Music Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Hello, everyone. I'll go ahead and call to order the Lexington Fayette Urban County Council meeting. Hello. Thank you. I'll go ahead and call to order the Lexington Fayette Urban County Council meeting of work session, excuse me, of February 14th, 2023. Happy Valentine's Day. and first I'd like to call on Councilmember Baxter. Thank you, Mayor. I move to move our proclamation for Coach Brian Lane to the beginning of our agenda today. Any questions? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? Thank you. That motion passes. So we will go to the proclamation. Thank you. So Coach Lane and Council Member Baxter come join us at the podium. We needed to do this early because Coach Lane has a basketball game. I think they like the coach to be there, don't they? Sometimes they don't. My gosh. We are thrilled to welcome Coach Brian Lane to the council chamber today. Brian is the coach of the men's basketball team and the men's golf team at Transylvania University. He is also the son of legendary coach Don Lane, who is with us, and coach Brian Lane is well on his way to becoming a legend. And so it is my pleasure to present Coach Lane with this proclamation. Here we go. Will you come step right up here? So whereas Transylvania University men's basketball coach Brian Lane is celebrating a historic achievement of 350 career wins, and whereas establishing one of the top NCAA programs in the country, the pioneers made it to the NCAA Division III Elite in 2004, and whereas since taking over at Transylvania University in 2001, Coach Lane is the only men's basketball coach in conference history to win the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year award four times. And whereas Coach Lane was a Glenn Robinson National Coach of the Year finalist in 2011-12 and was regional coach of the year in 2005-06, and whereas Coach Lane is also the men's golf coach at Transylvania, where he has won 14 conference championships. His team was the national runner-up in 2012 and 2013, and he has won 14 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year awards. and whereas Coach Lane has dedicated his career to ensuring that his players achieve their goals. Now, therefore, I, Linda Gorton, Mayor of Lexington, do hereby declare February 14, 2023, Coach Brian Lane Day in Lexington. Congratulations. Would you like to say a few words? Thank you, Mayor. It's a humbling day and one that I know that my family shares in. We've been here in Lexington and have grown to love Lexington and Fayette County. It's good to actually be in the chamber because I used to watch these on telecable a long, long time ago. And I recognize all the mayors as we go around. But what you all do on a daily basis for our community and for our people, our young people particularly, we can never thank you enough. I know from time to time the job that you have is not an easy one, but you're making a mark every single day on Lexington and all the people that visit. We're hosting the NCAA championship here in May for the men. We'll host it again next year for the women. And when all those teams come in, they rave about Lexington. They rave about the community. They rave about the citizens and how the community embraces people that come in. And you all are a big part of that. I'd be remiss if I didn't say thank you to my wife, Andrea, and my parents, obviously, Donna, Montalane. When we talked about the first couple of wins, I would stop on the way home and go to the phone booth and put in a quarter and tell her we won. Now we just text each other during the game. But thank you. This means a lot and it's a special day. Thank you. Thank you very much. So, Councilmember Baxter recommended that we honor Coach Lane, and I'd like to ask her if she has a few words. Thank you. So, I just wanted to take a moment to recognize Coach Lane, not only for his achievement as a basketball coach, but as a notable 9th District constituent, friend, and colleague. You probably heard a little bit of rumbling. We've got our brokerage real estate advisors, colleagues in the audience that wanted to come and show their support as well. So you mean a lot to us. You're a great person and a great friend, and we appreciate your commitment to our community. Thank you. So let's get a photo. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, thank you very much. And next we have public comment for items on the agenda and we have two people signed up. And so just to repeat the rules, the council rules say that when you come to the podium, you'll state your name and your council district for the record and you'll have three minutes. So first is Dottie Bean. Welcome. Last week, I'm sorry, Dottie Bean 8th District, council members, last week we appeared here to comment on so-called stakeholder meetings of small interest groups with council members to talk about neighborhood projects funded with taxes from sewer funds. Again some of the projects were not sewer or stormwater projects but street building or maintenance issues as well as utility issues. The cost of sewer bills has escalated greatly since being passed in 2010 to fund the consent decree. At that time, we felt the city was seeking way too much money from those taxes and that the end result would be higher cost projects and a lot of wasted money paying for enhancements like rain gardens that could be paid for through use of neighborhood funds or other city monies or could be paid for privately. Today's agenda includes five such examples that total almost a quarter million dollars in sewer funds. They will fund such projects as rocks wales, rain gardens, nature walks, and cleanups, community events, and of course education. We think those items could be funded from division budgets instead of our sewer fees which should pay for infrastructure projects. We also asked how much we are spending in fines for violating health and water quality regulations. On another item we question the need for more traditional style house I'm sorry institutional style housing at the Hope Center for the homeless the original idea sold to the council years ago was to help people get on their feet give up their addictions find work and return to the community there's two million dollars and rescue plan funds could be better spent on affordable housing for veterans or for education and training to move up in the workforce. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next is Amy Clark. Welcome. I believe Billy Mallory tried to sign up and the sheet was gone. Oh, okay, for an issue on the agenda. For an issue on the agenda. Counsel, does that suit you? So you'll give three minutes to Amy Clark, so you'll have six minutes. Thank you. Thank you. I'm Amy Clark. I live at 628 Castle Road in the 3rd District. I ask that you not support the hastening of deliberation and voting final vote on this intense ZODA. It was the council rules had to be suspended for the committee report to come to council today rather than a month from now. There have been changes. The public has not had an opportunity to offer public comment on the changes. In general, please let the citizens be a part of this process. The question that we're now considering, or that was brought up in the last committee and addressed with an amendment in between is, how do you construe the intent, how do you understand it and what it does for the zoning ordinance? I think by now we have learned something. We all understand that each intent is a bridge from the comp plan to the specific zone of the zoning ordinance. It distills and interprets material from a 300 plus page comp plan or if you count all the additions in something, it gets over a thousand pages. It chooses key matter to highlight for each zone for someone just getting a quick start. The intent offers guidance, and here I'm quoting from the findings of fact that are part of the motion made for the adoption of this ZODA. It offers guidance, it offers a foundation for ZODA that amend the body of the zoning text, its provisions or regulations. It also offers criteria for zone changes to ensure development, it's called development compliance with the comprehensive plan. I would ask whether that's appropriate. It sounds rather like a straight jacket and we know that the comp plan is not that. And the following slide gives you the text of your motion. And if you look at three, the second line it says it can provide a foundation for any future text amendments. And 4C says it includes criteria for zone change applications. I say this because the staff has very competently and carefully responded to our concerns and the concerns of our council members and representatives to say that actually this is just guidance. It's not a straight jacket, it's just comp plan ideas. It's not the body of the zone, the regulations, the provisions that the zone offers as law, really, as ordinance. So Mr. Worley, Council Member, I should say perhaps Councillor Worley in this instance, wanted to be assured that the intent that we all understand, that the intent does not exhaust or preclude, That is to say, it doesn't exclude other provisions possible for the zone that aren't actually mentioned in the intent. So the red language was added after that committee meeting and is available in your packet today and was reviewed, no doubt, today in committee. Okay? I get that, and that's a good thing. It's appropriate. My concern is not so much that the intent not constrain other possibilities that could be added in a ZODA or that could be considered in a map amendment to a zone change, but rather my concern is that it, that's not its, it's it, the intent of the zone can guide the expansion of a zone's form or scope or intensity or design. And I'll give three worrisome possibilities of that. Because these intents include possible provisions, enlarge the scope or the design intensity and so on. One is that B3 highway business, there's guidance that it's to be located on major collectors. Some of our major collectors are not very major. They might be two lanes wide. They don't necessarily, they run along streets lined with house fronts and driveways. Our three, four, and five multifamily can even be included on minor or major collectors. Minor collectors, Columbia Road by the university is a minor collector, very small, very narrow. Our two duplexes are to embrace townhouse and multifamily designs as well as the current duplex. And while we understand there aren't the regulations behind that yet, the thought is father to the deed. If you are summarizing in the intent of a zone, 300, 1,000 pages of comp plan and studies and whatnot, that will be a powerful influence and guidance. I just want to say the green are the major collectors and the golden ones, the yellowish ones, are the minor collectors. You can find some really small, narrow streets lined with houses on those roads. think too that when you get an access to a business or a major apartment, you tend to put the access not on the street with the heavy traffic, it would clog things, but on the connecting street, which might well be a local street. The other thing I want to highlight is the modernization of the zone titles. You have to really look close. They're changing the two-family residential zone, the name of the zone, mixed low density, the high density to, as you see. Yeah, time's up. Thank you very much. Thank you. All right, I believe that is all of our speakers. Moving on to requested re-zones, are there any re-zones? Okay. Second. We have a motion and a second for docket approval. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Any opposed? That motion passes. Moving on to approval of summary. Our table of motions for our last work session. So moved. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion on approval of summaries? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay, moving right along, budget amendments. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion on budget amendments? All right, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? All right, budget adjustments for information only. And then on to new business. Second. We have a motion and a second on new business. Any discussion there? Okay, all those in favor? I'm sorry. I need to start looking at the screen. Council Member Fogle, please. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Is the Hope Center in the building? A representative from the Hope Center? Vice Mayor, could you call them to the podium? I have a question on Kay. Sure. Kay Adam. Can we have? Okay. Yes. Jen, thank you. Hi, council member. I've asked Rufus to be here as well. So I can start and then he can assist if necessary. Okay, thank you. And I know that this item came up before the last council and there's just some questions that I have. Okay. And you may not be able to answer them today, but I hope so. How many of the Hope Center beds are allocated for Department of Correction prison beds do you all have that's funded? I will definitely have to call Rufus up for that question. Okay, and the other question is I just go ahead and hand out some more questions. And the other questions would be how many beds are filled by Lexington residents? We have a shortage of beds for our people without homes. And we have a backlog in our jail system of folks who cannot access the beds at the Hope Center of residents of Lexington folks. And so with the DOC beds, and I know there's money allocated that when a person from prison comes to the Hope Center, that the Department of Corrections pays for those beds for them to be in. So my question is, because we have a tight budget and there's a construct of a new building or to add on to the existing building of beds. And if those beds are not going to be filled by Lexington residents and you guys are going to be funded or a possibility of being funded with Lexington funds, then I and the first district where the Hope Center sits have a problem with that. Because we have so many people who are without homes and cannot access treatment. I also would like to know if you all have, because I have the data, of how many folks that could not get a bed inside the Hope Center during the winter months because they had already been banned from the Hope Center. So there's three questions. How many beds are allocated for state beds from prisons? How many Lexington residents from the Fayette County Detention Center gets to occupy those beds to receive treatment? And then the data of how many people were banned from those beds during the cold weather and what was the reasons behind that? Okay, Rufus, I want to just quickly, council member, thank you for your questions and I'm hopeful Rufus will have some of that programmatic data. I do want to make just one small distinction. The American Rescue Plan Act does not allow us to spend any money on congregate shelters. So the addition that we're talking about today, the item on your new business, is strictly transitional housing per the Treasury's rule. So I just wanted to make that sort of distinction to start and then I'll turn it over to Rufus for programmatic. Okay, thank you. You're welcome. Thank you for that distinction. And so for those beds that you're talking about, those would be the beds that are paid for from the Department of Corrections for transitioning housing coming through the program. Is that correct? Okay. As for the record, I'm Rufus Friday, Executive Director for the Hope Center. Thank you for your question, Councilmember Fogle. I think that there are, your questions are somewhat complex. A couple of things I need to clear up is that number one, as it pertains to the Hope Center Emergency Shelter. We do not allocate or hold beds for the Department of Corrections for the shelter. We have a contract for beds at our Privet Recovery Center and our Don and Kathy Jacobs house. Those are beds that we have a contract through the Department of Corrections for. As far as beds at the Hope Center Emergency Shelter, there are no beds that are allocated specifically for the Fayette County Detention Center, nor are there beds specifically set aside for any Department of Corrections clients. Okay, so this new construct, is that going to be built on the existing shelter that is on Loudon? Are you going to build a whole new facility? And I know that you guys received a grant from the Veterans Administration and you get federal funding. So is this a new building or are you going to add to an existing building? We'll be adding it to the current property. It won't be connected to the Hope Center's Emergency Shelter Building in itself. It'll set on the same property, set aside from it. But there'll be 72 transitional housing units there. 24 will be allocated for the veterans. The other 48 will be transitional housing that will be available for those that come to us that are homeless. And we can get into case work for programs to get them into employment, housing, permanent housing, or any other mental issues that they're dealing with. We'll be able to provide those services for those individuals that come to us that are homeless from the county. That are homeless from the county jail? No, from Fayette County. From Fayette County. So the homeless is- Councilmember Fogle, I don't mean- Can I come back to this? Yes. Okay, I'm going to hold that. Thank you, I appreciate that. And by the way, I'm looking forward for your tour down at the facilities as well. All right, thank you. Councilmember Sevigny, please. Yeah, I just wanted to note that I'm going to have to recuse from item H. I wrote part of that grant and my church is a partial recipient of that grant, which I'm on the board. Thanks. Thank you. Councilmember Ellinger. Thank you, Vice Mayor. I had some questions on Kay, but I will let Council Member Fogel finish up on those. How about let's go to, let's start with L, and it's Director Burton. I think this is the seventh agreement we've had now, and where do we stand? This is, I guess, the last phase that we get to South Lyme. Is that my understanding? Right, so this is the section that's currently built today. This is just the sunset funding. 2021, council passed through the previous agreement, which is the sunset agreement, which it sunsetted the amounts that were given by the state and federal government. So this is just an adjustment to that to move the money around, more facilitate the construction of the Davis Park, as well as extend the deadline just to give, again, more time to do that. So there's no more additional funding. this just shifts the date and the money around thank you the next one would be oh miss peacher this is going to be for the space city hall the consulting the rfp that was given to our ernst and young can you tell me what is included in this and then i think some things aren't included in this for the 250 000 yeah that's correct council member thank you for the question so this is not a new conversation for the administration for you all for our city but we are revisiting the opportunity to look at our facilities this was meant to be a temporary move here and so that's been many many years in the making what we'll do with this work with this consultant is a is building upon work that's been done in the past but also trying to get down to the brass tacks of what is it do we need in order to determine do we renovate do we relocate do we build new there's so many options before us but just like when you're going to shop for a car you want a list of everything