# Council Work Session - April 13, 2010 > Auto-transcribed civic record · Council · April 13, 2010 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/1332 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/1332?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2010-04-13 - **Body**: Council - **Last revised**: June 18, 2026 - **Length**: 9,396 words > ⚠️ **Auto-generated content.** Audio from the official Granicus video was auto-transcribed by OpenAI Whisper-1. Structured facts were extracted with GPT-4o; the narrative summary was written by Anthropic Claude Sonnet. Speaker labels and verbatim wording may contain errors. See [methodology](https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/about/methodology) or [report a correction](mailto:editor@lexingtonky.news). --- ## Meeting Overview The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Council held a meeting on April 13, 2010, presided over by the Mayor. The session covered six agenda items spanning informational presentations, administrative approvals, and policy matters. Over the course of the meeting, the Council took 5 votes, heard 1 public comment, and received 1 informational presentation in the form of a State of the Budget Address. The Council approved five of the six agenda items, including the April 6th meeting summary, new business items, a fire disciplinary hearing schedule, a multi-way stop resolution, and a measure addressing time limits on former employees seeking employment. ## Attendance The following 11 Council Members were present at the April 13, 2010 Council meeting: - Council Member Gordon - Council Member Myers - Council Member Ellinger - Council Member Beard - Council Member Lawless - Council Member Crosby - Council Member Henson - Council Member Blues - Council Member Lane - Council Member Martin - Council Member Stennett Two individuals were absent: Ms. Crosby and Ms. James. No Council Members were recorded as late. ## Votes and Decisions The Council took the following actions during the April 13, 2010 meeting: - **Approval of April 6th Summary** [timestamp: 33:50]: Council Member Gordon moved and Council Member Myers seconded a motion to approve the April 6th summary. The motion passed on a voice vote. - **Approval of New Business Items** [timestamp: 34:26]: Council Member Ellinger moved and Council Member Beard seconded a motion to approve new business items. The motion passed on a voice vote. - **Schedule Fire Disciplinary Hearing** [timestamp: 34:58]: Council Member Ellinger moved and Council Member Beard seconded a motion to schedule a fire disciplinary hearing. The motion passed on a voice vote. - **Resolution for Multi-Way Stop at South Point Drive and Clearwater Way** [timestamp: 43:18]: Council Member Wayne moved and Council Member Crosby seconded a resolution to establish a multi-way stop at the intersection of South Point Drive and Clearwater Way. The motion passed on a voice vote. - **Referral of Time Limits on Former Employees Seeking Employment to Intergovernmental Committee** [timestamp: 48:07]: Council Member Crosby moved to refer the matter of time limits on former employees seeking employment to the Intergovernmental Committee. The motion passed on a roll call vote of 10 ayes to 5 nays, with no abstentions. No second was recorded. Individual roll call votes were not available in the source data. ## Budget and Financial Actions The Council addressed two significant budget figures during the April 13, 2010 meeting. - **"Back to the Basics" Budget:** The Council considered a total "Back to the Basics" budget of **$470,446,352**. No specific resolution number or vendor/recipient was associated with this item in the meeting record. - **General Fund Budget:** The Council also addressed a General Fund budget totaling **$274,307,309**. As with the overall budget figure, no specific resolution number or vendor/recipient was identified in connection with this item. No additional contract awards, vendor payments, or resolution identifiers were recorded for the financial actions taken at this meeting. ## Public Comment At the April 13, 2010 Council meeting, no members of the public came forward to offer comments on issues on the agenda. [timestamp: 33:20] ## Contested Items **Time Limits on Former Employees Seeking Employment** The council debated the question of imposing time limits on former employees seeking employment, likely relating to restrictions on where or with whom former government employees may work after leaving their positions. The item generated notable disagreement among council members, resulting in a split vote of 10 to 5 to refer the matter to the Intergovernmental Committee for further consideration. The referral to committee means the council did not reach a final decision on the substance of the policy at this meeting. The 10-to-5 vote indicates a meaningful minority of council members held a differing view — whether on the merits of the proposed time limits themselves or on the procedural question of sending the matter to committee rather than resolving it directly. No further details are available from the meeting record regarding which specific members voted on each side or the precise nature of their objections. The outcome defers any resolution on the policy to a future stage of review by the Intergovernmental Committee. ## State of the Budget Address [timestamp: 0:00] The Mayor delivered the State of the Budget Address to the Council, presenting the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The presentation focused on two central priorities: maintaining basic services for residents and addressing the city's financial challenges without imposing tax increases. The address was informational in nature, with the Mayor serving as the key speaker. No vote or formal action was taken as a result of the presentation. *Note: Additional details regarding specific budget figures, departmental allocations, or further discussion points were not available in the source materials for this agenda item.* ## Approval of April 6th summary [timestamp: 33:50] The Council took up the approval of the summary from the April 6th meeting. Council Member Gordon and Council Member Myers were the key speakers on this item. The summary was approved without noted controversy or significant debate recorded in the available data. ## New business items [timestamp: 34:26] The council took up new business items during this portion of the meeting. Council Member Ellinger and Council Member Beard were the key speakers involved in presenting and discussing the items brought forward. The council approved the new business items as presented. *Note: The available data does not include specific details about the individual items discussed, arguments made, or concerns raised during this portion of the meeting. Readers seeking the full details of the discussion are encouraged to consult the meeting video beginning at the timestamp above or review the official meeting minutes.