Music Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. ¶¶ . ¶¶ ¶¶ ¶¶ Welcome everyone. So I will go ahead and call to order the council meeting of September 8th, 2022 and ask the clerk to call the roll please. Ms. Baxter? Ms. Bledsoe? Yes, ma'am. Mr. Fred Brown? Here. Mr. James Brown? Here. Mr. Ellinger? Yes, ma'am. Vice Mayor Kaye? Here. Mr. Koiber? Yes, ma'am. Ms. Lamb? Here. Ms. Legree? Here. Mr. McKern? Yes, ma'am. Mr. Maloney? Yes, ma'am. Ms. Plowman? Ms. Reynolds? Here. Ms. Sheehan? Here. Mr. Worley? I'd like to invite to the podium Reverend Keith Tyler from the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church to offer our invocation. Welcome. Let us pray. Dear God, thank you for life. Thank you for this moment and and thank you for spurring this moment for us. We thank you because you're the source of every good and every perfect gift. We pray for this beloved community. We continue to petition you on behalf of our families, our legacy, and thank you for the historians, those who paved the way whose shoulders we stand on across ethnicities, status, education. Father God we thank you because we realize there's a work to do and that work is a greater work. For we are reminded that the reward for accomplishing a task is a greater task. So if we pray for this council and for the communities and people, taxpayers, citizens they represent we pray for city the officials, for those in leadership. For it is written in Romans 13, all powers that be, those powers that be are delegated powers from thee. We love you dearly now, may all things be done decently and in order. Send the wonderful, consoling, caressing, marvelous, majestic, mighty, everlasting name of our life giver king. I pray his name is Jesus, amen. Thank you so much, Pastor Tyler. And now it's time for presentations. Where's Ms. Aldona? Will you join me at the podium? I was hiding. Yeah, you can't hide tonight. How are you? Thanks. Good. So tonight I am very pleased to honor someone who has meant so much to this government, and that's Aldona Valicenti. Aldona, we're really pleased to honor you tonight. Aldona has dramatically improved our information technology operation in many, many ways. We're here tonight to honor her and recognize an award she recently received from her alma mater, Wayne State University. I believe, is that where you earned your chemistry degree? Yes, it is. Chemist. Organic chemistry. Organic. Organic chemistry. So they know she's a star and so do we. So it is my pleasure to offer this proclamation and then ask you if you have any words for us. I always have words. You always have words. Whereas Aldona Valicente, our chief information officer, has had an outstanding career. And whereas as a child, Aldona and her family fled a communist takeover of Lithuania and eventually ended up here in the United States. And whereas she has served as an executive with Amoco, CGI, and Oracle Corporation, and was the first chief information officer for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and whereas Aldona is known worldwide as a leader in technology and enterprise software systems, having testified before Congress, served as a member of the Federal Government Accounting Office Executive Committee on Information Management and Technology, and served as President of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers, And whereas Wayne State University, where Aldona received a master's degree, awarded Aldona its 2022 Department of Chemistry Outstanding Alumni Award for her amazing career accomplishments. So now, therefore, I, Linda Gorton, Mayor of Lexington, do hereby declare September 8, 2022, Aldona Valicente Day in Lexington in recognition of her amazing accomplishments and in thanks for her many contributions to our city. Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you so much. First of all, it's best to be recognized by your hometown and I've been here for over 20 years. And secondly, I have to tell you one short story. I was one of the first women in a graduate program that was not a postdoc or something from a foreign country because actually my education was in the United States. And the floor that I worked on didn't even have a ladies bathroom, so we've come a long ways. And I do remember people stopping from other floors and looking to see that I was working at the bench, as we called it, and said, my God, old Stevens must be getting soft in his old age, he's got a woman in the lab. But anyway, I'm delighted to have this award. Thank you very much for the recognition. Yes. Can we get a photo? Chair or counsel? Everybody's in. Smile. Smile. Congratulations. Next, I would like to welcome to the podium John Parker, AVOL Kentucky Executive Director. Anthony Smallwood, AVOL Kentucky Community Engagement Manager. And Roy Harrison, AVOL Kentucky President of the Board of Directors. Welcome. Come this way. No line. . We are here tonight to recognize a wonderful event organized by AVOL Kentucky. AVOL Kentucky is an essential organization for supporting those living with HIV and working to end HIV in Kentucky. John, his staff and leadership team work tirelessly to prevent future HIV infections. For over 30 years, the organization has been a great city partner, helping those living with HIV through medical testing and housing, as well as focusing on education and prevention tools for any further spread of this virus. They already have residents in their new housing facility, which some of us remember the groundbreaking Stonewall Terrace. It serves low income and medically vulnerable residents. It's another great affordable housing option in our community. And next week they kick off their annual Dining Out for Life event. Bringing together dozens of restaurants and bars, Dining Out for Life offers the community a unique opportunity to enjoy a nice meal or drink and support the efforts of AVOL. First, I'm going to let John talk a little bit about dining out for life. And then, well, now let's wait on that. Just a second. Okay? We're going to do the proclamation first. And then I'd like to have John talk about dining out for life. So the proclamation goes like this. Whereas AVOL Kentucky works with communities to end HIV in Kentucky, And whereas the organization focuses on increasing the connection of those living with HIV to medical care, providing housing, support, and empowerment services to those with HIV, helping eliminate disparities in HIV outcomes, and reducing the number of Kentuckians with newly acquired HIV. And whereas the annual Dining Out for Life event supports the education and programming produced by AVOL Kentucky. And whereas nearly 50 restaurant locations participating in Dining Out for Life have committed to donate at least 25% of their September 15th proceeds to AVOL Kentucky. and whereas Lexington residents are encouraged to enjoy a great meal while supporting Avall Kentucky and Dining Out for Life. Now, therefore, I Linda Gorton, Mayor of Lexington, do hereby declare September 15, 2022, Dining Out for Life Day in Lexington. Congratulations. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. Do you want to say a few words? Thank you. Yeah, come on. Thank you everybody, it's good to see you. Thank you Mayor Gordon, Urban County Council, we appreciate being here today. Our relationship with the LFUCG officially began in 1996 when we started a HOPWA grant from HUD. It's a housing grant for people living with HIV. We had and have a small community living facility off Old Todd's Road. called Solomon House where people share space and live together. These are folks who have a lot of medical issues and we've been operating that facility now for almost 30 years and we continue to receive the HOPWA grant through grants and special programs with Commissioner Lanter. We just really enjoy the partnership that we have with urban county government and all the support that we receive. Our ESR grant is focused on HIV testing and other types of HIV health prevention and education and then of course there is Stonewall Terrace which we're super proud of we were so excited when the last person of the 26 apartments moved in now we're just waiting for AVOL's offices to be finished so that we can move in as well but Dining Out for Life allows a local investment to happen so that we have the opportunity to access other opportunities like the Hopla Grant, like the financing and funding that came our way for Stonewall Terrace. You have to have that local commitment and stamp of approval that an agency is doing good work. And we've felt that for so long from Irving County government. So thank you all so much for that. And dining out for life, all I can say is calories don't count that day. Just keep dining, breakfast, lunch, dinner. Commissioner Lanter said he was going to eat anyway. So he's on board and we just hope everyone can make it out and we appreciate y'all very much All right. Thank you. Council members, before we go to second reading of ordinances, I wanted to give you a follow-up on your Tuesday request regarding police issues. This goes to your motion and the vice mayor's amendment. And just wanted to give you an update. My team and I have already agreed with the FOP to have an initial conversation regarding a list of concerns. And I think you all received an email from Tyler. We will focus on potential memos, memorandums of agreement. They won't be MOUs, they'll be MOAs. And it is important to understand up front, I believe, from a point of fairness, that unless council members object, I believe we need to have conversations with all of our bargaining units. They're already asking. so just to remind everyone these moas could require budget reductions depending on what you accept or revenue enhancements by the council and as you know if you've been around any amount of time public safety is always my top priority it has been for decades and so we will work through this very intentionally and our goal is to bring back moas for the council to approve thank you and yes yes council member maloney i thank you on that and i also want to thank uh vice mayor k for making that motion i i thought