# Council Work Session - August 22, 2023 > Auto-transcribed civic record · August 22, 2023 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/5891 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/5891?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2023-08-22 - **Last revised**: August 22, 2023 - **Length**: 10,569 words - **Speakers**: Mayor > ⚠️ **Auto-generated content.** Audio from the official Granicus video was auto-transcribed with OpenAI's open-source Whisper large-v3-turbo model, run locally by The Lexington Times. Structured facts were extracted with GPT-4o; the narrative summary was written by Anthropic Claude. Verbatim wording may contain errors. See [methodology](https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/about/methodology) or [report a correction](mailto:editor@lexingtonky.news). --- ## Meeting Overview The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council convened on August 22, 2023, at 3:00 PM in the Council Chamber at 200 E. Main St, Lexington, KY 40507, with Mayor Linda Gorton presiding. The council addressed a comprehensive agenda of 10 items, conducting regular municipal business including zoning matters, budget amendments, and various administrative approvals. During the session, council members took 22 votes on motions covering requested rezonings and docket approvals, budget amendments, new business items, and the mayor's report. The meeting included both continuing business and presentations as part of the informational portions of the agenda. Public participation was facilitated through two separate comment periods, with citizens providing 4 total public comments addressing both agenda items and issues not on the formal agenda. The council successfully approved several key items including the meeting summary, budget amendments, new business matters, and items presented in the mayor's report. The meeting followed standard municipal procedures with designated time for council reports and concluded with formal adjournment. ## Attendance The following members were present at the August 22, 2023 meeting: • Wu • Ellinger • Baxter • Plomin • Gray • Reynolds • Sheehan • J. Brown • Fogle • Lynch • LeGris • Monarrez • Sevigny • Worley **Absent:** F. Brown No members arrived late to the meeting. A total of 14 members were present and 1 member was absent. ## Votes and Decisions The council conducted 22 votes during the August 22, 2023 meeting, with most passing unanimously. Several key tax rate decisions required roll call votes with detailed member positions recorded. **Procedural and Administrative Votes** The council unanimously approved several routine items including amending the agenda to add employee recognitions (Wu/Ellinger), approving the August 17, 2023 Council meeting docket (Baxter/Plomin), and approving the July 11, 2023 work session summary (Ellinger/Gray). Budget amendments passed unanimously (Gray/Wu), as did neighborhood development funds (Plomin/Baxter) and council capital projects (Ellinger/Wu). **New Business and Special Items** New business approval passed with one abstention, as Council Member Sheehan recused on item l (Reynolds/Baxter). The council unanimously approved an amendment to add an allocation to the Old Paris Place Community LLC to the neighborhood development fund list (Gray/Ellinger). **Tax Rate Decisions** Multiple tax rate votes occurred, with most passing but showing some division: - General Services Fund real property tax rate at option 3 passed 14-1 on roll call, with F. Brown voting against and all other members supporting (J. Brown/Ellinger) - Urban Services Fund Refuse Collection tax rate at Option 5 passed 14-1, again with F. Brown dissenting (J. Brown/Wu) - Urban Services Fund Street Lights tax rate at Option 5 passed 11-4, with Ellinger, Fogle, Worley, and F. Brown voting against (J. Brown/Baxter) - An ordinance placing all tax rates on the August 17, 2023 docket passed 12-3, with Ellinger, Worley, and F. Brown opposing (J. Brown/Reynolds) Other tax rates for personal property, public health (0.0243), and soil and water conservation (0.001) passed unanimously. The council scheduled a public hearing on tax rates for August 31, 2023. **Final Actions** The Mayor's Report and Price Contract Bid Recommendations both received unanimous approval before the meeting adjourned (Gray/Fogle). ## Budget and Financial Actions The meeting addressed multiple contracts, grants, and financial agreements totaling over $12.9 million in potential funding and expenditures. **Contracts and Agreements:** • **Resolution 0790-23**: Approved a $55,000 Memorandum of Understanding with NAMI Lexington, Inc. for the Fayette Mental Health Court • **Resolution 0793-23**: Authorized partial release of a sanitary sewer easement at 1821 Alysheba Way with no budgetary impact • **Resolution 0796-23**: Approved a $118,536 professional service contract with ADS Environmental Services for sewer overflow monitoring and reporting services • **Resolution 0799-23**: Authorized the 9th Supplemental Lease Agreement between LFUCG and the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Airport Board with no budgetary impact for LFUCG • **Resolution 0811-23**: Approved a $20,990.85 reimbursement agreement with Windstream Communications, Inc. for relocation of communications cables • **Resolution 0812-23**: Authorized $24,300 in lease agreements for houses located in parks with Samuel Garcia, Fred Williamson, Teresa Jill Farmer, and Brian Huddle • **Resolution 0813-23**: Approved Change Order No. 3 with Lagco, Inc. for $83,070.56 for the Meadows/Northland/Arlington Public Improvements Project • **Resolution 0817-23**: Authorized $12,000 for 2023 Summer Camp Facilitron Permits and Honorariums with the Fayette County Board of Education **Grant Applications and Awards:** • **Resolution 0824-23**: Accepted an additional $62,566.92 in federal ARPA funds from the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services • **Resolution 0825-23**: Authorized application for $101,667 in federal and state funds for the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Program • **Resolution 0826-23**: Approved application to the U.S. Department of Transportation for a $12.5 million Reconnecting Communities & Neighborhoods grant ## Public Comment Four community members addressed the council during the public comment period, raising concerns about taxation, housing, and city planning. **Richard Maloney** spoke regarding the proposed street light tax increase. Maloney expressed opposition to the tax increase, characterizing it as only a temporary solution to funding issues. He suggested that the city should instead utilize franchise fees as an alternative funding mechanism for street light maintenance and operations. **Dottie Bean** addressed the council about the comprehensive plan of 2045. Bean provided information about upcoming public meetings related to the long-term planning document and encouraged community members to participate in the planning process. **Rock Daniels** raised concerns about the broader impact of tax increases on housing affordability within the community. Daniels specifically highlighted how tax increases create additional financial burdens for landlords, which could potentially affect rental housing availability and costs for residents. **Rick Day** criticized the MAG study and its effects on employee compensation within the city. Day presented a specific example of an employee whose salary did not increase despite the MAG study determining that their position had increased in value. He expressed frustration with the disconnect between the study's findings and actual compensation adjustments for city employees. The public comments reflected ongoing community concerns about municipal finances, taxation policies, and their effects on both residents and city operations. The speakers addressed issues ranging from infrastructure funding mechanisms to long-term city planning and employee compensation practices. *Note: Specific transcript timestamps were not available for these public comments.* ## Contested Items The primary contested item during the August 22, 2023 meeting was a proposed street light tax increase that drew significant community opposition. **Street Light Tax Increase** Several members of the public voiced opposition to the proposed tax increase designated for street light funding during the public comment period. Community members expressed concerns about the additional financial burden and suggested the city explore alternative funding methods instead of raising taxes. The disagreement centered on the funding mechanism for street light infrastructure, with residents questioning whether a tax increase was the most appropriate solution. Public commenters proposed that the city consider other revenue sources or cost-saving measures before implementing additional taxes on residents. The specific outcome of this contested item was not clearly documented in the available meeting materials, and no timestamp information was provided for when this discussion occurred during the meeting. ## Public Comment - Issues on Agenda The council opened the floor for public comments on issues listed on the agenda during the August 22, 2023 meeting. This agenda item provided an opportunity for community members to address the council regarding specific matters scheduled for discussion during the session. No specific speakers, comments, or discussion details were recorded for this public comment period in the available meeting documentation. The item was designated as informational, indicating that it served as a formal opportunity for public input rather than requiring council action or decision-making. This public comment period represents the council's standard practice of allowing community participation in the governmental process by providing a designated time for residents to voice their concerns, opinions, or support