* ## Fire disciplinary hearing schedule [timestamp: 34:58] The Council discussed the scheduling of a fire disciplinary hearing during this agenda item. Mr. Barbary was the key speaker on the matter. Following the discussion, the Council approved scheduling the fire disciplinary hearing for May 3rd. ## Multi-way stop resolution [timestamp: 43:18] The Council considered a resolution to install a multi-way stop at the intersection of South Point Drive and Clearwater Way. Council Member Wayne and Council Member Crosby were the key speakers on this item. The resolution was brought forward for Council consideration and discussion. The Council approved the resolution to install the multi-way stop at South Point Drive and Clearwater Way. ## Time limits on former employees seeking employment [timestamp: 48:07] The Council took up a discussion regarding time limits on former employees seeking employment with certain employers. Council Member Crosby was the key speaker on this item. The discussion centered on referring the topic to the Intergovernmental Committee for further review and consideration. The Council approved the referral, directing the matter to the Intergovernmental Committee for additional examination. No further details regarding specific proposed time limits, the categories of employers affected, or the concerns that prompted the discussion are reflected in the available record of this agenda item. --- ## Decisions - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approval of April 6th summary - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approval of new business items - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Schedule fire disciplinary hearing - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Resolution for multi-way stop at South Point Drive and Clearwater Way - **Motion** — passed (10-5): Refer time limits on former employees seeking employment to Intergovernmental Committee --- ## Full transcript And on behalf of the council, it's my pleasure to introduce the mayor for the State of the Budget Address. Thanks, Mayor. Good afternoon and thanks to all of you for taking the time to be here this afternoon. One year ago, I came before you and said, for the city of Lexington, the times call for belt tightening, living within our means and focusing on fundamental government services that are the heart of any local government's mission. As true as those words were last year, they are even truer today. Whatever circumstances may confront us during the next year, we will keep Lexington moving forward. We will continue managing LFUCG finances responsibly while continuing to find ways to do the business of local government faster, better, and cheaper. We will continue to tackle the tough problems that have kept LFUCG from being able to effectively serve its citizens. We will continue to make investments in our local economy so our citizens can find jobs and our local economy can move forward at a more rapid pace. With the investments we have made in economic development and quality of life initiatives, Lexington will emerge from the recession stronger than ever before. To accomplish those goals, today I am presenting what I am calling a back to the basics budget. This budget eliminates some expenditures which have been longstanding parts of LFUCG, but it focuses on maintaining basic services, especially in public safety. The back to the basics budget totals $470,446,352, including a general fund budget of $274,307,309. This budget honors the commitments set forth in our police, fire, and corrections collective bargaining agreements, and it funds the debt service on the bonds sold to fund the police and fire pension plan, an obligation that has been neglected for decades. This budget also honors the commitments required by the consent decree with the EPA to clean up our streams and waterways. Unfortunately, as we focus on the basics, this budget cuts a number of good programs and requires the elimination of a number of jobs currently filled by good employees. As has been the case in each of the prior years of my administration, the budget which I am presenting today is the collective work of many individuals, including the folks in the budget office and the division directors. I want to say thanks to them for their hard work on yet another difficult budget. The citizens of Lexington should know that we have a number of highly dedicated employees who have been asked repeatedly over the last three years to challenge the status quo and to find ways to do more with less. With their help, we have met that challenge once again in this budget. In addition, I must again thank the commissioners, Logan Askew, Tim Bennett, Kimmer Cole, Marlene Helm, Linda Rumke, Cheryl Taylor, and Mike Webb, and Chief Information Officer Rama Dwaraha for their splendid work in finding ways to reduce expenses while maintaining service at the highest possible level. And finally, I want to say thanks to both Senior Advisor Joe Kelly and Chief of Staff Shea Raybould for helping me to sort through all of the tough issues created by the national recession. Before discussing our projected expenses and some of the overall impact of the decisions reflected in the budget, let me begin with a discussion of our general fund revenue projections. Revenue Director Bill O'Meara led our effort to make internal projections. Those projections were then reviewed by two respected economists from the University of Kentucky, Merle Hackbart and Ken Trosky. The end result of both the internal and external assessments was that in fiscal year 11, we could reasonably anticipate general fund revenues totaling approximately $264 million from annually recurring sources. For purposes of comparison, you may recall that our fiscal year 10 adopted general fund budget totaled more than $280 million. As the chart reflects, if this revenue projection proves accurate, it will be the third year in a row that our general fund receipts are less than the prior year's receipts. Prior to fiscal year 09, only once in the history of urban county government had general fund receipts in any fiscal year failed to exceed the prior year's receipts. We are in the middle of the second year where receipts are not going to exceed last year's receipts, and our projections for fiscal year 11 call for a third consecutive year of declining revenues in our general fund. Not only are payroll and next net profits tax receipts projected to be lower in fiscal year 11, but so are property tax receipts as a result of decreases in property tax assessments. So clearly there has never been a more challenging time for a mayor to prepare a budget and for a council to consider it. Not long ago, I heard someone say, what is, is. Deal with it. So we will, just as we have the last couple of years. However, we will not deal with the revenue shortfall through the implementation of any tax increases. Lexington taxpayers are feeling the brunt of the national recession, and we do not need to increase taxes to get through next year. In fact, there is one tax we ought to decrease, the minimum net profits license fee. Our revenue projections assume a change in the net profits license fee. In connection with this budget, I am proposing that we change the $100 minimum business license payment effective in fiscal year 11. Under the current arrangement, businesses must pay a $100 license fee in November or December prior to the beginning of the tax year in which the business activity is conducted in Fayette County. In April, following the completion of the tax year, businesses must pay a $100 return on which they can claim a credit for the $100 payment. Originally, the current arrangement was designed to help with compliance by identifying potential taxpayers prior to the start of the tax year, but in short, it has not worked. Compliance levels are basically unchanged. So if it doesn't work, we need to fix it. Businesses must pay a $100 license fee in November or December prior to the applicable tax year. The minimum license fee will be due in April, the same time businesses file their returns for the prior year. Further, there are certain businesses that have very limited activity, and frankly, it makes little sense for us to try to collect a very small net profits license fee from them. We are proposing that a business activities test for individuals with less than $4,400 of gross receipts in order to exclude individuals with limited income from having to pay the net profits fee. We estimate that this change will exclude about 3,000 people, 3,000 individuals, from paying the net profits fee and will eliminate our need to attempt to collect taxes from those individuals whose tax obligation is less than the cost of trying to collect those sums. In fiscal year 