# Council Work Session - March 18, 2008 > Auto-transcribed civic record · Council · March 18, 2008 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/426 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/426?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2008-03-18 - **Body**: Council - **Last revised**: February 2, 2026 - **Length**: 5,639 words > ⚠️ **Auto-generated content.** Audio from the official Granicus video was auto-transcribed by OpenAI Whisper-1. Structured facts were extracted with GPT-4o; the narrative summary was written by Anthropic Claude Sonnet. Speaker labels and verbatim wording may contain errors. See [methodology](https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/about/methodology) or [report a correction](mailto:editor@lexingtonky.news). --- ## Meeting Overview The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council convened on March 18, 2008, at 3:00 PM with Mayor Newberry presiding. The Council conducted routine business during this session, addressing administrative matters and procedural items. The meeting included 8 agenda items, all of which were approved, resulting in 8 total votes taken by the Council. No public comments were heard during this meeting, and no formal presentations were given to the Council. The Council's work focused primarily on administrative approvals, including the meeting docket, budget amendments, and the summary from the March 11th work session. Other significant actions included authorizing reimbursement for PeopleSoft software, encouraging the CSEA to utilize flex time provisions, and accepting Mr. Barker's proposal regarding dates for future presentations. The session concluded with approval of the Mayor's Report with modifications. ## Attendance All council members were present for the March 18, 2008 meeting. **Present:** • Mayor Newberry • CM James • CM Ellinger • CM Blues • CM Gorton • CM DeCamp • CM Lane • CM Blevins • CM Beard • CM Stevens • CM McChord • CM Crosbie • VM Gray **Absent:** None **Late:** None ## Votes and Decisions The Council conducted eight votes during the March 18, 2008 meeting, with all motions passing. Most votes were conducted by voice vote, with one roll call vote on a personnel matter. **Administrative Approvals** [timestamp: 00:00] • **Docket approval as amended** - Motion by CM DeCamp, seconded by CM Ellinger, passed by voice vote • **March 11th work session summary** - Motion by CM Gorton, seconded by CM Blues, passed by voice vote • **Budget amendments** - Motion by CM Gorton, seconded by CM Lane, passed by voice vote • **New business items** - Motion by CM Beard, seconded by CM Gorton, passed by voice vote **Financial Matters** [timestamp: 00:00] • **PeopleSoft software reimbursement resolution** - Motion by CM Blevins, seconded by CM Myers, passed by voice vote **Personnel Issue** [timestamp: 00:00] • **Encourage CSEA to use flex time provision** - Motion by CM James, seconded by CM DeCamp, passed by roll call vote with 9 ayes and 4 nays. This was the only contested vote of the meeting. **Scheduling Matters** [timestamp: 00:00] • **Accept Mr. Barker's proposal for future presentation dates** - Motion by CM Blevins, seconded by CM Beard, passed by voice vote • **Mayor's Report approval with change** - Motion by CM Gorton, seconded by CM Crosbie, passed by voice vote The flex time provision vote was the most significant decision of the meeting, representing the only item that generated opposition among Council members. All other business items received unanimous support through voice votes. ## Budget and Financial Actions The Council approved several significant financial items totaling over $4.7 million in grants and contracts during the March 18, 2008 meeting. **Grant Approvals:** - Resolution 136-08 authorized continuation of the Street Sales Drug Enforcement Project for FY2009, accepting $187,500 from the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet - Resolution 137-08 approved participation in the Law Enforcement Service Fee Grant Program for FY2009, receiving $35,000 from the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet - Resolution 140-08 accepted a $4,000 award from the John S and James L. Knight Foundation for the Life Skills Program **Major Contract Actions:** The largest expenditure was Resolution 145-08, approving a $4,326,790 agreement with Metaformers, Inc. for PeopleSoft Software Phase II implementation. Resolution 139-08 authorized $110,000 in professional services with Ratio, Inc. for developing a Small Area Plan for the Central Sector Neighborhood Area. **Infrastructure and Operations:** - Resolution 120-08 approved a $30,000 contract proposal with Express Personnel Services for MMRS (Metropolitan Medical Response System) - Resolution 138-08 authorized Change Order No. 2 for $3,952.23 with Lenco Excavation, Inc. for the 7th Street at Old Railroad Improvements Project - Resolution 141-08 approved a $24,625 Railroad Encroachment Agreement with The Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway Company for the North Elkhorn Diversion Wastewater Project The financial actions represented a mix of ongoing public safety initiatives, infrastructure improvements, and technology upgrades, with the PeopleSoft software contract representing the most substantial single investment approved by the Council. ## Contested Items The March 18, 2008 Council meeting featured one contested item that resulted in a split vote among council members. **CSEA Flex Time Provision** The primary point of contention during the meeting centered on a motion to encourage the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) to utilize flex time provisions. This item generated