Music Thank you. I'll call to order the Tuesday, September 26, 2023, three council work session and the first item on the agenda is public comment for issues on the agenda and we do have some folks signed up. And the way this works is that when I call your name, if you will please come to the podium. And for the record, you need to say your name and your council district and and you'll have three minutes to speak. And first up is Marilyn Daniel, and she will be followed by T.C. Johnson. Welcome, Marilyn. Mayor Gordon and Council Members, my name is Marilyn Daniel. I don't have a district because I live in South Woodford County, but I volunteer in Lexington almost full time. I'm vice president and a board member of the Community Response Coalition of Kentucky, a local 501c3 nonprofit serving the immigrant community in Fayette County. Since our creation in 2019, we have opened 1,309 cases, each representing an immigrant family of one to eight individuals. We have served immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Cuba, Peru, Brazil, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Russia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Angola, Pakistan, Syria, and many others, all right here in Fayette County. We have stopped taking clients who need shelter because we can't find places for those clients to go. I applaud the Catholic Action Center and the Fayette County Public Schools for what they're doing, and we fully support that. I applaud the council for their work to provide affordable housing in the future. But we deal today and tomorrow with clients who need shelter now. They are not low income. They are no income. Most are asylum seekers who are paroled into the country to file their asylum claims. They are not permitted to work. though many of them will not have work authorization for almost a year. Please consider establishing an immigrant shelter. Housing can't be affordable when you have no income. All of the existing shelters are full. These folks need specific services. This is not a Fayette County problem. It's a nationwide problem. It is a unique aspect of homelessness in 2023. Let's learn how other cities are addressing this issue and create what is best for Lexington. Thank you. Thank you very much. T.C. Johnson, did you want to speak to an issue on the agenda? Okay, thank you. Tommy Puckett and Tommy Puckett. Welcome. My name is Tommy Puckett. I live in District 5. I am an elected member to the Police Fire Pension Board, I did 35 years plus as an election police officer. I have been on the board a total, I believe, of 28 years, and I just got elected again yesterday. So, going to have me here for a while longer. What I'm here to talk about is the secretary's positions. I know that in your all's notes, there are several things that are not correct. First and all, they are the pension employees. They are hired by the pension. They are paid by the pension. For some reason, 50 years ago, they kind of put them on your all's roll because we only had one employee. And, of course, at that time in 1973, the city had a pension. The Fayette County did not have one. So it just kind of, I think the history is it just kind of rolled over. That being said, we looked at their classification and so forth. They are specialists. They only work for the pension system. I can't even tell you all the work that they do now. They do calculations. They're doing the insurance. They're keeping up with our financial advisors. They're keeping, I mean, it's just on and on. Those young ladies work unbelievable. We, the board voted at our last meeting to grant them a 16% pay rise to keep them comparable to what the other cities that you all looked at was paying them. Well, the problem is, is that there's a discussion that one of them is going to get the 16%, the other one, because of her city grade, is not going to be able to get that. I mean, we're talking about a total of, if we gave both of them $60,000, about $20,000, which is nothing, you know, it's not even a glitch in the market. They deserve it. They need it. I don't know what needs to be done, but they need to be put maybe in a classification for them and them only. Or you can do what kind of like I think administrative people, your all's administration has all the same things, but they're not in a grade. But that's what needs to be done. They deserve the pay raise. These ladies, you can call them 24-7, basically seven days a week, and Susan and Tanya will answer everybody. We've got a big mess going through right now because of the insurance change. They just got the letter today that all the retirees' insurance is going on. And needless to say, how big this pension system has gotten. I mean, we've got over 1,200 retirees. We're supposed to have over almost 1,100 actives that they're taking care of. Tommy, I'm sorry to interrupt, but your time is over. Okay. Thank you so much. All right. Thank you. And that concludes the folks who want to speak for issues on the agenda. And so the next item is the docket. If I could have a motion to approve. Thank you. Vice Mayor Wu seconds. Now, are there any items for the docket? Vice Mayor Wu. Thank you, Mayor. On behalf of the administration, I move to place on the docket for the September 28, 2023 council meeting a resolution authorizing and directing the mayor to execute an amendment to the purchase of service agreement, change order number one with Ernst & Young LLP to provide additional services related to a new city hall procurement at a cost not to exceed $34,000 for task A RFP drafting services and estimated not to exceed $40,000 for task B RFP response review services if needed. So moved. I heard a second over here. Was it Council Member Baxter? All right. Are there questions? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Councilmember Legree. Thank you, Mayor. Typically, this motion would have been reported out during the general gov and planning committee. And it's related to the public input subcommittee presentation. I've spoken to Councilmember Worley about it and I'm doing this in his stead. I move to place on the docket for the September 28, 2023 council meeting a resolution amending appendix A, rules and procedures of the urban county council to reflect the amendments to rules relating to public comment and public input at council meetings and council work sessions. So moved. Second. Council member Plumman seconds. Are there questions? Council member Ellinger. Thank you, Mayor. What will this do? Council member, this is related to the presentation and the subcommittee that you were on having to do with public. So is it the whole thing then? Yeah. Okay. It is. All right. Thanks. Thank you. Any other questions? All right. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right. That motion passes. Are there any other items for the docket? If not, all those in favor of approval of the docket as amended, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Next, we have a September 19th Council Work Session table of motions. So moved. Thank you. Vice Mayor Wu moves approval. Is there a second? Second. Council Member Plowman seconds. Are there any questions? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Could I have a motion, please, to approve budget amendments? Council Member Gray moves. Is there a second? Second. Council Member Legree seconds. If you have questions, will you please log in? I see none. So all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Council members, for your information only, you have some budget adjustments on page 5. And that brings us to new business. And I would like a motion to approve new business. Council member Gray moves. Who did I hear over here? Council member Baxter seconds. And if you have questions, please log in. Council member Baxter. Thank you, Mayor. I have a question regarding Item G for Chief Wells. For public transparency, I just wanted you to go into a little bit of detail on why we're choosing to refurbish an existing ladder truck instead of replace, because it is still pretty expensive to refurbish. So if you wouldn't mind to just explain that a little bit for me. Thank you, Council Member. It seems like I'm in front of you all talking about apparatus quite a bit. It's been quite the topic for us as well. So we put a lot of thought into new purchase versus refurbishment. Ultimately, it comes down to two factors, cost and time. The cost of a new ladder truck is in excess of $1.6 million to get the new version of what we've got. The refurb is obviously just over one with a delivery time of 365 days or one year as opposed to pushing three years. So it's important for us to get that truck in service. So the refurbishment comes with a warranty, a complete rebuild of engine transmission, and we anticipate that to be at least a 10 to 15 year truck. Okay. Great. Well, I appreciate the fiscal responsibility there. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. That's all I have. Thank you. Council Member Ellinger. Thank you, Mayor. Before you go, Chief, I wanted to follow up with that. So we're getting a 2003 truck, but it's going to be a new one. Now, you know, technology changes every year, so it will be what we would get in a 2023, just all that new stuff, bells and whistles in there? The electrical system is completely redone. All of the wiring and the electrical systems are removed. The one caveat is that because it is a manufacturer date technically of 2003 and not 2023, the emission standards are different. So we've got a little bit more flexibility actually with the motor. So that's honestly a little bit of a side. You're right because I did bring you up last week and we were talking about this in the time lapse. So this will speed up the process to a year instead of three. So that's good and less expensive. Thank you. I spoke with Mr. Puckett ahead of time. I guess I'd like to follow up with number M, please, if I could. Let's see. Is Director Walters here? Yes. Welcome. Thank you. Thank you. In this, the pension is paying for this, right, for the 16%? Is that because they have the money in there? So how is that being paid for, the addition? or is that going to come out of the general fund? Commissioner Hensley is way better at answering this financial question than I am. But that's my understanding. These employees are paid out of the pension. So the way that the pension fund gets money is through contributions from existing employees, employer contribution, and then their investments. The employee contribution is capped at 12%. As you all are aware, our contribution changes annually dependent on the unfunded liability. So that's how the money comes into the fund. They actually are paid with an LFUCG payroll. We pay them on our payroll. But their funds or their activities are attributable entirely to the pension board. So that's all they do is work for the pension board. And it's my understanding that state law says how this is supposed to be done? The state laws, and I can laws here as well, says that the board sets the secretary's pay. And those two individuals have been designated as the secretaries for the board. And the board, did they not vote to give both of them a 16% raise? That is correct. They are still city employees under one. But we're only giving one of them, correct, instead of both of them? Because we exceed the maximum for the range. I'm sorry, Tammy, go ahead. So both employees are in our unified pay plan and they were part of our compensation study. And so their assigned pay grade is 518 for their job classification of admin specialist senior, just like other admin specialist seniors in government. So when the board voted to provide the increase, it was available for one without exceeding the grade max, but not the other individual. So at this time, her salary is only being set at grade max currently. But does that mean we go and I see our lawyer sitting there go against what the law actually says? Good afternoon. Let me try to explain it this way. This is, and I assume the board will follow through on what they talked about doing at their last meeting. But this is going to be a multi-step process. in order to give the full benefit of what the pension board is looking for, they need to be pulled out of the