# Council Public Safety Committee - September 24, 2013 > Auto-transcribed civic record · September 24, 2013 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/3106 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/3106?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2013-09-24 - **Last revised**: July 15, 2026 - **Length**: 7,747 words > ⚠️ **Auto-generated content.** Audio from the official Granicus video was auto-transcribed with OpenAI's open-source Whisper large-v3-turbo model, run locally by The Lexington Times. Structured facts were extracted with GPT-4o; the narrative summary was written by Anthropic Claude. Verbatim wording may contain errors. See [methodology](https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/about/methodology) or [report a correction](mailto:editor@lexingtonky.news). --- ## Meeting Overview The Public Safety Committee met on September 10, 2013, at 1:00 p.m., with Peggy Henson presiding. The committee addressed five agenda items during the meeting, including approval of the summary, two informational presentations, and two items that were deferred for future consideration. The committee took three votes and heard seven public comments during the session. The meeting began with approval of the summary, followed by informational presentations on Project Life Saver and Smart 911. Two items—the E911 Structural Budget Imbalance and Items Referred to Committee—were deferred to a later date. ## Attendance **Present:** Peggy Henson, Kevin Stinnett, Chuck Ellinger, Shevawn Akers, Bill Farmer, George Myers, Jennifer Mossotti, Harry Clarke, and Ed Lane **Absent:** Diane Lawless **Late:** None ## Votes and Decisions Three motions were voted on during this meeting, all of which passed unanimously. **Approval of August 13, 2013 Meeting Summary** [timestamp: 00:00:00] Jennifer Mossotti moved to approve the summary from the August 13, 2013 meeting, with Chuck Ellinger seconding the motion. The motion passed unanimously with zero abstentions. **Motion to Cancel and Reschedule Meeting** [timestamp: 00:50:25] Peggy Henson moved to cancel the September 24, 2013 meeting and reschedule it to October 15, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. The motion passed unanimously with zero abstentions. **Motion to Adjourn** [timestamp: 00:50:55] Harry Clarke moved to adjourn the meeting, with Chuck Ellinger seconding the motion. The motion passed unanimously with zero abstentions. ## Budget and Financial Actions The meeting addressed two significant financial appropriations: **Public Safety Operations Center and Police Radio Project** The body approved funding of $2,381,000 for the new Public Safety Operations Center (PSOC) located on Cisco Road and an associated police radio project. **E911 Fund Balance Roll-Over** An appropriation of $3,000,000 was approved to roll over the E911 fund balance from fiscal year 2012 to fiscal year 2014. ## Public Comment Council members raised several concerns about Project Lifesaver and E911 funding during the meeting. **Project Lifesaver Program** Council Member Farmer expressed concern about the $8 monthly battery fee, noting that this cost may be burdensome for low-income individuals, though scholarships are available to help offset expenses [timestamp: 00:09:40]. Council Member Lawless suggested that GPS-based tracking technology would be more efficient and less expensive than the current radio-frequency system, and encouraged exploring modern alternatives [timestamp: 00:11:45]. Council Member Akers clarified that the program is not limited to elderly individuals and is available to anyone with a medical condition causing disorientation, though scholarships are not guaranteed [timestamp: 00:17:09]. Council Member Clark stated that the current system is outdated and suggested integrating Smart 911 or Enhanced 911 to improve response efficiency and reduce costs [timestamp: 00:18:57]. Council Member Lane proposed using utility bills or postal services as channels to promote both Project Lifesaver and Smart 911 to increase public awareness and participation [timestamp: 00:32:55]. **E911 Funding Concerns** Council Member Stinnett requested a five-year revenue projection to anticipate when the E911 fund may become unsustainable due to declining landline usage [timestamp: 00:48:31]. Council Member Mossotti highlighted the inequity of landline users bearing the full burden of E911 funding as cell phone usage grows, and urged legislative action to balance the system [timestamp: 00:49:03]. ## Contested Items **E911 Funding Model** The committee addressed significant concerns about the current E911 funding structure, which relies on landline fees. Members acknowledged that this model creates inequity as landline usage continues to decline. The committee was divided on how to address this problem, with disagreement centered on both the urgency of implementing legislative change and the feasibility of transitioning to an alternative funding mechanism. The split vote reflected the committee's inability to reach consensus on the best path forward for ensuring sustainable and equitable E911 funding. **Project Lifesaver Technology** A heated discussion emerged regarding Project Lifesaver's technological foundation. Several committee members questioned the program's continued reliance on outdated radio-frequency technology. These members advocated for integrating GPS technology into the system to modernize its capabilities. However, this position was contested by others who pointed to the current system's proven effectiveness in the field. The disagreement centered on whether the demonstrated success of the existing radio-frequency approach outweighed the potential benefits of upgrading to GPS-based technology, and whether such an upgrade was necessary or justified given the program's current performance record. ## Approval of Summary (1-4) The committee approved the summary from the August 13, 2013 meeting without dissent. [timestamp: 00:00:00] Jennifer Mossotti made the motion to approve the summary, and Chuck Ellinger seconded the motion. The summary was approved with no objections raised. ## Project Life Saver (5-11) Commander Armstrong presented Project Lifesaver, a program designed to locate individuals with cognitive impairments using radio-frequency transmitters. [timestamp: 00:01:11] **Program Overview** Project Lifesaver utilizes radio-frequency technology to track and locate individuals who may be at risk due to cognitive conditions. The program aims to provide a safety mechanism for vulnerable populations through wearable transmitter devices. **Discussion Topics** The committee discussed several aspects of the