regarding agenda items before the council proceeds with formal deliberations. ## Requested Rezonings/ Docket Approval The council reviewed and discussed requested rezonings during this agenda item, ultimately approving the docket for the August 17, 2023 Council meeting. The discussion focused on various rezoning requests that had been submitted for consideration. Council members examined the proposed changes to zoning designations and their potential impacts on the community. Following their review and discussion of the rezoning requests, the council voted to approve the docket. This approval allows the items to move forward in the municipal planning process and be formally considered at the August 17, 2023 Council meeting. The outcome represents the council's procedural advancement of the rezoning requests through the required review stages, enabling further public consideration and formal action at the designated meeting date. ## Approval of Summary The council approved the summary of the July 11, 2023 work session during this agenda item. No specific speakers were identified for this discussion, and no transcript timestamp was available for this portion of the meeting. The approval appears to have proceeded without significant debate or concerns raised by council members. This type of procedural item typically involves reviewing the accuracy of meeting minutes or summaries from previous sessions to ensure they properly reflect the discussions and decisions that took place. The outcome was an approval of the July 11, 2023 work session summary, allowing it to become part of the official record. ## Budget Amendments The council discussed and approved budget amendments during the August 22, 2023 meeting. The agenda item was presented as a discussion item and ultimately received approval from the council members. However, specific details about the nature of the budget amendments, the amounts involved, or which departments or programs were affected were not captured in the available meeting documentation. No key speakers were identified for this agenda item, and the specific transcript timing for this discussion was not recorded in the meeting materials. The council voted to approve the budget amendments as presented. *Note: Limited details were available in the meeting documentation for this agenda item. Readers seeking more specific information about the budget amendments may wish to review the complete meeting video or contact the city clerk's office for additional documentation.* ## New Business The council addressed new business items during this portion of the meeting. The discussion resulted in approval of the new business items under consideration. One notable aspect of the proceedings was that a council member recused themselves from voting on item "l" within the new business agenda. The specific nature of item "l" and the reason for the recusal were not detailed in the available information. The remaining new business items were approved by the council without significant recorded debate or opposition. No specific speakers were identified as leading the discussion on these matters, and no particular concerns or objections were noted in the record. The outcome of this agenda item was approval of the new business items, with the exception of the recusal noted for one specific item. *Note: Specific transcript timestamps are not available for this agenda item.* ## Continuing Business/ Presentations The council received informational presentations during this portion of the meeting, focusing on two key areas of municipal business. Reynolds served as a key speaker during the presentations, which covered neighborhood development funds and provided a summary of recent Social Services and Public Safety Committee activities. The neighborhood development funds presentation likely addressed funding allocations, project updates, or policy matters related to community development initiatives within the municipality. These funds typically support local infrastructure improvements, community programs, or economic development projects at the neighborhood level. Additionally, the council received a summary report from the Social Services and Public Safety Committee meeting. This type of committee report generally includes updates on public safety initiatives, social service program developments, budget considerations, and policy recommendations that may require future council action. Both presentations were informational in nature, serving to keep council members informed about ongoing municipal activities and committee work. No formal action was taken during this agenda item, as these presentations were designed to provide updates and maintain transparency regarding various city operations and committee deliberations. The presentations allow council members to stay current on departmental activities and committee work between formal meetings, ensuring informed decision-making on future agenda items that may require votes or policy decisions. ## Council Reports Council members provided updates and reports on various topics and events during this portion of the meeting. This was an informational agenda item where council members shared updates on their activities and community engagement. The specific details of individual council member reports, including which members spoke and what topics they covered, were not captured in the available meeting documentation. This segment typically allows council members to inform the public and their colleagues about their participation in community events, committee work, regional meetings, or other activities related to their council duties. No formal action was taken during this agenda item, as it served purely as an informational update session for the council and public. *Note: Specific details about individual council member reports and transcript timestamps were not available in the source materials for this meeting.* ## Mayor's Report The council considered and approved the Mayor's Report during the August 22, 2023 meeting. The report included Price Contract Bid Recommendations as part of the mayor's regular reporting to the council. The agenda item was presented as a discussion item and received council approval without recorded debate or concerns from council members. No specific speakers were identified in the available meeting records for this portion of the proceedings. The Mayor's Report typically serves as a vehicle for the mayor to update the council on various municipal matters, administrative decisions, and recommendations requiring council consideration or approval. In this case, the report specifically included price contract bid recommendations, suggesting the mayor was seeking council authorization for certain procurement or contracting decisions. The council's approval of the Mayor's Report indicates acceptance of the information presented and any recommendations contained within it, including the referenced price contract bid recommendations. This approval allows the mayor to proceed with the administrative actions outlined in the report. *Note: Specific transcript timestamps are not available for this agenda item in the provided meeting records.* ## Public Comment - Issues Not on Agenda The council opened the floor for public comments on issues not listed on the agenda during the August 22, 2023 meeting. This agenda item provided an opportunity for community members to address the council on matters of local concern that were not scheduled for formal discussion. No specific transcript timestamp or detailed speaker information was available for this portion of the meeting. The session was conducted as an informational item, allowing for public input without requiring council action or formal response. This type of public comment period is a standard component of municipal meetings, designed to ensure community members have access to their elected officials and can bring forward issues that may warrant future consideration by the council. ## Adjournment The council concluded the meeting with a motion to adjourn. The motion was approved, bringing the August 22, 2023 meeting to a close. No additional discussion or debate occurred during the adjournment process, and no specific concerns were raised by council members regarding the conclusion of the meeting. --- ## Decisions - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Amend agenda to add two employee recognitions - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approve the August 17, 2023 Council meeting docket - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approve the July 11, 2023 work session summary - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approve budget amendments - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approve new business - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approve neighborhood development funds - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Amend the NDF list to add an allocation to the Old Paris Place Community LLC - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approve council capital projects - **Motion** — passed (14-1): Set the General Services Fund ad valorem real property tax rate at option 3 - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Set the General Services Fund ad valorem personal property tax rate including public service companies, noncommercial aircraft and noncommercial watercraft at option 3 - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Set the General Services Fund ad valorem tax rates for motor vehicles, tobacco in storage, agricultural products in storage, insurance companies’ capital, and abandoned urban property at the same rates as the prior fiscal year - **Motion** — passed (14-1): Set the Urban Services Fund – Refuse Collection ad valorem real property tax rate at Option 5 - **Motion** — passed (11-4): Set the Urban Services Fund – Street Lights ad valorem