# Council Work Session - May 27, 2014 > Auto-transcribed civic record · May 27, 2014 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/3365 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/3365?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2014-05-27 - **Last revised**: July 16, 2026 - **Length**: 17,317 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 Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council met on May 27, 2014, at 3:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber on the 2nd Floor of the Government Center, with Mayor Gray presiding. The council addressed ten agenda items during the session, including public comment periods, zoning matters, budget amendments, and various business items. The body took 40 motions and votes throughout the meeting and heard 1 public comment. Among the items approved were requested rezonings and docket approvals, budget amendments, new business, continuing business and presentations, and the mayor's report. The meeting also included informational segments for council reports and public comment on issues not on the agenda before adjournment. ## Attendance **Present:** Gorton, Ellinger, Kay, Ford, Akers, Beard, Farmer, Stinnett, Scutchfield, Myers, Clarke, Henson, Lane **Absent:** Lawless, Mossotti **Late:** None ## Votes and Decisions All motions during this meeting were decided by voice vote and passed unanimously. **Procedural Motions** The council approved the docket for the May 22, 2014 Council Meeting (motion by Farmer, second by Lane) [timestamp: 00:01:42]. The May 6, 2014 work session summary was approved on motion by Beard, seconded by Scutchfield [timestamp: 00:05:15]. New business was approved on motion by Beard, seconded by Gorton [timestamp: 00:07:25]. Neighborhood Development Funds were approved on motion by Ellinger, seconded by Akers [timestamp: 00:24:36]. The Mayor's Report was approved on motion by Gorton, seconded by Henson. Budget amendments were approved on motion by Gorton, seconded by Myers, including an amendment to increase item j to $604,555 (motion by Gorton, second by Ellinger) [timestamp: 00:05:46]. **Session Management** The council entered closed session under KRS 61.810(1)(f) on motion by Gorton, seconded by Scutchfield, and returned from closed session on motion by Scutchfield, seconded by Clarke. The meeting was adjourned on motion by Scutchfield, seconded by Ellinger [timestamp: 01:59:45]. **Numbered Ordinances and Agreements** The council passed 28 numbered items, including: Ordinance 0479-14 revising the Domestic Violence Prevention Board (motion by Mills); Ordinance 0482-14 for Change Order No. 4 with HW Lochner for Newtown Pike Extension Project services (motion by Gooding, second by Paulsen); and Ordinance 0487-14 establishing a Memorandum of Agreement with the Kentucky State Board of Elections for voting equipment purchase (motion by Gooding, second by Hamilton). Additional approvals included grant acceptances and applications, professional service agreements, and contract amendments covering areas such as firefighter training incentives, police promotional assessments, transportation planning, senior services, and community development programs. Notable items included engagement of Dean Dorton Allen Ford, PLLC for FY 2014 financial audit (motion by O'Mara, identifier 0511-14) and execution of an agreement with Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield for administrative services and stop loss insurance (motion by Maxwell, second by Graham, identifier 0534-14). ## Budget and Financial Actions The meeting on May 27, 2014 included approval of 16 budget amendments addressing various operational and capital needs: **Parks and Maintenance** - Reimbursement of sign contractor expenses from collected revenue: $1,862.66 (Journal 77788-89) - Parks Maintenance overtime via special event reimbursements: $553.60 (Journal 77876-77) - Parks Maintenance overtime via reimbursement: $332.00 (Journal 77904-05) - Parks Maintenance overtime via revenue recognition: $40.00 (Journal 77906-07) - Overtime funding by reducing operating account funds: $103,158.00 (Journal 77984) **Community and Charitable Contributions** - Joseph Benson Leadership Award contribution at Family Care Center: $100.00 (Journal 77919-20) - Senior Center operating supplies via donations, parking, and building rental: $9,350.00 (Journal 78015-16) **Capital and Debt** - 2014A Refunding bond issue: $61,651,239.90 (Journal 78052-53) **Program-Specific Amendments** - Street Sales FY 2013 amendment to reflect actual revenue and expenses: $30,943.47 (Journal 77863-64) - Arrest Policies 2012 amendment in accordance with approved award: $10,090.00 (Journal 77957) - Distracted Driving 2014 amendment to reflect actual expenses and revenue: $5,338.37 (Journal 77865-66) - Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP) 2014 for WebEOC contract position: $67,200.00 (Journal 77921-22) **Utility and Bad Debt Expenses** - Sanitary Sewer Bad Debt expense: $640,000.00 (Journal 78049) - Landfill Bad Debt expense: $70,000.00 (Journal 78050) - Water Quality Bad Debt expense: $94,000.00 (Journal 78051) - Management fees and portfolio expenses via investment revenue: $250,500.00 (Journal 77986-87) ## Public Comment [timestamp: 00:00:00] Linda Carroll, former president of the Bluegrass Trust for Historic Preservation, spoke in support of the 21C Museum Hotel project. Carroll urged the council to support the project, highlighting three primary benefits: - Historic preservation of downtown Lexington - Job creation - Cultural revitalization of the downtown area Carroll's remarks emphasized the project's alignment with historic preservation goals and its potential economic and cultural impact on the community. ## Contested Items **Section 108 HUD Loan for 21C Museum Hotel Project** Council members Ford and Akers raised concerns about the proposed use of Section 108 HUD funds for the 21C Museum Hotel Project. Their primary objection centered on the allocation of these limited community development resources, arguing that the funds would be diverted from other pressing neighborhood needs. Other council members supported the project, viewing it as a catalyst for downtown revitalization and economic development. The disagreement resulted in a split vote on the matter. ## Public Comment – Issues on Agenda [timestamp: 00:00] Linda Carroll delivered public comment in support of the 21C Museum Hotel project. Her remarks highlighted the project's value across multiple dimensions: **Project Benefits** Carroll emphasized the cultural, economic, and historic preservation benefits associated with the 21C Museum Hotel project. **Outcome** This agenda item was informational in nature, with no formal action taken. ## Requested Rezonings/Docket Approval [timestamp: 00:01:42] The council approved the docket for the May 22, 2014 meeting. The discussion included motions to place ordinances on the docket without public hearings. Key speakers in this agenda item included Akers, Lawless, Beard, and Farmer. The item was approved by the council. ## Approval of Summary The May 6, 2014 work session summary was presented for approval [timestamp: 00:05:15]. Key speakers Beard and Scutchfield participated in the discussion. The summary was approved without dissent. ## Budget Amendments The council discussed and approved budget amendments during this agenda item. [timestamp: 00:05:46] **Key Speakers** The discussion involved Gorton, Kaye, and Elizabeth. **Amendment Approved** The council approved a budget amendment to Journal 77788-89, adjusting the amount to $2,259.26 to reflect additional revenue. **Outcome** The budget amendments were approved. ## New Business [timestamp: 00:07:25] The council addressed several new business items during this portion of the meeting. Key speakers on these matters included Farmer, Henson, Scutchfield, and Stinnett. The council approved a series of new business items encompassing: - Agreements for GED testing - Software updates - Federal grant applications The outcome of the discussion was approval of these new business items. ## Continuing Business/Presentations [timestamp: 00:24:36] During this agenda item, the council addressed several matters under continuing business and presentations. Key speakers included Ellinger, Scutchfield, Henson, Cooperrider, and Daugherty. The council approved Neighborhood Development Funds as part of the discussion. Additionally, a General Government Committee summary was reviewed, which encompassed two significant components: - **Neighborhood Parks Task Force report** — presented and discussed by council members - **Proposed barring policy** — reviewed as part of the committee summary The outcome of this agenda item was approval of the matters presented, including the Neighborhood Development Funds allocation. ## Council Reports Council members provided updates on various initiatives and community matters during this informational segment of the meeting. [timestamp: 00:12:36] The following council members contributed to the reports: * Gorton * Henson * Akers * Ellinger * Ford * Clark * Lawless Topics covered included: * **World Equestrian Games bid** — Council members discussed the city's efforts related to a bid for the World Equestrian Games * **Public safety employee surveys** — Updates were provided regarding surveys conducted among public safety employees * **Upcoming community events** — Council members highlighted various community events scheduled in the near future The Council Reports segment was presented as an informational item, with no formal action or debate recorded as part of this agenda item. ## Mayor's Report The Mayor's Report was presented as agenda item VIII during the meeting. Key speakers on this item included Gorton and Clark [timestamp: 01:59:14]. The report was approved without dissent by the body. ## Public Comment – Issues Not on Agenda [timestamp: 01:59:45] No public comments were made on issues not on the agenda during this portion of the meeting. ## Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at approximately 01:59:45 following a motion by Councilmember Ellinger and a second by Akers. The motion to adjourn was approved. --- ## Decisions - **Motion** — passed: Approval of the docket for the May 22, 2014 Council Meeting - **Motion** — passed: Approval of the May 6, 2014 work session summary - **Motion** — passed: Approval of budget amendments - **Motion** — passed: Amendment to increase item j to $604,555 - **Motion** — passed: Approval of new business - **Motion** — passed: Approval of Neighborhood Development Funds - **Motion** — passed: Approval of the Mayor's Report - **Motion** — passed: Motion to enter closed session under KRS 61.810(1)(f) - **Motion** — passed: Motion to return from closed session - **Motion** — passed: Motion to adjourn - **0482-14** — passed: Execution of Change Order No. 4 to Agreement with HW Lochner for right-of-way services for Newtown Pike Extension Project Mitigation Area - **0499-14** — passed: Acceptance of award for FY 2015 funds from the Commission on Fire Protection for firefighter training incentive - **0511-14** — passed: Engagement of Dean Dorton Allen Ford, PLLC for financial audit of all LFUCG funds for FY 2014 - **0517-14** — passed: Submission of application to U.S. Department of Homeland Security under the 2014 Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program - **0533-14** — passed: Acceptance of award from Kentucky Department of Military Affairs for FY 2014 Emergency Management Assistance Project - **0534-14** — passed: Execution of agreement with Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield for administrative services and stop loss insurance - **0535-14** — passed: Execution of agreement with CPS HR Consulting for assessments in police promotional processes - **0478-14** — passed: First Amendment to Agreement with Granicus, Inc. for Legislative Suites Software in FY 2015 - **0487-14** — passed: Memorandum of Agreement with Kentucky State Board of Elections for purchase of voting equipment - **0488-14** — passed: Acceptance of Federal Planning Funds from Kentucky Transportation Cabinet for Lextran 5-Year Comprehensive Operation Analysis - **0492-14** — passed: Ninth Contract Amendment with AmeriNational Community Services, Inc. for loan servicing for HOME and CDBG programs - **0498-14** — passed: Acceptance of Police Training Incentive grant from Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet - **0505-14** — passed: Amendment No. 3 to Agreement with Bluegrass Area Development District for Senior Citizens Center operation - **0508-14** — passed: Submission of application to U.S. Department of Justice for Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant - **0513-14** — passed: Submission of application to Kentucky Department of Education for Child Care Food Program participation - **0514-14** — passed: Amendment to Agreement with Kentucky Transportation Cabinet for Share the Road Media Campaign Project - **0519-14** — passed: Engineering Services Agreement with GRW Engineers, Inc. for design of three intersections on Man o’ War Boulevard - **0521-14** — passed: Agreement with EA Partners, PLC for study on mobility and streetscape issues along Versailles Road Corridor - **0524-14** — passed: Memorandum of Agreement with Eastern Kentucky University for Operation of Safety City - **0531-14** — passed: Submission of application to Bluegrass Workforce Investment Board for Workforce Investment Act project for Division of Youth Services - **0532-14** — passed: Professional service agreement with Lord Aeck Sargent for Cardinal Valley Small Area Plan - **0479-14** — passed: Revision of Ordinance establishing the Domestic Violence Prevention Board - **0481-14** — passed: Execution of 'Statement of Compliance' bridge posting