# Rural Land Management Board - September 25, 2019 > Auto-transcribed civic record · Board · September 25, 2019 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/4847 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/4847?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2019-09-25 - **Body**: Board - **Last revised**: February 5, 2026 - **Length**: 5,982 words > ⚠️ **Auto-generated content.** Audio from the official Granicus video was auto-transcribed by OpenAI Whisper-1, with speaker labels folded in from Granicus closed-captioning. 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 Rural Land Management Board convened on September 25, 2019, at 3:30 PM in the Council Chamber. The meeting addressed three agenda items, including an easement acquisition update, a grant application, and professional services matters. The board took three votes during the session, with one item receiving approval while two others were presented for informational purposes. No public comments were heard during this meeting. The board successfully completed its agenda, making progress on grant funding opportunities while receiving updates on ongoing easement and professional services activities. ## Attendance The Board meeting on September 25, 2019 had twelve members present and four members absent. **Present:** • Beth Cawood Overman • Zach • Phil Meyer • Robert James • Kathy Plowman • Jennifer Reynolds • Charlie Farmer • Don Robinson • Healy • Elizabeth • Will • Tracy **Absent:** • Christine • Margaret • Jennifer Masani • Tommy Owen No members arrived late to the meeting. ## Votes and Decisions The Board took action on three motions during the September 25, 2019 meeting. **Approval of August 28, 2019 Minutes** The Chair motioned to approve the minutes from the August 28, 2019 meeting, with a second by Healy. The motion passed unanimously with one abstention recorded. **Grant Application to Keeneland Foundation** The Board voted to submit a grant application to the Keeneland Foundation. The motion passed by voice vote with no opposition recorded. **Closed Session Motion** Healy motioned to enter closed session to discuss property issues, with Robert providing the second. The motion passed by voice vote, allowing the Board to move into executive session. All three motions were approved, with the minutes approval being the only vote that included a recorded abstention. The remaining two votes were conducted by voice vote without recorded opposition. ## Contested Items The Board meeting on September 25, 2019, featured one contested item that generated heated discussion among members. **Grant Application to Keeneland Foundation** The primary point of contention during the meeting centered on a proposed grant application to the Keeneland Foundation. Board members engaged in a heated discussion regarding the viability and likelihood of success for this funding request. The disagreement focused on whether the Keeneland Foundation would actually approve and fund the grant application. Some board members expressed significant skepticism about the foundation's willingness to provide the requested funding, questioning whether pursuing the application would be a worthwhile use of time and resources. Despite the concerns raised during the discussion, the Board ultimately decided to move forward with submitting the grant application to the Keeneland Foundation. The decision to proceed suggests that either the skeptical members were persuaded by arguments in favor of the application, or that a majority of the Board felt the potential benefits outweighed the risks of rejection. The specific details of the grant amount, intended use of funds, or the particular programs or initiatives the grant would support were not specified in the available meeting information. Similarly, the individual board members who expressed skepticism or advocated for proceeding with the application were not identified in the meeting records. This contested item demonstrates the Board's deliberative process when facing uncertain funding opportunities, weighing the potential for success against the effort required to pursue grant funding from external foundations. ## Easement Acquisition Update on 2015 and 2016 Substitutes Beth provided the Board with an update on the status of easement acquisitions related to 2015 and 2016 substitute projects. The presentation covered current progress on multiple farm properties in various stages of the acquisition process. According to Beth's report, the program currently has four farms under contract for easement acquisition. Additionally, five farms have secured federal match funding to support their easement purchases. Combined, these nine farm properties encompass nearly 1,000 acres of land that will be preserved through conservation easements. The update was informational in nature, providing Board members with a status report on the ongoing easement acquisition efforts. These acquisitions represent substitute projects from the 2015 and 2016 program years, indicating the multi-year timeline typically required to complete conservation easement transactions. The nearly 1,000 acres covered by these nine farms represents a significant conservation achievement for the program. Conservation easements permanently protect agricultural and natural lands from development while allowing continued farming operations, making them a key tool in the organization's land preservation efforts. No specific concerns were raised during the presentation, and no action was required from the Board. The update served to keep Board members informed about the progress of these important conservation projects and the substantial acreage being preserved through the easement program. ## Grant Application The Board discussed submitting a grant