significant debate among council members, ultimately resulting in a divided vote. The motion, which sought to encourage CSEA to implement or expand the use of flexible work time arrangements for employees, passed by a margin of 9-4. The split vote indicates that four council members opposed the measure, while nine supported it. The nature of the disagreement and the specific arguments made by council members on either side of this issue were not detailed in the available meeting materials. However, the close vote suggests there were substantive concerns raised by the minority opposition regarding the flex time provision recommendation. The successful passage of this motion means the Council officially went on record encouraging CSEA to utilize flex time arrangements, though the specific implementation details and timeline were not specified in the extracted meeting data. This was the only item during the March 18, 2008 meeting that generated sufficient controversy to result in a split vote, with all other agenda items apparently receiving more unanimous support from the council members present. ## Approval of docket as amended [timestamp: 00:00] The Lincoln City Council approved the docket as amended for the March 18, 2008 meeting. The approval process involved Council Members DeCamp and Ellinger as key participants in the procedural vote. The council determined that certain items on the docket would proceed without requiring a public hearing, streamlining the meeting process for those particular agenda items. This procedural decision allowed the council to efficiently manage their meeting schedule while maintaining appropriate oversight for items that did require public input. The docket approval passed without recorded opposition, enabling the council to proceed with their planned agenda for the session. This standard procedural item ensures that all council members are in agreement with the meeting's structure and the handling of individual agenda items before substantive business begins. ## Approval of summary of March 11th work session [timestamp: 00:00] The Council considered approval of the summary from their March 11th work session. Council Members Gorton and Blues participated in the discussion of this agenda item. The item was presented as a resolution for the Council's consideration. The summary documented the proceedings and discussions that took place during the March 11th work session. Following the discussion, the Council approved the summary of the March 11th work session. ## Approval of budget amendments [timestamp: 00:00] The Council considered budget amendments during the March 18, 2008 meeting. Council Members Gorton and Lane participated in the discussion of this agenda item. The Council approved the budget amendments as presented. The item was handled as a resolution and received approval from the Council. *Note: Limited transcript details were available for this agenda item, preventing a more detailed summary of the specific amendments discussed or the nature of the debate.* ## Approval of new business items [timestamp: 00:00] The Council considered the approval of new business items during the March 18, 2008 meeting. Council Members Beard and Gorton participated in the discussion of this agenda item. The item was presented as a resolution for the Council's consideration. The Council voted to approve the new business items that were presented for consideration. **Outcome:** Approved *Note: The transcript and meeting materials provided limited detail about the specific new business items that were discussed or the nature of the debate that occurred during this agenda item.* ## Resolution authorizing reimbursement for PeopleSoft software [timestamp: 00:00] The Council considered a resolution authorizing reimbursement for the implementation of Phase II of the PeopleSoft software system. The discussion involved key contributions from CM Blevins and CM Myers, though specific details of their remarks and the broader council debate were not captured in the available meeting materials. The resolution focused on approving reimbursement related to the second phase of PeopleSoft implementation, which represents a continuation of the city's enterprise software system upgrade. PeopleSoft is typically used by government entities for human resources, financial management, and other administrative functions. The Council ultimately approved the resolution, authorizing the requested reimbursement for the PeopleSoft Phase II implementation costs. The approval suggests the Council found the expenditure necessary and appropriate for the city's ongoing technology infrastructure improvements. ## Encourage CSEA to use flex time provision [timestamp: 00:00] The Council discussed encouraging the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) to utilize existing flex time provisions rather than pursuing a formal ordinance for association business time. Council Members James and DeCamp were the key speakers on this agenda item, which was presented as a resolution. The discussion centered on the city's approach to accommodating CSEA members who need time away from their regular duties to conduct union business. Rather than creating new formal policies through an ordinance, the Council determined that the existing flex time provision would be sufficient to meet CSEA's needs for association business time. This approach would allow union representatives the flexibility to handle their duties while maintaining their regular work responsibilities. The Council approved the resolution to encourage CSEA to use the flex time provision instead of pursuing additional formal ordinance language for association