# Council Work Session - January 20, 2015 > Auto-transcribed civic record · January 20, 2015 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/3565 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/3565?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2015-01-20 - **Last revised**: July 15, 2026 - **Length**: 2,294 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 January 20, 2015, at 3:03 p.m. in the Council Chamber on the 2nd Floor of the Government Center, with Mayor Gray presiding. The council addressed 10 agenda items during the session, including public comment periods, rezoning requests, budget amendments, and various business matters. The council took 19 votes and heard 6 public comments from residents. Key actions included approval of a summary, budget amendments, new business items, and continuing business with presentations, while rezoning requests and council and mayor reports were presented for informational purposes. ## Attendance The following individuals were present at the meeting on January 20, 2015: * Kay * Mossotti * Lane * Ford * Scutchfield * Gibbs * Lamb * Evans * Henson * Akers * Brown * Stinnett * Farmer * Bledsoe * Moloney No absences or late arrivals were recorded. ## Votes and Decisions **Motion to suspend the rules for an announcement** [timestamp: 0:00:00] Moved by Kay, seconded by Mossotti. Passed unanimously. **Motion to approve the docket for the January 15, 2015 Council meeting** [timestamp: 0:03:04] Moved by Kay, seconded by Lane. Passed unanimously. **Motion to schedule a special council meeting for a public hearing on March 9, 2015, regarding Ordinance 6** [timestamp: 0:03:04] Moved by Ford, seconded by Scutchfield. Passed unanimously. **Ordinance 2: Motion to place on the docket without a public hearing** [timestamp: 0:03:04] Moved by Gibbs, seconded by Mossotti. Passed unanimously. **Ordinance 3: Motion to place on the docket without a public hearing** [timestamp: 0:03:04] Moved by Evans, seconded by Henson. Passed unanimously. **Ordinance 4: Motion to place on the docket without a public hearing** [timestamp: 0:03:04] Moved by Lamb, seconded by Akers. Passed unanimously. **Ordinance 5: Motion to place on the docket without a public hearing** [timestamp: 0:03:04] Moved by Evans, seconded by Henson. Passed unanimously. **Motion to approve the December 9, 2014 summary** [timestamp: 0:03:04] Moved by Scutchfield, seconded by Farmer. Passed unanimously. **Motion to approve budget amendments** [timestamp: 0:03:04] Moved by Scutchfield, seconded by Henson. Passed unanimously. **Motion to approve new business (Amended)** [timestamp: 0:04:08] Moved by Mossotti, seconded by Farmer. Passed by roll call vote: 11 ayes, 3 nays. Voting in favor: Kay, Stinnett, Moloney, Ford, Gibbs, Farmer, Scutchfield, Brown, Mossotti, Bledsoe, Henson. Voting against: Akers, Lamb, Evans. **Motion to amend and refer item C to the Planning & Public Safety committee** [timestamp: 0:04:08] Moved by Farmer, seconded by Scutchfield. Passed by roll call vote: 11 ayes, 3 nays. Voting in favor: Kay, Stinnett, Moloney, Ford, Gibbs, Farmer, Scutchfield, Brown, Mossotti, Bledsoe, Henson. Voting against: Akers, Lamb, Evans. **Motion to approve neighborhood development funds** [timestamp: 0:04:08] Moved by Scutchfield, seconded by Henson. Passed unanimously. **Motion to refer to the Environmental Quality & Public Works Committee the designation of streets in Columbia Heights as prohibited to through trucks and authorizing traffic signage** [timestamp: 0:04:08] Moved by Gibbs, seconded by Farmer. Passed unanimously. **Motion to place into the Environmental Quality & Public Works Committee setting the speed limit on West Second Street to 25 mph** [timestamp: 0:04:08] Moved by Akers, seconded by Henson. Passed unanimously. **Motion to place into the Environmental Quality & Public Works Committee the installation of multi-way stop controls at Ferndale Pass and Buck Lane** [timestamp: 0:04:08] Moved by Akers, seconded by Ford. Passed unanimously. **Motion to approve the Mayor's report** [timestamp: 0:04:08] Moved by Stinnett, seconded by Mossotti. Passed unanimously. **Motion to enter into closed session under KRS 61.810(1)(f) for employee appointment/dismissal discussion** [timestamp: 0:04:08] Moved by Kay, seconded by Scutchfield. Passed unanimously. **Motion to return from closed session** [timestamp: 0:04:08] Moved by Scutchfield, seconded by Lane. Passed unanimously. **Motion to adjourn at 4:25pm** [timestamp: 0:16:45] Moved by Farmer, seconded by Stinnett. Passed unanimously. ## Budget and Financial Actions The meeting included authorization for the following financial actions: **Contract Change Order for Wastewater Treatment Plant Project** Authorization was granted for a change order to the contract with Smith Contractors, Inc. for the Town Branch Waste Water Treatment Plant Vactor Truck Unloading Station project in the amount of $81,998 (Item 0012-15). **Donation of Ceramic Molds** Authorization was approved to accept a donation of ceramic molds from Mr. and Mrs. James Adkins for use by the Division of Parks and Recreation (Item 0034-15). **Stormwater Quality Grant** Authorization was granted to execute an agreement awarding a Class B Education Stormwater Quality Projects Incentive Grant to Bluegrass Greensource, Inc. in the amount of $30,000.00 (Item 0035-15). **Right of Way Closure** Authorization was approved to permanently close the Eldermere Road right of way adjacent to 760 Montclair Drive for driveway construction (Item 0037-15). ## Public Comment Council members raised several concerns and questions during the meeting. **Town Branch Project Change Order** Council Member Scotchfield questioned a 25% cost increase in a change order for the Town Branch project [timestamp: 0:04:08]. He expressed concerns about the justification for the increase, particularly regarding the addition of site lighting and asphalt pavement. Council Member Maloney sought clarification on whether the project involved transporting concrete to a landfill [timestamp: 0:07:25]. He was informed that the cost increase resulted from a redesign of the Town Branch project. Council Member Evans asked why lighting was not included in the original contract [timestamp: 0:08:59]. Staff clarified that the lighting was tied to a later project phase that underwent redesign. **Eldermere Road Right-of-Way Closure** Council Member Gibbs expressed concern about the closure of Eldermere Road [timestamp: 0:06:20]. He noted this was his first time reviewing the item and requested clarification on the advantages and disadvantages of blocking off the stub. **Recognition and Appreciation** Council Member Stinnett expressed gratitude to several departments and staff members, including Commissioner Reed and John Sheed [timestamp: 0:12:59]. He also recognized the Family Care Center's four-star rating from the State Child Care Council. **Citizens Advocate Office Vacancy** Council Member Sadi raised concern about a vacancy in the Citizens Advocate Office [timestamp: 0:15:07]. He inquired about how public calls were being handled during the vacancy, prompting a response from Vice Mayor Kay. ## Appointments The following appointments were made during the meeting: * **Farmer** was appointed as Environmental Quality & Public Works Committee Chair * **Stinnett** was appointed as Environmental Quality & Public Works Committee Vice Chair * **Ford** was appointed as General Government & Social Services Committee Chair * **Akers** was appointed as General Government & Social Services Committee Vice Chair ## Contested Items Two items generated divided votes during the January 20, 2015 meeting. **Change Order for Town Branch Project** Council Member Scotchfield raised concerns about a 25% cost increase associated with a change order for the Town Branch project. Charlie Martin provided detailed explanations regarding the project redesign and clarified that the change order was necessary to add concrete and lighting back into the contract. Despite these explanations, the item resulted in a split vote among council members. **Eldermere Road Right-of-Way Closure** Council Member Gibbs expressed concern about a proposed closure of the Eldermere Road right-of-way, noting that this was the first time he had encountered the item. His concern prompted a discussion about the internal review process and utility easements related to the closure. This item also resulted in a split vote. ## Public Comment – Issues on Agenda [timestamp: 00:03:04] No members of the public signed up to provide comment on items appearing on the agenda. Mundy noted this absence of public comment, and the meeting proceeded to the next agenda item. ## Requested Rezonings/Docket Approval [timestamp: 00:03:34] No zoning requests were submitted for consideration during this meeting period, and no docket approval was required for the week. ## Approval of Summary The summary of the previous work session was presented for approval. Key speakers on this agenda item included Scutchfield and Akers. [timestamp: 00:03:34] The summary was approved unanimously by the body. ## Budget Amendments No budget amendments were presented during this agenda item [timestamp: 00:03:34]. Despite the absence of proposed amendments, the motion to approve was passed unanimously by the body. Key speakers on this item included Scutchfield and Henson. The item was resolved without debate or concerns being raised, resulting in unanimous approval. ## New Business [timestamp: 00:04:08] Four new business items were presented and discussed during this agenda item. **Items Addressed:** - A change order for a wastewater project - A donation of ceramic molds - A stormwater grant - A right-of-way closure **Key Speakers:** The discussion involved Scotchfield, Gibbs, Maloney, and Evans. **Outcome:** A motion to approve the