about it over the weekend i think this is a win-win because MOA, it can be good. I think a council member should be on there because I understand when collective bargain, we have to be out of it. The MOA right now, to me, that's something as a councilman has been hard for all of us when we go out publicly and say we can't discuss anything about the collective bargain. This is not a collective bargain. This is an MOA. And I think it really educates if we have a council member on there that can come in here and keep the council up on it. And again, this is not a collective bargain, it's an MOA. And I got my lawyers, I love these lawyers when they come up here. Yes, he has some answers to that one, Dave. So this is something that, and I know how confusing this is, but this is something that needs to be collectively bargained. So salaries and enhancements, pay enhancements and stuff, it is collective bargaining. It's just going to be done. We would like to be done outside the context of opening up the entire contract again and having to renegotiate potentially the entire thing. So what we're talking about would be negotiating specific articles probably, but that is collective bargaining under the law. So as you all may remember, the mayor and the administration is the one that's actually tasked by statute with being the bargaining unit for the government. it and so um i'm not telling you absolutely can't do that i just don't know how great an idea it would be to have a council member on there and you never have before for collective bargaining but it is bargaining so i i mean to me i thought it would be a win-win because in my way i understand if you go to the collective bargain we need to be out of it but this is the first time that we would have a council member in there that can hear these things make sure it's being done and then when you all go in the collective but we can follow up with that council person and say I think they're going to talk about ABC which we never had this conversation for and we're not going to get into it but is a to me it's something that I think be the first time and I not only I agree with the opening up to the police also correction and fire and I case I mean I thought it I don't understand your collective bargain when you open up we have to be out of it but when you You say it's an MOU, and now you're telling me it is a collective bargain. I don't think it is a collective bargain because if you open those books up, it becomes a collective bargain. But to me, as long as those books are closed, it's sitting there. The way the law works is there are certain things by statute that have to be collectively bargained, and this is one of them. So this is collective bargaining. I have no problem. Once again, I'm not telling you that from a legal standpoint, you could probably put council member on there i just i would i don't know that that's a great idea um you've never done it before and i think it probably arguably complicates your you know your process here keeping trying to keep the legislative branch as kind of just the approval with the administration being the ones that actually negotiate the contracts so and then there's a couple things that i brought up one was retirees can come back and that to me that's something i thought the A council member could be on that. Talk about the three years. I guarantee that if they do come in, they have to say they're three years. That, to me, is not salary. That's something that I think the council, but if they do start talking about salaries, I agree with you. That has to go into the collective part. Well, the email that was sent to you, the email that was sent to all of you, I think, by Tyler, was simply copying you as an FYI and what we received from the union, and it was basically all of it was financial stuff. And I just feel like the administration is not in favor of this because they're afraid that we're going to have to raise taxes. That was brought up. I disagree. And to me, I just hope this thing is treated fairly, and that's why I thought a council member being on that committee will make it treated fairly. I think the administration is planning on keeping you all in the loop on how things are going, so, yeah. Thank you for your input. else before we have second reading of ordinances oh I'm sorry councilmember Fred Brown yeah I think it you're throwing a curveball at us because when we discussed this we were told I thought by legal that we could do some MOUs without opening collective bargaining now that was my understanding and I think that was what we understood was the procedure that we all voted on was to let the administration now you seem like you're putting it back into calling the collective bargaining i don't want to call it collective bargaining so so i think i think maybe the confusion is that there are certain things that have to be collectively bargained we're trying to avoid opening up the entire contract Right. And I think by doing this, we're not. But you can't get around the fact that there are certain things by statute that have to be collectively bargained, and this is one of them. Wages and things like that are things that under the statute have to be collectively bargained. So it's part of a bargaining process. we're trying to use a a curtailed or shortened process versus versus opening up a contract that was just entered into barely a year ago you know barely a year ago and having to renegotiate potentially the entire contract i don't think in my opinion that's not in anybody's best interest it seems like there's hopefully a limited scope of issues that they really want to talk about but the financial ones would have to go through a collective bargaining process where both sides negotiate what the final result is they will probably take it to their union I would assume they're going to take it to their union membership for a full vote and then we will take it back to you all for approval we couldn't get a waiver from FOP that we wanted to in good faith open up some areas that we felt like that we needed to look at to address the original collective bargaining, but we no longer want to get into the legal aspect of it. Well, that's what we're doing, but I'd like to be able to answer your question the way you want me to answer it. Yeah, please. But there's a statute that says what has to be collectively bargained and what doesn't, and this is one of those areas that does. I apologize for any confusion over this issue. It is a very confusing issue. Normally, when you collectively bargain, it is for, to your point, the entire contract. In this case, we're trying to do a limited article bargaining. We've never done this before, right? Well, I think the last, and I was not involved in this last time. I think about ten years ago, we did open up the contracts because we had to free steps. And I think the reason we opened up the contracts was because we were going to have to give something in order to have them agree to the reduction or the freezing of the steps. Well, I just think it's going a little bit farther than I particularly wanted it to go. I'm not telling you all, you know, I don't think it's a great idea, but I mean, if you all insist on having a member of the council, if eight of you all decide that's a great idea, we'll carry on with a member of the council being on the bargaining team. That wasn't my issue of somebody like that. My issue is still the use and the language of collective bargaining in this whole thing. Because it is not a collective bargaining, although the issues are in the contract. What we wanted to do was just look and see if we could do some adjustments. And that will require whatever we do is going to require them to approve it on their end through full negotiation. Otherwise, we're subject to an unfair labor practice complaint being made against us. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else wish to speak? All right, if you could go ahead then and give second reading to ordinances, please. Please. Number one, an ordinance meting certain at the budgets of the Lexington Fair urban county government to reflect current requirements for funds in the amount of $1,500 for the Division of Environmental Services from the neighborhood development funds for purchase of a trailer, Schedule number 11. Number two, an ordinance changing the zone from a wholesale and warehouse business B4 zone to a planned neighborhood residential R3 zone for 2.22 net, 3.39 gross acres for property located at 2651 Sandersville Road, Artisan Apartments LLC, Council District 2. And number three, an ordinance amending certain of the budget says the Lexington Fair Urban County Government to reflect current requirements for municipal expenditures and appropriating and reappropriating funds fiscal year 2023, Schedule number nine. Thank you. Thank you. Is there a motion to approve? Second. Councilmember Bledsoe moves and Vice Mayor Kay seconds. When you're ready, take a roll call vote, please. Ms. Baxter? Yes, ma'am. Ms. Bledsoe? Yes, ma'am. Mr. Fred Brown? Yes. Mr. James Brown? Yes. Mr. Ellinger? Yes, ma'am. Vice Mayor Kay? Yes. Mr. Kloiber? Yes, ma'am. Ms. Lamb? Yes, ma'am. Ms. Legree? Yes. Mr. McCurn? Yes, ma'am. Mr. Maloney? Yes. Ms. Sheehan? Yes. And Mr. Worley? Yes, ma'am. Thank you. And when you're ready, if you'll do first reading of ordinances, please. Number four, an ordinance amending certain of the budgets of the Lexington Fay or Urban County Government to reflect current requirements for municipal expenditures and appropriating and reappropriating funds fiscal year 2023, Schedule number 12. Number five, an ordinance amending certain of the budgets of the Lexington Fay or Urban County Government to reflect current requirements for the Division of Environmental Services for funds in the amount of $168 from neighborhood development funds for tree replacement in the Pebble Creek right of way, Schedule number 14. Number six, an ordinance amending the unclassified civil service authorized strength by abolishing one vacant unclassified position of budget analyst senior grade 521E and creating one unclassified position of budget analyst grade 519N in the office of the Urban County Council effective upon passage of council. And number seven, an ordinance amending and reenacting the following sections of Chapter 12 of Lexington Fayette County Government Code of Ordinances pertaining to Housing and Property Maintenance Codes. Section 12-1 related to Property Maintenance Code to adopt and incorporate the 2021 edition of the International Property Maintenance Code with certain deletions, revisions, and additions, including matters related to its scope and administration, definitions, general requirements, light, ventilation, and occupancy limitations, plumbing and facilities fixtures requirements, mechanical and electrical requirements, fire safety requirements, other code, penalties, violations, and the violations library. Section 12-2C related to nuisances to create certain exemptions and special provisions related to excessive growth of weeds, grass, and other vegetation. Section 12-3 related to the abatement of nuisance to reassign certain duties from the Commissioner of Planning, Preservation, and Development to the Commissioner of Housing and Advocacy and Community Development. And Section 17-162A related to sidewalk replacement financial assistance to reduce the annual income threshold And the definition of qualified property owner all effective January 1st, 2023. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any walk-ons? Okay, any motions to suspend the rules? Council Member Bledsoe. Thank you, Mayor. I move to suspend the rules and get second reading to item number six. All right. Any questions? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Any other motions to suspend the rules? Okay, if you'll give number six a second reading please. Number six, an ordinance meting the unclassified civil service author a strength by abolishing one vacant unclassified position of budget analyst senior grade 521E and creating one unclassified position of budget analyst grade 519N and the office of the urban county council effective upon passage of council. Thank you. Move to approve. Council member. Mr. Ellinger moved to approve and Council Member Bledsoe seconded. When you're ready, if you'll go ahead and call the roll. Ms. Baxter? Yes, ma'am. Ms. Bledsoe? Mr. Fred Brown? Yes. Mr. James Brown? Yes. Mr. Ellinger? Yes, ma'am. Vice Mayor Kay? Yes. Mr. Koiber? Yes, ma'am. Ms. Lamb? Yes. Ms. Lagree? Yes. Mr. McCurn? Yes, ma'am. Mr. Maloney? Yes. Ms. Reynolds? Yes. Ms. Sheehan? Yes. And Mr. Worley? Yes, ma'am. Thank you, that item passes. And now we are ready for second reading of resolutions. Number one, a resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of the urban county government to execute an education agreement with the University of Kentucky College of Social Work for The purpose of enabling students enrolled in the university to participate in educational experiences and learning activities in the Department of Social Services at no cost to the urban county government. Number two, a resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of the urban county government to accept a grant from the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Grant funds are in the amount of $499,997 in federal funds under the First Responders Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Support Services Act grant to support year one of the expanded first responders and community partners overdose prevention project, the acceptance of which does not obligate the urban county government to the expenditure of funds and authorizing the mayor to transfer unencumbered funds within the grant budget. Number three, a resolution authorizing the mayor on behalf of the urban county government pursuant to the jobs fund program to execute a ten year loan agreement and related documents with Helios Aerosystems LLC, an amount now to exceed $120,000 for the creation and retention of at least three new jobs with an hourly wage of at least $31 exclusive of benefits. Number four, a resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of the urban county government to execute an agreement with Canteen for vending machines at police headquarters. Number five, a resolution authorizing the mayor on behalf of the urban county government to execute an agreement awarded pursuant to RFP number 41-2022 with Spec Rescue International for FEMA structural collapse, specialist training, and related expenses at a cost not to exceed $29,033.20. Number six, a resolution authorizing the division of police to purchase Pathfinder software from Celebrate Inc., a sole source provider and authorizing the mayor on behalf of the urban county government to execute an ASA agreement with Celebrate Inc. Related to the procurement at a cost not to exceed $59,500. Number seven, a resolution authorizing the mayor on behalf of the urban county government to execute a data license agreement with Streetlight Data, Inc. So it may complete an online transportation analytics platform to monitor multimodal travel within Fayette and Jessamine counties in response to RFP number 11-2022 at a cost not to exceed $130,000 in fiscal year 2023. Number eight, a resolution accepting the bids of Waste-Built Environmental Solutions, LLC, EasyPack Refuse Hauling Solutions, LLC, and J. and Gurren Sons Inc., establishing price contracts for refuse truck body parts, supplemental for the Division of Facilities and Fleet Management. Number nine, a resolution accepting the bids of Paul Miller Ford Inc., establishing a price contract for auto repairs for Ford vehicles for the Division of Facilities and Fleet Management. Number ten, a resolution accepting the bids of Public Safety Store LLC and Whole Energy and Hardware Inc., establishing a price contract for smoke alarms for the Division of Fire and Emergency Services. Number eleven, a resolution accepting the bids of Bradley Hook It Up Mobile LLC, establishing a price contract for vehicle pressure washing and cleaning of downtown corral for the Division of Waste Management. Number 12, a resolution accepting the bids of SNS Firestone Inc. Doing business as SNS Tires, establishing a price contract for tire retreading for the Division of Facilities and Fleet Management. Number 13, a resolution ratifying the permanent classified civil service appointments of Crystal Goodwin, Administrative Officer, Grade 523E, $2,743.12 biweekly in the Division of Environmental Services effective August 14, 2022. Number 14, a resolution authorizing the Mayor on behalf of the Urban County Government to execute a lease agreement for a residential park property with the following individual for the listed property in consideration of the sum stated in the annual rent. Teresa Gill Farmer for 3401 Shamrock Lane $8,424. Number 15, a resolution authorizing the mayor on behalf of the urban county government to execute an agreement with Strategic Funding Inc. For assistance in preparing the FY 2022 HUD Continuum of Care Supplemental Grant application at a cost not to exceed $7,500 to be paid with funds awarded under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ARPA. Number 16, a resolution authorizing the mayor on behalf of the urban county government to execute an agreement with OVG Facilities LP as agent on behalf of Lexington Center Corporation for use of space at Central Bank Center for the 2023 State of the City Address. Number 17, a resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of the urban county government to execute a memorandum of understanding with Fayette County Public Schools for Transportation Services with the Family Care Center at a cost not to exceed $92,521.44. Number 18, a resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of the urban county government to execute a professional services agreement awarded pursuant to RFP number 40-2022. Stantec Consulting Services, Inc., for an update to the 2021 existing conditions and growth trends report, a component of the Sustainable Growth Study at a cost not to exceed $50,000. Number 19, a resolution approving and adopting a solid waste management plan for Lexington Fayette County for 2023 through 2027, pursuant to KRS 224.43-340. Number 20, a resolution authorizing the Division of Police to purchase licenses for software to access files and create reports on mobile devices from Celebrate, Inc., The sole source provider and authorizing the mayor on behalf of the urban county government to execute an unnecessary agreement with celebrate and related to the procurement at a cost not to exceed $8,600. Number 21, a resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of the urban county government to execute a memorandum of understanding with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives for reimbursement of overtime, salary, and other costs. Number 22, a resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of the urban county government to execute an agreement with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to accept a grant of $355,656.01 in federal funds from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Transportation Alternatives Program, TAP, $43,656.01. And the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Surface Transportation Program, SLX, $312,000 for the construction phase of the Rosemont Garden Sidewalk Project, the acceptance of which obligates the urban county government to the expenditure of $88,914 as a local match and authorizing the mayor to transfer unencumbered funds within the grant budget. Number 23, a resolution accepting ownership and maintenance of portions of state maintained roadways located on Georgetown Road, Leastown Road, Newtown Pike, Citation Boulevard, and Liberty Todd's Road, as well as portions of other state supplemental roads and other road facilities upon successful completion of certain maintenance tasks by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Number 24, a resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of the urban county government to exceed an amendment to the grant agreement with Bluegrass Area Development District, Inc. to incorporate an increase of $33,507.30 in