# Council Work Session - November 9, 2021 > Auto-transcribed civic record · November 9, 2021 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/5475 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/5475?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2021-11-09 - **Last revised**: November 9, 2021 - **Length**: 14,335 words > ⚠️ **Auto-generated content.** Audio from the official Granicus video was auto-transcribed with OpenAI's open-source Whisper large-v3-turbo model, run locally by The Lexington Times. Structured facts were extracted with GPT-4o; the narrative summary was written by Anthropic Claude. Verbatim wording may contain errors. See [methodology](https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/about/methodology) or [report a correction](mailto:editor@lexingtonky.news). --- ## Meeting Overview The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government held a meeting on November 9, 2021, at 3:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber at the Urban County Government Center, presided over by Mayor Linda Gorton. The council addressed eight agenda items, including public comment, zoning requests, budget matters, and various reports. Over the course of the meeting, the council took seven votes and heard three public comments from citizens on issues under consideration. The body approved several items including requested rezonings, a summary document, budget amendments, new business, and the mayor's report, while also receiving informational presentations on continuing business and council reports. ## Attendance The following individuals were present at the meeting on November 9, 2021: * Mayor Linda Gorton * Vice Mayor Kaye * Council Member Ellinger * Council Member Plomin * Council Member McCurn * Council Member F. Brown * Council Member Lamb * Council Member Sheehan * Council Member Kloiber * Council Member Worley * Council Member Baxter * Council Member Bledsoe * Council Member Reynolds * Council Member J. Brown * Council Member Moloney * Council Member LeGris No council members were absent or late. ## Votes and Decisions The Council took the following actions during the November 9, 2021 meeting: **Approval of the docket for the November 4, 2021 Council meeting** [timestamp: 0:05:29] - Motion by Ellinger, seconded by Plomin - Outcome: Passed by voice vote **Approval of the November 9, 2021 Council Work Session motions** [timestamp: 0:06:02] - Motion by Vice Mayor, seconded by Ellinger - Outcome: Passed by voice vote **Approval of budget amendments** [timestamp: 0:06:34] - Motion by J. Brown, seconded by Kay - Outcome: Passed by voice vote **Approval of new business** [timestamp: 0:07:08] - Motion by LeGris, seconded by Ellinger - Outcome: Passed by voice vote - Note: Reynolds recused from items A and H **Approval of neighborhood development funds** [timestamp: 0:10:27] - Motion by Sheehan, seconded by Kay - Outcome: Passed by voice vote **Approval of the Mayor's Report** [timestamp: 1:36:31] - Motion by Sheehan, seconded by Kay - Outcome: Passed by voice vote **Motion to adjourn** [timestamp: 1:38:41] - Motion by Plomin, seconded by Lamb - Outcome: Passed by voice vote All motions were decided by voice vote. One Council member recusal was noted during the approval of new business. ## Budget and Financial Actions The meeting approved the following financial actions: **Community Action Council Emergency Shelter Contract** A contract totaling $1,400,000.00 was approved with the Community Action Council for Temporary Non-Congregate Emergency Shelter (L1124-21). **Medical Equipment Purchase** A purchase of $12,295.00 was approved for a Stryker Bariatric Cot (L1136-21). **Software Maintenance Agreement** An annual Software Maintenance Agreement with Q-Free America was approved for $40,320.00 (L1141-21). **Kentucky Utilities Solar Share Program** Participation in the Kentucky Utilities Solar Share Program was approved for $15,980.00 (L1142-21). ## Public Comment Three speakers addressed concerns regarding tree cutting planned by KU (Kansas University) during the meeting. **Pauline Hunter** [timestamp: 1:17:42] expressed concern about the width of the path that KU will be cutting for tree removal. **Adam Gray** [timestamp: 1:20:20] voiced frustration about the lack of discretion in KU's tree cutting approach. He stated that 50 out of 52 trees in his backyard were marked for removal. **Diane Atchison** [timestamp: 1:22:00] criticized KU for lack of notice and transparency in their tree cutting plans. She also expressed frustration with the Public Service Commission's response to these concerns. ## Contested Items **KU Tree Cutting** Community members expressed strong opposition to KU's tree cutting practices during the meeting. The primary concern centered on what participants characterized as a lack of discretion and transparency in how the university conducted tree removal operations. The disagreement reflected broader community frustration with the decision-making process surrounding tree management on KU property. Attendees argued that the university was not adequately considering community input or providing sufficient explanation for which trees were being removed and why. No specific outcome or resolution was documented in the meeting record. ## Public Comment - Issues on Agenda [timestamp: 00:04:28] The meeting opened with a call for public comments on issues listed on the agenda. This portion of the meeting was designated for members of the public to provide input and feedback on the matters scheduled for discussion. No specific comments, speakers, or substantive issues were documented during this public comment period. ## Requested Rezonings/Docket Approval [timestamp: 00:05:29] The council approved the docket for the upcoming council meeting. Key speakers on this agenda item included Ellinger and Plomin. The council voted to approve the docket as presented. ## Approval of Summary The Council approved the summary of the previous work session. [timestamp: 00:06:02] The Vice Mayor and Ellinger were the key speakers on this agenda item. The summary was presented for approval and the Council voted to approve it. ## Budget Amendments [timestamp: 06:34] The Council considered and approved budget amendments during this portion of the meeting. Key speakers on this item included J. Brown and Kay. The Council voted to approve the budget amendments as presented. No additional details regarding the specific amendments, amounts, or departmental impacts were provided in the available meeting materials. ## New Business [timestamp: 07:08] The council approved new business items during this portion of the meeting. Key speakers on this agenda item included LeGris and Ellinger. One council member recused themselves from voting on items A and H. The council ultimately approved the new business items presented. ## Continuing Business/Presentations During this agenda item, the council discussed neighborhood development funds and received a presentation from Kentucky Utilities. [timestamp: 00:10:27] Key speakers included Ellinger, the Vice Mayor, and David Freiburt. The discussion was informational in nature, with no formal action or decision required at this time. The council addressed matters related to neighborhood development funding, though specific details regarding the proposed projects, amounts, or timeline were not included in the available information. Additionally, Kentucky Utilities presented to the council, though the specific content and focus of their presentation were not detailed in the provided materials. ## Council Reports Council members provided updates on various community events and initiatives during this portion of the meeting [timestamp: 1:28:51]. **Key Speakers** The following council members participated in providing reports: - Lamb - Plowman - Reynolds - Bledsoe - Baxter **Outcome** This agenda item was informational in nature, with council members sharing updates rather than taking formal action or making decisions. ## Mayor's Report Mayor Linda Gorton presented the Mayor's Report to the council [timestamp: 1:36:31]. The report was presented and subsequently approved by the council. --- ## Decisions - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approval of the docket for the November 4, 2021 Council meeting - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approval of the November 9, 2021 Council Work Session motions - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approval of budget amendments - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approval of new business - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approval of neighborhood development funds - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approval of the Mayor's Report - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Motion to adjourn --- ## Full transcript Now, I'm surrounded by your embrace Baby, I can see your halo Pray it won't fade away Halo, halo, halo Let me see your halo Halo, halo, halo Let me see your halo Halo, halo, halo Let me see your halo Halo, halo, halo Let me see your halo Halo, halo, halo Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. I want to welcome you. Welcome you to the November 18th, 2021 Urban County Council meeting. It's one o'clock, so we're going to get started. And first thing on the agenda is public comment for issues on the agenda. Is there anyone signed up back there? No? All right, very good. We do have a docket approval. Council members, if I could have a motion to approve the docket. Motion approved. Second. Thank you. Council Member Ellinger, Vice Mayor Kaye seconded. Now, are there any walk-ons, any questions, anything else related to the docket? I don't see any. All those in favor of approving the docket, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? Okay, that motion passes. Next is approval of the November 9th, 2021 Council Work Session motions. Move approval. Second. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Council Member Ellinger seconded. Are there questions? All right, I see none. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Next, council members, are budget amendments, and if I could please have a motion to approve. Thank you, Council Member Sheehan. Council Member Lamb seconds. If you have questions for the budget amendments, please log in. I see none. All those in favor of approving budget amendments say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? That motion passes. Could I have a motion for new business, please? I move it. Council Member Plumman approved. Vice Mayor Kay seconded. Please log in with your questions. Council Member Reynolds. Thank you, Mayor. Is Commissioner Albright around? I have a question on letter L. Welcome. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Could you explain a little bit about this contract agreement with Rumpke? Yes, ma'am. so as we've brought to council's attention and a couple of emails we are going to be shutting down the recycling center starting mid-december through march for the purpose of doing the overhaul of the equipment that we've discussed over the last few years this contract is what will enable us to continue recycling during the shutdown so for this contract rumke will haul of our all of our material directly to their facility for sorting and processing that's great i appreciate this option to keep recycling going during that time so thank you very much thank you council member ellinger thank you mayor number e the the detention center jail roof replacement welcome commissioner ford so this is just to get the the consultants agreement now that do we have a will they then tell us how much or do we know how much it's going to be i know we talked about something in the arpa money about i think a replacement of the roof i thought yes sir it's we it's this is for the design this is for our design consultant brand center carroll they're going to help us better define what we're looking at the entire roof replacement it's a pretty large facility but this gets us started on the design and cost estimation getting the project out to be it and do we know how much it's going to cost to to replace that? We'll have a better idea once we have the design. Okay is there a ballpark and do we know how we're going to pay for this? I can perhaps get you a ballpark I can follow up with you and the rest of the council council member. Because that's going to be a pretty big price tag isn't it? We anticipate it will be. Okay I can follow up with information. Thank you. Thank you Councilmember Plowman. Thank you Mayor. Commissioner Albright, this had to do with letter D as in David. Can you just provide, maybe you've already done this before in some other fashion, but I just wanted to know how come the contract was canceled? It just expired. Oh that's it? It just expired. Well thank you. That's all I need to know. Thank you. Thank you. Are there other questions council members on new business all right all those of in favor of approving please say aye anyone opposed all right new business passes next we'll move to presentations continuing a business continuing business and first is neighborhood development funds thank you council Member Ellinger, is there a second? Second. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Any questions about MDF? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All righty, that motion passes. Next is the presentation by Kentucky Utilities, and I'm looking at our front row of folks, and I'm not sure who's going to speak first. Vice Mayor, did you want to say something? If possible. Just to be clear, council had requested an update. Council had requested an update from KU, and they were willing to come and present that today at council's request. So, welcome, David. Fair enough. Thank you, sir. I am David Freiburt. Manor Drive is my home address. We are always happy to come visit and share whatever we can and answer any questions you might have or other folks might have. I expect that near the end of the year or early next, we will be back before you to talk in more specific terms about something that we talked briefly about during our last time before you, which is an environmental study that we're undertaking right now. I think it's just about to be sent to the contractor to begin work, and I think that the commissioner has had a chance or is in the middle of a chance to opine on the scope of work. But you may recall that in the process of talking to customers, you folks, homeowners associations, we were made aware of an issue that we did not know existed, preexisted, that dealt with stormwater in an area where we were about to begin work. And while it is not something that we had any impact on before, we surely did not want to have the work that we were about to undertake to make something already a problem worse. So we are doing an environmental study of that area and added the karst issue to the scope of it. So it will be five or six weeks in process, Kyle. And I'll introduce Kyle and Kevin. We'll talk more specifically about all this stuff because they actually know these things. But I wanted to just kind of give you a heads up that we don't have a whole lot of new news from last time we were here. But we are in the midst of doing a number of things that we committed to you that we would do. One is to conduct that study, which will inform us very in-depth and specifically about that region around the lakes. and it may well impact kind of how we approach the balance of the project elsewhere, but we'll see. We don't know until we have the results, and we're looking forward to that, and we'll be happy to share that with you all when we're able. And I think we also, Mayor, have some thoughts and some reactions to the six points you asked us to think about that I think Kyle will address. But, again, we're always happy to come visit. We don't have any earth-shattering stuff to share, but we do have some updates on the process, on the study, and on the questions the mayor asked us to address, and we're happy to do so. Okay, and then, Kyle, did you have something to present, or do you... Okay, and then I'm sure council will have questions. Welcome. Thank you. A little bit of what I'll cover today will address what David just mentioned, But first of all, I want to thank everyone for the opportunity to come back and provide an update. I wanted to start out by discussing some of the progress that we have made since the last time that we were here. I'll hit these kind of high level and then speak in a little bit more detail to some of them as I go through some of my remarks. As David mentioned, we are conducting the environmental assessment. that essentially goes from the Lansdowne Merrick Park area north to Lake's Edge. After we initially identified that area, there was a request that we add the area north of the lake as well. So that study is now going to go from the park all the way north to just south of Richmond Road. We also added the sinkholes or the karst features as David mentioned. We also have increased notifications to council members and to HOAs. We have worked with the Fairway HOA and we have an agreed upon mitigation for that area. We're going to revisit South Point. We are working with the city on Lansdowne medians. We're also working with the Parks Department, local residents, and landscape architect to support the Lansdowne Merrick Park replanting plan. Speaking more specifically about the environmental assessment and Lake's Edge, no decisions are going to be made until the environmental assessment is completed. We will need to see the results of that and then take that under consideration in order to determine any final scope. So again, that would cover that corridor from the park all the way north to just south of Richmond Road. The scope of that assessment is going to be that the entire transmission line corridor, which will essentially, from our perspective, the transmission line corridor will be, again, that length of line and then the width of the easement. So that's what we're looking at as far as the assessment goes. It's going to cover stormwater, karst topography, erosion, ecological concerns, and then specifically it'll be really stormwater runoff. It's looking at sediment control, looking at migratory birds, threatening endangered species, and then also, again, the sinkholes or the karst topography. One of the things that we were asked to consider is, is there additional discretion available to us in the execution of the program? in the Lexington area we can say that all available discretion is being taken today as we visit properties to assess vegetation risk to the system we're reviewing areas under assessment in particular ones that are under the lines that have newer construction and generally higher line heights the final determination will continue to be a property by property assessment and as we have done in the past we'll always talk to homeowners before any work is actually begins. Communications continue to be a priority for KU. We have a variety of ways that we reach out to affected folks and let them know kind of what's happening. So today we reach out to city council representatives to ensure that there's an awareness of the work and its purpose in advance. We send out advance mailings to affected property owners so that they have an awareness of what's going on and then also so that they have our contact information so that they can reach out to us. We're meeting with each property owner in person as well we also conduct monthly coordination meetings with Commissioner Albright's staff the most recent one was actually yesterday we had that and in those meetings we discussed work that's upcoming and so there's an opportunity to collaborate on any scope following our previous discussions with the mayor and with the council we were asked to increase our notifications to council members and HOAs. We had been notifying around four to six weeks and we have increased that to eight weeks so we'll be doing that going forward. We also were asked to look at social media and better leveraging that. We are committed to using social media channels as requested to expand awareness in targeted project areas another area of concern that was identified as the South Point median we have developed a community and city supported plan for Lansdowne medians and we are going to take that same standard and apply that to South Point so we've already begun discussions with with Jennifer Carey and her team so that we can develop that plan. It's not developed today with an implementation date, but that is a commitment that we have. We spoke to Jennifer and her team yesterday in our coordination meeting to get that going. Considering the work that's ongoing, we do not believe that a formal 30-day moratorium is something that's necessary. Following the October meetings with HOAs, with you, Mayor, and with the council, we agreed to conduct the environmental assessment. As I mentioned, there's no decision that will be made until that environmental assessment is completed. And as we develop the scope, we've probably, about three weeks, have been working on that. we have shared that with Commissioner Albright as David mentioned. We've also shared it with the Lakes Edge HOA so that we can get comments back. We would like to begin that assessment the week after Thanksgiving and we anticipate it will take us about four weeks to complete that. So from when we started environmental assessment to when it will be completed and we'll be in a decision to assess what the impact will be on those areas will in total be around seven