# Urban County Council - December 2, 2021 > Auto-transcribed civic record · December 2, 2021 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/5487 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/5487?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2021-12-02 - **Last revised**: December 2, 2021 - **Length**: 15,840 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 Urban County Council met on December 2, 2021, at 6:00 PM in the Council Chambers in Lexington, KY, with Mayor Gorton presiding. The meeting focused primarily on recognition ceremonies, with two informational agenda items honoring community members and students. The council recognized Rachel Childress for her contributions and celebrated the winners of the Partnership for Youth and Euphrates International Essay Contest. During the session, the council took 2 votes and heard 2 public comments from attendees. ## Attendance The following members were present at the December 2, 2021 meeting: **Present:** • Mayor Gorton • Lamb • LeGris • McCurn • Moloney • Plomin • Reynolds • Sheehan • Worley • Bledsoe • F. Brown • J. Brown • Ellinger • Kay • Kloiber **Absent:** • Baxter No members arrived late to the meeting. A total of 15 members were present, with 1 member absent. ## Votes and Decisions The council took action on two items during the December 2, 2021 meeting, with both measures passing unanimously. **Ordinance 1195-21** [timestamp: 02:00] was voted on first. This ordinance amended certain budgets of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government to reflect current requirements for municipal expenditures, specifically FY 2022 Schedule No. 22. Vice Mayor Kay made the motion, which was seconded by Ellinger. The measure passed by roll call vote with 14 ayes and 0 nays. All council members present voted in favor: Lamb, LeGris, McCurn, Moloney, Plomin, Reynolds, Sheehan, Worley, Bledsoe, F. Brown, J. Brown, Ellinger, Kay, and Kloiber. **Resolution 1081-21** [timestamp: 05:00] followed as the second item. This resolution authorized the Mayor to execute a Memorandum of Understanding with the Kentucky Board of Emergency Services for continuation of the Community Paramedicine Program. Plomin made the motion, with Vice Mayor Kay providing the second. Like the previous item, this resolution passed unanimously by roll call vote with 14 ayes and 0 nays. The same 14 council members voted in favor: Lamb, LeGris, McCurn, Moloney, Plomin, Reynolds, Sheehan, Worley, Bledsoe, F. Brown, J. Brown, Ellinger, Kay, and Kloiber. Both votes demonstrated unanimous council support, with no abstentions recorded on either measure. The budget amendment and emergency services program continuation both received full backing from all present council members. ## Budget and Financial Actions The meeting addressed two significant financial expenditures through formal resolutions. **Emergency Medical Equipment Purchase** The council approved Resolution 1135-21 authorizing the purchase of a bariatric cot from Stryker for $12,295. This specialized medical equipment will enhance the city's emergency response capabilities for patients requiring bariatric care. **Renewable Energy Initiative** Resolution 1142-21 was approved, committing $15,980 for the city's participation in the Kentucky Utilities Company Solar Share Program. This investment represents the city's engagement in renewable energy initiatives through the utility's solar sharing program. The two resolutions combined represent a total financial commitment of $28,275, covering both essential emergency services equipment and sustainable energy participation. ## Public Comment Two residents addressed the council during the public comment period, raising concerns about utility practices and homeless services in the community. **Diane Achson** spoke at [timestamp: 10:00] regarding KU's tree cutting practices. Achson expressed frustration over the utility company's approach to tree removal and urged the city to take stronger action against KU's current practices. **Aaron Self** addressed the council at [timestamp: 12:00] about homeless assistance in Lexington. Self raised concerns about the adequacy of services available to homeless individuals in the community and highlighted issues occurring at local shelters. Both speakers brought forward community concerns that fall under different areas of municipal oversight - utility regulation and social services - reflecting the diverse range of issues residents bring to city leadership during public comment periods. ## Appointments The meeting included two staff appointments to customer service positions. **New Appointments:** • **Greg Huber** was appointed as Customer Account Specialist • **Telecia Coleman** was appointed as Customer Service Specialist Both appointments were approved during the December 2, 2021 meeting. The specific details regarding the terms of these appointments, including start dates and compensation, were not provided in the available meeting materials. ## Contested Items The December 2, 2021 meeting featured two significant contested items that generated substantial debate and disagreement. **KU Tree Cutting Practices** Community members voiced strong opposition to the University of Kansas's tree cutting practices during the meeting. The controversy centered around KU's approach to tree removal, which had drawn significant criticism from residents and environmental advocates. The opposition was substantial enough that it prompted the city to take legal action against the university. This represents an escalation of the conflict between municipal authorities and the state institution over environmental and land use practices. The nature of the community opposition suggests widespread concern about the university's impact on local tree canopy and environmental resources. **Redistricting Ordinance** The council faced internal division over a redistricting ordinance, resulting in a split vote that highlighted differing perspectives among council members regarding proposed boundary changes. Redistricting typically involves redrawing electoral district boundaries, often following census data updates or population shifts. The split vote indicates that council members had fundamental disagreements about the proposed changes, whether related to the methodology, the specific boundary adjustments, or the potential impacts on representation and communities. Such divisions on redistricting matters are common in municipal government as they can affect political representation and community cohesion. Both contested items reflect broader tensions in local governance - the KU tree cutting issue representing town-gown conflicts between the city and university, while the redistricting debate illustrates internal political divisions within the council itself. These disagreements demonstrate the complex challenges facing local government in balancing community concerns, institutional relationships, and fair representation. ## Recognition of Rachel Childress [timestamp: 00:30] Mayor Gorton presented a recognition for Rachel Childress during the December 2, 2021 meeting under agenda item 1171-21. The presentation acknowledged Childress for her contributions to the community. This was an informational item with no action required by the governing body. The recognition served as a formal acknowledgment of Childress's community service and involvement. No additional details about the specific nature of Childress's contributions or the form of recognition were provided in the available meeting materials. ## Recognition of the Partnership for Youth and Euphrates International Essay Contest Winners [timestamp: 01:00] The meeting included a presentation recognizing winners of an essay contest organized by the Partnership for Youth and Euphrates International. The contest focused on the topic of improving racial equality in Lexington. Mayor Gorton and Erran Persley served as the key speakers for this agenda item (1162-21). The presentation honored students who participated in the essay competition, which encouraged young people to share their perspectives and ideas on advancing racial equality within the community. This was an informational presentation celebrating the achievements of local students who engaged with important social issues through their writing. The recognition served to highlight youth voices and their contributions to discussions about racial equality in Lexington. No debate or concerns were raised during this agenda item, as it was purely ceremonial in nature, focusing on acknowledging the contest winners and their thoughtful essays on improving racial equality in the community. --- ## Decisions - **Ordinance 1195-21** — passed (14-0): Amending certain budgets of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government to reflect current requirements for municipal expenditures, FY 2022 Schedule No. 22. - **Resolution 1081-21** — passed (14-0): Authorizing the Mayor to execute a Memorandum of Understanding with Ky. Board of Emergency Services for continuation of the Community Paramedicine Program. --- ## Full transcript The Well, our hearts be like thunder I don't know why they don't explode You got your hands in my back pocket And Sam Cooke singing on the radio You say that I'm the boy Who can make it all come true Well, I'm telling you that I don't know If I know what to do You say it's alright Hold tight Well, I don't even know If I'm doing this right Well, alright Hold tight We could stay out all day We could run around all night Well, all night, all night Well, it's time to go home And I ain't even done with the night Well, I don't know No good comings And I don't know no cool lines I feel the heat of your frustration I know it's burning you up deep down inside You say that I'm the boy Who can make it all come true Well, I'm telling you that I don't know If I know what to do Say that's alright Hold tight Thank you. Thank you. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. Thank you. We have a few more council members to meet our quorum. It's after six. We're waiting on two more council members and then we'll have a quorum. Okay, it looks like we have a quorum. So I will go ahead and call to order the December 2nd, 2021 Urban County Council meeting and I'll ask our clerk to call the roll please. Yes ma'am, Ms. Lamb? Ms. Lamb? Thank you. Ms. LaGree? Mr. McKern? Yes, ma'am. Mr. Maloney? Yes, ma'am. Ms. Plowman? Yes. Ms. Reynolds? Here. Ms. Sheehan? Here. Mr. Worley? Yes, ma'am. Ms. Baxter? Ms. Bledsoe? Yes, ma'am. Mr. Fred Brown? Here. Mr. James Brown? Here. Mr. Ellinger? Yes, ma'am. Vice Mayor Kay? Here. Mr. Koiber? Yes, ma'am. And Ms. Legree? Yes. Thank you. Thank you very much. We have a quorum and it's my pleasure to welcome Rabbi David Wertschafter from Temple Adath Israel and he will offer our invocation. Welcome. Thank you, Madam Mayor and City Council members. I want to particularly thank my city council person, Liz Sheehan, for the invitation. Let me extend to one and all here, whatever your faith may be, happy holidays. And I hope you had a very pleasant Thanksgiving. And I'd like to acknowledge, since they're here this evening, all of our hardworking and dedicated members of public health. Thank you so much for your outstanding service during these demanding times. Madam Mayor and City Council members, I'd like to begin this evening by taking a moment of silence in recognition for the terrible attack of gun violence that most recently fell upon our brothers and sisters at the school shooting in the state of Michigan. May God give strength to all people and may God bless all people with peace. Our ancestors, the Maccabees, played for the miracle of a victory that they might control their own society. We here in the United States pray for the modern miracle of an end to the plague of gun violence. god of our mothers and fathers on these nights of hanukkah let us express our gratitude for eight things one for each night and each light that binds us to one another and to all of humankind we give thanks for holiness the idea that life is meant to be meaningful we give thanks for love the caring and commitment that enriches relationships. We give thanks for righteousness, the notion that we are called upon to demand justice. We give thanks for freedom, a gift that comes with the obligation to resist oppression. We give thanks for joy, moments of happiness and laughter, even amidst disappointment and despair. We give thanks for insight, the capacity to use knowledge responsibly and intelligence intelligently. We give thanks for resilience, the ability to overcome heartbreak, learn from mistakes, and remain determined despite defeat. We give thanks for community, for people and places that lend belonging, purpose, and gladness to our lives. Throughout this festival of lights, no matter what one's faith may be, may we be truly grateful for all of these things. And let gratitude be our guide as we continue the work of repairing our city, our nation, and our world. May this be our blessing, and let us say together, Amen. Thank you so much, Rabbi Wortschafter. Thank you, ma'am. At this time, Council Members, I would like a motion, please, to approve the November 18, 2021 Council Meeting Minutes. So moved. Second. Thank you, Council Member Ellinger. Second. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Are there any questions? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes, and now it is time for recognition's presentation. Thank you. I don't believe she is. So we will put a little hold on that for a moment. And next, I want to talk about our youth. And so our youth are our future. And we all know that. That's why I am so excited to honor three amazing young people who are with us this evening. So I first want to ask the Pursleys, Euphrates and Partners for Youth, would you join me at the podium? And Frederick, so Euphrates International Investment Company, Partners for Youth, and Frederick Douglass High School teamed up to sponsor an essay contest for Frederick Douglass students. And the topic was, how to improve racial equality in Lexington. We have been working hard to root out systemic racism in our community, and reading these excellent essays made me even more grateful for the young people in our community and gave me even more hope for the future. 44 students entered the contest and the competition was intense and a team of 29 community leaders and teachers read the essays and selected three winners okay so we have one who's with us and two who couldn't make it and And Robert, when I call your name, if you'll join us. The third place winner is Veronica Hutt, winning $100. Veronica wrote about the inequities in health care for women of color. Second place winner, who's here with us tonight, is Robert Vaughn, who wins $150. dollars. Robert wrote about the need for more diversity among teachers in our schools. Yes, go ahead. Congratulations. Thank you. You're very welcome. Appreciate it. In a minute. All right. So just go ahead. Don't go away. Thank you. And the first place winner is Samuel Cornett, who takes home $250. Samuel wrote about the need for more economic opportunity for people of color. So I want to thank so much Aaron Pursley. Where'd you go, Aaron? President, Managing Partner of Euphrates, for leading this effort. Aaron, do you want to say a few words? Yes, Mayor, please, thank you. Yes. First of all, thank you, Mayor Gordon. Yes. City Council members for this time and for the honor of presenting our young people with the award here in this council session. We started this program because we wanted young people in our community to have a voice. Euphraiser National Investment Company actually does foreign direct investment. We help foreign companies invest in the U.S. and we're based here in Lexington. But we realized that the most valuable investment that we can make as a company are in the young people in our community. who will be our future leaders. And so with support of the mayor and the great support of Partners for Youth, and when she says to Pursleys, I just want to make that clear, this is my aunt. Just happens to be that she runs Partners for Youth. But they took the challenge and really moved this program forward. We had the vision, they made it happen. So I want to thank Partners for Youth for making this happen. And most importantly, I want to thank Frederick Douglas High School staff and the students who participated in this program. They're the real value of what we're doing here in the community. So I want to thank all those 44 students who wrote essays and the three winners for their dedication to success and making this happen. And with those few words, I'll just say once again, thank you all for this opportunity, we greatly appreciate it. Thank you so much, Erin. Now, Brianna, Aunt Brianna, Executive Director of Partners for Youth, would you like to say a few words? Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, Council, for allowing these young people to connect to government and have a voice, especially in regards to the Mayor's Commission on Racial Justice and Equality, because they have a lot to say, because they are future leaders. the great late martin luther king said in his i have a dream speech that i look to the day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character and so these young people are next future leaders they are all really well versed in diversity and we're seeing a lot of strong and powerful recommendations that are coming from them And as Mr. Persley said, we did receive 44 essays. And so Frederick Douglass made this a curriculum for the entire semester. So we feel impelled and compelled to share with you all all 44 of those essays. And thank you, Council Member McCurron, for being one of the graders. Maybe you can share with your colleagues how wonderful the essays were. But we will be sending those to you. And so just wanted to thank Robert, Veronica, and Samuel for submitting their essays and for all of the students for really putting heartfelt experiences and solutions in those essays. And just for the record, Mayor, Samuel couldn't make it, but he did send some words. Oh, good. Yeah. Okay. Maybe after Robert's speech you could say them. All right. Very good. Thank you so much, Brianna. And I so appreciate all you do with Partners for Youth to impact our community. So I'd like to ask Robert, who is a senior at Frederick Douglass, if he would like to say a few words. You'll remember he's our second place winner. Would you like to say a few words? Okay, very good. Welcome. I just want to go ahead and say thank you to Mayor Gordon and the rest of the council for giving me some time to speak to you all. I want to just kind of not necessarily reflect on my essay, but just reflect on racial inequality as a whole. And something I think we need to focus on is getting everyone on board. Right now, I think we have the majority of people on board to make changes. But the way to get everyone on board, I believe, is that we need to create equality without using inequality as a tool to create it. So in a sense, you know, you've got someone lower than someone higher. How do you create, how do you get them on the same playing field without taking away or specifically adding to a certain group? I believe if we could do this, it won't scare away people from the topic of racial inequality. And I believe change will happen quicker than what we hope. So that's all I'd like to say. I want to go ahead and say thank you to Euphrates, Partners for Youth, and Frederick Douglass for providing this opportunity for me and other students to get our voices out. Thank you so much, Robert. And now we have, in just a moment, we're not quite finished with this. I know y'all are anxious to get home, right? So Samuel couldn't be here, but he did send remarks with Brianna. So she is going to read his remarks. I'm actually going to have Hannah Brosnan, our project specialist, read it. So I'm going to step to the back. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council. And I'll be reading this again on behalf of Samuel. First, I would like to apologize for being unable to attend your meeting this evening. I am the quarterback of the Frederick Douglass Broncos, and we are at our last full practice before playing for the KHSAA 5A State Tournament. I never would have dreamed of winning an essay contest and playing for a state title in the same week, so I am feeling very blessed with the abundance of opportunities that I have been presented. I would like to thank Mayor Gorton and counsel, Mr. Diaz, my school principal, Mr. Farrington, my English teacher, and my parents, especially my dad, which whom I interviewed as part of our assignment. We were asked to write an essay on how we could improve racial equality in Lexington, specifically in the workplace. As I thought about the subject, I reflected on my dad's years of service and talent acquisition, and how he champions for not only equality, but diversity. My father stated, where there is racial diversity, there must be opportunity. By understanding our own unconscious biases and systemic racism, we can educate companies on how to look at hiring through a new lens. Currently, hiring processes are plagued with making job opportunities difficult in the decision making process when interviewing women, other races, LGBTQ, and persons with disabilities. I implore the businesses of Lexington to change the writing of job descriptions and create criteria in the qualifications that gives everyone access. Furthermore, companies should create cohorts of racially diverse candidates whom they employ for 13 to 16 weeks to receive training and give all candidates, not a select few, the same skills as the entire candidate pool. Moving forward, companies can hire those that have shown that they can execute the skills. I wanted my essay to communicate how we can effectively improve racial equity and hiring practices in Lexington, as well as solve the diversity dilemma by educating the workforce on what is to be diverse. This can be accomplished by understanding our own unconscious bias and simply providing the same opportunity to everyone in a fair and equitable fashion. In closing, I would like to thank Euphrates International Investment Company, Frederick Douglass High School, and Partners for Youth for this honor. This January, I will be using my scholarship money to attend the University of Louisville and play football, a lifelong dream coming to fruition. I will major in finance and minor in economics. After college, I plan to work in corporate finance, venture capital, or hedge funds. Again, thank you for the opportunity to shed light on improving racial diversity and equity in the Lexington workplace. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. And I hope that you will tell Samuel that we really appreciated his remarks. We're not sure about going to Louisville, but we'll get over it, right? So at this time, we'd like to get a photo. And so Aaron and Brianna and Robert, yeah, let's go up and get a photo with council. Thank you. Did Rachel Childress join us yet? Okay. First of all, I would like to ask Dr. Craig Humboldt to join me at the podium. And I would like to ask Commissioner Casey Allen Bryant, who served as chair of the Board of Health and Human Services. Kevin, you're going to, ah, paparazzi. And Council Member Jennifer Reynolds. So, finally, we have a presentation for a very special person, as all of you know. And I begged this man to have a reception, and he didn't want that, and I understand that. And so we're very pleased to honor you tonight, Dr. Humball. We really want to have a big blowout, but it's not exactly the time, is it, to recognize you for all the work you've done on behalf of everyone in our city. so the reason he said no to the reception was he was concerned about COVID-19 spread and COVID of course has been his primary concern since early 2020 even before COVID came to town and he and I both forever will remember March the 6th, 2020, when we held our press conference to declare the state of emergency here. And he has protected all of us, and I have no doubt that you have saved many lives in your work, work which you probably didn't expect. And he even postponed his retirement to give our community more time to get past COVID. Dr. Humball has been a leader of a circle of health care stakeholders I organized way back in the very beginning. A group that has been critically important to getting us through this pandemic. And they all looked to you for your leadership on that stakeholder group. I have a proclamation I want to read, and then we'll hear from Dr. Humball. Commissioner Casey Allen Bryant, a former chair of the Board of Health and a registered nurse, will follow Dr. Humball, and then we will hear from Councilmember Reynolds, who is a member of the Board of Health and any other council members who wish to speak. So let's start with the proclamation. And if you don't mind to... So, whereas Dr. Craig Humball joined the Lexington Fayette County Health Department as Commissioner of Health in June 2016, and whereas Dr. Humball, a pediatrician, came into the job with extensive experience in public health, including epidemiology of communicable diseases and emergency preparedness, and whereas as health commissioner, Dr. Humball led the department to re-accreditation by the Public Health Accreditation Board, expanded the department's harm reduction services and oversaw daily efforts to further the health department's mission of helping Lexington be well. And whereas Dr. Humboldt describes himself as a prevention-oriented, data-driven public health physician and epidemiologist, and whereas Lexington will forever be grateful, to Dr. Humball's life-saving leadership throughout this pandemic. And whereas Dr. Humball earned his medical degree from Yale University, he was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Otago, New Zealand, and received a Master of Public Health from John Hopkins University. Now, therefore, I Linda Gorton, Mayor of Lexington, do hereby declare December 2, 2021, Dr. Craig Humball Day and wish him a long, happy retirement. Congratulations. Thank you. And we'll get the picture. Thank you. Kevin, hey Kevin, let me put my mask on. Okay. Do you want to say a few words? Okay, very good. All right. We can put this right here. Well, thank you so much, Mayor. Really enjoyed my tenure here in Lexington as Health Commissioner. Appreciate you so much. Appreciate all of the council members for the support that you've shown. our Board of Health, our Health Department, and for me, during these last several years, enabling us to do what we do every day. We have to have your backing, so thank you. And speaking of what we do, the Health Department, of course, strives each day to help Lexington be well by the data that we share, the policies that we promote, and the services that we provide. Um, all we feel that all 325,000 residents of this city and numerous visitors each year benefit from the activities that we do at the health department. I like to say that if you ate uncontaminated food today, if you breathed clean air today, if you were protected from a disease outbreak today, if you swam in a clean public pool today, if your child had a service from the school health nurse today, then, you know, the health department has touched you and we likely had a hand in that. So I really want to put the spotlight tonight on our amazing team, our staff at the health department, but also our amazing community partners, especially in these last couple of years, who've been so instrumental in the pandemic response. response. I think the words when I was thinking about this, the words fortitude and resilience came to mind for this group. And they've been super to work with and not only our staff, but all of the community partners. Yes, COVID has been tough for everyone, but these folks continue to give their all and make their own personal sacrifices so that we can live in a healthier, safer, and more vibrant community. The pandemic is heartbreaking and as unrelenting as it has been, has highlighted the important role that public health plays in our city and has raised the profile of the health department, which is a relatively small agency of 160 people. I hope that the community will continue to strongly support the health department and invest substantially in public health infrastructure as we've seen how critical that is to maintaining the health of the community and to combating our nemesis COVID-19. So we now much know much more about COVID-19 than we knew when we started this journey two years ago, right? And we've We have the tools now to exert much more control over the virus than we have ever before. So that's all great, but we haven't really beaten COVID yet, right? We still have a ways to go, and I hope that everyone can continue to work together in partnership to build on the mutual successes that we've had and to show the commitment to helping Lexington be well. Thank you. Thank you. I won't. And now we'll hear from our own Commissioner Casey Allen Bryant, former chair of the Board of Health. Thank you, Mayor. Don't disappear on me, Dr. Humball. Come here. I'm still bossing you around. Come on. Dr. Humball, as you all heard, is a great leader, a great physician, pediatrician, a great epidemiologist. But I'm going to tell you more about Craig. not only is Dr. Humball all of those great things, but he has become the lifeblood of our health department. He is a motivator, a mediator, quick with a hug, quick with a joke, encouraging, educating. He is all the things that we need. I knew when we interviewed you that you were going to be special. And we are so very proud of you on behalf of the Board of Health. We love you. We appreciate all the guidance that you've given us over the years. I've loved working with you ever since March 6, 2020. We were together all day, and I thought I was getting away from you until I got that call. We had our first COVID case. and that proceeded for calls after calls after calls for many, many months, which I greatly appreciated, you calming all of us down, and again, that calm leadership and just being the person that you are, and we love you. Congratulations. Thank you so much. And now I can stop bossing you around. It's a true love of the best. Well, before I bring Council Member Reynolds up, You reminded me of something, Casey, when I was over at the health department around Halloween to get my booster. And Craig was dressed as a Russian Cossack in a real true Russian hat he had gotten in Russia. It was very effective. Council Member Reynolds. Thank you so much, Mayor. I joined the Board of Health in late 2019, and when I joined, I had no idea what I was getting myself into or even the important role that the health department played in our community. And just a few months later, I learned just how important that role was. And your leadership this whole time has been incredible. I really admire you. I admire how kind you are and calm, under pressure. and your staff really respects you. And you answered every call, every text at any time of day to answer all of my questions and entertain all my ideas. And you're accessible to everyone. And I just can't say enough about you and how much you're going to be missed. And this community is better because of you. Thank you. Thank you. Jennifer, you're welcome. Very nice. Thank you very much. And Craig, I will echo what Commissioner Casey Allen Bryant said. We all love you very much. And now we're going to get a photo with you. And you'll bring your proclamation. We're going to put you right in the middle. Thank you. Thank you. Rachel Childress, is she here? She didn't come? Okay, thank you. All right. All right. All right, thank you very much. Now, we're ready for second reading of ordinances. Yes, ma'am. Item number one, an ordinance amending certain of the budgets of the Lexington Fair Urban County government to reflect current requirements for municipal expenditures and appropriating and re-appropriating funds fiscal year 2022, schedule number 22, item 2. An ordinance admitting certain of the budgets of the Lexington Fair Urban County Government for premium pay for eligible share of staff in the amount of $375,000 out of American Rescue Plan Act funds as approved at work session November 18, 2021 and appropriating and re-appropriating funds schedule number 23, item 3. An ordinance of the Lexington Fair Urban County Government authorizing the issuance of its various purpose general obligation bond series 2021A in one or more sub-series in an aggregate principal amount of $28,500,000, which amount may be increased by an amount up to 10% and decreased by an unlimited amount, approving a form of Series 2021A bonds, authorizing designated officers to execute and deliver the Series 2021A bonds, authorizing and directing the filing of notice with the state local debt officer, providing the payment and security of the Series 2021A bonds, creating a sinking fund, creating a bond payment fund for the Series 2021A bonds, authorizing acceptance of the bids of the bond purchaser of the Series 2021A bonds and repealing inconsistent ordinances. Item 4, an ordinance creating subsection 653B6 of the Code of Ordinances relating to pensions other than police and firemen, specifically pensions on retirement to provide an increase of 4% to each retiree's base annuity or the annuity paid to the retiree's widow or dependent children effective January 1, 2022. Thank you. Thank you. Is there a motion to approve? Move approval. Second. Thank you. Thank you. Now, when you're ready, if you'll take a roll call vote, please. Ms. Lamb? Thank you. Ms. LeGree? Yes. Mr. McCurran? Yes, ma'am. Mr. Maloney? Yes. Ms. Plowman? Yes. Ms. Reynolds? Yes. Ms. Sheehan? Yes. Mr. Worley? Ms. Bledsoe? Yes, ma'am. Mr. Fred Brown? Yes, ma'am. Mr. James Brown? Yes. Mr. Ellinger? Yes, ma'am. Vice Mayor Kay? Yes. And Mr. Koiber? Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Thank you. Those all pass. And now, when you're ready, if you'll give first reading to ordinances, please. Yes, ma'am. Item 5. An ordinance expanding and extending the full urban service district number 1 for the urban county government for the provision of street lighting, street cleaning, and garbage and refuse collection to include the area defined as certain properties on the following streets. Angus Trail, Barley's Pass, Bob White Court, Calendula Road, Case Way, Clematis Way, Cosimo Way, Dawson Springs Way, Feather Sound Way, Feliciana Lane, Forest Hill Drive, Foster Drive, Haley Rose Way, Hollyhock Drive, Lorenzo Way, Peninsula Way, Piero Way, Sandersville Road, Silver Springs Drive, Snowy Egret Way, Square Circle, Sunny Landing Trail, Tangsley Way, and Wildflower Way. Item 6. In ordinance expanding and extending partial urban services district number three for the urban county government for the provision of garbage and refuse collection to include the area to find certain properties on the following street, Livingston Lane, item seven. In ordinance expanding and extending partial urban services district five for the urban county government for the provision of street lighting and garbage and refuse collection to include the area to find certain properties on the following street, Aberdeen Drive, Brigadine Parkway, Brookfield Drive, Greenbrier Road, Jislin Drive, Starling Drive, Wallace Court, and Woodstock Circle, item eight. An ordinance changing the zone from an interchange service business zone B5P zone to a highway service business B3 zone for 2.47 net 3.5 gross acres for property located 2275 North Broadway, North Broadway LLC, Council District 6, Item 9. An ordinance changing the zone from a wholesale and warehouse business B4 zone to a neighborhood business B1 zone for 0.84 net, 2.51 gross acre for property located at 2670 Sandervilles Road, Clark Central, LLC, Council District 2. Item 10. An ordinance amending certain of the budgets of the Lansington Fair Urban County Government to reflect current requirements for municipal expenditures and appropriating reprooping funds fiscal year 2022, Schedule No. 24. Item 11. An ordinance amending section 1729 through 1729.5 of the code of ordinances related to permits for outdoor cafes as follows. Amending section 1729 of the code to define on-street parking and to include the term in the definition of outdoor cafe. Amending section 1729.1 of the code to create a permit for the use of on-street parking as part of an outdoor cafe and to require any furnishings or auditors used by the permittee to be removable from and cannot damage on-street parking locations. amending section 1729-2 of the code of ordinances to require a scaled drawing or plan for all applicants and proof of approval by the Licent and