# Council Work Session - March 15, 2022 > Auto-transcribed civic record · March 15, 2022 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/5541 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/5541?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2022-03-15 - **Last revised**: March 15, 2022 - **Length**: 13,555 words > ⚠️ **Auto-generated content.** Audio from the official Granicus video was auto-transcribed with OpenAI's open-source Whisper large-v3-turbo model, run locally by The Lexington Times. Structured facts were extracted with GPT-4o; the narrative summary was written by Anthropic Claude. Verbatim wording may contain errors. See [methodology](https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/about/methodology) or [report a correction](mailto:editor@lexingtonky.news). --- ## Meeting Overview The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council convened on March 15, 2022, at 3:00 PM in the Council Chamber of the Urban County Government Center in Lexington, Kentucky, with Mayor Gorton presiding. The council addressed 10 agenda items during the session, taking 9 formal votes and hearing 1 public comment. All voted items received approval, including significant procurements for firefighter turnout gear and vehicle acquisitions, as well as various memorandums of agreement and understanding related to civil forfeiture actions and offsite mitigation. The council also approved budget amendments for workforce development, neighborhood development funds, and formally adopted motions from the March 8th work session. Additionally, the council received an informational presentation on police technology, demonstrating the body's focus on both operational needs and technological advancement for public safety departments. ## Attendance The following officials were present at the March 15, 2022 meeting: **Present:** • Mayor Gorton • Kay • Moloney • Ellinger • J. Brown • McCurn • LeGris • Lamb • Sheehan • Kloiber • Worley • F. Brown • Baxter • Bledsoe • Reynolds **Absent:** • Plomin No officials arrived late to the meeting. A total of 15 officials were present with 1 absence recorded. ## Votes and Decisions The meeting included nine motions, all of which passed by voice vote with no recorded opposition. **Firefighter Equipment Procurement** [timestamp: 00:00] Sheehan motioned to approve firefighter turnout gear procurement. The motion passed by voice vote. **Council Docket Item** [timestamp: 00:30] Elker motioned, with Reynolds seconding, to place bond reimbursements and vehicle procurements on the docket for the March 2022 council meeting. The motion passed by voice vote. **Civil Forfeiture Agreement** [timestamp: 01:00] James Brown motioned, with Ellinger seconding, to authorize the Mayor to execute a memorandum of agreement for civil forfeiture actions. The motion passed by voice vote. **Offsite Mitigation Agreement** [timestamp: 01:30] Reynolds motioned, with Kay seconding, to authorize the Mayor to execute a memorandum of understanding for offsite mitigation. The motion passed by voice vote. **Work Session Minutes** [timestamp: 02:00] The council approved the March 8th council work session table of motions by voice vote. No specific motion maker or seconder was recorded. **Budget Amendment** [timestamp: 02:30] Sheehan motioned, with Ellinger seconding, to amend budget journal 133477-78 to increase workforce development funding. The motion passed by voice vote. **Agenda Modification** [timestamp: 03:00] Sheehan motioned, with McCurn seconding, to remove item P from the agenda work session. The motion passed by voice vote. **New Business Approval** [timestamp: 03:30] Sheehan motioned, with Kay seconding, to approve new business. The motion passed by voice vote. **Neighborhood Development Funds** [timestamp: 04:00] A motion to approve neighborhood development funds was seconded by Reynolds and passed by voice vote. No original motion maker was recorded. All votes were conducted by voice vote with no recorded individual vote tallies or opposition. ## Budget and Financial Actions The meeting addressed multiple financial authorizations totaling over $22 million in expenditures, grants, and agreements. **Major Financial Items:** • **Resolution 0265-22**: Authorization to accept $11,700,000 in federal Emergency Rental Assistance grant funds from the U.S. Department of the Treasury • **Resolution 0269-22**: Authorization to execute an amendment with Community Action Council for $10,530,000 • **Resolution 0259-22**: Authorization to accept the Collective Bargaining Agreement with Lexington Professional Firefighters IAFF Local 526, with a $2.4 million impact for the current fiscal year **Grant Applications and Awards:** • **Resolution 0267-22**: Authorization to submit a $25,000,000 RAISE grant application to the U.S. Department of Transportation for the High Street Corridor Safety and Mobility Improvements Initiative • **Resolution 0239-22**: Class B Infrastructure Incentive Grant of $127,050 to Beaver Creek Hydrology, LLC • **Resolution 0263-22**: Application for a $102,000 Household Hazardous Waste Management Grant • **Resolution 0240-22**: Class B Education Incentive Grant of $34,426 to The Living Arts and Science Center, Inc. • **Resolution 0242-22**: Class B Education Incentive Grant of $34,997 to The University of Kentucky Research Foundation **Contracts and Services:** • **Resolution 0266-22**: Authorization for Advanced Eco Systems as sole source provider for Zumro decontamination kits at $136,362 • **Resolution 0256-22**: Agreement with Cloudburst Consulting Group for Racial and Equity Analysis at $87,385 • **Resolution 0252-22**: Establishment of Metals Treatment Technologies (MT2) as sole source vendor for firing range services at $50,460 • **Resolution 0257-22**: Memorandum of Agreement with Bluegrass Community and Technical College for $45,000 **Other Financial Actions:** • **Resolution 0258-22**: Authorization to accept a $30,000 donation from the Creech Family Foundation, Inc. • **Resolution 0243-22**: Department of Law position restructuring with $3,164.53 budget impact Several items had no budgetary impact, including solid waste management plan updates and police ordinance amendments. ## Public Comment During the public comment period, one community member addressed the board regarding waste management concerns. **Don Pratt** spoke about garbage and recycling issues [timestamp: 03:00:00]. Pratt emphasized the need for manufacturers to take greater responsibility for the waste generated by their products. He suggested implementing a shift towards reusable containers as a potential solution to current waste management challenges. His comments focused on addressing systemic issues in how communities handle garbage and recycling programs. ## Contested Items The License Plate Reader Program emerged as the primary contested item during the meeting, generating significant community opposition centered on privacy concerns and camera placement decisions. The controversy involved multiple stakeholders, including representatives from the NAACP, ACLU, and the Human Rights Commission, who raised objections to various aspects of the proposed program. Community members expressed concerns about the privacy implications of implementing automated license plate reading technology throughout the jurisdiction. Key points of contention focused on: • **Privacy protections** - Questions about data collection, storage, and access protocols • **Camera placement** - Disputes over proposed locations for the license plate reading equipment • **Community oversight** - Calls for greater transparency and accountability measures The opposition groups argued that the program could disproportionately impact certain communities and raised constitutional concerns about surveillance and data privacy. The Human Rights Commission's involvement highlighted civil liberties aspects of the proposal, while the NAACP and ACLU brought broader advocacy perspectives to the discussion. The debate reflected ongoing tensions between public safety initiatives and privacy rights, with community organizations seeking stronger safeguards and oversight mechanisms before any program implementation could proceed. *Note: Specific transcript timestamps and final outcomes were not available in the provided meeting data.* ## Firefighter Turn Out Gear Procurement [timestamp: 00:00] The council considered a resolution for the procurement of firefighter turn out gear during the meeting. Sheehan served as the key speaker presenting this agenda item to the council. The discussion focused on acquiring new protective equipment for firefighters, though specific details about the gear specifications, vendor selection, or procurement amount were not detailed in the available meeting materials. Turn out gear typically includes essential protective clothing such as coats, pants, boots, helmets, and gloves that firefighters wear when responding to emergency calls. The council proceeded to vote on the resolution without recorded debate or concerns raised during the discussion period. The procurement proposal received approval from the council members, allowing the fire department to move forward with acquiring the necessary protective equipment for its personnel. This approval ensures that firefighters will have access to updated safety gear, which is critical for their protection while performing emergency response duties in the community. ## Bond Reimbursements and Vehicle Procurements [timestamp: 00:30] The council addressed the scheduling of bond reimbursements and vehicle procurements for their March 2022 meeting agenda. Elker presented the item to the council, discussing the need to place both bond reimbursements and vehicle procurements on the docket for the upcoming March 2022 council meeting. The discussion focused on the procedural aspects of scheduling these financial matters for formal consideration. The council approved moving forward with placing these items on the March meeting agenda. No specific concerns or objections were raised during the brief discussion of this scheduling matter. The resolution was approved, ensuring that both bond reimbursements and vehicle procurement matters would be formally addressed at the March 2022 council meeting. ## Memorandum of Agreement for Civil Forfeiture Actions [timestamp: 01:00] The council considered a resolution to authorize the Mayor to execute a memorandum of agreement for civil forfeiture actions during the March 15, 2022 meeting. James Brown served as the key speaker presenting this agenda item to the council. The resolution focused on granting the Mayor authority to enter into an agreement related to civil forfeiture proceedings, though specific details about the nature of the agreement or the parties involved were not provided in the available meeting materials. The item was presented as a resolution requiring council approval before the Mayor could proceed with executing the memorandum of agreement. Civil forfeiture actions typically involve legal proceedings where government entities seek to seize property allegedly connected to criminal activity. Following the presentation and any discussion that may have occurred, the council voted to approve the resolution. This approval grants the Mayor the necessary authorization to execute the memorandum of agreement for civil forfeiture actions on behalf of the municipality. The resolution passed, allowing the Mayor to move forward with the agreement as presented to the council. ## Memorandum of Understanding for Offsite Mitigation [timestamp: 01:30] The council considered a resolution to authorize the Mayor to execute a memorandum of understanding for offsite