weeks. We have looked at kind of what comes next. So as we plan to begin that assessment again after Thanksgiving, we have also been looking or working with local nurseries and preparing for the lands down median work right now we have it set up so that nurseries can provide the necessary replantings so that when we begin that work on November 29th we will be able to come in right behind that and do the replanting plan so that there won't be a large gap between when the removals occur and when the replanting takes place. For the Fairway HOA or I'm sorry for the Fairway neighborhood we have collaborated with the HOA there and we haven't agreed upon mitigation for the concern that that neighborhood and HOA had with regard to the exposure that they would have to Richmond Road once removals took have taken place and we haven't agreed upon a plan with them and that is being implemented as well. I guess the last thing that I would mention is that last week Mayor Gorton you met with with David Freiberg with Beth McFarland and with John Crockett our president in that discussion there were some additional measures that were agreed to I don't have specific updates on those today as we have we're we've taken those under consideration but I did want to go through and mention those as well as additional measures that KU is taking to try to meet the needs of the council the city in the community so we've agreed that targeted messaging on the transmission corridor will take place to address concerns regarding owners that may plant something this fall or next spring and if it's not say another year until we're coming we did not want to have a lack of understanding about what is an approved planting to require us to come in and remove something that just got planted so we're going to reach out to those folks proactively to make sure that everyone in those target areas has an understanding of what appropriate vegetation would look like in those areas we're also evaluating the use of outbound automated calls to communicate to a wider audience of property owners that are in the affected area beyond just the property owners that we typically would work with directly we also are considering making the results of the environmental assessment for the lake area available to the public and we're including a high or we are considering what steps would be necessary to include a high-level area map on our website that details where we're working so that if there are questions and we don't catch people through outbound calling or through social media channels or through our letter campaign that folks would be able to on their own go out to that site and see the areas that we might be working. That kind of concludes what I had prepared. Definitely would be happy to answer any questions on anything that I said or any other questions that the council might have. All right thank you very much and I'm sure there are council members who have questions. Thank you so much. Council members if you'll log in. Councilmember Thank you for coming and giving us an update. I appreciate the work that you have been doing. When you were talking about using all available discretion, could you talk a little bit more about that? Because one of the things that we have asked for is consideration of the changes in the tree heights. So how is that changing in the, like, do you have some changes that you could talk about out that have to do with the discretion being used there because that is one of the big concerns is that the tree heights are based on you know from the ground up rather than the clearance from the line and i know you mentioned that the lines are at different heights but i would like could you talk a little bit more about that clearance piece and what might be considered a more appropriate tree height now so so generally the lines are considered to be dynamic assets i guess you know the line height at the pole versus the line height mid-span versus you know somewhere else changes also with temperature operating conditions ambient temperature those lines will move wind will move them so the basis for our program is still starting from the ground rather than from the lines but When we look at the clearances that we need to maintain, generally, I'm going to caveat to say generally on average, we look at around 30 feet. So when we look across our system, that was the basis for our 15 feet as kind of a starting point for the evaluation. We recognize in some of the areas that we're talking about now here in Lexington that those lines or those neighborhoods are under newer construction that has a higher pole and line height and so we are reevaluating that you know I can't say that 15 feet now translates to 20 feet or 25 feet but what I can say is that for those areas that have the higher line heights we're going to look at where is that line in relation to the vegetation that's under it and I think what we will find is in some of those areas that we can accommodate trees that are taller than 15 feet and still maintain the clearance that we need and I think and I'm sorry if I ask a question that you're you're gonna ask but unlike Lansdowne Drive a lot of the trees have been tagged so and some work is proceeding in different areas, so when will you be making decisions about this kind of discretion or having some metrics compared to, you know, when actual cutting is going to happen? Because I would like to see some of those trees on Lansdowne Drive, you know, those little red marks taken off of them if possible so that all of those trees don't come down. I understand, yeah. I would say that. Okay. Okay. so the the corridor again that I described from the park north that is still kind of under the assessment so we really can't speak to what we may do there because we will want to see the the results of that environmental assessment speaking to Lansdowne Drive medians and then also to the fairway HO or the fairway neighborhood those areas we have been going back and revisiting those there is some additional discretion that or the discretion that we were able to to revisit those will result in some trees remaining on median or I'm sorry on the Lansdowne median specifically it's I I think we're thinking maybe like 5% of the trees because those generally are under the more traditional kind of construction that we see with a lower line height. And so even considering additional discretion, just, you know, being very direct, it's not going to make a substantial difference there. But what we really want to focus on is reducing that lag between when the removals take place and when the replanting plan is implemented. Right now we're looking at about a week. And then we also, wherever we are able to preserve those trees, we are taking that into account. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Baxter. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you guys for being here today. You mentioned that you would be revisiting the South Point medians, utilizing the Lansdowne median plan. For my knowledge and for the public's knowledge, are those plans available to us to see what that entails? Or could you elaborate on that for us and let me know what that means? I don't see a reason why we couldn't more broadly communicate what those plans are. Generally, we're looking at a one-for-one replacement. we worked with a landscape architect I think it was in the Lansdowne neighborhood area that developed that plan and so through collaboration with them we've come up with something that we're comfortable with that the HOA Councilmember Lamb and others are comfortable with so beyond that I guess the easiest thing might be just to share the plan with you and then I think that would be great I think my constituents would really appreciate knowing what is headed their way. And then do we have a timeline in mind for when that might occur? We're in discussions with Jennifer Carey. We want the city to have the same level or the same opportunity to collaborate with us on revisiting South Point as we've done on Lansdowne. So I think first steps would be to share with you and with the city what that plan looks like, and then we can kind of together complete those discussions. Once we're all comfortable with something, then we can revisit the timeline to plant. Okay. You mentioned the November 29th date. I didn't know if that was when the work was happening on Lansdowne. That is when it's scheduled to start. So I guess my question, my last question will be, you mentioned utilizing nurseries to choose the assistance with the replanting plan, but winter is upon us. So if we plant a bunch of stuff and it dies through the winter, what's the plan then? So when we contract with nurseries, we typically will get a guarantee that goes along with that. So if there was something, and those nurseries will give us an acceptable time frame for when the plantings can occur. So as long as the plantings occur within that time frame, if the vegetation dies, the nurseries will support kind of a warranty claim, and we would go back and replant those. Okay, great. I really appreciate that. Thank you. And I look forward to seeing that plan. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Lamb. Thank you, Mayor. And thank you for this information today. And Mr. Probert, I just want to personally thank you for your change of heart, for your willingness to come into their chamber and to make this a more transparent conversation. I really do appreciate that very much because I know we've had a few discussions on that in the last couple of years or last year. And thank you for this information that you're talking about reaching out to property owners and maybe going back over with them about the potential trees and species. Will that be available to those in the 4th District that have had their trees removed already, or is this just moving forward from this day forward? We have looked at the 4th District and the removals that we've done up to this point, and it's my understanding that even considering what we've talked about as far as discretion, that that would not affect any removals that had already been done. So I guess I'm not sure. Maybe if you could repeat your question, please. Okay. Well, I mean, I'll just, I realize that out in the Pinnacle area that there probably weren't, because of the sizes of the backyards, they probably did not have the ability to plant any other species of trees, possibly because of the size. But I would believe that there could be some potential for those that are at perhaps even maybe, I don't know, Mr. Montgomery talked to the gentleman at the corner of Redding and Lansdowne, you know, clearing that whole side yard there, that if there was a potential for planting some other species of trees that fall within this vegetation