Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Hello, everyone. Greetings, greetings. Hello, everyone, and welcome. Welcome to the work session. this is a meeting of the of the council in work session and first on our agenda is public comment for issues on the agenda the floor is available for public comment for issues on the agenda richard has anyone signed up for public comment for issues on the agenda. All right. No one signed up. So that allows us to move on to any rezoning hearings and the docket approval. Is there a motion to approve the docket? There are no rezoning requests. Motion by Council Member Stinnett, second by Council Member Myers. Is there any discussion on the motion? Council Member Hanson. I have a walk-on, Mayor. All right. Council Member Henson? I moved to place on the docket for July 2, 2013, a resolution authorizing the Mayor on behalf of the Urban County Government to execute a contract agreement with Machine X Technologies, Incorporated, for the modified line layout for the materials recovery facility RFP No. 18-2013 at a cost not to exceed $1,111,642.86. So moved. Second by Council Member Henson. Second by Vice Mayor Gordon. Is there any discussion on the motion? All right. All right, then we can take a vote. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? Motion carries. All right, that allows us to move back to the docket approval, the full docket approval. Is there any further discussion? All right, then we can take a vote. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. That allows us to move on to the approval of the summary. Is there a motion to approval? Motion by Council Member Beard, second by Council Member Stenet. Is there any discussion on the motion? All right. Hearing none, then we can take a vote. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. Allows us to move to budget amendments. Is there a motion to approve? Motion by Council Member Ellinger, second by Council Member Myers. Is there any discussion on the motion? Council Member Farmer. Thank you, Mayor. Mine's a question on page 10, Journal 201-4012. I'm just interested in the provision of funds for the Help Americans Vote Act for fiscal year 2012 in a rather large amount. I'm just unfamiliar with this and just wanted a little background. All right. It was page 10 and 1, 2, 3, 4. The fifth one down. To provide funds for Help Americans Vote Act, FY 2014 is approved by Resolution 342-21. Anybody here who can help us with that? Right. This was actually approved by Council last year, and it's an agreement funding from the Secretary of State to buy voting machines for county clerk's office. That will definitely help Americans vote. Thank you. Thank you, Irene. Council Member Stenner. Thank you, Mayor. On page 12, journal number 2014023, this is creating the budget for the Rupp Arena design project. This is our portion of the money. Have we received the state's portion already? I'm not sure who can help with that. Oh, Irene's back again. We have a written agreement for the state's portion, but it's subject to reimbursement. So we don't get it in advance. We just reimburse these funds as we are able to submit invoices showing that we have contracts in place. We don't actually have to have canceled checks, but we do need contracts in place. Okay. For accounting purposes, is our budget $5 million or is it $2.5 million? How are we going to track that from our side and that side? The total budget is $5 million for accounting purposes. $2.5 million comes from bond revenue, which is ours. $2.5 million comes from the Department for Local Government. So this entry is creating the budget at $2.5 million? Where's the other two that have created? It was already created in fiscal year 2013. This is the 2014 portion. Okay. And budgeting has that accounting ready to go, so we're ready to spend it? Yes. Okay. Very good. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Stenet. All right. Nobody else has signed up to speak to budget amendments. So we have a motion. We take a vote. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. As we move on to new business. Second. Motion by Council Member Farmer to approve. Second by Vice Mayor Gordon. Is there any discussion on the motion? Council Member Steneck. Oh, okay. I'm sorry. Council Member Hanson. Thank you, Mayor. I have a question on item L. Item L. Item L. Item L. Sally, who can help us with that? I don't have item L in front of me. Wait a minute. Now I've got it. It's fire. All right. It's the fire. Item L is relating to the sold source. I don't know the particulars of how long the contract is. Looks like Irene is willing to help here, Clay. Irene, you're on special duty today. Thank you, ma'am. Normally those are for one year. And then they are reviewed again, and they may come back to council after that. Okay. You think this one definitely is for one year? That's the understanding. There is. And is there usually a clause in there where we could cancel the contract? Okay. Our contract with the organization really is only for the $20,000. By making it a sole source, it means that if we want to add to that contract within the next year, we can do so without coming back to Council. Okay. So after one-year time frame, then we would have to approve this again. That's the understanding of that. Can we get a copy, or can you email us a copy of the contract? I can send you a copy of the agreement with Spec Rescue. Spec Rescue, yes. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Henson. Council Member Ellinger. Thank you, Mayor. I don't think this is for Irene, so you can keep your seat there, Ms. Gooding. This is number W. I'd like to find out where we are on this. I see Mr. Atkins rise, and I see the webs and Mr. Fair, so I just kind of give an update where we're at here. This is the amended application that would replace the one that was originally passed. The application needed to be amended due to the legislation that was passed in Frankfort this past session, lowering the signature threshold from $200 million to $150 million. Yeah, that was pretty self-explanatory. Did you all want to add anything to that, to where we're coming on the process? Thank you. the $200 million. And the consultant came back with their report, and the state has agreed, and we're working through the details with them right now on the amending the grant contract agreement, but in essence, the state has agreed to fund up to $48 million for the project with tax revenues created by the project on the footprint. That's an update on the TIF process, if you want to update on the project itself, maybe the webs can answer that. If I've answered your question. I think, I'm not sure with W if that needs to be addressed, but if you all, I see you're here, did you want to address anything today? I know we're all curious. The current status is that we had the good fortune to get the legislature to amend the spend requirement, which dropped the requirement down to $150 million. And after the reinvention of the project, after Jeanne Gang's master plan and so forth, and we incorporated those changes, the budget now is to $166 million. We're subject to the BUD4 test of Ural's approval of the amended application for the TIF and the approval of the TIF that we will hopefully be able to move forward very quickly. We hope to be on a fast track to get this project started right away and then move it forward. All the elements are proceeding well. We have one major prospect for an office tenant down there that is going to be the essence in getting them in. So we hope to be back with you very quickly. I understand we're working on the development agreement to get that signed with both the city and the state, and hopefully we'll be able to get this done this summer. So that's kind of where we stand. When you say fast track, if this passes today we'll put on for first reading night, is this something that we need to move forward today if we can? Well, obviously we'd like to be able to meet the time constraints that the tenant has imposed, which is February of 2015. Then we're going to have to get the plan started and start digging that hole very quickly. So we will again be asking you to, as quickly as we can, to get the approval process started and done. Councilman Allen, I just want to add one thing. It doesn't need two readings today. We've got the meeting next week. The KEPFA board will meet again in July to give their approval to it. So reading once and then reading next week, we'll meet their timeline. That's quick enough? Okay. Thank you so much. Appreciate the information. Thank you. Council Member Lane. Thank you, Mayor. I had a question about item number G, Polo Club Boulevard improvements, and I just would like a short overview of what those improvements include, please. I have a picture if you'd like to see it. That would probably help a great deal. For the most part, this is an extension of Polo Club Boulevard, which you'll get to see here in a few minutes. There it is. And what this is doing, it's currently you come down and you are kind of forced to the right. if you're coming down Polo Club from Man of War, it ends at Deerhaven and then picks up again a little bit farther along on Polo Club Boulevard. There's just sort of a spot there that has never been completed. We are working to complete that in time for the opening of the school, the great school that's going in out there that should open next fall. So the school hasn't started construction, and neither has the road, but we're hoping to get them both done on time for the fall of next year. Is there a wetlands area in there? Is that part of the area that would be reviewed? I'm not sure if there is a wetlands. Do you know if there's a wetlands, Brad? There is a large pond area, which is probably classified as a wetlands. I don't know if it's actually been made to have that determination, sir, but it is right there at the corner of Proposed, Polo Club, and Deer Haven. So that will have to be dealt with as far as the construction, especially with the approaches of Deer Hagelin because those will have to be addressed. I'd just like to say I think the neighborhoods out there will be very happy because right now, because the road doesn't go all the way through, there's a lot of cut-throughs of different neighborhoods. There's a safety issue for kids, you know, and the neighborhood's playing around. So that will be excellent to expedite that as soon as possible. And it has been expedited. This has been one that's been out there for a while. And with the pending construction of the school, this is one that was expedited by the state. And we hope to have it done as soon as possible. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Lane. Thank you, Commissioner Paulson. All right. Council Member Beard. Thank you, Mayor. This is actually not for my benefit, but more for the public's benefit, so they'll understand what this is and they don't jump up and down about two-way streets and one-way streets globally, but just this one situation. And that is item number M, where we're going to two-way streets for West 4th between Jefferson and Newtown Pike. And I'm sure somebody's got the answer to that that can explain to the public. Yes, sir. Item M, 4th Street conversion. And this is really just isolated around, well, I'll start back. With the pending BCTC move, Eastern State moving out to their new campus on Coldstream, the state, we and the state are working together to do improvements on West 4th Street. The two-way conversion is just solely for, at this time, West 4th Street. It's part of the discussions we've had with the state, of which there's also other items in here that deal with the budget and the improvements. We brought it to you guys for your approval so that you can see exactly what we're going to be doing. And I'll tell you a little bit about the improvements that are going to be going on West 4th. Currently right now, the timeline is at a point where we can't give you one largely because Eastern State was supposed to have moved out sometime around March or April. They are currently still on campus, so the timeline is still very much up in the air. But the improvements that are going to take place are repaving of the street, bike lanes, as well as putting sidewalks, new signals that will go along. And we're doing the side from Jefferson to the railroad. The state is doing from the railroad to Newtown. Thank you. That's pretty much what I thought. I just wanted to be sure that the public knew this was not connected to or involved with the other two-way projects. It is not. This is truly going to be a really, you know, I really think this is going to help open up Jefferson Street even more. A lot of people with, again, I think the thing we also forgot was the police are moving over there. You know, and with Transy doing their work along 4th Street, in that picture is actually where their athletic fields are going to go. So there is just a lot of action going on there. We felt that we really needed to make sure that this section of 4th Street was going to have really good improvements. And it's going to be, we think, a much busier thoroughfare into and out of the city. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Beard. Council Member Stennett. Thank you, Mayor. I had a question on, let's see, item P. These are the new positions that we recently created in the budget. P as in Paul. P as in Paul. Thank you, Council Member Beard. As we create in the budget, I just want to make sure, seeing this list of the positions on page 35, that all these were funded, I think Mr. Maxwell may be budgeting can answer, at 75% funded, correct? So we won't hire any of these until October? Or Mr. O'Mara, come on down. Mr. O'Mara. Hello, Mr. O'Mara. Good afternoon. Let me try to clarify the difference between the position control and funding of dollars. When a position is created, it can be hired at however long it takes in order to make the selection and agree upon a hire date. So all of these positions would be approved to be hired upon that process. We funded them for 75% of the year, but some will be hired before, some will be hired later. There will be turnover. So this is kind of a way to implement an organizational-wide funding of payroll, not a position-specific funding. I knew you were going to answer it like that, so let me go a step further and ask you, Can you give us a list of the same positions, but when the approximate advertised aid we're trying to hire, which ones we're trying to do now and which ones we're waiting? I know a couple of these are important to a couple of divisions. I'm just trying to see what our time frame for actually going out and hiring the position. I would defer to HR on that. But they could give us a list of the council. That would be great. That depends on the individual hiring supervisor. Yeah. But if there's one we're going to go ahead and proceed with, you can e-mail it to us just whenever you get it. I think Mr. Maxwell heard that. You got it, didn't you, John? You want to speak? Just a general idea. I'm just wondering which ones we're going to proceed with today and which ones we're going to hold off on. Sure. I have it upstairs. I'll e-mail. Okay. Thank you. And then item C is in Charlie. This is the seven-year agreement with Lysa out at Master Station Park. Jerry, do we have any other seven-year agreements out there with organizations? I know on baseball leagues we only do a year at a time. On other leagues, tell me why seven years is done for this particular organization, and have we looked at that for any other ones out there? The primary driving force of this seven-year lease is that it replicates what is now expiring and has been in place. We have an agreement with the Department of the Interior for the seven-year lease with the three-year extension. So it was our desire to replicate it using exactly the same language and the same conditions. And do you know where we got seven years as the magic number? No, I don't. That precedes me, quite honestly. We have some other longer-year leases with the Loudoun House and their lease with the Lexington Art League, for instance. So I think there's a wide variety of different terms in some of our leases. Have we looked at longer leases for some of our baseball leagues, like at Veterans Park, Shiltoe, Northern, et cetera? Because I know they're all on a year-to-year lease, correct? So I'm, John, trying to see how this could work in other areas so that we don't keep having each year go through this process. I'm fine with that idea. I think if we can get the franchise leagues to commit to some improvements, schedules, capital improvements, some other things relative to music and microphones and those kinds of things, I'm happy to extend their leases to a longer period of time. It would save us all a lot of trouble. We don't intend to turn over the franchise leagues' baseball rights to those fields, for instance, so it makes a lot of sense. Yeah, so as we're getting these new multi-purpose fields on board and other things out there, I think looking at that, it saves your staff time from each year going to have redoing the lease each year. Maybe look at this as an example because this is a good deal. It's been good for Lexington with LISA and the Meshner Station, so maybe we can duplicate this. In cases like LISA and the Franchise Baseball Leagues where substantial capital improvements are anticipated or required, I think a longer planning horizon is necessary for those folks to plan their cash flow. Yeah, because they put in hundreds of thousands of dollars, too. They need to have a commitment that they're going to have space available. Yes, I agree. I think that's a good idea. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Stenet. Council Member Akers. Jerry. To follow up on Council Member Stenet's question, so help me understand why it is stated as a seven-year agreement with a three-year extension instead of just a 10-year agreement, first of all. I can't answer that. My predecessor must have thought it was a good idea or law did or somebody else. I honestly don't know. It was before I was the director. I honestly don't know. Odd, right? I mean, I'm not just crazy. Okay. Secondly, so we have this agreement with Lysa, and like you said, it preceded you. So my question is, a lot of people have asked me as the representative in that area, how can they access the park? How can we host football tournaments, or how can we host music concerts, or how can we host free Friday flicks, or other types of events or recreation in the park? And so my question is, what is that process? And to my understanding, they can't. And so I just want to understand how LISA has this 10-year contract renewal and other organizations or groups cannot. Well, first of all, I think any group that wants to host an event at Masterson just simply needs to contact me and we'll see what we can do. As you know, there is a Lions Club fairgrounds there that's very amenable to lots of things. We have tent revivals and concerts and car shows and lots of things in the park. I think those things are all available for us. There's plenty of space, and the master plan calls for limits to active recreation. Right, and that's what I was referring to, actually. Someone came to me recently wanting to host a regional youth football tournament, for example, and suggested the soccer fields there. So I just wanted to see if you could speak to opportunities for other active recreation. Well, again, there's a master plan for Masterson that calls for limits on active recreation. There are birding and other activities there that may be subtle and may not be obvious and visible to the general public. We also have a substantial equestrian function out there that uses a lot of space. But all of our baseball fields, from our baseball fields to our football fields to our soccer fields, are available on a rotating basis for lots of groups. As you know, we're building four multi-use fields at Chiloto right now, and those fields will be available for a variety of uses for a rental fee, perhaps. So we have space. We don't have as much as we'd like, but all of it's available, and all people need to do is call and we'll try and work something out with everybody. Okay, well, I just want to just state for someone who lives in this area and has to travel always to the south side for all of my son's sports recreational activities that I would like to see more brought into the west end or the east end or some other part of the city where we don't always have to drive to Nicholseal Road for baseball or for basketball or KBA or everything else. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman Rakers. Councilor Lane. Mr. Hancock, I just wanted to follow up on that issue regarding LISA. It was my recollection that they invested quite a bit of money into actually putting in the soccer fields, and they pay annually to maintain it and to operate the games on there at their expense. In other words, the Parks Department doesn't manage the games and handle all that. I think that's one of the reasons they might get a little bit of a different consideration. Could you touch on that a little bit? In summary, the Lexington Youth Soccer Association puts on soccer for the community to some 3,000 children and adults at no cost to the urban county government. Parks does very little, almost nothing in maintaining those fields. And Lysa does all of the maintenance and improvements and upgrades and irrigation and all the rest of that business. So the city really is providing the ground on which that activity takes place that we couldn't begin to afford. Their representatives are here. They have hundreds and hundreds of volunteers that make the activities take place, hire the referees, make sure the fields are played safely. And Parks pays, I have absolutely zero dollars in my budget to support the soccer effort in the community. Just one other follow-up question. if some other events were held on those fields, they could be substantially damaged and make them unplayable for soccer. That's exactly right. And LISA spends money to protect those fields. With one major exception, however, and I'm glad you reminded me of this, LISA provides the fields for Bluegrass State Games, the largest event that State Games has, the largest moneymaker for State Games, and LISA gladly makes those fields available for those weekends. Thank you. That's all I had on that. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Councillor Lange. Councillor Massadi. Thank you, Mayor. I'd like to go back to number W, and I don't know if Mr. Webb or Mr. Ferris or Mr. Atkins would like to give me some more information. I just want to ask some questions about TIF, if you don't mind. I understand it's a development tool, and I understand how it works. I'm not sure the public does. And I know there's been questions that have been forwarded to my office and calls about, you know, we haven't had a project here in Lexington that has been successful using TIF yet. That's what I've been told. I'm not sure that's accurate or not, so please correct me. And also, there will be other developers that will be coming forward and asking for TIF requests as well. And so maybe if you could shed some light on that for the public and myself as well that would be helpful sure just to give some context back in 2007 the state modified the tiff statute to allow tips to be used in all counties and cities municipalities around the state previously had just been restricted to louisville and since that time the the state has set up five programs five different tip programs and the qualifications for qualifying that they set out very specifically in the statute. And generally it has to do with what type of project it is and how much money you're spending. In Lexington, we've had several projects that have utilized the TIF statute, state TIF statute. And then one, I think, recently used local only and part of the state, which was the 21C project. The Red Mile Project is an example of a mixed-use project. Do you have any that have been completed yet? The Red Mile Project has reached their qualifying amount. They've spent $20 million. That's the threshold amount to recoup state sales tax. I think generally what most municipalities like about the statute is that it allows them to recoup state tax dollars and use sometimes at a ratio of 10 to 1 versus local tax dollars and use the state tax dollars such as sales tax specifically in the footprint for public infrastructure. generally most cities find that it's very low risk to them specifically in the project we're talking about today the web project, there's zero financial risk to the city it's all privately funded if the developer meets the state requirements and does the state required guidelines for the statute they could recoup certain state and local tax dollars to pay for public infrastructure. If they don't meet the qualifications, then there's not anticipated or any, both in the development agreement, which you would see probably in the next week or so, that would be on the council, there's no anticipated local financing for the project, meaning local government financing, city financing. And then there's, in addition, for any administrative cost, the city will be reimbursed. So you have two elements that there have been projects in the past, and one that probably most people are familiar with, the Louisville Arena. Where the city did is the Louisville Arena is a TIF project, but it's many other things. It's a big public-private partnership between the state and the city. And in that project, the city of Louisville did decide to issue infrastructure bonds. And in Bowling Green, they decided to issue infrastructure bonds. That is not being contemplated here today, and it hasn't been contemplated, maybe with the exception of one project here, which happened in, I believe, 2009, 2010, which is the Lexington Distillery District project. and to the mayor and the administration's credit, they've been very active and helpful in setting up guidelines where it's really on the developers. It's their risk. They have to take the risk going forward. They have to take the risk, spend the money. There isn't any contemplation of public tax dollars or bonding being used to fund the initial parts of the project. Well, I appreciate your explanation because I think there's a lot of the public that just does not understand how it works. Absolutely, and it's a very complex, complicated statute, and some would say somewhat counterintuitive. But I think in general, as a member of the Lexington community, as a citizen here, I think it's a good way to utilize state tax dollars that may be sent, that are developed here and spent here to be put back into the community for infrastructure that would otherwise go to Frankfurt and Frankfurt decide where the money would be spent. So I think from a 20,000-foot view, that's the benefit of TIF to the community. There's a number of projects, TIF projects in Louisville, Bowling Green, Owensboro, Paducah, three in northern Kentucky. I think most communities feel like it's a very beneficial statute. It's just when you take the next step, and I can understand where the public could be suspect of this particular part. Some communities have taken the next step and issued TIF-related bonds. That's not contemplated here. It hasn't been contemplated for the last four or five projects that have been brought here. It's all on the developers. I think the public has a conception that it's only for blighted areas or areas that are underdeveloped and would not necessarily be developed unless they had the TIF funding. So I think that may be one either misconception or maybe misunderstanding, I might put it that way. And I just want to make sure that they feel that this is something that is viable, and I don't disagree that it's not, but they need to understand how it's being utilized and if tax dollars are involved or not involved and so forth. Absolutely. I understand that. I appreciate it. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thanks, John. Council Member Henson. Thank you, Mayor. I wanted to ask some further questions on Item C from Jerry. Jerry, is this just for concession, or is it for the use of the fields? Good question. The word concession is a federal government word. It's from the Department of the Interior. It means lease to us. But we have to call it a concession agreement because the Department of the Interior got the land from the Nixon administration's base closure act that transferred the property to the city. So to satisfy all that language, we call it a concession agreement. It is, in effect, a lease. Okay. And do we receive any funds for the use of the fields? No, ma'am, we do not. It's zero? Which matches exactly our cost. Okay. Because I know I've expressed concern to you. I don't know what LISA charges for the players, the soccer players individually, but I do know what the baseball charges. And I'm just not sure we're doing the right thing here. But what I wanted to say is why couldn't they be looked at like a partner agency? like where they're benefiting from the use and we would be able to look at their financials and things like that. Because, you know, I mean, I do know that they are probably the most competitive leagues, LISA and our baseball franchise leagues, whatever. But they prevent children with moderate and low income from playing because of the cost involved. So I don't know. I just wanted to bring that up that possibly we should look at it as if they're a partner agency. I'm assuming they are not for profit. Yes, and we consider them a partner agency without the need to have to fund them out of general tax funds. Let me speak to what is perhaps your underlying issue, and that is the availability of scholarships for moderate-income people. And there are substantial programs in LISA, in the franchise leagues, and in our parks programs for folks who are receiving assistance or have free or reduced lunch at school. I think there are a large number of those young people who receive that benefit. We probably don't talk about it enough or promote it, but we're supporting those. On the surface, it looks like our more competitive ball leagues are expensive, but relative to what's being charged elsewhere and the services and the skill level and the training being offered, I think they're charging reasonable fees. It's a lot more expensive than it was 25, 30 years ago. And so does PARCS help pay LISA? Do they help cover the cost for the scholarships? No. LISA covers that cost themselves, and they have a program with applications, as does PARCS. Any child receiving free or reduced lunch or KTAP can come to PARCS and get an automatic 50% reduction in the cost of a program. Theirs is very similar. And do they provide you the numbers? All of those numbers are available if we were to ask for them. There's no restriction and no reluctance on their part to be open and sharing with us. Okay. Okay. Thank you, Jerry. Thank you, Peg. Council Member Henson. Council Member Clark. Thank you, Mayor. Commissioner Paulson, a couple of questions. First, would you, for the Council, give us a brief explanation about D, which is involved in the double diamond, and I think maybe it would be good to have some explanation for them if you don't mind. Sure. I'm going to have Brad come up and talk about it. In a nutshell, we're taking over the maintenance of this multi-use path, but Brad Frazier can talk a little bit more. Mr. Clark, it's pretty typical. The city requested this monthly use path when the state was formulating the plans and the improvements for that intersection, and therefore they were happy to oblige, but on the condition to the fact that we would go ahead and maintain that path. and maintenance would be for the actual path itself, the asphalt, and the signage, the signage only related for the path, not the signage or the shields for the roadway itself or the mowing or the retaining structures, just the path and the signage. So the state will continue the mowing process? Yes, sir. Is that correct? Thank you. One other question for Commissioner. Commissioner, in the 4th Street project, I think it's involved in H and K and M. I just want to be sure that we're thinking in terms of bike paths there. I see it mentioned once, but I want to be sure that in the first place, is there room on 4th Street? What's intended, that there's plenty of room for bike paths? Because I can see bike paths being very important, trans-C, BCTC, and so forth. Yes, we do. We have bike lanes are going to be on 4th Street, and there's a couple other bike-related things associated with the Legacy Trail that are also going to be coming in the future. One is the expected, and I'm not sure what the timeline will be, a lot of it has to do with when Eastern State leaves the campus and when some of the buildings can be demolished. But part of the Legacy Trail will come down Newtown Pike and will most likely there will be a spur that will be able to go along 4th Street. We view 4th Street, very importantly, as a connection between BCTC and Transit, So that's one of the reasons we really wanted to ensure that if you've ever been on 4th Street, and if you look at it right now, on the left side going towards Newtown, there's not a complete sidewalk. We wanted to make sure that there will be a complete sidewalk when this is finished because we think it is going to be very important with all the campus, with all the students walking towards Jefferson. Again, with the police department moving over there, we want to make sure that everyone can get up and down 4th Street in the best way possible. So both bike lanes and sidewalks on both sides are going to go in, which are not currently there. Thank you very much. That was my concern. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Clark. Council Member Forrest. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Mayor. Just briefly, to speak in favor of this project, I want to thank Commissioner Paulson and his staff. I inquired via e-mail a couple of weeks ago as to whether or not we could have this formal action brought before Council before summer break, and I'm thankful that we have this before us now. I would also like to extend appreciation to District 7 of the Transportation Cabinet, because they have been very resourceful in their support of these projects, particularly with funding. The completion of the intersection at Georgetown Street as it merges with Newtown Pike is complete, and I believe it has presented itself as an improvement. I think 4th Street will accelerate this along. So thank you, Commissioner. Thank you, Mayor. And I'd like to echo that. District 7 has been great on this. They've really helped with everything. Had Eastern been able to get out on time, I think we'd be able to see that they really have gone to great lengths to speed up the work on Newtown and Georgetown and on 4th Street, as well as really help us with the funding for the improvements on 4th Street. So they've been a great partner in this. A lot of kudos go to James Ballinger as well as all the other folks out there at District 7. Thank you, Council Member Ford. Thank you, Commissioner Paulson. All right. Looks like that's all you've signed up for new business. We can now take a vote on the motion. Is there all in favor of the motion? Please indicate by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. That allows us to move to presentations. First on our agenda is a Social Services Community Development Committee summary from June 18th by Chairman Chris Ford. Thank you, Mayor. Counsel, you can find the written report on pages 45, 46, and 47 of the packet. Social Services and Community Development Committee met on June 18th. I called the meeting to order at 1105. All members were present. Vice Mayor Gordon and Council Member Clark were also in attendance. There is a correction. The committee summary of May 28th, 2013 was approved on a motion by Council Member Ellinger, seconded by Council Member Myers. We had two agenda items, the first being the Senior Citizen Center update. I called on CAO Sally Hamilton and she stated that the YMCA of Central Kentucky approached the Mayor's office about partnering for senior citizen facilities and services. David Maturano, the new president and CEO of the YMCA of Central Kentucky made a presentation. He reviewed past efforts to replace the Lexington Senior Citizen Center on Nicholasville Road. Maturano proposed that the city and the YMCA renovate and expand three existing YMCA facilities at Beaumont, North Lexington, and High Street to include dedicated citizen center space. Throughout the report, I'm going to refer to him as David in efforts not to mispronounce his name. David proposed that the YMCA would contribute a portion of the capital funding required. He proposed that Lexington would provide $12 million in capital, including $5 million in fiscal year 14. David stated that the YMCA would assume operational responsibilities for the Senior Citizen Center. From there were several responses and questions by respective council members, beginning with Vice Mayor Gordon, who asked the CAO if LFUCG had ever paid for a facility that it did not own, other than the William Wells Brown School. Vice Mayor also asked about the hours of service. Council Member Case stated that he was supportive of the concept. He also asked Commissioner Mills for her comments, in which she responded that she received the proposal just last week and had several questions about it. Council Member Scutchfield asked about the current workforce at the Senior Center and about the operation of hours between 3 and 5. Councilmember Akers asked about the history of this proposal and why the Commission of Social Services was not involved in the initial conversations. Commissioner Mills stated that she was a proponent of a single central senior citizen facility. She was concerned about that several partner agencies that offer services at the center could not offer similar level of services at multiple sites. Council Member Lane stated that he was in favor of multi-sites due to a growing senior population. Council Member Stinnett asked about the timeline and stated that it was critical. Council Member Stinnett also discussed the size of the facilities. He stated that he didn't think five facilities at 10,000 square feet each were adequate. He stated that two facilities at 20,000 square feet, that may be between four facilities at 10,000 square feet. Council Member Beer discussed partnership agreements and the need to work together. Council Member Clark discussed control of the proposed facilities. In response from a question for myself, David of the YMCA stated that he first discussed this proposal with Mayor Gray in early May at the Commerce Lexington Leadership Visit to Omaha, Nebraska. On a motion by Council Member Akers, on a second by Council Member Myers, the action was to move forward on the original plan for a single Central Senior Citizen Center and to consider partnering with the YMCA for satellite locations and other future partnering opportunities. Pass on a vote of 6-4. Councilmember Stinnett stated that the Council had not heard from the administration since February on this matter, and he asked of its plans. In response, CAO Hamilton stated that at least one of the sites under the original consideration was no longer available, and she stated that she will schedule a presentation at an upcoming work session to discuss the preferred site and a request for proposals to go forward. At this time, Mayor, I would like to, on behalf of the committee, bring forward the motion as it pertains to moving forward with the original plan and to consider partnerships with the YMCA. So move. Second. Motion by Council Member Ford, seconded by Council Member Farmer. Is there any discussion on the motion? Council Member Stenning? Thank you, Mayor. Now, CEO Hamilton, next Tuesday, are you prepared to do a presentation in regards to this issue and talk about it in further detail? And if that's the case, I would make a motion to table this motion until next Tuesday, then at which time, with more information from the administration, we can act on it. So moved. Second. Motion by Council Member Stenet, second by Council Member Lane. Motion to table is not debatable. So we can take a vote on the motion to table. All in favor of the motion to table, please indicate by saying aye. Voting aye. All opposed? No. All right, let's take the electronic vote, please. All in favor of the motion? All right, the motion to table carries. The motion to table carries. All right. All right. Thank you, Mayor. Completing my report, the Office of Aging Services and Disability Support presented. Christy Stambaugh made a presentation of the office. She provided demographic information on the senior and disabled populations. She stated that the city offers programs at several locations, including the Senior Citizen Center on Nicholasville Road, the Bell House, the Elders Crassers Program at Black and Women's Center, and the Charles Young Center. The meeting adjourned at 1235. Mayor, that concludes my report. And I look forward personally to the presentation about the Senior Center next week. Thank you, Mayor. All right. Thank you, Council Member Ford. Point of order. Vice Mayor. Yes, point of order. Someone did not vote on that table motion. I didn't vote. You didn't vote. Votes closed. All right. Except the point of order, but the vote is, the point has been made that the vote is closed. allows us to move on to Planning and Public Works Committee summary. Mayor, thank you. I was going to ask for the Council's indulgence. Our meeting was a fairly complicated meeting, and a couple of the business items that the Council took action on might have material changes to them, so we've asked the Law Department to give us some opinions on whether they were material changes or not. They have promised to have those for us before next Tuesday, so I would just defer this readout until our meeting next Tuesday. But I would just say to you all, separate from the packet, in an attempt to make things somewhat lighter, would be the B1 ZODA itself, so people could look at it. It was a very useful item to have in our hand during the committee deliberations. And since we're waiting on some definitional things from the Department of Law, I would just defer this until next Tuesday. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman Farmer. All right. That allows us to move on to a presentation by our county clerk and former colleague, Mr. Don Blevins. Welcome. Mayor and council members, some old friends and some new faces, good to see you all. We're on the sexy topic of ad valorem taxes today. And I'll be brief because I know you all have a full calendar today. For those of you new to the council, you're about to go through a process where you have to decide and approve certain tax rates for property taxes. The schedule is set by statute and is a rigorous, aggressive schedule on a yearly basis. When you get back from break, it's going to feel pressurized a little bit because you don't have a lot of time to make some decisions. So I'm here today to remind you of that responsibility and to sort of walk you through how this works. At the beginning of each year, every property owner that owns a piece of property as of January 1st is responsible for paying the avalorum taxes on that property. The PVA will go through an assessment process. You have the opportunity to appeal the decisions by the PVA by appealing to the Board of Tax Appeals. It's a citizen-based group, our appointed group, that actually hears the appeals and makes decisions on behalf of the citizens. That process is now complete. All of the PVA's assessments are complete. The Board of Tax Appeals wrapped up last week. So now the next phase begins, which is that the state will certify, the Department of Revenue will certify the PVA's assessment. They will produce a document called the certification on or about July 15th. That document and its presentation to the government sets in motion a timing that has to occur that is what constrains your decision-making. You will need to make your decisions within 45 days of that certification coming to the government, which means that by the end of August, you need to have decided on your tax rates. That's to allow me to prepare the tax bills. The county clerk in each county prepares the tax bills for delivery to the sheriff no later than September 15th. The