Commonwealth Kentucky funds and a decrease of $34,028.50 in federal funds for the Senior Citizen Center in fiscal year 2023, and authorizing the mayor to transfer unencumbered funds within the grant budget. Number 25, a resolution expressing the intent to accept the following private streets as public streets pursuant to the private street acceptance policy. Warrington Circle, Warnwood Wind, Megan Wood Circle, Hobclaw Lane, and Honeyhill Lane, acceptance of which is contingent upon completion of street improvements to bring the streets to a acceptable public street standard and recording of amended final record plots to dedicate the streets as public, to provide for maintenance of existing traffic islands, and to provide for maintenance of stormwater management features all within one year from passage of this resolution. Number 26, a resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of the urban county government to execute change order number four to the agreement with PACE contracting for the Town Branch Commons Corridor Construction Project, increasing the contract price by $177,159.21 and raising the total contract price from $21,920,359.57 to $22,097,518.78 pending approval from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Number 27, a resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of the urban county government to exceed an agreement with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to accept a grant of $48,000, $480,000 in federal funds from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Surface Transportation Program, SLX, the divine phase of the North Limestone Improvements Project, the acceptance of which obligates the Urban County Government to the expenditure of $120,000 as a local match and authorizing the mayor to transfer unencumbered funds within the grant budget. Number 28, a resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of the Urban County Government to execute a change order number one to the agreement with Pace Contracting for SPLASH at Charles Young Park Construction Project, increasing the contract price by $162,663.18 and raising the total contract price from $1,249,200 to $1,411,863.18. Number 29, a resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of the Urban County Government to execute an agreement with Kentucky Department of Military Affairs Division of Emergency Management in order to accept $1,077,860 in federal funds awarded under the fiscal year 2022 Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program, CSEPP for the purpose of protecting the community, enhancing emergency responses in case of chemical accidents during and after destruction of chemical weapons stockpiled at the Bluegrass Army Depot, the acceptance of which does not obligate the Urban County Government to the expenditure of funds and authorizing the mayor to transfer unencumbered funds within the grant budget. Number 30, a resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of the Urban County Government to exceed agreements with Palomar Hills Community Association, $500, Ladies Vets Connect, Inc., $2,700, Exhilarating, Inc., $1,000, Sisters and Supporters, $700, Phoenix Rising Lex, $550. Kentucky Distinguished Young Women, $1,250. Kentucky Humanities Council, $1,850. And Kentucky Theater, $1,750 for the office of the Urban County Council at a cost not to exceed the sum stated. And number 31, a resolution recommending the adoption of the Lexington Sustainable Growth Study in furtherance of the goals and objectives of Imagine Lex, the 2018 Comprehensive Plan, and requesting that the Division of Planning utilize the study data when developing recommendations for the goals and objectives of the 2023 Comprehensive Plan. Thank you. Thank you. Is there a motion? Thank you, Council Member Ellinger, second by Council Member McCurn. When you're ready, if you'll take the vote, please. Ms. Baxter? Yes, ma'am. Ms. Bledsoe? Ms. Bledsoe? Mr. Fred Brown? Yes. Mr. James Brown? Yes. Mr. Ellinger? Yes, ma'am. Vice Mayor Kay? Yes. Mr. Kloiber? Yes, ma'am. Ms. Lamb? Yes. Ms. Legree? Yes. Mr. McCurn? Yes, ma'am. Mr. Maloney? No on 26, yes on the rest. Ms. Reynolds? Yes. Ms. Sheehan? Yes. And Mr. Worley? Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Those all pass. And now we are ready for first reading of resolutions. Number 32, a resolution ratifying the permanent classified civil service appointments of Tara Chenault, Administrative Specialist Senior Grade 516N, 21.562 hourly in the Division of Revenue effective August 28, 2022. Jada Griggs, Program Manager Senior Grade 524E, $3,010.80 bi-weekly in the Division of Environmental Services effective August 28, 2022. 22, Zachary Pruitt, Arborist, grade 517N, 25.875 hourly in the Division of Environmental Services, effective August 28, 2022. Number 33, a resolution specifying the intention of the Urban County Council to expand and extend the full Urban Services District, number one, to provide street lighting, street cleaning, and garbage and refuse collection, finding a need for this service in this area included, and finding the ability of the Urban County Government to provide this service in this area, which area is defined as certain properties on the following streets, Bay Springs Park, Buttermilk Road, Case Way, Cattle Path, Feather Sound Way, Foster Drive, Haley Rose Way, Hollow Creek Road, Huntley Place, Mount Joy Place, Night Heron Way, Silver Springs Drive, Squires Circle, Squirrel Nest Lane, Stolen Horse Trace, and Tankstley Way. Number 34, a resolution specifying the intention of the Urban County Council to expand and extend partial urban services district number three to provide garbage and refuse collection and finding a need for this service in the area included and finding the ability of the urban county government to provide this service in this area, which areas defined as certain properties on the following streets, Coco's Way, Silver Spring Circle, Silver Springs Way, Waldorf Lane, and William Astor Lane. Number 35, a resolution specifying the intention of the Urban County Council to expand and extend partial urban services district. Number 5, to provide street lighting and garbage and refuse collection, finding a need for this service in the area included, and finding the ability of the Urban County Government to provide this service in this area, which areas defined as certain properties on the following streets, Lansdowne Drive, Pindell Court, Vicksburg Road, and Wedgwood Court. Number 36, a resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of the Urban County Government to execute a contract awarded pursuant to RFP number 45-2022, with GRW for topographic services to survey the Cardinal Run Park North property at a cost not to exceed $28,870. Number 37, a resolution authorizing and directly to the mayor on behalf of the Urban County Government to execute an agreement with Center Corporation for Medication History Inquiry Services for the Inmate Population for the Division of Community Corrections at a cost not to exceed $16,800. Number 38, a resolution authorizing and directly to the mayor on behalf of the Urban County Government to execute a memorandum of understanding with the Ohio Task Force 1 National Urban Search and Rescue to add three new division of fire members. Number 39, a resolution establishing Henry P. Thompson Company as sole source provider of bugger replacement parts for sludge pumps for the division of water quality and authorizing the mayor or her designee on behalf of the Urban County Government to execute an industry agreement with Henry P. Thompson Company related to the procurement of these goods at a cost note to exceed $22,759.34. Number 40, a resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of the Urban County Government to execute lease agreements with Avall Kentucky Inc. for the lease of Urban County Government property located at 851 Todd's Road. Number 41, a resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of the Urban County Government to execute supplemental agreement number five with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet in order to move remaining funds to the construction phase of Town Branch Trail Commons Project. Number 42, a resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of the Urban County Government to execute change order number five with the agreement with LM Asphalt Partners doing business as ATS Construction for the Town Branch Trail Phase 6, increasing the contract price by $240,900. truth $240,000 to 240 thousand nine hundred thirty seven dollars ninety eight cents and raising the total contract price from four million six hundred thirty three thousand one hundred nine dollars and twenty seven cents to four million eight hundred seventy four thousand forty seven dollars and twenty five cents number forty three a resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of your county government to exceed an amendment to the agreement with the US Department of Housing and Urban Services HUD under the HOPWA CV housing opportunities for persons with AIDS grant program in order to shift funding from one eligible program activity to another and further authorizing the mayor to execute any other necessary agreement and amendments related to this agreement. Number 44, a resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of the European government to execute a first amendment to the agreement with Mackie Group LLC doing business as wiser strategies for creative design services for public outreach and media campaigns for the vision of environmental services and expanding the scope of the agreement to provide for additional services for public outreach related to the vacuum leaf collection program and increasing contract price by the sum of $10,000 from $50,000 to $60,000. Number 45, a resolution authorizing the Department of General Services to purchase a Furno, Inc. stretcher from a Furno sole source provider and authorizing the mayor on behalf of the urban county government to execute an necessary agreement with Furno related to the procurement at a cost not to exceed $41,460. And number 46, a resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of the urban county government to execute agreements with a Caring Place, $500, Refuge for Women, Inc., $500, Lexington History Museum, $500, Lexington Housing for the Handicap, $500, Vineyard Neighborhood Cooperation, $500. Wynham Meadows HOA, $500. Winburn Neighborhood Association, $150. 