business time. ## Accept Mr. Barker's proposal of dates for future presentations [timestamp: 00:00] The Council considered Mr. Barker's proposal regarding scheduling dates for upcoming presentations on employee compensation matters. The item was presented as a resolution requiring Council approval. Council Members Blevins and Beard participated in the discussion of the proposed presentation schedule. The agenda item focused specifically on accepting the dates that Mr. Barker had suggested for future presentations related to employee compensation topics. The Council approved Mr. Barker's proposed dates for the future presentations without significant debate or opposition recorded in the meeting summary. **Outcome:** The resolution was approved, formally accepting Mr. Barker's proposal of dates for future presentations on employee compensation. ## Approval of Mayor's Report with change [timestamp: 00:00] The Council considered approval of the Mayor's Report, which required a correction to information regarding the Greenspace Commission. Council Members Gorton and Crosbie participated in the discussion of this agenda item. The report needed modification to correct a name associated with the Greenspace Commission before it could be approved. The Council approved the Mayor's Report with the requested change incorporated. --- ## Decisions - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approval of docket as amended - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approval of summary of March 11th work session - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approval of budget amendments - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approval of new business items - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Resolution authorizing reimbursement for PeopleSoft software - **Motion** — passed (9-4): Encourage CSEA to use flex time provision - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Accept Mr. Barker's proposal of dates for future presentations - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approval of Mayor's Report with change --- ## Full transcript Does anyone wish to speak to any of those items? Seeing none, we'll move along to the docket approval. Is there a motion? So moved. I have a motion from Councilmember DeCant. Is there a second? I have a second by Councilmember Ellinger. We have a couple or three zone changes. Items 5 and 6 under the ordinances involve a couple of matters that need to be heard by May 28th if we wish to hold a hearing. Is there a motion one way or the other? Mayor. Councilmember James. I move to place on the docket without a hearing ordinance number 5. Okay. Did I hear a second? I have a second by Councilmember Ellinger. The motion is to amend the docket so as to not have a public hearing on item number 5. Any discussion? Those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Those no. Motion carries. Others? Others? Mayor. Councilmember Blues. I move to place item number 6 on the docket without a public hearing. Do I have a second by Councilmember Gordon? Any discussion? Those in favor of putting item 6 on the docket without a hearing and amending the docket to that effect, please let it be known by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed, no. Motion carries. Councilmember Gordon. Yes, I move to put number 7 on the docket without a public hearing. Is there a second? Councilmember DeCamp has seconded Councilmember Gordon's motion to amend the docket by putting item 7 on without a hearing. Any discussion? Those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Those no. Motion carries. I think we need the same for number 8, Mayor. Make a motion that we put number 8 on without a public hearing. Second. I have a second by Councilmember Ellinger to Councilmember DeCamp's motion to put item 8 on the docket without a hearing. Any discussion? Those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Those no. Motion carries. I believe that's all the ones that need attention. Any other motions with regard to the docket? If not, we're ready to vote on the docket as amended. Those in favor of approving the docket as amended, let it be known by saying aye. Aye. Those no. Motion carries. We're down now to the summary of the March 11th work session. Is there a motion? Move approval. Councilmember Gordon has moved and Councilmember Blues has seconded that the work session summary for March 11th be approved. Any discussion? Seeing none. Those in favor, please vote aye. Aye. Those opposed, no. Motion carries. And that takes us down to budget amendments. Move approval, Mayor. Is there a second? Councilmember Lane has seconded Councilmember Gordon's motion to approve the budget amendments. Any discussion? Those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Those opposed, no. Motion carries. That brings us down to the items of new business. Any discussion or a motion? I have a motion from Councilmember Beard and a second from Councilmember Gordon to approve the items of new business. Any discussion? Councilmember Blevins. Thank you, Mayor. I'd like to discuss item, sorry, let me get my glasses on here, Q. Commissioner Coe, would you come up and discuss item, Q, with us, please? While she's coming, Councilmembers, it's my understanding we have to have a resolution authorizing reimbursement to go in conjunction with item, Q. So Commissioner Coe's going to explain that and then I'm going to make a motion to make this happen. Thank you. This is our opportunity to move forward with our STARS implementation. When I last gave you an update, I told you we were, where we were at the time with financials and that we were looking toward adding to