management plan, I would like to make sure that that gentleman and that property owner is given the same benefit as anybody going forward. And I also know that the house on Wilson Downing that is at the stop sign of Lansdowne Drive, that property also received a pretty massive clear cutting, too. And I would like for that property owner to be able to have the same consideration as well. I know that you all did plant some Arbavada on the property that is behind, and the street name is failing me right now. But I just want to make sure that those property owners and any others in the 4th District that had the clear cutting, that they were given the same opportunities as those going forward. So thank you. Yeah, I see Kevin step up. He's going to speak to something specific. but generally uh absolutely um you know we we're we we want to share information on on acceptable replanting options with folks just like we will going forward from a mitigation standpoint for individual property owners we are we still have the same mitigation that was in place which would be the the 250 per tree so we're not anticipating changes to that going forward for those areas that kind of fall under that more common hoa city owned areas then you know definitely those are things that we can talk about but kevin did you want to yeah kevin montgomery ku i just want to make sure i understood you clearly because the the first property you mentioned i thought you were talking about the Miller property but I think you're talking about somewhere else so I want to make sure I clarify which properties. Right the Miller I was trying not to use people's names but that's okay that's all right. Yes the Miller property is one on Wilson Downing yes sir and the gentleman the property owner at the corner of Reading and Lansdowne that yes sir yes thanks yes sir. also just to address kind of more specifically your question though about if if we are considering providing additional information if we're if we're considering replanting plans going forward we're open to revisiting you know what we've looked at to see if there was something that be applicable there so we can talk to you and and and discuss that further well i would appreciate it and the only reason i say that is i know that you all are now looking at things through a slightly different lens not a total but and i appreciate that i really do um so i think that the opportunity to uh to just revisit that for you know those those properties were pretty decimated so um I would appreciate that very much. And I appreciate all the things that you all are doing about reaching out to other council members. And the collaboration is a very important part. And I really do appreciate all the efforts that you all are putting in place at this time. So thank you so much. Thank you. Very important. Thank you. Council Member Legree. Thank you, Mayor. And thank you for this update and for this presentation. I wanted to return to the question about the statement you made that all available discretion is being taken today as we revisit the properties moving forward. And I wanted to see if I could seek a little bit more clarification on what that means in practice to build upon Council Member Sheehan's questions. I know that you mentioned many different points of communication and forms of communication. And in that process you mentioned a map. And what I'm curious about is with some of the kind of maybe additional guidelines that you mentioned, these points of discretion. I'm wondering if that would be written out anywhere or be clarified. Hey, if we're cutting or trimming differently in certain areas, this is why it's, for example, it's based on the height of the lines. Or can you clarify whether or not some of these points of discretion will be written out? Because I'm also thinking that that would be useful beyond this current conversation and the properties that you're focusing on right now and on into the future as we look at other projects in Lexington. Yes, we want to revisit the information, the content that's available on our SharePoint site and then also available to the public. We are going to go back and look at kind of what we have available as far as program descriptions and look at updating that so that we can provide as much clarity as can be provided to folks so that when they know that we're coming to the area, as much as can be, it's still a property by property evaluation. So as much as we can just describe what we're doing broadly, then yes, that's something that we can add to our site and to our brochures and information that we share with people. OK, that sounds like a good step. So I guess I'm still a little bit confused about whether any deviation from the previous policy is being made in terms of trimming height for Lexington. Moving forward, I'm wondering if we could have some examples of places where trees that were previously going to be taken down no longer are in some of these areas just so that we can communicate with people kind of the why and the process would that be possible when we're looking at some of the snapshots of these different areas of focus? On a pretty limited basis it would be possible you know going forward we haven't looked at those yet so there wouldn't be an inability to do a comparison I think specifically the four areas that are under discussion right now are the only ones that we'd be able to do that for. But, yes, we could do that. Okay, thank you. I think that would be really helpful for us as we're trying to explain just the specifics of this process to people and the why and whatnot. So thank you. That's helpful. Thank you. Councilmember Kloiber. Thank you, Mayor. Again, as everyone's echoed, thank you for coming out here and speaking with us. I know we have a lot of questions about this, but hopefully the communication will improve this. I think one of the things that we've been all asking here is about this discretion piece, right? And we care about this because we're concerned for individual pieces of our city, but also for the overall city. And so I just kind of wanted to get to the heart of this discretion piece and ask a couple of questions and see where we end up. Could all of the clearances that you guys are looking for be maintained through consistent trimming? If you went out there consistently to trim back to maintain those clearances, could that be a possibility? It could be a possibility. Okay. And that would meet all the safety guidelines required by the PSC or federal guidelines through consistent trimming? It could be a possibility. Okay. Okay. So, just to give a little bit of a back story. Back in 2006, the PSC asked the utility companies to come up with their response to this exact question. They were saying, should you or could you go out under transmission lines and clear cut? And the response that KU and the other utilities pulled together was that adopting that kind of a standard would just, it would cause both lawsuits and customer dissatisfaction. They believed that it would not be possible to actually enact a policy of clear-cutting beneath transmission lines for safety. In fact, the response even explicitly went on to say that they did not believe it would be feasible or appropriate for the commission to establish these kind of minimum clearance standards. So that being the case, it looks like, and again, I could be wrong, that it is your opinion that the PSC could not force you to clear-cut trees underneath transmission lines. Is that also true? I don't know if I'm prepared to comment on that specific question. Okay, well, then we'll just stick with what the lawyers back in 2006 said. I don't think there's been any other opinions about it, so I won't put you on the spot. I know you're not prepared to legal opinion or anything. But if what we're saying is this policy is not required for safety since it can be accomplished through trimming, and the PSC doesn't have the authority to force you into this course of action, so very plainly, why are you here today insisting and defending the practice of clear-cutting beneath transmission lines anywhere in the city? We have conducted assessments as to what is the most effective way moving forward to maintain safe, reliable, low-cost power, which is kind of our mission. This is the program that we have chosen. When we look at the trimming, the just-in-time trimming program that we used to have, the challenges that we had with that are applying that across the entire system and maintaining the clearances that are necessary. We didn't come today with photos that show areas where trees have grown into transmission lines, But, you know, we have those examples across the system. And so one of the concerns that we have is what's the impact of that on the reliability of the system. The approach that we have adopted moving forward, in our opinion, is what is needed in order to maintain that going forward. Okay. So just to follow up to that, how many transmission lines in Lexington have been downed through these trees that you've said, you have images of them. How many here in Lexington have we had historically? Do we have that number? We do not have that number with us. Well, we don't need to dwell on that, I suppose. The point being, again, the assessment that you've made to make a choice shows that KU has certain interests that may be not exactly in line with those interests of the public. As you've been hearing from all the comments that have come in and all of the possibilities of lawsuits in the future, perhaps it would be best if you reevaluated those decisions in the context of what our community is telling you. Because while I'm sure whatever decisions, be they economic or otherwise, got you to that decision, it's not going to make the most, we'll say, economic sense in the long run if this gets caught up in a lot of lawsuits and embroiled in a lot more community dissatisfaction. So I would hope that we could at least put a pause on the activities that you're taking now, knowing that it's your full discretion to take this course of action, that there's no requirement to get down these trees, it doesn't make us any safer, and that we could all work together to come up with a better solution for our community. All right. Yeah, we will definitely, you know, one thing, speaking to, and I understand that your question was very specifically to Lexington. Thinking about our program across the system, I think some of the numbers that we have pulled together is specifically for tree-related reliability incidents. We've seen a 40% decrease in outages across our system. So the benefits of the program, again, across the system have been demonstrated and are very real. But I understand your point that you're speaking about a very specific area. And not to, again, be too