# Council Work Session - June 29, 2010 > Auto-transcribed civic record · Council · June 29, 2010 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/1447 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/1447?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2010-06-29 - **Body**: Council - **Last revised**: June 18, 2026 - **Length**: 3,607 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 City Council met with the Mayor presiding over a session that addressed two agenda items covering water resources oversight and planning and mobile home quality of life issues. Both agenda items were informational in nature, meaning they were presented for the Council's awareness and discussion rather than requiring formal action or approval. Across the meeting, 12 motions and votes were recorded, reflecting procedural and substantive actions taken by the Council during the course of business. No public comments were heard during this meeting. The two agenda items — the Water Resources Oversight Committee Report and Planning and Mobile Home Quality of Life Issues — served as the primary focus of the session. ## Attendance The Council meeting on June 29, 2010 had 14 of 15 members present. **Present:** - Councilmember Lane - Councilmember Ellinger - Councilmember McCord - Councilmember Stinnett - Councilmember Beard - Councilmember Gordon - Councilmember Crosby - Councilmember Henson - Councilmember Blues - Councilmember James - Councilmember Martin - Councilmember Donald - Councilmember Myers - Councilmember Feigl **Absent:** - Councilmember Lawless No members were recorded as arriving late. ## Votes and Decisions All votes at the June 29, 2010 Council meeting were taken by voice vote. No roll call votes were recorded. - **Approval of the docket** — Moved by Councilmember Lane, seconded by Councilmember Ellinger. Passed by voice vote. [timestamp: 0:35] - **Approval of the June 22nd summary** — Moved by Councilmember McCord, seconded by Councilmember Stinnett. Passed by voice vote. [timestamp: 1:06] - **Approval of budget amendments** — Moved by Councilmember Beard, seconded by Councilmember Gordon. Passed by voice vote. [timestamp: 2:10] - **Approval of new business items** — Moved by Councilmember Beard, seconded by Councilmember Crosby. Passed by voice vote. [timestamp: 2:40] - **Amendment to delete the word "final" from item CC** — Moved by Councilmember Ellinger, seconded by Councilmember Crosby. Passed by voice vote. [timestamp: 3:11] - **Remove item G from the new business list** — Moved by Councilmember Gordon, seconded by Councilmember Henson. Passed by voice vote. [timestamp: 3:41] - **Approval of new business items as amended** — Passed by voice vote. [timestamp: 4:13] - **Refer local preference on bids to work group** — Moved by Councilmember Gordon, seconded by Councilmember Ellinger. Passed by voice vote. [timestamp: 16:25] - **Place resolution for County Road Aid Fund Program on docket** — Moved by Councilmember Lane. Passed by voice vote. [timestamp: 17:25] - **Refer minority and women business recruitment to the intergovernmental committee** — Moved by Councilmember Stinnett, seconded by Councilmember McCord. Passed by voice vote. [timestamp: 18:27] - **Refer KU utility towers issue to the Services Committee** — Moved by Councilmember Myers, seconded by Councilmember Feigl. Passed by voice vote. [timestamp: 25:57] - **Approve recommended appointments in the Mayor's report** — Moved by Councilmember Lane, seconded by Councilmember McCord. Passed by voice vote. [timestamp: 26:27] All twelve motions brought before the Council passed. No motions failed or were tabled. ## Appointments The Council took action on the following appointment during the meeting: - An individual was **appointed** to the **Convention Visitors Bureau**. No name was recorded in the available meeting data for this appointment. ## Contested Items One item generated procedural dispute during the June 29, 2010 Council meeting, centered on a lease agreement involving the Community Action Council. - **Nature of the dispute:** Mr. Birch raised objections to certain points contained in a lease addendum. His specific concerns had not been discussed during the relevant committee meeting, meaning the full Council had not had the opportunity to work through the issues in that prior forum before the matter came before them. - **Parties involved:** Mr. Birch and the administration were the primary parties engaged in the disagreement over the addendum's language or terms. - **Outcome:** Rather than resolving the objections on the floor during the Council meeting, it was determined that the administration and Mr. Birch would work through the disputed points together before the next Council meeting. No final resolution was reached at the June 29 session. ## Water Resources Oversight Committee Report [timestamp: 04:43] Councilmember Blues presented a report on the most recent Water Resources Oversight Committee meeting, covering several topics related to flood management, infrastructure, and ongoing projects. The report touched on the following key areas discussed at the committee level: - **Flood Response Plan:** The committee reviewed the current flood response plan, examining preparedness and response procedures. - **Demolished Properties:** Discussion included properties that had been demolished, likely in connection with flood mitigation or floodplain management efforts. - **Underperforming Vendors:** The committee addressed concerns about vendors who were not meeting performance expectations on relevant projects or contracts. - **Floodplain Map Revisions:** Updates to floodplain maps were discussed, reflecting ongoing efforts to accurately delineate flood risk areas. - **Sanitary Sewer Projects:** The committee also reviewed the status of sanitary sewer projects under its oversight. The report was informational in