mitigation during the March 15, 2022 meeting. Reynolds served as the key speaker for this agenda item, presenting the proposal to the council. The discussion centered on granting the Mayor authority to enter into a memorandum of understanding that would establish terms for offsite mitigation activities. The resolution was presented as a standard authorization measure, allowing the Mayor to proceed with executing the agreement on behalf of the municipality. The offsite mitigation memorandum of understanding would formalize arrangements for mitigation activities conducted away from the primary project site. Following the presentation and discussion, the council voted to approve the resolution. This approval grants the Mayor the necessary authority to execute the memorandum of understanding for offsite mitigation as presented. The resolution passed, enabling the Mayor to move forward with finalizing the offsite mitigation agreement according to the terms discussed during the meeting. ## March 8th Council Work Session Table of Motions [timestamp: 02:00] The council reviewed and approved the table of motions from their March 8th work session. This agenda item involved formally adopting the record of motions that were made during the previous council work session. The item was presented as a resolution for council approval. No specific speakers were identified during the discussion of this procedural matter, and no significant debate or concerns were raised regarding the table of motions. The council approved the March 8th Council Work Session Table of Motions, formally adopting the record of motions from that session into the official proceedings. ## Budget Amendment for Workforce Development [timestamp: 02:30] The council considered and approved a budget amendment to increase workforce development funding by $50,000. Sheehan served as the key speaker presenting this amendment to the council. The amendment was designed to enhance the municipality's workforce development programs, though specific details about which programs would receive the additional funding were not elaborated upon in the available materials. The $50,000 increase represents an expansion of the existing workforce development budget allocation. Following discussion, the council voted to approve the budget amendment. No significant concerns or opposition were noted during the deliberation process, and the amendment passed successfully. This funding increase will allow for expanded workforce development initiatives within the community, though the specific implementation details and timeline for deploying these additional resources were not specified in the meeting materials. ## Removal of Item P from Agenda [timestamp: 03:00] The council addressed a procedural matter regarding the removal of Item P from the agenda during the work session. Councilmember Sheehan led the discussion on this agenda modification. The council voted to approve the removal of Item P from the scheduled agenda items. No specific details were provided in the available materials regarding the nature of Item P or the reasons for its removal from consideration. The motion to remove Item P from the agenda was approved by the council without recorded opposition or significant debate. ## Approval of New Business [timestamp: 03:30] The council addressed the approval of new business items during this portion of the meeting. Sheehan served as the key speaker for this agenda item, presenting the new business matters to the council for consideration. The council discussed the new business items that were brought forward for approval. Following the discussion, the council voted to approve the new business items as presented. The resolution was approved by the council. *Note: The available meeting materials provided limited detail about the specific nature of the new business items discussed or the content of the deliberations during this agenda item.* ## Neighborhood Development Funds [timestamp: 04:00] The council considered a resolution regarding the allocation of neighborhood development funds during the March 15, 2022 meeting. The agenda item focused on distributing funds designated for neighborhood-level development projects and improvements. While specific details about the funding amounts, recipient neighborhoods, or particular projects were not detailed in the available materials, the discussion centered on the formal allocation process for these community development resources. The resolution was presented to the council for consideration and vote. No significant concerns or opposition were noted during the discussion of this item. **Outcome:** The resolution was approved by the council, authorizing the allocation of neighborhood development funds as proposed. The approval enables the distribution of these funds to support various neighborhood development initiatives and projects within the community. ## Police Technology Presentation [timestamp: 04:30] Assistant Chief Eric Lowe presented information about the Flock Safety Pilot Program, which involves the implementation of license plate reader technology for law enforcement purposes. Lowe discussed the technical aspects of the Flock Safety system and outlined how the department plans to implement this technology as part of a pilot program. The presentation covered the potential impact these license plate readers could have on crime reduction efforts within the community. The presentation was informational in nature, providing council members and the public with details about this new police technology initiative. Assistant Chief Lowe served as the primary speaker for this agenda item, explaining the department's approach to incorporating automated license plate recognition systems into their operations. The Flock Safety Pilot Program represents the police department's effort to utilize modern technology to enhance public safety and criminal investigation capabilities through automated vehicle identification and tracking systems. --- ## Decisions - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approval of firefighter turn out gear procurement - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Place on docket for March 2022 council meeting for bond reimbursements and vehicle procurements - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Authorize Mayor to execute memorandum of agreement for civil forfeiture actions - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Authorize Mayor to execute memorandum of understanding for offsite mitigation - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approval of March 8th council work session table of motions - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Amend budget journal 133477-78 to increase workforce development funding - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Remove item P from agenda work session - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approve new business - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approve neighborhood development funds --- ## Full transcript I will ask, Stacy, can you put me in the computer, please? Now I'm here. Yay. Thank you. We know that doesn't work. Welcome, everyone, to the March 15, 2022 Urban County Council work session. And I'd like to go ahead and call the meeting to order. And the first item on our agenda is public comment for issues on the agenda. Is there anyone signed up? No? Okay, thank you very much. Next, we have rezonings and a docket approval, if I could have a motion to approve. Move to approve. Thank you, Council Member Ellinger, and Council Member Baxter seconded. If you'll log in, please, if you have motions or questions. Council Member Baxter. Thank you, Mayor. I move to place on the docket for the March 17th council meeting a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement with WDKY for their use of the E-911 radio system. So moved. Second by Council Member James Brown. Are there any questions? All right. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right. That motion passes. And I have one more. Okay. I move to place on the docket of the March 17, 2022 council meeting a resolution accepting and approving the bids of fire department service and supply and Vogelpole fire equipment for firefighter turnout gear. So moved. Thank you. Is there a second? Second. Council Member Sheehan. Any questions, comments? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? All right. That motion passes. Council Member Ellinger. Thank you, Mayor. We all received an email from Commissioner Hensley about the procurement of certain vehicles, and they wanted to go ahead and do that because of issues with getting things done on time. So I moved to place on the docket of the March 17, 2022 council meeting in the following bond reimbursement resolution order to allow for the procurement of certain vehicles. declaration of official intent with respect to reimbursement of temporary advances made for capital expenditures to be made from subsequent borrowings with respect to various capital improvement projects of the Lexington Fade Urban County government. So moved. Second. Thank you. Council Member Reynolds seconds. Are there any questions? Comments? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Thank you. Council Member James Brown. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Mayor. On behalf of the administration, I move to place on the docket for March 17th, Council meeting a resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute a memorandum of agreement authorizing the Fayette County attorney to file civil asset forfeiture actions. So moved. Second. Thank you. Council Member Ellinger seconded. Are there any questions? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right. That motion passes. Council Member Reynolds. Thank you, Mayor. I move to place on the docket for the March 17th Council meeting a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute a memorandum of understanding with Greer Land Co. Smyrna No. 2, LLC, requiring off-site mitigation on LFUCG-owned property as a condition of a floodplain variance on the property located at 1108 South Broadway. Thank you. Is there a second? Second. Vice Mayor Kay seconds. Are there any questions? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Is there anything else for the docket? Okay, seeing nothing, all those in favor of approving the docket as amended, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Thank you. Next is the March 8th Council Work Session Table of Motions. Could I have a motion? So moved. Second. Thank you. Thank you, Vice Mayor. All right. Any questions? No. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? All right. That motion passes. Next are budget amendments, and I'll entertain a motion to approve. So moved. Second. Council Member Lamb, thank you, thank you. Council Member Legree, if you'll log in, please, with your questions for questions. Council Member Sheehan. Thank you, Mayor. I have a motion to amend. I move to amend a portion of Budget Journal 133477-78, which allocates funds in the amount of $150,000 for workforce development to increase the amount by $50,000 to a total of $200,000. This is an earlier allocation of the ARPA funds, which should better ensure the ability to timely encumber and spend the funding. And Kevin Atkins is here to answer any questions if anybody has them. Thank you. So moved. Council Member Ellinger seconded. And, Council Members, that's on page five of your docket on the workforce development piece there on that budget amendment. Are there any questions? All right. Okay, Councilmember Ellinger. Councilmember Sheehan, could you go ahead and explain like you did to me how the money's going to go just to come earlier than 24? I'll let Kevin do that. Chief Development Officer Kevin Adkins is here, and he'll kind of give you a rundown if that's okay. Sure, no, just for the public, just how it's going to work. So, as you know, there was 200 scheduled to be done in 24, and 350,000 for this year with the addition of the original 150, and 400,000 for next year. We do these grants on a two-year cycle, so what we were trying to do is match the numbers up so it will be 400,000 this year, 400,000 next year. So basically what we did, well not basically, it's what we did. made the 200 that was scheduled for 24 150 and put the 50 000 additional this year so it's just spending the 50 of it ahead of what had originally been scheduled okay any other questions for kevin all right all those in favor of approving please say aye Aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Anything else about budget amendments? All right, all those in favor of approving budget amendments as amended, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, thank you very much. That passes. Next, could I have a motion to approve new business? Second. Okay, Council Member Sheehan, then Vice Mayor Kay. If you wish to speak to new business, please log in. Vice Mayor Kay. Thank you, Mayor. At the request of the administration, I move to remove item P from the agenda at the work session today, so move. Item P. P. P as in Paul. P, P. As in Paul. Is there a second? Second. Council Member McCurn seconds. All right. Are there questions? And we have Commissioner Armstrong, and folks here can answer your questions if you have them. Council Member Reynolds and then Council Member Land. Thank you, Mayor. I guess my question was just why it was going to be removed. Commissioner can answer that. Welcome. Thank you for the question. When the police department was looking in this matter to reduce the age, one of the things that hadn't been taken into consideration is any increases in insurance costs related to individuals under the age of 21 driving emergency vehicles, and we need to make sure that we have that covered before we bring it to the council in the future. Does that make sense? Thank you very much. Council Member Lamb? You're good. Other questions? All right. Thank you, Commissioner. All those in favor of removing it, please say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? Okay. That item passes. Council Member Baxter? Thank you, Mayor. Commissioner, I was trying to catch your attention so you get all the way back to your seats. I know. It steps in. Yeah. Similarly, I had a question about item O as we were raising the age, and I was just trying to figure out why 41 was the magic number. Well, specifically, and Chief Weathers is here to speak about it, too, and I'll give you some anecdotal information in regards to it. But whenever specifically we're out recruiting employees or future employees, one of the things we've seen over the last few years is a number of individuals that have retired from one type of work, whether it's the military, which is primarily the one that we get most information about. They put in 20 years plus service, and they're technically over the line, as it were, whenever it came to the 37. So we've increased it to 41. Now, just to make you aware of it, the retirement system right now requires 25 years of service. Okay. Is that kind of a best practice number across? It varies. I can't give you an absolute. What's the most common thing? It kind of depends, to be honest with you. Seems kind of arbitrary. Okay. So good. And then you might want to stay, too, because I have a question about I. Okay. So I wanted to make sure, this is regarding the firing range remediation, and I want to make sure that I understand that we are offsetting some cost by reclaiming the lead that is there. Yes, we offset some cost by having this cleaned and being able to use some of the same materials that are already there, rather than replacing it. Also, you have to take into consideration what's there eventually becomes, for lack of a return, almost hazmat type situation because of the lead in it. So we have to have that removed regardless. Awesome. Okay, great. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Ellinger. Thank you, Mayor. I was going to ask about O2 because when I would do some ride-alongs and others and talk to the chief, that was one issue that they talked about that they would like to see raised. and I'm glad to see us doing that because I think it is important because I would rather have somebody 20 years in military that came in here than somebody that's fresh out of maybe high school. I don't know. We're right out there. Yeah. So I'm glad to see that. The question I had was, let's look at our first. Charlie. Lanter. Welcome, Commissioner. Can you, we had the press conference for this one the other day for the $11,700,000. Can you tell me how does that one work with V, with the 10.5, and what's the difference for the 1.2? Sure. So as you all know, we've just recently been awarded an additional $11.7 million in federal funding for the housing stabilization program. And that's reallocated from the state's allocation to Treasury, who then gives it to us. So that's item R. Item V is us then taking a portion of that money and contracting it to community action, which is how we operate the program. The difference in the total is the administrative costs that we withhold for our expenses. Now, ultimately, I don't know that we're going to spend that much in administrative costs. We'll probably later at some point pass a good chunk of that to community action in the future. but in terms of the setup of that contract and the percentage they get and the percentage we get, that's the breakdown. Well, that's what I was trying to understand, because that's what I feared was administrative costs, but I thought they were administering it, so I didn't know where the one point... They get an administrative share as well. We're only keeping back a very small percentage of what's allowed for administrative expenses, so yes, they also have an administrative expense. Okay, that makes sense. And then, Elle, it looks like that would be also you, Charlie. Could you explain how this is going to work and what we're doing here? I'm going to ask Director Ruddock to explain that just because it's her project and I'll fill in where she's not able. Welcome, Polly. Hi, Polly. Thank you. Thank you for the question. And so every year, the COC goes through a very high-level analysis of our system, not project-specific, not organizational-specific, just as a whole system. We do this as part of our COC competition. And then HUD grades us, scores us on what our analysis looks like and what the action steps look like in response. So this was the first time, and two, we took October of 2018 to September of 2020. And this was the first time that we saw racial disparities in our system overall. And so we have asked a consultant to come in and take a deeper dive into our data, from program specific to organizational specific, and then give us action steps and recommendations we can take to mitigate those. Yeah, the numbers are pretty, so I'm glad to see us doing this, so thank you. You're welcome. And then, Mayor, it looks like I have a minute and a half here, so I have one more, and that would be on T. And I think that's, yep, she jumped right up. Brandly welcome. I was ready, I was expecting it. Could you, is this part of the bill, is this the bipartisan infrastructure? That is correct. So as I stated last week in my presentation, as part of the bipartisan infrastructure law, there will be multiple competitive opportunities. And so this is the first one that has come out that we are interested in, and it is RAISE, and it's through the U.S. Department of Transportation. This is the same thing as BUILD, the same thing as TIGER, and if you remember, TIGER has been used here locally for Town Branch. We tried this one and didn't get it last time, right? That's correct. That's correct. We applied for the high street mobility project to RAISE in the fall. We were not awarded a grant. And actually this afternoon we just got off the phone with their department and got a debriefing. It said we had a very nice competitive project and there are opportunities for us to make it more competitive. So our intent is to reapply for that, expanding the footprint of the project slightly so that it encompasses Patterson Street as well as High Street. And I'm happy to put up a map if you'd like me to. I did bring one. If you have it, sure. Yeah, no, I think it's good for public because you're right. It does expand the area, just not on. High Street. Hopefully you can see that. Our project will be along High Street from Broadway to Oliver Lewis Way, and that is to improve that facility, the roadway, to decrease or eliminate the fatalities that we're seeing along High Street, make it a safer spot for bikers, pedestrians alike, and slow down traffic. In addition to that, we are looking at improvements to bike ped facilities along Oliver Lewis Way. Obviously, the major infrastructure has been put in as part of our previous project. It's just improving upon that for better connectivity for bikers and walkers to connect to our trail system. And we've added Patterson Street to the mix as well. And so Patterson Street, you can see, connects it all over Lewis Way and is a direct route towards Central Bank Center. And it cuts through the high street redevelopment lot. We are looking at only the portions that are publicly owned, the right-of-way we own. the other pieces on LCC's property. But we would look at improving those facilities so that it would move more traffic, vehicles, and pedestrians alike to alleviate some of that local roadway, so that alleviate some of the pressure on the local roadways as people are coming and going from the convention center area. And then lastly, Manchester Street, which was part of the proposal in the fall, would be a part of those improvements to allow for the completion of a safer bike pad connection into the park as well. So there's a very complicated series of roadways there with semis and vehicles going to parking structures and bikers and walkers. So there's a lot of infrastructure needs in there as well. That's very helpful. What's the best case scenario that we could find out about this? Do you mind going to the third slide? Thank you. And I forget, we're in person. I can use a clicker now. Sorry. We're looking to apply. The deadline is April 14th. And that's why I'm here early is because you all will be gone until April 14th. So we're still figuring out all the details. We would find out in September if we win an award. If so, typical process ensues. So a year to execute the agreement. Then we begin the design and engagement phase. So I want the community to know that this is not set in stone as far as design is concerned. We will have those opportunities to have public meetings and input by the neighborhoods as we develop that. And so the hope would be construction starting in 24, multiple phases of that, and completion in 27, 28 timeframe, if we're lucky enough to get the funds. So I guess it won't be ready by September is what I was thinking. All right. Thank you, Mayor, and I appreciate the information. You're welcome. Council Member Lamb. Thank you, Mayor. And my item actually is item B, as in boy, Commissioner Albright. No, I'm sorry. Item C, excuse me. Commissioner, it's still Commissioner Albright. And I know that our chair of our environmental EQ committee is in here, but has this solid waste management area designation and plan, Has there been a presentation, an overview of that by chance given to us? Thank you for the opportunity to explain item C. This is not the five-year solid waste plan. This is a precursor to it where we have to define within the solid waste plan that we only address trash within Fayette County. So it's just setting the boundary for the solid waste plan that we are starting that will be done over the summer. And we will present that to you after summer break. Okay, that's wonderful, because I first read this, and I thought, we haven't had a presentation yet on this, and I'm like, am I missing something? Maybe I had a senior day or something. Yes, ma'am. Perfect. All right, thank you so much. All righty. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner. Council Member Ellinger. Yes, Mayor, I ran out of time on the last one, so this will be very brief on X. Everybody's flipping to the last page here. Chief Wells. First, I want to applaud you all for working with BCTC on this and helping get credits. Is this something we're doing presently, or is this going to be something that's new going forward here? This is a new program for the Lexington Fire Department. It closely mirrors what the police department's been doing for several years. And if you could, just for the public, just what happens, because I think it's a great program. And if you're looking at coming in as this is a profession, this is something that can help you get credits here. Absolutely. So what this program will do, we have a very robust training academy we have had for a number of years. And what we recognized was that training is really the equivalent of college credit hours. So we were able to work closely with BCTC to have those credits recognized. And with just a few other basic core courses that we're able to sort of negotiate and work out with BCTC, when our recruits come in, if they do not already have a college degree, they will graduate their recruit academy with an associate's degree from BCTC in fire science. That's exciting. I really appreciate that. Thank you, Chief. Thank you very much. Thank you. Any other questions on new business? All right. All those in favor of approving new business, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right. That motion passes. Now we'll go to continuing business presentations. And first, I'll entertain a motion for neighborhood development funds. Move approval. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Second by Council Member Reynolds. Any questions? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Next, I'll welcome Assistant Chief Eric Lowe to the podium, who has the presentation on police technology. Welcome. Good afternoon. to further clarify the question earlier about the 41 years of age state law actually also sets the maximum age for a police officer in Kentucky and what we've done is changed it to mirror the current requirement in state law so that's where the 41 came from good afternoon here to give an update on our flock safety pilot project program this is for the license plate readers first just a little overview of the company the company was founded in 2017 they're in atlanta georgia they currently have license plate readers in 1500 cities across the united states and have relationships with over 850 different law enforcement agencies the obvious question is why is that number different there are private cameras also in neighborhood associations private businesses across the country in addition to the ones that are as part of a relationship with the law enforcement agency. Here in Kentucky there are several different cities that currently have license plate readers from Flock Safety. Louisville is getting ready to go online here in the next month or so with a program as well. Then also regionally there are several agencies of comparable size in our region that are also using these cameras. And another important thing for us is this company is a partner with Axon Enterprise which is our current bodyworm camera provider and they actually integrate in with with that company so what they are so license plate readers they are still cameras that are at fixed locations around the the county that are powered by solar and connected with cellular data so there's a very little upfront infrastructure need that needs to be put in place before the cameras are installed they take six or seven still images of a vehicle that passes through the the area that the camera is looking at and they can read the license plate and can determine the color, make, and type of vehicle, which are all searchable. So one of the things that we'll see is we'll have a crime that's been committed and we'll have a witness, someone who says, I saw this car that had the suspects from the crime who fled. And the information that we get is very general. It may be a red passenger car. It may be a red Ford, something like that. That is good information for us to know, but it isn't very actionable. What this would allow us to do is we could actually go and search for LPRs in the area where we know that vehicle fled for the red Ford that would match that description and give us a good lead to start our investigation. And the vehicles are automatically checked to see if they're on a hot list. So every time a vehicle went by, there are several different lists that it would compare that vehicle to. One would be NCIC, which is the National Crime Information Center. So that would be stolen vehicles or vehicles that are known to be have been involved in some type of violent offense or have someone operating that vehicle or owner of that vehicle that is known to be a violent person wanted for say a homicide or something like that. But there are other lists that it can check it against. It can check it against Amber Alerts. So if there was a child that had been abducted anywhere in the country and a vehicle that was entered into the Amber Alert system associated with that missing juvenile entered our jurisdiction and passed by one of our cameras, we would automatically be alerted that this vehicle related to an Amber Alert has just passed through, giving us an opportunity to intervene and hopefully rescue someone who's been abducted. And then we also have our own lists. If we had a vehicle that we knew was one in connection with some type of crime, we could add that vehicle to that hot list as well. One thing that I know comes up frequently when we're talking about cameras is the idea of speed enforcement or red light enforcement. These cameras are not situated for, will not be installed in a matter that would be compatible with, and are not to be used for red light enforcement. It's not our intention, and we've actually reached out to the company just to confirm. They are not in the business of red light or speed enforcement. This is an example of what they would look like. So it's a traditional camera that is powered by the solar, and then the cellular connection is how we get the data off of that. So the images and data are stored in the system for 30 days. After 30 days, they'll automatically be deleted. if there was an image that we had captured that was going to be part of a criminal investigation, say we had captured a vehicle that was fleeing from some type of crime, we could retain that longer by actually downloading those images and storing them in our digital evidence management system, which is by the vendor Axon, who we currently deal with body-worn cameras. So it's an integrated process, and we would just transfer it over into the system where we have all of our other digital evidence and maintain that chain of custody. In addition to the pilot program, Flock Safety, Axon, and the National Police Foundation have partnered to conduct a study, a nationwide study, on the effectiveness of license plate readers in law enforcement. As part of joining this study, it's actually being paid for by Axon. So there is no cost to the city election to participate in this. And the 25 license plate readers that are being installed, the cost, if we were to just pay for it ourselves, would be almost $70,000. dollars. At last check, somewhere between 40 and 60 is who they were anticipating law enforcement agencies were going to be participating in this study. And then we'll share general crime data with them and participate in a monthly call. So the license plate readers are directed at vehicles traveling in a right of way, and they'll be located in multiple locations throughout Lexington based upon our violent crime patterns. So what we did is we looked at two years of violent crime data in Lexington. And we got together with our crime analysts, our personal crimes detectives, and experts from Flock Safety to determine the most effective locations for us to put them in Lexington. They are movable based upon changing crime patterns. So if where we are experiencing crime changes over time and we continue with this program, we could move them. And, you know, just to be clear, they are used to gather leads to investigate crimes reported to us. We're not using these to do any type of enforcement in a neighborhood. This is to gather information that we can use as a starting point for criminal investigation. So as part of this project pretty early on, we met with the NAACP, ACLU, and the Human Rights Commission to discuss the program. It's the exact same thing we did back in 2016 when we went to body cameras. We wanted to meet with those organizations and find out before we started a program what concerns that they have so that we could incorporate their concerns into the development of our program. The main concern they had at that time and continue to have that's been expressed to us is where we place the cameras. So the goals of the program. The primary goals are to solve and reduce crime and to locate and recover missing and endangered people. as part of participating in the study the national police foundation is going to provide a custom report for our agency detailing the effect of the effect of license plate readers on crime arrests and clearances and guidance on more effective ways to use and deploy license plate readers in lexington and then to assist us in determining if this is an investment that lexington wants to continue in so attached to your packet is also the the final version of the policy that is getting ready to go into effect for the use of the license plate reader system. I'm not going to bore you with all of the details of the policy. It's there for you to read. But just some of the key points that I wanted to point out for you and for members of the community. The policy clearly outlines that the use of the license plate reader system is for legitimate law enforcement and public safety purposes only. And it is spelled out that it is a violation of this policy to use the LPR system or any associated data for any personal purpose. And one of the things we like about this system is when an officer goes to conduct a search in the system, they are forced to put into the system the reason they're conducting a search and that's saved. So we know what they search for and why they search for it and that's data that we can go look at. And then one of the things that we are going to do is we're going to have audits of the system conducted by our public integrity unit to ensure that the system is used as we intend for it to be used. And then because the license plates alert are related to a vehicle and not necessarily a person, officers are reminded that they need to have reasonable suspicion or probable cause to make a stop of any vehicle. And then the entries to any hot list are vetted by either