new business items was passed by roll call vote. ## Continuing Business/Presentations Two committee summaries were presented during this agenda item [timestamp: 0:10:46]. **Presentations** Ford and Farmer presented summaries from two separate committees: - Special General Government & Social Services Committee - Special Environmental Quality & Public Works Committee **Outcome** Both committee summaries were approved without discussion. ## Council Reports Council Members Stinnett and Sadi provided reports during this agenda item [timestamp: 12:59]. **Presentations and Recognition** The council members highlighted department achievements during their reports. Specific details regarding which departments were recognized and the nature of their accomplishments are not available in the provided materials. **Citizens Advocate Position** A status update was provided on the vacant Citizens Advocate position. Further details about the timeline, recruitment process, or next steps for filling this position are not included in the available information. **Outcome** This agenda item was informational in nature, with no formal action or decision required. ## Mayor's Report No Mayor's report was presented during this agenda item [timestamp: 0:14:34]. ## Public Comment – Issues Not on Agenda [timestamp: 0:16:45] No members of the public signed up to provide comment on issues not on the agenda. Mundy noted this absence of public comment, and the meeting proceeded directly to adjournment. ## Adjournment The meeting was adjourned following a motion by Council Member Farmer and a second by Council Member Gibbs. [timestamp: 16:45] The motion to adjourn was approved. --- ## Decisions - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve the January 13, 2015 summary - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve new business - **Motion** — passed (0-0): adjourn at 3:20pm --- ## Full transcript The End ¶¶ ¶¶ Thank you. ¶¶ Hello, everybody. Thank you. Hello, everybody, and welcome to the meeting of the... urban county council work session. I'll call the meeting to order and ask for public comment. Mr. Mundy, has anybody signed up for public comment for issues on the agenda? No one, according to Mr. Mundy, signed up for public comment for issues on the agenda, which allows us to move on to requested rezonings and a docket approval. Are there any zoning requests? All right. Doesn't look like it. There's no docket needed this week. No docket approval needed this week. That allows us to move on to the summary approval. Is there a motion to approve the summary of the work session? Motion by Council Member Scotchville. Thank you. Second by Council Member Akers. Is there any discussion on the motion? Okay. If not, then we can vote. All in favor, please say aye aye opposed no motion carries next is budget amendments and there are no budget amendments that allows us to move on to new business there are four items of new business is there a motion to approve and then discussion for approval motion by councilmember farmer second by councilmember henson is there any any discussion on the motion all right let me just sign in here so Councilmember Scotchfield. Thank you, Mayor. I just had a quick question on letter A. The amount of the increase is almost a fourth of the entire price. I just, because it's a 25% increase, I want to make sure that we have on the record what's going on with the project. Thank you, Councilmember Scotchfield. and Charlie Martin has approached the podium to address that. If you'll look on page 11, you'll see where those numbers are. The site lighting and the asphalt pavement are the two big additions to this. They were left off the project because originally the plan was that we were going to take spoil that came from the plant, drive it right by this location, and store it up on the landfill. And so we left concrete out of this project because we didn't want to drive a bunch of trucks over it and tear up new projects, brand new asphalt. Well, then Vernon came up with a different way to do the storage tanks at Town Branch that didn't require us to haul all this dirt up to the landfill on Frankfurt Pike. Thus, we had to put the concrete back in here because we thought he was going to do it as part of his project. Does that make sense? Yes. Okay. Thank you. I think the overall summary of that is that you had a pretty significant cost savings on Town Branch. Oh, absolutely. That was part of the value engineering. Yes. By reengineering that and saving so much money, basically the cost would have been in that project if that transferred to this one. We saved a whole bunch of money on top of that by doing it this way. Okay. Thank you, Council Member Scotchfield. Council Member Gibbs. Thank you, Mayor. I'm concerned about issue number D. It's my district, the third district, and it's the first I've seen it, and it's just I was wondering if somebody would