existing system that they're in and put in the, I guess it's the ununified pay. It'll be the same pay system that basically the council administrator is in, which doesn't have the same caps and stuff. We're going to ask the board to give you all a pay range, and we're going to ask the board to set their salaries. So this is as far as we thought we could go at this meeting. So we are going to go further to try to do what the board said? The board doesn't change their mind because I don't think they actually took a final vote necessarily on this second step. I think what they're planning on doing probably at their next meeting is taking the next step. The next step would be to make a recommendation to you all to pull them out of this system, to give you all a new pay range to adopt for them, and to set their salaries, which I think the one employee would already be what it is after today's action. The other employee, it would get set up to the entire amount that the board intended. All right. I see we're kind of caught in something there, but I always like to try to make sure we follow the state law. Yeah, the complicating factor is that they are employees. And, you know, to pull them out altogether is probably going to be harmful to them and would create a lot of unintended consequences. So one of the things we may look at with the board is whether when these individuals term off, whether the board would like to look at not necessarily having it be an urban county government employee or employees. My time is up, and I still have more questions, so I'll come back. But thank you all for that update. I appreciate it. Dave, if I might add, the reason the board didn't do anything at its meeting was we asked law and HR to bring us bullet points of what would change if they were pulled out of the unified pay plan. Because we wanted to know if there were any differences. So that's kind of what we're waiting on. Okay. Council Member Gray. Thank you, Mayor. Director Heron or Commissioner Lanter, I have a question regarding Kay. According to this, it says that authorization for an agreement, to execute an agreement to extend the hours of the homeless stay shelter to what? So this would extend from their current operating hours Monday through Friday of approximately 8 o'clock to 12.30 p.m. to restore to what they were operating pre-pandemic, and the end time Monday through Friday would be extended to 4.30 p.m. Ultimately, we would seek in the future to be able to continue to work with them on expanding their operations even further, but we understand that they have a need to scale this up, And so this would be something that we would be able to immediately expand those hours and significantly add to what's available for this population during daytime hours. So it's going, just for clarification, it's going from 8 to 12 to 12 to 4.30? Yes, it would be 8 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. Monday through Friday. And then their remaining hours on Saturday would stay the same. And which those are? I believe 8 to 12. Okay. So it also mentions outdoor space, including shaded space, water feeling station. Are these items that they do not currently have? Correct. So these would be items that they would be adding. For example, during the summer when we had extreme heat and our heat plan was activated, We lack a lot of dedicated daytime spaces where this population can go to access shade, have things like water that's available to them. This would also include the addition of two portable toilets and a portable hand washing station. One of the complaints that New Life receives, my office receives on a routine basis, is the lack of available facilities for this population, especially in the downtown area, which can create some unpleasant issues. The porta-potties would be available after hours, not just during the operating hours, and that would include security to make sure there's some oversight. And where would these be presented? Because to my understanding, this facility is located on MLK, I guess, MLKN 3rd? Yes. so the shaded space would be constructed at the rear of their building that's presently where they have folks enter into their facility and so this would also create a space that if folks did not wish to come inside they would still have a space that they could congregate access some services and some of the things that are needed and then the porta potties are going to be placed just outside of a fence line. They have an alley that comes up alongside their building. So they would kind of route that through there. And I just heard you say congregate. Congregate on their property or where? Yeah, so right now if you drive by on a sunny day, you're likely to see people around their building. And in particular, you're probably likely to see them shift around the building to try to catch what shade that the building itself presently gives. So this would be something that would create a much more significant amount of shade and give people better coverage. But also, I think it would reduce some of the concerns that the neighborhood would have by kind of relocating that to a better area and being able to better adequately serve the need. Okay. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Councilmember Fogle. Thank you, Mayor. Director, Jeff, as you're coming to the podium, thank you. And thank you, Councilmember Gray. And let me just start with that, that I appreciate all the efforts that is being done with the day center, with the expanding of hours. I was going to push the envelope and say, well, you know, the constituents in the first district would love to see it from seven to seven. And we will get there, but with the efforts that we are having now and what you're offering up, I am in full support. I know it is a great need at MLK. And so I wanted to say that. And Charlie, Commissioner, may need to join you. The letter A is in the apple. And it is, can you tell me about the five units and if we have a location already selected for the new five units? Yes, and I'm sorry, this is not more specific in the listing. This is for a specific project. It's