program, including: - The program's operational costs - Limitations of the current radio-frequency technology - Potential for modernization and technological upgrades **Modernization Considerations** A key focus of the discussion involved the possibility of updating the program with GPS technology, which would offer enhanced tracking capabilities compared to the existing radio-frequency system. **Outcome** This agenda item was presented for informational purposes, with no formal action or decision required from the committee at this time. ## Smart 911 (12-18) David Lucas, former E911 director, presented Smart 911, a free service that allows citizens to pre-register personal information to facilitate faster emergency response. [timestamp: 00:21:45] **Presentation Overview** Smart 911 enables residents to create a personal safety profile containing information such as medical conditions, medications, emergency contacts, and other relevant details. This pre-registered information becomes immediately available to emergency responders when a 911 call is placed, potentially reducing response time and improving the quality of emergency care. **Committee Discussion** The committee discussed several aspects of the Smart 911 service, including its integration with existing 911 systems and how the service operates alongside traditional emergency dispatch procedures. Members explored the benefits of having pre-registered personal information accessible to first responders during emergency situations. **Promotion and Implementation** The discussion included strategies for promoting Smart 911 to the public and encouraging citizen participation in the program. Committee members considered how to increase awareness and enrollment in the service to maximize its effectiveness across the community. **Outcome** This agenda item was informational in nature, with no formal action or decision required. The presentation served to educate the committee about Smart 911's capabilities and potential value as a public safety resource. ## E911 Structural Budget Imbalance [timestamp: 00:36:20] Commissioner Mason and David Lucas discussed structural challenges facing the E911 system's funding model during this agenda item. **Key Issues Presented** The discussion centered on declining revenue from landline fees and the system's growing reliance on wireless fees. According to the speakers, wireless fee revenue is currently insufficient to support E911 operations adequately. **Committee Requests** The committee requested two deliverables to address the budget imbalance: - A five-year financial projection - A plan for legislative advocacy **Outcome** This agenda item was deferred, indicating that further discussion and analysis would be needed before the committee could take action on the structural budget concerns. ## Items Referred to Committee (19) [timestamp: 00:49:50] During this agenda item, the council reviewed 19 items that were kept in committee for further review and analysis. Key speakers on this matter included Bill Farmer, George Myers, and Harry Clarke. The items under committee review encompassed several policy areas: - **Abandoned housing** — Council members discussed the status of abandoned housing issues and requested updates on progress - **Safe places during emergencies** — The committee reviewed policies related to establishing and maintaining safe locations for residents during emergency situations - **Police fleet policy** — Discussion included the department's vehicle fleet management and related policies Council members requested updates on the status of these items and sought clarification on next steps for each area under review. The discussion reflected the council's intent to ensure these matters received adequate deliberation before final action. **Outcome:** All items were deferred, meaning they remained in committee for continued review and were not brought to a final vote at this meeting. This deferral allowed for additional time to gather information, conduct further analysis, and prepare recommendations for future consideration. --- ## Decisions - **Motion** — passed: Approval of the summary from the August 13, 2013 meeting - **Motion** — passed: Motion to adjourn the meeting - **Motion** — passed: Motion to cancel the September 24, 2013 meeting and reschedule to October 15, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. --- ## Full transcript Music We'll go ahead and get started. This is the September 10, 2013 Public Safety Committee meeting. Thank you for being here today, and I would ask first on the agenda for approval of the summary. I have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion on the motion? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. Next on our agenda is I've asked for Commander Armstrong to come up, and he's going to provide us some information on Project Lifesaver. Thank you for being here. Well, thank you very much for inviting us to come and talk about this program today. It's ironic that we got the information that you wanted some contact in regards to this topic, because just recently we began to review the system as a whole with the fire department, the sheriff's department, looking at new technologies that are currently available to upgrade that system. However, what I'll be doing today is presenting you with a short presentation slash infomercial somewhat in regards to what Project Lice Saver is, and then at the end I can talk about some of the things that we're considering for the future, again, based on technological advancements over the last few years. Do we have the presentation? I don't have it. You don't have it? I had sent that up to Mr. Clark's office. I didn't. One moment, please. I follow you. Sorry about that. I thought they already had it. No problem. Thank you. Can you go ahead with the next slide, please? Project Lifesaver is a program specifically designed to proactively help individuals and the caregivers of individuals that experience different medical conditions that it causes them at times to be disoriented and or lost. This program was actually designed a number of years ago. In 1999, whenever it was first began on a large-scale basis, it was done in Virginia. It was a very successful program. It cut down the amount of time and resources needed to find individuals that were suffering from these medical conditions. It gained a lot of popularity in a very short time. It's been a program that we've been offering for a number of years. Project Lifesaver in itself is actually more of a private entity that provides this service. So when we're referring to it, that's really what we're talking about, that we're