Fayette County Parking Authority to use on-street parking as a part of the business's outdoor cafe to clarify that the administrator may request review of the applications from the divisions it deems necessary and to amend the fee structure for outdoor cafe permits to include the separate permit for use of on-street parking as part of the business's outdoor cafe amending section 1729-3 of the code to include as prohibited conflict, failing to keep water inlets cleared of debris, trash, and refuse, failing to erect crash-worthy barriers if utilizing on-street parking, and failing to pay any fees required by the Lexington and Fayette County Parking Authority, amending section 1729-4 of the code to change reference from the Lexington-Fayette-Urban County Special Events Commission to the urban county government in relation to the authorization of community and special events for which the administrator may suspend or modify the term of existing outdoor cafe permits to accommodate the events and to require the approved outdoor cafe plan be posted or visibly displayed on the premise, creating section 1729.45 of the code of ordinances to allow administrator to promulgate regulations not inconsistent with section 1729 through 1729.5 of the code, amending section 1729.5 of the code to include failure to pay fees required by the Lexington and Fayette County Parking Authority for the use of on-street parking failure to erect crash-worthy barriers when using on-street parking as part of a business outdoor cafe and failure to abide by the regulation promulgated by the administrator as reasons for denial, revocation, suspension, modification, or conditional approval by an outdoor cafe permit and to clarify when furnishings and vestiges of businesses may be removed by the Urban County Government upon revocation of a permit and amending sections 1729-1729-5 to include gender-neutral references throughout and to provide the current name for the Department of Environmental Quality and Public Works. Thank you. Thank you very much. Are there any walk-ons? Council Member Maloney. Thank you. I move to place on the docket an ordinance redistricting the district of the members of the Lusrington-Faida Urban County Government. So moved. Is there a second? Second. Councilmember Kloiber seconds. Are there any questions? All right, all those in favor, say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? No. Okay, let's have an electronic vote, please. Are you able to? There you go. If you'll log in, please, your vote. It looks like we're missing. Council Member Legree. Pardon me? Okay. This is to walk it on for first reading. No vote. Okay, thank you. That motion passes 8 to 6. Are there any other walk-ons? Did you have any more, Council Member Malone? Oh, I don't. Anything else? That's the last one I do for a while. If you'll please give that first reading. Yes, ma'am. Item 12, an ordinance redistricting the districts of the members of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council. Thank you. Thank you very much. Now, are there any motions to suspend the rules and give second reading to anything? Please log in if you have a suspension of the rules. All right, I see none, so now it is time for second reading of resolutions. Yes, ma'am. Item 1, a resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of your mechanic department to execute a memorandum of understanding with the Kentucky Board of Emergency Services for continuation of the Community Paramedicine Program. Item 2, a resolution approving the granting of an inducement to Coldstream Laboratories, Incorporated, or its successor or affiliate pursuant to the Kentucky Business Investment Act, KRS, sub-tractor 154.32, whereby the Lexington Fair Urban County Government agrees to rebate annually 1% of the company's occupational license fee for a term of no longer than 10 years from the activation date subject to the limitations contained in the Act and any agreement with the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority or the Urban County Government related to the project and taking other related actions. Item 3. A resolution authorizing the director of the mayor on behalf of the urban county government to execute a memorandum of agreement with Carl D. Perkins Job Corps Insight Training Group LLC to provide workforce development services at the Charles Young Center at no cost to the urban county government. Item 4. A resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of your beginning government to execute a subrecipient agreement with Community Action Council in order to allocate $1,400,000 of federal grant funds awarded pursuant to the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to the CIC for the provision of temporary non-congregate emergency shelter and case management services and authorizing the mayor to execute any other needed agreements or amendments with the CIC related to the use of these funds. Item 5. A resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of your beginning government to execute a mutual aid agreement with Fayette County Public Schools Police Department for mutual aid for a request for assistance. Item 6. A resolution authorizing the Division of Fire and Emergency Services to purchase a bariatric cot from Stryker, a sole source provider, and authorizing the mayor on behalf of the Urban County Government to execute any necessary agreement with Stryker related to the procurement at a cost of not to exceed $12,295. Item 7. A resolution authorizing the mayor on behalf of the Urban County Government to execute an agreement with Q-Free America by and through traffic controls products incorporated for maintenance of a traffic control system at a cost of not to exceed $40,320. Item 8. A resolution authorizing the Urban County Government to participate in the Kentucky Utilities Company Solar Share Program by purchasing 20 solar share capacity shares at a cost of $15,980. Item 9. A resolution authorizing and directly mayor on behalf of the urban county government to execute an addendum to the Master Service Agreement Contract 314 2017 with Securus Technologies to comply with the Federal Communications Commission's FCC most recent released order at no additional cost to the urban county government. Item 10. A resolution authorizing and directly mayor on behalf of the urban county government to execute an amendment to an agreement with the AIDS Volunteers Incorporated, Avall Kentucky, extending the period of performance through June 30, 2022, for the operation of a tenant-based rental assistance program and authorizing the mayor to execute any other necessary documents with Avall Kentucky related to this program. Item 11, a resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of the urban county government to execute an agreement with Piccadom Elementary PTA 850 for the Office of the Urban County Council to cost not to exceed the sum stated. Item 12, a resolution accepting the bid of America's Bravest Equipment Company, Atlantic Emergency Solutions, the Public Safety Store, Vogel Pole Fire Equipment, and 9-1-1 Fleet and Fire Equipment, establishing price contract for emergency fire equipment for the Division of Fire and Emergency Services, item 13. A resolution accepting the bid of L&W Emergency Equipment, establishing price contract for reflective vehicle decals for the Division of Police, item 14. A resolution accepting the bid of Life Assistant Incorporated, establishing price contract for pediatric restraint systems for the Division of Emergency Management, 9-1-1, item 15. A resolution accepting the bid of Janie King of Lexington establishing a price contract for the Custodial Services Wellness Center for the Division of Facilities and Fleet Services, item 16. A resolution accepting the bid of LACO Incorporated in the amount of $245,299 for Kearney Ridge and Beaumont Woods detention basin improvements for the Division of Water Quality and authorizing the mayor on behalf of the Lexington Fair and Urban County Government to execute an agreement with LACO Incorporated related to the bid, item 17. A resolution accepting the bid of Bluegrass Recreation Sales and Installation LLC, David Williams and Associates and Midstage Recreation, a.k.a. Play World Midstates, establishing price contracts for outdoor play equipment for the Division of Parks and Recreation, Item 18. A resolution ratifying the permanent classified civil service appointments of David Reed, Public Service Supervisor, Grade 514 and 25.718 hourly in the Division of Streets and Roads, effective November 3, 2021. Alex Herring, Equipment Operator Senior, Grade 512 and 17.296 hourly in the Division of Streets and Roads, effective October 12, 2021. Victor Annis, Engineering Technician, Grade 514N, 19.822 Hourly, Division of Engineering, Effective November 17, 2021. Kelly Justice, Program Administrator, Grade 524E, 2,402.96 Bi-Weekly, and the Division of Youth Services, Effective December 7, 2021. Brayden Mitten, Staff Assistant, Grade 5OAN, 16.524 Hourly, and the Division of Grants and Special Programs, Effective November 10, 2021. And Ratified and Classified Civil Service Voluntary Demotion and Appointment of Relisha Howard, Probation Officer, Grade 515N, 21.359 Hourly, individual community corrections effective November 22, 2021, item 19. A resolution authorizing the mayor on behalf of the urban county government to execute the 2022 general term orders for the Fayette County Clerk and the Fayette County Sheriff establishing the number of deputies and assistants allowed to each and their respective compensation subject to the limits of each category as specified in the general term orders and the requirements established by law, item 20. A resolution authorizing the mayor on behalf of the urban county government to execute a contract with Red River Ranch LLC for transporting and composting yard waste at a cost knock to exceed $1,309,326. Item 21. A resolution authorizing the mayor on behalf of the American Government to execute change number number one to the grant award agreement with Pepper Distillery LLC for stormwater quality project canceling the grant award in its entirety in the amount of $300,000. Item 22. A resolution authorizing the mayor on behalf of the American Government to execute change number number one to the grant award agreement with the Board of Education, Fiat County, Kentucky for stormwater quality project decreasing the grant award by the sum of $900 from $4,900 to $4,000. Item 23. A resolution authorizing the mayor on behalf of the American Government to execute change in order number one to do the grant order agreement with Churchill McGee LLC for stormwater quality project, decreasing the grant award by the sum of $4,485.58 from $99,860.38 to $95,374.80. Item 24. A resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of your mechanic government to execute an amendment to the agreement with Arbor Youth Services and Corp. Bridge to shift funding in the contract budget from one eligible expense to another and further authorizing the mayor to execute any other necessary amendments that authorize the shifting of funds already budgeted. Item 25, a resolution authorizing the mayor on behalf of the Irving County Government to execute an agreement or to pursue into RFP No. 32-2021 with Rumpke of Kentucky Incorporated for the interim and backup hauling, processing, and marketing of single-stream recyclables at a cost estimated not to exceed $1,436,160. Thank you. Thank you very much. Now, is there a motion to approve? Second. Second. Thank you. When you're ready, if you'll take a roll call vote. Ms. Lamb? Yes, ma'am. Ms. LeGree? Yes. Mr. McCurran? Yes, ma'am. Mr. Maloney? Yes. Ms. Plowman? Yes. Ms. Reynolds? Yes. Ms. Sheehan? Yes. Mr. Worley? Yes, ma'am. Ms. Bledsoe? Yes, ma'am. Mr. Fred Brown? Yes. Mr. James Brown? Yes. Mr. Ellinger? Yes, ma'am. Vice Mayor Kay? Yes. And Mr. Koiber? Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Thank you very much. Those pass. And when you're ready, if you'll give first reading to resolutions. Yes, ma'am. Grade 508 N, 13.760, hourly in the Division of Streets and Roads, effective November 10, 2021. Kyle Spivey, Equipment Operator Senior, Grade 5, 12 N, 17.510, hourly in the Division of Streets and Roads, effective November 3, 2021. Item 29, a resolution authorizing and directing the Department of Law on behalf of the Urban County Government to file any necessary legal actions related to the Kentucky Utility Company's clear-cutting and removal of trees in Lexington, Fiat County. Item 30, a resolution authorizing the Division of Water Quality on behalf of the Urban County Government to purchase supervisory control and data acquisition SciTech Historian Support Services for the Town Branch and West Hickman Wastewater Treatment Plants and Pump Stations from Advantage Industrial Automation Incorporated to Soul Search Provider at a cost knocked to at Siege $46,249.50. Item 31. A resolution authorizing and directly to the mayor on behalf of your regional government to execute agreements with Black Soil, Elmwood Stock Farm, Hi-Fi Farm, Homegrown Direct, Lazy 8 Stock Farm, Rolling Fork Organic Farm, Root-Bound Farm, and a Sustainable Harvest Farm for the fiscal year 2022 Workplace Wellness CSA Farm Share Program at a cost not to exceed a total of $60,000. Item 32. A resolution authorizing and directing me on behalf of the Urban County Government to execute a volunteer income tax assistance tax counseling for the elderly, partner sponsor agreement, and internal revenue service civil rights assurance, and any related document for the provision of the 2022 Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program at the Charles Young Center at no cost to the Urban County Government. Item 33. A resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of the urban county government to execute an agreement with common sales and service for generators at a cost of not to exceed $3,266, item 34. A resolution authorizing the division of police to purchase Magnet Axiom Core from Magnet Forensics as full-source provider and authorizing the mayor on behalf of the urban county government to execute any necessary agreement with Magnet Forensics related to the procurement at a cost of not to exceed $3,550, item 35. A resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of the Urban County Government to execute an agreement with NAVEX Global Incorporated for Office of Internal Audit to upgrade the LFUCG tip line to the NAVEX Global Ethics Point platform at a cost of not exceed $7,912.95. Item 36, a resolution authorizing the division of E911 to purchase Smart 911, Smart Prepare Public Safety Portal from Rave Mobility Safety, a sole source provider and authorizing the mayor on behalf of the urban county government to execute any necessary agreement with Rave Mobility Safety related to procurement at a cost of $60,400. Item 37. A resolution pursuant to KRS 381.755 KRS 67A.060 and 901 KAR5090 authorizing the removal and relocation of graves in an abandoned cemetery located upon property consisting of 22.35 acres located at 2671 Kearney Ridge Boulevard, Lexington, Kentucky, owned by Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey. Item 38. A resolution authorizing and directly mayor on behalf of the American Government to execute contract modification number four to the Professional Services Agreement with CDP Engineers Incorporated for the design of Town Branch Trail Phase 3 project increasing the contract price by the sum of $16,200 from $121,680 to $137,880, item 39. A resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of the urban county government to execute and submit a grant application to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to provide any additional information requested in connection with this grant application and to accept this grant if awarded, which grant funds are in the amount of $80,000 in federal funds under the 2021 Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program and offer the purchase of two passenger vans for the Community Paramedicine Program, the assembly which will obligate the urban county government for the expenditure of $8,000 as a local match and authorizing the mayor to transfer and undergo funds within the grant budget, item 40. A resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of the American Government to execute amendment number one to an agreement with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to extend the period of performance for LexTran to conduct a comprehensive operations analysis to June 30, 2022 and to accept $125,677 of additional federal funds for the COA, the exception to which will obligate the LexTran to the expenditure of $31,419.25 of the local match and authorizing the mayor to transfer undercarment funds within the grant budget. Item 41. A resolution authorizing the mayor on behalf of the European County Government to execute an agreement or to pursue into RFP number 34, 2021, with Stringed Associates Incorporated for work related to the East Lexington Trail connectivity and traffic study at the cost not to exceed $150,000. Item 42. A resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of the European County Government to execute an agreement with Credit Bureau Systems Incorporated, DBA, Ambulance Medical Billing for EMS Medical Services. Item 43. A resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of the European County Government to execute an agreement with Exxon Enterprise. Incorporated and Flock Safety Group Incorporated for installation of camera systems. And item 44, a resolution authorizing and directly mayor on behalf of the Urban County Government to execute agreements with Believing and Forever Incorporated, $200, and LTMS PTSA YSC CAROF 16th District PTA Incorporated for $250 for the Office of the Urban County Council at a cost not at sea, the sun stated. Thank you. Thank you very much. Are there any walk-ons? If you'll log in please. Council Member Fred Brown. Thank you, Mayor. I move to place on tonight's docket a resolution authorizing the Mayor on behalf of the Urban County Government to execute an amendment to the Waste Supply and Disposal Agreement with Waste Services of the Bluegrass Inc., authorizing an adjustment in contract prices based on an agreement to share 50% of the increased costs for solid waste disposal services at an additional annual cost estimating not to exceed $2,121,190. And I would like for Commissioner Albright to come to the mic in case you all have some questions. And my question or my concern is that... And we get a second to your motion. Thank you, Council Member Ellinger. And my concern is, fellow council members, it's costing us $2 million per each year because Scott County turned us down on at least giving us some time or whatever. So there is a cost to it, and we're paying it. Thank you. Did you have a question for Commissioner Albright? Can you talk a little bit about that? Yes, ma'am. Thank you very much, Council Member Brown, for bringing this forward. As you all are aware, we have been talking with Waste Services of the Bluegrass for about the last month to try to figure out what the impacts of some of their recent changes have affected on their prices altogether. And we've had a lot of back and forth with them, and we've come down to an agreement that we feel like is the best deal we can get of being fair to them so that they can still honor the contract and so that we are paying the best rate possible. Are there other questions for Commissioner Albright, Council Member Lamb? Thank you. And just so we know, the increase, I believe Council Member Fred Brown was saying the increase was $2.1 million a year? That's an estimate, yes, ma'am. That's an estimate? It's based on the amount of tons they haul, but that's our estimate based on past years. Oh, okay. And so if we can just make sure for the public for transparency services, what is it currently and what does that mean it's going to, please? Yes, ma'am. Right now for solid waste, which is the bulk of the contract, we pay $17.75 per ton, and we're adding $9.95 per ton to that price for a total of $27.70 per ton. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Ellinger. Thank you, Mayor. Now, what account does this come out of? It's a split among three funds when you look at the whole $2.1 million. The bulk of the solid waste piece is about $1.8 million, and that's coming split between the Landfill Fund and the Urban Services Fund. And then the smaller number is coming from the Sanitary Sewer Fund. With this contract, do we have any other options? Moorhead has a landfill, but we have not rebid our hauling piece yet. So we would have to rebid the entire contract. Right now we combine hauling and disposal. We have put a clause in the contract with this agreement that's coming forward to allow us to, if we don't feel like we're getting continuity of service, that we would start the rebidding process. And how long is this for? Right now it's scheduled for three and a half more years. Three and a half. Thank you. You're welcome. Other questions? Council Member James Brown. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. So what is going to be the mechanism that determines whether or not we feel like we're getting continuity of service before we start to make a decision whether to rebid or not? I would anticipate that it would either be we receive something in writing from them saying they can no longer honor the contract, or that we would start to see practices that lead us to believe that they can't fulfill it. Things like not taking care of all the trash coming to the transfer station. Okay. Yeah, I guess what my concern is, is, you know, I feel like there may be an opportunity, and you guys are the experts in dealing with this, but I think we ought to be proactive about trying to figure out what we're going to do. That's already a significant increase in cost. And if, you know, we wait until it gets to a point where we're going to have to maneuver fast and quick, it could potentially cost us more. So I was wondering if there was anything that we can do proactively to try to get in front of this. We knew it was coming or potentially was coming, but I think we're there now. Right. And we have talked about do we rebid the new contract much earlier now? Okay. All right. Well, I appreciate the information and your efforts in regards to this. I just have some concerns. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Are there other questions, Council Members? Anybody? All right. All those in favor of this motion, say aye. Aye. Anybody opposed? All right, that motion passes. And I believe Council Member McCurn has a walk-on. Thank you, Mayor. I move to place on tonight's docket a resolution accepting the bid of Red River Ranch LLC establishing a price contract for snow plowing operations for the Division of Streets and Roads in authorizing the mayor to execute any necessary agreement. So move. Thank you. Is there a second? Second. Vice Mayor Kay seconds. Are there questions? Councilmember Fred Brown. Commissioner, this is a retainer, isn't it, the type of contract? Yes. This puts five trucks under contract with us for the winter. And what's the total dollar amount on the? They're about $39,000 each, so the total price to put them under contract is about $193,000. Now, is there some additional cost on top of that in case we use them for more? Yes, sir. That does not count every hour that we use them, which costs for the five trucks, the total cost is $1,000 an hour. Okay, so we've got the retainer. We've got to pay that. Right. And we've done that in the past, but I don't know exactly what dollars we've used. So we're just basically putting some insurance out there? Correct. This is just expensive insurance. As long as everybody understands that, what we're doing there. So that's 5 times 40,000, almost 200, what did you say, 190? 193, yes, sir. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. Other questions? All right. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? All right. That motion passes. Are there other walk-ons? I see none. All right. Will you give those first reading, please? Yes, ma'am. Item 45, a resolution authorizing the mayor on behalf of the urban county government to execute an amendment to the Waste Supply and Disposal Agreement with Waste Services of the Bluegrass Incorporated, authorizing an adjustment in contract prices based on an agreement to share 50% of the increased cost of solid waste disposal services at an additional annual cost estimated not to exceed $2,121,190. And item 46, a resolution authorizing the bid of Red River Ranch LLC establishing a price contract for snow plowing operations for the Division of Streets and Roads and authorizing the mayor on behalf of the Airbagina government to execute any necessary agreement with Red River Ranch LLC related to the bid. Thank you. Thank you very much. Now, council members, are there any motions to suspend the rules and give second reading if you'll log in? Council Member McCurran. Thank you, mayor. I move to suspend the rules and give second reading to item number 46, so move. Is there a second? That's the Red River Ranch. Yes, ma'am. That was the last motion that we just read off. Thank you. Councilmember Plumman seconded. Are there any questions? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Councilmember Fred Brown. With great reluctance, I would like to suspend the rules for item 45 due to its emergency situation. I'm paying weekly, I think, on that, so I'd like to suspend the rules and have a second reading. Thank you. Is there a second? Second. Council Member Bledsoe seconds. Is there any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Council Member, Vice Mayor Kay. Thank you, Mayor. I move to suspend the rules and give second reading to Item 29, which is a resolution regarding the legal action to be taken by the city regarding KU's clear-cutting policy. So moved. Thank you. Council Member Ellinger seconded. Any questions? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Any other motions to suspend the rules? I see none. So when you're ready, if you'll give those second reading, please. Item 29. act to exceed $2,121,109. And item 46, a resolution accepting the bid of Red River Ranch LLC establishing a price contract for snow plowing operations for the Division of Streets and Roads and Authorizing the Mayor on behalf of the Every County Government to execute any necessary agreement with Red River Ranch LLC related to the bid. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Is there a second? Second. Council Member Plowman seconds and when you're ready if you'll take the roll call vote please. Ms. Lamb? Yes, ma'am. Ms. Legree? Yes. Mr. McCurn? Yes, ma'am. Mr. Maloney? Yes. Ms. Plowman? Yes. Ms. Reynolds? Yes. Ms. Sheehan? Yes. Mr. Worley? Yes, ma'am. Ms. Bledsoe? Yes, ma'am. Mr. Fred Brown? Yes. Mr. James Brown? Yes. Mr. Ellinger? Yes, ma'am. Vice Mayor Kay? Yes. And Mr. Koiber? Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Thank you very much. Those all pass. Council members, you have communications from the mayor for information only. And we have no disciplines tonight, police or fire. So it's time for announcements. And Council Member Lamb? Mayor, I would have a motion. I would like to ask my colleagues to support moving to suspend our rules and to move the public comment on our agenda to follow the fire and police disciplinary. All right. Is there a second? Second. Council Member Plowman, I think I heard you. All right. Is there any discussion? All right. Seeing none, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. We do have some folks signed up for public comment. And so here's how the public comment works. When I call your name, if you will please come to the podium and state your name and your council district. And you'll have three minutes. And unfortunately, I have to be the timekeeper. so I'll let you know when your three minutes is up. First is Kim DeCamp. Welcome. Good evening. My name is Kim DeCamp. I'm in the 5th District. You might recognize my name. My father-in-law was council person for 12 years, so I know a little bit about what you all do, a little bit, and thank you for what you do for our community. I'm going to relinquish my time to Diane, but I would like to say that Patty, Rob and I today launched a petition with Change.org to give us a voice beyond Lexington for this KU devastation that we're seeing. And I would encourage you to go to Change.org, put in Save Kentucky's Trees and sign the petition. This is not just a Lexington problem. This is a Kentucky problem. And we all need to have a voice. Thank you. Thank you very much. So you are yielding two minutes and eight seconds to whom? To? Okay. Patty Brogbent. Okay. So you are, tell me your name again. So Patty, you're yielding your time. Okay. So, Diane, you have 3 plus 3 plus 2.8. How's that sound? Okay. And you are Amy Clark. Okay. So you're yielding your three minutes. So, Diane, you will have 9, 3, 6, 9, 12, 14.8. You're almost at the limit. It won't take that long. Hang on a second. How many of you, you yielded, you're first, you yielded, you yielded, three, six, nine, yeah. She's got her own. She's got her own. Three, six, nine, 12, yeah. I really don't think it will take that long. The limit's 15 anyway, so. My name is Diane Atchison, and I'm in the 4th District, Susan Lamb's district, and she's just been fantastic for us. And I'm sorry that she's not running for a re-election, and I'm also sorry that I'm probably not going to be in the 4th District, even if she was staying. A year and a half ago, South Point Drive was devastated by Kentucky Utilities. At that time, our city was put on notice of Kentucky Utilities' plans to clear trees under and near transmission lines in Lexington. This should have raised great alarm in our city government. Discussions were held. I understand that the mayor met with the president of Kentucky Utilities at the time, and there's been a change since then. But no meaningful progress was made. Lansdowne Neighborhood Association was alerted after we saw the devastation on South Point Drive that we were basically next in line and that virtually every tree on Lansdowne Drive would be clear cut. Susan went to bat for us with KU and I'm sure she did in council meetings also. Until a particular area in town was notified that has major water issues, no real progress was made and no real attention seemed to be given to this matter. The multitude of issues never addressed is long. Increased stormwater runoff, flooding, erosion, loss of wildlife habitat, loss of property values, not to mention the vague letters that Kentucky Utilities has sent to residents never saying their true intent. The letters are vague. The wording is vague. A friend just received her letter today. If you haven't read one, I'll send one of those letters to all of you by email tomorrow. It's secretive and it's deceptive. KU reps have appeared before the council, yet they have continued to refuse to answer questions or agree to the mayor's requests. A resolution to file a formal complaint was presented to the council and mayor who initially failed to act on it. Today, over half the trees on Lansdowne Drive have been cut to the ground and the stumps ground. This could have been prevented by earlier action. While I'm glad that legal action is being taken now, I am disappointed that a strong stance was not taken earlier. The mayor made a statement yesterday to a group of protesters implying that the delay was due to lack of support from the council. I'm not a council person, and I'm not the mayor, and I'm not here at all the council meetings, and I know some of this has happened in closed session. I have regularly communicated with several council members who I know supported the resolution. I've been here twice, especially the first time, and maybe it was an agreement with those of you who didn't speak, but several never said a word. And if you didn't support that resolution to stop Kentucky Utilities, shame on you. Shame on you. I'm sorry. Kentucky Utilities representatives have given media statements that are incorrect, just as they told multiple groups that their program was due to a federal mandate. This is not true and has misled many people and groups, as have their other untrue statements. KU has proven to not be a good partner to our government or our community. And I would urge organizations not to partner with Kentucky Utilities on community events until this matter reaches a good solution. I went to the opening ceremonies of the Arbor Day at the Arboretum, which was so hypocritically sponsored by Kentucky Utilities, they did not have a representative there. They're sponsoring Arbor Day while they're coming in to cut hundreds of thousands of trees down in our city. Our city government needs to stand really strong in these legal proceedings with Kentucky Utilities. I urgently hope that what I have asked for from the beginning will take place. And that is for Kentucky utilities to come to the table with the government and community representatives to answer our questions. They've never answered our questions. Maybe they gave an answer to you, Mayor, but they've never given answers. And I will tell you now that I would like to be one of those community representatives if that's possible. Legislation is being drafted in Frankfurt right now, in the state legislature, to prevent a situation like this from occurring again. Kentucky utilities cannot be trusted to do the right thing, and we must force them to do the right thing. Lexington needs a utility company that does not only prioritize the bottom line, but also considers the long-term effects of their actions on their customers. The people of Lexington deserve better than what KU has done. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Next is Erin Self. Welcome. Thank you. I'm Aaron, I'm currently located downtown Lexington. Not sure what district that is, I'm kind of new to Lexington. So I wanted to touch base with some of the access for the homeless people here in Lexington and Fayette County period. I believe there is not enough assistance for the amount of people that we have on the streets. And then some of these places just, they're a little wishy-washy. Like, say, for instance, the Hope Center, there's quite a bit of drug use down there by some of the people that stay out at the trailers and the tents and all that. I've caught it with my own eyes. I know Lexington police have not been notified only because the fact that the staff at the shelter will not do it. So I believe personally if there's going to be a resource sheet for the homeless here in Lexington, there needs to be like stuff that are known and are still known and that have not been found by anybody to have any kind of, you know, misunderstanding and misleading of what they're representing. There's a few other things I would have to talk to you guys individually about or in a group off the market here. But because it would take too long and I just figured I would kind of throw a bug in the air about that and let you guys know that there is a lot of things going on at these shelters and people that are willing to stay sober and get their stuff together. If they can't go to a shelter and trust that shelter for what they're known to do, Because they got people in the staff now that just can't do what it was meant to be. Then personally, they have no place to go, and I'm one of them. So I just figured I would go ahead and throw a bug in the ear. Thank you guys. Thank you very much. Laura Zimmerman, welcome. Thank you. My name's Laura Zimmerman. I'm in the fourth council, councilwoman Susan Lamb. Mayor and council, obviously, I think Diane did an amazing job in terms of the frustrations that we were feeling in the Lansdowne neighborhood. And I also took a drive down South Point and looking at the way they replaced the trees, it's a really pitiful sight. So I know that you guys are pretty limited in terms of what leverage you have against KU, but I wish this would have happened earlier. And Diane has been like a dog on a bone. She has uncovered every possible resource, contacting Kentucky Resource Council, Mr. Fitzgerald, the PSC, the governor's office. and knowing about this resolution that we could at least file a complaint with the Public Service Commission really doesn't have any leverage. I did read in the Herald-Leader that there was a Supreme Court case, a state Supreme Court case, that has some legal precedence that might help us at this moment. and I actually, you know, it's really hard to live in Lansdowne. We've put a lot of sweat equity into this median. I was on the council, I mean on the neighborhood association, when a lot of those trees were