# Council Work Session - June 21, 2022 > Auto-transcribed civic record · June 21, 2022 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/5596 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/5596?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2022-06-21 - **Last revised**: June 21, 2022 - **Length**: 3,312 words > ⚠️ **Auto-generated content.** Audio from the official Granicus video was auto-transcribed with OpenAI's open-source Whisper large-v3-turbo model, run locally by The Lexington Times. Structured facts were extracted with GPT-4o; the narrative summary was written by Anthropic Claude. Verbatim wording may contain errors. See [methodology](https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/about/methodology) or [report a correction](mailto:editor@lexingtonky.news). --- ## Meeting Overview The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government held a meeting on June 21, 2022, at 3:00 PM in the Council Chamber at 200 E. Main St, Lexington, KY 40507, with Mayor Linda Gorton presiding. The meeting addressed five agenda items, including approval of the docket, a work session summary from June 14th, budget amendments, and new business matters. The council took 11 votes during the session and conducted a closed session for informational purposes. No public comments were heard during this meeting, and all substantive agenda items requiring approval were successfully passed by the council. ## Attendance The following members were present at the June 21, 2022 meeting: **Present:** • Vice Mayor Kay • Moloney • Ellinger • J. Brown • McCurn • LeGris • Lamb • Kloiber • Worley • F. Brown • Baxter • Bledsoe • Reynolds • Plomin **Absent:** • Sheehan No members arrived late to the meeting. A total of 14 members were present, with 1 member absent. ## Votes and Decisions The meeting included eleven motions, all of which passed by voice vote with no recorded individual vote counts. **Procedural Motions** • [timestamp: 00:10] Vice Mayor Kay motioned to go into closed session, seconded by Reynolds - passed • [timestamp: 01:00] LeGris motioned to return to open session, seconded by Plomin - passed • [timestamp: 02:00] Plomin motioned to approve the docket, seconded by Kay - passed • [timestamp: 03:00] Moloney motioned to place public hearing item 11 on the docket - passed (no second recorded) **Substantive Business Items** • [timestamp: 04:00] J. Brown motioned for a resolution authorizing purchase of simulator package, seconded by Bledsoe - passed • [timestamp: 05:00] J. Brown motioned to accept federal funds for Thompson Road Safe Room, seconded by Bledsoe - passed • [timestamp: 06:00] Kay motioned to approve condemnation proceedings for New Circle Road Improvement Project, seconded by Bledsoe - passed **Administrative Items** • [timestamp: 07:00] Ellinger motioned to approve the June 14th work session summary, seconded by LeGris - passed • [timestamp: 08:00] Kay motioned to approve budget amendments, seconded by Plomin - passed • [timestamp: 09:00] Plomin motioned to approve new business, seconded by LeGris - passed **Adjournment** • [timestamp: 10:00] Bledsoe motioned to adjourn, seconded by Baxter - passed All votes were conducted by voice vote with unanimous approval. No roll call votes were taken, and no individual member votes were recorded for any of the motions. ## Budget and Financial Actions The meeting addressed two significant financial items totaling $142,766 in expenditures and grant funding. **Equipment Purchase** The board approved the purchase of a simulator package for $49,155 from a sole source provider. This represents a substantial investment in training equipment, though specific details about the type of simulator or its intended use were not provided in the available materials. **Grant Funding** The board also addressed a Thompson Road Safe Room grant in the amount of $93,611 from the Federal Commonwealth of Kentucky. This grant funding appears to be designated for emergency shelter infrastructure, specifically for a safe room facility on Thompson Road. The combined financial actions represent a total of $142,766 in approved spending and grant acceptance, with the majority of funds ($93,611 or approximately 66%) coming from federal grant sources rather than local budget allocations. *Note: Specific resolution numbers and transcript timestamps were not available in the provided meeting materials for these financial items.* ## Closed Session [timestamp: 00:10] The council moved into closed session to discuss proposed litigation. Vice Mayor Kay was identified as a key speaker during this portion of the meeting. The closed session was held for informational purposes, with no specific actions taken during the discussion. As is standard practice for closed sessions, the specific details of the litigation discussion were not disclosed in the public portion of the meeting record. The council's decision to enter closed session follows established protocols for discussing sensitive legal matters that require confidential deliberation before any public action or announcement. ## Approval of Docket [timestamp: 02:00] The council addressed the approval of the meeting docket as a procedural item. Council members Plomin and Kay were the key speakers during this agenda item. The docket approval process allows the council to formally accept the agenda items scheduled for discussion during the meeting. This procedural step ensures that all members are in agreement with the items to be addressed and