sheriff then must mail them to the citizens by no later than September 30th, and if you're a property owner, you know well what happens after that. You have November to pay for a discount or by December if you want to pay the full amount. So that's the overall tax calendar. Your role is several pieces. The state sets its own tax rates through the legislature. The Fayette County Public Schools will set their own tax rates as well on the exact same calendar that you all are on with some twists that apply only to them, but on the calendar basis it's the same as what you have to do. The Health Department, the Soil and Water Conservation District, and the Extension Service, all three have to set their rates prior to you acting because you actually approved their rates. And then last, there's LexTrend, which was set by referendum. There's no action for you to take there. And then your own rates for general services. You'll need to decide what you want to do there. In addition, there's the enterprise fund services that you'll be discussing as well. So all of that will come to you in early August, I believe. Commissioner O'Meara and his staff will do a great job, as they always have done, and prepare a variety of scenarios for you, and you should have those in early August so that you can start looking over the paperwork and make your decisions. You will not have much time. You'll need to be prepared quickly and be able to make quick decisions because the tax calendar doesn't move for anyone, unfortunately. That's really all I have to say other than to let you know you've got some things coming at you and you're not going to have a lot of time to make decisions. If you have any questions, Irene will be glad to come help you wherever Irene went. She's awesome, isn't she? So do you have any questions? Thanks. Council, thank you. Clerk Blevins, Council Member Massadi. Thank you, Mayor. Hi, Don. Thank you for coming today. Tell me when was the last time property taxes were raised in Fayette County? Well, it depends on how you look at it. The last time I remember, I don't remember a time for general services going up, but they adjust each year because of the compensating rate, if you know what that is. I don't. Okay, so each year the assessment changes, and what will happen is you have the opportunity to raise and lower the rate so that the actual revenue realized by the government is exactly the same. So usually the effective rate can sometimes go down. A few years that happened, particularly when I was on council. But after the assessments started going down because of the economy, we actually probably adjusted it up a year or two. Kevin, do you remember? I don't recall. No, we haven't. But I don't think we've not raised the property taxes from a revenue perspective in recent memory. Are we taking 10 years, 15 years? Do you have any recollection? I really don't know. We'd have to get someone from revenue to answer that. It's been a while. I'll say it that way. And here he is. Thank you, Bill. I knew you could answer the question. Not Irene? Not Irene. Not today. That will all be part of the packet that we will send to Council. There will be about a 10-year history there that will show you the rates, what the compensating rate was, what the 4% max, what the adopted rate was. So it will all be part of the packet that we'll be preparing to send out to you the 1st of August. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Sadi. Vice Mayor Gordon. Mine's really for Commissioner O'Meara. so I don't know if other council members have questions for our clerk or not but I did have a this concerns me a lot that we come back and the first day we're back we've got to make this decision and it's happened a couple years in a row and last year we did not we had not had the discussions about street lights that we've had this year. They were not as intense. And I actually had a conversation with Commissioner O'Meara because I think it would be really helpful for us as a council if this packet that he gives us around August 1st, I think you said, includes every possible scenario that we need to consider so that even though we're on break, we can take a look at things we've talked about, like what would it take in the streetlight tax to fully fund it? What would it take for the standard options? What would it take if a council member has another scenario, which I think some council members, I know Councilmember Stenets mentioned something different and others have, if we could have those in front of us to think about before that Tuesday. So I'm not exactly sure, Commissioner, what all you might be prepared to include, but I think it needs to be more inclusive rather than less inclusive of information for us so we can make a good decision. So can you speak to that a little bit? Well, I agree with you, Vice Mayor. I think more information is good. And what I would like to float before you is to allow us time to vet out those rather than the day before ask us to crunch numbers and possibly not give the sufficient review to that analysis that it might deserve, if we could get those in July, then we would have time to map out whatever type of funding scenario you might want to consider and then include it in that August 1st packet that we mail out to council members for your consideration. then we would then have that information, have it vetted, and have it for all council members to consider. So the vice mayor and I talked that if you could think about giving us some homework assignment while you're on break, if you could give her whatever scenarios you might want us to model for you by July 15th, that would give us time in order to incorporate that into the packet that we do distribute to you by August 1st for you to take into consideration for discussion on August 13th. And I would just lay that out as a proposal because I think the more information we can get ahead of time, the better it will be for us to make the tax decision. and in the old days we used to have a couple weeks before we came back from our council recess and we don't have any time this time. And I appreciate that our clerk has this scheduled just so, but I think the more information we can get the better. In fact, Vice Mayor, the reason I'm here is that just a few years ago, So up until a few years ago, we were actually violating the statute for maybe as many as 20 years by not having our tax rates set on time. And I can't say for sure, but I believe the reason we started having the relaxed schedules to allow for a council break in the summer. That's where it came from. So when it came to my attention that we weren't getting it to the sheriff on time, we've adjusted backwards, and it's put pressure on you guys because of the remainder of the break. So that's where this all came from. Thank you. I appreciate that from both of you, and I also appreciate the Commissioner's offer to put together a comprehensive packet so that if Council members could, if you like this idea more than just the standard options and we could get any of our scenarios to Commissioner by July 15th, he'll crunch the numbers. That's what he's agreeing to do. any kind of out-of-the-ordinary scenarios. And they could either go to the commissioner or they could go to me and I'd forward them on. But I think that would be helpful. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Vice Mayor. All right. Thank you, Don. Thanks a lot. All right. That allows us to move on to next on our agenda, which Council reports. And Council members who wishes to give a report, please sign on. Council Member Hanson. Thank you, Mayor. I have a couple of items that I want to place in Public Safety Committee. I move to refer to the Public Safety Committee the following, a presentation from the Division of Fire on Project Lifesaver and a presentation from the Division of Hance 9-1-1 on Smart 9-1-1. So moved. Second. Motion by Council Member Henson, second by Vice Mayor Gordon. Is there any discussion on the motion? All right. Hearing none, then we can take a vote. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed no? Motion carries. And happy 4th of July. Happy 4th of July. Thank you, Council Member Henson. Vice Mayor Gordon. Thank you, Mayor. Mayor, I just wanted to speak a minute about yesterday when you and I were together at a celebration. And, you know, a couple weeks ago, the 1999 Council was honored for its groundbreaking ordinance in Kentucky, the first fairness ordinance in Kentucky. And yesterday, July 1st, was the 10-year anniversary for our smoking ordinance, which we passed in 2003. This was the first smoke-free ordinance in Kentucky. It led the way for many cities in Kentucky to consider going smoke-free in businesses and workplaces. And it withstood a year-long lawsuit which went all the way to the Kentucky Supreme Court, which validated our smoking ordinance, and it went into effect in 2004. and I know that those of us who were here at the time did a lot of, I think we worked for a year and a half or two years before we ever passed the ordinance and it was very controversial. And it's interesting because yesterday I saw Councilmember Ford in the hall before I went to the celebration where the mayor did speak and Council Member Ford said to me, I know 10 years ago it must have been really controversial, but it's a non-issue now. And I hadn't really thought about that. But our public does appreciate and like and demand clean air in workplaces. And I just wanted to say, because the mayor had some really good comments at the celebration yesterday, And it was groundbreaking in Kentucky, and it made national news, because here in the heart of tobacco country, we passed the first smoke-free ordinance. And many of our restaurant and bar owners now, whom I've talked with about this, were opponents back then. They opposed it, they joined in the lawsuit, and now they're proponents. and they think it's a really good thing. And so, Mayor, I want to thank you for your good comments yesterday in celebrating this milestone to recognize what was done 10 years ago. So thank you. Thank you, Vice Mayor. And just as a footnote, it was a really remarkable, modest but remarkable event yesterday. Mayor of Georgetown spoke. David Stevens, of course, was there. And Dr. Hahn. Who else am I forgetting? Oh, of course, former Vice Mayor Mike Scanlon. And I think in many respects what Linda was just, what the Vice Mayor was just describing, is upon reflection, it also illustrates how over time we do adapt and change and how those who are involved in this public policymaking, sitting around this horseshoe, even at the local level, make decisions that at one time may seem just almost impossible and then you do it. And we see that even today. So thanks, Vice Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Ford. Thank you, Mayor. I want to utilize my time allotment under the Council report to revisit the issue of the Senior Citizen Center. The motion to table, I guess, was in order as per procedure, but I think it did interrupt some discussion that may have been had around this horseshoe. As I did at the committee meeting, I thank the YMCA for