planted with a matching grant from you guys and LNA, planting flowers, watering, picking up trash, and we had it looking pretty nice there with a lot of diversion of not looking at those ugly high transmission wires. They unfortunately went through half of it as Diane stated and it's getting to look like South Point. We were able to stop them on that third day and I hope that we can keep the trees that are there already, that are still there. Because when I look at these trees, it's like an alternate reality. the trees are really low compared to the wires, even if those wires sagged. And KU thinks that these trees are in the wires. So it's been really frustrating and I hope that you can sue them. I mean, have this lawsuit and that the judge, wait, I can't ask questions. So, and actually, I believed in this so much that I didn't leave the little crabapple tree that they were going to cut down near the post office. And I ended up being arrested. But I did that on purpose. I did that as an act of civil disobedience to get some attention on that. And we really got that. And so I hope that you guys can follow through and help us keep the trees and lands down. and the rest of Lexington. Thank you. Thank you very much. Is there anyone else who didn't get to sign up? Who wishes to speak? All right, thank you very much. Council members, it's time for announcements. If you'll log in, please. Council member Lamb. I appreciate you all coming and speaking and advocating like you all have. You all have been an amazing group of constituents. And I have gone back and I've looked back. My very first email was March 18th of 2020 when Mr. Frybert reached out to me to tell me that they were getting ready to start on March 30th to cut the trees in the backyards of Tanglehurst Lane. At that time, that email, we were all homebound. We were in a pandemic, so we had to work from home. and then I started getting phone calls from constituents on Tanglehurst Lane. Then I responded to Mr. Frybert. We had a few conversations via email. Then on that Monday, March 30th, when they were getting ready to go in their backyards, Mr. Frybert was going to call me. Unfortunately, I had a meeting with the mayor right in this chamber about the budget that day. And so, Mr. Robertson, my conversation was cut very short because, you know, we have a lot of meetings we have to attend to. We have a lot of responsibilities, lots of issues within our districts and within the city to be responsible for. As a result of that, I personally reached out to Jim Gardner, who used to be the chair of the PSC. I also reached out to our law department, and I also found out the attorney at the Public Service Commission, and I reached out to him. One of the gentlemen that lives on Tanglehurst Way, he reached out to the attorney general's office. We were scraping to get something because there's a 100-foot easement on Tanglehurst Lane behind their properties, and they had small backyards. And they lost every tree in their backyard. And here we were in the middle of a pandemic. I went out and asked the neighbors to respect our social distancing and everything because they wanted to show me what they were dealing with back in March of 2020. I had no idea what had gone on at South Point the year prior. So I didn't have any idea this was going to happen to my constituents. otherwise I really probably would have been able to do something beforehand. So then I came to my colleagues and I started talking about it here because I wanted to raise awareness to not only for myself, but for my colleagues that we're going to be affected by this as well. And I know that the mayor did meet with Mr. Fryberg and the president at the time, last year in 2020. And then Council Member Farmer, he initiated a resolution that we passed unanimously to ask KU to consider. I continue trying to have conversations. I ask KU to come in and speak publicly and to present for transparency. They would not do it. And then I went through, and I've already talked about the constituents that were in the Blueberry Hills, Walden, and Laredo areas. I won't reiterate those that were decimated. But, you know, this is hard. Because the 4th District has been decimated. And I am proud that Council Member Sheehan has worked so hard and got so many people involved in the 5th District because of our conversations. She's worked relentlessly since she's come on council. And so, you know, I believe in community collaboration. Folks, there's a way to do this. But I tell you what, this has been the toughest issue. There have been some really tough issues, mind you, over my seven years on this council. But this has been one of the – I keep thinking about Jake Gibbs sitting next to me here and how much he loved his trees. And I think, gosh, I'm sure glad he's not having to witness this because he and I both will be having a heart attack right here together. But I just say this because, you know, our words, when we say things publicly, you know, it's just tough. So I just want the public to know what I've done personally for my constituent and all with no avail. So, and my five minutes are up. So thank you. Thank you. Vice Mayor Kaye. Thank you, Mayor. And first, I want to thank all of you who have worked so hard on this, and especially the people who are out demonstrating. It's become a cliche about representative, late Representative Lewis talking about causing good trouble. That's what you've been doing. And it took, I believe, the action of our citizens to finally convince Kentucky Utilities that this issue is not going away. But I want also to give a shout out to my colleagues, starting with Council Member Lamb, who's been on this issue, Council Member Sheehan, but especially Council Member Maloney and Council Member Kloiber. Months ago, they brought this issue really to Council, and as a result of that, we invited Kentucky Utilities to come to a work session. And basically, my communication to them as the vice mayor was, we're going to discuss this. We'd be happy to have you here. But we're going to discuss it. And they showed up. And then I thought we were making progress. and we ended up using the only kind of power that we have, which is to bring them back again and say, we need better answers, we need more action. We probably erred in thinking that we could work something out with them and we held back on the injunction and on the resolution to the PSC, I thought we were making more progress. And I regret that there's been this cutting already, and we still don't have the kind of answers that we need to have. but I hope you understand that given what we understood about what our powers were we were doing everything possible to bring them to the table and to get some accommodation to what we understood was a reasonable way to approach maintaining the safety of the airlines but respecting the needs of our community I guess we have a temporary haul, but that's not all we need to do. And I think finally they're convinced that the community and this council are on this issue and we're not going to get off it. So thank you for all that you've done. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Maloney. Thank you, Mayor. I too was out there Monday, and I commend you for what you did. and I sat there and watched those trees be cut down because I remember in 2007 when KU planted those for us and as I looked up and took the pictures of how close to where they were to those wires, it was totally impossible to ever get there. And I want to say, I'm sorry you all had to go through that. I also want to commend Council Member Lamb because I remember when she was talking about this, she talked to me on the phone a couple times about how the neighborhood was being destroyed. and it's a tragedy for what KU has done to this city. And also, Council Member Sheehan, I appreciate what you've done, and Mr. Clover here, he brought a motion back in the summer. And the resolution that we worked on, I wish we had done a little bit earlier, because I think some of those trees would still be alive. But that's hearsay. We can't do nothing about it, but we can do something now forward. And I appreciate it. And we don't want to stop this fight, because KU's going to be here for a while. And we've already saw that it's not only the fourth district and the fifth district, they're going to be working all our districts in the next three years. And I told some of my colleagues to go out and look at those trees and look up. And I think every time I'm hoping they're up there just going, wow, we don't want to cut these neighborhoods. But I do want to commend you all for what you owe. I appreciate the hard work. I'm sorry you had to go through all this, but I think we're going to win this fight. I'm hoping so. And Council Member Lamb, I appreciate everything you've done. I mean that. Thank you. Council Member Kloiber. Thank you. I could sit here and echo all the thanks I have from my colleagues helping with this. I know that as soon as I learned about this issue coming on council, I've been working with legal and through avenues you can to try and find something. And one of the things I found is that it's really hard for the council because we don't get to negotiate. We can pass resolutions. We can ask questions. We can ask the public. But we don't get to sit in a room with decision makers and plead a case. and I can't help but feel that, you know, after we asked the administration to do that for us, to negotiate on our behalf back in June, that there's been plenty of time for us to realize through those negotiations that we weren't going to get to a point of agreement, not in time for what we're seeing happen now. And if we'd known that fact, which none of us could have known because we're not in those rooms, we could have taken this action. We've taken this action now, and we've gotten a little bit of something. Right now, we've got a little bit of something. And I'm not one to dwell too much in the past, but once a tree's removed, it's going to take years before we are ever going to see that benefit again, regardless of what's replanted. In this particular case, you could say that waiting too long to do something is just as bad as not acting at all. And everyone around this horseshoe and in this room knows that with the pace of government, it's recognizing and acting. It's the early action that pays the biggest dividends. So I'm hoping and hopeful that what we've established here can be our own little beachhead to try and draw a line in the sand. And we can come to an agreement with KU that they recognize what the value we have to them is and that they can be a good partner with us going forward. So thank you. Thank you. Council Member Fred Brown. Thank you, Mayor. I've got another subject I wanted to bring up, but just wanted to mention about the trees and let the people out there know that I think we're pretty much on this council unanimous as to what we're going to do forward to PSC and to KU. I think they've gotten that message at least. So anyway, we're reaching out there. The other thing I'm concerned about is redistricting. We had a first reading tonight and it had an 8-6 vote, which is not a good vote for redistricting. So I was concerned that this council, I am concerned that we need another meeting to resolve some of the issues there. And I think we can do that, but I think we need another, and this is to vice mayor. I think we need another meeting before we try to pass a resolution 8 to 7, redistricting. And that's where my concern is. Vice Mayor, do you have any response to that? Yes, thank you, Mayor. So I'd be happy to work with council members to schedule a meeting. If that's what the interest of council is, if we can find a time to do that. We can have a committee of the whole if we can find a time. And I understand that there was some, I was going to say miscommunication or misunderstanding. Or at the last meeting that we had about this, I thought that people would be bringing forward alternatives if they had them. That was not the case, but I'm absolutely willing to call a committee of the whole if we can find a time to do that. Okay, so I'll only add one thing. We just tried to find a time to meet about the ARPA money, and we have shoehorned it in after a