partnering with that company. We work with the Fayette County Sheriff's Office. We work with the fire department very closely in regards to this, but we work with a lot of other entities as well, whether it be our senior citizens, centers, health care providers, individuals like that, to help identify those subjects who would be suffering from medical conditions that could benefit from this type of service. If you can see up on the projector, it is actually in place in 47 states right now, and provinces in Canada, Great Britain, and various other countries throughout the world. Well, I kind of alluded to it just a moment ago. We work with the caregivers to identify the need. Who needs this type of service? And I indicated also about the medical conditions that can be present, whether it be Alzheimer's, whether it be a dementia-type situation. So we identify those individuals. I would say this, this is not just for individuals that are older in age. This could be for numerous people that would actually need this type of assistance. And I think that sometimes gets lost, but we do and have provided this service for younger people in the past. The contact is made with the subject, and that subject becomes a member of Project Life Saver. and they work with the private entity to get the equipment, work with us to get them signed up, make arrangements that we can work with them in regards to the maintenance of the equipment. Now, if Project Lifesaver is needed, what happens is law enforcement will respond to the location where the individual was last seen and work with the family, health care providers, the caregivers, to identify how long the individual has been gone, what kind of medical condition they're actually suffering from, what the direction of travel may be for that individual, and then, if needed, the Division of Fire and Emergency Services will respond and begin a search and rescue activities. It is during that time frame we will actually utilize the Project Life Saver equipment to help locate the individual. How it works, it is very simplistic. there's a transmitter as you can see on the picture it's about the size a little bit of an oversized watch what that is is a 24 hour seven day a week transmitter it runs off batteries the batteries last anywhere from 30 to 45 days so they do have to be replaced but the cost is minimal it's only about eight dollars per battery so that's not too expensive then over to the right my right probably your left is the receiver and antenna what it is is a small receiver that's hooked up to what looks like an old television antenna, to be honest with you. And what is done, there's a picture of an officer actually utilizing it in the bottom. It's based on radio frequencies that are being transmitted from the transmitter on the individual's wrist. The transmission becomes stronger the closer we come to the individual. It only makes sense. So we get a stronger signal the closer that we get to the individual. Again, this technology is not to the level we think that it could be. There's a number of other programs that Project Life Saver is currently enlisting, and we're looking at those, and I'll touch on that in just a minute. So if you could go on the next. Just a general idea of the cost in case anyone is interested in Project Life Saver. Public safety does not incur any cost whatsoever based on this program. However, the use of this actually saves us quite a bit of funds, An extended search, including 20, 30, 40 individuals, Fayette County government looking for a subject who would need our assistance, could be very extensive. We're talking about the possibility of using even canine and helicopters to locate these individuals. Clients pay a $300 one-time setup fee to cover the equipment and $8 a month for the battery, which we actually help them replace. Information for Project Lifesaver can actually be obtained a number of different ways. Public safety agencies, most if not all of them, actually have the links and information in regards to what the program is. Most health care providers will also be able to provide that information in many social service sources. Then again, as most of us do, if you want to research, one of the best ways to research is to get on the Internet and look at it yourself and get determined if this is something that you need for someone in your family. And we really encourage those individuals that are suffering from some type of medical condition that could put them at risk of becoming disoriented to look in this type of topic. Going forward, I alluded to it earlier, there have been significant advances in technologies over the years, especially GPS. All of us have it in our phone now. There were some issues there for a while with the battery life. There was also some cost considerations. But we plan on meeting with the fire department and also with our other public safety partners in this matter and discussing the possibility of encouraging future and current members of this program to look at the possibility of the GPS system that they currently have in place through Projects Lifesaver as well. So we're looking at those different things. I'll gladly answer any questions that you have in regards to this. It's a great program that we encourage people to look at. And, again, you can get a lot of information from a lot of different places. Council Member Farmer. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you for bringing this to our attention and giving some explanation about it. I guess the $300 one-time fee to cover equipment and then an $8 monthly fee to replace the battery, This must be a tremendous battery. I mean, it must be a tremendous battery to need replacement. I don't know all the technology associated with the transmitter, but it's a 24-hour-a-day battery. Sure. That it's specifically linked to the production of radio waves that are not digital, so there is more of a drain on it than if it was a digital GPS-type system. So I don't want to say it's antiquated, but we're headed in the direction where it's becoming more and more antiquated. and the GPS system, the batteries associated with it would last longer. So that's one of the reasons we're also encouraging individuals. I would just like to know a little bit more about that because it strikes me that some of these people, these individuals that would use this, that $8 monthly fee might get kind of exorbitant in my estimation. Well, whenever they signed up for the initial program, one of the things that is taken into consideration also too, when we use the term, this is kind of a local term, There are scholarships available for individuals