its proposal. But I'd be remiss if I didn't express frustration and unclarity in regards to how this all came about. The budget that was brought to this council in April included $5 million for capital construction, site, control, and design of a new senior citizen center. And the reason why I came to the committee meeting in June is because word was beginning to get out about its proposal to partner and for us to absent building a new center, build satellites. I'm concerned about where the decision-making lies. the chamber trip was not until early May well after we had already started the budget deliberations and that's concerning for me my understanding and I'm looking forward to CAO Hamilton bringing us some information next week but my understanding is next week we're going into executive session closed session to discuss real estate We still haven't spoken to, and that was the intent of the committee's report out to the council. We still haven't discussed the issue of whether or not what our plan is for the future. The only reason I bring this up not only out of my personal frustration is I don't know if other council members have experienced what our office has, which is a lot of information we've kind of been inundated by concerns of senior citizens. I think this council deserves answers in regards to exactly when the YMCA proposal entered our policy making decision. I'm looking at the committee report. I asked a question of David and he indicated to me that it was on a chamber trip. I know chamber trips are good for socializing, for us to go and have good ideas to bring back issues from city, but I hope it's not where we go and make deals unbeknownst to those of us who have the responsibility for serving the constituencies, particularly the senior citizens. If it is the case, in fact, that the issue only occurred at the chamber trip in May, I don't see how it is fair for that idea to almost hijack a process that we've been going on since this time last year to build a new senior center. and if the conversation did indeed begin before that and honestly I think we ought to deserve that answer as well we only have one week left of council and I don't know if the time still allows us to have this honest discussion that we need to have in regards to what it is we want to do and what way we want to do it thank you mayor Thank you, Council Member Ford. I suspect that since those questions may have been directed toward me, Chris, I'll just go ahead and answer them if that's all right with the council. That'd be good, Mayor. Okay. Because I know you well enough to know that you're not into the ambush technique of policymaking. And, you know, I was, yeah, I believe I was at a, I was at a, on that chamber trip. Council Member Akers, I believe, was in an event. I read the minutes where it said that it came up at an event at the, what was it, the museum where we were. You introduced me to David. well let me tell you that I may have gotten a call then for a meeting. Now the way I operate I think you all know that I'm on the first floor here and it's pretty transparent and that meeting was held and an idea was presented. Now I'm in the business of accepting ideas as creative as they can be as compelling as they can be, or entertaining those ideas. Now, the way I feel about any project is that we should, it is our stewardship responsibility to examine alternatives and options. It is our responsibility. And that's what was done. I think the chief administrative officer explained that. And I'm just going to go ahead and say that I do think it's at least stretching to create suspicions and skepticism associated with us doing our job. But that's okay because I know that it's the nature of things. I believe that what's really important of having had, you know, like we all have life experiences, my life experiences has been involved in projects and involved in examining operational costs for projects as well as building costs for projects. So that's really where we are today, still examining the project. And in examining the project, that means fully examine. And if someone presents an idea or a concept to me, my responsibility is to vet that. And that's what we've done. And the timetable was clearly very appropriate in terms of when it was presented to us and when it was shared then with others. Now, that's my view of it. Everybody can have their point of view and their opinion, and I'm okay with that. Thank you, Mayor. Not to be Labor Council members, and I know it's others signed up, but in, Mayor, respecting your role as the mayor, as the executive, particularly your experience in projects, I think we all get that, we all understand that. but the heartburn that I experienced is a major change and shift midway through because while in early May what was on the table of the Urban County Council was to fund $5 million for new construction to replace the existing center. And absent the budget, let's say this, absent the budget, if we were in mid-year, if that were to change, if any major substantial change were, we would have a budget amendment or at least some indication that things are totally shifting. And I have a problem with that, and I'm going to really end this real quickly, because that could impact the $5 million vote. If the question were posed as to whether we want to build a new center or whether or not we want to take those same $5 million and fund construction of a YMCA satellite, it's two different questions. And it's posing of two different questions. And what we had at the April budget hearing was construction of a new $5 million facility. I chaired the Social Services Committee on behalf of this council. And for the Commissioner of Social Services not to have been involved in these preliminary discussions is problematic just for me. I cannot micromanage the administration in regards to who's included in information and who's not. But that's kind of a sure-tale sign. And it does lead to my skepticism, to be quite honest, of the proposal that the YMCA has brought forth. Presentation and timing is very important, and in some cases it can be everything. Thanks for having this discussion. Okay. Well, let me just put a footnote to it, because I appreciate fully willing, learned in this job, to always step back, take a deep breath, appreciate any criticism that's offered. My view, especially on a project which involves the level of investment that this one does, is that we must examine, it is our responsibility to examine all alternatives. And if we come to the table with a predisposition, with our minds made up, then we are compromising our responsibility to the citizens and our stewardship. My view is that any investment like this is enormously important to do it the right way and not just right away. And that means examining alternatives. Where we are in this project, and forgive me, sometimes you may know too much about something, about a process, about a way, but where we are in this process, we are still examining the program, the scope. issues as early in a design and building project as square footage costs. So in my view, it's entirely appropriate for the administration and for the council to be asking the appropriate questions related to and inquiring about operational issues, how we get the best value for the full citizen demographic that we are trying to serve. And in that, we're going to have vigorous and sometimes even passionate points of view. I understand that. I appreciate it. So thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member. Council Member Massadi. Thank you, Mayor. I just want to express condolences on behalf of the Council to Lieutenant Michael Stone, a firefighter that we just lost this weekend that had just retired. He was part of the expert in the hazmat community and a friend of many of us. His services will be at 11 a.m. tomorrow at the Harmony Christian Church in Georgetown. And our deepest sympathy. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman Versadi. Council Member Farmer. Thank you, Mayor. I'll be brief. I have a couple of three things. First, I'm going to ask for next week, and I'll bring something forward to the council. I'd like to find a way for us to support Valley View with a resolution in some capacity to help them return to their full operating capacity in terms of hours. I think us doing that via a resolution might be the easiest way just to express our interest in their continued well-being. secondarily I had mentioned last week an upcoming event at the Chevy Chase Inn in Chevy Chase and there's the front of it which just shows a picture of the interior and the verbiage on the back let's see here basically let me see yeah there it is on July the 19th they're going to have an event for this it's a coffee table book about Lexington's oldest bar, which is a good thing to know. And I would look forward to greeting some folks there on the 19th at 8 p.m. And I guess this also, as it says, will mark the 30th anniversary of Roger Bondurant performing at CCI, so that's a milestone in and of itself. And then, just because we all have interesting things, in doing some of the repaving this week where Catalpa meets Fontaine, and a situation similar to what Councilmember Lawless encountered last year near Woodland. They had milled in order to do the paving, and then there was a little mini giveaway there, and something that it takes really a steel plate and a half to cover. but upon inspection it is a 30 inch storm drain that is constructed of tile that was constructed in 1917 which I find very interesting and we'll look forward to some pictures of that but at the same time we're going to have to go in and put in a rather large pipe to replace this now broken down piece of infrastructure but something that shows our history to us sometimes in a way we're not aware of. Thank you Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Farmer. And next on the agenda, Council Member Lane. Council Member Lane. Thank you, Mayor. I did want to say a couple things about the Senior Citizens Center myself. I don't think we should be rushing into making an up to $15 million investment without doing an adequate due diligence. To me, there are several issues that need to be evaluated. One is what do the seniors in our community really want? Do they want one large center to serve the whole county, or would they prefer to have two or three regional facilities in lieu of that? And I think the only way we would find that out would be to do a statistically reliable survey of a cross-sample of all the seniors in Fayette County and come back with a report. I don't think you can put something on our website and ask people to vote on it because that's not going to be statistically reliable. The other point, which is very important, spending $15 million is just the beginning. It costs hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to operate it. I have not seen a budget to operate a senior citizen, whether it's a big center or two or three smaller centers, but what will the ongoing cost in addition to debt service be? And I think that's a big mistake that the council has made on other projects in the past. We vote in $15 million to build something, but we never closely evaluate the ongoing expenses to operate it over time. The third point is that I think the Y could possibly be a great partner for the city and the fact that they indicated they would handle the ongoing operating expenses for the center if we were in a joint venture with them. That could be, I think they estimate $350,000, $400,000 a year. Well, over a 10-year period, that is a $4 million savings for the taxpayers. That's money that we could use to invest in another project somewhere else. So I think we need to be careful before we commit too quickly on this project. And I just want to say I think trying to rush forward is not a good plan, and I agree with the mayor that we should do adequate due diligence and look at this in more detail before we make a final commitment. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Likes. Council Member Kaye. Thank you, Mayor. I want to add my two cents to this discussion on the Senior Citizen Center. I understand Council Member Ford's frustration with the way in which this may have been brought forward. I think there are some legitimate questions to be raised about that. But I think it's important to separate that from the question of the merits of the proposal itself. So I guess my concern and my fear is that the frustration with the process, legitimate or not, that's going to interfere with people's thinking about whether we have, in fact, a legitimate proposal before us that we ought to consider seriously. There are many questions, I think, to be raised about the proposal that was brought forward. I would hate to see us rush to judgment to take that off the table before giving the why and the administration a full opportunity to explain how that might work, what the best possible scenario is. And if we don't like it, fine. But to take it off the table now, it seems to me, would be inappropriate. So I hope that the Council will not rush to judgment on this. I hope the Council will separate the questions of how we got here from the merits of the project. And when we look at the merits of the project, we'll come to a conclusion that's in the best interest of our citizens, seniors and others. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Councilman O'Keefe. Councilman Rakers. Thank you, Mayor. First of all, I would like to place in the general government committee usage agreements with the parks department and the athletic groups that partner with them. Second. There's a motion and a second. Is there any discussion on the motion? All right. Hearing none, we can take a vote. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. No. Motion carries. Thank you. No, that was not it. And to weigh in as well on the Senior Citizen Center, I just wanted to say while I am a member of the Social Services Committee and I did make the motion to move forward the plan for a single central center, after more thought and actually emails from constituents and thinking more about what the needs might be in the community of an aging population that is growing immensely. I also believe that we should be flexible during this planning and development phases in order to be able to change course. And looking at the stats from the last presentation, the center served about 900 people this year or last year or year to date. and I realize that that's because the center is limited and smaller, but when you look at $15 million for maybe 1,000 people, that doesn't, to me, sound like an efficient use of appropriate use of the money. So I think that we should be open to considering potentially maybe two smaller centers on opposite sides of the city or a mid-sized center plus the partnership with the YMCA or whatever. So I think that that should be something that maybe the CAO's office would give in a presentation of all potential options and costs of all of them. And I'm not opposed to what Council Member Lane said either. I mean, I think that data does hold power. And so we should certainly consider the needs and the wants of the senior citizens. But I don't think one central location is going to be convenient to the majority of the senior citizens. So I just wanted to throw that out. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Akers. Council Member Myers. Thank you, Mayor. I actually didn't vote on that motion because I was trying to read in the minutes the comments that I made in that meeting, and there weren't any in the report out. And so I was trying to figure that out and didn't hear the motion, and that's one of the reasons why I didn't vote. But I would say this. When I did speak in a meeting, my position was that it's clear that we need to build a new center. That's clear. We've been studying this thing for years. This isn't some new project. We do have a plan in place because we have a senior citizen center in place right now, and we also have a couple of satellites. So one of the things that was concerning to me in the meeting was when the question was asked whether or not our commissioner of social services was involved in any of these meetings about this new proposal from the Y, and it was said no, and when the question was asked why that was, The answer was because the administration knew that she wasn't going to be in agreement with it. And I guess, Mayor, you can disagree, but you can watch the tape. That's the exact, it's on the tape. And so what I would say is when we talk about doing projects, it seems like if we're going to do something like a senior citizen center, that the Commissioner of Social Services would be a part of the initial conversations. And so what I said in the meeting was, I think we need to build one center. I think it's our fiduciary responsibility to maintain control of at least one central center to make sure that the services and programs that our seniors need and want will be here long term. There are plenty of examples of things where the city has given over responsibility for things, and the tax money goes directly to those entities. I'm not going to name the names here today, and we're not getting what we thought we were going to get or maybe what we should be getting. And so I have grave concerns if we are not going to do at least the hub of our senior citizen program from our own ownership. I said in a meeting that rather than do four satellites with the Y, maybe we do one building that's pared down to maybe 30,000 or 35,000 square feet instead of the 40,000 or 45,000 square feet, and then look at doing two satellites. And so I'm curious to see if the plan that the administration is going to bring forward has some type of a hybrid like that. It was my understanding from conversations' sidebars that the Y was only interested if they were going to do the four satellites. So if the CAO would like to come up and speak to what they're going to present to us on Tuesday, I think there's an opportunity to do both, and that's what I said in the meeting. I just hope that as we move forward that we put everything on the table and discuss everything and not exclude things before we get a real understanding of the opportunity before us. Thank you. I appreciate being here because I don't want to disappoint with Tuesday and give you false expectations of what we intend to present. What we would like to do on Tuesday is go back to the comment that Council Member Stenet made in the Social Services Committee, and that was that we haven't really been back to you since February to talk about plans. So what we were going to do on Tuesday is we were going to come back to sort of the beginning, and that is to tell you, remember, here's what we've got. We've got 15,000 square feet. We wanted to also tell you what that study said in 2008 that was done. That's a 34,000 square foot. center and then come to the consultant study, which is a $46,000 square foot. We wanted to show you the differences of what that square footage did in those buildings. Can I interrupt you just for a second because my time is almost out? Has the philosophy changed for the administration as to whether or not we have one center, whether or not we own our own center? Is it all or nothing in terms of the administration's idea that we give it all over to the Y, or is there room that we keep our own and do satellites? From my position, and I think what the mayor had also expressed, this is a conversation. So we are bringing to you Tuesday not a combination Y center, but we are bringing you back what a one single center would look like. Is there still room to partner with the Y to do satellites also, though? We have not discussed that. We have not discussed that internally because I think that what is going to happen when you see this presentation on Tuesday and we give you the operational cost of what we think it will cost staff-wise and what we think you will cost maintenance-wise on these buildings, you will look and think, here are some more questions we want to ask you. So during the break, we would like you to do dot, dot, dot. I have a feeling our presentation is going to cause a lot of questions. Okay, so final question. plan that the council would agree to eventually after we look at all this thank you thank you thank you councilor myers councilor beard thank you mayor you know this is not a real hard math problem 1945-46-47 is when the baby boomers were born we would start seeing them in 2010 roughly and 11 and 12 and 13 we were kind of ahead of the game in 1948 pardon me 2008 and it went up on a shelf somewhere I guess and we keep on patting our foot and patting our foot and keep on waiting for something to happen. We strike oil or there's a gold mine under here, whatever. And then we're at this point right now and we're struggling with it still. And it's going to take a year and a half, maybe two, to build a single citizen center. so there are going to be a whole bunch of baby boomers that are going to be sitting around twiddling their thumbs until such time as we're ready to service them which is a shame that's all I can say thank you thank you Mayor thank you Council Member Beard Vice Mayor Gordon thank you Mayor I will not be here for this important debate on the 9th I think it isn't very important and I'm glad that it will involve lots of different ideas. I do have a few comments. I would ask the CAO to please bring those census numbers that we saw, which show right where our aging population lives, which is, I believe, if I recall, 02, 03, and 04 zip codes. which has been the beauty of our current Senior Citizens Center is it was situated where lots of our elderly folks live. And, of course, that's not to say that won't change. It could change. We have done surveys, and I'm not sure I heard Council Member Lane say we should ask the seniors what they want. We have done that. and I would like to see those. I'm looking at the commissioner. Do we have that compilation that we've done? I think we've done it at least twice, have we not? And, I mean, I think there needs to come a point where we need to quit asking and start doing. And so if we could have some of those ideas that the seniors did through their surveys, I think