application to the Keeneland Foundation requesting $500,000 to fund easement acquisitions. Key speakers during this discussion included Beth, Healy, Elizabeth, and Will, who presented details about the proposed grant application and its potential impact on the organization's conservation efforts. The grant funds would specifically support the acquisition of conservation easements, which are legal agreements that permanently limit uses of land to protect its conservation values. The $500,000 requested from the Keeneland Foundation represents a significant funding opportunity for expanding the organization's easement program. Board members engaged in discussion about the application process, requirements, and strategic alignment with the organization's conservation mission. The speakers addressed questions and considerations related to the grant proposal, including how the funds would be utilized and the expected outcomes for easement acquisition activities. Following the discussion and consideration of the proposal details, the Board approved moving forward with submitting the grant application to the Keeneland Foundation for the requested $500,000 in funding for easement acquisitions. *Note: Specific transcript timestamps are not available for this agenda item.* ## Professional Services The Board discussed the city's purchasing rules for professional services during this meeting. Beth served as the key speaker for this agenda item. The discussion focused on the city's procedures for procuring professional services, with particular attention to appraisals and legal services. A significant change was highlighted regarding the spending threshold for these services. The new purchasing limit for professional services was established at $30,000 per service. This represents an update to the city's procurement policies and provides a clear financial boundary for when additional approval processes may be required. The conversation covered how this limit would apply to various types of professional services that the city regularly contracts, including property appraisals and legal counsel. The $30,000 threshold appears designed to streamline the procurement process for routine professional services while maintaining appropriate oversight for larger expenditures. This agenda item was classified as informational, indicating that the Board was being briefed on existing or updated policies rather than making new decisions during this particular meeting. The discussion served to ensure Board members were aware of the current purchasing rules and spending limits that govern the city's procurement of professional services. --- ## Decisions - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approval of the August 28, 2019 Minutes - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Submit grant application to Keeneland Foundation - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Enter closed session to discuss property issues --- ## Full transcript ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Why lady why Can't I leave you alone I try lady try But the feeling's too strong To be on my way Would be the best thing to do Why lady why Can't I get over you ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ There is a tale That the island people tell Don't care if it is true Cause they love it so well Jalliemond sang For his supper every night The people fed him well Cause he treated them so right Oh oh oh Jalliemond sang ♪ Oh oh oh Make a right ring And they wanted him to sing On the island near and far He always found his way By a rye and lucky star He'd tell them of their joys He'd tell them of their woes They'd love to see him come They'd hate to see him go Oh oh oh Jalliemond sang ♪ Oh oh oh Make the music ring He was making his way home On a dark and stormy night When he heard a cry for help He saw a flashing light When he reached the other boat And offered them a hand They said give us all your cargo As they took a pirate stand Oh oh oh Jalliemond sang ♪ Oh oh oh Give them everything Jalliemond it's over singing Last song very well They tossed him in the ocean Cause their hearts were made in hell Came along a dolphin He said Jalliemond hello I've always loved you singing Climb on board don't let go Oh oh oh Jalliemond sang ♪ Oh oh oh Make the oceans ring ♪ ♪ The night was filled with magic They bid the sea goodbye They swam into the heavens They stayed up in the sky And all the island people When they wish upon a star See the dolphin and the Jalliemond Tell them where they are Oh oh oh Jalliemond sang ♪ Oh oh oh Jalliemond Make the heavens ring ♪ Oh oh oh Jalliemond Jalliemond sang ♪ Oh oh oh Jalliemond Make the magic ring ♪ Oh oh oh Oh oh oh Oh oh oh Oh oh oh Oh oh oh Jalliemond sang ♪ ♪ Oh oh oh Oh oh oh Oh oh oh ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ I'm going to ask everybody to prepare. It's almost 3.30, and I'm going to try to keep this quick today because, again, this room has been reserved at 5 o'clock for the next group, and we're going to try to buzz through this before that time. We don't have a huge agenda, but we do have some important business we need to take care of. Beth wants to know if anybody was negligent in downloading their packet. If they do, she has brought some extras. She's being very tactful. Does anybody need a packet? We have a quorum. It's almost 3.30, and I'm going to call the meeting to order. Make sure your screens are working. Try to check in. She's been around to inspect them. She thinks they're all going to work okay. Everybody have the packet they need? I'll call the meeting to order. It's 3.30, and before we start the meeting, I have a couple of announcements I'd like to make. First of all, Dennis, again, we would like to send our condolences over the loss