that may have money flow issues. So very seldom, if ever, is anyone ever turned away. And to the best of my knowledge, our organization, the Sheriff's Department, the fire departments, never turned anyone away to be a part of the program. I knew that you wouldn't. I just... We work with them to make sure that who needs them gets it. Now, I have also been advised that there's a possibility that things like Medicaid, Medicare, other locations will actually pay for that as well. I've just put a lot of batteries and a lot of watches over many years. I understand. And if I was getting $8 a month for each one of those, I would not be sitting here. Thank you. I'm sorry to hear that. Thank you. Council Member Lawless. On the battery life, if any of you all use or have someone you know that uses hearing aid batteries, they are very expensive and way more than $8 a month for hearing aid batteries. They last longer? No, they don't last any time at all. Yeah, less than a week. And even my son, who's 37, when he was three or four, they were very expensive. But that being said, I wonder, it seems to me that this is antiquated compared to, You can pretty much find anybody that has a cell phone. The GPS technology would tell you exactly where they are if they used a GPS device and you wouldn't have to go running around with your TV antenna. I agree with you. And they probably are comparable, if not less expensive. And, in fact, I just saw a thing on technology news thing about using no longer in-service cell phones and tablets that are broken, maybe whatever, that you can disable them. They don't have to have service, but you can still use them as cameras or GPSs, et cetera. So it seems to me that trying to find out where, I mean, because sometimes people can wander off quite a distance before anybody knows they're gone. So I would encourage looking at some of these alternatives that may be a lot less expensive, find the people quicker, and a lot less work for you folks. Well, whenever I first started the presentation, I indicated that we were looking at some different technology. I was just recently made in charge of the Project Lifesaver Program. We just recently began to discuss it and look at what was available out there. There are some technical differences, aspects that I don't necessarily understand. There are some things with disregarded cell phones that they still have to have some type of service charge associated with them. The GPS locator. They even have them now for you can put on your kid's tennis shoe that costs hardly anything that transmits not that far. But I guess, and let me just say, I love you. You're great, and I appreciate all you've done in my district with some of the problems down Main Street, et cetera. So thumbs up. But anyway, I think that there are probably, there's newer technology that's probably a lot less expensive that maybe somebody besides you who are really busy could explore. Well, and I agree with that. And actually, I had talked to some individuals with the fire department that we had planned on meeting with this. As I indicated earlier, this kind of came at an inopportune moment because in two months I may have come here and had a completely different presentation for you. But we didn't want to delay it because we want you to know that we take this issue very seriously. Certainly. There's a lot of things that we're looking at. And ultimately, a lot of these services are provided by private companies. So we have to be careful that we don't necessarily promote one too much over another. because different services, different service providers, no different cell phones. I can't stand up here and say this is the best cell phone to have. So we're very careful on that. But I agree with you. I believe there is better technology out there, and that's why we're going to form a group to look at it on an informal basis. And there may be some private individuals out there that are way more techie than I am so that could say, hey, this is all you have to do, and the cost is zip, and all they have to do is... But even as today, I don't want any of the viewers at home to think this is bad technology. No, it's not bad, but is it the most efficient and the easiest on the person lost and on you all trying to track them and the least expensive, et cetera. But I think it's awesome, and I think it's a great thing, and thank you so much for bringing this to us. Thank you. Council Member Akers. Thank you, Chair. You mentioned that no one would be turned away from the program. To the best of my knowledge, we have those individuals that have contacted us directly. We've worked with them as best we can. Now, obviously, that is going to be based somewhat on the scholarships that we have provided at this time. I don't know how long those will actually be available. I'm not sure if the individuals that are providing that money will actually let us transfer to a different company, a different setting, things like that. So we are, you have to understand, we help administer the program, but we do not run the program. We do not run it. We're not responsible for the ultimate operation of the system as a whole. We help coordinate it, and it's a valuable. And from here forward, it may change significantly. It may be that there's different programs out there where the caregiver works directly with the company and only calls public safety when the individual is actually leaving. And there's different settings to where they can actually have the system indicate if someone's so many feet away from the residence rather than come home and find that they're not there. So each one of those different services that would be provided, I'm sure there's additional costs for each one. You can get the basic, the deluxe, the supreme type of model. Okay. What my question was going to be is, is it limited to ages? I mean, I took away from it that if someone has a child, let's say, with special needs or autism that may escape from the house from time to time, is this available for children? I mean, is it only limited to the elderly? No, as I best understand, Project Lifesaver can be available to anyone. Now, does that necessarily mean we'll be able to provide the scholarship? Not necessarily. No, no, no. I wasn't. Right, exactly. No concerns of scholarships. That's okay. I just wanted to make sure that everyone knows that it's not limited to the elderly and Alzheimer populations. Anyone that suffers a medical condition that could lead them to become disoriented or lost or something like that, they would fall under those parameters, yes. That's great. Thank you very much. Council Member Clark. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Chair. Council Member Lawless and Council Member Akers have pretty much stolen what I wanted to say to you. It's pretty clear that this is antiquated technique. And as you read on in our folder today, the concept of Enhanced 911 gives us also some ideas is that there might be some incorporation even in that, where we can provide it for citizens, perhaps at even no cost, since we're doing that with 9-1-1 anyhow. So I just want to mention that, and those folks that have come before me, you have done well. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Commander Armstrong. Thank you very much. And I just happened to be talking to some clear officers one day that said they need Project Lifesaver, and I had never heard of it. So after 20-plus years of working with individuals with disabilities, many of those with cognitive disabilities, and I was really very pleased to hear that we had such a thing and anything we could do to promote it, that's why I thought it would be good for the committee to hear about the program that's available. We have a population, as you know, that is aging, and that number is going to increase daily for the next several years. So I think it's really good for us to have in our community. And I appreciate the opportunity to come and talk to you. The one thing that we stress with everyone, regardless whether you're here or watching at home, is that if you do have an individual with a medical condition like that, look for help somewhere, whether it's your doctor, your medical health provider, the senior citizens, home, whatever it is. please, please do something before it's too late and you regret not taking that time to make one simple phone call. Thank you. And, you know, I know that you're very motivated and you take the initiative to check into the program and make those improvements that, you know, with the technology. So feel free to give me a call and come back to this committee and give us an update. All right. If there's significant improvements that take place. Well, I promise you there will be significant improvements, but I'll come back to you. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. And next we have Commissioner Mason to talk about the SMART 911. Thank you for the invite. And while I'm giving some introductory comments, recently retired E911 director David Lucas is passing out some information. And he's going to take over the presentation at this point, which can also roll into a little bit of a discussion on the funding of 9-1-1 after he finishes the Smart 9-1-1. But before he gets started, I would like to publicly thank him for his years of service to this community. In his relatively abrupt departure, we had several occasions to sit down that could fit our schedules, and he gave me some transition briefing about some of the things that are going on with the 911 system. and in that I learned that some of his innovation in dealing with partnerships in other communities has resulted in the savings of hundreds of thousands of dollars for this community over the past four or five years. And I would just like to go on record and thank him for that because Lexington is leading the state in some of these partnerships And the state has adopted our model in working through some technology issues and moving forward to leverage resources from grants to bring localities on board in using technology through our system. And, again, it has saved this community hundreds of thousands of dollars in the last few years. So I would like to go on record for that and then turn it over to him for the smart 911 information. Thank you, Commissioner. People ask me why I'm back here today. Originally, this presentation was scheduled before my departure, so I already had it prepared, and I told the Commissioner I'd be happy to come here today and share my knowledge on Smart 911. Smart 911 is a service that Lexington obtained three years ago. We were the first in the state of Kentucky to obtain it, and today there's five or four other counties who participate. Also, the city of Nashville, Chicago, D.C., Atlanta, the whole state of Arkansas, Seattle, et cetera, have expanded to use this service, Smart 911 service. And what it is, Smart 911 is a service to the citizens that does not cost them when they use it or when they sign up. It's already paid for by their 911 fees that we get from their landline and cell phones. And what it does, it allows a citizen to proactively set up a profile. And what this does is when they call 911, we see the information they want us to see. Traditionally, all we get is your phone number and address. If it's a cell phone, we just get your cell phone number and a XY coordinate that's within a football field. However, with Smart91, you could put in your address where you work. If you have medical conditions, if you have children with autism, if you have photos, it's a wealth of information. And it's a comfort level that you have. If you only want to put in your address and phone number, just put that. If you want to put in your medical history, if you have children with high needs, at my house alone, I have five phones, four of them cell phones. They're all registered. They're all registered to the individual. So if they call 911, not only do we see who has that phone on them, but who their caretaker is, who their parent is, their emergency contact, and also where their home address is as well. My mother, who's 82, I've got her signed up. and obviously she has more needs than I do, but when she calls, her medical information comes up, what she's allergic to. So before we get a first responder there, we know what her needs are, and we already have that on the way instead of showing up and then have to triage it at that point. Smart 911 has expanded that even if you hang up the phone, as long as your phone still has power, we can track you. We can track your cell phone as it moves. you are able to text to 911. That is not available in this country yet. It will be mandated in May of next year, but through Smart 911 you can call and initiate a text message, which is very feasible in a certain situation and is very popular in our hard of hearing community. They do not use TTY anymore, even though we are mandated to have it in a 911 center. I get more calls from Smart 911 than I do from TTY. So over the last three years, we've increased the number of people who have signed up. We have over 2,000 people signed up today, and that's just from neighborhood meetings, a little publicity. However, we do get over one Smart 911 call a day. So over about 2% of our calls are 911 people who've