the financials suite projects and cash management. You approved that amendment of the contract a few weeks ago. Now what you have before you is a new contract with Metaformers to implement the human resources side of this suite of products. We've built in several decision points along the way just to make sure that we have the capacity to do everything that needs to be done to make this successful. So while I'm asking for the contract to be approved in the amount of $4.3 million, there are decision points that could make us spend considerably less than that. But we need to kind of get into the middle of this, see where we are in terms of our data and see what we need to do. We really must move forward with this implementation. We have the software. We've been paying for it. We will continue to pay for it. Now we need to learn to use it and have our data in the system. Most of you know we're running payroll off the mainframe. We're trying to get out of the mainframe business. It's an old application that just is not very friendly to some of the kinds of things that we'd like to do with payroll in this day and time. So that's the Metaformers contract. The resolution that Councilmember Blevins is bringing forward is a reimbursement resolution to sell bonds for $5.5 million to complete the project. And this will complete everything that we know that we want to do with the software. It's my understanding that we have to do the reimbursement resolution in conjunction with the approval of the contract. Is that correct? That's right. Okay. So, Madam Clerk, I want to make sure you get what I'm trying to do here. This is to go in conjunction with item Q, although the phrasing is I moved to place on the docket. I want to make sure we're not talking about this Thursday's docket. We're talking about the new business today. So I move to place on the docket a resolution authorizing the reimbursement from subsequent borrowings of temporary advances made for capital expenditures for implementation of Phase 2 of the PeopleSoft software STARS expansion in the sum of $5.5 million. So moved. Second. We have a motion and a second to approve the resolution, Councilmember, to put on the docket the resolution Councilmember Blevins just brought forward. Councilmember James. Should the motion then be amended to state to put on for a new business item as opposed to put on the docket for reference sake? Probably. How do you want this done so that it's on the new business in conjunction with the item Q? The phrasing I've been given is docket, and it's probably not appropriate. Let me take a look at the motion. I was fooling with these things. What's the $5 million report? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. We have this item Q. Part of new business. It needs to be part of new business also. Is that what this does? Yes. So it's okay. I think that's fine. Just leave it as is? The intent? Are you okay with that, Councilmember James? Not really, because it doesn't sound right. It sounds like it should be for a new business item, not for the docket. I accept the friendly amendment from Councilmember James. If my second will also take it. It's added to new business. Any further discussion? Nothing. It's the same. Then those in favor of adding the new business item outlined by Councilmember Blevins, let it be known by saying aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. Councilmember Stephens. Yes. I have a question about two items. The first one is item C. This is to accept for the Department for the Metropolitan Medical Response System. It's listed for Paula King and Commissioner Bennett. And my question, I'm curious to what the status of the Metropolitan Medical Response System is at the present time. I'm all for it. I think we need such a plan. But I see that we also have under reappropriations, which is a part of the docket, several other referrals to this particular activity for contractual services, for coordinator of fringe benefits, coordinator of other benefits and equipment less than $5,000. I have the privilege of serving on the Executive Committee of the Lexington Medical Society, and the physicians in our community are wondering where all this stands. And I hope the citizens do, too. Well, the MMRS system is in place. As a matter of fact, we had an exercise last week, I think it was, to test some of the readiness. MMRS goes back several years, and part of what you were referring to is a reappropriation of an old grant that we got from the federal government. I think it was about in probably 2004. And unlike most grants, the money from that got deposited into the general fund, so that every year without reappropriations it would just lapse and go to other purposes. If we don't spend it, we have to give it back to the federal government anyway. So that's the purpose for the reappropriation on that. As to the MMRS system itself, if you'd like, I can get Pat Duggar to come and just give you a full report on the entire program. She's a whole lot better equipped to do that than I am today. But I'd be glad to do that if you'd like at a future work session or committee meeting. If she can contact me, I would be appreciative because I can carry that message on to the Medical Society who are interested, and I just didn't know if the system was alive and well. It is alive and well with a big participation from the Health Department too. I said it is alive and well with a lot of participation from the Health Department as well as the hospitals around the community. So I'll get Pat to give you a call and give you a full update on it. Okay. I appreciate that. You're welcome. And my other question, Mr. Mayor, relates