11, we believe the fiscal impact will be the loss of approximately $125,000. Instead of raising taxes to balance the budget, we have used new technology to achieve greater efficiency and to save more of our taxpayers' money. To bridge the gap between the cost of our city's vital needs and the projected fiscal year 11 revenue. While the use of non-recurring revenues to pay recurring expenses is not an approach to be used repeatedly, non-recurring revenues can occasionally be used to bridge the financial gap until recurring revenues are restored to levels closer to historic trends. Recent economic news suggests that fiscal year 11 will be the time when we see our revenues begin to rebound from the worst recession in 80 years. In fact, last Friday's New York Times reported that the nation's recession is over and that the American economy appears to be in a cyclical recovery that is gaining strength. I believe that fiscal year 11 will ultimately prove to be a time when our long-awaited national and local recovery begins. Thus, in fiscal year 11, I am proposing that we bridge the gap between today's revenue shortages and the better days ahead by bolstering our recurring revenues from five non-recurring sources. First, thanks to some persistent and extraordinary work by Social Services Commissioner Marlene Helm, members of the Division of Family Services staff, and our external auditing firm, we have determined that LFUCG is eligible for a $2.7 million in additional Medicaid revenue as a result of low patient reimbursement rates for fiscal years 04 through 08, which we believe we can realize in fiscal year 11. Second, Finance Commissioner Linda Rumpke and Revenue Director Bill O'Meara believe that aggressive revenue collection efforts during fiscal year 11 should yield one-time tax revenues of approximately $1 million. Third, we believe that we can sell $4 million worth of surplus real estate during fiscal year 11. Fourth, we're projecting a $2 million carry forward at the end of fiscal year 10 that can be applied to fiscal year 11 operating expenses. And last, although I have resisted it previously, it is time to tap into the economic contingency account at the end of fiscal year 10 in the amount of $5.87 million so that amount can be carried forward into fiscal year 11 to address the shortfall. Those five one-time sources of revenue totaling about $15 million will enable us to address the important needs of our city during fiscal year 11. While I do not like using nonrecurring revenues to pay recurring expenses, I do hope to be the best of several bad alternatives, particularly in light of signs that the national economy is now in a recovery mode. Rest assured that throughout fiscal year 11, members of my administration and I will continue to identify ways that we can operate more effectively and efficiently with the goal of spending the minimal amount necessary to deliver the basic services that Lexingtonians expect of local government. In the end, our general fund revenue remains highly concentrated in receipts from licenses and permits tied directly to the economy. While this overconcentration, as you will see on the chart, has made the last few years difficult as the national economy has slid into a recession, we should see improvement in our revenue once the national economic trends shift into a more positive direction. Outside of the general fund, we project slightly more than $36 million in the urban services district's fund and almost $12 million in revenue from the water quality management fund, resources that will enable us to take major steps forward in continuing to improve our local economy as we are better able to manage our waste and water issues more effectively. In addition to the revenue side of the budget, the expense side merits discussion today. As you may remember, our fiscal year 10 general fund budget totaled $280,181,430. We knew that fiscal year 11 would bring increases in our police and fire and corrections collective bargaining payroll obligations of about $5 million and that it would bring an increase of debt service in the amount of $4.7 million, most of which is attributable to our efforts to secure the pensions owed to our police officers and firefighters. In addition, utility expenses are projected to increase by approximately $560,000. So before considering any other required increases in operating expenses, we knew we would have to expend approximately $290.5 million just to keep up with services funded in the fiscal year 10 budget plus the collective bargaining obligations, the pensions, bonds, debt service, utility charges and other debt service. When compared to projected revenues of roughly $269.5 million, we had a $21 million shortfall to overcome. Fortunately, back in January, our expense reduction plan started the process of lowering our expenses, but even after making those reductions, the task of bringing the fiscal year 11 budget into balance was daunting. Some may say just cut expenses. Local government is too bloated. While that approach has some superficial appeal, about 69% of our fiscal year 11 budget is comprised of personnel expenses and about 13% is comprised of operating expenses. In light of expense reduction efforts in the preparation of both the fiscal year 09 and fiscal year 10 budgets, and in the aftermath of the major expense reductions imposed in January of this year, operating costs have been reduced to the point at which, in some cases, further reductions would be counterproductive. Why have police officers if we don't buy enough gas to keep them on patrol? Why have pools open at our parks if we don't buy the chemicals to keep them safe? If we simply tried to address the $21 million shortfall by cutting personnel expenses, we would be required to lay off about 350 employees, probably 50% or more of whom would be police officers and firefighters. That approach would not yield a good solution for either the local economy or for the immediate and intermediate and long-term future of LFUCG. Under the LFUCG layoff rules, we would have lost some of our finest employees, employees who in many instances have been the beneficiaries of extensive training paid for by our taxpayers. Reductions of that kind and magnitude would cripple local government's ability to maintain public safety and to address the other basic needs in our community. So we made extensive efforts to cut nonessential operating expenses and to eliminate all nonessential positions. And as a result, we have achieved operational savings in all six departments other than public safety, totaling slightly more than $7 million, an amount equal to almost 9% of the fiscal year 10 adopted budget for those departments. These savings have enabled us to maintain our police and fire staffing levels at a time when many cities across the country are having to lay off highly trained firefighters and police officers. Here are a few of the more significant expense reductions proposed in this budget. Avon golf course will be closed during fiscal year 11. The closure results in elimination of one full-time and 13 seasonal or part-time employees, and we expect to realize annual savings of $40,000. Although we do not have hard data, anecdotal experience suggests that 50% or more of the patrons at Avon are from outside Fayette County and only 6% of the rounds played at LFUCG golf courses are played at Avon. In these times, that expense cannot continue. The Winburn Community Center will be reprogrammed to provide a more focused, academically challenging program funded as an extended school program. We intend to continue programming for the Winburn neighborhood and provide more of an educational focus for the youth that are involved. This reprogramming will save $117,000 in general fund support and will result in the elimination of one full-time position and 12 seasonal or part-time