16th District PTA, Care of Winburn Middle School, $150. Green Acres, $200. 16th District PTA, Care of Russell Cave Elementary, $400. Inover Forest HOA, $1,250. Joyland Neighborhood Association, $1,250. Brighton East HOA Inc., $1,250. Eastland Parkway Neighborhood Association, $1,250. Lexington Lions Club, $500. and Acclivity Dance and Performing Arts, LLC, $800 for the office of the Urban County Council at a cost not to exceed the sum stated. Thank you. Thank you very much. We do have, I believe, at least one walk on. Council Member McCurn. Thank you, Mayor. I move to place on the docket for tonight's council meeting a resolution, first reading a resolution formally requesting a product development initiative grant in the amount of $2 million on behalf of the Lexington Fair Urban County Industrial Authority for legacy business park improvements and authorizing and directing the mayor or her designee to execute any necessary documents related to the grant to accept the grant and distribute the grants funds to the Lexington Fair Urban County Industrial Authority if necessary upon award of the grant and to take any further action necessary related to the grant. So move. Second. Thank you. Council Member Reynolds seconds. Are there questions? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Are there any other walk-ons? All right, are there any motions? Oh, excuse me, I'm sorry. Would you please give that a first reading? A resolution formally requesting a product development initiative grant in the amount of $2 million on behalf of the Lexington Fair Urban County Industrial Authority for legacy business park improvements and authorizing and directing the mayor or her designee on behalf of the urban county government to execute unnecessary agreement and necessary documents related to the grant to accept the grant and distribute the grant funds to lexington fair urban county government industrial authority if necessary upon award of the grant and to take any further action necessary related to the grant thank you thank you now are there any motions to suspend the rules councilmember lamb thank you mayor and i would like to suspend rules on resolution number 46 it's our neighborhood development funds uh so move councilmember mccern seconds any discussion all those in favor say aye anyone opposed all right that passes any others councilmember lamb councilmember mccern thank you mayor i move to suspend the rules in my item number 47 i just I just read that out in the first reading, so move. All right, is there a second? Councilmember Reynolds seconds. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? No. All right, one no vote from Councilmember Brown. Any other, Councilmember McCurron, was that yours? Okay, Councilmember Fred Brown. Thank you, Mayor. Yes, I'd like to suspend the rules for item number 36 and to give it a second reading. So moved. Second. Thank you. Vice Mayor Kay seconds. Are there any questions? All right, all those in favor of approving, say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Any other motions to suspend the rules? All right, I think we have 36, 46, and 47, correct? When you're ready, if you'll give them second reading. Number 36, a resolution authorizing the mayor on behalf of the urban county government to exceed a contract awarded pursuant to RFP number 45-2022 with GRW for topographic services to survey the Cardinal Run Park North property at a cost not to exceed $28,870. $50. Number 46, a resolution authorizing a direct name on behalf of the Irving County Government to execute agreements with the Caring Place, Inc., $500. Refuge for Women, Inc., $500. Lexington History Museum, $500. Lexington Housing for the Handicapped, Inc., $500. Vineyard Neighborhood Cooperation, $500. Windham Meadows, HOA, $500. Winburn Neighborhood Association, $150. 16th District PTA, Care of Winburn Middle School, $150. Green Acres, $200. 16th District PTA, Care of Russell Cave Elementary, $400. Andover Forest HOA $1,250, Joyland Neighborhood Association $1,250, Brighton East HOA Inc. $1,250, Eastland Parkway Neighborhood Association $1,250, Lexington Lions Club Inc. $500, and Aclivity Dance and Performing Arts LLC 800 for the Office of the Urban County Council at a cost to exceed the sum stated. Oh, and number 47. A resolution formally requesting a product development initiative grant in the amount of $2 million on behalf of the Lexington Fay Urban County Industrial Authority, for the legacy business park improvements and authorizing and directing the mayor or her designee on behalf of the urban county government to execute any necessary agreements related to the grant, to accept the grant and distribute the grant funds to Lexington-Feya Urban County Industrial Authority if necessary upon award of the grant and to take any further action necessary related to the grant. Thank you. Thank you. Move to approve. Thank you. Second. Thank you, Vice Mayor. And when you're ready, if you'll take a roll call vote, please. Ms. Baxter? Yes, ma'am. Mr. Fred Brown? Yes. Mr. James Brown? Yes. Mr. Ellinger? Yes, ma'am. Vice Mayor Kaye? Yes. Mr. Kloiber? Yes, ma'am. Ms. Lamb? Yes. Ms. Legree? Yes. Mr. McKern? Mr. McKern? Mr. Maloney? Yes. Ms. Reynolds? Yes. Ms. Sheehan? Yes. And Mr. Worley? Yes, ma'am. All right. Thank you very much. Those all pass. Could I have a motion? Motion for the communication from the mayor. Thank you. Is there a second? Communications from the mayor. Any questions? Vice Mayor Case seconded it. Any questions? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Then we have communications from the mayor for information only. And we do have a police discipline. And so Chief Lawrence Weathers will present that to the council. Good evening, everybody. I have a disciplinary recommendation for council approval. On May 20, 2022, and June 6, 2022, an internal formal complaint was made that Officer Kyle Blankenship violated General Order 197302K disciplinary procedures. of sworn officers appendix b operational rule 1.17 processing property and evidence and 1.02 misconduct at the conclusion of the investigation the employee met with me and has accepted a three-month suspension without pay on may 5th 2022 officer cow blankenship shopped his assigned vehicle at fleet services for routine maintenance several items of drug paraphernalia narcotics and personal items of other subjects were located inside a box in the trunk of a vehicle the items were obtained obtained for from investigations that did not result in criminal charges but he failed to book the property as required by general order one nine nine one dash one three m property and evidence procedures which states every item of property and evidence coming into an employee's custody as a result of their official duties will be placed under the control of property and evidence unit before the employee goes off duty a review of officer Blankenship's activity since January 1 2022 revealed additional policy violations related to property and evidence procedures search records and body-worn camera procedures the combination of these incidents are or a violation of disciplinary policy 1.02 misconduct, which states, Officers shall conduct themselves at all times, both on and off duty, in such a manner as to reflect most favorably on the department and to not cast doubt on the officer's integrity, honesty, judgment, or character. This investigation resulted in the first sustained formal complaint since his employment of January 20, 2020. Thank you Chief. Is there a motion? To discuss, we need a motion. Motion to approve. Is there a second? Thank you, Council Member Ellinger. Council Member Baxter seconded. Is there any discussion? Council Member Reynolds. Thank you Mayor and thank you Chief. This is a really serious allegation. Yes ma'am. How did you come to the conclusion that three months was the appropriate amount of time? Without, I can't go into specifics of that, but I can talk to you about my process. We, the officer meets with me and I sit down and discuss it. And obviously, the amount of discipline recommended It lets them know that it's a serious subject. And talking with the officer, I try to get a feel as to whether or not it is malicious, intentional, or accidental. Given the officers' time on and experience, it was understandable in some cases like these that mistakes can be made. Sometimes people get in a rush, sometimes they get in a hurry. And as chief, you know, sometimes people expect you to be the hammer all the time, but you can't treat everybody like a nail. Sometimes you got to listen, sometimes you got to be compassionate. There are officers that get in trouble and make mistakes, but they can overcome them. I believe after talking to this officer, he can overcome this and continue to be a good officer. I also believe that this officer has to understand, or officers have to understand, how serious police business is. Okay, thank you for your explanation. Any other questions, comments? Council Member James Brown. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Chief. When and if this officer returns to duty, is there any additional training that is going to be required, whether it's body worn camera training or evidence processing training? In similar situations, that training usually comes before all of this. Once we find out the training, this body camera evidence, whatever the violation is, the officer gets that training. So training would probably have been done on this already. Okay, so you're saying the training's probably been done before the suspension goes into effect? Yes, sir. Okay, so my suggestion is if it hasn't, I would just ensure that that type of training happens on the return if it didn't happen before he left. On a situation like this before I come to council, I'll make sure it has. Any other questions, council members? Were you on again to speak, Council Member Reynolds? Okay, anything else? Council Member Legree. Thank you, Chief. For clarification, had the training already been done? Is that what you were saying, or has it probably been done? I make sure if they need training, it's done. Okay, so it has been completed. I can't, I'm not allowed to talk about these cases like that. Okay. So I have to speak in general terms. Okay. And hopefully people can read between the lines, what I'm trying to say. Okay, understood. Are there additional steps that you would be able to share that would be taken upon the return, follow up training, anything like that? Typically, especially in suspension situations, policy and procedure violations, the supervisor when people return from their suspension, the supervisor does a little bit more thorough follow up on the officer until they're sure that the officer is doing what they're supposed to do. Okay, thank you for that clarification. All right, thank you. Any other questions for the Chief? All right, all those in favor of approving, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Thank you, Chief. Thank you all very much. Yes, thank you. Council members, it's time for announcements. Council member Reynolds. Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to correct something that I said on Tuesday. I was announcing Oxford Circles planting event on Saturday and the cookout. And it's not this Saturday, it's next Saturday. So I just wanted to correct that for the record. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member James Brown. Thank you, Mayor. I just want to make an announcement that this coming weekend, after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the roots and heritage festival is going to return to the corner of third and elm tree lane they have three days starting friday night saturday night and sunday night or sunday saturday and sunday full of events i would encourage anybody interested to please come out and join us festivities i know that committee has been working hard to return this event back to this neighborhood. And then also the Ness who is housed in Duncan Park in the Morton House is having their Night for the Ness this coming, this Night for the Ness Gala, this coming Saturday at 10 p.m. at the Long Ship Club at Kroger Field. This is one of the biggest fundraisers event that this organization has and I would encourage folks to come out if available and to support this and all that this organization does. They do a lot for families in this city and in this community. So thank you, thank you Mayor. Could you give that time again? For the night for the nest? For the nest. I don't have the time. I thought I heard 10 PM. Did I say 10 PM? You did. September the 10th, sorry. Chewy. Not at 10 B. Okay, we can find out. Thank you very much. Thanks Mayor. Councilmember Kloiber. Thank you Mayor. Last night we experienced another shooting, this time at a campus party where 11 people were sent to the hospital for treatment. Fortunately, there was no loss of life, but this incident, which happened before midnight, is yet another example of the growing and expanding violence our city is facing on a regular basis. I personally believe it's long past time there was an acknowledgement from the mayor and the administration we have a real public safety crisis. And I understand there's work being done to increase retention and recruitment of officers, but that can't be the only avenue we pursue. Time and again we've seen that throwing money at a problem is no way to solve the issue. It requires collaboration and implementation of long term planning. What we're currently seeing that the policy we have in place is just not working with the resources we currently have. And that means we need to adapt. And I know I've brought up the versatility of the GVI program, how it can be adjusted based off our current resources to better address these issues. But even if there's a disagreement about what the best path forward should be, there needs to be a discussion about change. So hopefully we can agree at least that something new needs to be done at a policy level if we're going to prevent more of this violence and bloodshed in our city. Thank you. Council, do you mind if I answer to this? Council Member Kloiber, have you spoken with Chief Weathers directly about this incident? Have I spoken directly with Chief Weathers about this incident? That you referenced from last night. I have not. Okay. First of all, I would ask, out of respect, that you talk to our chief. I have talked with him, and I know exactly what they know about what happened. There is no way that our police could have prevented what happened. So I would encourage you to speak with him. Secondly, I want to speak to GVI, because you bring this up over and over. I have several members of my team who have spent hours calling cities in seven other states that use GVI. Many of them have stopped using it because they saw no result. We have investigated this thoroughly because we wanted to be sure that it was something that we wanted to use or didn't want to use. So I go by facts. We talked with those people. We have the data from those conversations. GVI is not working. None of these cities have data to support that it works, and many of them no longer use it. So I would encourage you to do the same, to talk with these cities that are GVI cities and learn what we now know about GVI, which is that it is not effective in lowering homicides. Just to be clear, I have also spoken, and if you're going to pick a hill to die on, perhaps try one that is not peer-reviewed. There is plenty of evidence that shows the facts of the matter. I understand that you have a personal anecdotal experience, but that's not how science works. Well, these aren't anecdotes. These are data that are kept by the national crime people. They keep this data. You can go on yourself and see the data of murders for cities and then compare it with whether they use GVI. I highly encourage you to have conversations with our police face-to-face and find out the facts of these shootings. There is, I will say it again, there is no way our police could have prevented what happened last night. So you just have to talk to the chief, have more than one conversation with him, and learn what's really going on here. Well, just to be clear again, the point is not all of these things can be solved by the police. It's a policy issue. It's how we address these issues systemically throughout our community. And your unwillingness to view this as anything other than a reactionary police measure is frustrating to the people who are experiencing this every day. I was there last week talking with the community at Fred Brown's Council Community Violence meeting, and you were not there. With my one Lexington director, Divine Karama. And you were not there. The point being, people are looking for something to address this systemically. And just saying the police cannot stop this is not meaningful. It was great you were there. I'm appreciative that you heard the programs we have going on through the mayor's office with the police and other public safety. Thank you. Council Member Fred Brown. Thank you, Mayor. Commissioner Armstrong, I've got a question. As you're coming up, I got this email, and I just want some clarification. And it disturbs me a little bit. It says, how does one get a hold of the police department at 258-3600 and the fire department at 254-1120 when there is no one answering the switchboard and a non-emergency response is needed? Recently, I called both of these numbers and no one ever picked up the phone and eventually their phone stopped ringing. We've got a problem? Well, as you know, because we've talked about it a couple times, there are staffing issues in E911. We do have a vacancy issue there. With that being said, there are certain instances in time of day whenever those non-emergency numbers may go unanswered for an extended amount of time if we have a large event going on in the city at that time. Now, with that being said, and actually I met with Council Member Legree just this week or last, this week, this week, about that topic as well. Well, because whenever I say a large event, it could be an accident on Nicholsville Road. And it is severe, and the system will be flooded with calls. You know, it's not like whenever I first came to Lexington, where you may get one or two phone calls about a serious accident. What happens is everyone gets on their phone, meaning well, by the way, meaning to do the right thing and call in, and it floods the system. And what happens is those non-emergency numbers may not go unanswered until all the emergency numbers are answered. Whenever someone calls in the 911, because we give it priority there. If it goes into what's called the queue, then that call will be returned later, whenever the individual that's normally assigned that extension will return back to their normal duties. Is this the best we can do? The best we can do is get additional personnel, which is what we're in the process of doing it. We've actually looked into systems that may be able to help with messaging and everything. We're also working with GTV3 and one of the council members, and I apologize who it is, because Director Patton's been talking to them about getting information about when people call in not to hang up. Because what happens is, and I mentioned this earlier, they call, they let it ring five, six times, they hang up, they call back. What happens is they go to the end of the queue, and then they go to the end of the line. I just hope we can do better because this is not what the government is about. If we've got a phone number, there should be somebody staffing that phone number and at least giving them a message or a recording or something, hey, hold on the line or we'll get- We actually tried that a number of years ago. Some of you may remember that when we tried to do a message and it was not received well. How about that? Yeah. All I know is I've got a complaint that