to Item E, which is from the Division of Engineering, I take it. And it says we're going to increase by $3952.23 to adjust the contract quantities to reflect actual works completed for the 7th Street at Old Railroad Improvements Project. The original contract was for $238,000. I'm just not familiar with this project, and I wanted to be updated on it. Commissioner Kelly or someone from Engineering? Okay, Bob. On 7th Street, just before reaching the bridge that goes over the railroad tracks, there was an old spur line that went into the Whitey's Material Yard, and this project took out that spur line and regraded the street because it was a considerable bump. So this Old Railroad Improvements Project is projects that relate to abandoned railroads? Is that it? Or what's an old railroad? I'm just curious about the nomenclature here. It was just an old railroad spur line that served basically one property. It had been abandoned, and everything outside of the public right-of-way had been sold off to private individuals. So we did our work within the public right-of-way and just eliminated the old at-grade crossing. Okay, thank you. Is that all? I had been noticing several changes in my list, and right now I've got Councilmember McCord and Councilmember Ellinger, so if anybody else wishes to speak, I don't have you on the list right now. But we'll go ahead and Councilmember McCord. Okay. The question is on Letter R. I think Mr. Askew is the person listed there, although it's General Services. I believe Commissioner Cole isn't here. So I don't know if you'll be able to answer these questions or not, but we'll take a try. He's the head of the UPK, isn't he? And Tony Franklin. I've got it in here someplace. Can you just give me a brief explanation? It appears in R here that we are creating a position that should have been created a while ago. Is that what's going on here? That's correct. Do we know what this position is for? I do not. I know that it was supposed to be in the original ordinance, and it was inadvertently omitted. Okay. Mr. Cole, you may. Yes, this is a position that's being created to be in charge of the community school, the partnership that's been formed between LFUCG and Fayette County Schools for the school that's under construction right now. So how are we paying for that position? That position was reclassed from a vacancy that was in parks that we had been holding on until the time was appropriate to fill this position. And is it we're just now doing it because the community school is just now coming online? Is that we couldn't have done this back in January because it wasn't there? We were trying to time it to go along when the principal was hired, and the principal's now been hired, so we wanted to go forward with the position so that we align all the resources properly. Now, is this a civil service position, or will this person be classified civil service? It is a civil service position. Okay. All right. Thank you, Mayor. Council Member Ellinger. Thank you, Mayor. I'd like to go back to Q if we could, and I was on there and got taken off, I guess. Commissioner Cole, if you could. I guess if you could, could you clarify, because I'm a little confused at what we've done with the new motion. And I know we set money aside a few years ago for STARS. Have we spent all that money? Because I know we were kind of going down, going down, going down. So where are we right now with that? Most, if not all, of that money is obligated. There might be a few thousand dollars left. But when you approved the amendment of the last amendment to the Metaformers contract, that took the rest of the original money that we had for the project. And how much was that originally? Ten point eight million, I believe. Ten million, I believe. The bond issue was, I think the bond issue was ten million, and then there was some general fund cash put into it originally. So it was originally ten point eight. So now we're putting another five point five into it? Yes, sir. So that's a big increase from what we initially thought when we did this. Yes, sir. When we went through all this way back when and took all these bids, and we've actually had an increase of 60 percent about there, it looks like. That's right. I don't know if you get Governing Madecassine, but it was pretty timely this past month. There were a series of articles in there about failed ERP implementations. Sixty percent of these projects fail. I mean, people pour a lot of money into them and never get anything out. Even though we have had a number of problems, we are going to be a successful implementation. Florida spent $90 million on theirs, and it failed. So while I understand the concern about the additional money, I feel like we are just very fortunate right now to have a system that's up and running, and we have good software. How is this going to affect our bond rating, and where is this money going to come from? It will be part of the 09 bond package that we'll be bringing forward to you in the 09 budget. So the bonds, the debt service won't be due until 2010. So there's no cash in the reimbursement resolution and subsequent bond issue. Okay. Thank you. That clarifies it for me. I appreciate it. Thank you. I don't have anyone else on my list right now, so if I should, just raise your hand. Seeing none, I think we're ready to proceed to vote on the items of new business. Those in favor of approving the items of new business, let it be known by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. We're now ready for the Intergovernmental Committee report. Council Member James. Thank you, Mayor. Intergovernmental Committee met on March the 11th. We had