nature, with Councilmember Blues serving as the primary speaker presenting findings and updates from the committee to the full Council. No votes or formal actions were taken as a result of this report. ## Planning and Mobile Home Quality of Life Issues [timestamp: 13:15] Councilmember Gordon presented an informational update covering several planning-related topics, including the ND1 process, mobile home quality of life issues, and the status of two road projects. Key points addressed during the presentation included: - **ND1 Process:** Councilmember Gordon provided an update on the ND1 planning process, though specific details of the discussion were not elaborated in the meeting record. - **Mobile Home Quality of Life Issues:** Gordon reported on ongoing quality of life concerns affecting mobile home residents, flagging this as an area of continued attention for the Council. - **Newtown Pike Extension:** An update was provided on the status of the Newtown Pike extension project. - **Liberty Road:** Gordon also reported on developments related to Liberty Road. The item was presented for informational purposes, with no vote or formal action taken by the Council. Councilmember Gordon served as the sole key speaker on these topics. --- ## Decisions - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approval of the docket - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approval of the June 22nd summary - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approval of budget amendments - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approval of new business items - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Amendment to delete the word 'final' from item CC - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Remove item G from new business list - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approval of new business items as amended - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Refer local preference on bids to work group - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Place resolution for County Road Aid Fund Program on docket - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Refer minority and women business recruitment to intergovernmental committee - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Refer KU utility towers issue to Services Committee - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approve recommended appointments in the Mayor's report --- ## Full transcript Clock reflects it's two before three and the other one reflects it's two after three. We'll average the two and go ahead and get started here. We'll call the work session to order. Is there any public comment on issues on today's agenda? Seeing none, we'll move along to the next item on our agenda, which is approval of the docket. Is there a motion? Second. I have a motion by Councilmember Lane and a second by Councilmember Ellinger to approve the docket. Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. The next item on the agenda is the approval of the June 22nd summary. I have a motion by Councilmember McCord and a second by Councilmember Stinnett and a second by Councilmember McCord to approve the summary. Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. On the budget amendments, we have one issue that I think Mr. Milligan wants to address. So if you could step forward, George. Mayor, under item CC, there is a typographical error. The caption on it presently reads that this is a final amendment and it is not a final. There will be probably two additional coming forward. I thought you were under budget amendments, but you're actually on new business. Hang on. If you'll just grab a seat there for a second. We'll go ahead and clear up the budget amendments. Is there a motion to approve the budget amendments? Second. I have a motion by Councilmember Beard and a second by Councilmember Gordon to approve the budget amendments. Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. Now we're ready for new business items. Is there a motion to approve those? So moved. Second. I have a motion by Councilmember Beard and a second by Councilmember Crosby to approve the new business items. And I guess, George, the change I have on item CC would be in the last line to change final contract amount to total contract amount. Is that correct? No, it just deletes the word final. Delete the word final. Yes, sir. All right. I have a motion by Councilmember Ellinger to make that amendment. Second by Councilmember Crosby. Any discussion on the amendment? All in favor of the amendment, please indicate by saying aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. We're now ready to take up the new business items as amended. Councilmember Gordon. Yes, I have a motion. And the motion is to remove item G at the request of the administration. There are still ongoing meetings with stakeholders that need to occur. So to remove G. I have a motion by Councilmember Gordon and a second by Councilmember Henson to remove item G from the new business list. That motion to amend the new business items is in order. Any discussion? Seeing none, those in favor of amending the new business items by deleting item G, please indicate by saying aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. Any further discussion of the new business items? Those in favor of approving the new business items as amended, please indicate by saying aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. All right. That takes us down to the presentations. First will be from the Water Resources Oversight Committee. Councilmember Blues. Thank you, Mayor. The Water Resources Oversight Committee met on June 22nd. The draft version of the minutes has been distributed to all Councilmembers. It was a very full agenda, and I have a number of items to report from that meeting. On the LFUCG flood response plan