much in the weeds. I'm glad you're having a 40% better rate of transmission without outages. But that might speak more towards maybe previous deficiencies in your trimming than the cutting down of things now. I'm just saying, again, I don't want to go into the weeds on that one. But I would like to see a solution that works for our community, not just the numbers that are working across the system. Thank you. Vice Mayor Kaye. Thank you, thank you, Mayor. Thank you again for coming today and sharing information. I want to go back to the question of essentially how you determine what trees need to be cut. If I understand correctly, the present policy is a 15 foot height at maturity. any tree, regardless of where it sits within the power line, avenue, must come down. Is that correct? I would say that the 15 feet is a starting point for the evaluation. What we look at is using whatever discretion is available to us, we want to evaluate the line heights in relation to that 15 feet. And where does that put the clearances between the tops of that vegetation? We always say at mature height to the lines. So I would consider that a starting point of the evaluation, not an absolute rule. Okay, then a follow-up. If I've got, I made a little drawing, which I can't show you. I've got two poles. I've got a line going down. If these are 50-foot poles, trees near that 50-foot pole can be quite a bit taller. then the trees that might be in the middle where the line is at its low point. And given the variation in temperature and wind and so on, does the present policy take that, the difference between what's happening at the poles and what's happening at the midpoint? Or do you simply say, at the midpoint, it's 30 feet off the ground, so the trees have to be X size. What I'm asking for really is a little bit more nuanced question of sensitivity to the differences. Does that make sense? It makes sense. Yeah, I understand your question. So when we look at that corridor, we're evaluating both the horizontal clearances that are necessary and the vertical clearances that are necessary. So, you know, using your example, at the pole, especially at the attachment to the pole, there is no movement either horizontal or vertical. It's a fixed point that's attached. In the middle of the span, there is significant movement both horizontally and vertically. So when we think about our program and the design of our program, what we consider is what is a program that can be implemented by our contractors in the field when they're working. And so kind of as you describe it, that is not a program that we have determined that can be implemented consistently in the field because that would require essentially kind of an undulating vertical and horizontal corridor throughout all the transmission system. That's not something that we can maintain. So the approach that we have taken is to look at what are those maximum, we call it blowout, but what's that maximum horizontal movement? And then also what's the maximum vertical movement? We kind of use that to establish the box that we apply to that entire span. Okay, so if we went and looked at the trees that have been marked now in the Lansdowne corridor, we would find that that's the policy that's been followed. Is that correct? you would find that the trees that are next to a pole as compared to the trees that are in the middle of the span have been evaluated the same? Okay. I would say that that's at the heart of the problem. It's a little difficult for me and perhaps the general public to understand why it's not possible to make a differentiation in the field between vegetation growing near the poles and those growing near the midpoint. And two, I guess to the general public, and I'll just speak for myself, it seems to me that's where discretion needs to be applied. And it's hard for me to understand why a cutting crew wouldn't understand that. So I guess I'm suggesting that for me that's one of the sticking points. So, thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Council Member Maloney. Thank you. I appreciate your presentation today and update. A couple questions that have been asked that I asked earlier about the power, how they are. Have there ever been a tree, especially with the 80-foot wires, have ever been hit by those trees? And I was hoping someone would give me that answer. and I think he's asked the same question and there was also some neighborhoods that were here that said the trees might be 35 40 feet but the things are 80 feet high they're willing to trim those trees if it ever gets to a certain point that you all think it needs to be true I understand you all trying to save money and keep those costs down but if the property owner agrees with you all that they're willing to keep those trees trimmed down from that distance you're talking if it's 80 feet and i don't know what number you all are looking at how close to get to the 80 feet which i don't think would ever happen i don't know in my lifetime or maybe their grandkids may get there but to me if we have a set where they're willing to trim those trees back and save you all some money instead of cutting them but basically it's going to save you money if y'all don't cut these trees down if they're willing to to trim them back for you i'm just trying to find a way to if you all looked at working to deal out with the owners and say here it's 80 feet high wire you got a 35 foot high tree we don't i don't know what a number you're looking at we don't want it to go over 50 or 60 feet we require that you ought to keep it trim and if you don't we'll come we have to since you're not going to do it we'll have to cut it down because we cannot be sitting there doing all this but i'm just wondering if they're willing to pay to keep it trim and you all don't have to cut these things down and i'll save you all some money down the long run in my opinion but if you already look at that doing that yeah i understand it's a it's a reasonable question um we have looked at that and there are i guess two primary concerns that we have um the first is when we consider homeowners doing work under and around our transmission lines we in our opinion that is an unacceptable risk so we are not able to consider any type of an agreement with a homeowner that would allow them to go anywhere near our transmission lines to do work on their property so that's that's number one but number two is even if we did come to an agreement with those homeowners, you know, from the utility perspective, we are anticipating to maintain these lines for decades into the future. And the concerns that where other utilities across the nation have tried to implement practices like that, just quite frankly, they lose track of the agreements. And, you know, that homeowner that we had or that someone had an agreement with moves away. they transfer the property to someone else and then that new person doesn't have any knowledge of that agreement and so that kind of it lapses and those have been the two primary concerns that have been raised with that in the past on the last part we do that all the time we've got businesses taking over businesses that are either know that about what their deed restriction or whatever that can be added to their deed restriction that says that this tree has to be trimmed it is even though it's on the easement of KU you're required to keep it to trim and if you if we go by and see it goes above that and you're not willing to trim it we're going to have to cut it down but to me that's another option that I think is to save you guys money I'm just I know you're all trying to go up to Pennsylvania and keep all your boys up there happy but to me this is another way that you all don't have to cut that cost is going to cost you all a bunch of money to cut all these trees down. If a property owner is willing to keep them trim and you don't have to cut all those trees down, to me that's a bigger saving than you can imagine. And that goes back to what I asked. Has there ever been a tree in Lushington that hit one of those 80-foot wires that caused you all to shut the power down? I've asked that and I'd like to know that answer because I don't think I've I look, I drive around, I don't see a tree getting close to those towers at all. But you all have the experts, we have experts, we've got a great tree forest folks here that can tell you that this tree will not grow this high. This tree, we can help, we're willing to work with that neighbor because we have people on our staff that can go out there and talk to their neighbor and say, you know, this is KU's property, we were willing to help tell you how to trim it and all that. It would be a great partnership. The city is willing to help you. And I think it keeps the neighbors happy. I think it keeps you all concerned about your money that everybody wants. The less you cut the trees down, the more money I think you save. So I just hope you all look at those options. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Sheehan. Thank you, Mayor. I feel like I just heard some conflicting information, so I want to clarify. When I was asking you questions about your discretion, you had mentioned that you were considering the height of the lines in the poles. But when the vice mayor was asking for information about the differences in height of a tree next to a pole versus in the middle, you said that you were applying a consistent rule across that whole space. So where is the discretion being used, and how is it changing again? Because I feel like in this conversation, I've gotten two different pieces of information. Yeah, to clarify, so I guess I would say that we're doing both. We are looking for that. We're using that discretion. We're looking at the height of the lines as compared to looking at an average across the system. but we are not going to that next step of looking at varying degrees of heights between two poles. So what we're looking at is if, for instance, the pole, the wire height is at its midpoint across the span, 65 feet in height, we're using that as our evaluation for the height across that that span is that i believe i understand the point that you're making on behalf of the community i'm going to say that i believe you should use more discretion than that then that you right next to the poles if the line is a fixed point and it's not moving the arborist that you have working in the community should be able to make that judgment there to say that that tree should not be impacted. But thank you. Thank you. Are there other questions? I'd like to just ask the vice mayor to take the chair quickly for just one question. Yes, ma'am, and I recognize the mayor. Thank you. So, Kyle, I think I heard you say in your comments about trimming that one of the factors is low