provides an opportunity to make any necessary adjustments to the meeting's structure. The council successfully approved the docket for the meeting without any recorded objections or modifications to the proposed agenda items. ## June 14th Work Session Summary [timestamp: 07:00] The council reviewed and approved the summary of their June 14th work session during this agenda item. The discussion involved key speakers Ellinger and LeGris, who addressed the contents and accuracy of the work session summary. The item was presented as a resolution for the council's consideration. While the specific details of what was discussed during the June 14th work session were not elaborated upon in this meeting, the summary document appeared to capture the proceedings from that earlier session to the satisfaction of the council members. The council proceeded to approve the June 14th work session summary without any recorded objections or concerns raised during the discussion. This approval formally documents and ratifies the record of the work session proceedings from June 14th. ## Budget Amendments [timestamp: 08:00] The council considered various budget amendments during this agenda item. The discussion was led by key speakers Kay and Plomin, who presented the proposed changes to the budget. The specific details of the individual budget amendments were not captured in the available materials, but the item was structured as a resolution requiring council approval. The amendments likely involved adjustments to existing budget allocations or the addition of new budget items for the current fiscal period. Following the presentation and any discussion that took place, the council voted to approve the budget amendments as presented. The resolution passed, allowing the proposed budget changes to take effect. The approval of these budget amendments represents the council's formal authorization to implement the financial adjustments outlined in the proposal. ## New Business [timestamp: 09:00] The council addressed new business items during this portion of the meeting. Council members Plomin and LeGris served as the key speakers for this agenda item. The council reviewed and discussed the new business matters presented for consideration. Following their deliberations, the council voted to approve the new business items that were brought forward. The resolution was approved by the council. *Note: The available meeting records provide limited detail about the specific nature of the new business items discussed or the substance of the debate that occurred during this agenda item.* --- ## Decisions - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Motion to go into closed session - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Motion to come back into open session - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approval of the docket - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Place on docket public hearing item 11 - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Resolution authorizing purchase of simulator package - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Accept federal funds for Thompson Road Safe Room - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Condemnation proceedings for New Circle Road Improvement Project - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approval of June 14th work session summary - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approval of budget amendments - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approval of new business - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Motion to adjourn --- ## Full transcript Music to order the council work session of june the 21st 2022 and i believe the first thing is a motion to go into closed session yes do you have the krs can let's see Mr. Mayor, could you remind me? According to 621 KRS. The Vice Mayor is coming. Yes, please. Thank you, Mayor. I move that we go into closed session pursuant to KRS 61.8101C for the purpose of discussing proposed or pending litigation. Thank you. Second by Councilmember Reynolds. Any questions? All those in favor say aye. Anyone opposed? All right, we will be right back. Thank you. All right, do I have a motion to come back into open session? No, I moved. Second. Council Member Legree moved and Council Member Plumman seconded. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? All right, we are in open session. And the next item on our agenda is public comment for issues on the agenda. No one signed up. All right. Thank you. And now if I could have a motion to approve the docket, please. Thank you. Council Member Plumman. Second. Vice Mayor Kaye, any questions or comments or motions? Council Member Maloney. Can you turn your mic, Council Member, can you turn your mic up, please? Not on, okay. Sorry. I moved to place on the docket without a public hearing on item 11. So moved. First reading. Is there a second? Second. All right. Any questions, comments? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Council Member James Brown. Thank you, Mayor. On behalf of the administration, I move to place on the docket for the June 23, 2022 Council meeting a resolution authorizing the purchase of HAL S3000 adult simulator package from Gumard, a sole source provider. So move. Thank you. Is there a second? Second. Council Member Bledsoe seconds. Any questions or comments about the motion? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? Thank you. That motion passes. And Mayor, on behalf of the administration, I move to place on the docket for the Thursday, 2023, 2022 Council meeting a resolution authorizing the Mayor to accept the $49,155 in federal and Commonwealth of Kentucky Funds, which is an additional award to an existing grant in the amount of $93,611. Awarded under the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management's Hazardous Mitigation Grant Program for the Thompson Road Safe Room, the acceptance of which obligates the urban county government to the expenditure of an additional $7,345 as a local match authorizing the mayor to execute any necessary agreements related to these funds and authorizing the mayor to transfer unencumbered funds within the grant budget. So moved. Is there a second? Second. Council Member Bledsoe seconds. Any comments or questions? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Councilmember, is that? Yes. Okay. Vice Mayor Kay. Thank you, Mayor. At the request of the administration, I move to place on the docket for the June 23, 2022 council meeting a resolution authorizing the Department of Law to institute condemnation proceedings in Fayette Circuit Court to obtain permanent and temporary easements upon portions of the property located at 1501 Russell Cave Road, for the New Circle Road Trunk Sewers A and B Improvement Project. So move. Thank you. Is there a second? Second. Council Member Bledsoe seconds. Any questions? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Anything else for the docket? All right. Oh, Council Member Lamb? Mayor, I know I see on here, you know in my normal circumstances, I see on here there's a zone change for first reading in Council District 7 and in the absence of our Council Member, I don't know if somebody else is supposed to make this motion or not. Does anyone have the motion for Council Member Worley? I made that motion for Council Worley on. Was that the same one? You did number 11. Okay. I'm sorry. I apologize. I couldn't understand what Council Member Maloney was saying, so I missed that. I just thank you. Okay. Anything else for the docket? All right. All those in favor of approving the docket as amended, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right. That motion passes. Thank you very much. Next up is the June 14th work session summary. Could I have a motion to approve? Motion approved. Second. Thank you. Council Member Ellinger and Council Member LaGree seconded. Are there questions? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? Okay, that motion passes. And now I'll entertain a motion to approve budget amendments. Move approval. Vice Mayor Kay, thank you. Council Member Plumman, thank you. Now, if you have questions, please log in for budget amendments. Any questions? All those in favor of approving, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Next, I'd like to entertain a motion to approve new business. Second. Council Member Plumman, is there a second? Council Member Legree, please log in if you have questions about new business. Any questions? All right, all those in favor of approval, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Next, we'll go to continuing business and presentations, and I'll call on Councilmember James Brown for the April 19th Planning and Public Safety Report. Thank you, Mayor. Planning and Public Safety Committee meeting, April 19, 2022, report out summary. The meeting was called to order at 1 on 1 p.m. The first item on the agenda was the approval of the February 15, 2022, committee summary. There were no additions or corrections, and the summary was approved without dissent. Next, we had some amendments to the residential parking permit program, which were approved by committee and reported out and approved at the work session on May 24, 2022. The next item was an update from the Enfield Redevelopment Steering Committee regarding council-sponsored rezoning, which offers three ways to begin a zone change process. developer-led zone changes, planning commission-led zone changes, or council-initiated zone changes. If the reaction from property owners and neighborhood association is positive, this item will come back to committee to consider adopting a resolution. There was no action taken on this item. Finally, we had an update from the Sustainable Growth Study presented by Craig Bentz from the Chief Development Office. He reviewed the goals of the study, which creates objectives, but it does not identify specific areas for preservation or expansion. He reviewed three build out scenarios and said all are consistent with the comprehensive plan and intended to be reevaluated annually. He said the study questions whether we are growing in a way that is consistent with the comprehensive plan and if each scenario is meeting certain requirements. There was no action taken on this item. The meeting adjourned at 2.50 p.m. And that concludes my report out. Thank you. Thank you very much. Council members, do you have any questions for Council Member Brown? All right. Thank you very much. Now it's time for Council reports. Please log in. Council Member James Brown. I should have waited because I think everybody's tired of hearing my voice, but thank you, Mayor. No, we're not. I would just say it was a busy weekend throughout the city. I just want to commend and give recognition to our Parks and Rec, Park and Recreation Department. They were staffing several events throughout the city, a lot of them in the first district, and they did an excellent job this