came in. I don't know if anybody else has that complaint, but I don't like it. I guess- Well, and what we're doing, as I indicated earlier, we're working on getting more personnel to do it. But there's never going to be a guarantee. Okay. I'll say that, that number will be always answered in the five seconds that we hope. Thank you. I've got one more issue. Thank you, Commissioner. I'm trying to figure out if we've got something in the administration that you're looking at. We talked about looking at the divisions and the number of positions that were vacant in each division on what we could do to enhance those positions. And I'm not sure if that went through CAO's office. I'm sorry, I was checking the quorum since we lost another council member. I heard you say the vacancies. I think you had something. I thought we had put something. The administration was looking into what our problem was within each division personnel-wise and whether we were going to look at that division. Tammy Walters can talk about that. Because that was my concern, even looking at the police, what we were going to do. And the reason we brought up the police problem is because of understaffing. And now we're opening it up to everybody and some of these other divisions are not understaffed. And I just have a problem with that, so I'll give you, you can answer. Okay, I just want to make sure, I mean, I can definitely pull a list of all of the full-time vacancies, if that's something that we're interested in looking at as a whole. I think it's pay discrepancy. Is nobody working on it? Are you talking about the compensation study? Yes, yes. Oh, that's different. So what does that have to do with divisions and the lack of personnel or employees in that division? So, yes, we are working on the compensation study now. We are trying to get some final, I guess, questions wrapped up and actually had a meeting with our consultant today. So that will address some pay grades will change as a result of that study and therefore make some positions that are hard to fill now perhaps easier to fill if the minimum pay changes. May I ask, is the police involved in that or any of the- It does not include sworn positions at all, no. It's only positions that are in our unified pay plan. Well, that's where we're having a problem. It's all non-sworn. All non-sworn. So we can't open it up to, I mean, going to be involved in that but i mean that's the that's the whole reason that we're looking at the police situation is we're down so many officers and we need more officers now how do we get them so you know the council i think wants to give some things sure to that particular division so anyway i didn't know if there was connection there we could connect it at all we'll be bringing that to you hopefully very soon. Okay, thank you. Yes, thank you Tammy. Anything else, Council Member Brown? Okay, Council Member Maloney. Thank you Mayor. Commissioner, can you come back down here? I got misunderstood. If I have a wreck and I'm not hurt, I've always been told you do 3,600. For example, if I'm a man of war, as you know, we have no curbs. We have nobody that can pull over to the side. And you have a wreck there. And I've been told that some of that 3600 is going to go to a voice. I mean, what does it go to? Like if they do they answer it, if it's short, like what it sounds like. Where did the 3600 number end up going to? First off, you're correct. You can use a non-emergency number if it's a non-emergency accident. But most individuals, if they see an accident, go directly to 911. Okay. We get non-emergency numbers or non-emergency incidents reported on 911 all the time. Some of the calls we get there have nothing to do with any emergency whatsoever. So what happens is you have the non-emergency numbers. A lot of times they will refer to the administrative numbers, like if you want to talk to a detective. People still call 911 to ask to talk to the detective, which floods that system. But what happens is that number will ring and it will go into what's called a queue. And what that is, a priority list, whoever calls first. Well, when they hang up and they call back, they go to the bottom of the queue. Okay, and that's why I'm worried about that, because I'm not betting on Man of War, for example. Well, if it's that way, I would clarify. Nobody gets hurt, but I've still- No, I clarify that as a 911 call. So you recommend that we call 911? Yes, if you're broken down in a situation where it puts you in jeopardy in the middle of Nicholsville Road, Or on man-of-war with no curb, you are presenting a danger to yourself and others. 911 would be appropriate in that instance. How short are we on the 911? I will have to review, but the last thing I remember is about 18. And the 3600 altogether, do they work? Yeah, 911 is 3600 in the administrative number and E911. We have 411, but that's totally different division. I know that totally, but I want to make it clear. Because I've seen people that wreck on, they're not hurt, but I usually encourage them to do the 36th turn goal. No, in that type of instance, yes, you would call. Thank you. Does anyone else have an announcement? All right, we have several signed up to speak for public comment. And the way the council rules work is that when I call your name, you'll come to the podium and state your name and your council district for the record, and you'll have three minutes. So, Dottie Bean, you're up. Welcome. Mayor and council members, we are here again tonight with the same concerns. we have expressed during the last month or so about violence in neighborhoods and a lessening of police presence throughout the city. Our concerns are even more troubling today because of the incident last night on University Drive at an off-campus brat house. One student was shot in the stomach while ten others, ten others, had undisclosed injuries from shrapnel. With, I'm giving you the media report, with little explanation about how that happened. Obviously this was no domestic violence incident, but it does appear to be a random opportunity for people to terrorize a house full of students who were partying and probably drinking. This was very shocking to say the least, but just as shocking was a report that a woman was kidnapped and seriously injured at the bargain hunt on Clay's Mill Road during daytime hours. At one time, these crimes would be not only shocking but condemned by local officials. They are a serious threat to all of us. We are once again asking that we take our jobs seriously when it comes to keeping the the public safe and that is the number one job of government at all levels we must back off the idea of underfunding the local police and make sure none of us is undermining the authority with foolish ideas of turning them into social workers they need our support in ways other than raises if they're going And Mr. Brown, Council Member Brown, I would tell you that your problem with getting the police on the phone is a problem I have with every division of government. That's why I'm down here talking to you all, because I cannot get anybody on the phone. Thank you. Next is James Woodhead. I'm sorry, we ask that you not clap. Thank you. Hi, James Woodhead, District 10. There's been much talk by elected officials about public safety in our city, particularly in response to gun violence. Yet the definition of public safety often seems to be extremely narrow and the reactionary strategy is ineffective. While many in Lexington are hurting, some of our leaders continue to prioritize punitive systems that disproportionately harm marginalized communities. To make Lexington's neighborhood safe, we need to start investing in what evidence actually shows works. Our current public safety plan and budget is not reflective of research. According to an article by Northwestern Professor Eric Reinhart that was published last month by Time, data make clear that America's policing and carceral systems neither effectively prevent crime nor protect collective safety. After over four decades of booming incarceration rates, safety in U.S. communities is considerably worse than in peer nations that on average incarcerate at an 85% lower rate than we do. Coincidentally, FCDC is full with nearly 1,000 people incarcerated, most of whom have not been convicted of a crime, and the facility has repeatedly been reported to be unsafe, even by the FOP. Some seem to believe the answer is for the Lexington Police Department to have more controversial tools. This includes block cameras that have been installed without a public hearing. This week an LPD commander commented, you pretty much won't be able to go anywhere without being seen somewhere by a camera. Despite concerns about transparency, privacy, and targeting, the commander said the police policed themselves and found no issues. While admitting they aren't designed to deter or prevent crime, but they do come with a reoccurring price tag of nearly $300,000 per year. Other tools come from Israeli digital intelligence company, Celebrite, utilizing software to access files and create reports on cell phones and mobile devices, including phone logs, chat messages, emails, images, and other private information. Celebrite has a problematic history, including being utilized by law enforcement without warrants, having its data leaked, working with repressive foreign governments, and partnering with ICE. During racial justice protests for police accountability, LPD used trumped up charges, criminal charges, to confiscate and hack into protesters' phones. It's no surprise that digital rights groups have stated that cells of Celebrite's surveillance tools are enabling detentions, prosecutions, and harassment of journalists, civil rights activists, and minorities around the world. Some seem to believe the answers for our police department to be competing with others. While most educators in Fayette County have received zero dollars in bonuses and bought for minimal raises that didn't keep up with increased cost of living, recent incentives to police have totaled $15,000 in increased compensation. Coincidentally, elections