cost. Can you talk about trimming versus cutting in relation to cost? What your perspective is on that? What we, when we look at that evaluation from trimming versus removals, what we're looking at is what are all the costs associated with repeated trimming over time versus that admittedly one time larger cost of the removal and then the lower cost of maintaining the corridor going forward. So that's the, I guess, to speak to the nature of the evaluation that we did, that's what we looked at. Well, what does that look like? I presume you've done those evaluations so that you determined you wanted to cut versus trim. Right. I'm not asking for specific amounts of money to the penny. What I want to know is what that looks like because it must have influenced the decision to cut versus trim. Yeah, so what we're looking at is, I guess, the concept of a managed corridor. So across our system, when we look at mechanical removals, which is the cutting and arborist out there, that is the highest expense method for maintaining the system. So what we look at is the one-time cost of that as compared to the lower cost of either mowing or herbicides or reestablishing natural vegetation that, you know, needs minimal maintenance. if your question is more specifically about what that original report said as far as the actual evaluations I would have to go back to you know to provide some of that information for you so when apparently and please if I'm incorrect about this tell me So when it was determined that cutting a tree versus trimming a tree would be the policy, I'm just trying to get to this in a different way. You're thinking about that had to partly involve cost. Is that correct? Correct. So that cost presumably would be passed on to the customer. Is that correct? Correct. Okay. So I'm trying to understand that. If you feel you can't trim, then does that presume if you switched back to trimming, a cost would be passed on to the customer through rate increase? I mean, I might as well just say it outright. I wouldn't say that there's a direct correlation between cutting and trimming and then costs being passed on a rate case. We look at our overall vegetation management program and what are all the costs associated with that. Those kind of roll up into all of the costs that we have to maintain the company and our system. So I guess other than that direct correlation, generally, yes, we feel like moving to cycle-based maintenance program across our system is a cost-effective way for us to manage the vegetation management corridors. But as you mentioned, cost is not the only factor that's considered. We're also very focused on reliability as a concern. And we understand that when we really zero down and start talking about span by span in one area or another, those system-wide benefits are less obvious. But we're looking at how does this program benefit us across our system. And so that's kind of how we settled on the approach that we have. So I'll end with this question. if the decisions to cut and it's more cost effective, can the rate payers expect a little bit of a decrease in their rates? Which would make sense, maybe. I can understand why you would ask that question. I'm probably not the best person to answer that specific question. Thank you. I don't know that I am either, Mayor, but in general terms, whenever we go before the Public Service Commission to propose to do anything with our rates, we take all of our costs and present them to them, and those that they deem prudently incurred are then shared out amongst our various customer classes. And when we save money in finding a better way to do something, that number we take to the PSC is a smaller number. So in general and across the state, it would be a lower, if we're going in to ask for an increase, it would be lowered by whatever savings we've netted through more efficient operations or cost-saving tools. But if you save $10 here, then somebody gets $5 back in this county. It doesn't work like that. In terms of rate making, it is in fact the one size fits all for residential customers and then a different size for commercial and then a different size for industrial. And they all have the exact same cost basis. Thank you. My time is up. Vice Mayor. I'll return the chair to you. Thank you very much. Council Member Kloiber. Thank you, Mayor. And since we did get into a little bit of the rate conversation, I just wanted to make this clear. At the end of the day, there are costs and benefits associated with either having the trees there or not. I know we've had people come and speak to us about the heat differentials, how trees help to keep temperatures down, and the removal of them increases the electric bills for air conditioning. That's just one example of how this is an interconnected system. So when you guys are looking at your rate costs, I'm assuming it's only purely from the utility's point of view. It's the, you know, trying to do things as efficiently as you can from the utility's point of view, not from the point of view of the entire city, right, not looking at all the interconnected systems of the water runoff or the heat mitigation. It's just from that point of view. Is that correct? Generally, I would agree with that. Okay. Okay, so it would probably be fair to state that there's costs associated with things one way or another, and the reason why we can't pass a rate decrease down to us is because it's going to be combined with a lot of different things. We can't say that it's going to make any cheaper costs for the consumer to cut these trees down or to trim them, just in the whole scheme of things, since there's more than just the utility costs to keep in mind. Would that be fair? That would be fair. Okay. I just wanted to make that clear to my colleagues and the public that we can't just take one little piece of this and say, if we do this more efficiently, it's going to lower our costs or raise our costs. It's an entire ecosystem that has to work together, and trees are a big part of that that help to keep those costs down. So thank you. Vice Mayor Kay. Thank you, Mayor. I guess I want to go back to the question. We've been kind of circling around it. My preliminary question is this. Has KU ever offered its ratepayers input on the question of whether they would prefer to spend, if they had to, a little more, and do a more nuanced system of keeping the lines clear as opposed to clear-cutting? Has that ever been a question that's been asked to the public? To my knowledge, that is not a question that's been asked. Okay. I think that might be a good question to ask. And again, I'll speak for myself. If my choice is to have a system that preserves more of the vegetation and the life of trees, even if that meant a slight increase in my rates, I'd be happy to do that. The clarification I guess I would provide is that the approach that we're taking is not solely a financial decision. So if, for instance, to use your example, if a particular homeowner said, I would prefer that you do something other than what you're proposing and there's some financial benefit to you because of that, that's not an approach that we've considered. nor would we consider. I guess I'm not speaking about individuals at this point. I'm speaking about the collective public body, and their voice might be important. It might be something that when you are next in a rate case, you might be willing to bring forward and say, what we've heard is that people would prefer us to do a more nuanced approach, And even though that might increase rates, we think it's the right thing to do. Vice Mayor, I will get you an answer on whether we do ask that. We do regular customer research on a monthly basis. I don't know if that question is in there on a regular basis or if it has been there on a periodic basis, but I will find out and we have some discretion over what questions we do ask of our customers. But also I would simply say that when we do have proceedings before the Public Service Commission, we expect to have the City of Lexington and a number of other key interests across the state represented and bringing issues like this up. And I know that I don't see David Barber in here now, but he is familiar with our process. Is he back there? Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see you, David. And that is certainly an opportunity at that point and before that point to ensure that we have a full appreciation of the things that matter to you all and your constituents. And we're happy to entertain that as well. Okay, thank you for that. And then before I yield, I want to go back to the question of the box. if you're talking about just what's under the power lines, I think you can make the case that that's not, I believe that's not the appropriate way to approach it. But when you look at the box that you're talking about, which is about the width of the right-of-way and the impacted areas, now you're talking about people who might own property that's at the pole level that's 20 however many feet away from the line, their trees would never impact those lines. And yet they're subject to the same regulation, the same kind of discretion. And I think that's what, for me, that's the hardest thing to understand, why we're cutting trees when, in fact, simple eyeball judgment would tell you that those trees are never going to impact those lines. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Worley. Thank you, Mayor. And let me first, because you've mentioned the fairways at Lakeside Neighborhood, and I want to thank you all specifically for the work that you did with my constituents to work towards mitigation. And I know coming to those neighborhood meetings and being there personally, it means a lot. And I want to clarify something. but I think I heard that despite that mitigation agreement, that some of your new approach to discretion, that there may be a few trees that otherwise could have been on the chopping block that may be surviving. That's correct. And I'm glad to hear that. I appreciate it because this particular neighborhood is one of those situations that the transmission lines are some 60 feet up in the air, 60, 70 feet. And so you wonder how would those trees ever impact those lines, though there are distribution lines that run along that same utility easement and i know that's not your the point of your uh of your plan but it certainly factors into safety and and how that can be done so i appreciate you took their you took what they said you listened to it and you and and you really worked well with them i appreciate that i will say though that i don't envy you three gentlemen sitting here today particularly because you you are neighbors uh you grew up here, you are representing the face of, and I'll just say it, an unquestionably flawed plan. And while it may be a system-wide plan that is cost-effective and makes sense, I believe the only way this community is going to be happy is if there's a plan for this community. And I don't think that that's too much to ask for each community to be looked at for what is valuable to them. And what you're trying to do now, and again, I really appreciate it, you are making a lot of adjustments, and you're addressing the six points that the mayor put forward, and you're addressing all of our individual concerns, but you're still working to within what I believe to be a flawed starting point. And so if that's all we can do, then I continue to thank you for the mitigation efforts and the work to work directly with our neighbors, and I ask you to continue to do that. But also, when you go back to the powers that be within your firm, that you do take this sentiment that I know you're hearing here, that it is not just we want a few accommodations within this plan that was already created. We probably would prefer the plan to be completely reevaluated for our community. So, again, I think summing up what I hear from my colleagues, that I think is the most direct way to say it. But also thank you three, not necessarily the corporation, but thank you and your team for the work that you've done. Thank you, Mayor. I appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you. Council members, Council Member Maloney, I think, wants to speak a third time. Oh, second time. Second time? Okay. Thank you. You're up. Thank you. I got two questions. First of all, it's not a question but a comment. I agree with what my colleagues are saying. And you need not to compare us with urban and rural, because I know you have forest fires. I know there's problems with a lot of electrical fires. They're called big. Nobody can control the trees out there in eastern Kentucky or in California. Everybody tries to be consistent. But you're not comparing apples with oranges. You need to have an urban and a rural. Because Louisville is having the same problem we are, I would assume. Once you all get into Indian Hills and get into places like that, you're going to have them folks down here complaining, I mean down in Lowerville complaining. I just would love to see you separate the two and use those ideas. Property owners are willing to spend for it. Come up with those creative ideas. Don't compare us with eastern Kentucky. And that's what I've been trying to, and I think you three live here. You understand where we're coming from. and mayor my question to you is mayor this is a question to you and my colleagues there are some people that came in late before we started this discussion and did not have a chance to have public comment before on what's on the agenda i assume they want to speak on this and i don't want to if you want to wait for council comment because they may leave i'd rather keep the trend going so they can answer some of their questions too to some of these neighborhoods or do you recommend that we i would rather see you want to make a motion i'd like to make a motion that if there's any of them that are here to speak on this issue they'd be able to able to ask the same questions we have for them so move is there a second council member well i heard in my ear council member ellinger there were several seconds any discussion all those in favor say aye Aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? All right. Are there any other questions for the KU team? Council members? All right. Thank you very much. Thank you. We really appreciate you being here today and for your answers and your presentation. So we will hear from folks who want to speak to the KU tree cutting, and if there is anyone here who would like to do that, what you'll need to do is come to the podium and state your name, your council district, and you'll each have three minutes. Yes, ma'am. Welcome. And the mic is adjustable. You can, Chris Edwards will help you adjust the podium. All right. Thank you, Mayor Gorton. Appreciate the opportunity to talk. I am in Ms. Sheehan's 5th District. I live there, but I have, I'm Pauline Hunter, and I live on Monta Vesta, but I also have property in Ms. Lam's area. Thank you. So I have watched this progressing all along. So I would like to ask the KU representatives today, as you progress east, northeast from 3200 Monta Vesta with your clear cutting, how wide a path will you be cutting? Ma'am, I am so sorry. The council rules say that this is for public input only, not for a question and answer, period. Oh, all right. I'm sorry. I misunderstood. It's all right. I think they want to hear your thoughts, as do we. So if you can put them into thoughts, and you can ask questions, and we'll take all that in, but there won't be answers. I guess I really don't know how to say it otherwise. Well, you asked if they can give a width. Okay. So that will go on the record. Do you have other questions? No, that's it. Thank you. Any comments? So anyway, the gentleman, I can't ask how wide the swath will be. Well, you know, the council will have to make a motion to change its rules to get a question and answer period. or a council member could ask the question later. Do you want to make a motion or what do you want to do with this, Vice Mayor? I'd like to make a comment if I can. I think it's appropriate to ask those questions. What we will not do at this point, what we typically will not do is answer those questions, but you can meet afterwards. You can get answers to your questions. All right. But yeah, unless we make a motion to suspend our rules, that's how we'd like to proceed, if that'll meet your needs. I didn't understand the rules, I'm sorry. Yes. Thank you. All right, well thank you very much. I think your question was heard loud and clear. She's getting an answer. All right. Yes sir, please come to the podium. She may have already gotten an answer. if you'll state your name and your council district hi i'm adam gray i'm from liz sheehan's district i live on norbourne drive um i just wanted to state that this discretion was not given at all to our house we have 50 out of our 52 trees in our backyard we're going to be cut down we are told that every single tree with the potential to grow more than 15 feet was going be cut down. We looked up these tree heights with the arborist and if he could google any tree at all, any site that showed it was being more than 15 feet, it was going to be cut down. And our wires are 70 feet high. And many of these trees were not even under the wires. We have trees that have a potential to grow 20 feet. I googled it with the arborist. They said it could grow 20 feet. It's not under a 70 foot line. And we're told they're going to be cut down. I'm just very, very frustrated by this. And I would say we were given no, no discretion. It was just told every single one down. So I just wanted to state that. I'm glad you are considering some discretion because I find it very frustrating. If, if it would be helpful, maybe you could give your address to. Yeah. It's a 2059 Norborn drive. Again, 50 out of 52 trees down and many of them were going to be at most, maybe 20 years from now, 50 feet from the line. Thank you very much. Is there anyone else who wishes to speak? Welcome. If you'll state your name, you're a council district, and you'll have three minutes. Hi, my name is Diane Atchison. I am in District 4, Susan Lam, who's absolutely terrific, on the board of the Lansdowne Neighborhood Association. Well over a year ago, we learned of what had happened in South Point, on South Point Drive, the clear cutting of the trees. Very little notice was given to those people. I think when you give notice for trimming trees, the amount of time given could be shorter, but I think when you're clear cutting trees, more notice should be given. We did meet with KU. We did not make much progress, any progress. We have 137 trees due to be cut down the Monday after Thanksgiving. And the red ribbons around those trees were tied by our Neighborhood Association, not by KU. And Lansdale Neighborhood Association paid for the landscape architect who did our replacement plan. That was not paid for by UK or the city. And we received some city funds. But that replacement plan was not paid for by Kentucky Utilities. It was paid for by the city and the Lansdale Neighborhood Association. This plan was approved over five years ago. They only began implementing it a year and a half ago, but we still don't understand why no one was notified. I have to believe that the properties were known at the time. KU said that this would be difficult information to get out to everyone, and I said you send us a bill every month. I think you know how to find us. We have questions that we cannot get answers to. Has there been an outage in Fayette County due to trees coming into contact with the transmission line? They haven't answered that today. They haven't answered it over the multiple times we've asked. We have never received any justifications for the heights and the distances. These are distances that they have decided are the right distances. But are there national standards? What distances and heights are other utilities companies using? We are not the West. We are not going to have wildfires due to drought. We have a lot of green tree coverage. And so we tried to work with the Public Service Commission. We were told that we were to file these informal inquiry forms. At least 100 people filed them. I called Consumer Services with the Public Service Commission and asked, have you received these? Well, I don't know. I said, well, who's in charge of receiving the informal inquiries? She said, whoever's turn it is. And I said, well, whose turn is it? And she said, I don't know. And I said, well, could you look and see how many of these inquiry forms you have received about Kentucky Utilities? And she said, not unless you give me someone's name. So I don't understand. and that's Consumer Services with Public Service Commission. Then I've spoken with the consumer complaint investigator in the Attorney General's office. Ma'am, I'm so sorry. Yes, I'm so sorry. And thank you very much. Can I give her three minutes? Come to the podium, please. State your name and where you live, and you can give her your three minutes. I'm Patty Broadbent, 1747 Lakewood Lane. Thank you very much. Thank you. So then I reached out to the consumer complaint, to a consumer complaint officer in the Attorney General's office for right intervention. We talked for 45 minutes. She was terrific. She made a lot of notes. I said, now what happens? She said, well, I will send these to KU and to the Public Service Commission. So KU responded. I responded to KU's response with a point-by-point questions. We just want our questions answered. Give us