make Lexington the place it is. Thank you. Councilmember Lane. Uh, Mayor, do we need a motion to put this on the docket? We, we do. So move. For the 27th? Uh, yes, sir. All right. Have a motion by Councilmember Lane and a second by Councilmember Gordon to, uh, uh, put a resolution adopting the memorandum of agreement with UK on the docket for the October 27th meeting. Any discussion? All in favor, please say, "Aye." Aye. Opposed, "No." Motion carries. Thank y'all very much. Thank you. We're now ready for council reports. So if you care to make a report, please indicate. Councilmember Crosby. Um, thank you, Mayor. Uh, I just was, I, I missed the meeting, part of the meeting during council report last week 'cause I had to leave early for a neighborhood association meeting and I know Councilmember Ehlinger brought this up, but I'm not sure about everybody else on the council. And I was just hoping that maybe you could clarify a little bit about trick-or-treat, because I know I'm getting personally bombarded, uh, both ways about trick-or-treat and UK ballgame. Maybe the UK people shouldn't leave before we discuss this and how it's affecting us as a city and, and, um, just the amount of calls we're getting about the fact that the game- ... that -- that we're having Halloween trick-or-treat on the same day as a UK ball game, so -- and at the same time. Um, I -- I've had -- I've -- I've done a little research out of my office. I think some people think that we have an ordinance and that they've been encouraged, even by some of our staff, um, when they're calling into LPCG to call the council people, so that we can change the ordinance. And from what I can find out, there's no ordinance that says that th- this is strictly out of the mayor's office. So I just would appreciate maybe if we could publicly just clear this up on, you know, why we're doing this, and then maybe I can provide some background from what I know on the university and on how they set homecoming. Thank you. I checked with the several folks who'd been here previously when this sort of conflict had arisen, and, um, uh, it wasn't just a matter of ball games, it was when it falls on Sunday and -- and maybe some other conflicts along the way. And the uniform response from police and others was that it worked much better to just leave it at the scheduled time, which has traditionally been from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. Um, you know, if there's some strong sentiment to start an hour earlier, you know, I don't have any quarrel with that. But -- but, um, the plan at -- at present is to go from 6:00 and 8:00, recognizing the fact that there will be some, uh, folks who live in the immediate vicinity of Commonwealth Stadium that will be, um, impacted by that. But, um, uh, the vast majority of the -- of the community should be able to continue on more or less the same -- same schedule. Now, if there's strong sentiment from your constituents that we ought to try to extend it, start at 5:00 or something like that, uh, I'd be receptive to that. Council Member Court. I just wanted to -- I -- I certainly think maybe moving it earlier might be an okay idea, but I was on the council and every -- for the first three or four years I was on the council, every year when it was on a different day, we had a different constituency ask for an exception. And it became unwieldy, and so I support keeping it on Halloween, which you, uh, learned, Mayor, from history is really more workable. But maybe the idea would be to move it an hour earlier, so that children can be out earlier and be finished before, or at least before most of the game traffic is there, but I would not support moving the date. Um, I know we have several people who signed up to speak, but let's just take a show of hands on this issue until we work through it. Council Member Stennet. I was just gonna make a couple other points. You know, even if we do, say, switch a night, um, you have high school football games on Friday nights in the same neighborhoods that would have problems on UK game days. So there's no good night for -- for this, and it wouldn't -- really wouldn't -- the mayor's office, it was this body that unanimously, uh, with, uh, the mayor at the time, decided not to change it ever going forward. So it wasn't the mayor or the council, it was more of a joint effort. So as the mayor said, we could all probably change it, but we're gonna hurt Friday night too with high school football games and other things. The only bad thing about the UK game night, and I know UK didn't do it, it was ESPN that picked the time, unfortunately TV dictates the time of the game, is our police staff. I -- I'm concerned about our police officers who work the game. I mean, there are close to, what, 100 of our officers on the streets that night working traffic. How will that impact the calls for Halloween? 