for the Davis Park affordable housing development where the land trust property is located. This is some of the money they're receiving. Obviously, there's a lot more financing that goes into this. And the reason it says five units is because for home funds, we have to designate specific units for the lower income, which would be like 30% below, which is a huge need. There will actually be 73 units at this property. These are just the ones HUD itself is paying for, these five. And so this will get developed probably starting in the spring. And so it's not for home ownership, it's just for rental? No, it's rental. Okay, thank you so much. And these funds also pay for services. It's not just the construction. Appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Ellinger. Thank you. Charlie, could you come back? I'm sorry. That answers a lot, but the five units, could you go a little more in detail? Now, that was part of the budget amendment, I think, that was in there, wasn't it, that you said the location was going to be the Davis? If you're referring to the budget amendment today, that's actually a project you all approved at the last work session. Okay, so that's not this one? No, this is an additional project. That one was New Beginnings, and this one is AU is doing development. Okay, that helps clarify that. So how are these units? What will they be? Explain to me what they'll be like. It's just a 73-unit, a couple of buildings. It'll be affordable as HUD and our affordable housing program require, which is 60% AMI and below. 60%? Yes, affordable for people at 60%. With the exception of these five units, which will be affordable for people at 30% and below, which is a much lower threshold and a much lower rent. That helps explain it, so thank you. And number F, please. Welcome. How is this different what we're doing right now with the crime data and what's going to be assimilated? It's not. This is basically a software package that allows the public to access the information. That is all it is. It's nothing new. No part of any of the new software stuff that you've seen lately with Flop or FUSIS or any of that stuff. So this is what we're already doing, what's available right now? We're just re-upping that? Yes, sir. It was a budget item before, but it's just software that allows the community to see the information. With the new stuff that we do have, are we going to have some kind of data for that that will be available? That information is on the website, and we put that up as it becomes available, all the information about that. But that has absolutely nothing to do with this. Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Fogle. Thank you. Could you come back to the podium, please? Just a little bit more clarification. So I know there's open record requests. And so when you say that the community will be allowed to tap in to this new software. Well, no, ma'am, this isn't to tap into the, this is part of our software package that allows people to see crime data and that sort of thing on our website. It's not, again, it's not anything that is part of the, again, the flock system or FUSIS or any of that new technology. So it's almost like what one Lex reported out when they're reporting the gun balance. Yes, ma'am. And he reports that out. Crime data information. And so it's something different than the newspaper will be reporting? Excuse me, what was the last thing you said? Like when the newspaper covers the crime areas, this is something different that we need to pay for? Yes, ma'am. It's just different, but it's just the software that allows the website to access the information. And it's more technical than that, but I don't have the technical information about that, but that is essentially what it is. Would it help Council Member Fogel if he could give some examples of what data it will show? Yes, ma'am, that would. Well, any type of basic crime information when you need to see, when again, when the community looks at our website or our Facebook page where that information is provided, it's that information. Okay, that's not really an example, but I just want to know, will you all beat the public with their Facebook page? Because they can report pretty fast before you all get it up on the screen. So you're going to beat them now, the community? I don't know who we are going to be paying for. I don't know. I'm sorry I'm not giving you the most technical answer to what the information is about. Yes sir. Thank you for your. It is programming is what it is. It is programming and that enables that to happen. Yes sir. It'll help your website run. Yes, ma'am. And so can you give Council Member Fogel kind of a picture of how long will this be data over a day, a week, a year, 10 years? Yes, ma'am. You'll be able to go in and see comparisons? Yes, it is just basically like part one crime information that we have that we make public. Crime, crime, crime data like robberies and rapes and assaults and that sort of thing. But it's just basic crime information. It's not like personal information, that sort of thing. It's not like a running narrative. It's just data. Okay, and we can watch the trends. That's something really good that we can do. Keep an eye on the trend. Thank you so much. All right, thank you. Any other questions about new business? All right, all those in favor of approving, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. We'll go to continuing business, and I'll entertain a motion to approve neighborhood development funds. We have a motion from Council Member Ellinger, second from Council Member Fogel. Are there any questions? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Now, we have Council Capital Projects. Could I have a motion, please? So moved. Vice Mayor moves approval. Council Member Plumman seconds. Are there any questions? All right. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right. That motion passes. Next, I'll turn it over to Council Member James Brown for his committee report. Thank you, Mayor. The Budget Finance Economic Development Committee, August 29, 2023, summary and motions. The meeting started at 1.04 p.m. The first item was approval of the June 27, 2023 committee summary. The committee unanimously approved of the June 27, 2023 committee summary. The second item was health care financing. Benji Mars from the BIM Group presented on health care financing. LFUCG's health care costs have exceeded budgeted costs consistently over the last several years. Marathon Health has been an integral part of reducing health care costs for employees. Strategic initiatives have presented larger increases in health care costs and have maintained a 2% trend line since 2011 with approximately $90 million in savings due to partnership and initiatives. No action was taken on this item. The third item was the Industrial Development Authority update. Craig Bentz presented on the Industrial Development Authority update. The Coldstream 50-acre site is intended to be sold with proceeds of land sales to be used for improvement of the 200-acre site and by UK for other improvements. Of the 50-acre Coldstream site, 14.4 acres have been sold, 22.18 are under letter of intent, and 13.9 acres, or two lots, remain available. The 200-acre site was transferred in July 2022 and is known as the Legacy Business Park. Of the 200 acres, 147.24 acres are lots, 13.42 are right-of-way, and 39.34 are greenway lots. The cost of the Legacy Park is approximately $22.4 million, including 15% contingency. Only $12.2 million has been funded so far, and an additional $10.2 million is needed for Phase 2. No actions were taken on this item. We adjourned at 2.04 p.m. That concludes my report. Thank you very much. Does anyone have any questions on the report? All right. Thank you, Council Member Brown. Next up, if you'll log in for Council Reports, please. Council Member Gray. Thank you, Mayor. You ready? First of all, I would like to say congratulations to all of the honorees and inductees of the Lexington African American Sports Hall of Fame. On this past Friday, LASO had their inductees and honorees ceremony at Bank One Center. I'd specifically like to congratulate honorees Reba and Paul Woodall, who put Bryan Station Track and Field Program on the map and transformed countless mine and countless others' lives. A special congratulations to 6th District Resident Don Duncan Walters, who we recognized earlier this year. That's Ms. Reba. Don Duncan Walters and her son. Also, I would like to, yesterday, the 6th District Advisory Council, several members of that committee met to discuss how they want our district to grow and what policies they would like for me to work on. I just want to say thank you to all of the volunteers around the district who have stepped up to be basically my listening board and people who will tell me their opinions no matter what and who are engaged throughout the entire process. Next, last night, Eastland Parkway Neighborhood Association met with the Lexington Health Department regarding a needle exchange. It was a packed house. As I let them know, as city council member, I will always let them know of anything that will coming along in their neighborhoods that would either negatively or positively impact them. So when I heard of the needle exchange program, I said I will let them know and let them have their voices heard. Last night also, the new neighborhood association, Bryan Station Neighborhood Community Neighborhood Association met, and they are working hard to bring about a neighborhood association, which is my neighborhood, and I'm glad that we're finally coming back. So kudos to those who have come in together to bring about change in the Bryan Station community. Next, earlier today, myself and several council members, council member Liz Sheehan, council member Shailen Lynch, and lastly, council member James Brown and myself, we all joined part of Civic Lex's engagement with our senior students in Fayette County Public Schools. And we were at my alma mater, and it was great to see so many of these young people. These are my former students from Booker T. Washington, Harrison Elementary, Crawford Middle, yes, and even Bryan Station High School, who are now educators in the school. So it's always great to go back and see my kiddos, Luis, third grade student through fifth grade at Booker T. Washington. Awesome to see him. And lastly, we are bringing back Fitness in the Park in the 6th District. This time it's going to be a birthday edition. It's the day after my birthday, so it's on October 14th. I need everybody to go ahead and put it on their schedules. Put it, council members, colleagues, mayor, staff. Go ahead and put it on your calendars that you will be at Pleasant Ridge Park in the 6th District. on October 14th from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. We will have a DJ spinning. You too, Council Member Brown, Fred Brown. I hope to see you there. So come on out, make plans, and I'm ready to see you do a little Zumba and move your hips. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Lynch. Thank you so much, Mayor. I just have one announcement, and that is to let my District 2 neighbors know that our district-wide meeting will be on Wednesday, October 25th at 6.30 p.m. at Coventry Oak Elementary School. We have a full agenda that continues to grow, so I'm excited about that. We'll have many guest speakers that evening and some light refreshments. So District 2 neighbors, please come out on October 25th at 6.30 at Coventry Oak Elementary School for our second district-wide meeting. Thanks so much. Thank you. Vice Mayor Wu. Thank you, Mayor. I would like to move an item into the Budget, Finance, and Economic Development Committee, and the subject of that is medical debt relief. I've been working with a national organization that's going to work towards relieving medical debt here in Lexington, Faya County. So moved. Council Member Reynolds seconds. Any questions? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. That it? Okay, council member Plumman. Thank you, Mayor. I have two agricultural related events going on this week I wanted to share with you. Tomorrow night, the council members, many of our council members will be attending the Farm Bureau's annual legislative appreciation event. And these are not just council members, these are folks legislators from all over central Kentucky. It's well attended and we usually hear from each one of them briefly. So get poised. Also I wanted to congratulate UK Martin Gatton College of Ag, Food and Environment, celebrating their 50th anniversary this week. There's a dinner on Thursday at 530 at the ES Goodborn. And then Saturday, there's a tailgate, UK versus Florida, which will win. And food, live music, and more. But congratulations on both of those events. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Reynolds. Thank you, Mayor. Well, this month is Hispanic Heritage Month. And so there's been a lot of fun celebrations going on. And this past weekend was Festival Latino. And that festival has been in Lexington for over 20 years and has become one of the premier Latino festivals in the area. and people come from all over to celebrate different cultures. And it was really fun to be a part of the celebration this year. I did a lot of my studies in Latin American culture and religion, so I had a lot of fun and I learned about some countries I didn't know very much about. And I really wanted to give a shout out to my colleagues who joined me on stage for the opening ceremony, Council Member James Brown, Council Member Lynch, and Council Member Gray. I don't think we realize how much our participation in these festivities means to the Latino community. And my district has a really high immigrant population and, in particular, a really high Hispanic population. So they are celebrating at the library this Saturday at 3 p.m. off of Alexandria Drive. It is currently the Village Branch Library. It'll be morphing in a few months, but it is in the Garden Side Shopping Center right now. And at 3 p.m., they're going to have mariachis and all kinds of fun activities for the family. So that's a free event. So come out and enjoy that. And thank you to our police officers and everybody else that were working the festival this past weekend. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Fogle. Thank you, Mayor. I am yielding my council comments to Ms. Laura Babbage and Ms. T.C. Johnson, with Jenny Ramsey in the background, to speak about the epidemic and crisis of our young students at the Fayette County schools who are homeless. Nearly 500 students are attending Fayette County schools. So, Ms. Babbage and Council Brown is on deck. Thank you. You'll have five minutes. Thank you, Laura Babbage, and I'm a member of the Catholic Action Center Board, and it's just a delight to be here with you all. To hear these comments and what you're involved in is always inspiring to us, and I just want to thank you for all that you do for our community. It's always inspiring to hear. I'm here to get to share with you some important results of our community-based report. And we're all concerned about those who are experiencing homelessness. We've heard several things about it already today, and I know you are. And we want to share with you the results of a survey. And we know that it takes all of us together to understand this multifaceted problem. There's not one easy solution either, is there? and you all know that because you've been working on this yourselves for many years. So we appreciate getting the opportunity to share these results. I want to start, this is obviously the first page, let's go on and move forward. It was sponsored by three organizations, the Catholic Action Center, Chickie, the Central Kentucky Housing and Homeless Initiative, and then the Street Voice Council. The next slide. The purpose was to obtain a better understanding, a more comprehensive understanding of the current condition of homelessness in Lexington. Next slide. And this is what we really wanted you to know. How was the information obtained? I'm sure obtained. I'm sure it's a big question everyone has. What is the information by whom and when? It was a one-page survey that was conducted by a number of volunteers who were trained. And they went on pre-mapped routes. And you can see those numbers up there. We also talked to agencies much ahead of time. And we had a one day, August 30th was the day we asked for from everybody we asked. We need to know your homeless count number on that day. And we looked for any kind of overlap, any kind of duplicates, and we can talk more about that. But we eliminated many, many who might have been duplicates. So we had agencies report, and the survey was conducted by trained volunteers. We had two training sessions. amazing because you have to develop a sense of camaraderie with folks before they give you this very personal information. And the sheriff's office helped us. We had street voice council members. And we did it on one day, August 30th. We asked everybody, where did you sleep last night, August 29th? So we did it from 9 a.m. to 1130 p.m. The next slide tells the why. Well, the count includes people that haven't been counted before and haven't been in your numbers. People like who live outside, who live in camps, who live in cars and shelters and transitional housing. Those who've been left out of those annual HUD numbers like people in hospitals, jails, treatment centers, sober living programs, and couch surfers. All of those were included and we wanted to provide a much broader look at homelessness and housing insecurity than we are currently collecting so that we're prepared to deal with whatever we have to deal with when it gets freezing outside and snowing, and we have to make sure people are taken care of, and I know you are concerned about that. Next slide, please. 599 total surveys were completed. These are actual folks who did the surveys, and as I said, they had to develop a relationship with people. There's a very careful training that was done, talked about confidentiality, which is very important anytime you ask someone without a home some very personal information. Next slide, please. We found out there were 2,410 who were experiencing homelessness. Is that a total number? Probably not. But I'm going to give you the breakdown of what that number entails. The next slide will give you, we found 751 homeless people in recovery programs, far more people than 751 in recovery programs. 