real property tax rate at Option 5 - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Set the Urban Services Fund – Street Cleaning ad valorem real property tax rate at Option 5 - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Set the Urban Services Fund – Public Service Companies ad valorem tax rate at Option 5 and Insurance Co. Capital at .0920 - **Motion** — passed (12-3): Place on the docket for the Thursday August 17, 2023 Council meeting an ordinance pertaining to all of the tax rates for general services and urban services - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Set the public health ad valorem real property tax rate at 0.0243 and the public health ad valorem personal property tax rate at 0.0243 - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Set the soil and water conservation district ad valorem real property tax rate at 0.001 - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Schedule a public hearing on these ad valorem tax rates for the Council meeting on August 31, 2023 at 6 p.m. - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approve the Mayor's Report - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approve the Mayor's Report - Price Contract Bid Recommendations - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Adjourn the meeting --- ## Full transcript Anyone signed up for that? Second, we have no docket. Third, we have approval of the motions for August 15th, 2023. Could I have a motion to approve? Thank you. Council Member Baxter, second Council Member Plowman. Are there any questions, comments, changes? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? Alright, that motion passes. There are no budget amendments and there are no for information only. Next is new business. I'll entertain a motion to approve. So moved. Council Member Ellinger and then second by Council Member Baxter. And if you have any questions about new business will you log in please? Council Member Ellinger. Thank you Mayor. number K please we received an email about this but I just want you to go ahead if you would just kind of tell us what's going on here welcome Brandi feature of course happy to give an overview as you all know we apply for federal discretionary grants as they become available to us and as we have projects ready to submit we did apply for the raise grant earlier this year but did not receive that for our planning project the state however did receive a raise grant for the North Broadway capital construction project so want to make sure that was clear the project we're looking to apply for is for for sales road from Mason Healy all the way down to Oliver Lewis Way the remainder of that split for Maxwell and high street to Broadway and it would also incorporate connecting Patterson Street improvements to the Scott Street connector that is coming our raise grant project initially had all of this as well as the Scott Street connector as part of the overall project since the Scott Street connector has funding five million dollars from the congressional discretionary funds we are able to move ahead with that piece so we are able to who now hyper focus on the for sales road project and this was a perfect example of a competitive project for this this program it's reconnecting communities and neighborhoods and want to focus on areas that are needing transportation improvements prioritizing disadvantaged communities and aiming to provide better access to jobs education so on and so forth so this This one, if you all are in favor of, we will apply by September 28th. We will request $10 million in grant funds, and we would use $2.5 million that's already budgeted. That 2.5 was put into the budget last year, and I'm looking at Councilmember Reynolds to make sure I got that right, for the design phase of Versailles Road. So we're not asking for additional money as our match. simply using money we've already set aside to try and seek ten million dollars to do the remainder of the project this will not get us construction it will get us through right-of-way acquisition we believe of course that all depends upon negotiations but it will get all the design done all of the environmentals and get the permitting process completed if we win thank you so as you said that 2.5 we already put that aside and that would be the local match that's correct Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Gray. I will, thank you, Mayor. I just have a few questions about A. Commissioner Lanter. Thank you, Commissioner. Hello. Just could you give us some more info about this program? So as you probably remember, we already provided an allocation of regular ARPA funds, state and local rescue funds, to NAMI for the mental health court. This is an allocation directly from the general fund to allow them to do two additional pieces. One is their alumni mentor program, which is a peer mentor program, and it also provides a little bit of funding for a software update they need for their data collection. But this is not just the general funding of the mental health court. that's already been funded through through the ARPA funds. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Councilmember Sevigny. Thank you, Mayor. I'd like to move to remove item D under new business items pertaining to the ninth supplemental lease agreement for the airport credit note as it is no longer needed. So moved. Thank you. Councilmember Ellinger seconds. Are there any questions? All All right, all those in favor of removing D, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. And are there any other questions about new business? All right, all those in favor of approving the new business as amended, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. We'll start our continuing business, and first is Neighborhood Development Funds. Moved, approved. Thank you. Second. Thank you. Council Member Sheehan seconds. Are there any questions? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. There were at least two. Let's do that again. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? That motion passes. Thank you. Council Member Reynolds, I think you're up for social services, public safety. Thank you, Mayor. This is a report out of the Social Services and Public Safety Committee from June 13, 2023. The meeting was called to order at 1.02 p.m. The first item on the agenda was approved of the May 2, 2023 committee summary. There were no additions or corrections, and the summary was approved without dissent. Next, we heard from Commissioner Armstrong regarding recruitment, retirement, and retention for public safety. He reviewed staffing, attrition, seniority, and pay statistics for the divisions of E911, Fire and Emergency Services, Police, and Corrections. He spoke about other pay considerations, which include hiring incentives, COVID-19 payments, retention pay, and overtime incentives. And a representative from each division was present to address questions and concerns. Also included in the presentation was a review of collective bargaining agreements for the Division of Police and Fire and Emergency Services. Speaking about the increase in sick time for Division of Fire and Emergency Services, Assistant Chief Robert Larkin said it could be from COVID-19, burnout, etc. Addressing recruitment, Armstrong said they had made changes and are on track to improve recruitment efforts. When asked about minority recruitment, Armstrong said he does not have these statistics, but he sees an increased interest, so there seems to be some rebounding. He pointed out that it has been difficult to compete with pay. No action was taken on this item. The last item on the agenda was the annual update of code enforcement provided by Director Owsley. He began the presentation with a review of the authority and scope of the division of code enforcement, highlighting related chapters of code ordinances. He mentioned problem types, including housing, nuisance, sidewalks, snow, and unsolicited materials. He pointed out cases and citations by council district and highlighted the appeals process that is currently in place. Finally, he displayed maps to illustrate where complaint cases are across the city. Owsley stated that different problem types would be violations of separate ordinances. There were some discussion regarding graffiti on sidewalks. and Osley clarified that they have no jurisdiction over graffiti on sidewalks because sidewalk graffiti is a criminal offense. He noted that code enforcement enforces graffiti on walls, fences, and building structures. No action was taken on this item, and the meeting adjourned at 2.40 p.m. Thank you. Thank you very much. Are there any questions for Council Member Reynolds? All right, thank you. this time i'll welcome to the podium jen warnema and she's going to give our annual arpa update welcome thank you mayor good afternoon council i think chris is gonna get my slides he gave me a tutorial on this yesterday so hopefully we'll get through it okay i want to thank you all for the opportunity to come before you today to give you an update on the American Rescue Plan Act. I'm always happy to come to the podium and speak to you, but it's really the project managers and our partners around the community that are making ARPA happen for the city of Lexington, and many of them are local project managers are here today with me. I won't go through this whole agenda. It looks really onerous, but I'm going to give you an overview of where we are, talk to you about who all in government is working on American Rescue Plan Act, how we're engaging the public, and then talk about the impact that your allocations have had on our community. So I'm sure you all are tired of hearing this number, but as you know, we've gotten $121 million from the federal government. We've received it in two tranches, and it's all here. You all have allocated every dime of this money, so it is