you want in that car before you go shopping for it same thing here with the building we will work with Ernst & Young to identify how do we operate today how much space do we have and how can we more efficiently operate so they will tell us all of that they'll also look at how we can more efficiently organize our departments so that they can be closer together so they can serve our community better i know we have people coming into this building who should be going to phoenix vice versa or they're getting lost so there's a lot of efficiency and ways we can be more civically engaging with our spaces that they'll tell us in addition to that they'll give us some standards for proceeding ahead they will not design anything but they will say give us a list of these are sustainability measures you should consider these are workplace space standards you should consider and especially after the pandemic we've changed the way we work and so they work around the nation to look at ways that that you can utilize office space in the way that you can work more efficiently using technology and lastly once they know what we really need they will look at this particular structure we're in right now and they will say all of this will fit in this structure or x percentage will fit an x percentage will not and then we can determine would we need to do an addition to this structure would we need to go elsewhere but all that's still on the table this will not give us a design it will not look at other real estate it will not choose a location it just tells us we need these features we need this much space and we need to locate certain departments together thank you when do we hope to have this back by yeah so um their contract states that they will present by may 30th thank you very much the next one i have is on p which would be um i think director burton again welcome back doug um the tarp money for the brighton and the harrisburg one i think is for construction ones right right away could you tell me what's going on there and we're getting the money through the map for 2024 right so this is the design is in a way or just started for both of these these are arpa funded projects we didn't fund the further phases for either of these projects with arpo just because of the timelines that are the that constrain you to where we couldn't get through could you put where they go and from from where to where so the brighton is basically behind liberty school off liberty and connects the brighton liberty trail to what will eventually be a shared use path yes we do have some maps i think someone here we go instead of me describing it um so you can see liberty school there and there's star shoot and there's liberty road and that yellow line you can see will be the trail so it'll tie the existing trail the bright and overpass is is just off screen so it comes down and we'll tie to kytc will be widening liberty road soon or soonish and as a result of that they're going to be adding a shared use path to the northern side of that and we'll tie into that as well as which will which will continue on to the section of liberty that we own, where we'll also have a shared use path. So that'll have a continuous shared use path from the interdiction all the way into downtown effectively. And then the Harrodsburg? And my time's up, so I see everybody's looking at me, but when I talk about trails, I get excited. Yeah, if you want to go ahead and answer this question. That one's a lot easier. It's from basically Beaumont Center Parkway out to Firebrook area. And again, a shared use path to get us that entire way. And that's where just by the right of way at this point on this one? Right, right. That would just be the next phase of the project, which is the right of way. Thank you, thank you, Vice Mayor. Council Member Baxter. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Director Burton, follow up on Council Member Ellinger. At what point do our trails, are they listed on our website as part of the trail system? So- The Harrodsburg Road Trail is not currently, so I was just curious. Right. This was in the bike pedestrian plan, and it was one of those that frankly, without the ARPA fund, would have probably been challenging to fund. So that's probably why it wasn't on there as a front runner, but we'll work with our MPO and other folks to make sure we get it listed on there. Okay, I just didn't know if it had to get past a certain phase before we listed it. No, no, again, this one was one of those ARPA funding, here are ideas, here's a project that, again, may have not gotten funded otherwise, so it was a good ad. We're very excited. Council Member Sweeney and I are very excited about this trail connection. So thank you for your work on it. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Fogle. You're back. With your permission to call the Hope Center back up to the voting. And I just wanted everyone in council to know, I've been in Frankfort with 80 students from Bryan Station. So it might have sounded like harsh, but I'm coming with love. And you guys take 80 students down to Frankfort and see how you sound. But anyway, so I think where my questioning is going is, I know that Lexington is infiltrated from folks around the state coming out of prison that needs beds at the Hope Center because you have your program. And I also know personally that there's a lot of Lexington residents who need the same type of programming from the Hope Center. But they are not at the top of the list because we have so many Department of Correction beds. That I guess funds the Hope Center to hold beds for inmates who need transitional living or the Hope Center. And their prison terms are being paroled. And so, but this is $2 million from Lexington. And I was just needing some figures for my fellow council members to look at. To see, we need to find Lexington residents also and they need this, they need the programming that the Hope Center has. But if we're double funding and Hope Center is receiving state funds to have beds for inmates, then it's leaving our Lexington residents out. And that's the only reason why I'm asking for some data from the Hope Center that I can look at. Because the last council kind of moved this through. Yes, ma'am, I'll be more than happy to provide you with that data. And what it will show you is that the funding that we receive for Department of Corrections, the contracted beds that we have for those individuals, They are strictly and solely left housed at