751 were homeless. 730 adults, 21 children, and then it gives you all the recovery programs that we did. The next slide, this is where that total number comes from. I'm giving you the summary now of where they all came from. 412 unsheltered. Again, people living outside in camps. We approached many of the camps, only 38 of the 78 that we know about because we didn't have time and enough volunteers. But we did go to camps, vehicles, abandoned buildings, other buildings. And we taught people, and they went two by two, always two by two to stay safe. And we found there were 398 adults, 12 children. Next slide, please. 406 in shelters. Again, we talked to the shelters in advance to say we need the number on August the 30th. How many homeless do you have registered in your shelter? 373 adults, 33 children. Next slide, please. 360 were doubled up and staying on a friend's couch. We know how uncertain that is for anyone who has ever had a friend that they don't get along with real well. Well, if you're homeless and you don't get along with your friend, you're out on the street the next day. I am so sorry. Am I done? Councilmember Fogel's time has expired. Okay. Mayor, did I need to sign in to yield my time? Okay, I'm signed in so that they get another five minutes. I'm giving them my five minutes as well. Okay, and is that the case with you, Councilmember Allen? So there are 10 more minutes. Okay. So if you'll take your names off, please. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Sorry. So doubled up. Next slide, please. And then we know that there are 348 in transitional housing and motels. Next slide, please. 76 in detention centers. Next slide. 57 in hospitals. Next slide. These are the consequences. These are just pictures of what it's like to be a person without a home. or in insecure housing, right? And so we want to thank you so much for your time and attention to these numbers, and we wanted to make sure that you had some understanding. We're going to be available for any questions, comments, anything you have. We know that's after this meeting, but you can feel free to call any of us. And we know there are no simple solutions, and we want to make sure that we address the issues that are right before us before it gets freezing cold outside, and that's why we're bringing you this information now. There are so many complicated barriers to stable housing, and we know that it takes a whole community. And you all are great examples of what you're doing in your very communities to make sure that people are taken care of, whether they're without homes or they're homed. So we appreciate that. I would like to give some time right now to a fourth-grade student. You're going to be very inspired by him, Grayson Daniels. He is a fourth-grade Meadowthorpe Elementary student, And he wants to share with you how he was moved by this whole issue of student homelessness. Grayson, come on up. Would you mind sharing with them the conversation that you had with? Hello, everyone. My name is Grayson Daniels from District 11, and I'm a proud fourth grader at Matt Thorpe Elementary School. I'm also part of a GTAP program, and one of the classes I'm taking is about leadership. Leadership is sometimes speaking for those who cannot be heard. Today, I want to talk about something very important. You see, I've learned that there are many kids in our school system who do not have a place to call home. That is really tough. Being a kid today can be challenging enough. I cannot even imagine how hard it must be to leave school and not have a permanent home to go to. I believe that even one kid without a home is too many. So I want to do something about it, and I need your help. I'm starting a petition for my fellow students in our school system. I am asking our city government to set aside 100% of their budget surplus to create affordable housing and family housing for kids and their families who are without homes. To me, there is no other issue in our city more important than making sure everyone in Lexington has a place to call home. As children, we need to feel safe and secure so that one day we can grow up and be the leaders of tomorrow. I'm calling upon all the city leaders in Lexington to step up and be heroes. Let us work together and make sure that every child has a home and no one has to worry about where they will sleep at night. We can do this and I believe in the power of our community to make a difference. Thank you for listening and let us make Lexington a better place for everyone. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. That's just one example of a person who was moved by a conversation that he heard, and he said, I want to make sure we do something. None of my classmates should be without a home. And that was his response. I'm going to introduce now T.C. Johnson, the director of Fayette County Public Schools, the McKinney-Vento program, to share with you the situation that we have in our very school system. And I know it's a concern of yours. It's a huge concern of mine. T.C. Welcome. Good afternoon, Mayor and Council. Again, my name is T.C. Johnson, and I'm the program manager for McKinney-Vento and Fayette County Public Schools. I'm here today to bring a great awareness because Lexington is in a crisis of homeless children and youth in our community. This year alone, from the first day of school, August the 16th, we have eligible in our McKinney-Vento program 453 homeless children from K-12 all the way to 12th grade. And so I am here to bring this awareness because our families really need support and they need awareness that this is a crisis in our community. As you all know, the McKinney-Vento Act is a federal-funded law in our country. And so I have actually had the privilege of being the program manager for the last year. And so last year alone we had 953 children that were eligible. And we know that there's so many more families that are out there right now. There is an increase in single