two items of business. One was the CSEA board leave for association business, and the other was the employee compensation update. There was a motion that came forward from both of those topics. We heard from the law department and received a memo related to, or reviewed a memo related to, the law department's interpretation of the existing policy. Based on that presentation, there was a motion made by Council Member Blues to encourage CSEA to use flex time provision and Council not pursue CSEA's request to draft an ordinance formalizing four hours per month of work time to conduct the association's business, and that the cost of LFUCG's facilities would be waived for CSEA. Seconded by Council Member Blevins. Passed with one nay. I'd like to bring that motion forward, please. I think the purpose of the motion is to approve that recommendation from the Intergovernmental Committee. Is that correct? Yes, please. All right. Is there a second? Second. We have a second by Council Member DeCamp. Any discussion? Those in favor, please vote aye. Aye. Opposed, no. No. Let's vote by electronic ballot, please. Those in favor, please vote aye. Electronically. Those opposed, vote nay. It appears as though the motion carries. Thank you, Mayor. The other motion deals with the employee compensation update. We heard from Wally Barker, who's the manager of compensation in Human Resources, and he went over a project plan for market pricing compensation, the market pricing compensation program. The motion that came forward from that was based on report-out dates, and I'd like to bring forward the motion made by Council Member Blevins at that time to accept Mr. Barker's proposal of dates for future presentations in June of 2008, September 2008, December 2008, February 2009, and May 2009 on this issue. That was seconded by Council Member Blues and passed without dissent. So moved. Is there a second? Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Council Member Beard. The motion on the floor is to approve the recommendation from the Intergovernmental Committee that Mr. Barker make future presentations over the course of the next 18 months or so. Any discussion? Those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. Motion carries. Thank you, Mayor. That's all for InterGov. I guess I will add that we did select a vice chair, and that is Council Member DeCamp. Thank you for your assistance. Thank you. Council Member Gorton. Yes, I just had a comment and a change in the summary of Intergovernmental on page 36 of our packet. Normally the summaries list council members who are present who are not part of the committee, which I was. I'm not part of that committee, but I was present. So I'd like for you to go ahead and add that Council Member Gorton was also in attendance. Thank you. If there's no objection, we'll proceed to make that change. We're now ready for council reports. I still have Council Member Gorton. Thank you, Mayor. I have one motion. Council members should have received in their boxes a few days ago the capital list, and so I move to place on the docket the capital improvement expenditure for the Chennault Road Neighborhood Association project. I have a motion and a second to approve the expenditure for the Chennault Road project. Any discussion? Those in favor, please vote aye. Those opposed, vote nay. Motion carries. Council Member Blevins. Thank you, Mayor. I move to approve the Neighborhood Development Fund list for today, please. I have a motion by Council Member Blevins and a second by Council Member Stevens to approve the NDF. Any discussion? Those in favor, please say aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. Council Member Blues. Thank you, Mayor. Tonight at 7 p.m., the Western Suburban Neighborhood Association Board will meet, and that's going to be at 645 West Short Street. A reminder to the neighborhood representatives and others who might be interested in planning their Great American Cleanup event, the Great American Cleanup meeting will be at 7 p.m. at the Division of Water and Air Quality in the Administration Building, 301 Lyle Industrial Avenue, and if you want to receive further information on that or RSVP, that would be at 859-425-2429. Ask to speak to Tony Floyd. Monday, March 24th, two Neighborhood Association meetings. The Oakwood Neighborhood Association will meet at 7 p.m. in the Oakwood Park Community Center, and also at 7 p.m., the Marlboro Radcliffe Neighborhood Association will hold its monthly meeting at the community center in Marlboro Park. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you very much. Vice Mayor Gray. Thank you, Mayor. In I think it was January, earlier part of the year, we had discussion in the Council and in the Planning Committee on the issue of student housing in and around the University of Kentucky especially. And the Planning Committee adopted a motion to recommend that a task force be established for the purpose of reviewing, evaluating the student housing situation conditions. And after reviewing, after considering this with a number of people on the Council and a number of the members of the Council who are especially involved in the Town Gown Commission, the following members I will appoint according to the Council rules as Vice Mayor. The membership of this task force is sorted or comprised of, importantly, of members from the University, the administration, the neighborhoods around the University, the landlords who are affected and are involved around the University, and students. There may be some adjustments to the appointments as we go along, but at this point in time, the appointments include members of the Council. Again, the