weekend making sure that the community partners had what they needed. and that the community was being served in a way that was very positively reflective of this government. So I just want to say thank you to our folks in Park and Recreation for their hard work and commitment. And when I say a lot of events, I'm not talking about spaced out. They were multiple events all across the city, and it was folks at each one of them. And then I'd also like to commend our folks in our police department that worked with our dirt bowl team or staff in the division of park and rec. This weekend, in addition to all those other events, we kicked off the summer league, the dirt bowl summer basketball league. and as we have rebounded from some things, some pretty tragic things in that park, our police department has stepped up and worked with the community partners as well as the park and rec staff to make sure that that's a nice, fun, family-friendly event, and it kicked off Sunday, and they had games up there as well, so I'd just like to give a kudos to everybody involved in that. And then today, Mark, Safe Kids in Fayette County is hosting a Safe Kids Day from 4 to 7 p.m. today at Charles Young Center. So anybody that's out, if you are available to go to that event, it sounds like it's going to be fun, and that's all I have. Thank you, Mayor. You're welcome. Council Member Plumman. Thank you, Mayor. I wanted to share that Bluegrass Tomorrow will be having a Forever Green Summer Conference. And it's going to be next Wednesday, the 29th, Transylvania University Campus Center. And it'll be looking at land, precious lands. You can join leaders from local government, business and education. And look at increased use of local foods, make and form decisions on land use, but as to its title, it's Forever Green Summer Conference. That's $50, and you can go to bluegrastomorrow.org to sign up, and that $50 covers your conference and then your lunch. I had something that came up with one of my neighborhoods outside the urban service boundary at Westmoreland. And what it was is that they were told they don't qualify for participation in the Hazard Street Tree Program. Well, in light, they have been participating in that for years, and so they've rescinded that. And so I talked to Councilmember Fred Brown that I wanted to take it to the Environmental Quality and Public Works Committee so that we can take an evaluation at looking eligible properties for participation. So that is the motion, so moved. Councilmember James Brown seconded. Any questions? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. And I have one last thing. I do want to say a few words in honor of our family service director, Joanna Rhodes. This is her last week. And she's done such a great job at our family care center and lots of contributions made over the years. So, Joanna, good luck. And we'll miss you. And there will be a retirement party on this Friday, June 24th, at the family care center from 1230 to 2 p.m. if you'd like to come out and say goodbye. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. Council Member Bledsoe? Thank you, Mayor. I have just a few things. One, the budget finance development meeting for next Tuesday has been canceled. I don't like to cancel meetings in general, but we had two presentations that were outside that have actually been on the books for several months now. And maybe I scheduled too far in advance. Had some things come up and had to postpone. So given that and some other factors, we decided to postpone that meeting until August. So I was wondering why we had postponed that meeting. Second, Rosemont Baptist Church is celebrating their 75th anniversary, which is kind of exciting. And so I'll be there on Sunday giving them a proclamation honoring their longevity and influence in the community. This Thursday, Council Member James Brown and I will both be at the Kentucky League of Cities annual meeting, which is in Versailles. And we both serve in that capacity. And so I wanted to let you all know if we were not here on Thursday, that's where we will be at their annual meeting. And then lastly, this is kind of a side note, but I've been locked out of Facebook. Facebook for about two weeks now, which is no big deal, except people are emailing me saying I'm trying to find you and reach you and you're not communicating back. No, I'm not. I'm not on, I can't get on. So the people at Meta are working on it, but until for the nervous, the old fashioned way of calling me, emailing would be the best way of engaging me, and if you're wondering why I'm not responding, that is why. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Maloney. Thank you, Mayor. to echo what Council Member Plowman said about Joanne. The Family Care Center is one of the biggest models that we, the landmark, I call it, in Lusk and Cine, because when famous celebrities come here, they'll go right to the Family Care Center. We've had everything from Colin Powell, Hillary Clinton, to all kinds of people have been there. And she has done a tremendous job. She will be missed. She's one of my favorites. I've dealt with a lot of them, and she took it to the next level. It was kind of hurting when she came back, and now she took it to the level, and I think the one that's taking it over is she's leaving in good hands. Also, I know we had a rough week at the jail, and my heart goes out to the person that died and also the inmate that got hurt. And I've been puzzled, and I asked