of your mother, and that's a sad note, and we have a happy note because Zach has a new member of his family. Mary Benton was born September 12th, right, at 10.37 p.m., and she was 7 pounds, 10 ounces, and 20 inches long, so we have a new family member. It's official. It's official, and I wanted to last time we got cut short on our time because we were moving and didn't have time. Beth and I talked about the fact that Ag Day was a great success. Phil Meyer and Robert James put on a great show showing us, Phil, his farm, and Robert, the hemp operation that they have going out there, and we had a great turnout. Beth actually brought a picture that was taken at the end of Ag Day. We had great council turnout. We had the mayor. We had some of our board members and previous board members. Oh, Beth says she has a list. Here. Well, we had 10 council members plus their aides. The PBA came. There were five people from the mayor's office. She had participated at the start of the day, and when they went to the feed, even ate part of the sweet feed for the horse that they make in that area, I understand. The new Fayette Extension agent, and Nick has moved up in the world to UK, and we have Bo will be introduced next time, I guess, Nick, and we have a new extension agent who will take his seat. Four more of our board members plus Beth, and we had Charlie Farmer and Don Robinson and the Fayette Alliance staff people. So it was a great turnout and a wonderful day. The other thing that I wanted to comment on was a wonderful evening that occurred on Mill Ridge Farm. Thank you, Headley. It was a perfect night. Great attendance. Thank you for doing that. Wonderful food, wonderful musical entertainment, and your comments that you made just before dinner about farmland preservation and your farm, everything was perfect. Thank you for doing it. I think it was wonderful PR and certainly educational. Our council members, you had a great turnout of council members, and I thought it was wonderful for them, and they had good comments. So thank you again for doing that. And this is another picture she wanted to put up. We all went to the Farm Bureau annual meeting on Monday night, and we have Jennifer Reynolds, one of our council members, Beth, Fayette Alliance, me, and Kathy Plowman, your 12th District Council person who is sitting in the audience and always attends and has been most helpful. She and I have had numerous conversations about things that she can help us with, and we appreciate your help and thank you. Let me just remind everybody again, please always RSVP to Beth so we can be sure that we have a quorum. Because it's a volunteer board and you're all good members and do show up, I know that it is difficult when you have this on your schedule to come, and then if we don't have a quorum, you've put out that effort. So please always respond to Beth or me so that we do know who's coming so we can be sure we have a quorum. At this time we have Christine says she may be a little late. Margaret has an excused absence. Jennifer Masani has an excused absence. And Tommy Owen has an excused absence. So other than that, you're all present and accounted for, and I certainly appreciate it and thank you very much. Now, are there any other announcements before we look at the minutes? Has everyone had an opportunity to review the minutes? Are there any changes, additions, deletions? If not, the chair will entertain a motion. Chair, I make a motion to approve the minutes. The motion's been made. Robert, is there a second? And Healy has seconded. We'll see if we can. All in favor, please signify if it works. I noted that Zach's abstained since he was not here last time. I think everybody's voted. All right. They've passed, and it's unanimous. Unfinished business. Beth is going to update everyone on our 2015 and 2016 substitutes. Have at it, Beth. All right. So right now we have four farms under contract and five for which we recently received federal match funding. And the four that are under contract are the farms we discussed last month in closed session that required supplemental appraisals. I notified all the landowners after our meeting, and they all confirmed their desire to proceed. And I have assigned those to our closing attorney, John Watts, and so he will work on that with our landowners. And NRCS, we've notified them as well. They will have to have those supplemental appraisals reviewed by their national appraiser. But we copy NRCS as well when we assign the closing so that they know which attorney has those and that that's being done. So we all collaborate together. And then we have the five that were just funded. We were given our initial notice, and Gloria had to initial the paperwork and we had to agree to it and send it in around August 23rd. And then actually on Monday they sent the final paperwork for her to sign. And those appraisals have been ordered, and there are five of those, and they will have those for us at our October meeting. So that is all good. So we have nine farms in the pipeline. When we discuss those in closed session in October, I'll talk more, but together the nine total nearly 1,000 acres, so it's really good. So thank you. And in addition to that, you will recall the ones you've already approved and have already gone to the attorneys to prepare the closing documents, you will recall those reappraisals came back $70-something more than the originals. Beth is checking with the federal folks to see if they will also reimburse us for half of that, or if not, then we do have money, the $401,000 that the council and the mayor put in the budget, we can use part of that to cover that. So she is checking, and they had to ask Washington about that, could they give us half of that back. So we're also working