our Jacobs House, as well as our private recovery center, not at the emergency shelter, which is, of course, we operate the shelter for the city. But there are no beds that the Department of Corrections gets allocated at the shelter. Our shelter beds are for individuals that are from Fayette County only. And on average, we average about 140 individuals that are staying at the shelter on any given night. Now in the winter time, we average up to a little over 200. We have capacity for 228 that we can- Yeah, but by your testimony, you said that the offer funds cannot be allocated for those shelters. So I'm not even talking about the shelters now. I'm talking about the privet center and the building that you want to build now, which will be like the privet center? No, ma'am. It'll be another shelter? It will be transitional housing and 24 of those transitional housing beds are for our homeless veterans. The other 48 would be for individuals who come to us that they are homeless, but we have a way of moving them into a transitional housing setting by those agreeing to be a part of getting case work to determine exactly what needs they may have. Whether it be employment, whether it be substance abuse and mental health issues, we will be able to accommodate them in this transitional housing environment at the shelter location. Is it safe to say that the grant that you receive from the Veterans Department is not enough to cover this new building that you're asking us to fund? Yeah, the total cost? No, it does not cover the total cost. No, it does not. Okay, thank you. Council Member Ellinger. Thank you, Mayor. Q, Director Cary. Could you explain this program to us? Is this the one that Vice Mayor Kay that we put a million dollars into? And how does this work? And can anybody qualify, or what's the restrictions on it? Yes. This is associated with the million dollars that Vice Mayor Kay asked council to approve as part of the fund balance discussion in the fall. The Solarize Lexington program will be open to anyone who is interested in having their roof evaluated for having solar panels to offset their utility bills, their electric bill. As a part of that, a subset of that, the million dollar grant or pool of money that was allocated will be used to allow low to moderate income homeowners to receive full funding to get the solar panels installed. So we have worked with Kentucky Solar Energy Society to develop the program. We just selected the installer through the RFP process, and that's what this new business item is in regard to. and this this installer has the capacity to do the installations for not only the homeowners who are self-pay customers and will contract directly with the installer to have the solar panels put on their home but as well with the folks that qualify for the hundred percent grant so when we sent out the rp we got this group um and anybody can apply for this to use it um do we say we have a set price that we have with them then is that how it's a group buying program so basically they um the the installer is offering a discount on their normal pricing because the solarize lexington team we'll basically be doing a lot of the front end leg work so screening the homes to determine yes this is potentially a good fit for a solar installation in other words there's not trees you know up shading the roof all the time so we'll be doing a lot of that initial outreach essentially trying to get customers for this installer and doing the initial vetting and then at that point the the ones who sort of get through that initial screening process then they will start to work directly with that installer getting the quote for their particular rooftop and typical electric bill usage you know assuming there's they can fit enough of those panels on their roof and then the qualified for low or medium or moderate income how was that 50% of 80% of the area median income am i okay i think that's all thank you very much you're welcome council member civigny yes i have questions on the same thing thanks um hey i'm just kind of i am trying to figure out too because i think it's a great program um like a typical solar installed on a roof in a in a moderate home is probably about a thirty thousand dollar you know somewhere between 30 and and $40,000 to, and I don't know, are we, are we looking at trying to provide supplemental electric for people this way? Or are we trying, or if we have 50 people, they're about $1,000 a panel, right? So we can, so we can basically roughly do whatever that is, a thousand panels or something like that with this money. Are we trying to do like four panels per person who asks? because like and i don't know exactly how the process will work like if it's going to be cued if it's going to be they're going to be a point scoring system just curious and that may be coming but i'm i can see we'll quickly spend the money i think a lot of those conversations are still happening but essentially um we would want to get as many panels on the roof as they're appropriate for that size roof and the pitch and whichever side of the house it might need to be on but without overdoing it you know based on their past electrical usage so hopefully trying to hit that sweet spot can you see though that it may it may be i just probably just make sure that the instructions are pretty clear and it's not a um i could see it be like a flood like the ppp loan program was like completely flooded at the beginning so just maybe be prepared that you can we can handle handle it without looking bad i guess that would be it all right thank you thank you it looks like that's all the questions for new business so all those in favor of supporting new business please say aye aye anyone opposed all right that motion passes and next we have general gov and planning committee and I'll call on councilmember Worley thank you mayor the January 17th general government planning committee began at 1 p.m. the first order of business was the election and committee chair a motion was made by councilmember Brown to nominate myself as the committee chair seconded by councilmember Ellinger motion passed without dissent and I was pleased to appoint councilmember Plowman as the vice chair the next item on the agenda was the final general government and social services committee summary and the final planning and public safety committee summary both were included in the packet because those two committees were split and then merged into into this committee the next item