a supervisor or intelligence unit. So if we were to enter a vehicle into NCIC as a stolen vehicle, that would cause it to end up on a hot list and that is vetted and approved by a supervisor. And if we have a detective or an officer investigating some type of crime and they want a vehicle added to the hot list, we have levels of supervision where they submit a request to our intelligence unit, and then they'll actually add that to the hot list with an expiration date and ensure that it gets taken off of that list as appropriate. The next steps, we've finalized our policy based upon a review of policies and best practices from other agencies and the International Association of Chiefs of Police. We again met with the three organizations that I mentioned earlier and reviewed the policy. We went through all the policy, all the things that we put in place that we thought were good measures to ensure the appropriate use of this system, and then provided the entire policy for them and gave them a period of time to provide feedback. And we did receive feedback from those organizations, and the feedback that we received from them has been incorporated into the final version of the policy. So I say final version. We have a version that is in place that is going to be in place for the use of the system, but we have also placed this version of the policy on our transparency page for any public input. So if there, you know, we have all of our policies listed on our webpage, and there's actually a form that's there that if anybody has any type of feedback about any of our policies, they can submit it there. And then, you know, based upon what the feedback is, we could make an immediate alteration of the policy or consider it for any future versions of the policy. We have conducted training for the supervisors early in March, and then we'll push out training through a train-the-trainer to all of the officers, and the installation will occur in April. I'm sure there'll be questions. Thank you, Chief Lowe, and there are a few questions. Council Member Ellinger. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Chief. Can you explain to me how the camera works? Is it on motion or how is it when it takes the readers of the license plate? Is it just focused down there where they go by? If there's more than one, two cars going beside each other, how's that? So it's focused at the lanes of traffic and can detect the motion of a vehicle passing by. And it can read the license plate and look at the vehicle as it's passing by through the still images. And if it's capturing two lanes of traffic and there's two vehicles, it could capture both vehicles. But it's only going to be for license plates. Say somebody was running down the road with a gun in their hand, it would be not used for that situation. It's just going to be for license plates, right? This is for license plates and vehicles, so even if there wasn't a license plate on the vehicle. So if we had a vehicle description that it was the red Ford I mentioned earlier, even if it didn't have a red license plate or didn't have a license plate, we could search for that. And I guess the big issue, what you brought up is, first, who determines where the locations are going to be, the 25 locations? So the process that I mentioned earlier, looking at the two years of violent crime patterns and then meeting with our personal crimes detectives and experts from Flock Safety to give us input on, based upon where the crime is happening, what's the most effective place to put the cameras to capture vehicles coming and going from the area where that happened. So that's how that was determined. And have you come up with those locations? We have. Are you going to tell us where those locations are? Because you're going to be able to see them on the polls, so it's not going to be a secret, is it? So if someone were to drive around Lexington and try to find every single camera, they could attempt to do that. We are very hesitant to make a public list of where all the cameras are for two main reasons. One is vandalism. We are concerned that if we were to put out a list of here's where all the cameras are, someone could very easily drive around Fayette County damaging those. But then also is we don't want to send the message to anyone who might be committing crime in Lexington that here are the safe passages and not safe passages to go. And I understand that, but they're going to be pretty visible where you will be able to, they're not going to be hidden like a little, a stuffed animal has a little eye that you can see. This is something that's going to be. Yes, sir. Okay. Thank you. Well, and if you remember, they also may be moved depending on crime patterns. And you said that, and I guess that opens up. So when do we keep making that determination? Are you all going to look at this weekly, monthly, or have you? No, we wouldn't be looking at doing very rapid moves. It would probably be on an annual basis that we would reconsider the locations that we're putting them. Okay. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Kloiber. Thank you, Mayor. I've got two questions. The first one, as with any technology, obviously there's failure rates. do we have any numbers on the rates of misidentification? Because it's collecting a lot of information about not just the plate but the make model. Do we have any numbers from either FLOC or otherwise about what is the rate of misidentification? It's low single digits in the 1-2 range. Okay. And I assume that in processing it, you would always have people looking over that information before acting on it? Absolutely. And it's clear in the policy that they should verify that this is the plate that is the actual one that we were looking for before they take enforcement action. Okay. And my second question goes back to the primary goals of the program to solve and reduce crime. Yes. I understand a lot of this in getting leads and after the fact trying to solve these investigations. But what kind of crime is intended or expected to be reduced through the implementation of this program? We believe that this could actually have an impact on all variety of crimes. So we looked at where we would put the cameras based upon the violent crime locations, but there are other types of crime that we could solve, and we're having a huge rash of catalytic converter thefts that are occurring here in Lexington and other cities across the country. We believe that the use of this technology and these leads to be able to find the people committing these crimes and holding them accountable could help to reduce crime by removing their ability to commit it. So you believe that this program will have an effect on violent crime in the city? We believe it will have an effect of all crime in the city, yes, sir. Okay, thank you. Thank you. Council Member Baxter. Thank you, Mayor. Okay, bear with me. I have several questions. Okay. Okay, so on the first slide, you mentioned some other cities in Kentucky that have this program. Have you all spoken with any of these cities on pros, cons, what they like or don't like? So we've talked, I personally have talked to the chief of Madisonville, who absolutely loves the program. He says it's great. They've got a smaller city. It's a smaller implementation. But he said we're going to love it. Our officers are going to love it. It's going to allow them an opportunity to not just take the report, to go out and try to solve the crime and go find who's responsible for it. We've also talked into Louisville and they're they're not live yet but they're they're really looking forward to it so yes. And then you mentioned they were a partner with our body camera vendor. What is the benefit of that to us? So one of the the benefits if we do have images that are captured as part of a a criminal investigation we can just click on the the images in the website and transfer it directly into our digital evidence management system without having to download it and then upload it and leave any question that the image that we took from one system to the other was altered or tampered in any way it went directly from the flock system into our digital evidence management system with a chain of custody okay next question is on installation i know where like location wise but But are the cameras installed in a manner where we could follow which direction the vehicle was going? Yes. Does that make sense? Okay. All right. Good. Well, it would be nice if we had more than just one picture. And so there it goes. Okay. Okay. Okay. You mentioned what the cost savings was for us with this program, like the pilot program. And I'm assuming that that would be the cost just for the first year of installation if we decided to proceed. Do we know what our yearly cost would be after installation yet? So it would depend on the size of the implementation. To be very effective, it may require additional cameras than the 25 that we're putting in. So the pricing schedule is $2,500 per camera per year with an upfront $250 installation cost. so that price that I showed the $68,000 was the $27.50 per camera for the 25 cameras. Okay. The ongoing cost would be $2,500 per camera per year and that includes the camera, the service, and the data because you have to have a cellular connection to be able to upload the pictures off of the camera. Okay and I apologize if I missed it but how long will we have the cameras? How long is the study program? One year. One year. Okay. Almost done. Okay. As far as the database is concerned, is there a clearance list for those who can access, like which officers can, or does everybody have access to the database? So all sworn officers would be able to do a search on the database. They would have to go in and enter the reason that they're doing that. And then for entries to be made into the system, that is limited directly to our intelligence unit, which is led by our administrator of the program. Okay. Thank you. That's all. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Vice Mayor Kay? Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, Chief, for the presentation. and I'm impressed. I think most of the ways in which you have proceeded and structured the policies answer many of the questions that I've had raised about obviously concerns of privacy. So thank you for that. I think it might also be helpful if you can. You mentioned something like the catalytic converter epidemic that's going on. Can you just kind of walk through exactly how the cameras would be used to help with that? So there's two ways that we could use them. One would be just going and looking for, we have people that we know commit these crimes, and we can go and look at repeat offenders of were those vehicles associated with those offenders in the areas where the crime is committed. But we can also just generally go look at, you know, in maybe a remote area, say a rural area, some industrial complex where there might not be that many vehicles traveling through there. We may have a small subset of vehicles that we would use to start our investigation as opposed to having nothing. Okay. Maybe just can you give me one more example? Because I think a part of people's concern is that it's hard for them to figure out exactly the way in which the program would be implemented. So another example would be, say, a business or a residence has surveillance video. So you've got a ring doorbell or there's surveillance video at a business, and they capture just a glint of a red vehicle that maybe is a Kia or something like that that goes by the camera. we are able to not only look at the vehicles that have gone by the cameras as possible suspects, but we're also able to exclude and not look at the vehicles that are known to have not been related because that vehicle doesn't match the one from the surveillance video. Okay, and so there's a search function within the database that would say if I'm looking for a red car? Yes, sir. Yeah, we can search by the license plate. we can search by color, we can search by make, and we can search by type of vehicle. So if we knew it was a red Ford pickup truck that went by one of our locations at 1.30 in the morning, we can search for and just look at vehicles that match that. Great. Thank you very much. That's helpful. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Reynolds. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you so much for the presentation. It helped clarify a lot of things. I have several questions that I'm going to try to get through quickly. One is kind of heard through the grapevine that neighborhood associations might be able to purchase one of these cameras and have outside or in their neighborhood if they wanted to pay for that. Is that something that anybody could pay for having a camera? So there is a portion of the product with flock safety that would allow, and this is the disparity of the 850 law enforcement agencies in the 1,500 cities. Not all of them are related, but in a lot of those installations, say a neighborhood association wanted to have a camera in their neighborhood, they could purchase one. And they could do it standalone as not part of working with the police department and just have their own data and use it kind of like we use it and look at who comes and goes in their neighborhood association. They could also partner with a law enforcement agency and share data. So if a neighborhood wanted to, they could install one and provide us access to it, and it would show up in our system just like it was another one of our cameras. So it would be a force multiplier for us if a neighborhood association wanted to do that. So we've not come forward with that as a proposal now, and here's why. Our concern is that this is a one-year pilot project. We haven't committed as a city to doing this long term. What we didn't want to do was create an expectation for a neighborhood association that this is something that we're going to continue. And they go out and they spend their funds on this technology. And in the end, we either don't go with a license plate reader system or choose another vendor and leaving them feeling like they got left out in the wind. So, yes, that is definitely a function of this program that we would definitely want to explore and work with the community on that if we go forward with a full-time program. And then they would be responsible for the ongoing cost, not just the upfront cost, but the ongoing cost. That's correct. Is that right? And an individual in the future, if this program were to continue, could also do this. If an individual wanted to put a camera on a pole outside of their yard, I mean, an individual could do it if they wanted to do it. Yes, ma'am. Okay. Right, and then for the access to the data. So if it's paid for privately, then whoever pays for it can have access to that data. But the general public cannot have access to the police cameras. Or can they go to Flock and say, we want the data from this camera on this day? So if we were, so two questions there, one, the individual. So if an individual owned a system and it was their data, no, there wouldn't be any public right to that. With our cameras, if we were to receive an open records request for the data from the system, we would consult with the law department and determine what records a member of the public based upon their relationship to whatever had happened that they are entitled to. But the average person that just wanted data for whatever reason of a certain camera would not be granted that unless it had to do with a specific crime or investigation? So it's on an open record, it's very difficult, and I'm sure law would back me up, it's very difficult to just give general overarching answers. I would say we've met with them and discussed the topic, and generally, the more general or broad the request is, the lower the public's right would be to have access to the data. And conversely, the more specific the request was, the higher the chance that they would have a right to the data. Okay, because I've just heard some concerns of people feeling like, you know, anybody could stalk anybody or get access to data about where their vehicle is in the city and so I just . . . That was actually an example that we had used in our discussions and we didn't believe that someone who said, I want to know everywhere my ex-wife's car went around Lexington, we don't believe that that would be something the public would have a right to. Okay, and then I know that there's been some discussions in the future of using a program like ShotSpotter. And this would be compatible with a future program that is similar to that as well, correct? Where there's a way to track down where shootings might have happened. So there is another product that is brand new and being offered by this company that is a gunshot detection system that would work similar to a product of ShotSpotter. It's definitely something we would look into in the future. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member James Brown. Thank you, Mayor. And thank you, Chief, for the presentation and the diligence that the department has taken to craft this policy and to do research on this technology. Thank you, sir. I think one of the most important things that the terms used today is pilot program. I think we're going to try this out and see if it works for our community. Just some clarity on how the cameras work. I was always of the understanding that this is something that you go back and research the data and the images to find what you're looking for. But it kind of sounds like it has the capability of being more dynamic than that. You could potentially put in license plate numbers that you're looking for and vehicles, and in real time, the cameras can identify whether those vehicles pass those cameras. Is that true? Yeah, so with the hot list, if we had a license plate of a vehicle that was of interest, it was a suspect vehicle and a homicide, something like that, we can put that on the hot list just like a stolen car, and if that vehicle passes by one of the cameras, we would be notified that that vehicle was there. Okay, okay, yeah. Those are both proactive and reactive. Yeah, yeah, that's pretty proactive. The other question I'll bring up is the data used to determine the location of these cameras. I think, you know, some of the concern is that certain areas of certain neighborhoods get inundated with calls for service and not really incidents taking place. So is the data used to determine these locations? Is it where incidences and crimes have actually happened and reports have been taken, or are calls for service and other frivolous reports included in this data? We didn't use any calls for service. We didn't use any officer-initiated activity, no traffic stops, anything like that. We used actual violent crime that was reported to us as the basis of choosing locations. Okay. Well, I think that's important because, you know, there are some concerns that I've heard, and I'm pretty sure some of the agencies that you have talked to, about how historically neighborhoods or neighbors and communities have been disproportionately impacted from those kind of activities. So I think it's important that we're using real data and information to determine the location of these cameras. the other thing i'll say is what is what is the reasonable amount of time to do follow-up when would it when is it six months at a time where we can come back or you can come back to us and let us know this is this is what we're seeing this is how this technology has been useful to the department or not what do you foresee as next steps in regards to coming back to council and and letting us know how this is working. From the research we've done on other agencies, we would anticipate that we would see some pretty quick gains and some pretty quick information that we gather to solve crimes. I mean, we're hoping within the first month or two, we have some successes to be able to bring to you. Okay, okay. All right, well, I appreciate it. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Lamb. Thank you, Mayor, and thank you so much, Assistant Chief Lowe. This is really information that's truly using technology to the betterment of safety of our community, I see. But some of the questions that my colleagues have asked have actually precipitated some more thoughts. When you talked about at the end of the pilot project that we would end up purchasing cameras, what's the lifespan of a camera, and would there be an opportunity for the cameras that we already have in place for those to be able to be kept and we could, you know, grow the number of cameras if it so is successful. So if we wanted to continue with the system, we could keep the 25 cameras that we have and we would just sign an agreement to continue the $2,500 per camera per year payment. And you speak of the lifespan, they are warrantied. So over time, as the cameras age and need to be replaced, They would be replaced by the vendor as part of that annual payment that we would be making. So, I mean, I can't imagine a camera doing that much in one day. I mean, do you know what's the manufacturer warranty on it? Is it 10 years, 5 years? These days, most technology changes every 18 to 24 months. So we get a new body camera every two and a half years. So I would think it would be somewhere in that range. That makes sense, and thank you. And then you talked about the cost per camera, and I go back to the day of when we implemented Legistar and all this and talking about the cost of storage, and then when we talked about the body cameras and the cost of storage. I didn't hear you mention the cost of storage when we were talking about the cost for each camera. Is that included in, and is it cloud-based? It's cloud-based, and everything is included in that one price. Okay. So, and then you mentioned the technology working with the body-worn cameras. So I would assume that the storage would be in a similar fashion space, or is it two separate places? So it's two separate places, unless we have images that we've captured from the license plate reader that are going to be used as part of a criminal investigation. Then we would transfer them from the flock safety system that deletes the images every 30 days into the digital evidence system that would go with any of the other digital evidence from the case like body worn cameras or surveillance. Okay. And then you talked about the notification. I appreciated Council Member Brown's question about when does the information actually flow through? And as far as once the camera takes a picture and identifies a vehicle, but how does that notification work if it identifies a vehicle and it is in the NCIC, it's listed as stolen or used in a crime? Is that, how does that notification process work backwards? backwards. So the computers that we have in the cars, our MDTs that we would use to get our calls and be dispatched and be able to run tags, that same computer will have, will log in and have the flock system on the computer in the cars and in the dispatch center so they can be notified as well. So if any of the alerts happen, you would be notified in your car and dispatch would be notified as well. Oh, wow. That is true. That's awesome. All right. And then I guess, you know, we always have to ask this question is when you're increasing technology within the government, sometimes that comes with additional positions needed. I know that that's something that we're all kind of struggling with is hiring new employees. And how many positions do you think are going to need to be involved with this? And is it going to be incorporated within their existing duties? or is it something that we can expect to see as the time grows and we see about the amount of time required to work through this, do you expect there to be positions that are solely dedicated to this? So short-term and long-term answer. So short-term, I would say with this program, we are looking at assigning it to our intelligence unit, and that function would happen inside the intelligence unit, and they would manage the hot list, ensuring that everything is purged as appropriate. You know, long-term planning, as a city, if we are going to really make an investment into using technology to provide for public safety and be able to solve crime in the city, one of the models that we see other cities going to are real-time crime centers, which are similar to a dispatch center, but it is people not focused on just getting information and dispatching police to calls. It's real time looking at what's happening in the city with technology and cameras and being able to direct officers to the right area to be able to solve crime. So long term, yeah. Okay. I mean, I understand exactly what you're saying. And I appreciate that answer because it is true. My time's up. But I value that you all have thought about that. So thank you so much. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you very much. Does anyone else have questions? All right. Thanks so much. Chief Lowe, appreciate it. Thank you all. Council members, you know that item N on new business is the collective bargaining agreement for firefighters, lieutenants, and captains, which they have approved, and Dave Barbary is here to give us a brief overview. Good afternoon. Part of our process with these contracts normally, and I think we did this a little different with the corrections one because of the time exigency, is we give you a brief overview of what the changes to the contract were. And I believe I emailed you all a summary of this as well as a red line of the contract earlier. So all of this information is publicly available as well as part of the legislature process. And just to give you all an update on where we are on the other ones or whether you will have other ones coming forward to you all anytime soon, we are currently negotiating the police lieutenants and captains contract, which hopefully we'll get that contract to you all pretty soon. And then the fire majors contract does not expire until this fall so we will probably start negotiating that sometime this summer and that will be later on this calendar year that that comes to you all for approval some of the highlight and as the mayor said this is already on your docket for thursday night and we would ask your indulgence hopefully to suspend the rules and give it a second reading and approve it because you all are going to go on a fairly extended break and the the pay items that we'll talk about are tied to when the contract is approved so this is a three-year contract it's retroactive to july first of this past year so it'll expire earlier than the police contract but later than the corrections contract it revises the existing pay schedule As you all may recall, all of the bargaining units have steps that they use, and this basically revises the steps significantly going forward. And then there are increases in the out years as well. Certain specialties like paramedics are going to get an increase to their hourly pay supplement. the total additional cost of this contract is estimated to be an additional 11.7 million dollars over the life of the contract this was actually the idea of the union they are also going to have a citizen on their disciplinary review board so going forward i don't remember off the top of my head how many members total are on there now but there will be an additional member added there has not been a citizen on there in the past. They will get trained up similarly to the people that are going to serve on the police disciplinary review board, and they will sit on all of those predisciplinary meetings with the firefighters and such that are on there. This will provide the administration with more flexibility in scheduling hours of work. Similarly to the other contracts, it will also allow a union representative to participate in disciplinary matters. That's commonly referred to as wine garden rights. And I think as a result of this, all of your contracts going forward are going to end up having some level of wine garden rights in the contract. This requires leaves to be taken in minimum two hour increments in most instances. And in some instances, depending on when the leave is asked for, if it's going to cause additional overtime to be incurred, the administration can go ahead and deny that. So hopefully that will help us manage our overtime situation a little bit better than it's being managed now. I think that issue is probably mainly going to get it separately addressed in a side group to try to come up with ideas on maybe how that can be lowered going forward. And this also clarifies how long a member can be on a combination of modified duty or injury leave status. those two items kind of work together and going forward I think this contract is much more clear on how they operate with each other if you're on one of those two statuses. So I'm happy to answer any questions and like I said there's a much more detailed summary that was provided to you all as well as part of the Legitar packet. Thank you very much Dave. If you have a question please log in. Any questions? All right. Thank you all. All right. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Council, it's time for your reports. Council Member Lamb. Thank you, Mayor. Today I am going to switch into a different role because, as we all know, our colleague, Council Member Plowman, and she has given me permission to say this. She is still out from her recent appendix surgery and has asked me today if I would report a couple of events for her for the 12th district. And I'm delighted to do that on behalf of Council Member Plowman today. So the Fayette County Farm Bureau Machinery Show, this Saturday, April 19th at the Kentucky Horse Park. It's from 7.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. It's the first time Fayette County Farm Bureau Machinery Show will be held on in person and online. For the past 38 years, Fayette County Farm Bureau Education Foundation has been able to give over $1 million in scholarships to high school seniors in Fayette County through the farm machinery consignment auction. And this year is 39. Also, to check out more details about the event on the Fayette County Farm Bureau's Facebook at or online, It's Fayette County, FayetteCOfarmbureau.com slash auction. The other item is Reforest the Bluegrass 5K Run at Heisel Park. It's located off of Briar Hill Road, and that is also Saturday, April 19th from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. The race proceeds will help raise money to purchase trees for this year's Reforest the Bluegrass in April. And organizers say they hope to plant hundreds of trees after the race and thousands more during the Reforest the Bluegrass. And then also, Mr. Edwards, she also wanted me to share that she had planned a weekly council report throughout March that celebrated Women's History Month. And even though she was unable to be here to do that, she had one report from that series that is timely and near and dear to our hearts. So on behalf of Council Member Plowman and all the women who have and continue to make history in breaking through all kinds of ceilings, here is one that she is sure you will enjoy. opportunities have grown the standard is no longer token access or just having some opportunities the standard is what we make it to be renewed commitment to absolute equality and yes in 50 years we've reached milestones first sec championship in school's history broken records decorated gymnasts in mcaa history shattered glass ceilings best season in kentucky history The win at the World Series. Andrew Ritten history books. Sydney McLaughlin and Kentucky Wildcats. That was just the beginning. Champion. Jensen Castle. Kentucky has won their first team title in history. It is Jasmine Camacho, Quinn Dominique. Mary Tucker with a goal. One second long for a point. Oh, it's a goal for the championship. Allie Stubler leads Kentucky to their first ever title. So on that note, I wanted to say congrats to our wonderful UK women's basketball for winning the SEC championship. Yay. Yay. And obviously the men's NCAA is coming up too, but I like to, you know, the women's is also Saturday at 4. And so it's always an honor to be able to help our colleagues out when they hit a rough patch. And I'm always glad to, and I know Kathy's watching. So, Council Member Plowman, you're with us here in spirit, even though we moved up and I'm not sitting in your seat. But I'm still, I'm with you, and you continue healing. And she intends on returning after we come back from our break. And she will be back, and we will look forward to seeing you then. So, thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Councilmember Ellinger. Thank you, Mayor. I wasn't going to talk about this, but now you may bring it up. Back-to-back national championships for the rifle team, and I think three of the five that are on there are women on there. And the one who won, I think, is a woman who is a national champion, too. So we need to see if we can get them down here. Also, I think we have a gold medalist in there at some point in there, too. So it'd be nice to have them come down and honor them, because it's quite impressive what they've done the last couple of years. and they've won four total, the Cochas. What I want to talk about, Mayor, and either Commissioner Hensley, we were speaking about it, or it's Senate Bill 224, either that or the Public Safety Commissioner could talk about it, because I know it was brought up today and it passed 36-0, and it deals just with Lexington. And with our pension and our workman's comp, And if you could kind of explain what's going on with that and how that will affect us. And Commissioner Hensley, actually, we had a sidebar earlier and she kind of gave me a little update on it. I think it would be better coming from her, to be honest with you, because she understands it much better. Thank you. Is this our dual pension bill that we've sent? Oh, good. Okay. The mayor also understands it very well, Chris, with us on the Police and Fire Pension Board. But as part of the legislative subcommittee for the Police and Fire Pension Board, one of the issues we looked at this year is that individuals that have worked a career as a public safety professional for LFUCG, if they get injured in the last three years of their employment with us and then they retire, their retirement is negatively impacted because it's based on your top three years of earnings. And so one of the things that was brought to us is that that has happened fairly recently. We've had, I guess, three different instances in the last couple of years where that has been an issue. And so these individuals have served the city and worked for a very long period of time. And then unfortunately, due to no fault of their end, they've been injured, and their retirement then is based