on that. If you'll hand me the, are you through looking at this one? I had one thing that I have worked on that I wanted to ask the board to okay. Beth and I had talked about ways and places, grants and funding, that we might ask for other monies to put in our coffers. Most of you know that Keeneland has a foundation and gives grants every year. They have a very simple one-page application that you fill out, but they do require other things. They want to know the board members. They want to know your articles of incorporation. They want a sheet of paper that proves that you are a 501c3 and then any other information you'd like to include. They say that the maximum they usually give is $120,000. However, you can ask for more, but you would probably not get it. I did ask for $500,000. I thought I would go for broke. I'm always an optimist. I'm one of those when the lottery goes high, I buy a $2 ticket just sure I'm going to win it. I never have, but I keep hoping. So that's the way I looked at this. I thought we could maybe ask for more in hopes we'd get anything and at least get in the habit of an annual asking. They do want to know, they want you to list, and I can pass this, or we could put it up on the board, but it's pretty simple. They want to know the name of the organization. They want to know when we got our 501c3. And they want to know the purpose of the organization. And they gave us three lines. You cannot put more than about two sentences, the reason being when you get to the end of the line, it beeps and it will take no more. So I put in that it's to purchase, and one of the things that they will, you can't, there are a lot of things you can't apply for. This is one of the things you can. To purchase easements on farmland in order to preserve and protect agricultural land, including horse farms, that are an important part of our local and state economy and to sustain the viability of these lands for future generations and to continue to maintain our visibility and international recognition as the horse capital of the world. And that was the most we could put on there. And they wanted to know what we would use this for. It's to assist in funding the program goal of acquiring easements on 50,000 acres of Fayette County farmland. And in 2000, through community-wide support, it was decided that it was necessary to preserve and maintain the viability of farming in Central Kentucky. The program to date has acquired approximately 30,000 acres to help preserve the viability of farmland and sustain farming for future generations. They want to know what percent of that will be used in Central Kentucky, and it would be 100 percent. And they wanted to know any other funding sources we might have had. This year, and it has to be current, we had $401,000 from the local government. It was matched with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service with another $401,000. And they wanted to know if they could, would Keeneland be allowed to inspect in connection with this our books, and we certainly are open to any and all inspection anyway. So I've attached those things, and I would like to send in an application on October 1st if you all would like to discuss that and if we might entertain a motion to do that. I'd like some discussion about what you think about asking other people for funding. I'll take that as a yes or no. It never hurts to ask. Well, personally, when I think about Keeneland and its foundation, I don't think about PDR. I think about it being various other situations that, you know, not that certainly PDR isn't relevant, but historically we've had a funding mechanism. And I just don't, I'd be surprised. I don't find that that falls under that particular umbrella of Keeneland. That's my initial impression. Well, you can't use it, it says, for general operating expense, but you can. It is open for capital projects, and so this is, PDR is a capital project. Listen, you know, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Give it a go, but that's my impression. I think it might be difficult, like I said, about buying a lottery ticket, but I thought it might get a foot in the door. There you have it. What were you saying, Elizabeth? Have you looked at their 990 to see what they've typically given before and what size of grants they've given out? It varies greatly, yes. And to whom? I have never seen them make a significant grant to something like this, but it never hurts to ask. I think there are also other land conservation programs like Open Space Institute and Farmlands of America and other places that we could look to, too. I mean, I love the idea of reaching out for other resources, even beyond Keeneland. Well, that had been brought up, which is why I did it. Will? I'll offer a little perspective, and I'll kind of echo what Healy said. I don't think this is typically what Keeneland would do. But furthermore, you know, Keeneland sort of exists, and it's one of the kind of founding philosophies at Keeneland is you treat all of your customers the same. And I'm saying that as a former Keeneland employee. I think that this would be viewed as a conflict of interest for Keeneland to make a contribution that would benefit one or a handful of other clients potentially of Keeneland. I did go out there last Friday and talk to some of the people for a while while I was out there, which is part of the reason I thought it might be a good time to do it. So having said those things, are there other comments? Well, I would like for the board to actually make a motion to allow us to at least send this in if that's okay. I'll move to make the motion to submit the request to Keeneland. All right, there's a motion. Is there a second? I'll second. All right, second. And all in favor, see if this