requirements - **0266-14** — passed: Authorization to execute agreement with Pearson VUE for GED testing at Division of Community Corrections - **0505-14** — passed: Amendment No. 3 to Agreement with Bluegrass Area Development District for Senior Citizens Center operation - **0511-14** — passed: Engagement of Dean Dorton Allen Ford, PLLC for financial audit of all LFUCG funds for FY 2014 - **0517-14** — passed: Submission of application to U.S. Department of Homeland Security under the 2014 Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program - **0533-14** — passed: Acceptance of award from Kentucky Department of Military Affairs for FY 2014 Emergency Management Assistance Project - **0534-14** — passed: Execution of agreement with Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield for administrative services and stop loss insurance - **0535-14** — passed: Execution of agreement with CPS HR Consulting for assessments in police promotional processes --- ## Full transcript Thank you. My name is Linda Carroll. I live at 343 North Limestone. I'm the former president of the Bluegrass Trust for Historic Preservation. I did that for three years. and I'm also a member of the Kentucky Heritage Council and I wanted to take just a minute now to point out the important contrast of what 21C would bring to Lexington as we see the story in the newspaper today and the vast vast amount of demolition that's going on at UK. The juxtaposition is important for all of you to remember today as you continue the debate about something that will restore a building. It will bring contemporary art and create jobs. And when I speak about jobs, I'm doing a two-story building up here on Third Street. And I have 15 tradespeople in there today. We're not talking about the jobs at the end of the project. We're talking about all of the jobs that go into something as big as 21C. It's a prominent building on a prominent corner. And you have in your hands the opportunity for something that's beyond imagination. What Steve Wilson and Laura Lee Brown and Deborah Burke do for preservation is really the best of what preservation is in this country, and I implore you to move forward with this. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Carroll. Anybody, nobody else? Mr. Mundy, all right. All right, that allows us to move on to requested rezonings and docket approval. Is there a motion? Move approval. motion by Vice Mayor Gordon and second by Council Member Ellinger. Is there any discussion on the motion? All right, is there a motion? All right. Council Member Akers. Thank you, Mayor. I move to place on the docket ordinance number nine without a public hearing all right it's a motion by councilor acres second by councilor ellinger is there any discussion on the motion okay hearing none then we can take a vote all in favor please say aye aye opposed no motion carries councilor Lawless. I move to place item number 10 on the docket without a public hearing. Second. It's a motion by Council Member Lawless and a second by Council Member Farmer. Is there any discussion on the motion? Alright. Hearing none, then we can take a vote. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. Alright. Council Member Beard Thank you Mayor I move to place an ordinance on the June 5th council meeting docket for a budget amendment from council office neighborhood development funds in the amount of $1900 to the Department of Traffic Engineering line item 1101-303602-3602-91614 and like a Chinese telephone number for traffic improvements for Glendover Road and Valley Road motion by council member Beard second by Vice Mayor Gordon is there any discussion on the motion please councilor Farmer what are the traffic improvements that will be affected with this numerous ones, Council Member. Primarily the movement of a stop sign and flashing lights on a stop sign come Valley Road as it enters, Glendover Road, striping, three-way striping around that triangle, so to speak. Yes, sir. And maybe one other thing of minor importance. Very good. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Mayor. All right. Thank you. So we have a motion. We have a second. Is there any further conversation? Councilman Lawless. Is this the three-way stop that traffic engineering said didn't approve and neighborhoods are fighting over? No, it is not. It is instead of the three-way stop. Okay, so this is a solution to that other than that. That's correct. Thank you. All right. All right. If there's no further discussion, we can take a vote. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. All right. Now we can take a vote on the original motion to approve the docket. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. Next on our agenda is a summary, approval of the summary of motion by Council Member Beard. Is there a second? Second. Second by Council Member Scotchfield. 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. Next on the agenda is budget amendments. Is there a motion? Move approval. Second. Motion by Council Member Farmer. Second by Council Member Kaye. Is there any discussion? Yes. Vice Mayor? I was simply going to ask Elizabeth to speak. She needed to tell us something. On this? Yes. Okay. We would like to request that Budget Journal 77788-89 on page 10 of your packet be amended to $2,259.26. This will reflect additional revenue that traffic engineering has received for this program to be able to spend it this year. 77788-89. Yeah. Excuse me? Oh, $2,259.26. Mayor, I move to change budget amendment 77788-89 to $2,200, and I missed the, 2259.26. Is that all right? Motion and a second? Is there any discussion on the motion? okay then we can vote all in favor please say aye aye opposed no motion carries any further discussion all right then we can take a vote on the motion original motion all in favor please indicate by saying aye opposed no motion carries new business is next is there a motion to approve Motion by Councilmember Scutchfield. Who is the second by? Do we get a second? Second. Second by Councilmember Farmer. Is there any discussion on the motion? Councilmember Farmer. Thank you, Mayor. Item A. This was like a very good program. I'm just interested in approval of agreement for GED testing of the offender population. So this says it's for the rest of physical year 14. I'm just wondering what the value would be for physical year 15 for this same program. We'll have to check and get those specifics back to you, but we'll be able to get through that. It looks like a great thing. I would just like to know the number because I think GED testing there is a great idea. Thank you, sir. and Mayor just quickly all right thank you I'm sorry I was just speaking to myself more than you item R on the contract for Bursell's Road corridor improvements this doesn't come I mean as chair of the corridors commission I think there might be some overlap of opportunity here because there's a lot of conversation we have in our commission meetings about for sales road and I would just like to make sure that work that we are doing or trying to undertake either adds to this model or makes the model better for our input I just like to make sure that we are part of that conversation because there's ample interest in for sales road at all times yes sir the this was the hundred $250,000 that was set in by council to go ahead and look at this corridor with the opportunity to have a study to look at the, as far as pedestrian activity, transit, and everything else in the area so that the study could be used to go ahead and apply for federal funding to do full improvements in the area. Now, I believe what you were saying was something related to the corridor. I just want to make sure that what your scope is and what you're going to do kind of overlaps with the work that we have kind of ongoing. So maybe you could come to a quarters commission meeting where you just talk about it. I'd be happy to. I don't see any reason to change the item of business, but I think it's a great co-opportunity for us both. Okay. No, I have no problems doing that at your request. Yes, sir. Very good, sir. Thank you. And then lastly, on the, I guess, item S, which is the operation of Safety City. So we're asking EKU to operate our safety city on our property here in Lexington, is my question. Is this assurance? Yes, they're going to provide the educational instruction and the personnel, and we're providing the facility. So it hasn't been open, or has it been open this past year? No, it has not. It has not been open for several years. I'm not sure when exactly it closed, but it has not been open for several years. So this brings it back to life. Yes. Excellent item of business. Thank you, Mayor. All right. Thank you, Mr. Farmer. Council Member Henson. Thank you, Mayor. I wanted to clarify what Council Member Farmer was talking about with the Fersales Road corridor, because this money was requested, and this is the second fiscal year that has been in the budget, was mainly for upgrades of sidewalks and curbing. And I think during this process of trying to get this going with this study, the Corridors Commission took on some projects. So I don't really see this as being ahead or being competitive with what the Corridors Commission is doing. I see that this started long before the Corridors Commission began their work on Fersales Road. So I just wanted to clarify that, and I think it would be good if Brad came to the Corridors Commission and brought you up to speed, but this has been an ongoing issue for over two years now, along with the MPO plan and some other things that are going on. so thank you thank you council member henson all right if there's no further discussion then we can take a vote on the motion all in favor please say aye aye opposed no motion carries and that allows us to move on to continuing business um i'll call on vice mayor gorton for for a new item that has arisen. Vice Mayor. Thank you, Mayor. Council colleagues, if you would allow a slight deviation here. Jamie Link is here from Governor Beshear's office and would like to give us a quick update on the World Equestrian Games. We have an application in. Sure. Vice Mayor, we've been working with the Governor's office for the past several months on their application. We've been working with the governor's office on their application for the 2018 World Equestrian Games. And I asked Jamie Link to come today to give us an update on where that application is in the process. Jamie is the governor's deputy chief of staff, and he's the project manager for the World Equestrian Games application. Good afternoon, Mayor, members of the Council. Glad to be here. I wasn't exactly sure what you would like to know, but I'll tell you everything I can. As Jamie mentioned, I'm currently the Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Beshear, but I guess by default from my role with the 2010 Games, when the opportunity came up to bid on the 2018 World Equestrian Games, I was the lucky guy that got to kind of put that together. So essentially, I'll try to condense this. Last fall, we submitted a letter of interest to the FEI, the International Equestrian Federation in Lausanne, Switzerland. They're the sanctioning body for the World Equestrian Games. And then through the subsequent months, culminating at the end of March, we submitted Kentucky's proposal. And the proposal was submitted on behalf of a not-for-profit foundation. If you'll recall, in 2010, we had the World Games 2010 Foundation, and we were very creative for 2018. We were the World Games 2018 Foundation. So we did submit a proposal and just had a conference call with the FBI earlier this month to clarify some of the items in our proposal, which we did. And if I could interject here, certainly Governor Beshear and the First Lady are probably our number one champions for this event. from 2010 dealing with the global economic situation that we had and essentially building this event from the ground up, I think the Kentucky Horse Park certainly showed that it is, in our opinion, and I think many others' opinion, it is the premier equestrian facility in not only the U.S., but the world. So it is our hope and belief that the FEI recognizes that. And we've heard from members of their staff that the comments coming out of 2010 from both the competitors as well as spectators, the media, and others, that it was an amazing event. So personally speaking, from my role as CEO in 2010, I always had targeted 2022 as the next opportunity. The games are quadrennial, and they fall between the Olympic Games. So I thought there was no way in the world that we would even be considered less than 10 years from having hosted it in 2010. So the next iteration would have been 2022. But 2018 has now presented that opportunity. We have submitted our proposal. The FBI Bureau, which is the governing body of the FBI, is meeting on June 9th and 10th in Lausanne. And it's my understanding that they will consider the proposals that were submitted, and they will make a decision shortly thereafter. So my timetable is probably mid-June. We should know something. They may come back and ask for more information depending upon what they received. But at this time, I'm thinking we're about three weeks or so from knowing whether we're in or we're out. And I hope that's sufficient. I really shouldn't and couldn't get into the particulars of the proposal. But I'm happy to address any questions that anyone might have. All right. Thanks, Jamie. We have a couple of council members signed up. Council Member Farmer, then Council Member Beard. Thank you for being with us today. Yes, sir. My pleasure. Congratulations on the job that you did so well before. We hope you get to do it again. That's a lot of gray hair from that. It aged me considerably. I