scope, Director Martin presented an outline of a flood response plan. The goal here is to develop a plan similar to the snow removal plan, so that both city officials and the public will be able to refer to a clear set of response procedures. Mr. Martin, working with Petro Tech, will bring a detailed draft for the committee's review at our August meeting. On the question of demolished properties and how they are maintained, committee members expressed several concerns and questions on how we proceed once a floodplain property has been purchased for demolition, particularly regarding the handling of asbestos inspections and maintenance responsibility for property following demolition. A proposed plan will be brought to the committee at the August meeting. The committee discussed underperforming vendors and contractors, and that was a discussion of how we as a government handle the problem of contractors who may not fulfill contractual obligations. And this led to a conversation about the city's obligation to select competent contractors, not to underestimate the capabilities of low bidders, and to manage projects conscientiously and fairly. I agreed as committee chair to work with Vice Mayor Gray and Director Martin on a plan for reviewing our selection and project management policies and procedures and to put this subject on the agenda for our next meeting. The committee then took up floodplain map revisions. Committee members and the engineering staff discussed the technical details, responsibility issues, and the substantial expenses involved in certifying that certain residential properties and areas currently designated as being in floodplains are not actually in floodplains. This question is very important to those homeowners who are obligated to pay for flood insurance on properties that are not, in fact, in flood areas. Following this discussion, the committee unanimously approved Vice Mayor Gray's motion as follows, that the division immediately appoint a single project manager to examine this issue fully, its implications, including financial impact on citizens affected, and to report back to the committee with an interim report to the committee in three weeks from the date of the June meeting. On erosion and sediment control ordinance, Director Martin referred to two matters that appear as new business items in today's work session packet. One is the award of an engineering services agreement for the $2 million to Hazen and Sawyer PSC, to provide three sanitary sewer system assessment final reports and three sanitary sewer system and wastewater treatment plants. And these are key components of the consent decree requirements. The other item was just removed from the agenda so that there can be further conversation with stakeholders. On sanitary sewer projects, Director Martin reported that his division is in the process of preparing an offer to purchase the property off Winchester Road for the two-way expansion area pump station, with an anticipated construction starting date of fall 2010. Regarding the Blue Sky pump station, a consultant is currently doing a phase two environmental assessment to allow the city to move forward toward purchasing the property, which is in receivership. There are issues of cost and contamination that must be resolved before a formal offer can be made and brought to council. Finally, in his director's report, Director Martin noted that the Water Quality Fee Board is recommending that six Class A neighborhood incentive grants worth a total of $91,000 be awarded to the following recipients, the Gardens of Heartland Homeowners Association, Meadowthorpe Neighborhood Association, Woodfield Homes Association, Living Arts and Science Center, and the Friends of Wolf Run for two separate projects. This is in item K in today's packet, and D.J. tells on pages 34 and 35. Thank you, Mayor. That's my report. Thanks. Any questions for Councilmember Blues? Councilmember James. Thank you, Mayor. Councilmember Blues, the area off Winchester Road that you mentioned, what is that area again? That was in the report out from Mr. Martin. I'm sorry. There was an area of Winchester Road that you mentioned. Yes. What area of Winchester Road is that? That is Winchester Road near I'll take a stab at that. That is the site where we were going to construct a pump station in accordance with the overall facilities plan approved in 1999. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Councilmember Martin. Thank you, Mayor. Councilmember Blues, one of the items I thought was going to come up at the meeting was some sort of a plan, what to do about manhole covers that pop off during heavy rainstorms, particularly in the south and drive area. And Charlie, maybe you can address this, but in the south and drive area, we've had a lot of concern about the infill of rainwater into the sanitary sewer systems and the manhole covers being popped off and therefore being a public safety hazard, particularly for children who get out there and play in what they don't realize is raw sewage. Do we really have a plan that we're going to try to address that? In my mind, that was a component of this overall flooding plan that Councilmember Blues mentioned earlier, is that I've mapped now the locations of where we have the flooding areas and the road closures, because we don't always find out about the road closures. They go through police or public safety and then we find out about them after the fact. And the way we know where those locations are and where sewers are susceptible to them is that we will make that a component of that plan. I think as I told you in an email, just for everybody's information, bolting those lids down would not be a good plan, because if they don't relieve themselves there, they're likely to relieve themselves in somebody's house. So we just need to have a plan that would be able to close the road and secure that area so folks aren't exposed to potential contamination or physical injury. And we talked about maybe getting some sort of a plastic A-frame little thing with weighted on the bottom to put over the manhole until the event is over, I guess, or something like that. I'm sorry, I missed that. The plan is a component of the plan, and we're certainly interested in doing whatever we can, obviously, to protect folks. Is the draft plan available? We're supposed to have the draft to you in August? That's correct. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. We have two items on our agenda. The first was an extensive presentation by Chris King, our director of the Division of Planning, on the ND1 process. And I would encourage council members or the public, if you would like to see that presentation, it was about an hour long with questions, to go on the LexingtonKY.gov to our archived meetings and watch it. Chris talked about the process for initiating an ND1, a neighborhood design overlay. He talked about the current neighborhoods that have in place ND1 overlays. And it was a very good presentation. The second item we discussed was the mobile home quality of life issue. Council Member James gave a presentation on that, and she also distributed a mobile home park guide, which was organized by her former intern, Mr. Henry. And this guide will be, Council Member James agreed to email this guide around to different divisions to get any further input. And we're hoping that in the future this might be an official guide for the LFUCG. Council Member James has met with State Representative Jesse Crenshaw and other state agencies regarding potential changes to the state law and state regulations regarding mobile home parks and mobile homes. So this issue will come back to the committee in the fall. And the third item was an update on the Newtown Pike extension. Council Member Donald gave that update. And two of the significant items are that the current construction of the road, which is being worked on right now, should be open by September 1st. And that there have been 11 more properties in Davis Bottom area that have had closings on those properties. The final item on our agenda was the Liberty Road update by Bob Baird from Engineering. And with that, there are no motions to come before Council, and that concludes my report. Any questions for Council Member Gordon? Seeing none, I think we're ready to move on to Council reports. So, Council Member Gordon. Yes, thank you, Mayor. I have two items. There is a working group from the Intergovernmental Committee, which is looking at purchasing issues. And so I move to place into that committee a discussion of local preference on bids and that whole issue. I have a motion that Council Member Gordon and a second that Council Member Ellinger to refer the matter of local preferences on bids to the work group. Any discussion? All in favor say aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. And then the other thing was I just wanted to send out get well wishes to Council Member Lawless. She's been absent for quite a while, and I wish her well. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. I move to place on the docket for the July 1 Council meeting a resolution authorizing and directing the Mayor, on behalf of the Urban County Government, to execute an agreement with the Fayette Fiscal Court and Sarah M. Varelis, Fayette County Judge Executive for the fiscal year 2011 County Road Aid Fund Program for Fayette County. Any discussion? All in favor of adding that item to the docket, please indicate by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. That's it. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Just one item today. During the budget and finance meeting earlier today, and also as many of you have said on the RFP selection committees, we always have a criteria that keeps coming up that we're asked not to be able to use in order to select a vendor or a company to perform the RFP, and that is the minority business employer slash women business employer criteria that we do ask to be submitted with any RFP proposal. So in order to discuss that a little further and to also look at ways maybe we can change our ordinance and criteria selection during the RFP process so that we can utilize that as part of our decision-making process, I'll move that we place that issue into intergovernmental committee and come back out with a recommendation for changes. So moved. Second. I have a motion to Council Member Stennett, seconded by Council Member McCord to put the issue of minority and women business recruitment. Is that a fair way of saying it? Into the intergovernmental committee. Any discussion? All in favor say aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. Thank you, Mayor. I just have one announcement, and that's of the Spiegel Heights Neighborhood Association. That meeting is 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 1, in Antioch Baptist Church. I hope there will be a good turnout at that meeting. There are some serious parking issues to discuss, and there will be representatives from traffic engineering, from divisions of police and fire to meet with the neighbors on those issues. So again, that's 7 p.m. Thursday, July 1, in Antioch Baptist Church. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Vice Mayor Gray. Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to give an update to the Council regarding the task force that the Council approved forming related to design and form-based guidelines, and I wanted to report that Council Member Blues has accepted the invitation to chair that task force, to chair that task force, and he and I have had a meeting to discuss it and to discuss interest in it, the structure for it, and the schedule for it, and that shortly we should be able to announce those who are willing to serve on it and appointed to it. Thank you, Mayor. Council Member Myers. Thank you, Mayor. In today's outside agency oversight committee, we had on our agenda a contract or a lease agreement with Community Action Council, and Mr. Birch, who is in the audience today, was at that meeting, and he had had a previous lease agreement, we all agreed in the meeting to make some adjustments or amendments to that document, and they have been made, and he has signed it. Although he has objection with two points on here, it was made clear to him that the Council was going to get the document that was before him. He signed it, so I move to place on the docket for the Thursday, July 1, 2010 Council meeting a resolution authorizing the Mayor to contact Community Action Council for lease of space at the Carver Community Center. So moved. I have a motion by Council Member Myers, seconded by Council Member Blues to add that item to the docket. Any discussion? Council Member Martin. All right. Council Member Gorton. Thank you, Mayor. Will someone be sharing with Council Members the points of objection since we haven't seen those of us who aren't on partner agencies have not seen that? Right. And actually, it passed out of committee unanimously. The committee also understood that the amendments to the document will be made based on the conversation in the meeting, so the committee hasn't seen it either. But I do have the full document right here, and we'll pass that around for everybody to see. So you'll have plenty of time to review that before Thursday. Yes. And then a witness where it was signed, Mr. Electric Sinclair, City employee, made it clear to him that the Council would be looking at this at today's meeting. So, yes. Yes, the objection is noted, as well as the signature and the full document. Okay. And so that will, the copies will come to us when? Okay. Thank you. Any further discussion on Council Member Meyer's motion? Thank you, Mayor. I think I saw Mr. Birch was shaking his head no, so do you want to make a comment on that or not? Just to clarify? There are essentially two documents. One is called lease agreement, but it gets into some areas other than the lease. Fine. It reflects the conversations and the discussions at the committee meeting up to the point that the committee said it was no longer discussing this matter and it was going to talk about the Human Rights Commission. There's then a second document called Community Action Council lease addendum effective at lease inception, which contains items that were not discussed during the meeting and which was handed to me about five minutes before this meeting. Some of them are items that I have issues with. Some of them I don't even think are probably legal. It just seems a bit bizarre to me. And I have been talking through with Commissioner Helm on ways to try to make that last minute document something that would be both acceptable to the administration and to Community Action Council. Well, if you like, I'll read, is it five and eight that you have a question about? It is 5, 6, 8, 9, 12. Might I make a suggestion here, because this is a level of detail that could get kind of cumbersome here. If it would be appropriate, perhaps we could try to work through these issues the next couple of days and then on Thursday evening bring forward a motion to put it on the docket. Then if it's resolved and if it's not, then we'll know it. Will that work? I think it would be appropriate for the administration, our committee and Mr. Birch to make accommodations for Mr. Birch. And so let it be noted that the reason for the expediency was to get this contract signed and approved before council goes on break so that he could operate July 1. I appreciate you pointing that out. So if you'll withdraw your motion, then we'll take it up on Thursday night if that seems appropriate. Is that everything on your council report? Thank you, Mayor. I'd like to make a motion to refer to the Services Committee, Kentucky Utilities Policy of Constructing Large Steel Utility Towers Along Our Corridors. This includes a request that the Department of Law advise the Services Committee as to options that may be available to LFUCG for the construction of large steel utility towers along our corridor. And also what utility lines KU is permitted to install within Lexington streets and corridors. Do I hear a second? I have a second by Council Member Feigl. All in favor of referring that item to the Services Committee, please let it be known by saying aye. All right. You have some recommended appointments. A motion to approve those would be in order. Do I have a motion by Council Member Lane and a second by Council Member McCord to approve the recommended appointments in the Mayor's report? Any discussion? I just had a question on the Convention Visitors Bureau. Just the time of it, it says appoint the term 9-1-10. Does the three years start then? I'm a little confused about what the body of the foreign information only states about the February 10, 2009 Mayor's report that I'm assuming we approved, but I was just trying to figure out the timing of when. It was approved on February 12, 2009. It should have been a three-year appointment. We had some staggered term issues. And to correct this term, we'll give her the correct three-year term and get all the appointments back in order. Thank you. All in favor of approving the Mayor's report, please indicate by saying aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. That takes us down to the last item on the agenda, which is public comment on any issues not on the agenda. Does anyone wish to address the Council? Do I hear a motion to adjourn? I have a motion by Council Member Ellinger and a second by Council Member Crosby to adjourn. Opposed, no. Motion carries. Thank you.