speak to it. It's a bit confusing. I just wonder what the pros and cons are, why we would want to block off that stub. Is there any problems for us doing that? No, there's no anticipated problems. This has been through our typical internal review process among our various different city departments and divisions as well as our local utilities. and no one had any problems with this particular right-of-way closure. So you guys are entirely good with it? Yes. Okay. There's a good map in there. Is Chester, thank you very much. No, that's good. Council Member Gibbs, if you've got any more questions about that, Thank you, but I want to encourage that whenever you see something like that. Yes, sir. Yep, right. Councilman Maloney. I just want to get clarification on A again. Is this for taking concrete to the landfill or something? Is that what I understand? Wait a minute. What's the question? is this to take concrete to a landfill? Is that what we're doing here? Charlie, why don't you go over it again, the procedure, what it represents. There were two projects that were related to one another. One was this Vector dump pad, which is on the change order here. Originally, right now it used to be a town branch, and we have to move it to a different location. So they need to get that thing built. Well, while they're designing the tanks, they're deciding they're going to have to move a bunch of dirt right through where this pad is getting ready to be built. So we decided don't put concrete in the Vactor Pad contract because we're going to drive 600 trucks over top of it and tear it up. So they started working on the Vactor Pad. Well, then here comes a redesign of Town Branch that says, hey, we don't have to haul all this dirt up to the old Frankfurt landfill and stockpile it up there. We can do it a different way, save a whole lot of money. Well, then that left us with this original project that didn't have the concrete in it because we thought it was going to get replaced as part of Vernon's project. So it's almost like putting down a new sod on your yard and then putting a new driveway over top of it and then driving all over it and ruining it. We left it out of this project figuring we would do it later, but then conditions changed and we needed to add it back into this contract. Okay, thanks. All right, thank you, Council Member Maloney. Council Member Evans. Yes, on that same item, sorry. And I apologize for not getting the question to you earlier. Just the lighting portion of it, just for my education, because that was also a significant portion of it. In fact, it may have been more than the concrete. Can you just explain the scenario behind that? The lighting is almost a lighted parking lot type of situation. And so the lighting was integral with the concrete. So that's why they both got added on later. This is where the street sweepers all dump all of their stuff. A Vactor is a big hydraulic jet machine that cleans sewers. I mean, this is a place where all the nasty stuff gets dumped, and then it gets pumped over into the treatment plant. But we have to have the lighting down there because it's 24-7. This kind of work goes on. The street sweepers, a lot of times, they're already dumping their first load before most of us have gotten out of bed. Was that not factored into? I guess the contract as well. I guess why was lighting, why did it become an issue later? Why was that not initially? I'm not explaining myself very well. The lighting and concrete associated with this project was actually going to be included in the later project because it was the one that was going to tear everything up. I wasn't explaining it very well. Thanks, Charlie. All right. Any further discussion on the motion regarding new business? All right. If not, then we can take a vote. All in favor of the motion, please indicate by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. Allows us to move on to continuing business. First is the summary of this special general government and social services committee. That would be Council Member Ford, the new chair. Thank you, Mayor. Council members, you can find an abbreviated summary on page 25 of our packet. A special meeting of the General Government and Social Services Committee was held on January 13th for the purpose of organizing the leadership of the committee. Vice Mayor Kaye called the meeting to order at 1245. All members were present, and we also welcome guests, Council members Stenet, Mossadi, and Farmer. The first item of business was the election of chair, and on a motion by Councilmember Maloney, second by Councilmember Henson, aye. Councilmember Ford was nominated as chair. I gladly accepted and no other nominations were made. On a motion by Councilmember Bledsoe, second by Councilmember Henson, the committee elected myself as the chair and the motion was approved unanimously. The second item of business was the appointment