dads. And so we actually need housing for those fathers because there's limited housing for those. Also, there is so many different reasons why our families are homeless. And my motto is that our homelessness, it doesn't have a face because it could happen to anybody at any time. It's them today, but it could be us tonight. It could be a fire. It could be a flood. It could be anything that would cause us to be displaced in our homes. But this is definitely something that I want to share with you. I want to give you a little bit of my statistics. Currently, I have 335 families that are doubled up with another family. I have 44 that are in hotels and motels. I have 86 that are in shelters or transitional housing. I have 18 that are in unsheltered. That means that they're living in cars, they're living in parking structures, they're living in tents. I get calls every week from concerned citizens about families that are in cars. Last week I got a call about a mother with a one-month-old and three school-aged children that was sleeping on the street in a car. So that's an issue. And wintertime is coming, and so we need to make sure that we take care of our children. I also have 19 unaccompanied high schoolers. That means these high schoolers do not have parent support or parent guidance. So they are navigating this society alone. And so we are starting a program called Transitional Readiness so that we're able to help those high schoolers be ready for when they step out of high school into transitioning into adulthood. Because if we don't take care of those students, then they're going to be our next homeless ones. They're going to be our next addicts. They're going to be the ones that are out there on the street. So it is our charge, not just in Fayette County public schools, but it is our charge as the Lexington community. They are our children. They are our kids. And so, again, I just thank you for giving me the opportunity to come to you and just let you all know that we do have this awareness that this is a crisis in our community. And the Catholic Action Center has come on board to start Give a Kid a Home campaign. And so for the next few months, we are going to be running that campaign so that we're able to have additional funding for what I cannot purchase with federal funds. And that might be deposits. That might be. We have a lot of families now that are struggling trying to pay those application fees. And they don't have the funds. And the other part I will add as I close is that there are multiple reasons. There's not just evictions. There's not just condemnations. We have had a lot of condemnations this year of families. Families are working hard. We have two parent families are struggling financially to be able to pay their rent because of the rent hike. And so that has also been a barrier for some of our kids. So our role at Faya County is to ensure that our kids get the same equal education, even though they're in the situation that they're in, that they get the same academic support as their peers. And so that is so important because when they walk into the school, they didn't ask to be in the circumstances that they're in. And so we have to support our children. Thank you all for your time. Thank you very much. Thank you so much. And there's one final slide. I just wanted to show this to you. None of us are home until all of us are home. It's so true, isn't it? Thank you, TC. And if there's any questions, we'll be available afterwards or any time you want to call us or talk to us. So thank you, Mayor. And thank you, Council Members, very much. Thank you very much. We appreciate it very much. And Mayor Gordon, with the other few seconds, I just wanted to note that Ms. TC shared with us earlier that there's multiple zip codes. It's not just one zip code. It's across the city. So it's in each and every one of our districts, council members, that this situation is happening in the Fayette County Schools. There's not a school that doesn't have one. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. There is a, was there any other council member who wanted to give a council report? Who didn't get an opportunity? Okay. There is a mayor's report. I'll entertain a motion to approve. Vice Mayor Wu moves. Council Member Plumman seconds. Are there any questions? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, thank you. There is also a price contract bid recommendation. If I could have a motion, please. Council Member Gray moves approval. Vice Mayor Wu seconds. Are there questions? All right. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that passes. and at this time we have public comment for issues not on the agenda and we have one person. Oh, okay. All right. We don't have one person. We don't have anyone signed up. So with that, Vice Mayor Wu has a motion. Thank you, Mayor. I move that we go into closed session pursuant to KRS 61.8101C for the purpose of discussing proposed litigation. So moved. Yes, there is. Council Member Plumman seconds. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, we'll go to closed session. All right. Thank you. All right, I'll entertain a motion to come back in open session. Council Member Gray and Council Member Baxter seconds. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, we are in open session and Vice Mayor Wu has a motion. Thank you, Mayor. I move to place on the docket for the September 28, 2023 council meeting a resolution condemning necessary permanent and temporary easements across the property located at 2710 Sullivan's Trace for the purpose of the Spur Road and Dotson Pump Station Elimination Project and authorizing the Department of Law to institute condemnation proceedings in Fayette Circuit Court. So moved. Is there a second? Second. Council Member Fogle seconds. Are there any questions? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right. That motion passes and I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. Councilmember Fogel moves. Vice Mayor Wu seconds. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All right we are adjourned. Thank you very much. I'm going to go.