that would be helpful. and the other thing is there were three concerns I had in the Social Services Committee which I would like to express again since I won't be here for this debate. One is the ending of programming at 3 p.m. That will not work. If that is what the proposal is, then we should not accept that. We currently program until 5 o'clock and that should be a minimum standard. In the YMCA proposal when they were here, that was the first time I heard the number 10,000 square feet per satellite go down to a potential 5,000 square feet. To me, that's unacceptable. We're already stressed out space-wise, And the reason I'm mentioning these is they were not answered in that meeting. And the third one that I just wanted to put out is the question was asked, if we go to satellites, what about our employees who've been programming our senior citizen center all these years? And there was no answer. And so I'm telling all of you these concerns so that I'm hoping that if these things come up in the discussion of satellites, they can finally be answered because I think they're legitimate concerns. And then just to the final point, Council Member Lane, we have received lots of e-mails. I don't know if you have seen them, indicating that many people who use the current Senior Citizen Center want a dedicated center. It may not be big like, you know, the 46,000 square foot, but many of them don't, and they said this in their emails, they don't move fast, they don't want to be integrated with people who are moving fast. And so I think we've got to consider all those things when we're talking about this, and there might be a good compromise. I mean, I really like the idea of one maybe scaled down center and a couple of satellites, which Council Member Myers has mentioned. And so I know you all will come to a good resolution, but I just wanted to put those out in public. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Vice Mayor. All good points. Council Member Beard again. Just one other thing, and that is that there is data available, I would think, by 2013 by the Census Bureau to find out where seniors are by census tract and see if that is an issue at all and there's some concentration of seniors that we're going to ask to drive six or eight miles or take a bus, take two buses, whatever, to get to the Senior Citizen Center. And it's all for free, so it's not a big deal to get that information, but somebody needs to get on the computer and figure out how to get it because it's there. or it should be there anyway by this time, hopefully. Thank you. Thank you, Councilor Beard. Councilor Lawless. Well, this baby boomer wants to wish everybody a booming Fourth of July. And I can't wait to use the senior citizen centers wherever they may be. Anyway, there's a whole lot going on downtown, and you can go to the LFUCG website. You can go to the Lexington, downtown Lexington Corporation Center to see what's going on. So lots of good things and a cherry pie contest, et cetera. I appreciated Councilmember Farmer's story about the paving issue because I think a lot of folks don't realize that in these really old areas, it's often not just a simple matter of paving. I know when we redid the parking lot at Woodland Park, because they kept getting a big sinkhole, and they'd just kind of fill it in and pave it, and there'd go again. When they really drilled down and redesigned that, there was a basement of an old barn underneath there. And on Mill Street at one point, and that's also the section of High Street that had the trolley tracks that collapsed on a road that was rated 95. But it was rated 95 and you couldn't drive a cattle wagon over it. So, but it was because the old trolley tracks collapsed. And when the First Presbyterian Church, in combination with Holly Wiedemann and AU Associates and McGee and quite a few different entities, saved two condemned historic homes there, the water pressure was okay for that, but they were making them affordable housing apartments, which are gorgeous. And so when they drilled down there, the water pipe was made out of wood. So, you know, when you get into these really old parts of the city, you're getting into some often very unexpected things. But anyway, I hope everybody has a great and safe and sober week for the holiday. And please be careful, and friends don't let friends drive drunk, and even enemies don't let their enemies drive drunk. So be safe, and happy Fourth of July. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Lawless. Council Member Myers. Thank you, Mayor. CAO Hamilton, could I just ask a couple of favors of you? And I know this is short notice, but as you put your presentation together, I know that you said that you're going to sort of leave us with a lot of questions that we all have to pontificate on while we're on break. Could you, to the best of your ability, add some commentary in your presentation around the questions that were asked in the Social Services Standing Committee meeting, some of which the vice mayor raised again today. But can you kind of go back and look at that meeting and see some of the questions that were raised and kind of speak to those the best that you can preliminarily? Also, when we look at the demographics, boomers are retiring at $10,000 per day across the United States. So every city, I presume, in the United States is addressing or wanting to address this issue. So can, to the best of your ability, and maybe the commissioner already has some things done, look at best practice, what people are doing across the country, and if they're striking these types of partnerships and which ones work the best. And how does the city, I'm particularly interested in how the city maintains control of at least what the level of program and services will be moving on. Because right now, you know, the Y has a new president and CEO. I don't know how this went through with his committee, with his board meeting that next night. We haven't heard back yet. But, you know, ten years down the road, if they have another new president and CEO or the board changes out, their mission changes and this is no longer working for them, it's still incumbent upon us as the local government to provide these programs and services to our seniors. And so if there are other cities that are doing partnerships, how are they ensuring that at the end of the day the city that's responsible for providing programs and services is able to control at least that aspect of it? Yes, sir, we will. And we weren't trying to do any delays. I just thought that when we started to give you this information, it would really provoke more conversation. I mean, whether you were ready for us to go out and truly acquire property and build what kind of facility you want us to build. Yeah, and I don't look at it like you guys are trying to create delays. This is an opportunity that's come forward. I think we need to examine it. It might be very promising, and we do want to do it right. So whatever you can do in the preliminary, and then we'll – and maybe the council office core staff can do some research too, certainly over the break, and see what we can come up with. We look forward to the conversation. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Myers. Looks like nobody else has signed up for Council Report, so that means we can move on to Mayor's Report. Is there a motion regarding the Mayor's Report? Move approval. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Motion by Vice Mayor Gordon, second by Council Member Akers, and the floor is available for discussion. Vice Mayor Gordon. Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted you and others to know we held our confirmation hearings today. We held them for three planning commission members and one board of adjustment member who are on this mayor's report, and we were happy to move all of them forward for, I believe they'll be on tonight's docket. Is that correct? Is this going on tonight's docket? Does anybody know? It's already on there. No, it's not on there, so I'd like to be sure it moves forward. So thank you. All right. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Is there any further discussion on the motion? Thank you. All right. Hearing none, then we can take a vote. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any objections? The motion carries. All right. That allows us to move to public comment for issues not on the agenda. Has anyone signed up, Richard? All right. Mr. John? Excuse me. Mr. John Byrd. Hi, Mr. Mayor and members of the council. My name is John Byrd. I'm a resident of Lexington. I'm one of the guys that Mr. Myers was talking about retiring. I've retired twice now. And now I'm back to work with three different jobs. Most of you know me as a public affairs consultant around town. I also have a real estate license, but what I want to talk to you today is what I do most of the time, which is sell insurance. And when you were talking about seniors today, I was sitting in the room and I got to thinking, you know, a lot of people don't know what's going on with senior insurance and the new things that are going to happen to those who are under 65 as well. With the new Affordable Care Act, some people call it Obamacare, a lot of new things are going on in health insurance in particular. That's what I specialize in. I've got an agency that I just opened today, or yesterday actually, at 1250 Winchester Road. And we are going to consult people on what's going on in the health insurance business. And what I would like to make available to you, you'll be asked questions, because this is a government initiative, and most of our citizens don't know the difference between local, state, and federal government. and they want to know what's going on with this health insurance because this fall everyone who doesn't have health insurance is required to get it or be fined. And I've got details about that and I can explain it to people. And if you get questions like that and you need help, please give me a call. It's complicated. It's complicated for me and I deal with it every day. But it is something that can be good for a lot of people in this town, in this state, in this nation. We can get more people covered. But the people who are seniors know that there's an open enrollment period every year from October 1st to December 7th now for them to enroll in a health plan. Those same privileges are going to be for the people under 65 now. There will be an open enrollment period beginning October 1st, and they will have until the end of March to enroll. And if they don't enroll by then, they're going to receive a pretty stiff fine. So it's important that as you talk to your constituents throughout the county, that they be aware of this so they're not surprised later. That's all I've got. Thank you. John, thank you for joining us. You join us routinely, but rarely do you give us a commercial message. Congratulations on your new business. All right. Is there anything further to come before the council? All right, then we'll see you all in a little while. There's a motion to adjourn unless there is objection. We are adjourned.