think we are probably the best natural fit or footprint for what they do and the way that they do it. And I think that the leadership that we've had in place before and that you're bringing to it again will make this a successful bid. In my heart, I believe that. Thank you. Well, thank you. Thank you. That's very kind. And the foundation has been established, and I'm not sure if we go that route, if I would be considered for that position again. Quite honestly, I'd have to really think long and hard about that. But to your point, I think what the park showed and the investment that was made in that facility, gosh, some 35, 40 years ago, has now shown that it is certainly the finest equestrian facility. And I think it's more than just an equestrian facility personally, but it's the finest equestrian facility in the world. And I think the FEI recognized, and a lot of credit, I should add, goes to the city with the resources that the city brought to bear. One of the better compliments we received was how one of our greatest fears was transportation. And with LexTrans help, transportation worked beautifully. So security worked beautifully. The competition went beautifully, so we definitely had an angel on our shoulder, I think. But this is something that I think has now drawn global attention to the park and to Kentucky in general. So the economic impact study showed some $200 million in economic impact for the state, $400 million globally. So that's something we should all be proud of. yes sir thank you councilman farmer council member beard thank you mayor and thank you for the heads up yes sir um competitor who are i've heard anyway that it's we have a western hemisphere competitor and there's only one is it correct or can you say well i can i can say what's been published in the media and certainly Bromont Canada, which is, I'm told I've never been there, is just outside of Montreal, is the other respondent to the bid. Wellington, Florida was in, but they withdrew, I think, toward the end of February. They withdrew over some commercial conflicts, I believe. So, to my knowledge, it is Bromont, Canada, and Lexington, Kentucky. Well, Montreal did not do a great job on their 1968, I guess it was, World Fair. 76 Olympics. Pardon? 1976. 76. Okay, well, who's counting? Yeah. So, hopefully they'll take that into consideration also. Thank you again. Yes, sir. Council Member Lane. Thank you, Mayor. Yeah, I was just going to ask, is there anything that we, as the Urban County government, can do to be of assistance in any way in your efforts on this project? Several million dollars would be greatly appreciated. Good to see you. Take care. That's all, folks. No, when we first started down this path last fall, we immediately contacted the mayor and worked with the mayor and Chief Staff Emmons. We have kept them in the loop every step of the way. Everything is so preliminary right now. The proposal didn't really get down into those kinds of specifics. But I think the model that we built in 2010, in my estimation, would need some tweaking, perhaps. But I think in general, it worked quite well. So I would envision that we would come back to the urban county government to work in tandem, in partnership with you, on how we can best share the load, but also share the benefit. because I think another aspect of, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, that came out of the 2010 games was the Spotlight Lexington Festival that the city put on. That was just astonishing. And to this day, we've had people comment on that and what's happened downtown. And hopefully, some of what we see even today were the seeds that maybe were planted in 2010. So if we can build and grow up on that, I think that would be a great benefit. But we would certainly, if the bid is awarded, there would be much more substantive discussions with the mayor's office and the council on what we can all do together to make these games even better than they were in 2010. Thanks for the update, and good luck in your continued efforts. Thanks very much. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman Lane. Councilmember Gordon. I just simply wanted to thank you for giving us this update. I think many of us, or probably all of us, are really excited about the possibility of having the games here again. And it was very successful. And we were just chatting up here. Many of us rode the bus out to the horse park, thought that worked really well. And it seems that we could do this again. and, as you say, maybe make a few minor changes in some things. But I think Lexington would step forward and work really hard to help make it happen again. So thank you for your update. Well, thank you. You'll let us know, I'm sure, as soon as you find out. Absolutely. Great. My second call after the governor would probably be to the mayor. Excellent. So once I hear something. But I would like to reiterate, if I may, again, the drive and the passion that the governor exerted in this effort and the role that he took as well as – and I think I'd be remiss if I didn't also mention Alltech from 2010 and the role they played and how successful this event was and to have them as a local corporate partner. I don't know what 2018 would bear, but what they did for us in 2010 should be mentioned and acknowledged here. So thank you very much. All right. Thanks, Jamie. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you all very much. All right. That allows us to move on to other items on the agenda. First, I need a motion to approve the NDS. I need a motion to approve. Second. Motion by Council Member Ellinger, seconded by Council Member Scotchfield. 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. Next is the general government summary by Council Member Kaye. Thank you, Mayor. This is the summary of the General Government Committee for May 6, 2014. First item on the agenda was approval of a summary, and that was approved without objection. The second item was Neighborhood Parks Task Force. Council Member Henson introduced the issue, and then Chris Cooperrider and Sergeant Andrew Doherty presented the recommendations of the Neighborhood Parks Task Force report. Cooperrider stated that the goal of the task force was to develop strategies to make Lexington's neighborhood parks safe while improving the quality of life. and then both discussed the proposed barring policy, the plan for the Opportunity Parks, and a new position to establish the Safe Parks Program and the Safe Pilot Program. There was then a fair amount of discussion about this question, and in response to a question from Council Member Myers, Mr. Doherty described the procedures the police will use to enforce the barring policy. In response to a further question, Mr. Cooper-Rider described the appeals process component of the barring policy and describe the park's quote physical and verbal altercation policy presently being used after a fair amount more of discussion about the way in which this would be implemented there was a motion to approve the borrowing policy was moved by council member scutchfield second by council member lane and it was approved on a vote of eight to two i would like to at this time move to place that resolution on the council docket so move second motion by councilmer k and a 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 thank you mr cooper i then discussed the opportunity parks proposal in some detail there was a fair amount of discussion about that as well no further action on that was taken at that time the next item on the agenda was the wireless devices policies a cio aldona velicente presented the wireless device policy in some detail she then stated that the draft of the policy will be completed by june meetings with stakeholders will commence in june and the policy will be published and implemented by the IT Governance Committee starting August 2014. There were no further action taken on this issue at that time. Next item on the agenda was a branding update. Scott Shapiro from the Mayor's Office discussed the Blue Horse branding concept. He stated that because we have too many unique logos, their use is inefficient and confusing. He said there are no consistent rules regarding the logos. In addition, he said the citizens don't have a clear idea what the city is doing in regard to the logos and so on. He stated that the use of one consistent logo will raise the production values of LFUCG's materials. There were a number of questions posed to him about the way in which it was designed, its uses, and the way in which it would be potentially implemented. There was no further action on that item taken at this time. The last item was items referred to committee. It was a motion to remove the Neighborhood Parks Task Force item, and that was passed unanimously, and the meeting was adjourned at 1.04 p.m. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Councilman O'Keefe. All right, next on our agenda is a project update on the 21C Museum Hotel Project, and that's being presented by Craig Greenberg, who is the president of 21C. Is that correct? Correct. Good afternoon. Thank you for having me. As Mayor Gray mentioned, my name is Craig Greenberg, and I'm president of 21C Museum Hotels and very excited to be with you today and to talk about and give you all an update on the 21C Museum Hotel project since it's been a little while since I was last here. We've got a few slides to show you. I think as hopefully all of you all remember, 21C Museum Hotel really has three things going on inside and outside of its building. We are a 24-7 contemporary art museum, a wonderful hotel, and also each one of our properties has a local, independent, chef-driven restaurant. We're pretty unique in the sense that we are not only unique as a hotel, but also unique as a museum. We want all of our public spaces to be open to the public, to be really a great source of energy, of innovation, of the expression of creative ideas, and where people can come together, see new art, and have wonderful, stimulating conversation and programming. All of our public space has rotating, curated, contemporary art shows, and all of the art that we show is by works of living artists. Additionally, we are very focused and committed to working with community, local, nonprofit community arts organizations. We truly view ourselves as not just a hotel and a restaurant, but also as a true community cultural center. And so inside our building, we open up our doors to other local organizations to use our space. We work in close concert with other arts organizations, other small performing art organizations that might not have their own permanent home to perform in, as well as we do a lot of programming within our hotels as well. We are a real museum, so we have docent tours, we have drawing classes, we have yoga with art, we have artist lectures, we have songs, we have poetry readings, etc. On the hotel side, we have been very humbled and fortunate to get some great recognition with all three of our properties that we currently have open right now in Cincinnati, Louisville, and Bentonville, Arkansas. In 2009, Louisville was named the number one hotel in the United States by readers of Condé Nast Traveler Reader's Choice Awards, where over 80,000 voters vote on their favorite things like their favorite airline, their favorite travel destination, their favorite cruise ship, and also their favorite hotel. And in 2009, they ranked our then three-year-old hotel in Louisville as the number one hotel in the United States. And we were surprised then and thrilled when it happened again in 2010. We've now toppled ourselves from the top of that ranking with Cincinnati in 2013 was ranked the number one hotel. And our other two hotels, Louisville and Bentonville, Arkansas, were also very close to the top and, as you can say, have fared well. I think it's not because we're a luxury hotel by any stretch, but because of the unique experience that 21C provides to travelers that are staying with us or just passing through our walls and enjoying the art and the art experiences. In addition to Condé Nast Traveler, we also have gotten a lot of media attention from not just regional and local publications, but across the country and around the world. not just for our properties, but the cities in which we are in and also the other local attractions. Our PR team works with cities and communities and local CVBs, other local attractions, to garner a lot of attention into each one of the communities that we're in or that we're going into to attract new visitors to 21C Museum Hotel Cities. And we've been very fortunate with the national and international attention that we continue to get year over year. We're really excited about our project here in Lexington. As you all hopefully recall, we own and will rehabilitate, do a historic renovation of the old First National Bank building on the corner of Main and Upper Street. Just across the street, you can see in this picture from the old courthouse. In the project, we'll have over 8,500 square feet of public contemporary art and exhibition space, 88 hotel rooms, a wonderful new restaurant and bar that will activate the corner of Main and Upper Street and hopefully beyond, and also meeting and event space throughout the property. In terms of the community impact, we think it's very significant. we will create over 125 new permanent full-time jobs in 21c museum hotel and that's in addition to over 200 construction jobs that that will be created as a result of our construction as you see here on the slide also we're committed and this is part of the the hud 108 loan that we've been working with the city on and we'll talk more about we will pay prevailing wage for all of construction jobs in the course of this construction