employees, some of whom we believe will be able to be employed in the rejuvenated program. Two underutilized pools, those at Berry Hill and Constitution Park, will be closed for a savings of $60,000. As a result of operating efficiencies, a setback in the operating costs associated with the implementation of our computer software, we are able to eliminate a total of 10 jobs in our finance and administration department. The annual savings will be about $846,000. By virtue of reaching an agreement with the Fayette County Public Schools to operate our food service program at the Day Treatment Center and the Family Care Center, we are able to eliminate another five jobs and some hefty operating costs. The total annual savings will be about $300,000. In a time when we are proposing that 17 permanent employees and 25 seasonal or part-time employees no longer be employed by the city, I am proposing no raises for all non-sworn employees, including myself. Funding each 1% increase to $1,000 will be provided by the City of Fayette County. The total decrease in salary expense would be the equivalent of eliminating 10 to 12 full-time jobs. It is my judgment that our city is better served at this time by keeping as many people employed as possible. Our six departments, other than the public safety department, are reducing their operating expenses. Overall, for these six departments, the total decrease reflects an increase to the fiscal year 10 adopted budget. With seven exceptions, our current partner agencies, which provide important services to our citizens, are being asked to take a 7.5% reduction in funding over the fiscal year 10 funding levels, a reduction less than that incurred by our non-public safety departments. Since they provide food and shelter, I am recommending that the Salvation Army, the Hope Center, MASH Services of the Bluegrass, and the Bluegrass Domestic Violence Program be maintained at their fiscal year 10 funding levels. The Bluegrass Area Development District funding remains unchanged since this amount reflects a dues payment. The Downtown Development Authority requested a reduced budget, and I am proposing that we fund their request a 3.92% decrease over the fiscal year 10 funding level. The DDA has played a vital role in our downtown resurgence, and we need to continue to support its work. We decreased Commerce Lexington's funding by 7.5% from its fiscal year 10 level, but after that decrease, I am recommending that we increase Commerce Lexington's funding by $25,000 to support the creation of a jobs incubator to help local small businesses provide more jobs in our community. After including the $25,000 for the jobs incubator, Commerce Lexington's funding will reflect a 2.7 net decrease over its fiscal year 10 funding level. There are four areas where I have proposed increases. I am increasing our real estate repair and maintenance budget by $1.1 million so that we can pay for major unanticipated repairs, or if those repairs are not required, we can make some badly needed capital improvements in the last quarter of fiscal year 11. I have increased our salt budget to coincide with some anticipated expansion of our priority streets in our snow removal plan, and to avoid the recurring concern each February about whether we will have enough salt to finish out the winter. I recommend that we include the Lyric as a partner agency to support our fiscal year 11 in the amount of $150,000 as was requested in the Lyric Theater business plan for this year, and I also recommend that we include the Bluegrass Community Foundation as a partner agency so that the foundation can oversee the implementation of the findings from Destination 2040. Since 3,000 people participated in this project, we must work to see that their good efforts are not simply put on a shelf and forgotten. Our budgeted general fund expenditures are allocated in such a fashion that public safety continues to receive a majority of our general fund support. As reflected on the chart, 55% of the expenses in today's budget are allocated to ensuring the safety of our community. While our community has many needs beyond those addressed by our public safety, we are committed to ensuring that public safety is a top priority for all of our citizens. In a time of limited resources, I am confident that our citizens would acknowledge that these functions must be a high priority. However, repeated efforts since fiscal year 08 to reduce nonpublic safety expenses have resulted in significant changes to the departmental budgets in the six departments other than public safety. As the chart shows, public safety budgets have seen substantial reductions in expenses over the last three years, and those savings have been used to ensure that we maintain our public safety functions at the highest possible level. I'm exceptionally proud of the job done by LFUCG employees to keep service levels high despite their declining budgets, but we should all recognize that the accumulation of budget reductions will impact the quality of service that our employees can provide. Although the expense reductions are painful, and although some citizens will see programs they value eliminated, this budget enables LFUCG to keep moving Lexington forward, particularly in the basic service areas of public safety, job creation, and the improvement of our environment. We will continue to fulfill our obligations under the collective bargaining agreements with our police, fire, and corrections officers. We will continue to make significant and long overdue investments in our police and fire pension plan in order to address 35 years of accumulated unfunded liability. We will hire a new police recruit class and two new fire recruit classes to fill vacancies in police and fire. We will continue our efforts to collaborate with both the University of Kentucky and the private sector to grow jobs in our community through the continuation of the Blue Grass Business Development Partnership, and through the new funding for Jobs Incubator to help new homegrown businesses get off the ground. We will continue to offer the Summer Youth Employment Program to provide summer employment opportunities for low-income young people in our community. We will maintain funding for LexArts, and we will continue to provide LexArts at its fiscal year 10 level because we have demonstrated that the arts are a critical component of our efforts to enhance our quality of life and to support our economic development. We will continue to honor all of our obligations to clean up our sanitary and storm sewers under the consent decree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. We will substantially increase both our recycling capacity and revenue during the course of fiscal year 11. Our capacity will increase from 8 tons per hour to 23 tons per hour. Our labor costs will decline, and our recycling revenues will increase from about 1.3 million in fiscal year 10 to 2.6 million in fiscal year 11. We will move to a single-stream recycling process as a result of our new equipment in our recycling facility, a change that will automate our glass handling and eliminate a substantial portion of workers' comp claims associated with handling glass. We will enhance our environmental education efforts with the addition of the soon-to-be-completed Raven Run Nature Center and with the continuation of our Echo Art, Neighborhood Sustainability Grants, and other educational programming in the Department of Environmental Quality. We will continue our commitment to the Purchase of Development Rights Program by allocating $2 million to help preserve our farmland for future generations. We will continue to assure the provision of primary health care services to families and their children through the University of Kentucky Clinic at the Family Care Center. As a result of our operating agreement with