# Council Work Session - Video Teleconference - April 27, 2021 > Auto-transcribed civic record · April 27, 2021 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/5344 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/5344?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2021-04-27 - **Last revised**: April 27, 2021 - **Length**: 6,504 words - **Speakers**: Mayor > ⚠️ **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 convened on April 27, 2021, at 3:00 PM via video teleconference, with Mayor Linda Gorton presiding. The council addressed eight agenda items during the session, covering a range of municipal business including zoning matters, budget amendments, and various administrative items. The meeting included one public comment period, allowing community input on matters before the council. Throughout the session, council members conducted nine formal votes on various motions and agenda items, with most items receiving approval. The meeting concluded with reports from both council members and Mayor Gorton, providing updates on ongoing city initiatives and administrative matters. ## Attendance The following officials were present at the meeting on April 27, 2021: **Present:** • Mayor Linda Gorton • Kay • Plomin • Lamb • Baxter • Reynolds • Ellinger • J. Brown • LeGris • Sheehan • F. Brown • McCurn • Kloiber • Worley • Bledsoe No officials were recorded as absent or arriving late to the meeting. All 15 listed officials were in attendance. ## Votes and Decisions The council conducted nine votes during the April 27, 2021 meeting, all of which passed unanimously. **Closed Session Motion**: Kay motioned to enter closed session pursuant to KRS 61.810(1)(c) for the purpose of discussing pending litigation, seconded by Plomin. The motion passed unanimously. **Meeting Docket Approval**: Kay motioned to approve the April 22, 2021 Council meeting docket, seconded by Plomin. The motion passed unanimously. **Public Hearing Scheduling**: Lamb motioned to schedule a public hearing for ordinance #4 on September 2, 2021, seconded by Plomin. The motion passed unanimously. **Work Session Summary**: Baxter motioned to approve the April 13, 2021 Work Session summary, seconded by Lamb. The motion passed unanimously. **Budget Amendments**: Lamb motioned to approve budget amendments, seconded by Baxter. The motion passed unanimously. **New Business**: Reynolds motioned to approve new business, seconded by Lamb. The motion passed unanimously. **Neighborhood Development Funds**: Kay motioned to approve neighborhood development funds, seconded by Lamb. The motion passed unanimously. **Mayor's Report**: Plomin motioned to approve the Mayor's Report, seconded by LeGris. The motion passed unanimously. **Adjournment**: Kay motioned to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Baxter. The motion passed unanimously. All motions were approved through unanimous consent, with no recorded individual vote counts or opposing votes. Transcript timestamps were not available for any of the votes conducted during this meeting. ## Budget and Financial Actions The council approved multiple contracts, agreements, and grant applications totaling over $1.5 million in financial commitments. **Major Contracts and Agreements:** • **L0426-21**: First renewal with Tetra Tech, Inc. for annual program management services - $719,258.00 • **L0406-21**: Amendment to health services agreement with Corizon, Inc. for pharmaceutical services and per diem rates - $120,000 • **L0399-21**: Agreement with Community Action Council for temporary non-congregate emergency shelter - $92,521.06 • **L0402-21**: Lease extension with BCTC for the Police Academy - $89,238.96 • **L0405-21**: Memorandum of Agreement with Bluegrass Community and Technical College - $60,000 **Technology and Equipment Contracts:** • **L0393-21**: Sole source agreement with Louisville Industrial Supply for Materials Recovery Facility parts and services - $20,000 • **L0394-21**: Contract with Populus Technologies, Inc. for dockless vehicle data management services - $5,000 • **L0427-21**: Agreement with Kentucky River Watershed Watch for water quality monitoring - $4,000 • **L0419-21**: Additional licenses with Benevate Inc. for Neighborly Software - $2,362.50 **Grant Activities:** • **L0424-21**: Accepted $179,400 in federal funds from Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services • **L0423-21**: Authorized submission of two applications to Kentucky Office of Homeland Security Grant program totaling $121,846.50 • **L0417-21**: Approved $100,000 FY21 Class A Neighborhood Stormwater Quality Projects Incentive Grant for Ellerslie at Delong Homeowners Association, Inc. **Additional Agreements:** The council also approved several sole source agreements without specified amounts, including contracts with Mettler Toledo (L0395-21), RouteWare Global, Inc. (L0396-21), and Zonar Systems, LLC (L0397-21) for various technology services. Other agreements included partnerships with the University of Kentucky (L0398-21), DEA Task Force participation (L0404-21), and facility agreements with Keeneland Associations (L0403-21) and New Lexington Clinic (L0422-21). ## Public Comment One member of the public addressed the meeting during the public comment period. Jesse Bowman spoke regarding police funding and community services. Bowman expressed concerns about increases in police funding and advocated for reallocating those funds toward community services instead. Specifically, Bowman recommended creating a citizens liaison position and implementing a 911 diversion program as alternative approaches to public safety and community support. *Note: Transcript timestamps were not available for this public comment period.