work session. If anybody has a proposal for a time that this council could meet in special session, I'd be happy to entertain it. Thank you. Is there any other, Council Member Sheehan? I'm considering the questions about timeliness on the redistricting matter. Would it be appropriate for us to replace the topic of our planned time to talk about the ARPA projects to continue that discussion to then have this discussion instead? I think the difficulty with that is that what we're trying to do is present the administration with a complete list of our preferences for the ARPA before we go on break so that they have time to work on it and bring us something back after the break. I understand that as well. But this has a time component to it, too. So I'm happy to try to find two times, but I'm just offering that as an option. Mayor. Council Member Maloney, did you have something about this? I'm not talking about the subject because everybody's talking about it. I made the motion to go on because we picked these people to be on this commission. And we want to keep as much politics out of this as we can. and by allowing these citizens to come and represent us. And I've sat through three of these in my career here. And I was more teed off on one of them, but I lost one of my important districts. But I knew you shouldn't mingle in it, and I lived on with it. But I have sat with what you all have gone through, not once, not twice, but three times. So when you have your citizens that you all appoint to pick this commission together, the more we get involved with this, the more I think it hurts this system. The more we keep our hands out of this, the better it is. And I've been here a long time, and never have I ever seen a council get involved with the redistricting. Now, you may have had some council members who have gone to their person and said, I want to keep this in my district. But never have I seen a horseshoe come out and talk about how we're going to change something that a committee put together. And that's a bad example to be sending. And I know what some of my colleagues are going through because I went through it. And it is a bad feeling, but I'll tell you, at the end of the day, we end up making it. And Lexington is all in one as a family. So I hope we don't put this into politics. and I will not support anything. Plus, there are three of you, a couple of you have always said they're not running back. There are people already out there getting their petition. They are following this new guideline. And you're going to go out and keep these folks who are right now getting their petition to run for those seats that are being right now vacated. And they may not live in that district now, but they're going to live in it. Hopefully they're open Tuesdays because they want to go on and file Wednesday. So be careful what we do here, guys. This is something we try to stay out as much as possible. And I agree that some of you, and I know what you're going through because I've been there before, it's not a fun feeling. But at the end of the day, I bit my tongue when I had the same problem, a lot of you all have, but we survived. And the more you keep politics out of it, the better this city. And that's why we're a nonpartisan race, and I hope we keep it that way. Thank you. Thank you. Is there anything else on that issue? Yes, Vice Mayor. So here's one possibility, and that is to accept Council Member Sheehan's suggestion that we use that time that we've now set aside for ARPA and use it for a continued discussion of the redistricting. I would personally be willing to entertain that if, council members, if we can find a time after we are officially on break to complete our work on ARPA so that the administration can then do its work. And one possibility would be the Thursday, the 9th, We could do a 3 o'clock, I don't know. But I'd like to ask my colleagues if they'd be willing to schedule a meeting Thursday the 9th. It could either be, I'm looking at my own calendar, it could be 10 o'clock, It could be on my calendar, 3 o'clock or later. Do you want to take a straw poll? Yeah, let me get a, if I can, let me get a sense of Council Member Sheehan, your comment. I'm sorry. Council Member Fred Brown, are you on to speak? No, you didn't take me. I can't take you off. You have to take yourself off. Council Member Lamb, are you on to speak to this issue? Thank you. I was going to suggest Thursday as well because I know that some of us are going to be down here that morning for the leadership Lexington. I don't want to take away from that because that's a very important initiative. It won't be done until 12.45. So we can't be in here until 12.45. Oh, so it goes on until 12.45? Yes, ma'am. We start at 7.45 that morning and we won't leave these chambers until about 12.45. I think it would be hard to. I think we could meet as early as 1. So we could meet our 1.30? Okay. The reason I was asking is that if several of us are going to be here, I mean, I'll reschedule my dental appointment. I mean, you know, heck fire, I've already done it twice. So I'm willing to meet Thursday for the ARPA committee of the whole. Okay. Can I get an indication of anybody who would not be able to be here at 1.30 on Thursday the 9th? I have something I cannot change, but it's at 2.45. 3 o'clock is better? Did you say, Council Member Reynolds, you have something at 3? Or you could be here at 3? No, at 3. I'm 2.45. 3 o'clock? You cannot be here at 3 o'clock. One. One. One o'clock. Who could not be here at one? Who can't be here at one o'clock? Cannot. Cannot. Okay. You got your date. I actually will make a motion that we move, however we need to do this, We delete the meeting that's scheduled. No, we don't need to do that. Yes, we do. We need to delete the meeting that's now scheduled for the Committee of the Whole ARPA meeting that's scheduled at 3 o'clock on the 7th. And we schedule a Committee of the Whole meeting on redistricting at that time. So move. Second. All right, is there any discussion? I have. Council Member Maloney? During the redistricting, are you going to invite the committee back to sit in this meeting? Because I think a lot of they need to see why. The motion is about a date and switching what the subject matter is just for now. Yeah. Anything to the motion? All right, all those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. And then the second motion is to schedule a committee of the whole for the, hopefully, completion of our work on the ARPA, for the moment, ARPA, whatever. ARPA, Committee of the Whole on ARPA and related budget issues on Thursday the 9th at 1 o'clock. Yes, is there a second? Second. Council Member Fred Brown seconds. Is there discussion? Any discussion? This is about scheduling an ARPA meeting. Okay, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Anybody opposed? All right, that motion passes. Thank you, Mayor. Okay, does anyone else have announcements? All right, and we have had public comments. So, Council Members, if you will indulge me for a moment, I think it's important to put the tree discussion here in context. And first of all, thank you to all of you who came to speak about this. It's very distressing to people all over our city. so a couple of things that i think are very important about the time that council member lamb i think you said march 18th you met with david freiber of 2020 i'm sorry okay thank you thank you that was about the time i also was alerted to this tree issue. And so you will remember in the beginning of COVID, we had this room set up where we had chairs all over the place and not many of them. And so in April, I invited the, at the time, CEO Paul, David Fryberg, a couple of other people, and some of our senior leaders to meet in here to hear what was going on and to start a conversation with them about this tree-cutting issue. And Council Member Kloiber is right. The administration is the branch of government that has the ability to negotiate. and I think to Vice Mayor Kay's point, all of us were optimistic. And because we were optimistic that we would have some action, we gave this a chance. And then in the summer, the council passed its resolution asking me to negotiate, which I already was doing. And then the CEO of KU left, and the new CEO did not come in until August. So we pretty much had to start over because we knew we couldn't do anything without the CEO in the room. And so in August and September, we had these conversations. In October, we sent, and you will remember this in context with the meetings that council had, and council members were working hard on this all along at the same time. I felt like we had kind of two tracks going. And we brought you, I made my request of KU for those six issues. and you all were made aware of this and then I sent these in the letter to KU. KU sent me a response the night before Thanksgiving. Was that about a week ago? And so on Tuesday, I brought you the request for the letter of complaint to the PSC and the injunction, and appreciated that you were supportive of that, because I felt like we were at the end with very little response to those six requests. They responded with minimal changes, I felt. And so I think it is important to realize that I believe all of us up here wanted our process to work. You know, in my estimation, you don't sit down at the table and then the next meeting you demand something and say, we're done, we're going to sue you. That's not how I think most of us operate. So, you know, hindsight's always better than foresight if we had known. where this was all going and how long it took to get very little progress, we might have gone a little bit faster. To the point of my meeting with the neighbors, the question to me was about the injunction. And my answer was that I had to have the supportive counsel to do that, which is just a fact. So I think it's important that we all realize that when we're in these meetings, you know, there is context to all of this. And everybody at this horseshoe had very good intentions for almost a year. We have tried to make this work. And so, as you know, Judge Kim Bunnell has the case, the injunction, and we are expecting, you know, rather rapid work on that. And I'm very hopeful about what we may get out of that, because I think what KU showed yesterday was that they do have wiggle room. They were, when I asked them, you all know this, I took the wishes of the neighborhood to not cut the little trees to them on the sidewalk, and they were able to say, okay, we can do that. So now we know they have wiggle room, at least for a while. So I'm very hopeful about this, and we have got to be patient now while the judge and while the PSC does their work. So I appreciate all of you and what you have endured, and I appreciate the council member, council members, and the good work you've done, those of you who've been in the trenches with this. So with that, Council Member Clover, did you have an announcement? I do. Just one thing real quick. to your comment about context. I agree. Context is very important. Just one quick fact check. Paul Thompson, the CEO, is still currently the CEO until January 1st. Okay. Just to put things into context, he's still there working, and the relationship that you've built with him could have continued to be used through this transition period before he goes into retirement in January. But like I said, there is a lot of context here and a lot of things going on. Well, I will have to respond because as you know, Council Member Clover, you and I have discussed this. And when he did leave officially as CEO in August, I checked this out with KU, and they told me if I wanted to negotiate with the CEO, it would be the new one, John. And so we, you know, he was not willing to do that because he was not any longer in the official position for negotiations. So I appreciate that you have a different view on that. And he is still with KU, but he was not the one viewed as the CEO for negotiations. So, you know, I can't make that decision for who I think is the CEO, right? So we just have a difference of opinion on that, and you and I have talked about that before, so thank you. Thank you. Is there a second? All those in favor, say aye. We are adjourned. Thank you very much. Thank you.