the University of Kentucky, the services have been expanded, and we will derive more than $100,000 in lease income rather than utilizing tax dollars to subsidize the facility. In addition, we will move forward on multiple fronts to enhance our information services, to save tax dollars, and to permit our employees to work more effectively and efficiently. We will implement software that will permit us to more closely track the status of personnel positions so as to improve the accuracy of our expense forecasting. We will maintain code enforcement at its current status, and we will continue to work with the Department of Environmental Quality to improve the quality of our information. We will continue to expand our efforts to report and address code enforcement violations more quickly. We will implement software that will enable us to far more effectively manage the 88 acres of floor space that LFUCG has under roof. We will expand our capacity to offer citizens the option of doing business with LFUCG over the Internet so that they can access more of our services on a 24-7 basis rather than on the traditional eight to five, five days a week basis. Our announcement last week of the new iPhone app to enable citizens to utilize LexCall around town and around the clock is just the most recent example of how we make local government more accessible and accountable to citizens in the coming months. Incidentally, we learned just yesterday that this new app will be free to our constituents, and I hope that will expand its use. We will implement GPS-based navigation systems, and we will continue to work with the Department of Environmental Quality to improve the quality of our information. We will implement routing software in our Division of Waste Management that should result in substantial cost savings as our routes become more efficient. So despite the painful aspects of reducing spending to reflect the decline in our revenues caused by the national economic trends, we will continue to move Lexington forward. As we have for the last two years, we have seen significant challenges in our community that this budget does not address. But given the economic times in which we live, I am pleased that this back-to-basics budget enables LFUCG to perform those core services that are critically important to the safety and well-being of our community. Having said that, I recognize that there are undoubtedly opportunities to improve this budget over the course of the next several weeks, and we will be offering a few late changes, especially as additional state and local economic data become available and as we refine departmental needs over the course of the next several weeks. Furthermore, the budget addressed does not begin to provide enough time to address every aspect of this budget. So members of my administration and I stand ready to assist you as you undertake your review. Finance Commissioner Linda Rumpke will have primary responsibility for working with you during the budget review process, but I anticipate that our new budget director, Ryan Barrow, who is here with us today, will quickly become intimately involved in that process over the next few weeks. I have long known that Lexingtonians are resilient, and when we work together, we can overcome significant challenges. The commitment of our citizens to refuse to let the national economy stop our momentum is nothing less than inspiring. Today's budget presents both challenges and opportunities for urban county government during fiscal year 11, but I am confident that by working together with members of the council, we will find the best possible ways to continue to responsibly managing taxpayers' hard-earned dollars, to continue tackling the tough problems that confront our city, and to continue providing jobs in our local economy. If we accomplish those goals in the current economic environment, we will make Lexington an even better place for both its current citizens and for generations yet to come. I look forward to working with the council during the budget review process and throughout fiscal year 11 to make Lexington that better place that we all want it to be. Thank you for your attention. Thank you. »» The first item on the agenda is public comment on issues that are on today's agenda. Does any member of the public wish to address the council? Seeing none, we'll proceed. We do not have a docket to approve today. We do have the April 6th summary to approve. Is there a motion? Move approval. Second. A motion by Council Member Gordon and a second by Council Member Myers to approve the April 6th summary. Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. Any discussion on the new business items? I have a motion by Council Member Ellinger to approve those new business items and a second by Council Member Beard. Any discussion? Seeing none, those in favor of approving the new business items, please indicate by saying aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. Let me ask Mr. Barbary if he'll step to the podium for just a moment. We have a fire disciplinary hearing that we need to schedule. I have a motion by Council Member Ellinger and a second by Council Member Beard. If you could pull your schedules out and try to work through that just a little bit. Mr. Barbary, could you give us the time parameters within which we need to be working? If you're asking me to suggest a time frame to have the hearing within, it would be preferable to do it sometime either later this month or sometime in May. We have not heard from this individual about whether he has attorney representation, but as you all probably recall from your police process, the fire process is largely the same. You all have to give us a date, and then because of the state statute requirement, they could have their hearing within three days, so the charges will actually be filed three days in front of the date that you all provide us for the hearing. And it's possible, based upon what feedback we get between the charges being filed and the hearing date you all give us, that we have to come back and reschedule. But at this time, we simply don't know that. The last time we had a disciplinary hearing, I think our schedules indicated that Monday afternoons worked reasonably well for most folks. Is there any fundamental problem with that? Monday afternoon with anybody? Well, that being the case, let's throw out several Monday afternoons. Probably the 26th would be as early as the case could be prepared and presented, I would imagine. Is there anyone who could not be here the afternoon of the 26th? April 26th, probably 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Okay. Let's go out to the next slide. Let's go out one more, a couple more weeks just to see what happens. How about Monday, May 3rd? Who would not be able to be here on Monday, May 3rd? In the afternoon, 3 o'clock. Due to a family medical crisis I'm dealing with, don't do it around me, because I don't know which Monday I can or can't be here right now. Thank you. It looks like everyone with Council Member Lawless's exception is available on Monday, May 3rd. Let's shoot for 3 o'clock in the afternoon until such time as we conclude. Prepare the appropriate paperwork and notify the Council. May 3rd, 3 p.m. here in the Council Chamber. All right. Council Member Ellinger, do you have the Services Committee report today? Thank you, Mayor. The Services Committee met on the 6th of April. You can find this in the packet between pages 41 through 43. We had all Committee members there except Ms. Crosby, Ms. James, Ms. Blues attended as non-voting members. There were four issues that we dealt with. The first issue was the Peller Ordinance that was put in the Committee by Dr. Blues. Dr. Mike Sander, with the Law Department, went over changes to the current Peller Ordinance, saying the fines have been raised. The