project but not only will we create jobs but we'll also be revitalizing historic building we will provide a new free contemporary art museum we'll as I mentioned work in close partnership with lots of other local nonprofit arts organizations will generate significant new taxes for the the city government as well as for the state and also bring new people to Lexington and this region. From a historic perspective and beyond, we think this is a very important project for Lexington and for Kentucky. This building was built 100 years ago, the historic first National Bank building, and it's been listed on the Register of Historic Places. It was Lexington's first skyscraper designed by the very prominent firm of McKee, Mead, and White that has many prominent buildings in the Northeast and across the country. And it's been mostly vacant for over a decade. And so the opportunity to not only do a historic rehabilitation to the physical structure, but to reactivate and re-energize this very important corner in Lexington is something that we're really excited about. And historic rehab is in our DNA at 21C and in my and my partner's blood and all the projects that we do as it relates to historic rehabilitation. It's part of our mission to support downtown revitalization and rehabilitate historic assets. In all the projects that we have announced that are either open or underway, all but one of them are historic rehab projects, and they total over $250 million of projects that are either completed or underway. Last year, in 2013, we received two awards for some of our historic rehab work, in this case as it related to our project in Cincinnati, Ohio, that opened in the fall of 2012. Most prominently, we received the Global Award of Excellence from the Urban Land Institute, which focuses not just on historic rehab projects, but on projects that make a really unique and innovative contribution to urban revitalization. Many other developers often cringe and turn away and run away, I should say, when they look at the opportunity to rehab historic buildings. We embrace those opportunities. While they might be more challenging, while they might be more expensive to develop, We think at the end of the day, they create a much more exciting and innovative project that, particularly when we put in contemporary art and have a very modern design, that that creates a unique, one-of-a-kind and world-class project that people will want to come to from far and near. This project in particular is very, very challenging. The project in the tower has very small footprints. footprints. It's very inefficient for modern use, whether it's a hotel or an office building. It's a vertical building, and so redeveloping this project with its narrow vertical shape causes challenges. The structure, it has different types of materials that are used. Many historic structures are also often challenging. We're putting several buildings together, and of course the floor plates don't align. And so turning it into a modern use, particularly a museum a hotel in a restaurant has been challenging it's candidly more expensive than we originally intended but we have embraced those challenges and we think the project that we're going to be able to create art is even more exciting as a result as I mentioned one of the things that we're most proud of are the the permanent jobs that we create for every community that we go into hotels and restaurants by their nature create full-service hotels, I should mention, create a lot of permanent jobs. And we are committed to working with the community to attract, train, and retain employees at 21C. We have over 550 employees now throughout our entire company, and we look forward to continuing to create opportunities for more folks, and not just jobs, but real career opportunities. In Cincinnati, for example, we partnered with four local urban workforce development organizations, the Urban League of Greater Cincinnati, Cincinnati Works, Cincinnati Cooks, and the YWCA's job training program to help recruit employees for that project. And over 24% of our opening team employees were hired as a result of job fairs that we did out in the community at these organizations. We look forward to working with local Lexington organizations to do the same things here. Additionally, we offer significant benefits for all of our full-time employees, including health insurance, paid sick and vacation time, paid parental leave, and 401k plan with an employer match, again, for all of our full-time employees. As I mentioned, we see this as not just creating jobs, but also hopefully creating career opportunities. And we're always thrilled when there are opportunities for folks within our organization to grow and get promoted. We have many instances throughout our company where people that have started at one level have had the opportunities to take on positions with more responsibility and higher pay. And as we grow and have more properties, there will be even more opportunities for folks that join our team. In terms of the project financing, these numbers have grown a little bit since I was last with you, but they are now much closer to final, and we have greater confidence that these are the real numbers. The project is just over a $43 million project. As I mentioned earlier, that's higher than we originally intended, but we now have the plans to show for them. I am thrilled to bring with me today just a very small portion of our 100% construction documents that are complete and, as of last Friday, have been approved for a building permit in Lexington. I'll get back to that in a second. These plans have been out to bid, and we've received the bids back from the subcontracting community throughout Lexington and the region. So, again, we now know that this project will be a $43.3 million project. As you can see, the financing stack has not changed significantly, however, since I last visited with you all. The numbers have changed, but the approach is the same. We are investing equity from the development group. There are a significant number of loans. We're working with Central Bank, which will have our first mortgage loan on this project. There will be federal and state historic and new market tax credits. The city will be facilitating the federal government Section 108 HUD loan, I hope, with your support and approval. And also the city will be providing a $1 million UDAG loan as well. This is a true public-private partnership. We are notwithstanding the increase in cost, the delays and challenges that we've had to get to this point. We're as excited as ever about this project and truly committed because of the location, because of the building, and because of what is going on in downtown Lexington. And for the opportunity to be a part and to be a catalyst for even continued revitalization of downtown Lexington. Lexington is a challenging market. There's significant risk in this project. It is not the strongest of hotel markets at the time. But still, we embrace this challenge, and we're excited about the opportunity. To date, we've already spent over $6.5 million on this project, including building acquisition. The financing plan that I just showed to you has over $24 million of loans, all of which have personal guarantees between myself, my partners, the project developers, and all of the owners of this project. All of the federal and state tax credits require us as developers to provide performance and completion guarantees, and we will have a significant amount of equity at stake at the closing of all of the financing. So again, we view this as a true public-private partnership where we are able to leverage existing state and local programs with a significant amount of private support for the financing to make it happen. As it relates to the Section 108 HUD loan, I think back in 2012 is when we first had conversations and there were some meetings and public hearings and approvals for proceeding with this program. To refresh your memory, this is a federal program that's been around for many decades, but as far as I know, Lexington has not used this program before. It is a loan program, not a grant. These loans will be personally guaranteed by my partners and myself and must be repaid. The size of the loan is tied to the amount of permanent jobs that we create. And so that's the way the sizing of the $6 million has occurred, is based on the number of jobs that were created. And there's been an extensive vetting process, not just through the city government, but also with HUD and Washington to look over this project prior to getting HUD's approval from Washington, which we recently did, I guess it was last month, to meet all of their standards for getting approved. We do have one outstanding local request. We have requested to work with the Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau for some support from them for the operation of our museum, but that would be following our opening. And so those conversations have begun and will continue, but will not slow down the beginning of our construction. So where are we? As I mentioned just a minute ago, we have our construction documents 100% complete. We've been out to bid on this project. As of very late Friday afternoon, we got an email that our building permit has been approved, and I'm thrilled to announce that construction will begin on 21C Museum Hotel Lexington in June, which is right around the corner. So we couldn't be happier to get that started. Of course, we need your approval on the Section 108 loan to move towards closing on that, but we will start the construction prior to the closing on all of the loans. So we are thankful for the support that all of you on council have provided to us over the past few years. We appreciate your support through the delays that we've had, as have many other projects around the region and country. and we appreciate your continued support, not just now, but as we build the project and open it towards the end of next year. Thank you very much, and I'm happy to answer any questions you might have. Okay. Several council members have signed up, beginning with Vice Mayor Gordon. Thank you, Mayor. Mr. Greenberg, thank you for being here and for giving this update. First of all, I wonder if you could email the financial page to maybe to Jamie Emmons, and he could distribute it to council members, please. Sure. And then can you remind me our UDAG loan of a million dollars that the council made, was that to be repaid in 10 years? That is correct. Okay. And then I wonder, I'm very pleased that June is your construction date. I think that's very exciting. And I did want to know if you could speak a little bit to the risk. You said that this is a significant risk and that the hotel market in Lexington is challenging. Can you tell us any more about that? Sure. What I mean by that is this is a $43 million project that will have over $24 million of loans guaranteed by my partners and myself, as well as real equity in the project. And so in that sense, that is a significant amount of loan guarantees and capital for any project. We think this project will be extremely successful. But I think one of the reasons that there has not been a significant amount of new hotel development in the past few years in Lexington is because the market, the hotel market itself, is not as vibrant as some other cities of its size. And when you look at the average daily rates and occupancy in Lexington, they are definitely improving. We are very, very optimistic about the future of the Lexington hotel market. But I think others in the hotel industry would look at those numbers and think that they are not quite as strong as others. But we embrace those types of opportunity and look forward to adding a new type of hotel product to the market that we don't think exists, that we think will complement the other hotels that are in the market today. I think it is very different. I've been to your 21C in Louisville, and it's just, it really is a museum to begin with. So I think it is very different in that regard. And as I recall, in Louisville, and maybe all of them, you're open 24-7 to the public to come in and look at the art. That is correct. And so it is, we have nothing like that here. So I appreciate your update, and we'll look forward to getting the financial page and seeing you break ground. Well, so to speak, inside. It starts inside, yes. I guess it'll be demolishing some things inside, right? Yeah, there is some interior work that needs to be done before we can start putting it all back together on the inside. Thank you so much. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Farmer. Thank you, Mayor. Mr. Greenberg, nice to see you again. It's been a while. Your most exciting part was that you've gotten your permits and you're ready to start. Yes. And I no doubt knew this, but how long construction, do you think, from start to opening? Well, I haven't been so good heretofore at predicting dates, so I'm hesitant to do that today. Well, you don't have to. I was just asking to know. However, we will be open before the end of 2015. So everything going on across the street from you in terms of building the whole city block over there would kind of be a complementary time frame, it sounds like, to me. I'm unaware of their schedule, so you would know better than me on that. Well, they're doing 700 spaces below ground starting yesterday and trying to be done with that by December to come out of the ground with the office space first. I'm not sure what building goes second. From looking at your presentation, which you did send to us on Friday, I think, very thorough. I think it did include the finance page. What you're bringing to us is just a tremendous opportunity. And it has us testing circuits that we haven't used before, especially with the 108 loan, some of the guarantee things. But when you look at, and I'll just use the term body of work that you all have in terms of the physical usefulness of the buildings that you've restored, the ones you've built, and to bring contemporary art to a city that is bereft of museum space. And just put on top of that 125 full-time equivalent jobs at a time where the economy is, it's trying to be better than it has been. And I believe in Lexington, we see that with some of our receipts month to month. At the end, I just want to thank you. I mean, what you're doing is beautiful. You're doing it to a very important piece of property in the center of downtown Lexington. It's historical core, if you will. And what you're doing there will remake not just that building, but the feeling around it, and certainly to bring aspirational value both to your brand and to the Lexington brand all at the same time. So you've given, you've talked about how difficult it's been. Do you feel like that the most difficult part is behind you and we're now ready for just construction or do we still have a black box of unknown? Oh, no. The past few years were far more difficult than any of us expected. And so we are thrilled to be beyond that. And we have a wonderful team of many people, both within the 21C organization, our general contractors, the design team, the consultants that we use. And then once we get up and running, I'm confident we'll hire a wonderful team from here in Lexington with great hospitality. Nice. Great experience. And so we look forward to moving full steam ahead. There's probably no more solid building in the city than that one. I mean, it is whatever kind of hurricane or thunderproof that you want to call it because it is a stout, stout building. So the time you take and the care that you put into it will be recognized for a long time. Thank you, sir. Thank you for those comments. council member stennett and thank you mr greenberg for coming back good to see you good to see you good and thank you for your willingness to invest in our city there's no doubt that the building is an iconic structure to our skyline and it's been long overdue for a facelift and readaptive use and this one could very well be the best one you have amongst your whole core of hotels you're building. So thank you for coming here and giving us the opportunity to consider this. A couple things. You mentioned that the costs have escalated. What have been some of the reasons why they've jumped? Because last time I think you were here, it was around $36 million, and now it's up to $43 million. What has led to that increase in cost? Is it something within the city or just something you found within the building? I think it's several factors. One is the timing, both from a national perspective as well as the local perspective, in terms of the bidding in the market. I think costs, we were basing a lot of our costs based on the historic rehab work that we had done at our Cincinnati project, which in hindsight we probably bought out at one of the better times in recent memory, just in terms of the construction market was very soft, and there was not, you know, there's a lot of hunger for work at that time compared to today. And so I think just the prices in general, whether it was for materials or margins in the industry of all, there were a million factors that caused the pricing to be very low, and we based a lot of our cost estimates based on that similar work that we had done in Cincinnati. This building is, there's a lot of work, I'd say city and regional wide right now, that has been announced or plans or that the contracting community is expecting. And so that also factors into which projects they would like to chase, which projects they bid. And so I think that adds to it as well. And then also, this building has just proven to be a lot more challenging. We did not, the challenges of building in this 15-story building, on most floors, will only have six or seven hotel rooms, which is not an efficient design for hotels, to get the level of HVAC systems, of plumbing, of electrical systems throughout that entire building. And then there's structural work as well, particularly on that Main Street Annex building, which is the lower rise building of the, well, you can see it right there on the right-hand side with the awnings there. That building needs some major structural underpinning to support our plans for that building that were much more extensive than we thought. So a combination of factors. So based on the increase in price, what can we expect the local, the rate to be to stay one night at the room? Do we know yet? And we are projecting in all of our financing material that we've provided to HUD, to the city, to the Convention Visitors Bureau, to everyone, has been a starting average rate of $190 a night. Okay. And then during construction, you already said local bank on the finance loan. What about construction? Are there only local contractors bidding? Design, was it done by local contractors? How have they been able to access the opportunity to build and remodel the hotel? Our general contractor is WEIR, WHER, which is a Kentucky-based contractor. They worked very closely with folks in city government in compliance with HUD regulations and also city regulations because of the development agreement that we've actually already signed with the city to canvas the city pretty significantly to attract bids. I would have to defer to one of my colleagues and get back to you on everything that we did, but I know we had several open meetings to provide opportunities. We actually delayed the response time on the initial bidding to give local contractors more opportunity to bid. And so we did that, and I think we cast a wide net here locally in Lexington. Because we definitely want to give our local contractors an opportunity. a project of this size doesn't come along every day, and it would be good to have those opportunities available as well. And you mentioned federal and state tax credits. On the local level, I'd asked this question a couple weeks ago, and someone else may have to answer it, but how much are you asking from us from a local standpoint of the property tax and the payroll tax abatement? Well, all of that, so there are a few different pieces of the, If you look at everything that the city has approved or that we're talking about today, would be the UDAG loan, the HUD-108 loan, and then there would be the local property taxes and the local occupational tax. That is not upfront capital. That is a TIF. And so as those new taxes, new incremental taxes are generated, they would be rebated to the project in the future as they're newly created. Right. So how long are you asking for us to do that on a local level, the occupational and the property? It's already been approved, as I understand it, and I believe it's 20 years. Right. I just want to make sure everyone understands what's part of the whole package. That's correct. It's for 20 years. Because you mentioned in your presentation that there's significant taxes, increases available in investment, but it's not for 20 years. So that's what I'm looking at down the road in terms of the tax for occupational and property that we'll actually see from the job creation and from the $44 million investment in hotel property. Well, we don't get 100% of the taxes, so there is the increment. And then also we hope to be a catalyst for other projects around the area, and our TIF is just site-specific. So anything that happens outside of the property that we have on the screen here will not be captured within the 21C TIF program. Right. And we hope it does that. We hope you are the catalyst that we need. And my time's up. But I will leave you in saying, again, thank you for your investment. And I had a couple more questions, but I'll circle back in here shortly. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Scottsville. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Mayor. Excuse me. Thank you for coming today. Been to the Louisville 21C and enjoy it. It's definitely a discussion point when you go. I did have questions about kind of the other markets that 21C is currently operating in. Is Lexington considered a smaller, larger market than most? Which one? How would you characterize? Well, it will not be our smallest by size. In February of last year, we opened a hotel in Bentonville, Arkansas. We're also open in Cincinnati, Ohio. We're under construction right now in Durham, North Carolina. And then this will be our fifth project. We've also announced plans to do projects in Oklahoma City and Kansas City, Missouri. Okay. What is the average investment cost that 21C typically puts into their hotels? Our project sizes have ranged. our Louisville project, which was done in 2006, so that's less relevant for many reasons today. It was completed in 2006, started construction in 2004. It was about a $31 million project, and our largest project that we've completed to date was Cincinnati, which was just over $51 million. And I guess I'll go ahead and follow up with a different question. obviously Centerpoint is going up across the street, and I know several people have touched on what the impact is. One of the things that has me concerned is in your presentation, you said it's not the strongest market for hotels right now, and yet we as Lexington are getting ready to put up investing in 21C. We also have Centerpoint, which has a Marriott, and then we have an extended stay. I mean, do you foresee everybody being able to compete and be successful in this? I mean, it's a four-block radius. We do, and we welcome other new hotels to the market as well. In many cases, we've seen in Louisville, for example, that after the 615-room downtown Marriott Hotel was built and completed, folks there thought that might really hurt the market because of so many new rooms coming on in once. In fact, after that, the market got stronger, room rates went up, they were able to attract a new business, new meetings, new conventions to Louisville that otherwise would not have been able to, you know, wouldn't have come to Louisville were it not for that hotel. And that helped all hotels, I think, in the downtown area. And so we would welcome and support other hotels in the downtown area as well. And I should mention, I think, when I made those comments about the hotel market, I'm talking about looking historically more from a bank's perspective or from financial institutions that look backwards. We look forwards. And looking forward, we think the opportunity for new hotels in Lexington is strong. If it wasn't, we certainly would not be making the very significant private investment commitment that our group is making into this market. And I think that's the reason why you're seeing other interest as well, because other folks agree that this market will be stronger in the future than maybe it is today. And I appreciate, and I'm very glad that those are the comments you make. A lot of times we ask questions up here because the public see all these hotels being built and wondering how are we going to support this business coming in. So I appreciate your comments and look forward to getting you all built. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Ford. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Craig, for being here today and for your presentation. I have just a few questions. Some of it has already been touched upon. I want to first premise my questions by recognizing and publicly stating the impact that such a project will have on such an iconic building in downtown Lexington. and the historic preservation aspect of it is a great component of the project. But my questions, in the most part, have to deal with the financing, and particularly the Section 108 HUD loan. I'm gravely concerned about it. A series of questions that I've thought of. Of the five cities that you guys have a footprint in now, Has any other city utilized the Section 108 loan to provide incentives for the 21C hotels built there? We are currently pursuing a Section 108 loan with Oklahoma City. Okay, so Louisville, Bentonville, Cincinnati, and Durham, heretofore in Lexington, 21C has never had to rely upon a Section 108 loan. I wouldn't characterize it that way. I didn't know the program existed for our first three hotels, even though it's been around for many, many decades, just as the city of Lexington has not used the program before either. I was unaware of it. So those three projects, we certainly could have. But no, that's in every project in Kansas City, for example, we have been approved for a tax, a local only tax increment financing plan that will provide over $30 million of support for our project in Kansas City. So as a result of the city government's TIF in that case, we did not pursue a 108 loan in that city. And I appreciate that, but the answer to the question is no other city prior to Lexington has Section 108 investment in a 21-seat hotel. Well, Oklahoma City, but we haven't started construction. Haven't started. The four that are in process now, that answer would be no. Now, the second question I have, Craig, is quantify for us the level of financial contribution for the four previous projects, Louisville, Cincinnati, Bentonville, and Durham, to what level, and it was mentioned prior to your visit here, our last discussion and work session, there was discussion that there's been great local government financial contribution. Can you quantify that for us? I was hoping that that would have been a part of the presentation today. Sure. Well, Cincinnati provided us with a $2.5 million grant, and a property tax TIF and loan where the city loaned to us $3.8 million. So the city of Cincinnati provided