done a profile. So what we really need is people to be aware that it's available. It doesn't cost them anything. It's a great service, and their comfort level is where we want to be, as much or as little information. We have found that once people sign up, over 98% of them keep their profile information up. So once we have them, we keep them. They realize the value of the service. We just, I believe it's on your docket now to extend our Smart 911 contract for another period. We've been very happy with it, and obviously the citizens who have used it, and it has had some life-saving aspects here in Lexington, they're very encouraged by that product. And I'm here for any questions on this or other topics. Thank you for being here, and I wanted to congratulate you on your retirement. But we do have Council Member Clark that has a question. Thank you, David. I was generally aware of this but not specifically aware of it, and I appreciate you coming under these circumstances. I want to ask the question about the connection with Lifeline. Obviously, if elderly people have a connection to Lifeline, the fact that the Lifeline connects into the Lifeline company, and is there any relationship between those services and Smart 911? When you refer to Lifeline, make sure we're talking about the same thing. Are you talking about the ones that people wear and fall down, we use it? Correct. I strongly discourage the use of Lifeline as a 911 professional, and the reason is when you register for Lifeline, you have to give three contacts. Usually the first, people give a child or a caretaker. The second, if no one answers that, it goes to a call center, which is out of state, And third, they call 911. When they get to the point they contact 911 locally, they do not have any information. They do not know where you are. They do not, I cannot speak to you. So it really gives us very little information. I encourage people to actually have a cell phone and carry the cell phone on them. They're quite small. They're very portable, and they're more affordable. And if you call 911, not only do you get your 911 center locally, we get to talk to you, and we get your information. And I also encourage them to sign up for Smart 911. Now, if they call 911 and they cannot speak or they're in a position they might not know where they are, we will know where they are, and we can follow them and track them and contact their emergency contacts. So I know a lot of people have Lifeline, and it's well marketed, but it really doesn't fit the need that they are expecting. Okay. That's good information. I do appreciate it, and that clears up my concept of that. I appreciate that. Thank you, Chair. Thank you. Council Member Farmer. Mr. Lucas, thank you for coming back today under these circumstances. We appreciate it. I think you're in an exceedingly unique position to be as honest or as forthcoming as you would like, knowing that you don't work here anymore. So I would ask you, is there anything you want to tell us? Well, that's a loaded question. We just have a little time limit. Can I talk to individuals or is there a group as a whole? Let's steer off that. Let's go another direction. No, obviously I'm very pleased with the time I spent here. I am a citizen of Lexington. I'm a native of Lexington, and I came to work here because I believe in this city and what we can do to make it better. Sure. And that's why I'm here today, and that's why I'm sure I'll continue in public service somewhere, somehow. But I believe that there's probably three things I've done since I've been here that have been on the cutting edge, became very successful. Smart 9-1 is one of them. I found them when they were in their infancies, and they were only in two cities, and they've grown a lot, and we've helped them grow. We've given them suggestions. They've improved the product. Another one is pictometry, which a lot of you all might see is the aerial photos that you see from an angle instead of traditionally down. In our profession, only the geeks really like the photos looking straight down, but the laymen and others who use it day by day like the angled pictures where you can walk around the house and see those. Those are some products that we found and we nursed, and they're very integrated into the system that we do here. And the third one is what the commissioner mentioned. we've expanded our 911 network from just being Lexington-centric to a regional 13-county area where we all use the same hardware and software, but individuals in those counties answer the phone. So we share the cost of the backroom equipment, but we still have the locals answering the phone, and it's saved us in every county. It's saved us over half a million dollars a year since we implemented it, and it continues to save us more every year. And it's very, I don't want to say cutting edge, but it's very efficient and innovative. Thank you for your thumbnail of those accomplishments during your time here. And I don't want to jump ahead to the next issue just yet, but I'll be interested to have some conversation with you about the funding mechanism and how it has changed or how we need to change it. Thank you. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Council Member Farmer. Council Member Lane. Thank you. I just wanted to say that this is my ninth year on the council, and I've worked with David over a number of issues, and I think you've done a great job, and I appreciate all your effort on behalf of the Urban County Government. I wish you the best of success in your future endeavors. Thank you. Thank you very much. I did have a question. As far as promoting both the Smart 911 and the Project Lifesaver, However, now that we, I'm not sure that this is something we could do, but I know when I get my utility bills, there's always these little inserts about what they might think I need or whatever. But I was even thinking if maybe we could promote these services some way, I think it would make our community a safer community if more and more people were aware of it. I agree with that. And there's also another program that we instituted last fall with the Postal Service about postal delivery folks keeping an eye on mailboxes that are piling up and having an alert system there. And that was done along with our emergency management folks and social services. And I think that all of these groups have the responsibility and the capability of promoting and moving these programs to the next level. And I think the success of that program opened some eyes, and I'm sure going forward we will get back up with the social services folks in particular to work on some of these