* ## Contested Items The council addressed one contested item during the April 27, 2021 meeting that resulted in a split vote among members. **Small Business Stimulus Recovery Grant** The primary point of contention centered on the funding amount for the Small Business Stimulus Recovery Grant resolution. Council members were divided on whether to allocate the originally proposed $5 million or reduce the amount to $2.5 million for small business recovery assistance. The debate resulted in an amendment to the original resolution, with the council ultimately voting to reduce the proposed funding by half. The amended resolution, allocating $2.5 million rather than the initial $5 million proposal, passed by a narrow margin with an 8-6 vote. This split vote indicates significant disagreement among council members regarding the appropriate level of financial support for small business stimulus recovery efforts. The close vote suggests the council was nearly evenly divided on the funding question, with eight members supporting the reduced allocation and six members opposing the amendment. The outcome represents a compromise position between those who may have preferred the full $5 million allocation and those who potentially sought even greater reductions in spending for this program. ## Public Comment During the public comment period, community members addressed the meeting body with various concerns and input on local issues. Jesse Bowman was among the speakers who participated in the public comment session. The discussion included concerns about police funding and community services, reflecting ongoing community dialogue about budget priorities and public safety approaches. The public comment period served as an informational session, allowing residents to voice their perspectives and concerns directly to the governing body. No formal action was taken during this portion of the meeting, as is typical for public comment periods which are designed to provide community input rather than generate immediate policy decisions. The comments regarding police funding and community services align with broader municipal discussions about resource allocation and community priorities that many local governments have been addressing. *Note: Specific transcript timestamps are not available for this agenda item.* ## Requested Rezonings/Docket Approval The council addressed the approval of the April 22, 2021 Council meeting docket during this agenda item. Key participants in the discussion included council members Kay, Plomin, and Lamb. The primary focus of the discussion centered on reviewing and approving the previously held council meeting docket from April 22, 2021. As part of this agenda item, the council also addressed scheduling requirements for upcoming legislative matters. A significant action taken during this discussion was the scheduling of a public hearing for ordinance #4. This scheduling represents a procedural step in the legislative process, ensuring proper public notice and opportunity for community input on the proposed ordinance. The council successfully completed their review of the docket materials and procedural requirements. Following discussion among the participating council members, the April 22, 2021 Council meeting docket received formal approval from the council. The outcome of this agenda item was positive, with the council approving both the docket under consideration and moving forward with the scheduled public hearing process for the referenced ordinance. This action allows the council to proceed with their planned legislative calendar and ensures compliance with required public participation procedures. ## Approval of Summary The council reviewed and approved the summary from their April 13, 2021 Work Session during this agenda item. The discussion involved key participation from council members Baxter and Lamb, though specific details of their comments were not captured in the available meeting records. The council ultimately voted to approve the April 13, 2021 Work Session summary without any noted objections or concerns raised during the discussion. **Outcome:** The April 13, 2021 Work Session summary was approved. ## Budget Amendments The council considered and approved budget amendments during this meeting. Council members Lamb and Baxter were the key speakers during the discussion of this agenda item. The specific details of the budget amendments, including the amounts involved and which budget categories were affected, were not captured in the available meeting data. The discussion resulted in the council's approval of the proposed amendments. No transcript timestamps are available for this agenda item, and additional details about the nature of the amendments, any concerns raised during deliberation, or the voting process were not recorded in the source materials. ## New Business The council addressed new business items during this portion of the meeting. Council members Reynolds and Lamb served as the key speakers for this agenda item. The discussion resulted in the approval of the new business items that were presented to the council. However, the specific details of what business items were considered, the nature of the discussion, and any concerns or debate that may have occurred are not available in the provided meeting records. The outcome of this agenda item was recorded as approved, indicating that the council reached consensus on the new business matters brought before them. *Note: Specific transcript timestamps and detailed discussion points were not available in the source materials for this agenda item.* ## Continuing Business/Presentations During this agenda item, the council addressed neighborhood development funding matters. The discussion involved key participation from council members Kay and Lamb, who presented or debated the proposed funding allocations. The council reviewed and considered approval of neighborhood development funds, though specific details about the funding amounts, target neighborhoods, or intended projects were not detailed in the available materials. The discussion appears to have proceeded without significant opposition or lengthy debate. Following the presentation and any discussion that took place, the council voted to approve the neighborhood development funds as proposed. The approval suggests the council found the funding proposal acceptable and aligned with municipal priorities for neighborhood improvement and development initiatives. *Note: Specific transcript timestamps are not available for this agenda item.