reasons for these appointments are those who have been active in Town Gown, but I also want to say that any Council members are welcome to attend these task force meetings. The timing of those has yet to be established, but we're going to encourage, would certainly encourage anyone who wants to be involved to please be involved. Members of the Council would be Council members DeCamp, Stevens, Gordon, and Gray. From the University, Joe Monroe, who is the, I believe he's Chief, isn't that right, Dr. Stevens? Yes, he's Acting Chief. Acting Chief, right. Police. Acting Chief of Police at the University. Tony Franklin, Associate Dean, and Lisa Higgins-Horde, who is Vice President for University Relations. Landlords, and I'm just going to give last names here. I don't have everybody's first name right now. Burton, Bryant, Hardin, Boone, and among neighbors, the neighborhood area representatives, Mr. Kelly, Mr. Moiser, Stamatiatis, Ms. Stamatiatis, and Deborah Hensley. University students, we've asked Nick Phelps, who is currently President of the University of Kentucky, student body. That's my report, Mayor. Thank you very much. Thank you. Council Member Stevens. I'd like to move how it came Saturday to the streetscape presentation, which was down in our ballroom, and it was very good. We had a lot of innovative ideas about our downtown streetscape. Unfortunately, City Hall was hard to reach on Saturday because there was a run going down Main Street. It was closed, followed by a parade, so it was kind of hard to get in the place, but a number of people did find a way. They were very interesting presentations. I've also met with the members of KKG, not the Girls Sorority, but the name of a firm from northern Kentucky who advises on streetscapes, and I would recommend or move that the item of streetscapes and their presentation be moved into the Planning Committee for a presentation. Is there a second? I have a second. I have a second from Vice Mayor Gray to refer the streetscape plan to the Planning Committee. Any discussion? Those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Those opposed, no. Motion carries. Thank you. Council Member James. In today's Planning Committee, we had an extensive review of the status of the infill and redevelopment initiative, both by the Planning Division and by our consultants, followed by a lively exchange of information, people attending. This is not the final status of it. The consultants are working up an implementation plan, which has been rough drafted by the Steering Committee, and will present it to us in final form on April the 10th, in which it will be ready for the administration and the Council to do with it what they will. Thank you. Council Member James. Thank you, Mayor. I do have a couple of announcements of neighborhood meetings I want to let everybody know about. Tonight, from 7 to 8, the Meadows Loudon Neighborhood Association will meet. They meet at the church that's right there. They're meeting at their regular place. I'll have to think about that. Hold on one moment. Also, on Thursday, March the 20th, Castlewood Neighborhood Association is having their meeting, 630 to 8 o'clock. They have planning. That's at Grace Baptist Church. The William Wells Brown Neighborhood Association will meet at the Brenda Cowan Center or Phyllis Wheatley, as some still call it, 630 to 8. Those two are both on Thursday, the 20th. I also want to announce that next week at Trancy is Fair Trade Week, sponsored by the Anthropology Club, and I'll just read a little excerpt here. I've dropped one of these into Council Member's boxes, but Fair Trade Week will promote awareness of global issues and fair trade campaign. Fair trade is a holistic approach to trade and development that aims to alter the ways in which commerce is conducted so that trade can empower the poorest of the poor. Fair trade organizations seek to create sustainable and positive change in developing and developed countries. We want to expose the students of Trancy, as well as others, to local and global fair trade options and demonstrate that they can make a difference. So there's a schedule of events, and if anybody needs that information, feel free to contact me at 258-3216. I'll be happy to get you in touch with the folks that are organizing that, or email me at ajames at lfucg.com. And with mentioning that about Trancy, I wanted to ask Vice Mayor, is Trancy part of the Town and Gown? Yes, it is. Are they represented? On the Student Housing Task Force, there's a member. They've become very active and more active in Town and Gown recently, Trancy has. And we were going to especially ask about, there's still a member within the student population for the task force that would be available, and we certainly will ask their participation in it. But not a member of their administration or a landlord from that area? It would be very pivotal. To the same degree, maybe not the number, but at least representation from all those. There is student housing around that area, which would be affected by any recommendations that would come forward. So I do encourage you to. We'll look at that, and I'll get back to you. I think we've got, there's no fixed number or limit on the number of members of the task force. We're trying to keep it some level of responsible numbers and manageable numbers to some extent. I don't want to use the word manageable, but that's a good recommendation, so we'll certainly look at it and get back to you. Thank you, I appreciate that. Thank you, Mayor. Council Member McCord. Thank you, Mayor. Just a couple of things. In the planning committee meeting that we just had, it was brought up that the changes