all put into specific project categories that we're going to talk about today. All of the funds have to be obligated, meaning a purchase order or a contract on our system by December 31st, 2024, and it has to be completely expensed by December 31st, 2026. And weekly, if not more frequently than that, CAO Hamilton tells me not one dime goes back to the federal government. So we come in every day, myself and the project managers, to make sure that that happens. So I want to take a minute to recognize our executive team. These are the folks that I work with daily, running challenges by them, updates by them. Anything that comes up with ARPA, we'll powwow, get together, and talk about how we can move forward through various situations. And they all go without saying. Obviously, you all know all of the folks up on that screen. We also have a number of ARPA funded positions at the city government. Obviously my position is ARPA funded. We have one in accounting, one in grants, and three in parks. I do want to also note Chris is a project manager, a grant manager in parks that while not ARPA funded, he is managing over 28, 29 ARPA projects for the division of parks and recreation. I work with him frequently and I wanted to make sure that I said his name publicly today. He works really hard to ensure that their projects stay on track. So just a note, my team wanted me to remind everybody that we did do a very robust community engagement process in the summer and fall of 2021. The council held various committee of the whole meetings in addition to meetings out in the public. Obviously, 2021 was the height of the pandemic, so we did a number of Zoom meetings. People were able to submit surveys, and we're still engaging the public. And I wanted to put some examples down on the bottom, creative ways that our division project managers have come up with to tell the community what we're doing and solicit their input when they go. And an example, I believe this would be Council District 11, Council Member Reynolds. There are sort of posts out in the parks that will say, we want your feedback. What do you want to see in your new playground? What would you use? And so they can scan the QR code and give our parks and recreation staff ideas of things they may want to put in the park. Theresa Maynard did a community social media campaign when you all funded the nonprofit capital grants to let folks know we're having a webinar. Please join us so you can find out about this opportunity. And then Parks and Recreation also came, this one is in Spanish, but they're also letting the neighborhood know we are funding an enormous project in Cardinal Run North. Please scan this code and tell us what you would like to see. So I wanted you all to know that despite the fact that 2021 has come and gone, we are continuing to let the public know what we're doing and solicit input on what they would like to see in their neighborhoods. So this project's status is actually a bit dated now. We had nine projects that had not started because they were fiscal year 24 projects that you all had funded. But since then, we have started most all of our projects. So whether or not we've received an invoice, we may not have gotten it yet, but the agencies and our internal project managers are working. And as for the completed projects, we now have an additional three projects that have been completed as Parks and Recreation completed Lakeside Gulf Course Irrigation last week. That was a large project over a million dollars that is now completely expensed. So you all have seen this in the annual report, in the monthly reports that I send, but these are our allocations. I do want to point out, I had forwarded to you all a week or two ago, the Brookings Institution is keeping a very close eye on how municipalities are spending their ARPA money throughout the United States. What I found in looking at their analysis is that EC6, which is essentially revenue replacement, you all lost revenue because of the COVID pandemic, so you have a bit more freedom in this category to fund what you would like. As you can see, we funded the most projects in that category, as have most municipalities around the country. I would guess selfishly that some of that is the reporting is a little easier, so sometimes I'll say let's put it under EC6 because it's easier for me. And it also gives us a little bit of flexibility. But like I said, most of the municipalities in the country have put a large section of their funding in that expenditure category. Just quickly, you'll see that again here. We obviously have 46 projects under revenue replacement. But we also have a number of projects in other expenditure categories. We are funding projects in public health, negative economic impacts. Here you'll see EC2 is going to be your affordable housing projects, your office of homelessness projects. We have any number of projects there. Public health is public sector capacity. You will see zero expense here, but we actually will do something in the accounting system to go ahead and report back about $3 million in human service salaries from fiscal year 23. So you'll see that number updated for the October reporting. Obviously, we paid premium pay and all of that is allocated and all that is expensed. And then the administrative line, I've talked to you all about this before, we are a bit underspent in administration and we have some ideas on how we are going to deal with that that we'll bring forward that I'll mention in just a bit. So again, this is just an illustration of our obligated funding. These again are items that have purchase orders or contracts that are on the system so we We can tell the Treasury not only have we said we're going to put money here, but we've gone through a legislative process and a financial process to encumber those funds. And again here is our expense number, which Ashley hot off the presses has the funding through July, so that number is now increased. So I want to take a couple minutes because I know everybody likes pictures and the Treasury wants us to use so many pictures in all of our reports, so Parks helps me a lot with photos as we finish things up. But I picked a couple of my favorite projects, I shouldn't say favorite, favorite photos that I've received through the process. You can see here that there's multiple projects that have enhanced our public spaces around town. The top right corner is actually one of our subrecipients that we funded their operations in the very beginning in the height of the pandemic so they could keep their doors open. The bottom middle photo is actually part of our One Lexington program. And while we're not funding the operations of that program, we do fund Divine Karama's salary out of the American Rescue Plan Act. And so he very frequently shares photos of the work that he and his colleagues do around the community with our youth. A couple other exciting projects, the Woodland restroom slash therapeutic area. We had a wonderful turnout for that. That was one of the first larger ARPA capital projects. I know Council Member LaGrie, I think, attended that ribbon cutting, lots of smiling faces. We have our code enforcement housing repair assistance program that through June had actually assisted 30 homeowners with housing repairs that would have been violations, but instead used some of the American Rescue Plan Act money to fix up their home. So not only did they avoid the violation, but they were able to enhance where they live. And then the bottom is actually, you're probably wondering what that is. Those are the fire SCBAs that the council funded and that they procured. And after a lengthy process, we finally got all of them in. So they came in sort of different tranches. But that was a couple million dollar project that is now complete as well. The house you see on here is actually one of the homes that was enhanced with the code money. I do want to point out Director Sanders in the photo. it looks like she's either putting a temporary tattoo or a bracelet on a child. She has attended multiple events throughout the community to let folks know about the EFA program and other programs that their department slash division offers in the community. And so that was one that I sent to the treasury just to let them know, hey, not only did we fund ARPA, but we're out in the community telling people what ARPA funded. And then one of my favorite pictures, I'm biased because my daughter was also there, but the bottom photo, I know Council Member Sheehan and LaGrie can attest, so they were in the part of the photo you don't see, about to cut the ribbon on the pirate ship. Well, these kids almost tore down the barrier, hooting and hollering and screaming to get to that pirate ship. They were all the way through to the back where you get the tickets for the pool, and it was a really fun, exciting day. And I think that as soon as they cut that ribbon, the kids just sort of flooded the pirate ship, and it was a lot of fun. So I wanted to include that photo as well as a few additional public space and trail projects that you can see up on top. Then finally here, I got Charlie to pose in the pink t-shirt up on the very top. That's the Oakdale Affordable Housing Unit. He also had a pink hat on that day, a pink hard hat. And Glenn Brown did the tour with us as well. You all did allocate a million dollars to visit Lex. And as part of that, they did a new booth that they take all over the country to try to get folks to come to Lexington on vacations, conventions, those types of things. So while it's a little bit hard to see, it's very impressive. Hope Center Transitional Housing is in the center. Hopefully we'll break ground soon. And then Amy Glasscock, who is here with us today, is helping manage the workforce grants. And this was one of the photos that she sent to me of one of their participants in the workforce program. And