on the agenda was a presentation on the intent statements zoning ordinance text amendment Chris Woodall and Hal Bailey from planning gave the presentation and described the need to change the stated intent statements those intent statements need needed to be up well they need to be updated for technical and legal reasons practical reasons transparency purposes but also for modernization and to strengthen the connection between the comprehensive plan and provide greater context the appropriateness of the zones in different locations of the community. The text also corrects various references to the comprehensive plan, updates the zone nomenclature to match the comprehensive plan, and modernizes the text for 2023 and beyond. The text does not change what people can and cannot do with their property or allow for new uses within zones. After some discussion, the item returned to the General Government Planning Committee for today's February 14th meeting, and I have a partial report out for that, which I'll make here shortly. The next item on the agenda was a second presentation. It was a presentation from Civic Lex Public Comment Proposal. Richard Young, the Executive Director of Civic Lex, presented on behalf of the item. He provided the final recommendations for Civic Lex Public Input Research and provided results from the two surveys that they conducted in conjunction with the University of Kentucky and Transylvania University. There was no action taken on this item, but a public comment work group or subcommittee was volunteered by Council Member Legree. And today in our committee meeting today, that subcommittee was formally established and appointed, and Council Member Legree agreed to serve as chair. lastly committee item referrals were addressed and the following were removed from the committee a review of the regular review and regulations and guidance for redistricting enhancements to the pdr program mass transit and regional zones how to communicate with broad groups of diverse people exploring the explorer mpsa bluegrass area development district annual update and and expanded public hearing notification, some of those items were addressed through subcommittee formations. And that meeting adjourned at 2.36 p.m. And then, Mayor, I have a partial summary report out from today. At the February 14th, 2023 General Government Planning Committee, we had a follow-up conversation on the intense ZOTA, and that was initially heard at the January 17th meeting. Planning emphasized that the intense statement ZODA clarifies and modernizes the language and does not change what is or is not allowed in certain zones. After discussion with planning and law, I proposed a paragraph in the interpretation section of the zoning ordinance text. A motion was made by Council Member Baxter to approve that proposed amendment to the intense ZODA as presented to the committee and as set forth in the committee packet, seconded by councilmember James Brown motion passed without dissent motion was made by councilmember James Brown to move the intense soda out of committee and to the full council seconded by councilmember Reynolds that motion passed without dissent there was further a motion to report that out today made by councilmember Brown and seconded by councilmember Ellinger so on behalf of the committee I so move is there a second councilmember Reynolds seconds any questions or comments all those in favor say aye aye anyone opposed all right that motion passes a full report out of the remainder of the meeting will be made at the March after the March 7th meeting and that meeting that's all I have mayor thank you okay thank you very much now we'll move right on to council reports if you have one please log in councilmember Reynolds Thank You mayor happy Valentine's Day to everybody I hope that you get to spend time with somebody that you love today or this week I really want to say happy Valentine's Day to my son Isaac he is sad that I am not with him this afternoon but we're gonna have a special dinner tonight so I want to announce two things really quick one tonight there is a neighborhood association meeting meeting with a Meadow Thorpe neighborhood association at the community center there in meadowthorpe at 7 p.m so also if you're interested in joining online there should be a link on the neighborhood association page or on meadowthorpe rocks page i should say and then there's going to be a chili cook-off in valley park at the valley park shelter this Friday with the Cardinal Valley Neighborhood Association. It's going to be $5 to go and taste and judge, and it's also $5 if you want to enter your chili. So that will be at 6 p.m. Friday, 6 to 9. So I invite my colleagues to stop by and have some yummy chili. This is the first time they're doing it, and they would like to make it an annual event. So I hope you will show up for that. Thank you. Thank you. Vice Mayor Wu. Thank you, Mayor. Tomorrow in Frankfurt, there's going to be a Kentucky Fairness Rally. It starts at 9 a.m. and there's a 1.30 rally around the Capitol Rotunda for LGBTQ rights. As many of us know, the recent Senate Bill 150 passed out of committee and is heading to the floor for a vote. Under the guise of parental rights, SB 150 would actually take away rights and agency away from trans kids, their parents, teachers, and the school systems that make K through 12 schools, and make K through 12 schools less safe and affirming for LGBTQ kids. Make no mistake, this bill will absolutely hurt and endanger the lives of our trans kids. This issue is very personal to me and will directly affect people very, very close to me and close to countless other Kentuckians who all we want is for our kids to live safely as their truest selves. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member James Brown. Thank you, Mayor. Sorry about that. Can I have somebody from planning come up? Mayor, I know this coming Thursday, we're going to have a public hearing at the planning commission meeting to talk about the goals and objectives of the comp plan. I think it just would be beneficial for council members to know what to expect and folks in the community after that public hearing in regards to goals and objectives and how that relates to the comp plan going forward. Director Duncan, welcome. Thank you. Yes, the Planning Commission has scheduled a public hearing. It will be in this chamber on Thursday at 1 30 to consider the goals and objectives for the 2023 comprehensive plan. And as a reminder, those goals and objectives are recommended to the council by the Planning Commission so the expectation is that they will have their public hearing and take public comment and if they feel that they can do so they will go ahead and make a recommendation on Thursday to the Urban County Council. Within two weeks or so those will be delivered to you for your deliberation and as required by statute you have the final authority to approve the goals and objectives for the comprehensive plan. Then the Planning Commission will take those adopted goals and objectives and fill out the rest of the plan but for you all to do your part you need to receive them from the planning commission so you'll probably do so within two weeks or so early march from the planning commission at that point by statute you have 90 days from when you receive those to take action on the goals and objectives now in the past and traditionally the the council has reviewed those as a committee of the whole with the vice mayor being the head of that group. So that's certainly something that we would be glad to guide you all through if you want to talk about that. But traditionally that's how the council has addressed this. And then at the committee, the whole reports out to the full council, or the council of the whole reports out to the full council and then makes their final approval on the goals and objectives. Thank you for that. Excuse me. Thank you for that, Director. I just know there's a lot of things happening in city government and the comprehensive plan and how council handles that is a big part of what we do. So I just wanted to give council members a heads up that that's happening this Thursday and what's going to happen afterwards. I know I'm starting to get a lot of emails about the goals and objectives, and I've been directing people to that public hearing this Thursday. So thank you. And then, Mayor, I want to be brief. I think some other council members may talk about it. But this weekend, attending the fire banquet at the Embassy Suites, it's always a great event to recognize those folks in that sector of public safety, the work that they do, the sacrifices that they make, and to have the ability to celebrate some of the triumphs with them over the years and enjoy that time with their families who also sacrificed them for the benefit of our community was just great. I know there was a lot of council members there. And then we also had folks from our police department there to show their support and encouragement for our firefighters. So it was a moving experience, and I'm always moved. And I told them if the age limit was a little lower, I might have signed up and applied and become a firefighter. Oh, no. The other thing I'll say, too, in wrapping up, is this past Friday I got to get a tour of Locust Trace, the agri-science or agriculture school off of Leastown Road. Two students actually gave me the tour, Giselle, who's a sophomore at Bryan Station, and then Clark. I think he's a junior out there at the school. I'm just so impressed about all the opportunities that we have in this community for our young people and the benefit of having a program like that that leads students down pathways and different phases of agriculture is just impressive. Seeing all the goats, the cows, the horses, and the pigs out there was a little intimidating, but they embrace it, and I just appreciate the resources we have in this community. So thank you. Thank you, Mayor. We need to get you on the farm more often. Thank you. Council Member Legree. Thank you, Mayor. Mayor, you were there, obviously, this Saturday for our volunteer and donor appreciation event at the Arboretum. And I have the privilege of serving currently as the co-chair of the Arboretum Advisory Board. And I know that you served on that same board for many years in that leadership position. and i just want to say a couple of things it was a lovely event and i wanted to thank you for doing a wonderful job talking about the importance of the arboretum and about your support and our council support for the arboretum and for the visitor center and you know along those lines we we were reminded of what that visitor center can and ultimately I hope will be with stained glass and with all the facilities that will serve the community. So I wanted to express my gratitude to our colleagues past and present. It's moved into this new council just recently and especially Councilmember Lamb for being champions and supporters of this project which will benefit the whole of our community. especially since ultimately the Visitor Center is part of the Arboretum, and the Arboretum is a joint venture between LFUCG and the University of Kentucky. And I know that there are so many people who are excited about this project, and I want to express my gratitude for all of the volunteers who show up and put in so many hours of work to make the Arboretum beautiful. We learned a lot about their stories and about people who come. week after week for hours on end in different parts of the Arboretum and give their time and share their services and their talents to make it even more special. And obviously the staff are a big part of that too. It was really cool. And, you know, on a side note, some of you all may have noticed the hearts in the chambers. So those are actually recycled. We love recycling. from the event on Saturday and these were all handmade banners all hand cut out and they said well maybe you could take them and decorate another place so that's why they're up today just a little bit of festivity and I just wanted to close and say thank you Councilmember Brown for mentioning another big event on Saturday the fire department awards banquet it was just it was it was it was incredibly moving and i think that we get updates about what's happening you know we knew our firefighters we knew personnel from the city went to eastern kentucky but to for example to see those photos and to hear their stories and to really have an important reminder all in that event about all that they do all day every day to serve our communities and the rest of our state It was a special evening. So just a couple of things of note from this weekend, and that's all, Mayor. Thanks. Thank you. And I see the chief back there. It had been 30 years, I believe, since they had awarded those medals of valor and the unbelievable, brave, courageous work they did in eastern Kentucky during the flooding. It was the stories and the words around that were