us with $6.3 million in upfront cash that did not have to be repaid from the project's operations. Bentonville, Arkansas did not provide us with local incentives. The city of Louisville provided us with a $1.7 million grant that did not have to be repaid. And there was something else, but that's, let me, I'll rethink about that. And then Durham, North Carolina, the city and county governments there are not merged, but together they provided us with $7.7 million of local tax increment financing. As I mentioned, Kansas City's TIF that they approved, which again was local only, exceeded $30 million. And we have been approved in Oklahoma City for $5.3 million of local support, plus our pursuit of the HUD 108 loan. So Cincinnati, in upfront cost, in upfront investment, $6.3 million. Louisville a $1.7 million grant Bentonville zero and then in Durham the city county was that $7.7 million upfront contribution are no that is local TIF that's a TIF that's a difference and hopefully council member will come back with that I'm running short on time I have just one other question I am interested to know more about the convention and bureaus request. That is news, I guess, to me and perhaps to others around the horseshoe. Since our discussion two weeks ago, I'd like to know more about it. And now that the bids are back, we have a project at $43.4 million. Have you guys been able to quantify to what level that represents local construction participation and particularly the minority contractor participation? Do you have that information available? I do not. We will do all of our bidding in compliance with all of the local goals for minority and women-owned business contracting, and we embrace that opportunity in all of our projects in all of our communities. The bids, while we have been out to bid, we have not awarded all the bids for all of the subcontracts yet as we continue to work through some final pricing numbers, and so it would be premature to provide that information because the bids have not been awarded yet. Craig, I appreciate your, again, being here. I wish you great luck in the project. I'm just very concerned about the Section 108 loan component, and I'm not certain if I can support it at this time. But thanks again. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Councilman Clark. Thank you, Mayor. Mr. Greenberg, thank you so much for being here. I am very excited about this project. And a couple of questions, and then I'll make some comments. But what is full capacity? If you have your hotel full, what is the full capacity? Do you know yet? I'm not sure I fully understand the question. We have 88 rooms, so full capacity. So it's actually, those are rooms, those are actual hotel rooms that you'll be filling, of course. That's correct. What other facilities in the project itself, like meeting rooms and banquet rooms and those kinds of things, are involved? Well, all of our public space, when not in use, are our museum gallery space that's, again, open to the public for them to browse the art. We'll have the restaurant and bar and private dining room space. We'll have galleries as well on the first floor. On the second floor, we'll have a ballroom, and we'll have, I believe it's four rooms that are galleries, which also can be used as meeting and event space. Yeah, I see. Well, one of the things that I want to point out, and I think we kind of forget that the fact that this is a tremendous opportunity for historic preservation. Who knows? If you folks hadn't come in with interest in this property, who knows what would happen to that building? because obviously it can't be used just for anything. And we appreciate that, and I want to keep that in mind, that that's an invaluable contribution to this community. It's also invaluable in terms of the city image. I think the fact that this hotel is coming here, and you have confidence in us and in this city, is an invaluable contribution for us as a city. and your comment about being a catalyst I think is awfully important as well because far beyond what the hotel will bring in, the catalyst that the hotel will become for a lot of other events and people who come to town for different events I think will be also invaluable. And so anyway, my thanks to you and your company. I think it's a real contribution to Lexington. And I think the ultimate benefits are still to be seen. And I think it will show in the future that it's a great investment for us. So thank you very much. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Lawless. Thank you, Mayor. Welcome. Thanks. This is right there in the 3rd District. But I'm not running again. So I guess when it's finished, I can just come live there. Stay and eat often. Stay and eat often, yes. I was there just by happenstance the night that Proof opened. The very first night it opened, now it's grand opening. So I'm very excited. I do have one question for you. Do you all own, does 21C purchase the art that you display? Or is it people's collections that are on loan, et cetera, in a combination? It's from a combination of sources. 21C, our company itself, does own some of the art. Our founders, Steve Wilson and Laura Lee Brown, loan their art collection as well to the company. And then more and more, particularly as we grow, we're borrowing from other museums around the country. We're borrowing from other collectors, other galleries, and artists themselves. We have a full-time team of museum department of a chief curator and director of art programming and others that work with her to curate all of the shows and to find the right pieces that will work for each particular exhibit, whether they are in our collection or whether we need to borrow them from elsewhere. And so just like a real museum borrows to display innovative shows, so do we. Well, I can't wait to enjoy it. Thank you very much for coming to downtown Lexington and the wonderful 3rd District. And like I say, when it's finished, I'll be able to start coloring so you can have some of my art. Perfect. Thank you very much. Got me some new crayons, and I'll just come stay and all I can. Thanks. Very good to see you as always. Likewise. Council Member Akers. Thank you, Mayor. Thanks for coming. I appreciate the thorough information. I've been there as well and love it multiple times, and I think that it will be a great addition to Lexington. It was a very good day, I remember, when it was announced a couple of years ago now. But I do share the concerns that Councilmember Ford has about utilizing HUD and CDBG funds as collateral or leverage for the project. And so I guess my main question really to the administration, not you guys because I want you here, is why can't we just bond this money and give it to them as a loan and ask for repayment instead of having to use the CDBG funds as leverage, especially when for you all it's more difficult and burdensome to use that loan in the first place. Anyone? Anyone? Jamie, do you want Bill to speak to that? Do you want to speak to it? Can I just make one quick comment? Is that there have been improvements from the city's perspective in the HUD 108 loan since we last spoke. And the HUD 108 loan has, in addition to the operations of the hotel, which will be available to repay the loan, there's also collateral that the city will have in addition to just the hotel operations. And those are personal guarantees and a mortgage on the property. When we originally spoke, the $6 million loan was going to be behind $18 million of a first mortgage and was going to have a second mortgage. Now, if you'll see in this, that the way that it's worked out is the HUD loan is only behind a $12 million first loan. And so that means that it has a more secure position in the real estate than when we first started talking. And so this might be too technical, but the risk to the city is that the project can't pay its debt service, that the owners don't put in cash to service the debt service if the project can't pay and walk away from all of their other private investments before they try to turn it around. that the personal guarantees are no good, and that the property that we're spending $43 million on to develop is worth less than $18 million. Because if at a foreclosure sale, this property that we're investing more than $43 million in is worth more than $18 million, even at foreclosure, the city is made whole. So from a security perspective, the city is in a better position now on the HUD 108 loan than it was when we first started talking. Just a point of technical clarification. All right. Can I add to that? Anybody want to add to that? Sure. Do you know what the interest rate on the HUD is? The way the program works is the federal government sets the interest rate on the loan. The current interest rate, it's a formula based on LIBOR plus 30 basis points, I believe. So right now, the interest rate is about one-half of 1%, and that floats. There is the opportunity to fix it at very favorable rates as well. And so I assume that's right. I was just going to say, compare that to market rates right now. I mean, it's just more affordable for you. but on the front end, they do have to do prevailing wage and all the other requirements that are necessary to satisfy the HUD requirements. That's the big advantage of doing the HUD 108 loan is the opportunity to get lower interest costs. Okay. Bill, did you have anything? I'm sorry. You're in line, so I just wanted to offer you the... But the other way to look at it is if you could ask your mother and dad to loan you money to buy the car, or you could ask Uncle Sam and use Uncle Sam's money instead of your own money, then that's more favorable for your family. So we're not using our debt service. We're leveraging the federal government program that is key to downtown revitalization. Okay. Councilmember Lane Thank you, Mayor Craig, I just wanted to make this sort of short but a sincere thanks for 21C for making a major investment in our downtown area. I personally think it's going to be very successful and a major asset to our downtown. I just wanted to go on the record. Thank you very much Thank you Back to Councilmember Stenet. Thank you, Mayor I appreciate you answering that position of the HUD loan. I was going to ask that next, so thank you for giving me more time to speak. I appreciate that. My pleasure. A couple things. One, on how many, you said 125 jobs. How many is in the hotel piece alone and in the restaurant? Is that combined? That is combined. Okay. I just wanted to make sure there. You know, our big question is, you know, the HUD 108 money, is this the best use of that money? You mentioned the low interest rate, 20 basis points on the LIBO. That's very low interest. We have a lot of needs in our city. We have an old courthouse right next door, as you're well aware of, that needs a lot of work. We have an affordable housing trust fund that's starting up. So when we sit down and look at our citizens and our constituents out there, they want to know, is this the best use of this money? What do we get for it? The city of Lexington, as Council Member Ford pointed out, we're putting in almost 50% of the cost of this project. um it's it's probably one of the few projects i can remember since being on council we've done that much investment if not the only one so you when you ask yourself what are we getting for it first of all do you still need the 108 money and answer is probably yes or you wouldn't be here today um you would have other sources you have two loans listed you have the 12 million dollar loan with central bank do you have a second one you've already taken out or will take out that you have listed on there? That's right. The $6 million loan is another loan that, again, is guaranteed by the development team. But it will be behind the HUD 108 loan in priority. This was the result of discussions between us, the city, and HUD that had similar questions to what you're asking today. And so we agreed to move the HUD loan up in priority and split the central bank loan and move it back. But Central Bank is providing a $12 million loan that's listed on this chart here. Okay. Well, thank you again for coming today. I appreciate your willingness to appear, and I appreciate your investment in our city, because I know it's an important step for downtown. But I think the council's role, and what's before is on the dock, is this the best project to use this money on? Obviously, if the answer is yes, we vote for it. If it's not, then we go back to the drawing board and look at what are other options that could better be used on this money. And I think that's a discussion I guess we'll have here in the next couple weeks. but you certainly made your case today in what this opportunity brings to Lexington, not to mention, you know, if Rupp Arena succeeds in the convention space, we're short hotel rooms in Fayette County now by about 250. And this obviously will play a role in helping us fill that gap along with the project across the street. So thank you again for being here. And make sure we have blue penguins in your pictures because I saw the red ones. That was from our Louisville project. At our announcement early on, this is the only time we've ever done this, where we announced the color of the penguin at the announcement of the project. Well, the mayor still won't give it up either. It's in his window teasing us. Thank you. He took it back. Yeah. It was kidnapped. Yeah. Okay. Council Member Ford. Thank you, Mayor, for the opportunity to speak twice. Craig, I think Council Member Akers and Council Member Stenet kind of helped get to the point where I am with the project. And your response and the response that Jamie and Commissioner O'Meara provided kind of lets me know where you guys are standing from the standpoint