'Cause usually Halloween spikes a little bit for different things. Uh, I just hope we have the money in overtime budgets and we're gonna commit to covering that. So, uh, that's my only concern. Thank you, Mayor. Any other... Council Member James. Council Member Stennet had a good idea earlier, that instead of ESPN, um, viewing the game, that GTV3 could go out and tape the game, and, um, that way we could avoid everything. And build our ratings. All right. Council Member Lawless. Uh, I understand. Maybe an hour earlier, because the third district... I don't know what basketball and football games you're going to, high school , but the -- the entire third district becomes a traffic gridlock for hours. And for me, it's not about people missing the game, I just worry about the safety of children on the streets with that kind of traffic and parking and oftentimes drunken behavior with their little pumpkins going door to door . So i- i- in the, in the third district, I've gotten far more calls and emails from concerned parents, but I will go with whatever. But if we could move it, like, 5:00 to 7:00, that might help. It'd be worse. Well, I mean, it, yeah, I don't know. Well- Maybe we could just celebrate Halloween at Christmas instead. Let, let me , let me propose, uh, perhaps a compromise here. Let's start at 5:00 and go till 8:00, and that way people will have the opportunity to pick and choose during that three-hour window. If they wanna get an early start, fine, if they wanna go after the game's started, fine, it's up to them. Would anybody have any objection to doing 5:00 to 8:00? Well, then let's -- let's roll forward on that basis. We'll extend it for an hour to, to start at 5:00 and go till 8:00. Thank you, Mayor. I think that's about as reasonable as we can probably get at this point. And I agree with, um, Council Member Stennet. I, I know that even the city has events planned for a Friday night and some of the requests that have been coming in, I know we feasibly probably could not accommodate doing Halloween based on what our staff has to do on Friday night as well, which then leads us moving into November. So thank you. That's all I have. Thank you. ... uh, any- anything else on the Halloween issue and, all right, Council Member Lane? Just wanna say, Mayor, that fooling around with Halloween is a tricky proposition. Thank you very much. All right. Let's go back to the list then. Council Member Gordon? Thank you, Mayor. I have two items for council. Um, as you know, uh, planning committee ha- and the report out will come next week, but planning committee has been working through the student housing taskforce recommendations and so I have polled our planning committee members, and we will be having a special planning committee meeting on October 27th, that's a Tuesday, from 9:30 to 11:30 in the morning, and the idea is that we will not wait until the planning meeting at the end of November to work on this student housing issue. I'm hoping maybe we can wrap up s- a good portion of it on the 27th, so that's Tuesday, October 27th, 9:30 to 11:30 AM, and if I could ask the council administrator to see to the advertising and the, if we could please have it in the council chamber. And I really want to thank our planning committee members who have been so, um, willing to meet in special session to plow through these issues. And then the second thing is that, um, our council administrator has emailed us a draft 2010 council schedule, and so the process will be that council members need to give her input as to whether there are council meetings or related meetings that are not on this calendar, because we need to move this forward to where we have it approved, uh, either by the end of November or beginning of December. So, um, I appreciate the draft calendar and the fact that you have gotten it to us, so we have about a month to work on it. Thank you. Council Member Jane. Excuse me. Council Member Stennett. I did overlook you that time. That's okay. The system was working correctly. Thank you, Mayor. Just have a couple of follow up motions from our, our discussion on the moratorium last week. Uh, the first would be, um, to aid in the, uh, review of our solid waste ordinances, to go ahead and place that issue into the services committees, so that we have a, a forum in wh- in which we can review those. So moved. Second. Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed, no? Motion carries. And the second one was to place into the planning committee, a review of our residential zoning ordinances, R1, R2, and R3, um, into the planning committee as, again, as a forum in order to review those and discuss any issues along with those. So moved. Second. Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed, no? Motion carries. Thank you, Mayor. Council Member James. Thank you, Mayor. I make a motion to approve the neighborhood development fund list. Any discussion? All in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, no? Motion carries. Thank you. And the last thing I have is just an, a reminder to council members that, um, or maybe you don't know, but Citizens Leadership Academy, um, one of my alma maters, um, will be here in the council chambers on Thursday at 6:00 PM. So if you'd like to come see the folks that are learning about leadership and ready to, to help us and community move forward, um, please feel free to join us. Just let me know if you're gonna come so I can put you on, on agenda. Thanks, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Lawless. Uh, yes, just two quick announcement. The Mintail as, uh, Neighborhood Association will be meeting tonight at 7:00 PM at Ashland Elementary, and also the, um, Elizabeth Street, North Elizabeth Street, Seven Parks, Columbia Heights, Montclair, Aylesford, Hollywood, and Montclair Neighborhood Associations and presidents and representatives will be meeting at 7:00, um, uh, and there are several things on the agenda. And that is at the First Christian Church, I believe, on the corner of Audubon and Forest Park. So, uh, several people will be there and, um, anybody would like to join, come on down. Thank you. Council Member McCord. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, as Council Member Crosby mentioned, uh, a couple of us had to leave early last week due to, uh, the meeting running late and having neighborhood meetings, uh, but one of the things I wanted to point out last weekend, last week was, the, the weekend of October 10th, 11th, and 12th was really one of the, those pivotal weekends in Lexington where you kind of saw what might be, what you definitely could have, uh, on a consistent basis in Lexington. And again, you had Keeneland running, the opening weekend of Keeneland. You had, uh, the Kings of Leon concert. You had, uh, fest- uh, uh, Latina Fiesta. You had, uh, the Bourbon Chase Relay coming in, uh, and then Second Sunday was on Sunday and, uh, it was just a hive of activity and, and anybody that was down there that weekend, uh, really saw what good things, uh, are going on in Lexington and, and, uh, had said, "We want more of this." And so, uh, first I want to thank you, Mayor, and, and, and Shea, and everybody else that's a part of, uh, making a weekend like that happen. I know Renee Jackson and, and the DLC worked exceedingly hard to make all that work, but, uh, what a great weekend and, and it was, it was pulled off, uh, very nicely by all of our public safety folks and, uh, and, and streets and roads and parks and it was just, uh, one of those weekends again, where, where I look back and go, "That's what I'd like to see in Lexington consistently." Uh, and, it, it, speaking of Second Sunday, just, uh, some brief report out from that, again, Mayor, Lexington set the standard. Uh, we, uh, we grew 100% from last year. We went from 2,500 to over 5,000, uh, is, is the best estimates that we have put together. Uh, 103 counties across the, the state, uh, participated together. Again, never been done by a state before, much less, uh, a state like ours that is, is so fractured county-wise. And, um- ... it's a-- it's a national model, and there's a number of communities across the country calling, asking how can they be a part of it next year on 10-10-10. Uh, one of the neatest things though was, uh, we had a special guest that weekend, uh, a gentleman by the name of Mark Kruger, and Mark was, um, on season five of The Biggest Loser. And, uh, and Mark heard about this last year and basically said, you know, "I wanna lend my support, my credibility, my name to things like this." And, uh, Mark came on his own dime, and, uh, he spoke at William Wells Brown Elementary. He spoke at UK. We had him on every radio show and TV show that we could put him on. And, um, uh, Mark just finished his first marathon, uh, on Sunday. Uh, he was four minutes short of-- of qualifying for the Boston Marathon. Uh, and here's a guy that went, uh, had a-- had a, uh, extreme experience, uh, and had basically said, "I love what Kentucky's doing for people like, uh, like me." And he came down and-- and again, spent a-- a-- an entire week with us in Kentucky, and-- and, uh, he is now a, uh, a Kentucky Colonel. He's a Kentucky Admiral. He has a-- his own local slugger bat. Uh, he, uh, he was blown away by the hospitality received here, and, uh, but he was really blown away with Lexington, Kentucky. And the reason why something like a Second Sunday is so important is, not only does it bring the community together, uh, but it also brings people from the outside and gives them a different perception of Kentucky. So again, Mayor, thank you for, uh, helping Lexington be a lead city in this-- in this effort. And, uh, as it moves forward, I know that this is-- uh, is gonna be a real source of pride as we-- we grew this thing. It-- it has been, and it will be. Thanks. Council Member Feigl. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, I'd like to congratulate the, uh, Ashton Park Neighborhood Association on receiving a historic marker. Uh, only of 30 about-- about 30 of those are issued a year, so this was great. Uh, in 1904, the Clay family hired an architectural firm from Massachusetts to draw up the plans for this residential neighborhood, and, uh, it was on the 600 acres of the Henry Clay estate, and that's the Olmsted Brothers. And so, this marker is to commemorate that. It's, uh, there are lots of trees, green space, curving streets, and few right angled intersections, which is the ol- Olmsted trademark. Uh, so I wanted to congratulate them and just say that our office was really, uh, very delighted to help them make this happen. And then on October the 25th, from one to five, they will have a home tour in the Ashton Park Neighborhood Association. They have 14 historic homes, and the Henry Clay Estate will be on that tour. And local artists will be in the median on Hanover. They'll have live music, uh, fall produce, and a raffle, and the tickets are $20. And, uh, you can call my office for ticket information if you would like to. And then on October 26th, I will be meeting again with a group of the neighborhood association leaders and, uh, merchants from the Chevy Chase area to, um, again, talk more about the redesign of the intersection at Fontaine, uh, Euclid, Tates Creek, and High Street, and that's at Buddy's at five o'clock. And then on the 29th of October, the Fairway Annual, uh, Annual Neighborhood Association Meeting will be held at the Julia Ewing School. And that's all. Thank you very much. Council Member Blues. Thank you, Mayor. I just have some meeting announcements tonight. The Western Suburb, uh, Board will meet at 645 West Short Street. That's at seven o'clock. Western Suburb Board Meeting, so hope that folks turn out for that. On Monday, October 26th, two neighborhood association meetings at 7:00 PM. Radcliffe-Marlborough Neighborhood will hold their monthly meeting in the Community Center in Marlborough Park, and the Oakwood Neighborhood Association will-- will meet in the Community Center in Oakwood Park. Again, that's 7:00 PM for both of those meetings on Monday, October 26th. Thank you, Mayor. Council Member Hinson. Thank you, Mayor. I have an announcement that, um ... There's a showcase housing fair at the Chrysalis Community Center on Hillrise Drive, and it'll be, uh, supportive housing opportunities for women. Um, all kinds of different exhibitors will be there. Um, also, I received an anonymous card in the mail from a constituent of the 11th District that was curious about the Y. And since I-- I had no way of getting back with them, I thought I would ... it would be appropriate to do it, uh, during council report, but just wanted to let the individuals know that in the 11th District, that I am working on it. I know that it's a-- a huge eyesore. I have asked for demolition. My, um, code enforcement is in the process of getting, um, estimates for demolition, and we do have th- a real good possibility for a buyer that would develop the property. Uh, my biggest concern is just getting it out of there, because it is in such, such bad shape. Um, and it's also a safety issue for any children that live in the area, which is my another big concern. Um, I have a motion, Mayor. Uh, Linda's gonna love this one. But I move to refer to the planning committee permitting of yard sales and limiting the number of sales per year, so moved. Second. Oh. Have a motion by Council Member Hinson and a second by Council Member Martin to refer to the planning committee, uh- ... the item of, of permitting yard sales and limiting the number of yard sales each year. Correct. Any discussion? All in favor, please say, "Aye." Aye. Opposed, "No." Oppose. Motion carries. Anything further? Do you have it in there? Pardon me? All right. Council Member Martin. Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to make a, a brief reference. Um, I, I, I don't know whether s- anyone has referenced it today, but the, on t- today's show, they featured that, uh, Children's Health Magazine has ranked Lexington as the number six family in the country for raising a family. And, oh, Chief Ba- well, I apologize to Chief Beatty and, uh, just wanted to bring that. It's a wonderful thing and a lot of great things going on in this community and I, I hear a lot of negativity about, uh, abou- about our c- our community and, and we tended to get a lot of criticisms, but, uh, we should highlight the things that are, that we're doing well. Thank you, Mayor. And allow me to pick up on that. I have, I have the list here. Uh, the first was Burlington, Vermont. Number two was Madison, Wisconsin. Three was Fargo, North Dakota. Fourth was Lincoln, Nebraska. Fifth was Fremont, California. Then, o- of course, we were number six. Honolulu, Hawaii was seven. Cheyenne, Wyoming was eight. Omaha, Nebraska was ninth. And Yonkers, New York was 10th. Now, some other cities that you may find interesting are Austin, Texas at 