I thought the smile was pretty contagious. So I wanted to share that photo with you as well. So here's how we are serving our community. As you all know, affordable housing. I got an email last week that you all have allocated $13.1 million to Rick McQuady and the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. As of last week, only $400,000 of that remains unallocated. And Rick was quick to tell me that he already has a project for his next meeting. So that money will be gone too. So that really says a lot about Rick and the board's efforts in affordable housing. We also have a transitional housing and emergency shelter component. We've done substance abuse, violence prevention and intervention, eviction prevention, and then various improvements to neighborhoods, parks and green space, trail designs. and then as I've previously mentioned, the assistance to homeowners with low income. We've done workforce development and multiple nonprofit assistance grants across our community. So this is a snapshot through June. I went through the massive amount of reporting our project managers did, and these are the number of folks at a minimum that the ARPA money has touched in our community. Public health, we have any number of different ways that this has touched people's lives. A large percentage of those residents served are the folks that Devine's program touches and goes out in the community and helps. Negative economic impacts, here you're going to see not only the affordable housing units, but the homelessness numbers. All of the folks that Jeff Heron assists throughout the year, they are here. are here. And then I did want to put through June 319 affordable housing units created or preserved with many more to come. Over 1900 public and pull employees that would be employees some employees in our building as well as the sheriff's department received premium pay and we've had over 650 workforce participants, 30 code grants, 33 individual parks improvements completed with many more on the way. The seven non-profit capital grants projects completed and then we also paid a supplement out to the employees that did not receive the premium pay a couple years ago. So we continue as a team to track our bids, monitor our budgets, and we have meeting after meeting after meeting. So parks and recreation updates us at least monthly. We get subrecipient reporting quarterly, monthly from some sub-recipients, and then I have to compile all this information and send it to the Treasury quarterly, and then the large annual ARPA report. So I think today what I would like to sort of get from you all is do you know what we're doing in ARPA? Am I telling you enough? Am I communicating with you and with your residents and your constituencies to let them know what programs are funded, what's going on in your neighborhood? We We never want to catch anybody off guard. We have a ribbon cutting. We want to be able to tell you and make sure that we're communicating those things with you. Now CAO Hamilton and I are following, as I mentioned earlier, that administrative budget. So we've got a couple things that I want to talk to you about. Our non-shelter eligible program was funded at a certain level. We know we are not going to spend all of that funding. Charlie, Jeff, Sally, and I have talked about potentially using some of that funding for winter warming so we can keep it. Do I press something? No, you do. Okay. So we can keep it within the OP office. Mayor, should I stop there? It looks like you're almost finished. I am. Yeah. So I think council's probably okay with that. Just one more minute, I think. So our workforce grants are a bit underspent as well. there's various requirements of those grants and so Amy Glasscock is working on some other workforce ideas where we could reallocate that funding. We plan to take some of our administrative budget and put it towards our Douglas Pool construction. We know that this is going to be a significant project and tomorrow evening myself, Councilmember Lynch, Councilmember Fogel, Chris Ford and our parks team are going to meet with the neighborhood to go over the final design we'll also plan to use some of our PPE funds towards that project so those are things that we're thinking about they're on our radar and we will bring forward to you in coming months and then there's all the websites you can read if you feel so inclined and that's all thank you for the extra time well there may be questions council members please log in councilmember Baxter thank you mayor um jen thank you so much i have no questions i just want to give you all of the accolades and tell you that i so appreciate all your hard work i know this hasn't been super easy and it's really intense work and i just want to tell you that you're doing a really good job and we appreciate you very very much thank you thank you mayor thank you councilmember james brown thank you mayor and i would just say ditto but i think half the population doesn't know what what that means anymore. I know what it means. No, I just want to say thank you for the presentation and you've done a and are doing an excellent job with this. I know when I was in the district and asked you for information, you created a whole presentation and even volunteered to come and show it to neighbors to let them know what all we're doing with the American Rescue Plan money. So thank you for all the hard work and communicating what's going on. And I think, and I'm just speaking for me, I appreciate the guidance with reallocating money that's not being spent. I think you all know in the overarching view or having the 60,000 foot view of the city and what the needs are. Your guidance on re-administering those funds I think is needed and we trust you with that. So thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Vice Mayor Wu. Thank you, Mayor. Ditto. Thank you. I appreciate all the work that you all have done on this stuff. And to answer your question, these presentations are very clear and very informative, and the pictures are great and helpful. Kind of speaking on that same idea of reallocations, how much do we have currently that's not allocated at all? We have zero dollars that are allocated at all, but we've been watching for some time that administrative budget. When we first started, I think we thought it might be a bit easier to hire people for the ARPA positions. What we found is all of our positions are time limited. And so when you advertise for a position that you know will end in 25 or 26, we've had difficulty filling some of those roles. In addition to that, it was probably slightly over budgeted to begin with. And of course, I take responsibility for that. So when I say reallocation, we will absolutely want to use some of that administrative money to complete the Douglas pool. That's a large priority for us, for the mayor, and we'll know a bit more once that bid goes out. But to answer your question, it is all assigned to a category as of today. We just might have to tweak the amounts in some of the categories. Yeah, that's great. And this progress is pretty impressive to me. Earlier this year we had a couple of instances where we were working with partners to spend ARPA money on some projects, and some of them were not going to go, basically, and we had those kind of clawbacks. Do you foresee anything like that coming down the pike? I don't. We actually received an invoice for the total amount of the award for BCTC last week, and Marty, who's done a phenomenal job, he's our ARPA funded grants manager in grants, is currently reviewing that invoice. I communicated to Council Member Brown this morning that the Lexington Community Land Trust is out for bid live today. So we are hopeful that we will get some bids there. And then the only other really large external project is Hope Center and it is underway. They are doing the design, they are planning. So right now, the answer to that question is no. If CAO Hamilton and I ever have any indication that there could be millions of dollars that will not get spent, we will immediately bring that to your attention. But today, I feel confident that we are going to move forward as you all have allocated. That's great. Thank you so much. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Plowman. Thank you, Mayor. And I'm chiming in here. Just through this whole ARPA journey, I have just watched you in astonishment, because you've just got everything set up and due diligence transparency and so many cool projects and you've kept it all together so i want to commend you and thank you thank you very much thank you um jennifer thank you very much you're welcome um you all have picked up on the fact that she is absolutely wonderful on this this whole big effort and you and your team have done a fabulous job I will never forget the day we were in a meeting and CAO Hamilton said I've got to find someone to manage this and I want Jen Because she knew you would do this beautifully. So congratulations. I've seen the national statistics that you've sent out, and our city is doing far better than most of the cities around the country. So kudos to you and your team. Thank you so much. And then we have another council member who's logged in, Council Member Fogel. Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to say thank you. Did you say that your position was granted? Yes, it is. We're going to have to do something about that. I just want to say thank you. I can't wait for tomorrow. Me too. I'm busting at the seams for the Douglas Spark presentation. And all of the work that I'm looking at being a freshman coming into this, you have done a fabulous job. Just wanted to say thank you. And Mayor, Mayor Gordon? Yes. She's on a grand tip. I'm sorry, what? Her position is granted. For a while. That's right. So let's do something about that. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. We're at the bridge. We're at the bridge. We don't want to lose you. Well, thank you, Council Member Fogle. I appreciate it. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you very much. All right. Council reports. Log in, please. Council Member Reynolds. Thank you, Mayor. I have two items. The first is a motion, and I talked about this earlier in committee. The fire department is working on its accreditation, and part of that is they need to present to council just a presentation. So I am moving to put in the Social Services and Public Safety Committee their presentation on community risk assessment standards. So moved. Vice Mayor Wu seconds. Are there any questions? All right, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, thank you, that passes. Thank you, and I don't know, Chris, do you have a photo? Hopefully it got there. Thank you. So this past Saturday, the Texas Roadhouse in Beaumont Center, the Community Corrections participated in the Big Brown Truck pole to benefit the Special Olympics of Kentucky. So for those that are unfamiliar with this, the Big Brown Truck Pole is a fundraising event for the Special Olympics where teams compete by pulling a UPS 18-wheeler truck a distance of 12 feet. The team that competes for the fastest time is the winner. So the corrections team raised a total of $2,098 and was the fastest team in the co-ed division, bringing home the first place trophy. Isn't that exciting? All right. So I just wanted to bring this to your all's attention and congratulate them for doing such a great job and collecting money for a worthy cause. Thank you. Great. Thank you. Council Member Ellinger. Thank you, Mayor. Director Lugar, could you come to the microphone? And I asked her because we're dealing with the ad valorem taxes and we're going to be doing a second reading on the 31st. And we were talking percentages, but I wanted her to kind of break it down into actual dollar numbers on where we stood on that. And because I think it's important to look at, especially when we start talking about the option for the cost of service and the hybrid and where we stand on that. So if you could just go through that, I would appreciate it. So as if I didn't show you all enough numbers last week in charts, this is yet another one thrown at you here. What you see at the top, that is the first column is what is in the FY24 budget for revenue for those three services. And then option one is what the revenue would be with that option with prior year rates. Option two is what the revenue would be with the compensating rates. Option 3 is what the 4% House Bill 44 rates the revenue would be. Option 4 is cost of service and option 5 is the hybrid, the one that the administration recommended. What you see at the bottom is the change to the FY24 adopted budget. So you can see with each option what each service does to the revenue budget for that service based on the options. And one thing I thought was interesting is when we look at the cost of service and we look at streetlights because we're raising it 35 percent and in the process we're going to pay for the service. But then we look at option five, the hybrid. Actually, the refuge were six million short and then the street clean were actually 1.7 short of actually paying for it. And can you explain the difference on that? Because I know we do have a surplus. and how big is the surplus do we have in the refuge? So we've got a surplus in the Urban Services Fund for refuse and for street cleaning, both of which have a heavier percentage of capital for their total expense, whereas Streetlights has a very small percentage of capital. It's the day-to-day expenses on Streetlights that are causing us the biggest problem. The street light or the refuse allocated fund balance is around 23 million. It is negative in street lights and the street cleaning is about $600,000. And these are all based on our unaudited financials. Could you repeat the first one? How much did we have? The refuse? It's around 23 million. that seems like a lot and so having that fund balance we have been able to cash purchase our refuse trucks all of the improvements to the murph we've done a little bit over five million dollars some years seven million dollars in capital improvements for refuse by being able to utilize that balance is that do we normally keep that big a balance in in surplus it has been that large of of a balance for a while in refuse. But it's dwindling, and by 2028, it's going down significantly in our projections. All right, thank you. I just thought it would be important, because since we're talking about cost of service, and then we're looking, there are some differences there on when we look at the others, because we do have a surplus in there. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Advice Mayor Wu. Thank you, Mayor. I wanted to talk about two very cool events coming up on Saturday. The first is the CASA Superhero Run. And for those who don't know, CASA is court-appointed special advocate in cases where there is child abuse, neglect, or dependence. The CASA is the volunteer who comes in and stays with the child for the entire life of the case. and it's a really, really important organization. I actually just recently joined as a CASA volunteer, and I got my first case a couple months ago. So this Saturday morning, they're going to have this race. There's an adult category, as you see, and also a kids category, and you still have until midnight tomorrow night to register, so it's for a very, very good cause. I myself will not be running. I am dressed as Peter B. Parker from across the Spider-Verse, and I chose this costume because it's the only one that really fit my physique, which is dad bod. I will be handing out some awards at the Casa Superhero Run, so I'm excited about that. Same night, once you get done with the run, actually this whole weekend, Saturday and Sunday, is the Crave Food and Music Festival celebrating its 10th year. Not to brag, but the first year they had a Best Home Chef contest, and I entered it, And I came in second. And this year I will be judging that contest. So it's kind of a fun full circle moment. But it's going to be a really fun weekend full of really, really, really great food and music. So go out and enjoy that. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Lynch. Thank you, Mayor. One thing I would like to say is to thank Traffic Engineering for the beautiful aesthetic crosswalks that were installed right in front of the Sandersville Elementary School. I think there might be a picture coming up somewhere. I was so glad that the crosswalk got completed to greet the kids as they started school. So a big shout out to the Sandersville Sharks, and I hope they enjoy their new crosswalk. A couple of events that happened this prior week was the Waypoint Center West End Day. The Waypoint Center that is located at Black and Williams Building had a really great resource fair for the community with many community partners represented. So I would like to thank them for having that community fair and resource fair. And I think they had a lot of good steady traffic that day at Black and Williams. And then lastly, our Share Center, which is a community resource center that's in the second district, had their Day of Dignity at the Penn Miller Arts Center right here downtown. And they had a really great, awesome event with lots of services provided for our community folks, such as medical examinations, dental services, haircuts, job recruitment services, as well as entertainment and food provided as well. So a big thank you to the Sheriff's Center of Lexington for providing that resource to our community this past weekend. And that's all. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Plowman? Thank you, Mayor. I mentioned this last week, but just to bring it back up, Council Egg Day is next Wednesday, August the 30th. And this is an annual tradition. I know we've done this every year since I've been here, so it's over seven years. But I think there's a menu here of what's going to happen that day. There we go. And Kathy can't read it. Yeah, I can turn around. So we're going to visit Rolling Blue Farm. We're going to go to the stockyards, which is always an interesting visit. Hallway feeds, and I think that's where lunch will be. And then Seedleaf Community Garden, which has got acreage out in the 12th. It's a really good way to see outside the urban service boundary and to experience. I hope my colleagues, I know our assistance, our legislative aides are going to go and others. But it's a great day and wanted to bring that to your attention again. And then this last weekend, our Sense of Place Hamlet project participated in the Black History at Ashland. We had a lot of interest in it, handed out a lot of cards and envelopes. And this Friday there's going to be another opportunity to find out more about our hamlets. Black Soil, and I'm sure you're all familiar with them. They're going to have a hamlet hop, and it'll include three different locations. Green Landing Farm, which is in Cadentown, where the Rosenwald School is. And then also in Uttinger Town, which is out across from, we've gone to Coleman Crest Farm out there on Royster. And then the last one will be at Slack Market Farms at Athens. six dollars for the hop and you can go to blacksoilkentucky.com to check it out thank you mayor thank you councilmember sheehan thank you mayor just a quick announcement that this weekend on saturday from 4 to 8 p.m is the kenwick porch fest so neighbors open their front porches to live musical performances and you can stroll around the neighborhood and you know mingle with neighbors but also hear the music so that's all thank you fun council member lagree thanks mayor um i simply wanted to say thank you to everybody who turned out for the woodland park event with all of our amazing artists this last