comes up. Well, all in favor, just say hi. Okay. Okay, motion passes. Part of them are up here that are not. We have some names up there who are no longer members, so I'll look at this. All right. The other thing we need to pass on to you all, we have an update about our professional services contract. Okay, so we just wanted to provide you all an update on the city's purchasing rules, because we do use professional services in three areas. So we use appraisals, real estate attorneys for our closings, and Charlie Farmer for easement monitoring. Those are all considered professional services. And the city has previously had a $20,000 limit on how much you can spend per fiscal year from July 1st to June 30th before you have to get an RFP. And traditionally we have not had to use RFPs because we generally don't surpass that. We did have to do an RFP for appraisals several years ago after the 2014 Farm Bill passed and NRCS got backed up. And at that time, Paul Moore and Will Berkeley won the contracts, and so we've shared those. That expired August 31st. And we think right now we're not going to need that. I was a little concerned, but checked and learned they have raised the limit this year to $30,000. And so now we feel confident that we should be okay. These five we just ordered will be $15,000. And the supplemental appraisals we paid for in August were actually still under the RFP. So they do not count towards this. So our $30,000 per year limit really started September 1st. And I'll go over all this with Phil so that we're keeping up with it. But we do not expect to exceed that need to do an RFP. So that makes it easier for us because that delays appraisals because the city has to advertise for a certain amount of time. It usually is a two-month, at least, process and things. But I talked with Sally Hamilton about it, and while I was meeting with her, she called our director of purchasing, and he said, yes, everything is good. And they did. So I have been here five and a half years, and they have charged $3,000 for appraisals, and that's what our RFP had as well, and $1,000 for supplementals. And they did, Paul Moore's group did ask this last time, could they raise the supplemental fee to $1,250. And Gloria and I talked about it, and that was part of our checking the amounts that we can spend, and checked with Sally Hamilton, and she felt that was perfectly reasonable. I'm not sure when the $1,000 was set, but I've been here five years, and it's never been raised. And they did not ask to raise the $3,000. So we felt, especially with all the changes, there are, when we sign a grant with NRCS, there is about a 12-page document that comes of appraisal specifications they have to follow, and they have to have conservation easement training in order to be our appraiser. So we felt like that was justified. And if we want to take a vote, we can. We did have them do their invoice that way, but we also, or we can wait and do that. We are also looking at that for our attorneys. Our attorneys have to do so much more now since with the new farm bill, and it seems like each new batch we start to close, NRCS adds some new tasks. And they have, we looked back, their last contract was in 2008 or 2009, and they get a flat rate that's less than $1,000. So we are also checking into that. And we'll probably, we could bring that to you all next month. They haven't pushed much. They both have said they sometimes see it as their contribution to Lexington, but we feel it's justified with all the stops and starts that happen with the closings and redoes and things like that. So we just wanted to. Right now it is John Watts and Tommy Todd. And John has taken the four that we just assigned this month. They were the last two we did went to Tommy Todd, and so we sent these to John Watts trying to balance out where they go. Some require more work than others. And when we talked to Sally Hamilton, she felt that was certainly reasonable too. And it's covered. Yes. Are there any other questions? Phil, did you have a question? Does the $30,000 allocation, does that cover the appraisers and the lawyers and the inspections? No, we can spend $30,000 per professional service. So for our attorneys where we're using two, we could actually pay each $30,000. So it's per person. It's actually, and they have commented in the closings about the time it takes, and commenting on what Beth said, they do consider this to be a contribution to our program. And we've tried to thank them and tell them that we do consider that. Committee reports. Will. The Applications and Donations Committee has not met since the last full board meeting. However, I did attend the Ordinance Review meeting last Monday. And just for point of information, I won't get into what was discussed at the Ordinance Review meeting, other than while it was my intention to bring the application form to the full board for vote today, there were a couple of questions raised at the Ordinance Review meeting, which, frankly, make I think the application stronger, but it will just require a little bit more time. So I'm working with Beth and Margaret. And big thanks to Deedee for pointing some of these things out. She's a real hawk on the ordinance. To Deedee. Deedee's still serving on the committee. Yeah. Yeah. All right. That's it. And I will recognize Tracy. Our attorney is here, who was at the meeting and is revising all this. And we certainly appreciate your time and effort in that. Thank you. And education and outreach. Thank you, Madam Chair. For various reasons, the Education and Public Outreach Committee has not met for two months, August and September. We will meet in October with our intended goal of completing our work by the end of 2019. So I will report back during our October