on two-thirds of their income, which is based on their workers' compensation. So the subcommittee requested, brought forward to the board, and the board passed forward legislation that would allow for those individuals that are on workers' compensation to voluntarily contribute their 12%, and the city will contribute their portion, whatever that may be, because that fluctuates a little bit, so that the individuals recognize their full benefit of retirement after having served for their career here. And we have plenty of money in this fund, right? We do. It's well-funded, and it really doesn't happen very often. So, you know, we as a subcommittee and as administration think it's only right and fair that we take care of our public service professionals that have taken care of us. I agree, and I think it was the right thing to do, and I'm glad we're doing it. And like I said today, I believe it was voted 36-0 in the Senate. So we'll go to the floor and head to the House, and Governor Price sign in here. It only just affects us. That's correct. Yes. Thank you, Mary. That's all I had. And just to add a couple other pieces, which Commissioner Hensley knows. It also changes the name of the Policeman's and Fireman's Pension Board to the Police and Fire Pension Board, because we know that a lot of women serve. And it also has a component which the City Employee Pension Fund approved to go forward, and that deals with our ability. You know, the City Employee Pension Fund is the old city. people who started working here before merger. And we have about, is it 37 beneficiaries, something like that. And it's getting more difficult to find beneficiaries to serve. So this is that piece that we voted out of city pension board to change the mechanism for getting beneficiaries to serve. So it helps both of our pension boards. And I appreciate Senator Donald Douglas carried the bill for us. And we had a great meeting with him when we went over to Frankfort so that he could understand it. So it's a good thing. It's all good. Well, thank you for doing that because I think we need to protect our public safety. And it's a good thing. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Reynolds. Thank you, Mayor. Tonight, I wanted to just remind everyone, if you were in the Pine Meadows, Wolf Run, Cardinal Hill neighborhood, the Neighborhood Association is having a neighborhood meeting at 6 p.m. at the Picadome Clubhouse there. So everyone is welcome to that. And then tomorrow, I am hosting a town hall along with One Lexington at Village Branch Library at 6.30 p.m. And the reason for having that town hall is to address some of the gun violence issues that have happened recently in the Cardinal Valley area. And we're going to have probably a series of meetings, and this is just the first to get feedback and listen to the community about their concerns. Divine, Karama, myself, and somebody from Fayette County Public Schools will be on just a little panel. And we'll be listening, like I said, and talking about some different ideas out there that we have and that the community has. And then we will follow up with another meeting to address the concerns that we've heard about further. So I just want to invite anyone that works or lives in the Cardinal Valley area to come out and join together tomorrow. And we will have an interpreter available as well. So if someone is Spanish-speaking, there will be interpretation provided. So thank you. Thank you. Council Member James Brown. Thank you, Mayor. And I would like to congratulate Kentucky High School Sports Association for hosting a terrific girls Sweet 16 tournament last weekend. I know myself and Council Member Baxter and Council Member Reynolds were all there at the same time for one of the sessions. And I was impressed with the presence that our police department had at the event, the fans, and the way the staff at Central Bank Center conducted it. uh... conducted the tournament and were great host and ambassadors for city so and a congratulations all the student that female student athletes that participated in the tournament uh... they were it was an impressive uh... that championship game to say at least uh... and then may have also like to take this opportunity to uh... kip give congratulations to uh... my long time a uh... tippany Tiffany Mastin, you can see today on the work copy docket, she has taken a new position with the administration and the Department of Housing and Community Development. Tiffany, to say the least, has been a rock in the First District Council office. She was in that office with then Council Member Ford before I got there. and was a real asset to me in learning government learning the processes of government understanding who does what in this building and throughout city government and it has been a real honor and a pleasure to see her grow in that role and also to grow as a person going through the pandemic and seeing seeing her mature not to get into our personal business but seeing her getting married has a child now and a lot of good things going for us. So I wish her the best. Thank her for all she's done for the first district, our city, and our community and being a great public servant. And I still have a couple more weeks with her and we'll continue to do what we have been doing for years. But I just want to wish her the best in her new role with the city. So thank you, Mayor. Very nicely said. And you know she's not going far, so I'm sure you'll be seeing her. Council Member Legree. Thank you, Mayor. Oh, mine's very loud. This is punishment because I'm sitting at Council Member Plowman's seat, so I've got to move out of here and quit. Council Member Plowman, we want you back. I just have a couple of announcements about some events this weekend. And if people are big tree fans after Reforest the Bluegrass doing a 5K to raise some funds for that initiative and they want to plant a tree in the 3rd District, I invite people at 11 a.m. to come on over to Zandell Park. We're going to be doing a third district tree planting there with Trees Lexington. And we're going to do that in honor of Lori Averitt, who has been a big neighborhood champion and has worked really hard with beautification initiatives in her neighborhood and in surrounding neighborhoods. And it's only supposed to rain in the morning, not all day. And our hope is that all will go smoothly for that event. And that's Saturday, the 19th. Another small thing, Friday marks gallery hop, and hopefully it'll be a nice afternoon for that. So I just wanted to encourage people to come out in downtown and check out some art on Friday evening. That's it, Mayor. Thank you very much. Vice Mayor Kay. Thank you, Mayor. I have two motions. I sent an email around to council earlier today discussing the scheduling for our consideration of the budget stabilization funds, which would include the items that were in the ARPA proposal that got moved into budget stabilization, and any other items that council members want to bring forward. So two motions for scheduling. The first is to schedule a budget stabilization community of the whole for Thursday, April 28th at 4 p.m. So move. Second. All right. Thank you. Council Member Ellinger seconded. Say again, April 28th. April 28th at 4 o'clock. Thank you. Is there any discussion? All right. Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? All right. That motion passes. Thank you. And then as a placeholder, if we need the time, I make a motion to cancel the quarterly committee of the whole that's scheduled for Thursday, May 5th, and replace it with a second budget stabilization committee of the whole. Again, May 5th, that would be at 430. So move. Is there a second? Council Member Sheehan. All right, any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? All right. Thank you. That passes. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Is there any other council report? All right. There is a mayor's report. If I could have a motion to approve, please. So moved. All right. Any discussion? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? All right. That motion passes. Next is public comment for issues not on the agenda. Is there anyone signed up? Thank you very much. Okay, thank you. All right, we have one person. Don Pratt. Don Pratt. And our rules currently say, you're used to part of this, if you'll state your name and your council district for the record, you don't need to say your address anymore. And you'll have three minutes. So your time is ticking. I'm Don Pratt, and I don't know what district I'm in. I'm in the three at-large districts. It's probably you. This may have been switched. I'm switched. See there, you wasted 15 seconds of my time. Actually, I'm here because of this. On the other hand, in reference to police spending, I have a major recommendation. This sounded sort of like a gold hook to catch a minnow in a pond. But there's a great way to stop crime in this city, and we need to address that. It includes the issues of drugs and guns, easy access to guns, but that's totally different. I'm here to talk about this. We've seen and you know the problems of garbage. And in essence, I years ago was asked by Pam Miller to go to Frankfurt to testify. I just came back from Frankfurt. I go there because I know that we have corruption completely. And in reference to this, this was one of the major things that happened in our city's past, where recyclable and reusable, in particular, these kind of containers were used over and over again. And so what you created was a waste of a massive amount of glass, a massive amount of aluminum, and all that has to be reheated. glass actually can be, it's cheaper to build it from scratch rather than to reuse these again because of paint and other issues. So they don't really use this kind of recycling. Glass could possibly be used in road work, like gravel. But on the other hand, the whole essence of what we need to do is put the problem of garbage on the manufacturer. And we're not addressing that. Do you tell a kid to solve its defective toy? Do you tell the kid to do that? Our garbage is being manufactured by so many sources that need to look at reusable and recyclable instead of creating so much that you all have to deal with at our expense. And I remember Pam Miller sent me there to testify on behalf of reusable containers, which the grocery association and all the lobbyists were against because they would have to, you know, pay or they wouldn't make us money off of recycling aluminum and so forth. We have to, as a city, think about how we can create and influence policy. Now, it probably will take a resolution on your part to get the state to move on in this direction to go for reusable. All these counties are facing these issues, too, because we're creating too much garbage, including property, houses and trailers and everything. They're abandoned because it's too much for the owner to deal with. So they just leave it. We are a country of garbage. We've got to stop it. I've got five seconds left. Yes, you. Thank you. Do you need five more seconds? Do I need more? Thank you very much, Don. Will you pay me to speak some more? Thank you. You've allocated a lot of money since I've been here, and I saw that. Thank you very much. We're good to spend money and contract and so forth, but in reality, we can think better than that. We can spend better than that. No more spending on goldfish hooks to catch minnows. Thank you very much. Thank you. Uh-huh. All right. With that, we're ready for a motion to adjourn. Is there a second? All those in favor, say aye. We are adjourned. Thank you very much. Thank you. I hope you enjoy