Council members, I just need two more for the quorum, please. Thank you very much. We have a quorum, so I'll go ahead and call to order the Lexington Fayette urban county council work session of October 31st, 2023. And the first item on the agenda is public comment for issues on the agenda. And we have several folks who would like to speak to issues on the agenda. And the way this works is when I call your name, if you'll come to the podium, please. And for the record, you need to restate your name and your council district. So the order will be Dottie Bean, then Vince Gabbert, then Jessica Winters to start off with. So first we'll hear from Dottie Bean. Welcome. My name is Dottie Bean. I live in the 8th District. I'm here to comment on council projects, which I believe is on your agenda. Urban County Councilmembers, we are here today to thank you for the new way you have done the fund balances in public and with plenty of questioning, even of each other. Believe me, this has not been done a lot in the recent past, but today you have done it and done it well. Too many times council members are told they must not ask dumb questions in public. There are no dumb questions when you are spending the taxpayers' money. Let me repeat that. There are no dumb questions when you are spending the taxpayers' money. There are, however, a lot of bad, very bad ideas that you will hear if you stay in the public service for a long time. We are proud you are standing for your districts and your community. Any reform of government must start with you. We do not agree with everything you have said here, and you should not either agree with everything. We do believe you are heading in the right direction. We can no longer depend on the media to ask these questions for us or for you. They have been silenced by the temptations of wealth, greed, excess, and immorality. Still, a few do write the truth and know it when they see it. We appreciate your patience and hope that you will keep on probing until you find the truth. We all need to know it and hear it before we cast our votes. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next up is Vince Gabbard. Welcome. Thank you, Mayor. I'm just here to answer questions. I'm Vince Gabbert on behalf of Lexington Sporting Club, so just was signed in to make sure if there's any questions as our project comes up. Okay, very good. Thank you very much. Next is Jessica Winters. Welcome. Same. Good afternoon, counsel. I signed up out in abundance of caution, but I do believe my item is not even on the agenda. It's about scheduling a hearing on a zoning matter. So I'll just sit back down until that matter. Okay. There will be an opportunity at the end for issues not on the agenda. Okay. Thank you. Next is Megan Winfield, and Maureen Peters has yielded her three minutes to Megan. So you all would like to wait? Okay. Very good. All right. then we will move along to docket approval if I could have a motion please. Second. All right, and Council Member Legree, do you have a motion? Mayor, I do. I have a motion to place item number seven, an ordinance change in the zone from a neighborhood business B1 zone with conditional zoning restrictions to neighborhood business B1 zone with no conditional zoning restrictions for 0.485 net, 0.666 gross acres for property located at 509 East Main Street, Council District 3. To be placed on the docket with a hearing on November 28th at 6 PM, so moved. There's Council Member Gray second. Council Member Gray? Okay, seconds. Are there questions? Did you have a question on this, Council Member Ellinger? I did. Council Member Ellinger. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Why do we have to wait until 6 o'clock? Can we do it a little sooner? Is that possible? Because we have a work session at 3, and it's going to give us probably a gap of 2 hours. Well, I guess it depends. When I was trying to gather quorum amongst our colleagues, there was one colleague who was able to make it at 6 p.m. but not necessarily at 5 p.m. so my goal was quorum. And that's why it's at 6 p.m. That colleague is not here right now. They're unwell. Did you? So without that person you did not have a quorum at 5 o'clock, is that correct? We were very much on the edge of quorum and colleagues. It would be unfortunate if we could not make quorum. I don't know if the Department of Law is here, if there's any way to amend that if that colleague is able to be here at 5 or if anything changes but I that was my way of an assuring quorum you're talking about if there's a motion made for five o'clock and then it could be changed to six I didn't know if it could be amended in the future to make it 5 p.m. but I can't speak for them whether or not they're going to be able to be would you mind if we take a show of hands of how many here can be there at five o'clock can you raise your hand high if you can be there at 5 o'clock on Tuesday November 28th November 28th keep your hands up 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 so 11 10 is a quorum yep yes sir and I my guessing is that the council members not here actually would like to be here at this hearing and and you can't show up late for a hearing it no correct you can't yeah I respect that and I would hate for us to be in a situation of one person were to fall ill or if someone were to be in a scenario where they