are approaching and the FOP recently asked some of you to fill out surveys and interview for endorsements. Immediately following this, council members proposed to pursue a memorandum of understanding with the FOP to possibly increase salaries again, despite an already decreasing number of reported vacancies. I'm so sorry to interrupt. Can I have another minute, please? Council members? I'll make a second. For one minute. All right. Any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Anybody opposed? You have another minute. Thank you. The same FOP that is fighting the city for banning no-knock warrants. What purpose does this serve? Despite the unfortunate headlines, the vast majority of crime that is reported in Fayette County continues to be for non-violent offenses and the majority of violent crime that is reported has never had a high rate of being solved by law enforcement no matter the budget. What else would you like to defund in order to continue increasing funding for our current approach to public safety? Perhaps the first step to addressing public safety should be ensuring all of Lexington's residents have basic needs met. In a city that has consistently ranked in the top five in the nation for month over month rent increase since the beginning of the pandemic, This includes eviction prevention. Yet recent budgets have not increased allocations to affordable housing. While the federal government provided millions of dollars in rental assistance, many of those impacted continue to be unaware or have landlords that discriminate based on the source of income, refusing to accept the money. With winter approaching, many of our neighbors currently have forcible detainer warrants taped to their doors. Without stable housing, it's nearly impossible to find and maintain a job. without a source of legitimate income, it's past time to reimagine public safety in Lexington. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next is Jess Bowman. Welcome. Long time no see. I'm Jessica Bowman, I'm in District 9. I first want to thank Council Member Kloiber and Vice Mayor Kay for responding to my email. I'm out in the community talking to community members in lots of areas of the city, and there's a real disconnect from this city government. Our only option is to send an email and hope we get a response, which we often don't, or show up on a weekday to a city council meeting to speak for three minutes with no discussion, no response to questions. Yet some folks, like the FOP, have a direct line to our council members, probably some of their cell phone numbers. The disparity in who gets to have their voices heard is great. Opening the CBA is a bad precedent to set. What is the point of having a contract if you just open it willy nilly at the request of one department? It was stated at the end of this meeting that our police cannot prevent the shootings that happened last night or various other shootings. I agree. So there has to be another solution. That if they can't prevent it, why do we keep pouring money into something that can't prevent the actual problem? We heard a presentation from the Homeless Intervention and Prevention Committee. I thought it was pretty helpful. They have a lot of good plans in the future. It's going to require a lot of funding, and we need to be committed to giving them that. Our paramedicine program did a review not long ago. They're doing great things. It's also public safety. They're going to need more money for that. Addiction services are public safety, waste management is public safety. Affordable housing is public safety, yet we keep prioritizing one department over all of the others. A department of about 400, 500 people. And also, we're told no one wants to come downtown anymore. Well, my drive past Thursday Night Live would beg to differ. My drive downtown on a Friday or Saturday night would beg to differ with that. People are coming downtown. Our restaurants are thriving, people are coming downtown and fear is being used to justify continued raises for one department. That's already going to cost us the raise they already got, $21 million over the next three years. So again, where are we going to take that money from? Because there are other areas of our city that need attention greatly. And I would also just ask that council find a way to address how community members can better engage with you. Because I'll tell you, a lot of your constituents don't even know your name. Thank you. Next is Tom Dupree. Welcome, if you'll state your name and council district, please. Tom Dupree, 4. This is kind of a narrowly focused observation. When you guys did the budget, I don't know, three months ago, we read it very closely. Some of the members here acted like they hadn't. It appeared to us that what happened was you went to all the departments and said, what would you like? And then just gave it to them because it overran and spent not only money that was in rainy day fund type accounts, but also revenues that hadn't yet been received. It was known that the police staffing was low at the time. when this discussion came up about entering into collective bargaining or MOI or whatever you want to call it, the mayor's comment was, oh, we'll have to raise taxes. Well, we just did a budget that I, quite frankly, thought was irresponsible in that it was not financially feasible. And now we're saying we're going to have to raise taxes. Our warning was that if we ran into a recession or some sort of budget shortfalls, that this would be what would happen. And based on your words the other day, as stated in the Herald-Leader, you're now looking at having to raise taxes in order to begin to hire officers. so i don't think you guys are making much fiscal sense i don't know who on this council knows anything about running a business but we can't run our business like that you are not the fed you don't have the ability to print money it's not and the the taxpayers of this city are not like an ATM machine. We're already paying two and a quarter percent of our income in what amounts to an income tax. It's an occupational license tax, but it's an income tax. And we're not picking up new businesses. You know, it's hard enough to run an existing business, especially downtown, with stuff that goes on down here, which we've done for 20 years, and almost 40 years of my career has been spent in downtown Lexington. So what happens down here affects me and my clients greatly. You've got to be more fiscally responsible. And you can say, well, you know, we couldn't do this or we couldn't do that, but you can. You've got to have a sharper pencil. And there's a lot of, I agree with what's been spoken here tonight about public safety. It's got to be the main focus. I'm sorry, your time is up. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next is Chad Sturgill. Welcome. If you'll give us your name and your council district for the record, please. Certainly. It's Chad Sturgill, and I'm District 12. I was planning to yield my time to Tom Dupree. Is that still? I said what I wanted to say. Okay. Well, I second a lot of what Tom said and actually had some very good ideas here from the citizens tonight. But one thing I will say very clearly, There is at least a perception that I've been aware of in conversations with other residents of this city that you are being completely blind to the increase in crime. You're ignoring it, pretending it's going to go away. If you don't talk about it, maybe it won't be as bad as it really is. But it may not matter what you're doing. You're not doing a good job of publicizing the things you're doing to fight it. I, for one, definitely favor something that makes sense to make sure we have a properly staffed police department, pay them a living wage, but also address some of these other issues that have been brought up by other public citizens tonight about trying to look, quit throwing money at things that are broken that are not working, come up with a more comprehensive plan. But I can tell you that's how, if you're going to think that you can raise taxes on us, And I mean, the ad valorem tax just got increased. You've got the water quality management fee that just went up. That just has an auto escalator clause in it, I guess, that just makes it go up every year. The taxes are continuing to increase and we think we're getting less for what we're actually paying for here. So that's not a good long term solution. As Tom said, it's time to sharpen the pencil. He gave everybody the raises they asked for and then some. I'm in favor of people getting raises, but you can't just expect to keep gouging the taxpayers. The occupancy, or the payroll tax that we have to pay is making Fayette County a less attractive place to live or really work because you got to work for businesses outside of Fayette County. It puts you at a distinct disadvantage and if you want to try to raise that because you have to pay police more money that we've already addressed. We said with the budget that you passed, without really much thought on it, it didn't seem like. He said that it was going to result, you were going to come back and say, the police are going to, the safety is a concern. The only way we can pay them now is to raise taxes. Well, you were warned that raising taxes would be required if you didn't address it before with the budget by cutting some of your projects here. One comes to mind is the food truck that's been purchased with nobody to operate it. And that's not in the budget from what I understand. I may be mistaken on that, but I don't know where a food truck ranks in terms of priorities here. But I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to speak, but I would also encourage you to, I can tell you what you're doing right now either isn't working or at least the public perception is it's not working. So if you want to fix this, you need to address it more seriously. Thank you. Thank you. Council members, that takes us to a motion to adjourn. Do I have one? Yes. Second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All right, we are adjourned. Thank you everyone.