meeting. Thank you. Margaret had a meeting scheduled for your ordinance review, long-range group. Had a meeting scheduled a long time before she was even appointed to the board. She asked me to say that she would be looking at the things that Will's committee forward to her, along with Margaret and Deedee and Beth. The committee will be meeting. She's going to do that. They're going to try to wrap that up in time to bring it to our next meeting. So she said to make that announcement. Treasurer's report. Do you have anything, Phil? I have nothing to report this month. I have a list of things. Margaret, I have met with Margaret, and we've gone over, since you all located her last meeting to be the new chair, she and I went over in detail the outstanding list of things that her committee might be responsible for. And that includes making sure that we've met everything on the internal audit. And she's going to be looking at the new farm. Her committee will be looking at the new farm bill and the new things that they want put into our closing documents. So she's up on that and has met with Beth. And Beth and I talk almost daily, sometimes several times a day on these things. We're short-staffed here, and so we have a lot we need to cover. I will say that the America in Bloom board, Beth and I attended the mayor's press conference, the release on that. And the official flower for Fayette County, I think the council has given it the first and second reading. Isn't that correct, Kathy? And it's the purple coneflower. So they wanted us to encourage all of our farmers and all of the people you're associated with. They ask a lot of growers and a lot of garden clubs, and they took an online survey I've forgotten how many thousand they said replies, but the purple coneflower grows well here. And it's inexpensive, and they want to encourage everybody to plant that on their farm. So Beth and I have attended that. I also attended the evening in the garden at Mount Brilliant Farm, which is one of our eased farms. It was a lovely evening. And those of you who were in attendance, thank you. It was a great evening. We all attended because we wanted to support the Fayette Alliance, because they certainly have been good supporters of this board and this group. Throughout the week, I have been doing some research. Beth and I have been looking at potential farms for when these applications are finished, to see about sending to the list, and Will's been working on some of that as well. And I did do some research throughout the week for grants we might apply. It looks like that's going to be one of the things we're going to need to do more in the future. And, again, we attended your Mill Ridge Farm, and it was a lovely evening, and thank you again. And Beth almost made it. Her son on the way had a little fender bender. Nobody was hurt, but she was on her way. It was a memorable evening in all kinds of ways. I did go to the Ordinance Review Committee and since then have talked to Margaret and Beth, and we've talked about making sure we get those things updated. I did go to the Farm Bureau's meeting on the 17th. I did take, Beth prepared for me one of our big maps, and I did take it, and Robert helped me pin it up. Nick was there. There were a lot of questions about this after I made our update to tell them how many farms and what we had in the pipeline and what the closings were. It's the most interest I think they've shown in a long time. Phil was there as well, and afterward I stayed for an hour probably answering questions, and there were people who had questions about applications and wanting to apply. So maybe this year we'll get some more enthusiasm. And we have been looking at the farm bill. The new template is going to require some changes, and the committee will be looking at that, but Beth and Tracy and I will try to make sure we get that reviewed, and we might bring that to you all for review as well before we start. The closings we're doing now do not apply, but these next appraisals that we have done will. I think all of them will. And I did go out to Keeneland and talk to some folks out there, and I've answered and Beth has answered numerous phone calls. We have some farms who want to do some improvements and have asked about doing things, so we're trying to keep ahead of that. And we did go. We showed you the picture of the legislative dinner on Monday night. And one of the things that has come up that one of our farms alerted us to, he was sort of upset because KU was, at his road frontage, getting ready to cut all of his trees going down the road frontage, and it is an eased property. While KU has the legal right to trim trees and the easement, some of these were of sentimental value, very large, and may not have needed to be cut. So I did meet with the property owner, and KU came, and they brought two of their subs, and we actually had a really nice meeting. Everybody compromised a little, and he has drafted a letter, which the property owners along this scenic byway, there are numerous easements, both with our group and the conservancy along that particular area where they're going to be putting in all new lines. So he made a list of the people, all the properties that will be affected. I got him with the neighborhood association president and told him how it was one of our scenic driving tours that Mary Quinn has, and gave him Mary Quinn's number to get in touch with them as well. So hopefully we have that issue resolved without any serious problems. So I think we have taken care of most of the contentious issues that might have come our way this month. So that's what I've been up to. And Beth has been shoulder to shoulder and elbow to elbow on some of these. She didn't make it to fight with KU, but Beth has. Yes, she's