changes, of course, came about because Dr. Blues said he had gotten several complaints about selling food from a public street. One of the issues was dealing with special events and how they were handled. And Mr. Sander explained how the Special Events Committee, which is organized through the Mayor, works and how it deals with them separately. After having some concerns and questions, Dr. Blues asked if this item might be held in the Committee. And we'll put it first on the agenda for next month. The next item in the agenda was put in by Councilmember Henson. It was the mobile food vendors. And Ms. Henson explained the nature of the complaints she received. And Dr. Rowe from the Health Department came to explain what's going on with the Board of Health and the updates and the State requirements requiring food service regulations. And the Clarence filed the 14-day regulation and location for temporary food operations. Mr. Dewey Crowe with Building Inspection told the Committee about the permits, what's allowed and what's enforced. The third issue that was in the Committee was the emergency snow plan that Councilmember James put in. Councilmember James explained the issues surrounding emergency snow plans, such as the signings, communication, towing, siting policies, adding the need for improved internal communication. She said after meeting with the Administration, she said the process was followed and justified. Ms. Henson came down and talked to the Committee about the citation, towing, citation policy, and it is being reviewed and changed to allow only towing and not citations during the emergency snow plan. We talked about the towing and it was the minimum is $90. They pointed out the maps of areas where the cars were towed on this one in particular event. Ms. James talked about having sometime no location system to allow residents a chance to move the cars. Mr. Webb said the ordinance calls for approval from the Kentucky State Secretary of Transportation for declaring a snow emergency, adding this affects timing and forecasting. And also Mr. Webb said that he would come back to the Committee with more information at our August meeting after they prepare for the winter and meet with the Fayette County schools. So we'll have them on the agenda after the August meeting. The next item was a yard sale regulation put in from Council Member Henson. And Mr. Crowe came to comment and said there is no ordinance right now, only a policy which is created by the need to address yard sales. That policy says there is no permit required. Residents may have no more than two per year, no more than three consecutive days and one sign in the yard. This policy gives a guidance on how to determine if someone is operating a business. We have no formal motions that need to be presented at this time. And we were adjourned on time. Thank you, Mayor. Thanks. Any questions for Council Member Ellinger? Looks like we're ready to go on to Council Reports. Does any Council Member wish to report? Thank you, Mayor. I really just want to wish Council Member Ellinger a happy birthday. And it's also my sister's birthday, so I said, you know, good people are born on this day. Other than that, I don't have anything. Thank you, Mayor. You're always so kind to me, I can't believe it. Neither, but close. Council Member Blues. Thank you, Mayor. Some announcements of neighborhood meetings tonight. The Meadowthorpe Neighborhood Association will meet at 7 p.m. in the community center at the park. Steve Jackson from the Department of Emergency Management will provide a presentation on emergency preparedness, especially related to weather, very appropriate for this time of year. Hope to have a good turnout this evening. Thursday night, April 15th, Melrose Oak Park neighborhood meeting will be held 7 p.m. at the Thompson Road Baptist Church. And at the same time, same evening, Spiegel Heights neighborhood will meet at 7 o'clock at the Antioch Baptist Church. And Monday, April 19th, Winburn Neighborhood Association will hold its monthly meeting 630 p.m. in Martin Luther King Park's community center. Thank you, Mayor. That's my report. Thank you, Mayor. I received a memorandum from the Traffic Engineering Department regarding the installation of a three-way traffic stop at South Point Drive in Clearwater. That traffic there has been increased because South Point runs over to the Brannon Crossing Shopping Center and there's a great deal of increased traffic. Anyway, my aide, Scott Seamer, is putting a copy of that out for you to take a look at. However, while he's doing that, I'd like to make a motion to place on the docket for the next council meeting a resolution to permit the installation of a multi-way stop for the intersection of South Point Drive and Clearwater Way based on guidance C1, C2, and the options B and D, as recommended by the Traffic Engineering Department. So moved. I have a motion by Councilmember Wayne and a second by Councilmember Crosby to add a resolution to the next council meeting docket addressing the traffic control at that intersection. Any discussion? All in favor of approving that motion, please indicate by saying aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. Anything further, Councilmember Lane? Thank you, Mayor. That's all I have. I just wanted to say a few things. First, I wanted to wish Councilmember Ellinger a happy birthday. He shares a birthday with my daughter. He's turning nine today. She's much younger. So happy birthday, Chuck. A few things that I wanted to bring to everyone's attention, well, first I had a question regarding the recycling bins on Main Street. I was just curious as to why we bolted those in when we're starting our streetscape projects on Main Street. These streets, I don't know if anybody's here, and why we bolt them and then we have to take them out, and are we going to replace them, the same ones? Yes, actually we bolted them in. Each one goes in with three bolts, but they're pretty quick to take in and out. We tested one before we ever decided to go ahead and put them in place. We thought it was important to be consistent across the entire downtown, so we put them all in at the same time. But as we go through the streetscape, all we have to do is take the three bolts out and move them back until they go through that section, and then they'll be reinstalled. All of the old cans that we took up have been put into storage, and we are attempting to refurbish those so they can be made available for other uses in the community. To buy a new one like the ones we took up now is $1,250, so we thought it was worth keeping them and reusing them. Anyway, we have all of those available. Right now we have about 120 cans of the new style, and we are seeing an increase in recycling as a result, but I don't have data yet. So we're trying to weigh it as we pick it up in the first few weeks. Okay, that's great. And how many of the old ones do you know are available to be recycled within the community? I think, and I'll have to double check, it's somewhere between 80 and 90 of them. They're pretty badly damaged or rusted. They had been in since, I was told, early to mid-90s is when a lot of those cans went in place, so they're about 12 to 15 years old. But a lot of them can be repainted and reused, and so I know Councilmember Lawless had asked us to keep a few for her for a couple of neighborhood areas, and so we decided it would be best to just keep them all. We've had a couple of inquiries from other cities about purchasing them from us, but at this point we're going to refurbish them and make them available for whatever other city projects we need so we don't have to buy new ones. Thank you so much. Okay, thanks. I know we've had a lot of questions about the last few days, and unfortunately we are losing a great commissioner who was just up at the podium. But when