* ## Council Reports During the Council Reports segment, multiple council members shared updates on various community topics and initiatives. The reports were informational in nature, with no formal actions taken. Key speakers during this portion of the meeting included Council members Lamb, Reynolds, LeGris, Moloney, Mccurn, and J. Brown. Each member provided updates relevant to their areas of focus and recent community engagement activities. The reports covered a range of topics including community events and local initiatives that council members had been involved with or monitoring. This segment served as an opportunity for council members to keep their colleagues and the public informed about ongoing developments and activities within their respective districts or areas of responsibility. The discussion format allowed each participating council member to present their updates without formal debate or deliberation. This informational exchange helps maintain transparency and keeps all council members apprised of various community activities and concerns across different areas of the municipality. No specific outcomes or decisions resulted from these reports, as they were presented purely for informational purposes to update both fellow council members and the public on ongoing community matters and council member activities. ## Mayor's Report The council reviewed and approved the Mayor's Report during the April 27, 2021 meeting. The discussion involved key speakers Plomin and LeGris. The council ultimately approved the Mayor's Report following the presentation and discussion. *Note: Specific details about the content of the mayor's report, including particular topics covered, concerns raised, or the nature of the discussion between the speakers, were not available in the provided meeting materials.* --- ## Decisions - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Motion to enter closed session pursuant to KRS 61.810(1)(c) for the purpose of discussing pending litigation. - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Motion to approve the April 22, 2021 Council meeting docket. - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Motion to schedule a public hearing for ordinance #4 on September 2, 2021. - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Motion to approve the April 13, 2021 Work Session summary. - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Motion to approve budget amendments. - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Motion to approve new business. - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Motion to approve neighborhood development funds. - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Motion to approve the Mayor's Report. - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Motion to adjourn. --- ## Full transcript Okay, you are live. All right, very good. Welcome, everyone, to the Lexington Fayette Urban County Council work session. of April the 27th, 2021, and I will open our meeting with our COVID statement. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and state of emergency, this meeting is being held via live video teleconference pursuant to 2020 Senate Bill 150 and in accordance with KRS 61.826 because it is not feasible to offer a primary physical location for this meeting. Welcome, everyone. And I'll ask our council administrator, we have Councilmember Legree is going to make a motion to amend the agenda. If you can start bringing in our UK volleyball players and coaches. Yes, ma'am. All right. So, Councilmember Legree. All right. Thank you so much, Mayor. At the request of the administration, I make a motion to amend the agenda to include a presentation to the UK volleyball team immediately following public comment. Second. Actually, I think we were wanting it immediately. Okay. Can you make it immediately? Yes. Do you want me to say it again? Yes, please. It's my pleasure. At the request of the administration, I make a motion to amend the agenda to include a presentation to the UK volleyball team immediately. So moved. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Lamb seconded. Are there any questions? All those in favor, please raise your hand. All right. Is anyone opposed? Of course not. That passes. All right. Now, we need to wait a second while all of our players get in. We want everybody on here. And I see Coach Skinner. Oh, there's a bunch of you. Hi. Hi. This is awesome. Okay. You know, you don't look like you did on the court. Not at all. Hopefully we don't. Hopefully we don't. Well, Mayor Gordon, I believe we have everyone, but if anyone in the attendees list is affiliated with the volleyball team, if they can raise their hand, we'll grab them. okay and I see you still have a couple we'll wait just a minute while you get them on well while we're getting them in I will say I well when I watched the games I said to my husband this is nothing like the volleyball I played in high school and he said yes and you're too short now. So it has changed. All right. It looks like, Ms. Maynard, do you think that we have everybody? I think that is everyone. The rest of the list looks like our employees. Okay, very good. Well, welcome everybody. We have Coach Craig Skinner. We have lots of University of Kentucky volleyball players. These women rock. So I want to welcome each and every one of you, Coach Skinner and the members of the national championship team to our council Zoom meeting today. And we all know that we have amazing sports programs at the University of Kentucky. And this year, our UK volleyball team has performed better than ever before. Coach Skinner and his team have led through an overall record of 24 wins and one loss for the season. And Coach Skinner was selected as the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coach of the year. Awesome. And senior setter, setter Madison Lilly, where are you? Are you on here? Maybe she couldn't join us. We have two screens, Mayor. We can't fit everyone on one screen. Oh, there you are. Okay. We all, we all watched Madison. She was selected by the American Volleyball Coaches Association as the National Player of the Year. She was also named the NCAA tournament's most outstanding player. Yes, council members are giving it up. And to top it all off, UK volleyball went on to be the best team of the year, winning the NCAA national championship, the first national title for the UK volleyball program, and the first volleyball championship for the Southeastern Conference. We are so proud of this great team and the way you have represented the University of Kentucky, Lexington, and the state of Kentucky. So it is my honor to read the following