weekend the art fair is always really fantastic we had beautiful weather for it and multiple vendors remarked to me how busy they'd been and what a success it had been so we had 190 artists who participated 80 of whom were from kentucky and based on the woodland art fair count approximately 60 000 people attended over the two-day period so it was a really successful weekend and i want to thank everybody from parks and across our government who helped make that a success and for all the work that they did talking to residents all during the weekend and sharing information about what's going on in our city as well councilmember Lynch reminded me to also say thank you for the aesthetic crosswalk that went up across from Ashland Elementary I know someone who lives across the street from the elementary school and she gives me almost daily reports on the children and families who use the crosswalk and their remarks on it. And it's something that makes their stroll to school a lot happier. And it's a fun addition. So thank you all for helping to make that happen. That's it, Mayor. Okay, thank you. Council Member Savigny. Thank you, Mayor. I've just got a few things. I wanted to thank Council Members Lynch and Gray for joining me last Friday at Moondance. We were in a little bit of hot water because the sound system wasn't working quite right, so we had to sing and dance for about an hour and 15 minutes while we waited for that to come. But our Parks and Rec crew did a great job, and the crowd was very, very big and great and happy. And Frank Mappison from our water quality group sings with them and plays, and he's awesome. So I wanted to let you also know, Thursday night is Southland Jamboree at Moondance. And then rounding out the weekend on Sunday, another music scene over at the Olika Temple Great Lawn Tall Sound comes back this Sunday. To basically re-energize and re-keep going over there in Southland. It's great musical and artistic vibrance. Thank you very much. Thank you. Councilmember Fogle. Thank you, Mayor. I am so sad that I'm not able to put the video up, but we had one of our police resource officers. He did the wobble in the middle of, and it was one of our white officers in the middle of the East End Black Neighborhood Association, and he handled it. He was wobbling and he didn't miss a beat. And so I am so excited about that activity. I don't see a lot of smiles on your face, but that's a big thing in our community. And so the other thing I wanted to just keep a finger on the pulse. I've got some photos just of the epidemic that is happening in Lexington with our unsheltered people. I wanted to make sure that you all continue to pray and whatever you do, support. I'm pretty sure they will be here at one of our council members' meetings, so you can meet them in person. We're working really hard, Miss Sally Hamilton and myself and Commissioner Lanter. We're going to a listening session on September the 6th at the Lyric with businesses, residents, and the people who are unsheltered. So we will be at the Lyric at a listening session on September the 6th. So we are moving and then we will bring it back to the council. Also, there has been many activities, many things to smile about. School open, many children going back and forth, up and down in front of my house from LTMS. So we're so happy that school is in. Me being a mother and a grandmother of 11, very happy. So let's all remember to help keep our children safe. And that's my report, it's really short. Thank you. Councilmember Ellinger. Thank you, Mayor. I just want to follow up. Director Luecker, I had one, there was a couple questions that were asked after I spoke that I wanted to get resolved. When we have these funds, they're dedicated, right? So the money can only be used for a certain purpose, correct? Even though if we have a surplus? Correct, the money is dedicated for whatever service it's collected for. Now, I know if we don't do option, the hybrid that is asked for the cost of service, then we'll have to take a couple million, I think, out of the general fund to help pay for that? That's correct. We'll need a little over $2 million to get enough revenues to cover streetlights in that case. With that surplus that we have in the refuge, is there any way that we can use that to offset any other costs going forward? I'm going to say no, and I'm looking for law to come up. For law, because I know this has been something that... Those are taxes collected for a specific service. No, just how is there a way that we can offset with that surplus? And I know law is probably going to tell us that we can't. He's slowly meandering his way up here. Come on, Dave. As risky as you can. Welcome. Good afternoon. So which pot of money are you talking about? I'm talking about where we have a surplus. In the refuse fund? Correct. So you're only allowed to spend that on refuse-related purposes. You can't spend it on anything else. Now, is there any direct or indirect that we do out of the general fund that can then be used? Because we end up paying the money from the general fund to help offset that. I don't know that we've looked at that. We've looked at that in the past to try to make sure that we're allocating a sufficient amount of money out of that fund to pay for the stuff that you're talking about, I think. But I'm not sure the last time we specifically looked at that. Because when we have such a big balance, if we have to pull out something from the general fund, we have a surplus, it'd be nice if we... But Commissioner Albright's shop does a pretty good job of if a project like that comes up, they will try to pull the money out while the project comes out. And we'll either pay for it proportionally or entirely out of that fund. Because when the taxpayers pay the money, I hate to have a big surplus. So, thank you, Mayor. If you would, just kind of look at that, if you don't mind. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any other council reports? All right. There's no mayor report or price contract bids, although I would like to say that we're not having a Thursday night council meeting, so I want to wish our deputy CAO, Glenn Brown, a happy birthday. We won't get to do it on Thursday. Now we come to public comment and we have several people who would like to speak. And so the way this goes is that when your name is called, you come to the podium and state your name and your council district. That's for the record. And you'll have three minutes. And so the first person to speak is Richard Maloney. And I believe Billy Mallory would like to give her three minutes to you, so you'll have six minutes. And then following Richard Maloney will be Dottie Bean, if you can get ready. Welcome. Thank you, Mayor. Appreciate being here. I'm Richard Maloney, 11th District Councilmember. I'm here to talk about an issue that keeps repeating itself every 12 years, and that's the tax increase for street lights. And it's a band-aid. If you all passed this, I'll explain to you why. When I was upstairs on the 12th floor 13 years ago, the finance person came to me and said, we have to increase the street lights. And I said, why is that? And they said, because we're about three something million dollars short. And I said, well, as a council member, I just got through putting a bunch in the 11th district or the older neighborhood. We were told to pay for the street lights and pay for, and if the bills come in, your taxes were paid for that light to stay on. And then in 1996, any new development came on, all your street lights would be paid off by the developer and the garbage and all that. So I said, why are we in the home? Well, the street lights are not being paid for. And I said, what is that? The New Circle Road, the Interstate, Man of War, and all those areas. And I said, so what's your plan? We're going to bring this tax increase to the property owners. I said, you're going to put taxpayers on people that I just told that they don't need to pay for that light, and now they're going to have to pay for New Circle Road, Man of War, and all those lights, and they were never told to be paying for that. I said, this administration at that time, we're not going to support that. And the other question, I said, how long is that going to last? Is that going to sunset that? Said no, in about eight years or ten years, you're going to have to come back and raise the taxes again. I said, explain to me. I said, is it because when we finish Citation Boulevard and those kind of streets, the lights are going to be coming up on those, we're going to have to find somebody to pay for it? Yeah. So if you council pay for this, in 12 years when you span the boundaries, you're going to have to come back here and face these homeowners again and say you've got to increase the taxes to pay for that new development. That's going to be out on the interstate and all that. Well, it's not a good task, a band-aid approach. My question, I went back and said, why are we using the franchise fees? And they said, well, we don't use the franchise fees. I said, you don't. I said, why? Well, there's no restriction on that. I said, well, in other states, there are restrictions. When you pay a franchise fee, it has to go back into that use for utilities. They said, well, not in Kentucky, you don't. And I get with the lawyers. They'll come up here and say, I always gotta argue with the lawyers. But then I said, why don't you, how can we fix this? And they said, well, they came back with the proposal that we do a 1% franchise fee increase. And that would bring in additional, at that time, we were $3 million short, bringing $5 million. It would put us ahead. And I said, well, take care of us? He said, it should take care of us for good. I said, why? Because anytime you build an apartment complex, build anything new, those folks can pay for the new circle roll. Anybody new comes on will