in Frankfurt to the TIF legislation are changing or there's an attempt to change that would dramatically hinder that tool for cities to use. And it was stated that Lexington's official position is neutral on that, where Louisville and other cities have said they're vehemently against it. And I would just ask if Ned Sheehy could just bring us a report at some time, email it to us and just let us know where we stand as a city right now. If that position is neutral, if that's our official position, I would bring forward a resolution next week to change that, to be very opposed to that. It is one of the best tools that cities have to revitalize areas and so forth, so I would ask Ned to bring that forward. I want to invite everybody in the City of Lexington, as well as those across the council, to enjoy the next few days. From Wednesday to Saturday, Lexington really does put its best foot forward in the Sweet 16 tournament. We want to welcome all 16 teams and their fans to Lexington, and it's just an awesome time to be a part of basketball and be a part of Lexington and certainly would encourage everyone to come down for that. Thursday night from 5.15 to 6.30, the council is invited to the World Trade Center for an open house reception. Governor Martha Lane Collins has invited each of us to come and meet with them from 5.15 to 6.30. And lastly, I just want to reiterate that next Tuesday, Leadership Lexington, a portion of that class, current class, will come and present to this body about their recommendations on the recycling and green city movement and are prepared to bring forward a draft resolution as it relates to recycling in Lexington. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Let me raise a question just to clarify one thing, if I could, Council Member McCord. Did I understand you were interested in trying to get some feedback from Mr. Sheehy about our position on the TIF legislation? Yes. Okay. Mr. Kelly may be able to shed some light on that. Thank you, Mayor. To say that we were neutral on the TIF legislation would be a mischaracterization of our position. We worked with the bill's sponsor, Representative Webb, to address those things that were objectionable to Lexington and have been able to get those things adjusted. There is continuing work taking place on the bill, but the things that were really objectionable to us here in Lexington have been addressed. Now, we're supportive of those additional adjustments that people are trying to get made and have made that known as well. So I just wanted to make sure people understood that our position has not been one of not being involved or trying to address those things that were issues for Lexington. If you wouldn't mind then, given that explanation, if you wouldn't mind having Ned just email us or you can email us. Sure. Here's where it was and here's what we fought to keep in and so forth and why and so forth. I think that's really important, and I know one size doesn't fit all across the state of Kentucky. Right. But I would hate to see this dismantled right when we're getting ready to start using this or have the opportunity to use it. Absolutely. And, you know, the existing legislation was just passed last year and has not been tested yet. So our position was based upon the fact that the existing legislation was a fix, if you will, to some problems that existed previous. So our position was not neutral on that legislation. Okay. Thank you. Thanks. Thank you very much, Mr. Kelly. Council Member Crosby. Yes, Mayor. I did not receive the pass-around for Project Lifesaver, so I was wondering if I could just make a motion to amend the NDF funds and add $100 from Council District 7 to Project Lifesaver, please. Second. I have a motion by Council Member Crosby, second by Council Member Gordon. Is there any discussion? Those in favor, please vote aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. Does any other Council Member wish to make a report? Seeing none, we'll move on to the Mayor's Report, which was previously circulated to you. I have one change on the item dealing with the Green Space Commission. One of the two individuals was listed as John Browning. That is correct as far as it goes, but it only stopped with his middle name. His last name is Park, John Browning Park. So if you would make a note to that effect. With that one change, a motion would be in order to approve those recommendations. Move approval. Second. I have a motion by Council Member Gordon, a second by Council Member Crosby. Any discussion? Those in favor, please say aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. Last item on the docket is public comment on issues not on the agenda. Does anyone wish to address the Council on items that are not on the agenda? All right. Council Member Blevins. Thank you, Mayor. I move pursuant to KRS 61.810 subsection 1C to go into closed session for the purpose of discussing pending litigation against the Lexington Fayette Urban County Government. I have a motion by Council Member Blevins and a second by Council Member Lane to go into closed session. Any discussion? Those in favor, please say aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. We'll stand in recess briefly and then. Well, I was minding my business when I got a call, a desperate plea from my old friend Paul. He said my cousin Mildred's here from out of state. I got to fix her up with a blind date. Mildred, won't you behave? Now, Paul said Mildred here is a quiet mouse, a real shy type, hardly leaves the house. But I said, Paul, I'm going to the dance tonight. Well, bring her down and I'll be polite. Mildred, won't you behave? Mildred, won't you behave?