proclamation, and we're going to try to put it up on the screen so everybody can see it. Here we go. UK Volleyball National Champions Day. Whereas on Saturday, April 24th, the University of Kentucky Wildcats volleyball team defeated the Texas Longhorns in the national championship by a score of 3-1, And whereas by virtue of their victory on Saturday, the Cats became the first Southeastern Conference school in history to win the NCAA Volleyball Championship. And whereas Craig Skinner has done a remarkable job building this program and was named National Coach of the Year by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. And whereas Madison Lilly, a senior setter, was named National Player of the Year by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. And whereas the city of Lexington is so proud of this group of Wildcats and wishes the UK volleyball program more success in the future. Now, therefore, I, Linda Gorton, Mayor of Lexington, do hereby declare April 27, 2021, UK Volleyball National Champions Day and congratulate Coach Skinner and his players on an amazing accomplishment. Go Cats! Congratulations! Congratulations. Now, I would like to invite Coach Skinner, if he would like to make some remarks, and just a little quick aside, Coach, I think you and I met for the first time on an airplane, my first year as mayor. Yes, we did. And here you are with the championship team. Welcome. Well, Mayor Gordon, we are honored to be here today and for the last, you know, two or three weeks, honored to represent the city of Lexington, the University of Kentucky, and the state of Kentucky, and, you know, do our best to compete and win a national championship. And it was a privilege and the fact that we felt everybody from here in Omaha with us, hundreds of miles away and knew that they, you know, we were supported by everyone here in Lexington in the state. And it was incredible journey. And, you know, just thrilled to on behalf of our staff and players to do this. And I want you to know, and this is amazing that we just found this out today that it was the highest rated television program on ESPN two for the entire month of April. And it was a 30% increase from the previous national championship of viewers to watch the championship. So how about those cats and how about the state and city getting behind us? It was awesome. Awesome. Council members, turn your sound on. We need to give them a real clap. Yay, all right. But we sincerely appreciate your support and having us here today. And National Champions Day is such an honor and one of the things that we will cherish for the rest of our life. Thank you so much, Coach Skinner. And I would love if any of the players of this wonderful group of young women want to say anything. Would you like to, if you do, just, you know, unmute yourself and chime in. We'd love to hear from you. Anybody? they'll jump out there just give them just give them 15 seconds we have plenty of people that like to talk there we go i'm air gordon and council thank you guys for having us this is pretty awesome and um it's definitely inspiring to see you all doing what you guys do for the city and um just our small way to give back so thank you guys oh thank you so much anybody else don't be shy and you may have do you have some assistant coaches on Nathan Chris Anders Katie I'm I'm just going through and guessing. Yes. I know you all are very proud to anybody else. Well, we are so happy to welcome you and to have this national champions day for you. And we look forward for those of you who will be on the team next year to watching you again and wish those of you who are seniors, the best of everything. And, you know, thanks so much for getting on. I know you have lots going on and this means a lot to the council. So thank you. Congratulations. Woohoo. Thank you so much. Thank you guys. Thank you so much. Have a great day. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for everything. Thanks. What a great group. All right. Now we'll go right on with public comment. And I'll ask Miss Maynard to bring them in as she has them. Yes, ma'am. It appears that Miss Taylor and Miss Anderson are not with us. So we'll bring in Jess Bowman. All right. Welcome, Jess. Hi. If you'll state your name and address for the record, and you'll have three minutes. Okay. Just a moment. I'm in the 9th District. While the community spent months protesting, marching, and writing emails asking for a reallocation of funds from police to other community services, the current proposed budget adds more funding for police, over $600,000 actually. While I know the recommendations in the mayor's racial justice report will take time to implement, given what we've seen recently in terms of accessibility with complaint forms, it seems the position of the citizen's liaison would have been a priority for funding. Having a liaison independent of police for filing complaints would not only create a clear process, but also help foster trust between the city and her citizens. Also, lack of funding for a 911 diversion pilot program and sobering center. last week I watched a young man approached and arrested by two officers he was intoxicated to the point his mouth was drooping on one side the bartender at one of the nearby bars had called for medics because the man was stumbling and foaming at the mouth he specifically asked for medics two officers arrived no medics he was arrested one officer told me he was being charged with AI only when I looked at the jail website later I noticed he was also charged with disorderly conduct even though he went willing with the officer, no fight. While searching the jail website for this man to be booked, I saw another man I recognized who's houseless and struggles with mental illness. He doesn't speak to anyone, bother anyone, keeps to himself. He was arrested for criminal trespass downtown, I assume for sleeping in public. While I know people sleeping in the streets is an ideal and I wish they all had houses and safe places to be, it's a reality for many. Some are forced from shelters due to their mental illness or simply prefer solitude. I realized the officers did what they're trained to do, which is fine crime, but maybe that's part of the problem. We're criminalizing things in need of care, not cops. Jail