11. St. Paul at 12. San Francisco at 14th. New York at 15th. S- Washington DC at 17th. Minneapolis at 18th. Boston, Massachusetts at 21st. And Seattle at 22nd. And our visit next year is Pittsburgh, that was in 24th place. Last one I will mention, um, is, uh, Portland, Oregon at, at 29th. So I think that is pretty remarkable company for us to be keeping, particularly in light of the fact that last week, we received national recognition as being the sixth-best place in the country to launch a business or a career. So, um, a lot of work has gone on on part of a lot of people to make those things happen, and our community should be justifiably proud of, uh, beginning to get some national recognition for job well done. Let me- Is that... Pardon? Excuse me, is that on our website? Not yet. But we'll work on it. Um, let me... I, I, I have no formal report, but there is one thing that I wanna say to both members of the, of the council and to members of the community today. Uh, and that's about, uh, Bill O'Mara, who is the director of our Division of Revenue, as all of you on the council are aware for the last several months, Bill has just done an absolutely magnificent job as our Acting Director of the Department of Finance. Uh, those on the council are aware, but our, our citizens may not be, Bill is a, uh, career employee at Irving County Government. He, uh, joined Irving County Government after having been involved in the private sector for a number of years. You've been here eight years, Bill, or longer? 15. A lot longer. But he's been here for 15 years and, and has done a wonderful job as the Director of the Division of Revenue, but I asked him last February to step up and be a acting commissioner of, uh, our Finance Department, and he's just been nothing less than superb. And Bill, I wanna tell you, thank you very, very much for the over and above commitment you have made to us. It's been great. Thank you. Yay, Bill. Yeah, he deserves to stand. He's great. He is. Mayor? I, I, I also wanna say a word or two about the individual sitting to, uh, Bill's right, uh, Linda Rumpke, who is our new, uh, Commissioner of Finance. Linda served as president of, uh, Chase Bank's operations here in the Lexington market, and, uh, I am delighted to have her on board. She started yesterday, so, uh, uh, today is just her second day, but one of the things that impressed me about Linda, um, that I, I think members of the council can relate to is, uh, the fact that I, I think she appreciates the fact it is an honor to work on behalf of the citizens of Lexington. I know the members of the council feel that way. I hope more and more people in the future will continue to recognize the fact that it is a privilege and, uh, an honor for those of us who serve in Irving County government. And, uh, I am delighted to have Linda on board and I know she will do an outstanding job in her own right going forward. So I just wanted to mention those couple of individuals to say thanks to Bill for a job superbly jo- done, and, uh, thanks to Linda for joining us. That's all I have. Is there anyone who wishes to address the council? Mr., Mr. Cobb? First give line to the most high. Thank you, Mayor. Peace and love to the council. I'm glad to see Andrew James back. I wanna, um, take time to thank, uh, Councilman Lane. He actually, uh, bought my card and, uh, told me not to ask him to shine his shoes for the next year. So anyway I can get the support, thank you. All right. Uh, as I wa- as I watched the, uh, awesome presentation, I was blown away by it. As I looked at y'all's faces, I, I'm, I was reminded of a commercial that there's a man and a woman. The woman has a closet full of shoes. The man has a closet full of Heineken beer, and he just goes berserk. As I seen him make that presentation, I, I, I was watching y'all's faces, and y'all was caught up in the aura, and I liked that because it shows me that y'all are emotional and we gotta get caught up in the frenzy for all people like that, that brother, that sister on the street. As she mentioned, how much interaction has also made it with African-Americans. They had all the time in the world to interact with me in the hallway, but, you know, if you got it, you gonna display it. They don't have it yet. They have the technogic, technological thing down pat, but this is where I come in. I'm gonna get it in the heart. I'm asking y'all to feel my power, feel my love, keep shining. Ain't mad at nobody. Thank you, brother. One love. Thank you, baby. Thank you, Mr. Cobb. Does anyone else wish to address the council? Let me ask your indulgence for just a second. We may have one item of business w- that we need to also attend to. Give me just a moment, please. We don't have anything after all. Is there a motion to adjourn? Second. Have a motion by Council Member Crosby, second by Council Member Ellinger to adjourn. Uh, those in favor, please say, "Aye." Aye. Those opposed, "No." Motion carries.