additional programs, especially with the movement towards a new senior citizen center. Thank you, sir. If I may, one statement about the Lifesaver program. It does fill a very critical niche market that some other products don't. And the reason is they wear it, they don't know they have it on, unlike a phone people dispose of and get rid of. Actually, Lifesaver, there's many third party that provide the same service as a wristwatch or on your shoe, as you mentioned, and others. But that audience not knowing that they're wearing a tracking device is very useful. They'll leave a phone. They'll go somewhere. So there's a niche of the population that is well served by that product. There are enhancements that can be made. But I encourage that population as well to register because whoever's calling to tell us they're missing, as soon as we get that up and see that they're one of those members, we can initiate the right crews to respond to them and not lose valuable time. Also, they pre-scan photos, so when we get the call, not only do we know they're a member of that, we also have a photo, and we can also embed in there places they've been before where we've found them. So if that's all embedded, we know where to go. So Smart 911 is very data-rich and has been used throughout the nation to enhance a lot of other services, just like you mentioned for the ones for the post office. Thank you so much, David. There's no one else signed up for questions, so we'll move on to the next item, which is the E911 structural balance budget imbalance. And just to provide you a little history, I have served on the Public Safety Committee link through the budget process for three years, And I know that E911 funding is provided primarily from landline use, and that number is decreasing. More and more people are doing away with landlines and going to cell phones. So it's not a new issue, but it is becoming a critical issue. Each year that number decreases. And I think I have some stats here that says more than half of American households, 51.7 percent, don't regularly use landlines. So I put this topic on the agenda, and I think Commissioner Mason is going to speak briefly. And he and I discussed earlier that he will come back to the next public safety meeting and provide us some sort of a plan going forward. Thank you, Commissioner Mason. Right. The financial situation with 911 systems across the state has garnered a lot of attention in the past couple of years. There are several lawsuits in some jurisdictions dealing with localities' attempts to place fees on other utility bills or on parcels of land. And it has gotten to the point that the Kentucky League of Cities is considering this one of their top priorities going forward to the next General Assembly to determine what is the best way to continue to fund the 911 systems, looking at single rates for prepaid cellular phones. Those right now are kind of in a loophole, and they're not feeding money into the system. So I think that we're in a position to provide input to KLC to assist them. David is on the board of the State 911 Board, and Lexington is positioned to be in a very good place to have some impact. I think the particular questions that came out about some of the budget figures are some of the things that David and I had not had time to really get into a deep discussion on transition. And I've met with Melissa Luker this morning as well to try and see. So what I was wanting to do is get some information from you all here today on what questions in particular you have so that at the next meeting we can come back much better prepared to be able to address the concerns and questions. And some of the things David may be able to answer here today just from his institutional knowledge. But that way we can kind of be very prepared for the next meeting. Okay, thank you. I do have Council Members signed up. Council Member Stenet. Thank you, Council Member Henson. Commissioner, there's a couple pieces of information on the chart that you handed out and passed out to us that maybe you can get some more information. We may have it today. But under the capital expenses, the $2.381 million, is that the money for the new PSOC on Cisco Road? Is that where a lot of that money went to? It's a radio project. The police radio project? Yes. Okay. And all of that money went to the radio? Yes. All the money went to the radios? We're in the process of verifying that information. I think there was a miscommunication with some of the budgeting forms, and so I was able to talk with David just for a few minutes before this meeting, but we'll have more information for you at the next meeting on that. Okay. And then while you're up there, the fund balance up under revenue, July 1, $3 million. Where did that fund balance come from under revenue or FY14? Which gave us $6 million in total revenue. Let me go grab my notes. All right. But those are the two items I'm just trying to follow because I don't remember it being 2.3. I thought it was a little more than that for some reason that was supposed to come out of this budget for the new communication system. And is that allowable? Are we allowed to use 911 money for police radios? For equipment that's going to be in the 911 center. Okay, so it's actually in the center. And some of the system things, yes. Here's the detail sheet she was looking for earlier. Of the $4.5 million came from the 2012 bond, $0.75 came from the 2013 bond, and E-901 paid for $1.1 million. It was only $1.1 because only $1.1 of the total cost is allowable for 911 expenses. So 9-1 fund only paid for 1.1 of the total radio project. And the carryover you saw is that money, since the beginning of the project, the timeline slid, we rolled it from one fiscal year to the next. So 2.381 did go 100% to the? I'm sorry, 2.3. Under capital projects, capital expenses, that all went to the radios? Not all of it, but I would say all but about $250,000 of it. The other $250,000 was 911 related specifically. Okay. And then jumping back up to my second question under revenue, the fund balance number, is that from the fiscal year 2012, some of that money? Yes. It rolled from 12 to 13 and then on the 14th. We added money from the 12 fund balance back in April that we were just discussing that was in the paper yesterday. We put money from that fund balance into this project, the radios. So is that where we are reflecting that under the adopted FY2 2014 fund balance of $3 million? That's prefaced on the fact that do you believe everything you read in a newspaper? Well, I can answer that here shortly. No, that money is not included. The only money that should be