that announcement was made, there were several questions that I know I've received from the public regarding our, if we have any ethics rules regarding officials who are in, say, commissioner roles or director roles, and whether or not there's a time period that they should be able or they should not be able to go work for the city. I know there's a time period that they should be able to go work for perhaps an entity that there is some government oversight of, and so I think that that's something we don't have anything in place, and clearly I think that's something that we should look at. So I would like to possibly move this into intergovernmental committee and see if we can take a closer look at making some ethical recommendations regarding this subject. I have a motion and second to place the item of, I guess, time limits on former employees seeking employment with certain employers to the intergovernmental committee. Any discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. May I comment on the motion? I was just going to say this is something that's done in other communities across the country, also our state does this, and it would not be, this is not intended to hold up any current situations. This would be for the future. I just want to make sure, and if anybody wants a copy, I have the state one in front of me, I can go make copies. Thank you. Those in favor of referring that item to Intergovernmental Committee, please indicate by voting aye. Electronically, those opposed, vote nay. Motion carries by a vote of 10 to 5. Council Member Crosby, anything further? Thank you. I'd like to wish Council Member Ellinger a fabulous 29th birthday. Council Member Henson's sister and Council Member Crosby's daughter all a happy birthday. The Historic South Hill Neighborhood Association will meet tonight at 6 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church in the Parsonage Building in the basement, and all are welcome to attend. The Elizabeth Street Neighborhood Association will host a Mayor's Forum this Thursday at 6 p.m. at the First Christian Church at the corner of Audubon Avenue and Forest. That's off Nicholasville Road, and everybody in the Third District is invited to attend. And if you don't live in the Third District, I don't think they will be asking for IDs, so I'm sure you'll be able to come. I want to thank the U.K. Student Fusion Organization. They helped with the census last week, the March to the Mailbox, and they're going to continue that census work. And they also are going to host a cleanup in the Columbia Heights neighborhood this weekend from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. So anybody who wants to come out and help, please do. And it's always a really neat project. I want to say also, I think Commissioner Taylor, I want to thank you for your incredible service to our community. And certainly my vote on Councilmember Crosby's motion had nothing to do with you at all. But you've done a lot for Lexington, and I'm very saddened by your departure. And lastly, I guess I didn't, I don't think I made myself clear last week. I would like to request a presentation by, I guess, Commissioner Rahma and whoever about the problem with the payroll software where last Friday, or a week ago last week, or this Friday, I've kind of been an alternate universe because of the family situation. But to come to us and talk about what happened with our payroll software that the paychecks went out incorrectly two weeks ago. And you don't need to do it now, but if we could have a presentation on that next week. Or if you want to do it now. And that's all I had. Thank you. I wasn't sure what the appropriate time was to come back to the Council. We receive updates from Oracle, our provider, on a regular basis. And we get, oh, between six and eight per year. And the technical term are critical patches, so if you hear that term, that's what they're referring to. And so those are applied to our system, and there are tests that are run on that system. In addition, five to six times a year we get actual tax updates as part of that critical patch. Typically they come separate from when we have just other system updates. In this particular situation, it was explained to me that Oracle sent the two combined. And so in applying that critical patch, it caused our payroll tax for local payroll tax to calculate an incorrect amount. Most employees had $10 or less. Other compensated employees did have a larger impact. However, that is being corrected in this payroll, I believe. And what we have put in place going forward after talking with the Oracle team is that in the future, they'll run parallel systems on all patches so that we'll be able to look line item by line item and understand that there is a tax component in the critical patch. Oracle should have probably flagged it for us that there was a local tax embedded in the update, but it wasn't flagged. So that's what the team had to work through on that. Thank you. I would like to move approval of the NDF for this week. I would like to move approval of the NDF for this week. I would like to move approval of the NDF for this week. I would like to move approval of the NDF for this week. I would like to move approval of the NDF for this week. Thank you, Mayor. Well, Commissioner Taylor, I'm going to chime in, too. When you came here, we had worked together when you were at Smuckers and on the local emergency planning committee, and when you came I knew that you brought great credentials as well as creativity, which I've appreciated through the whole water quality fee process. And you have wonderful skills. And so I just wanted to thank you for your service to government, and I'm hoping we see you back someday. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. First, we have a Gainesville Neighborhood Association meeting tonight at 7 o'clock at the apartment at Gainesville Golf Course. I want to also thank Commissioner Taylor for her service to our community, and particularly the Gainesville Way Pond Project and helping us get that done. Eight-year process, didn't know if I was going to make it long enough to see it happen, but thank you very much for your work on that. And then finally, if I can get this e-mail back up, the Tatesburg Neighborhood Association, as everyone knows, is having the mayoral debate, which is going to be April 26th at 6 o'clock. And they just sent me a list of who the moderator is going to be. And it's going to be Cruiser is going to do the moderating. And then the panelists will be Janet Cox from Channel 18, Janet Kim from Channel 27, and Greg Stadelmeyer from Channel 36. And hopefully we'll have an excellent debate as we had the last time they hosted one. Thank you very much. Thanks. Council Member James. Thank you, Mayor. A couple of announcements of meetings. Tonight is the Martin Luther King Neighborhood Association meeting that is going to be held at the Episcopal Diocese. It's usually at the Living Arts and Science Center, but it's across the street tonight, beginning at 7 o'clock. And I was trying to look up the specifics. I have on my calendar that Legacy Trail Art will be on display at the Downtown Arts Center. I have it from 7 to 9 on my calendar. If anybody has any more information, please chime in. And I was trying to Google it, but I couldn't get a connection. I also wanted to ‑‑ there was a meeting last night on behalf of the Loudon Avenue Neighborhood Association. It was for the Meadows Northland Arlington Phase IIe. Yeah, another road project over there. And if anyone missed that meeting but they received a letter, please feel free to call my office at 258-3216 to get the information that was shared. They had a packed house there at the church. But if you missed it and you want to learn more, it's never too late to get information. It's never too late to get your name