of the developer. Is that the Section 108 loan would be more favorable to you guys in regards to the opportunity savings financially. It would be more favorable to your project. but I agree is that I'm not convinced that it's the right project, but Section 108, in my opinion, is the wrong funding source. Our government is entitled $2 million annually from HUD for community development block grant. Approximately half of that is already committed every year to a longstanding stormwater and sewer project in my district, the Meadows-Northland-Arlington project. The remaining $1 million goes to support housing and other things in our community. We're at a deficit already there. Cities such as Lexington have at its availability five times its annual allocation and entitlement. Two million times five, that's $10 million. dollars, $6 million dedicated to 21C, in my opinion, for all intents and purposes, caps out our ability as a city to invest these scarce funds in other areas in our community. There are at least a half dozen neighborhoods across the city, some in my district and some not in my district, some in my colleagues' district, that could benefit from this source of funds. And so I look at it as an opportunity lost or an opportunity put at risk for true community and economic development. I say that, again, not as an attack on your project, but again, I think it's a great project, but Section 8, Section 108 for me is just the wrong funding source. One other question I will ask is in regards to the, and I'm looking at the slide that has the Section 108 loan and the outstanding request. And I will say, aside from the line item of the Section 108, if it weren't $6 million, maybe that may for me have an impact. But the $1 million in UDAG, it is already going. I think that you guys, from what I see, have a sound project. I don't think that you guys are throwing numbers up at us that you haven't thought real long and hard at. Talk to us a little bit about the particulars, if you can, of the request to the Convention and Visitors Bureau. My understanding is that the director recently, former director recently, resigned abruptly. I don't know the gentleman personally, don't know a lot of the dynamic around his departure, but what is the ask and why is there an ask at this hour of the commissioners of the Tourism Bureau and what impact does that have on the overall impact of the project? Well, first, and Council Member Ford, if I could just on the 108 real quickly and then answer your question about the CVB, just to make sure everyone on the council understands that the CDBG funds that come to the city are not impacted by this loan. This loan works on top of that program, and so the money continues to come to the city each year, notwithstanding this loan or any other 108 loan. I would also note that the jobs that are created by this project for the size of the loan are prescribed by the programs of the 108 program. So I would encourage you all to consider that if you're considering this, against other projects to know that the number of jobs being created per section 108 dollar, if you will, will be similar in nature. As you mentioned yourself, there is other 108 money available. This does require repayment, so it's not a grant. And one of the challenges with the 108 program is to find projects that can sustain the intense underwriting that HUD and the city have to ensure repayment so the city doesn't lose money. That's the worst case scenario for the city. And then finally, I would encourage you all to consider the multiplier effect that this HUD 108 loan is having of a $6 million loan that is helping cause the development of a $43 million project, very significant leverage for the size of that loan. In terms of the Convention Visitors Bureau request, the request we have been working, We made that request to Chairman Tritzler and Mr. Browder, who at the time was the director of that. And so we have requested support beginning, and we are trying to craft a proposal that acknowledges the reality and the challenges that they have today with some of the uncertainty over the near term with the convention center and its renovation and redoing along with Rupp Arena. And so we had asked for support, annual support to support the public nature, open to the public nature, and the free contemporary art museum in years 2017 through 2027. We projected this project will generate over $8 million in new local bed taxes over a 20-year period. And so we were asking for a very small fraction of that over the first 10 years of our operation. can you disclose what the exact ask of the particular ask the total that we requested was two million dollars over that 10-year period okay thanks again craig thank you mayor thank you councilman beard i thought i was going to be last i guess not craig thank you for coming you've kind of been on the hot seat to an extent. The only thing I would like to say is that that building was couched in this room as a building that will fall down around our ears because of his age. my response was maybe not as long as the pyramids but close knowing how the structure is and I worked there for 17 years so I know a little bit about it and I'm sure there's been a lot of challenges they didn't know about floor loadings in 1913 and 1914 so they just poured concrete until they got tired and you then have to deal with things like that but I'm very high on the program and I just can't wait for opening night. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Council Member Ellinger. Thank you, Mayor. and like all my colleagues, we're all excited about 21C coming to Lexington. I think as was stated when you all were talking about coming, it could be a game changer for downtown, so we're all excited. I guess my question is if we don't approve the 108 loan, in your opinion, would this project go forward? No. That's all I need to know. Thank you. All right, Councilman McKay. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you for the presentation. Just a couple of quick comments. It seems to me that good questions have been raised about the uses of the 108 money. But it seems to me that if there are valid concerns and there are competing options, that it would be helpful to have them come forward. At the moment, what we have is a project that proposes to use these monies in a way that I think is very creative. And my understanding about these funds are that it's not so easy to put together an application and that the feds have a lot of very specific regulations about what you can and cannot do. So we've never used them in the city. I presume a part of that is that no one's ever come forward and said, here's a good way to use them. So while I understand what the reservations are, it seems to me unless we have a competing option, even a projected competing option. What would it look like? Who would come forward? How might we use some of these monies in the future that we ought to be very supportive of this project? And I am. I think it's exciting for downtown. It creates jobs. It does exactly what I think a project like this needs to do. So I appreciate you coming forward, and I appreciate all of the effort that's gone in so far to make this project a reality for the downtown. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Councilmember Lawless. Just quickly, I want to say that one of the things that we talk about a lot when you look at downtown development and that type of thing, which is something I have no training other than I love it and I've always been interested in it, is that when you build things for the citizens, the visitors will come. And 21C is one of those places where people in Lexington will come downtown to enjoy it as well as visitors. And people in Lexington will have a special anniversary or birthday and spend the night there, bring their families down to eat, come to the museum. So basically, this isn't just about hotel rooms for visitors. It's about enhancing the living room of our city and building something for our citizens probably first and visitors second. And so in that way, I think this is an extremely good use of the money. I'm very excited about it. That's been very creative and very creatively put together by you all. And so I urge my colleagues to support this vigorously. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman Lawless. Looks like that's all the council members have signed on. So, Craig, thanks for joining us today. Thank you all. All right. That allows us to move on to next on our agenda, Council Reports. If you'll sign on, please, beginning with Vice Mayor Gordon. Thank you, Mayor. I have two items. First is a motion to place into planning committee a review of the most recent University of Kentucky master plan. Second. Motion by Vice Mayor Gordon. Second by Council Member Lane. Is there any discussion? on the motion. Hearing none, then we can take a vote. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. And second, council members, you remember at our link report out meeting today, we talked about asking the staff to rank the individual council member requests. Well, When we went back and looked at the calendar, the requests are due this Friday, the 30th, at 5 p.m., which means that the staff would work on ordering them on Monday and possibly the first part of Tuesday and get them back to council for ranking. However, many council members will be on the Commerce Lexington leadership trip. So the question is, do you want to do the rankings while you're on the trip and do that work? Because Stacy has to have the packet put together by Thursday, so she'll have to have them back by Wednesday. Well, there's a little bit of work that will need to be done compiling them. or do you just want to do them? My gut feeling is we can just put them on a list as they come in, and then you don't have to work while you're out of town on the trip. Well, I hear no comments, so I'll ask her to go ahead and just put them together as they come in so that she'll have them for the packet next week. Does that work? Okay. Is this things that we'd like to see that are not link recommendations that we'd like to see? And I didn't understand the whole ranking thing. We used that for the fund balance. We used it. But we've not done it for council member individual recommendations for the budget in the past. Well, I think, didn't we do it last time for the individual recommendations for the budget? And then we did it for the fund balance. We didn't rank them. We just went around and voted on them on this first leg of it, and then we ranked them. And I found that to be an extremely difficult way to do it. Because in the first round, the third district was the only district that had a request that got zero. And then when we did the fund balance and we all ranked them, they're in between the two pots of money. The various districts range from getting millions to the third district getting about $25,000 for a diving board for Woodland Park. So I don't think it was done fairly or with all community interests, and I think there needs to be a better way for us to do that. Well, the whole point of ranking was so we had a list, simply a, this is how we'll discuss them. I have asked for years for a good plan, and that was the best one council members came up with, was the ranking so that we knew in what order we would discuss things. But it looks like council members would prefer not to do this work while they're out of town on the trip. So I'm going to go ahead, if there's no objection, and just ask Stacey to put them in order for discussion of how they come in, how they're emailed to her and Paul and Connie and myself. Well, I guess it's a bigger issue for me, and that is, is it the best use or the best way for us as a body to decide on how the money is distributed? So maybe we could have a lottery. Well, that hadn't been suggested. Thank you. I'm sorry. Thank you. So, Council Members, if you'll submit your individual recommendations for the fiscal year 15 budget by Friday at 5 p.m., then they'll get on the list. Thank you. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Council Member Ellinger. Thank you, Mayor. By the request from the administration, I move to place on the docket of the June 5, 2014 Council meeting ordinance authorizing and improving the execution and delivery of a fourth supplemental lease agreement between the Lexington Fayette Urban County Airport Board as the lease sewer and the Lexington Fayette County Government as the leasee in connection with the issuance of the Lexington Fayette Urban County Airport Board General Airport Revenue Obligation 2014 Series A, revolving credit note, Lexington Fayette Urban County Government General Obligation. in a maximum aggregate principal amount not to exceed $10 million for the purpose of providing interim financing for certain airport facilities at the Bluegrass Airport. So moved. Motion by Council Member Ellinger, seconded by Council Member Lane. Is there any discussion on the motion? Okay, hearing none, then we can take a vote. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. Council Member Lawless. Thank you, and I'll try to make this brief. The link report out was extremely interesting. I have only one comment about that, and it has to do with the public safety link and the concern from the corrections officers that they're grossly understaffed. And what we see is almost every single week, there are a ton of corrections officers leaving. And so we're training them and spending all that money going through that process to hire and train them, and they're leaving as fast as we're bringing them in the door. and one of the recommendations the link made was that there be an exit interview. And they do have an exit interview, and I've read some of those exit interviews and also the comments by who does them. And I've been asking since, I guess, Chief Ballard or whatever he is, Director Ballard. I'm sorry, I can't remember who's a chief and who's a commander or whatever. Actually, even before he started, that there be an anonymous survey by all employees at the jail. If it had been done when he first got here, then we would have a baseline. But there's a reason people are leaving, and instead of waiting until they leave to find out why, If we could be more proactive, and that still hadn't been done. I mean, we can do it on Survey Monkey. It doesn't take a genius monkey to figure it out what to ask. So I would like to make a motion that that be placed in committee or I really don't know what motion to make here, but that this be done every six months, especially in divisions like corrections where we have a constant turnover. Amen. Is that a motion? Well, what committee? I'm not really sure. Public safety. Public safety committee. And the motion is? Well, I really don't think we need a motion to put it in committee. I think we do. We do. I make a motion that we place in the public safety committee drafting or whatever and having corrections do an anonymous employee satisfaction survey immediately and every six months. So moved. There's a motion and there's a second. Is there any discussion on the motion? Mayor. Council Member Henson. I guess you're going to put this in committee, and then we would decide how the questions for the survey in the committee and how it would be administered, who would administer. And that's not to take away from doing an exit interview. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Council Member Lane. I would suggest that we not put it into the Public Safety Committee because it's right now it's in the Links Committee and we haven't reported out in writing our final recommendation yet. And then the council would vote on it at that time. So it's like this would be a double effort. All right. Is there any further discussion on the motion? All right. I'm going to set the chair aside for just a second to say that I'm sure if Director Ballard, if he was watching this and you've got Commissioner Mason here, You've got Deputy Chief Administrative Officer, the former jailer, who could probably comment on this, but I'm always, when I hearken back to the wisdom of the late, of, of, of, it was Daniel Patrick Moynihan who first said it, and he said that issues are like pancakes. No matter how thick or thin, they've always got two sides. And I'm sure that the director would wish to comment on this if he were here. The issue of attrition, of course, as Council Member Lawless, as you suggest, the issue of attrition has been present at the corrections facility for some time. And Director Ballard has worked intentionally and deliberately, according to what he has described, to address those issues and to encourage a reformed culture within that institution. And if Commissioner Mason or Glenn, if you'd like Glenn, it looks like you're coming up here. I think it would be worthwhile for Glenn first. Clay? And then may I comment on the motion? And then, yeah, I think the Vice Mayor wishes to comment. I understand what you're asking for as far as a survey, But I think there are a lot of other things that are in the works. One is what's come out of the public safety links. I think if that gets some ground, I don't think a survey is actually going to get you what you really want because people are really apprehensive about filling out surveys. Historically, in corrections throughout this country, turnover is very high in corrections. The reason why is it's not really looked at as a career job. It's a job that once people get into it, they find out it's not what it's all cracked up to be. I think Director Ballard, since he's come here from the days that that jail opened, has done better than anybody else in retaining staff. You will have some people that were in between jobs that have applied for that job, And when Toyota and other places have started hiring people back because of now how the recession is, you're going to have those issues. And you're going to find, too, that people are going to say that these things are going on and that's why they're leaving. I think he is keeping a base of exit interviews, and I think now he is doing them personally as opposed to being done by an assistant director. And I think he is spending a lot of time with people. I think on the average he's spending 30 to 45 minutes on various exit interviews trying to find out the root of the cause. But I don't really think that exit interviews, I don't really think that they're going to be answered in the fashion that you're really looking for because people will not fill them out properly. Thank you. I'm not asking for exit interviews. I'm asking for anonymous feedback from employees. And what I think we see is oftentimes we get suggestions from those employees. And to your pancake comment, once you hear both sides of any story, you realize there are many, many sides. this is in no way a slam to Director Ballard and I'm sorry I keep calling him chief but anyway but this may be oftentimes what we find in employment my first degree in work in business was that oftentimes more time off is way more valuable than more pay, or people have higher job satisfaction when they get a yearly bonus than when they get a raise throughout the year, things like that. Simple things that may be, you know, plus people just feel heard, and there is a lot to be said for thinking somebody's listening to you. The anonymity protects people from being afraid. And again, I'm not talking about exit interviews. I'm talking about ongoing interviews with any division is great with me, but especially when you have a division with such a high turnover rate. And I'm not saying it's because he's doing anything wrong or whatever, but I think we can probably gain some knowledge about why people are leaving or what might make them more likely to stay that isn't even monetary that we wouldn't think of. So that's my two cents. I don't see how it could hurt anything. I would be willing, if that's the council's desire, I would be willing, along with, I'm sure, Commissioner Mason, our office, to sit down with Director Ballott and put together such a survey if that's the will of the council to do that. I don't think it would be a problem doing that. Yeah, I was just going to say that I think the motion is to put the question, and I would guess would interpret it more broadly as the issue of turnover. And from my point of view, I wouldn't object to it at all, and I wouldn't think that Rodney would either, because I think the more awareness and familiarity the council has with the issues, the better it is. So I think that's what, Glenn, that's what you're saying too, right? I believe that's what I was saying. Like I say, I think— What countermeasures then might help is where we would be going. Well, we might find out information that, and again, it's a morale issue when employees feel their opinions and their thoughts and their ideas are heard and validated. Right. Okay. Thank you. So you have a motion, we have a second, we have a discussion. Does anyone else wish to comment? Council Member Henson. I just wanted some clarification as the chair of the Public Safety Committee is that Glenn and Commissioner Mason bring a survey, a list of questions, and this will be shared with the Public Safety Committee. I didn't hear it that way. I heard that that was one of the countermeasures that Councilman Lawless was suggesting. But what I heard the motion was to bring the issue of turnover and then perhaps countermeasures that would emerge from that discussion. Now, if that's the case, then I do know that a link recommendation was to reduce the turnover. and we need a plan in place. So I know that Council Member Lawless said that there is an enormous turnover rate. There is an enormous turnover rate among corrections facilities, but I believe ours is about 10% higher than the average. So if we could get information like that, look at the turnover rate, how are we going to reduce it? It will never go away, but how are we going to reduce it? So that's my thoughts. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Is anyone else? Council Member Kay. Actually, I think that clarification was where I was going. It seems to me the issue, the question is over, and to have the Public Safety Committee look at that issue, of course with input from all the relevant players, and then begin to think about ways that we might have recommendations about changes. But I think this is appropriate to put it in committee. Okay. Thank you. All right. Is there any further discussion? We good, Clay? I was just going to comment. I believe at length, Director Ballard did comment about the attrition rate, and it has come down since he's been there. I know he's got the statistics and figures. So he can read? And has improved. So he can share that again with the broader committee. Yes. Right. Okay. All right. Now we can take a vote, it looks like. All in favor of the motion, please indicate by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. Okay. All right. Council Member Henson. Thank you, baby. I forgot where I was. You're in the council chamber. I wanted to announce that there is a public meeting to discuss the Wolf Run Trunk Sewer Improvement Project. and that will be this Thursday, the 29th at 6 o'clock at the Tate Building, which is 125 Lyle Industrial Road. And then on the 30th, the Southland is having a summer festival, and that is May 30th, Friday of course from 5 to 7 at the Good Foods Co-op. And Family Care Center is having a graduation at 6.30 June 3rd, Tuesday. I think several of you will be out of town, but I think it's always good to go to that and see what accomplishments have been made. And then on Friday, June 13th, sorry, Friday, June 6th, there is another graduation, day treatment. Sorry, June 4th, day treatment graduation is at 11 o'clock. Thank you, Mayor. All right. Thank you, Council Member Henson. Council Member Akers. Thank you, Mayor. The Division of Emergency Management is hosting a public meeting tonight in recognition of the tornado that hit Masterson Station. Ten years ago today, an F3 tornado wiped out several houses and damaged lots more. So they will hold a public meeting tonight to reflect and to discuss better preparedness for severe weather. It will be at the Leastown campus of BCTC from 6 to 8 p.m., and that is at 164 Opportunity Way, Building C, Room 136. And we'll discuss emergency preparedness as well as the tornado of 10 years ago. If you cannot attend and would like more information, you can visit lexingtonky.gov slash DEM. Thank you very much. Council Member Ellinger. Thank you, Mayor. This is bike month here in May, and on Friday night at Triangle Park, at 7 o'clock there will be festivities going on, and at 8.45 they'll be showing the movie American Flyers. And then on Saturday starting at 8 o'clock at the courthouses, they'll be having festivities, and they'll be doing the bike-lexing starting at 10 o'clock where there will be a police escort through the downtown. I think it's around 8, 9 mile. It's a fun event, family event, so I recommend everybody come down. It looks like the weather's going to be nice this weekend. It should be fun. Get your bikes out and let's go roll. through Lexington. Thanks, Mayor. Council Member Ford. Thank you, Mayor. Just one quick announcement. On tomorrow, Wednesday, May 28th, beginning at 6 p.m., there's going to be a public input meeting concerning the 4th Street area zoning study. As everybody is aware, there's a lot of changes in the 4th Street, 3rd Street, Jefferson Street, Newtown, Pike area, and a lot of input has been put in by BCTC transit the health department and uh area neighborhoods so if anybody's interested again that's going to be at the bctc classroom building on newtown pike rooms 106 and 107 wednesday night at six thank you mayor councilman clark thank you mayor i want to remind everybody of the youth government day scheduled for this friday uh 10 30 here in this chambers and uh the The Mayor's Youth Council will occupy these chairs, including the positions of vice mayor and mayor, and all the council members, and even the council clerk. So we're looking forward to that. I'd also like to remind everybody that our facility in Moondance sponsors the big band night on Tuesday nights. That's tonight. And then the Friday night events throughout the summer. So we invite you to come to Moondance for great entertainment. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Councilman McClellan. Vice Mayor Gordon. Thank you, Mayor. I do not believe anyone mentioned the Les McCann event coming up this Saturday, May 31st. You know we're getting the Les McCann School for the Arts started. And to celebrate East End Artists, this event is May the 31st. And there is a link on Facebook where people can go to get tickets to the event. That is at the, and you can find out about it also at the www.lexingtonlyric.tix.com. it's going to have Les McCann Javon Jackson a contemporary jazz saxophonist TD Young Band and other local artists and it's going to be a big deal at the Lyric so I wanted to mention that to get people interested next is the mayor's report is there a motion approval motion by Vice Mayor Gordon Second by Councilmember Clark. Is there any discussion on the motion? Okay. Hearing none, then we can take a vote. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. Public comment, anyone signed up? No. All right. Thank you, Mr. Mundy. Motion by Councilmember Ellinger to adjourn. Second. Second. By Councilmember Akers, unless there's objection. We're adjourned. Thank you.