is not proven to be a solution for addiction or mental illness. More police will not foster trust. Why not take some of that $602,000 increase to the police budget and allocate to a citizen's liaison position, as well as begin funding the 911 diversion program and sobering center? Why is there such a disparity in the way people are treated in our city? Last summer, protesters were met with dozens of officers in riot gear, even with no violence or destruction of property. They're facing trial for a quote-unquote riot for lying silently on a sidewalk. Young man with addiction issues arrested for AI and disorderly conduct, houseless person arrested for sleeping on a sidewalk. Yet the hundreds of drunken college students burning couches and stop signs they tore down and burning rental scooters that are privately owned over a game as in a riot or even disorderly conduct. Not one arrest or even heavy police presence. I love UK sports and offer huge congratulations to the volleyball team on their first ever national championship, but this disparity in policing doesn't make sense. Some members of council have voiced the police morale is down and even feel they're being beat up by the public. Having family members on LPD myself, that's not my intent. The calls for accountability can feel uncomfortable at times. We aren't asking you to abolish them, although council has that right according to the CBA. We're simply asking you to hold them as accountable as you would any other employee of the city, not to fund them like a mini military. Please fund care, not cops, people not policing. Thank you. Thank you, Jeff. All right. Next is there are no, there's no docket and no rezonings. And so we do have a table of motions for the work session summary of April 20th. I could have a motion. Move approval. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Second. Thank you, Council Member Baxter. Is there any question? All right. All those in favor, please raise your hand. Okay. Is anyone opposed? Okay. That motion passes. There are no budget amendments. There is new business. If I could have a motion, please. Move approval. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Reynolds. All right. If you have questions about new business, will you please log in? Council Member Lamb. Thank you, Mayor. I have two items. Item L, and this is actually probably just a statement. It's an agreement with the Bluegrass Community Technical College. It's great. I'm thrilled that police have the opportunity to work toward a higher degree or towards an associate's degree. I just, I would like to think that if there's an opportunity for us to allow non-sworn employees to have a similar benefit, and I just wanted to kind of put that out there. I know that we've been talking about some things, and I think it's fabulous that the police get to take advantage of this during their training and I'm really glad for that but I would like for some of our non-sworn employees to maybe have the same opportunity and then item Q this has to do with the 35 parking spaces I don't know if that who that would be I think Commissioner Acting Commissioner Conrad are you there? This is about Picadome. Welcome. Thank you, Commissioner Conrad, Acting Commissioner Conrad. This lease for 35 parking spaces, does it automatically renew annually? I know it said that this next year it'll be $14,700 will be the cost. So it does renew annually. It has 10 years. We do renew it annually. It does have an out clause. It is a $14,700 revenue to the city each year, and that's for the use of the 35 spaces. So each year it's already designated that that cost will not gradually increase. It's going to be $14,700 for each year? It will increase with a 2% CPI after year four. Oh, okay. That's perfect. That's exactly. And how many spaces are in that parking lot altogether? This equals about a third of the spaces. Okay. That's great. All right. I appreciate that very much. And thank you for that about the CPI. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Are there any other questions about new business? All right. All those in favor of new business, please raise your hand. Anyone opposed? Okay, that motion passes. Next is continuing business, and I'll entertain a motion for the neighborhood development funds. So moved. Council Member Legree, is there a second? Second. Council Member McCurn, thank you. Are there any questions? All right. All those in favor, please raise your hand. Anyone opposed? That motion passes. All right. Now we're down to council reports. If you'll log in, please. Council Member Lamb. Thank you, Mayor. I just want to make a motion to put an item in General Government Social Services Committee. On behalf of the administration, I had placed the item into General Government Social Services Committee for the diversity, equity, and inclusivity statement. And as a result of that presentation given on the that as a result of the presentation given on the at the April 13th committee meeting and discussion that was with the administration and the vice mayor, it is apparent that there's an additional inquiry as needed into the hiring practices and promotional opportunities for diverse candidates within the urban county government. Therefore, I move to place into General Government and Social Services Committee a review of LFUCG hiring practices and promotional opportunities for diverse employees. So move. Is there a second? Second. Council Member Reynolds seconds. Are there any, is there any discussion? All right. All those in favor, please raise your hand. Did Council Member James Brown, did you have discussion? Yes, ma'am. I did. I just had a quick question. That item was, I felt like it was something that I requested. I just wonder if it'd be better served to be presented to the entire council as opposed to just being in committee. Council Member Lamb, do you think it's going to be action items that we're going to propose that comes out of the presentation? May I respond, Mayor? Sure. Okay. Yes, sir. It will. It will. The administration is working on their presentation based on actually even prior discussions before our committee discussion. So, yes, I think that there will be a full opportunity for it to be vetted even at the full council. And we plan on having this on June, the June agenda, and having it prior to the discussion about the diversity, equity, and inclusivity statement, because we realize this is a very important discussion and presentation. Okay. Well, if the administration, you know, there's preference to send it through the committee process, then that's fine. I'll support it. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Were there any other questions about the motion or comments? All right. All those in favor, please raise your hand. Is anyone opposed? That motion passes. Thank you. Council Member Reynolds. Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted, first of all, to report Saturday, we had in Gardenside Plaza, a little free library dedication that Greater Gardenside put together. They painted a beautiful old newspaper box and made it into a free library in front of Manny's Market on Alexandria Drive. and so it was raining. It was after the Peace Walk. It was kind of messy, but there were quite a few families there that did arts and crafts and got some free books, so that was really nice, and then on Sunday, there was a cleanup and an explorium in Preston's Cave Spring, which backs up to McConnell Springs. That's actually one of my very favorite parts of the district. It's beautiful. And now it has two paths that are cleared out all the way across. And one is going to be a mountain bike path, which is going to be really fun. And we did some plantings and cleaning up. And that's just a beautiful area. There were 50 people there. So that was a really wonderful time. And then I just wanted to see, is Tyler Scott in the chamber? I have several staffing questions that I would like to ask. I think he should be in there. There he is. Welcome. Sorry, I'm back from the corner. We, you know, we are losing Laura Hatfield and Andrew James, and those are some big shoes to fill. And I was curious as to, are you planning on keeping those positions? And if so, are you in the hiring process right now for those two? And then I have some additional questions about other staff, but I'll start with those. Sure. For the one lesson position, we did post it several weeks ago. It closed yesterday. We got a high volume of applicants. We are moving as fast as possible to vet through those, interview and get that filled as fast as possible. With Andrea's position, we are looking at, I've talked with her as well about this, what's worked well, what might need to shift in the moment. I think that's the pros and cons to those kind of positions in the mayor's office. There are a limited number of positions and a large number of issues to address, but trying to maximize each of those to assist others where the additional lift might be needed. And also really highlight the priorities that are facing us currently in this moment are critical. So we're working on that position a little more as well to see what might change in that. And so I anticipate it will probably be back out on the street here very shortly as well. Will that still be focused on opioid epidemic and the drug epidemic? I think that's what we need to work out right now with what needs to remain, what can help accent what Amy Baker does in her work, what is missing there, what kind of gaps we need to fill, and also look at what other opportunities there are that weren't picked up previously that we might be able to accommodate now. Okay. And then in addition, you're wanting a full-time person to kind of be the liaison about the racial justice part. Is that right? Yes. Okay. And that would be an additional full-time person in the mayor's office? Yes, that would be, we have a frozen position that we did not fund or fill when the mayor came in. So it would be looking at abolishing that position and recreating it in a little bit different way. But yes, it would be focused a lot on the commission recommendations, but also other issues of equity and quality of life that I know need a lot of attention in the city right now. Okay, I thought that position wasn't frozen. It was split between Quinn and Andrea. That's not the case. Okay. Okay. And then for I wanted to have an update on affordable housing. What is Rick McQuady's current status in terms of I know he's helping us right now. I've spoken to him recently about affordable housing, but is he currently still in charge? Are you still currently looking for someone to take his position or has he decided to keep it? I'll throw that over to the CEO. Thank you. Right now, Rick McQuady is still interested in keeping his job as he is doing right now. I think Rick has been sort of re-energized with the fact that there has been more money put at this point in affordable housing. And he has indicated that for the probably the next year or so, he would like to continue. But we know that we're always on borrowed time with Rick since he has retired. And is that currently full time? Councilmember Reynolds, your time has expired. I don't. I'm sorry. This is just my last question. Is that full time? Part time. Okay. That was my other question. Thank you. Thank you, CAO Hamilton. Councilmember Lagree. Thank you, Mayor. I simply want to remind people that now is a really great time to provide input for the Imagine Nicholasville Road project and I want to thank everybody at our city who's been working really really hard on Imagine Lexington and on Imagine Nicholasville Road. I want to remind the public that there will be a public hearing via Zoom for this proposal on May 20th at 1pm, but community members with thoughts on the proposal who are not able to attend that hearing can also email to give their input about the Imagine Nicholasville Road project via imagine at lexingtonky.gov and I'm really grateful to everyone who has laid out the information at imagine nicholasville road.com so that our community members can see the vision for that corridor and can engage in what's been presented there. So that is it, Mayor. It's my only comment. Okay, thank you. Councilmember Maloney. Thank you, Mayor. I just want to, I know we just had the budget meeting and I'm, and I go back and think about the history that all the budgets we've been through and I try to think of a time it was similar to what we're going through now. Well, 30 years ago, we were going through the same thing, and the mayor at that time was Pamela, and she had to do