justification. Answer our questions. So this is the email that I received from the Attorney General's office. Mrs. Atchison, I received a response from KU stating that they have addressed questions posed by you in the past. However, they were advised by their legal department that they are no longer required to respond to multiple informal data requests and that the company is in direct contact with the mayor's office, you may want to direct your questions on how vegetation management will affect you to the Lexington mayor's office. I've called, and I've called and left messages, and I've not gotten a call back. I understand there's so many issues going on, but I don't know what to do. I've reached out the Public Service Commission. I've reached out the Attorney General's office. I've done everything. We've done everything they've told us to do, and we can't get anywhere, nowhere. We can't. All we ask is for them to come to the table, answer our questions, give us justifications, tell us, make this public, show the people, because this is going to go through Versailles, Danville, Harrisburg. I'm trying to get maps. I've tried to get a transmission line map for the state of Kentucky. It is unavailable because of 9-11 requirements for access to public information, and I understand that. But there's just no transparency here. It's just everything's, and I'm sorry, it's secretive. You only notify one small area at a time. You notified South Point, and you went in and you clear-cut all their trees. Now you're coming to Lansdowne. You're going to cut 137 trees down on Lansdowne Drive. Now, granted, there's a few other areas that have been notified, but I've heard somewhere 40 miles of transmission lines in the urban service area. That's a lot of area and a lot of people to be affected. And there's over 5,400 miles of transmission lines in their coverage area in the state of Kentucky, and I think people need to know what's coming. Thank you. Thank you. I know that in our conversations and the council's conversations with you, I know many of them have talked with you, we will keep working on this. Who else would like to speak? No? All right. Thank you very much. All right. Thank you again for being here. Now, we will move on to council reports. Council members? Councilmember Lamb. Thank you, Mayor. And I have to switch gears here real quick. I have something happy to talk about. And on Thursday, this past Thursday, I want to thank each and every one of my colleagues and all the, there's two state representatives and, you know, Mayor was there and Congressman Andy Barr and representative from Senator Paul's office. You know, we had a wonderful, wonderful celebration at our Veterans Day event this year, and I bet you we had probably close to 200 people there. Now, what I always say is I appreciate my colleagues being there, but I want to give an extra shout out to those that were behind the scenes because it did not go off without a lot of collaboration. I want to thank first Kelly Farley because she organized all of this, And on that note, I also want to thank Council Member Bledsoe's legislative aide, Mr. Denny. And also I want to thank Vice Mayor Kay's legislative aide, Ms. Jennifer, for being there and doing so many different things and helping with the golf carts. I want to thank Lex TV. They did a marvelous job in setting up in a very different area than we had not set up in before, and they did it, and it was miraculous. And Parks and Recreation, our division of police that helped with the traffic. I don't want to leave anybody off because we, I tell you what, And the Veterans Park Elementary Intermediate course, they brought 75 kiddos that walked from Veterans Elementary over and sang three of the most precious songs. And Miss Johnny Bishop, it was just awesome. And it made me smile from ear to ear and head to toe because of the way we were honoring so many in our community. and I just wanted to end on a positive note today. And so I appreciate everybody that came and participated, and I'm still hearing accolades for it. And, you know, we hit a home run that day. So thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Plowman. Thank you, Mayor. And we also had a successful event this past Saturday in the 12th District, Cumberland Hills neighborhood. We had close to 100 folks show up, and we were planting 100 trees. And so they are planted with 24 different varieties. And I just couldn't help to think in years to come how cool that tree canopy is going to be for that area. So it was a very successful event. And this coming Sunday, on Sunday, November the 21st, there's going to be a gobbler half marathon. And it will impact traffic on several roads out in that area. Dolan Lane, Bethel Road, Falconwood Way, Yarnleton Road, and Kearney Road between the hours of 830 to 11 o'clock. So we expect 600 runners for this event. So I just wanted to get a heads up that you might want to avoid that area that day. This is the 21st of November. So I believe that's all I have, Mayor. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Council Member Reynolds. Thank you, Mayor. I have two items. One is a walk on on behalf of the administration. I move to place on the docket for Thursday, November 18th, 2021, council meeting a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement with the language service line, or line services, Inc. to provide language interpreting for the sexual assault nurse examiner program at a cost not to exceed $1,230. Thank you. Thank you, council member. James Brown seconded. Are there any questions? All right, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? That motion passes. Thank you. I also wanted to mention tomorrow at 4 PM, I think it's about 4 to 5, at the Village Branch Library, there will be an open house. They're going to be taking feedback and public input about the new library that's going to be built on that site, hopefully in the very near future. They're doing it at that time to try to catch families that are there for the homework help program right after school. It's a busy time at the library, so hopefully those families will be able to participate. But anybody is welcome to participate and give feedback about what the inside and outside of the library might look like. Thank you. Very nice, thank you. Councilmember Bledsoe. Thank you, Mayor. I have a couple items. First, ATS is still working on the northbound Clay's Mill Road project. I'll be saying that I feel like until I leave. Between Stone Road and Pasadena, the good news is they are making good progress and we hope it opens up the road on Friday evening. So just a little bit longer of the road closure. Second, yesterday we had volunteers at Southland Park working on the playground. That was a grant from the Kentucky American Water which paid for artwork, which is amazing. If you go to the new shelter, they put up this really cool metal artwork. It's beautiful. Specifically, Ken Cook, the Friends of Wolf Run, and Gabe Knowles have worked really hard to make that project look awesome. And so all we're waiting for is the new playground equipment to arrive. I'll be very excited when the playground equipment arrives, as will everybody in the area. So just give us a little more patience. Council Member Baxter and I are getting ready to host the Station 20 open house on Sunday, November 28th at 4 PM. We'll have cookies, hot chocolate, Santa, we're going to kick off on the station 20 lights, which we love. You can also drop off new and unwrapped toys for the annual toll drive for the Fraternal Order of Firefighters 12 Days of Giving. And then Council Member Legree and Council Member Reynolds and I will be hosting the Southland Tree Lighting on Friday, December 3rd with the Southland Association. And they'll have the Lafayette Choir and the Orchestra to kick us off at 530 with the tree lighting following at 630. And Good Foods and Donut Days are providing hot drinks and cookies, so we hope everybody can join us for either event in the district. And then finally, I just want to say thank you to my colleagues who came to the Salvation Army Red Kettle kickoff on Friday. And if you're interested in participating in the bell ringing, just let me know. Thank you. Thank you. Santa's going to be busy on the 28th. He lights the Christmas tree that day. Next is Council Member Baxter. Thank you, Mayor. And Santa is busy in my district as well, every day. I wanted to let everyone know that this afternoon at 4 o'clock is Fayette Mall's annual Wake Up Santa event. So if you would like to come out and wake up Santa so that he is available for all of these other events, we would welcome you at Fayette Mall. Again, that's today at 4 o'clock near the Vera Bradley store. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Are there any other council reports? All right. We'll move along. there is a mayor's report, if I could have a motion to approve. Thank you, Council Member Plumman. Is there a second? Council Member Baxter seconds. Are there any questions? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? And I had one other fun note. so 10 years ago when I was serving as vice mayor in my first year the council hired a young woman to be its council administrator and so I wanted to congratulate Stacey Maynard for her 10 years as council administrator which just with my fairly limited perspective on the full merged government is a long tenure. Thank you very much for your dedication and your hard work. We really appreciate it. Next is Council Member Maloney. Did you have something before public comment? I want to bring it up. I want to give my condolence to Congressman Larry Hopkins, who passed away. I had the opportunity to see him three weeks ago with him and Joe Hall. They both sang me a song, and there wasn't nobody around. And I said, you know, you're singing to a deaf man, and I have to tell you, it's not a good song, guys. So I see why people are not sitting here, and they both kind of laughed. But he will be missed. He was a great statement for Luthington, and I do want to go out to the family and just wish them anything I can do to help them. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Now, is there anyone for public comment for issues not on the agenda? I don't see any, so I'll ask the Vice Mayor to make his motion. Thank you, Mayor. I move that we go into closed session pursuant to KRS 61.8101C for the purpose of discussing proposed or pending litigation. So move. Who seconded? Council Member Baxter. We're good. I move to go back in open session. I have a motion to return to open session. Second. Any discussion on the motion? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion carries. And now I'll thank you. I have a motion to adjourn and a second without objection. We stand adjourned.