were unable to attend at the last minute that we were not to reach quorum may I ask how many can be here at six o'clock the same day one two three Three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. That's even tighter. That doesn't make sense to me. Well, frankly, yes. Well, nine people said they could be here at six. I mean, I'm not the question. Okay, then we could strike the middle and say 530 with the hopes that our colleague who isn't here will also be able to attend. Okay. Did everybody hear the... Did everyone hear that? Yes, we have a motion on the floor. Okay, 5.30? Okay. Well, I mean, presumably, if you could be here at 5, you would still be here at 6, correct? But I'm just saying. So your motion is to have this hearing at 530 on November 28th. Yes, Mayor. Correct? Yes. Okay. Any other questions? No? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? All right. Any other questions about the docket? All right. All those in favor of the docket as amended, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that passes. Next is October 24th, 2023 work session motions. Could I have a motion to approve? Second. Thank you, Vice Mayor Wu. And second, Council Member Plowman. Any questions? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Budget amendments. Could I have a motion? Second. House Member Worley moves. Vice Mayor Wu seconds. Are there questions? Please log in if there are. Oh, they're all moving. No questions? All right, all those in favor of approving budget amendments, please say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. And then you have for information only, council members, the budget amendments. And that brings us to new business. Could I have a motion? Second. Thank you. Council Member Plowman, second by Council Member Baxter. Council Member Ellinger. Thank you, Mayor. Number G, please. All right. That is Chief Development Officer Kevin Atkins. Mr. Atkins, could you just kind of go over what this is just for the public? Sure. As I think everybody's probably seen, Keeneland is getting ready to undergo some renovation, and we are all pretty excited about the impact that can have for tourism here in our community as well. So this, as part of that process, they will apply for the state's Tourism Development Act funding. So this funding out of our public infrastructure fund will go toward showing the state our support for that effort as well. This will be a reimbursement for the public infrastructure portions of that project. Think parking, think water, sewer, sidewalks, those type of items. Thank you. And then number aye, please. So I think we've all followed for a while Lexington Soccer Club's interest in building here. Several months back, Mr. Shively reached out to the mayor to have a conversation, and we've been talking on and off for several months. So this we have treated almost like a new business we would look at. So we're putting a million dollars in from the public infrastructure, just as I mentioned with Keeneland, the same type of items. This would be 1% like we do for KBI. It would be 1% of annual reimbursement for new jobs created. So anybody that's on the payroll now would not qualify for this. And the biggest part of this incentive is an industrial revenue bond of up to $50 million to assist with the construction of the stadium and the training medical complex. Do you know what? rate they get on that it'll depend when it goes to market thank you thank you mayor thank you thank you council member savigny thank you mayor i got a question for you too thank you um and a few other people have brought this up to me and so i i do want to kind of clarify the item and it's g um so that item um is was that money that we're using for that was that put aside for a particular purpose? It is coming out of the money that was set aside for the public infrastructure fund within economic development projects. Was that in last year's fund balance? I believe it was actually the 22 budget. Yeah, and I've heard that one was for infill and redevelopment. That was an area of focus, but not a requirement. Okay, so and it kind of gets back to my question that I had earlier today with commissioner hensley like i just want to make sure that if we're using funds that were set up in a for a particular purpose that we're using them for that particular purpose those funds were set aside uh so infill was a focus item but the requirement item was it leads to job creation and we think this is one of those projects that will not only create jobs on site at Keeneland right but because of the hospitality and visitor industries will create jobs all over the community okay that was I just want to make sure that was clarified for the public I appreciate it thank you councilmember Baxter thank you mayor I this is in regards to letter H I do not have a question I just have to say that I'm so thrilled that this RFP has been completed and that we are moving forward with the design phase for the new senior and therapeutic center. That's all. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Vice Mayor Wu. Thank you, Mayor. And for today, I wouldn't mind if you referred to me as my official title, which is Miami Vice Mayor Wu. Oh, is that what? Well, you know, I wasn't going to ask about anything because one council member is wearing dollar bills and I thought maybe he had found extra money and yes okay although this could become part of my regular it could be as well thank you I have a couple of questions for mr. Atkins as well on G and I we we've talked about this particular fund before and I had this kind of similar questions before as councilmember civigny about the infill and redevelopment piece but I think you explained it pretty well. This fund has been around for a little bit now. About a year and a half. Yeah and it was a total of three million dollars right. Can you talk a little bit about kind of the either the interest or the lack of interest that we've had in engaging folks on particularly on infill in the last year and a half two years? We've had some interest but we've and Mr. Benz in my office and I have met with a few people and we've gone through the program they have expressed interest in it but one of the requirements under the fund was the projects be ready to go and i think a lot of those folks may still be working through their financing packages the other parts of their planning approval but they just haven't come back to file an application and request the money and so from my understanding too that um these are to be used in the form of a forgivable loan is that correct these will be as long as the projects are completed then the loan it is a loan but it's the projects are completed it was 100% forgivable okay I asked that because the language between the two items here seem to differ a little bit on item I it does let's say specifically talk about yeah forgivable loan incentive in the amount of one million but in item G I don't see that particular kind of language so if you can clarify that for me. The Keeneland one was set up technically different. The Keeneland one is totally forgivable. It's not in the form of a loan at all and the soccer one is. That's why there's the distinction in language. Okay. Can you talk Mr. Atkins a little bit about kind of the thought process between formatting one this way and one that way? Well, the one we looked at, especially soccer, was an overall incentive package. So there's three components to that incentive. The Keeneland structure is, since it is strictly just, and they're both just reimbursable, but since the Keeneland project is just reimbursement for the infrastructure, up to a million, that's the difference. And for me, I like the idea of a forgivable loan because it gives us some level of accountability to say you're going to do what you say you're going to do and use this money for what you're going to use it for. Is there built into the Keeneland project that sort of accountability as well that can parallel that? In both agreements, there are clawback provisions. So if the projects aren't completed or they're not completed to the level they said employment otherwise for the other one, then there are provisions. Okay, great. Thank you very much. Thank you. Council Member Fogle? Thank you, Mayor. And I'd love to participate in my misfit toy outfit is in the car. I ran out of time, couldn't get in it. But thank you anyway, and happy Halloween to everyone. Number M, as in Mary, and as you all are approaching. Chief Wells. Chief Wells, hey, I just wanted to talk about the site-based substance abuse treatment services. Where are those at? Thank you very much. Where are those located? They will be wherever the patient is, wherever the individual that needs help is. Okay, and congratulations on the federal funding. And that's really all the question that I had. I was just reading the language of the people who are non-fatal, but they've overdosed. And so it's just you all going to those people across the city. Yes, ma'am. Okay, thank you. That's it. Happy Halloween. Thank you. Council Member Gray. Thank you, Mayor. Council Member Fogel just asked a question. that I was going to ask for more details about this program. Is there any more that you would like to say, Chief Wells? Sure. Thank you very much. Yeah, so this probably does warrant a little bit of clarification. So this is a $1.3 million grant spaced out over three years. This will allow us to hire two social workers, two additional social workers. One thing that I'm really, really excited about is it also allows for the hiring of a peer support specialist. So this is somebody with lived experience who can really, I think, build some trust with the client. Also included in that grant are about 1,500 doses per year of Narcan that we'll be able to give out. And then also, because we want to make sure that we're finding out what works and what doesn't work for the community, it also will include a contract with UK Center for Drug and Alcohol Research to conduct and report on the impact of the program. Thank you. All right. All those in favor of approving new business, please say aye. Is anyone opposed? All right. That motion passes. And now we'll go into our presentations and continuing business. And I'll entertain a motion to approve the neighborhood development funds. Councilmember Fogle moves and Councilmember Baxter seconds. Are there any questions? All right. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right. That motion passes. I'll entertain a motion to approve the council capital projects. Council member Plowman moves. Council member Baxter seconds. Are there any questions? Vice mayor Wu. Thank you, mayor. I have a motion to amend the council capitals project list to reduce the allocation to parks and recreation for a new allocation, new total allocation of $360. And further move to amend the list to remove the allocations to environmental services, $7,500, and traffic engineering, $50,180, to eliminate the duplication of funds previously authorized and approved by ordinance number 122-2023. So moved. All right, is there a second? Second. Excuse me, Council Member Ellinger seconds. Any questions? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is there anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Next up, we'll hear from our... I just amended this. Oh, I'm sorry. Thank you. We just amended it. Are there any other amendments? All those in favor of the amended capital projects say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Next up, we'll hear from our county clerk, Susan Lamb. Welcome. Thank you, and I do apologize for my voice. I didn't swallow a frog, but it sure does sound like it. So let me make sure I know how to operate this. Thank you. I am very, very pleased today to be before you all. And I want to say good afternoon to the mayor and council members. And thank you for allowing me this opportunity to share important information about our upcoming general election and the voting options. My name is Susan Lamb and I was sworn in on February 1st as the Fayette County Clerk. And I'm representing an amazing group of deputy county clerks that are sitting over and working in the office who work to ensure the elections in the Fayette County are accessible to all who want to exercise their right to vote. The fun part is, is that we get to make sure that people understand about the state laws and everything. And so we are following the KRS 117.076 subsection 1, which created early voting opportunities effective in April of 2022. Prior to the early voting, there are six days prior to November 2nd that you can vote in person, but it's absentee with qualifying excuses. But November 2nd, 3rd, and 4th are the very important days. You can vote in person with no excuse at four different locations, as you will see on this slide. This is commonly referred to as early voting or the concept of a vote center. A lot of us never have heard about vote centers, and I wanted to introduce this to you all today. We are very fortunate this year that we could team up with our awesome Lexington Public Library to utilize their large meeting rooms to facilitate more options for voting on these three days. Several have asked me why is there not a space on the west side of town. I was thinking about Council Member Reynolds. And unfortunately, the village branch, as we all know, is under construction, and the Beaumont branch is under reconstruction. Those are the two locations that we hope to be able to have in the future to provide a place on the west side of town. Of course, you know, on election day, we still get to proceed with people that like to go to their precincts. We will have 125 voting locations, which includes consolidated voting and individual precinct locations. We still have 286 precincts. The polls are open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and if you are inside the building and in the line at 6 p.m., you still will get to vote. Remember to check your precinct locations. We did have seven changes this year, and you can go online to govote.ky.gov to check your correct precinct. We sent over 6,400 letters to registered voters today, this year, because their precincts had to be changed. Here are some fun facts. This is what I've been learning since February. Fayette County uses close to 1,100 election officers with each election, and it includes backup officers also. In each precinct, every machine is personed by a Democrat and a Republican. We refer to it as party parity. I love that. We are required to train each election officer per KRS 117.187, and my Fayette County election team provided training on 21 different days in the past month to prepare for the general election for every election officer. Now that's dedication. I wanted them to be here today so that I could show you all the amazing team that is pulling this all off, but they're working very hard next door. Election officers are paid for attending the training and each day they work. Some might even work not just election day, but they might work early voting too. So there are some opportunities. So if you're interested in working, please call us up and submit your name. Here are some fun facts. The population of the registered voters is 242,835. That increased a couple of thousand over this last year. the absentee ballots could be requested through october 24th and what's unique is is back in 2020 2019 we actually had a little under 2 000 less absentee vote ballots that were requested than this year so i'm excited that we have 6 643 that's an update from this day as to when i provided this update this presentation so we have 6,643 absentee ballots to process which are really exciting and we've already started that process and it is such a unique opportunity to get to go through and see the behind the scenes it's really important and we do it with party parity and I find it interesting that in all of the years that you see the absentee ballots here the one during the pandemic where everybody was supposed to vote with pandemic that it was a 62 