a rate increase. And I look at what all the stuff she had to go through to get it done. And then we went on with the expansion area. The rate increase helped us get back to stable government. But when we did the plan, I mean, expand the boundaries, we got a bunch of surplus because I remember, Mayor, you came on and And we had a bunch of surplus back in the late 90s. And you and I would sometimes worry about where that money would go. But we had a lot of surplus because of the boundaries. And also for the next five years after that, the next 10 years was University of Kentucky. And, you know, I was thinking of an idea. And sometimes when I think of ideas, I try to find out a way to how it's going to pay for itself and how we can make more money. Well, there's two ideas that came to my mind. When you go down, pick it on golf course, and you look at that golf course, and everybody says we don't make money on golf courses. That golf course not only has paid for itself 20 to 30, 40 times, but it has paid for council members Brown's block top. It has paid for Chuck Ellinger being able to ride bikes. But I'll tell you why. Because we had a 201 study going on with sewer project. And the study was going all over the city. And when it's time to come back in 2000, we left out a group. And it was the University of Kentucky that was getting ready to have the biggest expansion in the history of its time. they had no way to take their sewer and at that time the mayor did not support the idea of buying a golf course but her chief administrator came up to me and goes maloney you did the right thing you stayed there by us building owning that golf course we were able to build the expansion of that of the university of kentucky so when you drive by that golf course you think about all that money Everybody says, just about your bike, top your street, your bike, PDR, all that money had to part it out. And it's the University of Kentucky, our largest employment. Another time, a couple years ago, I was working with the administration. I come up with the idea of how opioid was hurting us. And I said, we got to figure out how to get our money back. So I went to the previous mayor at that time, and the mayor didn't think it was a good idea. But thanks to my colleagues, we were able to get together, and we hired a lawyer. And as I've been told, we're going to have a good hunk of money coming to help pay for some of our problems. So this is my deal. We got $120 million. When we go back 30 years ago, we raised the taxes and we did the expansion to keep the revenue going and the University of Kentucky. We didn't have this $120 million. I think to me, Mayor, if you can, and I know we're getting ready to have a treat, a council treat, and I'm hoping you all and the vice mayor and the council can get together at this treat, that we come up with the business community and have their ideas. Because I'm going to be honest with you, I'm not the smartest person in the room, but there's a lot of people who can make that money. My goal is for every dollar we put out there, we should get $5 back out of that $100 million. dollars. And to me, there are people out there that can do that. And we need to put a task force together and get the community involved because it's their money. And as I sit here, and we're all worried about what's going to happen in 2024, maybe if we can find a way to take that money and make it for every dollar we put in and put $5 back in the community, we may not have that struggle in 2024. We may be able to go farther down and come up with better ideas. So I ask you, mayor and the vice mayor, for our retreat on May 20th, that you all have a recommendation of people in the public to come together and see how we call it. This is not my money, nor is your money. It's everybody's money, but we've got some intelligent people out there that we need to put them on this task force, because I remember Pam Miller just put the task force together. Jim Gray put his blue special task force together when he did the Rupp Arena. This, to me, is the biggest thing we've ever done to have this kind of money. And I really think we have talented people out there in this community that we need to put together and use their advice how we can make that money. So I ask you and the vice mayor, so on May 20th, you all have an idea how you all can sit around and figure out who we can bring to the table. That's my recommendation. Thank you, Thank you. Just a couple things. I think I will let the vice mayor talk about his retreat. We are not involved in the retreat. I think it's just the council. and I have already been in conversation with Bob Quick and Commerce Lexington about ideas and I'm meeting with the vice mayor and the chair and vice chair of budget and finance to craft a plan for getting input from the public on this. We all think this is important that the public should be able to weigh in on what they think is the way that we should spend this money. So this is in the works for moving forward with some sort of a plan. Well, Mary, thank you. I did not know you were not invited. I will leave that up to the vice. Well, that's fine. I'll let him answer in a minute. But I want to let everybody know you all have the talent to let us know what we can spend the money on and what we can't spend the money on. We may have a staff to do it, but we also have a staff that only could, they have to deal with 15 other people to do other things. We need to work as a freaking team here, guys. And if we start separating ourselves from everybody, and if you remember what I just said, it's not your money, Mayor. It's not the Vice Mayor's money. It's not the Council's money. It's the community. And if we don't put the people in the banking business, the hospitals, the doctors, all of us, everybody together, smarter than me, that can make $1 into five, then we've got a serious problem here. So hopefully we all come together as a family. Thank you, Mayor. Well, thank you. This is why the Vice Mayor and the Chair and Vice Chair of Budget and Economic Development are interested in bringing a plan forward to hear from the public. That's very important to all of us. so I forget when that meeting is vice mayor but it's sometime pretty soon on the 12th I believe thank you and vice mayor if I if I