a hard act to follow there. But, no, I think she covered most of everything I have on my list. I did want to say that was the situation this week with the landowner called late Monday afternoon. She and I were both going to the Farm Bureau legislative dinner Monday night, and the landowner called and said, KU has shown up on my property. And they actually, it wasn't KU themselves, it was the people who actually cut the trees down. And they have two huge walnut trees. This man is probably in his 70s or so. He said they've been there since he was a child. They're very sentimental. His father planted them. Tree-lined roads. And he said, I'm hoping my PDR easement, because if they were not going to trim them, they were going to cut them down along the whole fence line. Because Gloria said what she learned is they are installing poles that are two feet higher. And it would be ten feet. It would be easier for them to just cut the trees rather than trim them. So he called and said, I'm hoping my PDR easement can protect this. So, sure enough, I pulled it up. And first thing on the protected area was the large trees throughout the property. And then, again, it says tree-lined roads and talks about. And then we, it's also in the prohibited use that you can't cut down trees unless, or even prune anything unless it's needed. So I called Gloria and she said, get me that easement and I'll be there at 9 o'clock tomorrow morning. So I called our landowner back. And he is, his family has owned this for years. So I said, do you know Gloria? Yes, he did. I said, well, KU doesn't stand a chance. She's going to be there at 9 tomorrow. But it was very helpful because she said while she was there that also two other farm owners that have their farms in either PDR or the Blue Grass Conservancy stopped by and the same thing was happening. No one was aware of their origin. So it was a way that PDR is not usually involved that we were able to be involved and help. And so I want to commend her for doing that. And she did notify Mary Quinn and the relationship that she has with Mary Diane Hanna, who heads the Old Richmond Road Neighborhood Association. They were able to alert all these people that this was happening because their plan was to go up and down Old Richmond Road. So it was just kind of a unique way that we were able to help this time. So thanks to Gloria for jumping in there. And then my other one isn't really has to do with us, but I received this right before I came over from the planning staff. And I know this is a big issue, so I wanted to alert you all. There will be a public hearing on the accessory dwelling units this Thursday. Originally, they were going to have a zoning issue that was going to go later in the day. And the ADU public hearing was going to get moved to the Phoenix building. They now have taken the zoning issue off of the agenda and are just focusing on the ADU. It's going to be live televised. But they want everyone to know that it will start at 1.30. There's one quick item on the agenda. It's here in the council chamber. And I wanted to share that with you all because I know there has been a lot of interest in Lexington. And so that is a change to their schedule. Thank you. And just FYI, Heidly can. Do you have a position on those units? That's what I was going to say. Heidly is on the planning commission. And it doesn't, none of this is in any of the agricultural zones, correct? It's strictly residential in town beyond inside the urban service boundary. So none of our farms or easements are referenced in any of this. Something we could add to the discussion at another time. I know we mentioned it in our donation committee meeting that as we look at generational transfers of farms, the ability to have another dwelling for parents or for children as their farms are transitioning between generations because I think the way it is now, you're allowed to have tenant housing and not second family in this locality. I don't know why not being a small community like this, but looking at some kind of provision for generational transfer of farms. Yes, it is. It came up in that committee. And we talked about it briefly in the ordinance committee. And since you brought that up, I've had a call from, and I've been, one of my things that I've looked into, and we had a call from someone in Virginia who was interested in purchasing one of our PDR farms who wanted to build another house. The easement allows more houses, but they would like for a parent to live in one of the existing houses. And that has to do with the zoning ordinance and not our easement. So, yes, we do need to look at that. And you've brought it up before, and it is something that this group needs to look at. It might be something that the zoning ordinance needs to amend to take care of that. And it also, those of you who have farms, as you know, if you have a, quote, tenant house, the definition only allows somebody who's working full-time on the farm, and that doesn't include a family member living there or a farm manager. And those people who have very large farms, I think many of them already have farm managers living there. So, yes, it is something that we need to look at, Elizabeth. And I think that's sort of already in the committee. Any other comments? Public comment before we go into closed session since we have our council member here? The chair will entertain a motion then for us to go into closed session to discuss property issues, which might otherwise not be pertinent. Motion's been made by Healy. Is there a second? Second. Second by Robert. All in favor? It's, yeah, we'll just, there you go. It finally came up. All right. All in favor. Thank you. We'll go into closed session. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.