included in the fund balance for E911 is the funds for the E911 radio project, not the general fund balance dollars that were allocated. Those are in the general fund in that project ID. Okay, so it doesn't show up in their budget then at all? No, because it's a bond, so it's a project that's been set up. So it's not reflecting in their budget. But the money from that fund balance has been given to the project. Correct. It's just not shown on this budget. Correct. And I think we need to show it somewhere when we look at the whole 911 picture because it is part of their budget. I understand for accounting purposes you may not want to accurately reflect it here, but to see a total price tag, it's very hard to see what a total project costs if you don't have all the pieces that are funding it on one page. So that would be helpful. Thank you, Chair. Thank you. Council Member Mathotti. Thank you, Chair. And I just wanted to follow up on what Council Member Sennett is asking, so I'm clear that the E911 fund is supplemented by the charge on landlines, correct? Yes, 80% of the E911 fund we collect each year comes from landline fees in Fayette County. Which is how much? $2.58 as of July 1st. Okay, and since we've had a decline in that, I can't remember what the figure was since it's at 50% now, the amount of landline usage, is that accurate? Actually, nationally, 32% of the people do not have any landline at all in their homes any longer. They rely on cell phones, majority. We have seen a 4% to 5% decrease in the number of people paying landline fees every year for the last six years. So this has been a trend that just didn't happen yesterday? This has been a trend going on for some time. And so what we have been doing is supplementing the budget with general fund dollars. Is that correct? No, we have not. When we increased the fee about six years ago, we embedded a 4.5% increase every year. So that increase every year is offsetting the number of people that are leaving. So what you have are the people remaining are taking up more and more of the responsibility for paying for the system. So if we've increased the fees, and that hasn't taken – obviously we have a $2 million deficit. And you're saying so even with the increase in fees, we haven't been able to cover that cost, that expenditure. We do cover the cost. We haven't used general funds for several years. But we're getting to the point where those curves or those lines are meeting each other. And soon, with people keep departing, we will not be able to meet the expenses. Okay, so what have we done if we didn't use the general fund? What kind of money, so where did we get the money from to be able to keep the fund going? We keep cutting costs. So we've been doing some cost-saving measures. We also, because really we've seen no increase in revenue, it's just been steady. So we've been keeping the cost by doing some partnerships and delaying some projects as well. But it hasn't worked because we're obviously $2 million in the red at this point. We are not $2 million in the red. But those are the figures that Melissa will be updating because it has a combination of the bond money and the 9-1-1 mistakenly put together. So you'll be able to bring that to us next time and we'll get a little bit more information on it. Okay. We're not in the red, but the curve, we will be there soon. Okay. Thank you. Council Member Lawless. is there some charge I know it's not as high for cell phones but is there some fee built in to cell phones that's lower than the landline or is it only landline landlines are controlled locally so every county gets to set their own landline the wireless fee on your cell phone is set by the state So for the state of Kentucky, it's $0.70 per month per phone or per phone number. However, there is provisions that people who buy prepaid cards only pay about $0.30 on the dollar, so less than $0.30 they are paying. And that is one of the legislative changes that KLC and J. Co. and others are lobbying to fix. The hole in the boat is getting quite large from that because more and more people use prepaid. But that $0.70 was set in 1998 and hasn't changed since. Right. Not many people had cell phones. Yes. But we do get that money also. We get a portion of that money. About 20% of our total revenue comes from wireless. 80% of our calls come from wireless. You can see the disparity. Right. Okay, thank you. You're welcome. Council Member Stenet. I was just going to ask, when you go back and bring us some more information, Can you also give us a five-year projection of revenues, how much we hope to take in from these fees? It looks like operating and personnel has been pretty flat. Personnel is up a little bit. But operating projection and then a capital projection over the next five years, so we can see how best to manage this. Because if we do hit the proverbial wall, as David said, you know, as the landline use declines and our increase is not enough, when we're going to hit that wall and when we're going to need to make a tough decision about this. If you all have done that, if not, it would be a good time to do it, to see where we're at. Thank you. Thank you. And I guess I can't express enough that, and I think, Commissioner Mason, you spoke on this earlier, that this is becoming a critical need for the city. And I see it as being very inequitable for the landline owners, users, to have to foot the bill. So we really need to make every effort possible to get some legislation changed or to balance this in some way. So thank you. And we'll get you on the agenda for the October meeting. Thank you. Thank you. Next on the agenda is items in committee. Is there any discussion? And then last, I would like to mention that we had adjusted our committee meetings. We were scheduled to have another committee meeting on September 24th, And I would like to cancel that meeting on the 24th and move it to October 15th at 11 a.m. if the committee is in agreement. So moved. We were scheduled. What we did was we switched with budget and finance to September 24th, which is only two weeks out. So I will cancel that meeting. The motion would be to cancel the meeting on the 24th and have a meeting October 15th at 11 a.m. So we have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? All in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. And then I will entertain a motion to adjourn. Council Member? Yes, sir. Maybe my date is wrong here, but I'm showing a Cal meeting at 1 o'clock on the 15th of October. Is that incorrect? She said 11. She said 11 for this. 11. 11 a.m. Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Meeting is adjourned.