may comment the intention of the retreat is to give council members as a body an opportunity to have an initial conversation about the range of options that we might have available to us and thinking about the ARP money. And the intention of meeting with the mayor and others from her staff is to make sure that the mayor and the council going forward are on the same page about how to engage the public, not just certain elements of the public, but all of the public, so that people feel like they have had a voice in this very important moment that we have. It is a lot of money. It offers a lot of opportunity for the community. And we want to be thoughtful and careful and planful about how we engage the community. It's not that easy to do. And the part of my thinking was it would be useful for the council to talk together as a body and to look at options so that just as the administration will, we can go to the public with a range of options and not just an open question about what they think, but some more information about what the options are and how we're thinking about what those are. So that was the reason that this retreat was structured as something that's just for council members. And maybe one other thought about that, and that is, as everybody understands, the pandemic has limited the ability of counsel as a body to have any informal interactions. It's very difficult. And this is one way that we can come together as a group and share our thoughts about this important topic. it's not meant to be exclusive of anybody it is meant to be inclusive of council thank you mayor thank you by the council member mccern thank you mayor i uh that's a tough one to follow there um i just wanted to give a recap over this past weekend here we had on saturday morning it was a rainy morning a little bit chilly, but we had a creek clean still and reforest the bluegrass as well. And we had an excellent, excellent amount of volunteers that showed up and partaked in cleaning up the creek. We had 12 full bags of trash that was recovered. Some very unique items, anywhere from bicycle wheels to four-wheelers for kids that were found in the creek. It was very unique stuff that was found there. And then we were also able to plant a whole slew of trees along the same trail that we were cleaning. So it was very, very nice to be out there and see this area transformed just in less than four hours. So I wanted to thank all the volunteers and I wanted to thank Heather Wilson and her team and then Parks and Rec for all the volunteers that came out with them too. And Bluegrass Grain Source as well for helping partner with the Crate Clean. then i wanted to let all my colleagues know and the public know too that tomorrow night um there will be a presentation on the cold stream property and the 200 acres and the master plan and what what's kind of uh the idea and to get some public input um the presentation will be at 6 p.m tomorrow night it's for designed for coventry and kearney neighborhood but i do invite my colleagues out as well to come and listen. And if you have any questions, even if you don't want to ask a question on the on the mic tomorrow, you can always ask, you can always talk offline together too. But if you'd like to sign up to attend or to speak, please go on to coldstreammasterplan.com. You can find more information just on the project, or you can register for the Zoom call tomorrow night. So I'm appreciative of everyone's time. And I'm sorry, I don't even think I mentioned the time is maybe at 6 p.m. tomorrow night. So I hope to see you all there. And if you can't make it, I understand. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you. Thank you. Councilmember James Brown. Thank you, Mayor. And I'll be brief. I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank Councilmember Maloney, Councilmember Legree, Councilmember McCurn, and Councilmember Reynolds for coming out Saturday to the Peace March in Duncan Park. It was a rainy, wet afternoon, But I tell you what, it was so many people out there, it was hard to find a place to park. So that just shows our community support and emphasis on being advocates against youth and gun violence. I think the sheriff's office, in conjunction with our police department, do a great job of putting on this event, recognizing Anita Franklin and her work in being an advocate and then also keeping the memory of her son alive in regards to working as a community to address this issue. One of the things I think is one of the most important elements of that event is Ms. Franklin had a platform and created an opportunity to have community engagement and communication with our public safety partners. I think the comfort level from our police department, our sheriff's department, as well as our fire department, I can't think of too many opportunities where you can walk down the street and have a conversation with the police chief, the fire chief, and the sheriff all at one event. So I think that gets missed on a lot of people. And I think it's important right now as we work through accountability with our public safety and our police department, having an opportunity to have those conversations. The other thing I want to touch base on is the Neighborhoods in Transition has a draft report out now. There's links to a survey on the city's website. What we're doing in this stage is we're asking for public input and engagement to the draft survey. We think we touched on a lot of points. There's a lot of recommendation that even supports the commission, the Mayor's Commission on Racial Justice and Equality in that report. And we would like to get as much public input as possible. So I'm actually working on a social media post now. A lot of our community partners that were part of the task force are sending out emails. But I would encourage all my fellow council members to please send that link out, share that. the more public input that we have and the more engagement we have with this draft report, the better. So that's all I have. Thank you, Mayor. Okay, thank you. Are there other council reports? All right, there is no Mayor's report, and so we're ready for motion to adjourn. So moved. Second. Thank you. All those in favor, please raise your hand. Anyone opposed? That motion passes. Have a great evening, everybody.