unbelievable. So they really are people of valor. Council Member Sheehan. Thank you, Mayor. I have two quick thank yous and an event announcement. So first, I would like to thank the One Lexington team for their neighborhood engagement efforts and the time that they take to provide resources and support and care for our neighbors, particularly in areas that have experienced violence or a shooting. And that happened in Winter Garden recently, and one of the residents in my district reached out to me to just say how much they appreciated the visit by the One Lexington team. So I just want to say a sincere thank you for that work. And then yesterday I participated in a ride-along for the afternoon with our community paramedicine team and also very meaningful work. And so I want to just say thank you to them for hosting me yesterday. I learned a lot, and thank you for all of the work that they do. And then my event announcement is the Lexington Hearing and Speech Center's annual event, the Frankel Night of Cocktails and Casino Night or event, will take place on Friday, March 3rd at 7 p.m. at the Kroger Field Longship Club. It's always a fun event to attend, and tickets are on sale now if you would like to participate and support their event. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Lynch. Thank you, Mayor. I just have one announcement and one thank you. I want to announce that the Georgetown Area Neighborhood Association will be having their Valentine's Day dance this evening. It starts at 6 p.m. at the O'Rear Center there at Douglas Park. If you do decide to attend, make sure you have your ID because they will be carding you. You have to be 55 years and older in order to attend. But luckily they're going to waive that rule for me because I'm going to go this evening and volunteer, serve punch, and enjoy our seniors. So if you're available, come on out to the Valentine's Day dance this evening at 6 p.m. and have your ID with you. And then lastly, I just would like to thank Chief Wells for an awesome tour this morning. he and his phenomenal staff gave me a tour around the city and I learned so much and I look forward to learning more and seeing more so thank you to Chief Wells thank you mayor thank you councilmember Fogle thank you mayor and thank you councilmember Lynch we share the West End Neighborhood Association and they are we're excited about the the event tonight is miss TC Johnson in the I know she works hard, so she may not be here, but if you want to queue up some photos. I just want to talk about Miss TC Johnson. I met her when my children were at Winburn Middle School. She does so much for the Family Resource Centers, and she has this promotion now. She's the program director at the McKinley Vento office. The McKinley Vento office focuses on homeless students in Fayette County. So it was a really touching goal for her to be here, but we want to honor her anyway for black history as we lift her up. And if you all don't know her, please get to know her. Thank you for whoever gave her that promotion. She does great work in our city. So she's not here, but can we just snap for her anyway? I'm not asking for claps, just snap. Okay, that's good. And so the second announcement, if you want to bring the lights back up, and I can put my glasses back on. So the rest of the announcements I want to talk about is in the morning we have a press conference. Yeah, the United Way, the Palmer Building has sat empty, and the United Way will take ownership and we have a press conference on Fifth and Chestnut in the morning at nine o'clock for those who are able to come by. Thank you for the police department. I'm pretty sure you guys will be in the house. We will love that and thank you, Mayor Gordon, for going, you're going to be there and some commissioners. And so I wanted to announce that and the last announcement is tomorrow, 100 years, Dunbar High School will celebrate 100 years. It's located on Upper Street, it's the old Dunbar. It is now in a community center. But 100 years tomorrow celebration for those who would like to join us. The event starts at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Please, if you have time, please come by and look at the rich history. First district has such rich history. And please come and join us. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Ellinger. Thank you, Mayor. February is Black History Month and I want to pay tribute to a community hero. I'm going to try to, I almost wasn't going to do this because I'm going to have a hard time getting through this, but I know I will. Brenda Denise Cowan passed away 19 years ago yesterday. She was born in Sturgis, Kentucky. She attended Union High School. She was born May 9th, 1963. She died February 13th, 2004. She was 40 years old. She was badge number 324. She served the Lexington Fayette Fire Department from November 3rd, 1992 to February 13th, 2004 for 12 years. She was the Lexington's first black firefighter. According to women in the fire service, Lieutenant Cowan was the first black female career firefighter ever to die in the line of duty. On the first tour of duty after being formally promoted to lieutenant, Lieutenant Cowan was shot and killed while responding to a domestic violence call. Lieutenant Cowan, an emergency medical technician and firefighter was assigned to engine company 18, was trying to help Fontaine Hutchinson, who had been shot in the head outside her home. Ms. Hutchinson died at the scene. My thoughts and prayers are with our fellow firefighters and her family. We can never forget our heroes who gave the ultimate sacrifice. Thank you, Mayor. Very well said. And that was a terrible day. I'm looking back there at the chief. She was a hero. Yeah, thank you for that. All right. there is a mayor's report if I could have a motion to approve thank you this mayor seconds councilmember Fogle moved are there questions all those in favor say aye anyone opposed all right that motion passes I'll also entertain a motion to approve the price contract bids thank you vice mayor Council member Brown did I hear okay councilmember Fred Brown seconds any questions all those in favor say aye anyone opposed all right that motion passes now is there anyone signed up for public comment for issues not on the agenda no okay thank you all right that brings us to a motion to adjourn thank you councilmember Fogle and second by councilmember lagree all those in favor say aye we are adjourned thank you very much I'm sorry. I'm sorry.