on a list, a contact list. Call me at 258-3216. Also, I wanted to thank everyone that participated in the March to the Mailbox over the weekend. I have seen more of the signs pop up and more of the shirts and more of the hats, and I hope that the numbers have gone up. I haven't checked the progress of the responses yet in our city. But I think that there was a significant exemplary effort throughout, at least throughout the 1st District. I didn't see much beyond the 1st. But I know that there were a lot of efforts going on, and I even came down to grab a sandwich at Jimmy John's and saw some census workers down there, and they raved about the participation that they had from volunteers throughout the city. So I really do appreciate that and hope that that did help the efforts. Commissioner Taylor, I do have to say as well, it's been phenomenal working with you. And I wrote down what I want to say, and I'm going to go on and read it. But, you know, you do work with waste management, so I'll put it in that context. But you were able to make trash look sexy, I think. And I appreciate that. Trash has been an interest of mine for a long time. My father-in-law worked for the city for over 30 years in waste management, drove a truck. And we've heard, ever since I started dating my husband when I was 15 years old, we've heard all about waste management and really do appreciate your efforts there and all throughout the whole environmental quality efforts. You've taught me a lot, and I appreciate your work. Lastly, I had council members, I had sent an e-mail around, copied you on an e-mail regarding a new business item, I. And since then have, you know, just kind of been bombarded with criticism for even asking about it. I do understand the process of applying for grants and that sort of thing. All I was trying to do in that, just to put that out there, is with the TIF applications, the proposals that we receive, we don't take the time and diligence to figure out what we can gain and benefit as a city in those things. That's all I was trying to do, is try to figure out from this application, is there something that we can, as a legislative body, as the things that we're exposed to, be able to see if there's any kind of input that we can have. But I just wanted to put that out there. That's all I was trying to do. I wasn't trying to dig. I wasn't trying to violate any confidentiality. But I'm trying to get as educated as we possibly can as a council. And if I've offended anybody by asking for information, I guess I'll apologize, but I'll also say that as council members, it's very important to me that I be knowledgeable for my constituency. I don't come here just to be on TV. I come here to work hard. So, again, I apologize to anyone that I've offended. I'm just trying to do my job. Thanks, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Martin. Thank you, Mayor. Tonight at 6.30 at the Beaumont Farms Apartment Clubhouse, the Beaumont Residential Association will meet and have their monthly meeting, and members of the neighborhood are invited to come out and join in. Also soon, starting in front of Sloan's Market in Southland, the Southland Farmers Market will start, and lots of good vegetables and flowers and things like that, so it's a good festival atmosphere. This Thursday night from 6 to 8 p.m. at Lafayette High School, the Lafayette High School Orchestra will present an echo concert for our celebration of our environment and Earth Day, and so we invite everybody to come out and join the orchestra and lots of presentations and festivities there. I attended the Creative Cities Summit last week, Mayor, and you were presented and a number of council members were there. This was just a tremendous opportunity to talk and listen to speakers about how to make our community better and what pieces make up a great thriving community, and it was just a terrific three days. It was a real inspiring session. A great shout-out to our own Anthony Wright, who just tackled the Creative City folks last year in Detroit to bring them here to Lexington, and it was just a national thing. It was really truly a showpiece for Lexington, and I was so proud that we had it here, and they did such a great job. And I'd just join everybody else in thanking Commissioner Taylor for her fine service. She's a rock star, and I've appreciated working with her. She's our John Wall. We didn't have her long, but sure glad she was here. Thank you, Mayor. Excellent analogy. Council Member Stennett. Thank you, Mayor. Just a couple of announcements. One, remind my colleagues that we now become the Committee of the Whole, and our first Committee of the Whole meeting to address the budget is Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. Again, these are official council meetings, so if you don't have a copy of the schedule, I know Jerry Sethers can get you one or myself, but Thursday night will be our first opportunity to start tackling the mayor's budget. Also at our April 27th meeting, we'll be addressing two issues in regards to the Budget and Finance Committee. One, we'll have our auditors in to go over the 2009 audit that we all received a copy of about a month ago, as well as we'll address the net profits license fee and dig a little bit more into that proposal and the necessary changes we need to make to the ordinance to change that. I know we've all heard a lot from constituents who have some extracurricular jobs, so to speak, in refereeing this year and umpiring and all sorts of things, so it will be an opportunity to let them know we will be addressing that, hopefully on April 27th, and make a final decision. Thank you, Mayor. Can I ask, Mr. Stennett, I know we had some e-mails going back and we had some schedule issues for that, but did we ever adopt that as our schedule for the council home meeting? I don't think we ever did. It's a proposed schedule because it changes frequently, but we'll do that Thursday night and make it hard and stone. But the only change is what Councilman Gordon alluded to in the e-mail chain. All right. But I think that we have to get it on the schedule as our meetings. And we had that Thursday night meeting. I know some of us didn't know if that was actually something that we'd already scheduled or not because it was on a non-council meeting Thursday. And I think we need to make sure that we go ahead and agree to that schedule. Thursday night, 4 o'clock. All right. Councilmember Lawless. Thank you. I'm sorry, I forgot, and Councilmember Martin reminded me of something else. There's kind of a spinoff from the Creative Cities Summit. There is an unconference, I think they're calling it, at the Carnegie Center this Saturday, and there are going to be a lot of different topics and takeaways from the Creative Cities Summit. And you can go to nowwhatlexington.org, that's how it sounds, nowwhatlexington.org to get more information on, you know, moving forward with the information that the Creative Cities Summit ideas brought to town. And it is free and open to the public at the Carnegie Center. Thank you. Thank you. Does any other Councilmember wish to make a report? All right. I don't have anything formally, but I do have one matter very briefly. It's my pleasure to welcome my wife, Cheryl Ann, who is here with me today. She is an abnormal part of the work session crowd here, but I'm glad she's here because it looks like we're going to get out somewhere in the neighborhood of 415, in which case I may make her a very normal part of the crowd. Thanks for being here. Does any member of the public wish to comment on issues not on the agenda? Seeing none, do I hear a motion to adjourn? Second. I have a motion from Councilmember Myers and a second by Councilmember Gordon to adjourn. All in favor, say aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. Thank you very much. Thank you.