be able to pay for New Circle Road. So I ask you, do not put the burden on the homeowner. As a homeowner, we should not be paying for New Circle Road, for Sales Road, or any state roads. So my recommendation is I ask you all go back and look at the franchise fees and put restrictions on that. And look at what other states are doing. There's millions and millions of dollars coming in for the franchise fees. And today is the prime example. The hotter it is, the more money the franchise makes. And this week they're going to make a lot of money. It's going to be 90-something degrees. They're going to be making big money. And the colder it gets, they make more money then. The worse the weather is, the more money they have to make the franchise do. So we need to put the responsibility back onto the franchise fees to pay for those street lights, to pay for the fire hygiene and those kind of things first. before, and if we got money left over, put it back into the general fund. Make these restricted. We should not be paying a franchise fee coming in here and not pay for those kind of years. So I ask you, please go back, because all you're doing is taking a band-aid down the street so some of you will probably be a mayor next year, next 12 years, sitting up here. And some of you on the council will be back, because I was here for twenty-something years and you don't remember this day that we could fix this problem for good and we don't have to come back here in 12 years and kick the can down the road to taxpayers homeowners and another most important thing that you need to know about I'm taking off my tax paying and putting on my nonprofit I work for affordable housing for many years and we had most of the people who came in will go to the maximum on our debt ratio I had to go We all through Kentucky housing, they had a debt ratio that you had a say under. We had federal government money, we had a say under debt ratio. Problem is, you all want to help homeowners? We got a lot of people sometimes get a house, barely getting a house. But if you put this tax on it, they're going to lose that house. Some of them will lose that house. And if it's one person, that's one too many. Because the homeowner is the most important thing in this city, and you all ran on that. Realize how important it is you do not hurt people, especially trying to become homeowners for the first time. And you put a tax on it so they can pay for a stupid street light out on the interstate. And we got a franchise fee coming in here worth millions and millions of dollars that should be restricted. And it should you all take the lead and then a good example across the city. And I ask you to do that. And please, it's the most important thing right now to make sure those homeowners don't get hurt. Thank you all. Thank you, next up is Dottie Bean and following Dottie will be Rock Daniels. Welcome. Thank you. Council members, today's message is for you and the people of Fayette County. Today we saw information from the Division of Planning about Which lands they are pushing for future development as they consider the comp plan of 2045. Will you please say your name in council district? I'm sorry. It's for the record, the permanent record. It's .e-d-o-t-t-i-e-be-a-n, like green string lima. Thank you. Council District 8, I'm sorry. Okay. We know many of you will be affected and want to let you know there will be two more meetings beginning next Tuesday before they finish and then have a public hearing and present it in one meeting. The group includes four of your council members, but this process will affect the entire county terms of its future in the amount of taxes we pay for housing, transportation, sewers, and water. This process is being held in the Phoenix building but is running on GTV3 and we know we want you to know about it. It has been whittled down to keep crowds of you from coming down every month to comment on it. When When they finish it in two weeks, it will be too late to do much about it. A lot of it is ready to go when the Planning Commission gives its approval. If you care about your city and county, you will call the government and ask questions about when and where the next meeting actually will be held. And don't assume you'll be able to call it up on the website. The intention is to put it there, but it is very complicated and can best be viewed in the Division of Planning as the maps when reproduced will be too small to see much detail and there are many overlays. Thank you for your attention. Thank you very much. Next is Rock Daniels who will be followed by Rick Day. Welcome. Hello. daniels 11th district so members of council today i stand before you with a deep sense of concern and a strong disagreement regarding the tax increase that we're talking about the proposed tax increase you know we find ourselves at a point where we continue to raise property taxes all across the board. You know, we've had in recent events, we've had a fragility in the housing market. You know, landlords have felt this strain and, you know, a lot of times we put, look at the tenants, but we also have to look at the landlords. You know, within the last couple of years, you know, the COVID-19 pandemic, it's absolutely pummeled landlords, causing financial hardships and many uncertainties. Now, the lack of timely funding from the government, from you guys, I'm sorry it's taken a while, It exacerbated these struggles. It's troubling to note that the Fayette County Public Schools have raised taxes to their maximum to further put a strain on us, combined with assessed property values soaring up to 50% in some cases. This is a perfect storm for a financial burden that has inevitably led to a decline in housing affordability across our city. Insurance payments have risen due to increased replacement costs. And every mortgage on rental properties, as many of you know, are adjustable commercial loans. Challenging because of the rising interest rates across our country. Now, the lack of affordable housing within our city cannot be dismissed by mere happenstance whatsoever. Now, it's the cumulative result of these incremental financial pressures. It's a little bit here and a little bit there. Now, the question lingers is, how can we claim there's insufficient funds taking $2 million annually for these streetlights while systematically siphoning those franchise fees, like he said, from the general fund to the tune of millions and millions of dollars? This makes one ponder the allocation of these franchise fees. Are they being utilized for essential projects like streetlight renovations? Transparency, transparency in regard to this is of utmost importance. It is undeniable that our city has witnessed unprecedented budgets like this year, but it's also a fact that these budgets have been driven by excessive spending. We are at a crucial juncture where fiscal restraint becomes very paramount. The road ahead might be difficult, but we must prepare ourselves for the challenges that lie ahead. Landlords are at the brink of losing their properties, and you're going to see corporations come in and swoop them up. And they're not going to be invested in the community like us landlords are. Thank you so much. Thank you. Next is Rick Day. Welcome. My name is Rick Day and I live in the third district. I had hoped to give you a comparison between the employees who were reallocated versus those who were MAG studied, but I am not ready for that today, so instead I'm going to tell you about a perfect urban county government employee and how that perfect employee was treated by the MAG study. That employee is Becky. Becky has worked for the urban county government since 2009 and is a project manager in the division of water quality. So what makes Becky the perfect employee? Becky is smart, works hard, and was always a ray of sunshine in the Tate building. And along with all that, her salary was within a few dollars of the market rate of her position. She was being paid exactly the same as the value she provided the residents of Fayette County. A good deal for our residents and a good deal for Becky. That was perfect. But all that was prior to the MAG study. After the MAG study was implemented, Becky is still smart and still works hard. A constant ray of sunshine, now maybe not so much. You see, the MAG study, in the MAG study, the value of Becky's position went up by over $9,000. The value of the service she provides the residents of Fayette County went up by over $9,000. Becky's compensation, Becky's salary went up by zero. So after working here 14 years and proving herself to be a valuable employee, instead of being rewarded like our policies claim to do, she is now being paid $9,000 less than the service she provides. By comparison, the value Becky's boss provides went up by $6,500. His salary went up by $9,000. Fair and equitable? I don't think so. Wait a minute. I was supposed to make a correction here and didn't. Oh, well, I know I'll get some pushback on something I just said, so I will go ahead and confess now. That part about Becky always being a ray of sunshine, I made that up. Thank you. Thank you. That concludes our public comment. And so Vice Mayor Wu has a motion. Thank you, Mayor. I move that we go into closed session pursuant to KRS 61.8101B for the purpose of discussing the possible acquisition of real property. And this closed session is necessary because publicity at this stage would likely affect the value of the property or properties in question. So moved. Second. Council Member Ellinger seconds. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? We're in closed session. Thank you. I'd entertain a motion to come back into open session. All those in favor say aye. Is anyone opposed? Now I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. All those in favor say aye. We are adjourned. Thank you very much council members. Thank you.