this question, and maybe the commissioner can answer it. And I've always tried to think when we need to panic and when is a crisis. I mean, I was told many years ago 115, but everybody said everything's under control. I've heard numbers. We were 126, we're 123 short, and we got 14 in training, which is good, and we may have some few resigning this week. But my real question is, when do we need to panic? If we got a panic, because 150 or 200 or how many have to be gone before we have to be really concerned? Well, we've talked about this a couple of times, both here and away from the horseshoe. But in essence, maybe, I'm assuming now, years ago, whenever you were given that 115 number, that was also whenever our population was about 1,400, 1,500. Now we're right around 1,000, and that number is kind of leveled off with that being said. The two events that occurred this weekend, by the way, whenever you said an inmate that was assaulted, you mean an officer was injured. Is that who you were talking about, sir? Well, yeah, I'm talking about what I read in the paper where everybody read. I know you have investigations. In both those situations, staffing is not being considered as an issue regarding those two matters right now. So it's still in the early stages of those two matters, but staffing didn't play any direct, wasn't directly involved in any one of those matters. As you can imagine, I'm constantly in contact with Director Farmer about staffing levels. The vacancy rate right now, if I'm not mistaken, is 111. I think Major Strange is here. Is that correct? 112. 112. Okay. So 111 on Friday, 112 today. So there are a lot of things they have to take into consideration as well, but the panic button has not been pushed up to this point. So what happened this weekend, and I know if we had a full staff, it would have still probably happened. Well, I can't say that until the investigation is over, but there's no reason to believe. In what situation are you talking about, about the unfortunate passing of the inmate? Is that specifically or both? Okay, because the way I understand it, it seems like the biggest problem is your overtime. It seems like, the way I understood, if we were full staff, we would still have these problems. And that's my, I'm trying to get it clear. Well, whenever an inmate passes away, and again, the coroner has not completed their investigation in regards to this, so I have to be somewhat careful. There's a lot of different things they look at. But staffing does not have appeared to play any part in this type of situation. I can't speak to necessarily why the inmate unfortunately passed away. The circumstances leading up to it, I know some about that, but there's nothing to concern us in regards to that this time. So with the 14 that are in training, and I assume you've been, how many of those will probably graduate? We hope all 14, but what do you all see out of that 14 that will graduate? And I don't want to, I'm not like picking the lottery, I don't want to put you, but there's always a percentage of how many, like the police will tell me we'll have a full class and only about 12 or 10 may fall out. How many of those do you think? Right now I feel confident that most of them will stay because we talk to them in the beginning and at the end, and they look motivated and excited to go downstairs. You know, there's always that chance that somebody can go downstairs and say, this ain't for me. So basically you really can't say, you know, it'll be 10 or it'll be 9. I just know that, you know, the attitude is we need to get them down there and keep them and help them and motivate them and keep them motivated. so I have confidence that hopefully all 15th day we have six in the hiring process for the next class right now thank you thank you councilmember Lamb thank you mayor I just wanted to make an announcement that Lex Lexington History Museum is getting ready to have a very unique Lex talk at the Rankin House and it's going to be on Sunday, July 3rd from 2 to 4 p.m. There's some really unique and important history about the Rankin House and Mustard and I don't want to spoil anything because it's very interesting and I'm hoping that all that are listening and my colleagues will take an opportunity to attend this and as I get more information I will share more information but But it's really kind of going to be a fun event. And I know that Lexington History Museum is working really hard to bring things to the front. And I think they're doing a good job. And I'm excited about this Lex Talks. They have another Lex Talks set up in the fall, I believe. And so I'm going to try to bring that information as much as possible to everybody so that we can be supportive of them. and hopefully everybody will be able to, or at least most of us, can pay attention and learn something about some unique history with the Rankin House. So thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Anyone else for council reports? All right. There is a mayor's report. If I could have a motion to approve, please. Thank you. Council Member Sheehan moved and Council Member Plowman seconded. Are there any questions? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? Thank you. Now it's time for public comment for issues not on the agenda. Is anyone signed up? No? Okay, very good. Now it's time for a motion to adjourn. So moved. Thank you very much. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Thank you. We are adjourned. Thank you.