of the vice chair. I asked and appointed Councilmember Akers to serve as vice chair of the committee and she accepted. The meeting adjourned at 1247 p.m. That concludes our summary, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Ford. Next is a summary of the Special Environmental Quality and Public Works Committee. Council Member Farmer. Thank you, Mayor. Mine is similar to the previous report. Vice Mayor Kay called the meeting to order at 1232 p.m. All committee members were in attendance. In addition, Council Members Bledsoe, Lamb, Scutchfield, Acres, and Henson also attended. Item 1 was the election of committee chair. On a motion by Brown and second by Lane, Farmer was nominated as committee chair. Farmer accepted the nomination. There were no other nominations made. On a motion by Pazadi, seconded by Ford, the committee elected Farmer chair. The motion was approved unanimously. Farmer named Stenet committee vice chair and the meeting adjourned at 1240 p.m. rather than a.m., I would think, at 1240 p.m. That completes the report. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Farmer. All right. Next on our agenda, council reports. If council members will please sign on electronically. And then I'll go with that. Council Member Stennett. Thank you, Mayor. And I just wanted to say a couple other thank yous today. Commissioner Reed and John Sheed, thank you for your department's hard work. The council floor has been in flux for the last three weeks. getting all the new council members, especially Mike Akers and his crews. They've done an outstanding job of getting us where we need to be. So thank you all. I know it's been chaotic and hard work for you, but you've met every deadline, and thank you for getting us settled in our offices. And I also want to recognize Commissioner Beth Mills and the Family Care Center. We've got some great news today. Joanna Rhodes, the director, they've been named the four-star rating. Is that right, Commissioner Mills? Do you want to say anything about the family? Because that's big news for our Family Care Center, and I think they should be recognized in the work she's done out there. Thank you, Council Member Stennett. Our Family Care Center was evaluated by the State Child Care Council, and we were rated four stars. I think there were only probably seven of those in the state of Kentucky, and the reimbursement rate for our child care is higher because we rank four stars. And the kudos really go to Joanna Rhodes, the Director of Family Services, and to Karen Underwood, who's the head of our child care director. And Karen's been there since Family Care Center opened. So congratulations to all of them. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner. And then last but not least, Mayor, thank you. We appreciate the opportunity to sit down last week and talk about council members' budget priorities individually. And congratulations on your fifth State of the Emergency Government Address. This is the first time we've had five in a row for 16 years ago. so congratulations I think it was your best yet thank you and that concludes my thank you councilmember said it appreciate that all right who's next on the nobody that's it all right well then that allows us if no other council reports oh it's not working councilmember Masati I guess we have a little problem here thank you Fred council members I'm not sure if you're aware that we have a vacancy in our citizens advocate office and I was just wondering at this time how we're taking care of those calls from the public. Are we dealing with, is 3-1-1 handling that or what maybe Vice Mayor Kay, you can shed some light on that please. Two things. One, the calls when they come into 3-1-1 are going to my office and if they're not routine, we're just holding them. So far that's not been the case. So as you know many of those calls are calls that could as easily have been directed to somebody, an aide in the district, et cetera. And if it's just a request for information, we're forwarding it on. Otherwise, we will hold them, and we will meet the at-large folks and the council administrator Tuesday, thank you, to put in process the hiring of a new person in that position. And we, again, for your information, there were some suggestions that we hire somebody on an interim basis, and I thought was that that would be as complex as going through the whole process. So we would just as soon wait. Okay. Thank you for the update. I appreciate it. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Sadi. All right. That allows us to move on to Mayor's report. There's no Mayor's report today. and that allows us to move to public comment for issues not on the agenda. Has anyone signed up, Mr. Mundy? All right, no one signed up. There's a motion to adjourn by Council Member Stenet. Is there a second? Second by Council Member Gibbs. Unless there's objection, we are adjourned.