61 turnout that makes me wonder what's going to happen either next year whether it's going to actually be another high turnout or was it because of the absentee ballots that's something that i found very interesting this next opportunity here this is a video that was captured on the last day of early voting at the Kroger's Field in the primary election. And I want to give a very special shout-out and thank you to Ms. Haley Salyers, your all-staff, and to Chris Edwards. She actually came out early one Saturday morning before we opened up this vote center, and she shot this footage. So it's actually our team, our election officers and everything, and I'm anxious to show you what a vote center is if you've never experienced it. Chris, thank you, sir. What if on election day you weren't confined to voting at one designated location in Fayette County? What if you could choose from 25 to 30 locations throughout the county? Maybe you enjoy being able to vote close to home. Maybe you would prefer to vote closer to your work. Or maybe it would just be more convenient if you were able to vote wherever your errands are taking you that day. Wouldn't it be great if all those options could be combined so that voters have more opportunity to choose for themselves? Today, I'd like to introduce you to the concept of vote centers. Locations where any voter from any precinct in Fayette County can choose to vote. No more getting turned away because you showed up at the wrong location. No more forgetting that it's election day until it's too late for you to make it back to your precinct to vote. No more showing up to vote and waiting in a line longer than you'd like because you have no other choice. With vote centers, you do have a choice. They're all your voting locations. Choose the location that best fits your schedule. Once you arrive, election officers will be waiting to greet you with a smile. There will be several check-in stations at each location. Any station can check you in, no matter where in Fayette County you live. An election officer will direct you to the first available station. Hand your ID to the officers. Tell the officers your name and address so that they can verify your identity and confirm the address they have on file as current. They'll have you sign in and they'll provide you with your precinct's ballot. Take your ballot to the privacy area and make your selections. Once you're finished, take your ballot to the scanner and insert it at the green arrows to cast your vote. That's it. You're finished. We know your lives take you all over the county. Your lives are busy, full of important personal matters. We want to make voting fit your schedule, no matter what your schedule looks like. Welcome to the future of voting in Fayette County. So that is a vote center. So I know I'm not supposed to ask questions, but how many of you all have ever gone to a vote center? See, I'm the same way. I had never been to a vote center prior to the primary, except for when I voted absentee ballot in 2020. So I actually got to experience it, and I wanted to share it with you all, because here's the challenge. I am challenging each of you all to challenge your friends, family, and constituents to come and vote at early voting. Because if we raise the numbers and the percentages of those that turn out at Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, November 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, then we will hopefully get to keep these early voting days. If we don't show up, we could lose them. The state legislators are taking this into consideration. We want to keep this. So I am asking you all through this presentation to challenge you that you go and you check out early voting. And then you text and tell your friends or put it on Facebook, put you social media, and challenge everybody to go test it out. you know if if what's to say if we do this and then we have less lines on election day we're still going to be happy and we're all going to get to vote and it's going to be a fun opportunity so the fact that we've added three more locations and we're not having to shut anyone down the senior center will be able to be open and operate the libraries will be able to operate and be open during this time and i am so excited so in 2022 the general election we had the senior center and it took 37 minutes to walk through the process to vote at senior center in 2023 in the primary at kroger field it took five minutes and of course you know i want to increase our voter turnout so let's make sure we exceed the 61 percent turnout let's let's go so and that's what i got So that's this week. This week. Yeah. Yes. So we have a few council members with questions. Council member Ellinger. Welcome back, Ms. Lamb. And I didn't raise my hand, but now I should have because I did do the at the football stadium. And you're right, it was very quick. And I'm taking my mom Thursday to the senior center. So we will be there voting on Thursday. So thank you. Excellent. Thank you. Thank you. Very good. Anybody else have a question? I was on the wrong page, I'm sorry. Okay, Councilmember Fogle. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Ms. Lamb. And we have been promoting all week, all month, months before. We have the John Lewis Good Trouble motorcade coming through. So there will be, it will be a line at the Northside Library on Saturday the fourth. it'll start from shallow end up it consolidated and so thank you for all your efforts I hope it makes it easier so that we all can participate in the democratic process thank you thank you thanks thank you any other questions for our County Clerk all right thank you very much you all allowing me this time today too So remember the challenge is on and I'm going to be watching. All right, that brings us to a presentation. All right. This spoke award is very exciting, and this is one that our employees select, and I'd like to ask two people to join me at the podium. Jeff Herron. Come on, Jeff. and Layton Garlington. How are you? I think you guys got me. Are you surprised? A little. A little. This is a surprise. Are you surprised? Come on over here. I am very proud at this time to present this year's Spoke Award. The SPOKE Award, short for skilled, professional, outstanding, knowledgeable, and exceptional, honors city employees who exhibit a high level of commitment, initiative, and dedication to their job responsibilities. And as I said previously, our own employees select these folks, which is even more special. This year's recipients are individuals who are a very important part of our government, someone who knows what it means to be a public servant. So it is my honor to present this year's Spoke Award to the Director of the Office of Homelessness Prevention and Intervention, Jeff Heron. Now. And as director, Jeff works with community partners to care for people who need help. Jeff is frequently contacted for help with housing or emergency shelter on a case-by-case basis. He works all the time, right? The person who nominated Jeff for this honor, Leighton Garlington, Councilmember Sheehan's aide, states, quote, while it could be easy for an individual to become hardened by this work, Jeff keeps empathy and understanding at the center of his efforts. His passion for our unhoused neighbors is apparent to anyone who works with him. Jeff has directed the office since 2022. As I was saying, I would say many of those days have been challenging and Jeff has met and exceeded the challenge. Jeff is committed to his job and to our community. I really appreciate the passion that you have for your work. I've seen it many, many times. And for the people in our community for whom you advocate and work. And I want to ask Layton, Councilmember Sheehan's aide, also to say a few words. Welcome again. Good afternoon, Councilmembers, Vice Mayor Wu, Mayor Gorton. I've never had the occasion to address this distinguished body in a formal way before today, but I am thrilled to be a part of recognizing the remarkable work of Mr. Jeff Herron in the Office of Homelessness Prevention and Intervention. I've been fortunate to have a front row seat to see Jeff's work while serving as Councilmember Liz Sheehan's legislative aide over the last few years, particularly since Councilmember Sheehan joined the Homelessness Prevention and Intervention Board. When the time came to nominate a candidate for the Spoke Award, Mr. Heron was the first name that jumped to mind. Jeff has dedicated his professional life to advocacy for and service to our unhoused neighbors. Working in this space comes with its own unique set of challenges, and Jeff is a testament to how one maintains empathy, compassion, patience, and steadfastness in the face of systemic barriers. Anyone who has had the privilege of working directly with Mr. Heron can attest to the unwavering and knowledgeable approach he takes to his work. He leads by example when it comes to valuing our unhoused neighbors and service providers, meeting people exactly where they are in their lives, speaking from a place of compassion, and remaining clear-eyed when it comes to the realities on the ground and the barriers many Lexingtonians face when seeking secure housing. It would only be natural to assume that after years of hard work under difficult circumstances that one could become hardened to the challenging nature of intervening in instances of homelessness. Mr. Herron defies that tendency and works to meaningfully improve the lives of the clients that his office interacts with and also works to meaningfully improve the overall system of care available in Lexington. While I'm sure he would be the first to stand before you and say that we still have so much work to do, I felt that, as an organization, we would be remiss if we did not take the opportunity to recognize and uplift the leadership that Mr. Herron has provided our community in these areas. Thank you all to your support for Jeff's office and the vital work they do on a daily basis, and thank you, Mr. Herron, for all the work you do for Lexington. Thank you. Thank you. Wonderful. Jeff, would you like to say a few words? Sure. All right. Layton's correct. I was going to say that we still have a lot of work to do, because I want to make sure that that is underscored at every step of the way. This is by far not an easy gig, but I do give it my all, and I give both that to my office, to those that I serve in the community and to this government. Beyond the time that I've spent in this particular position, I've been with LFUCG since 2018, and it has by far been the most rewarding experience of my professional career. And I am quite humbled to know that my peers see me in this light. So I want to thank Layton for his kind words and for the support of Councilmember Sheehan, the rest of the council, the administration, and Mayor Gordon. still processing this, but I do appreciate the honor very, very much. Thank you. Very nice. Thank you. Thank you. thank you Thank you all so much. And now it's time for council reports. If you'll log in, please. Councilmember Sevigny. Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to point out a few victories in the 10th district this past week. um first of all lafayette's boys soccer we're the state runner-up um but congratulations to make it to that final lexington catholic girls cross country is a state champion lafayette boys cross country had the individual state champion um that young man we talked about last week james in days shy me uh won with a record time so um congratulations to him for his first time actually running. Unbelievable. And lastly, the Lafayette Band, which I know many members of council and council parents and grandparents all have connections to, won their 23rd state championship. Unbelievable. Good for them. And we look forward to recognizing the entire marching band here in council chambers at some point in the future with their instruments playing. I don't know which night that's going to be. I think it's next Thursday. I don't know if it's this Thursday. And usually we have the directors and the field commanders. Yes. The whole band can't fit in. We want the tubas. You want the tubas. I want the oboes. All right. And then I wanted to also say a week of valor starts on Saturday, which is a big deal. and it starts Saturday with red, white, and bluegrass hootenanny hosted by the Lady Veterans Connect at the downtown Hilton. Doors open at 6 o'clock under speakers, dinner, silent auctions. Wear some Western wear, not like this where we were asked to wear costumes and some of us did it and some didn't. Wear your Western wear. It's encouraged. And you can connect there. You can get on their website at lv-connect.org to purchase tickets. And then at Sunday at 1 o'clock, I think is the VA 5K at Lees Town VA campus. I don't know if any of you are running that, but veterans go to the veteransva5k.com to do that. And thank you very much, Mayor. Thank you, Councilmember Legree. Thank you, Mayor. I want to give a really big shout out to, and a huge thank you to everybody involved with this past weekend's Household Hazardous Waste Disposal Day. I know that I feel like Live Green Lexington, Environmental Services, and our waste management teams all had to work really, really hard to make this a really smooth and successful day. For many, many months I've been dreading taking extra paint from my basement for disposal properly, and I had a great time. It went really smoothly. I was really happy to get rid of that pain and there are so many people there who were positive, who were helpful, and who made it easy for our residents. So thank you to those teams. You all did an awesome job and we're very appreciative. That's it, Mayor. Thank you. Councilmember Gray. Thank you, Mayor. Wow, that's really close up and personal. I would like to say congratulations and awesome job to the mayor's office, Tiffany Brown, for putting together today's Clean Slate event where we had residents come in for expungement. I didn't get a chance to stay along, but I was happy to see that my colleagues, Whitney Baxter, and Council Member James Brown showed up in the end. But kudos to Tiffany Brown. So last night I joined once again in the mayor's office. I'm giving a lot of shout out to you. We're very busy down there. Yes, you all are. They do work too. I joined One Lexington during their neighborhood walk on Anniston, which many of you all know a few weeks ago we had a shooting on that road and I'm thankful for the work that they do. They are truly called to do the work of saving lives and they're doing great work every single day. You want to know what the number one ask for the residents was for? It wasn't for money it wasn't it was asking for prayer um as a pk right here uh that just uh speaks to my heart and my soul so there is a lot of work to be done so community we need you to be there one lexington cannot do it by themselves neither can their their um community partners do it by themselves we need more of you there's always they say the um the the work is many or the harvest is many and the laborers view. And that's really the case in this line of work. We need more of you. And also, yesterday, I stopped by several of our Fayette County Public Schools to check on some of my former students. Sometimes you just got to show up to let them know I'm watching you still. And so thank you to the principals at, or the administrators at Success Academy, which is located in the second district, for having me there. It was great to see, you know, students yelling out, hey, Ms. Gray, don't you recognize me? And guess what? I don't. Because the last time I saw them, like the gentleman you see at the top, I did not recognize him because he is now a full-grown adult. Last time I saw him, he was in eighth grade, no beard, didn't have a deep voice. So it was great to see my kids. And also, I stopped over in Liz Sheehan's district at Henry Clay to meet up and talk to some of the students there to check on them to see how they're doing. Great things are happening there. I met their new principal who's got his work cut out, but he can do it. And to my students, I will be back there at Henry Clay to do some work with you. Smiling faces. It's great to see. This is the excitement. It's nice to walk in a room and people are actually excited to see you. So much joy. And lastly, there's not a picture for this one. But lastly, I would like to say job well done to the sheriff's office. Last week, right before our council meeting, they hosted their domestic violence awareness event that they hold every single year. It was around about 30 minutes prior to our council meeting. But the work still remains. Although we are on the last day of October, the work still continues. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Councilmember Lynch. Thank you, Mayor. I just want to share with my council colleagues in our Lexington residents that last night I had the honor, privilege, pleasure, I graduated from the Citizens Police Academy. Yay! It was so amazing. A big thank you to Chief Weathers, Officer Scahafer, and Bean for curating a really phenomenal experience. All of our instructors were amazing, and I had a really great cohort. We had a great class, and we had great discussions. So I want to encourage my colleagues that have not done it yet, I'm looking down the row, and of all of our Lexington neighbors, if you have not done the Citizens Police Academy, please do sign up. You can apply right now for the March class that will happen next year. So a great opportunity and a big thank you to everyone that puts it on twice a year for all of our residents and neighbors. A big, big thank you to Chief Wells and our fire department. It has truly been an honor to represent you all. As I've been doing trunk or treats in the second district, a big shout out to Fire Station 24 that showed up at McConnell's Trace on Saturday. The kids were overjoyed and they loved seeing the fire truck and interacting with the firefighters in person. who judged the costume contest and there were some great winners. They did a great job, so I'm truly appreciative of you all and all that you do for our community. And again, Chief Wells, if you waive that age requirement for me, I'm signing up for Training Academy tomorrow. Just waive the requirement. And then lastly, I want to announce that the trunk retreat is going to be happening tonight from 6 to 8 PM. the Georgetown Street, the Douglas Park location. It is being sponsored by the Georgetown Street Area Neighborhood Association, First African Baptist Church, Swahili Elks, Lexington Black Firefighters, and Bracktown Evangelism Ministry. So please come out to Douglas Park tonight from 6 to 8 p.m. for candy and music from DJ Smooth. You'll have a great time, and I will be there giving out lots of candy. So thank you, Mayor, and I hope to see everyone tonight. Thank you so much. Vice Mayor Wu. Thank you, Mayor. So I have one rhetorical question for Chief Wells. I also finished the Citizens Fire Academy earlier this year, and I did not get a take-home turnout gear and a helmet. What? Okay. All right. I'll leave that alone. I will also join my colleagues in celebrating Lafayette High School's state championship win as a recently retired band parent. We're very, very proud of them, and we have parents and grandparents and a lot of kids that went through Lafayette Bands. It's such a great program. I want to reiterate County Clerk Susan Lamb's challenge about early voting. It really is a serious use-it-or-lose-it proposition. If we don't get those numbers up and show that Lexington and Kentucky voters are serious about early voting, that is going to no longer be a right, and it will be a privilege that gets taken away. So I want to emphasize that. We've got some slides coming up. I was very fortunate and honored to be invited to some programming last week. It was called Reimagining the Civic Commons. It was 100 fellows from 12 cities that convened in Lexington for three days at a whirlwind tour of talking about public spaces and how we imagine public spaces and engaging with civics. My colleague James Brown and I were on a panel together moderated by Mary Quinn Raymer from Visit Lex. Here we were at the horse park. And I don't think James and I, we didn't argue too much, right? No, we didn't. Only a little bit. So that was a great experience. And then coming up this weekend at the Carnegie Center, we have, as part of their Carnegie Classic Series, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, the classic science fiction book by Philip K. Dick, which became the basis for Blade Runner. And if their previous events are of any indication, it's going to be a really, really fun time at the Carnegie. There's going to be costumes and food and all kinds of good stuff. And so on that, wishing everybody a fun and safe Halloween. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Fred Brown. Thank you, Mayor. Yeah, I wanted to give a shout-out to Lafayette Band. I know the new members probably on the council don't realize that my family background and support for the band. I had a daughter that was a three-year champion. I had a grandson, Trey, that was a one-year champion. I had a granddaughter, Brittany, that was a two-year champion. I had a grandson, Noah, that's a two-year champion. And I had another grandson, which is currently in the band, and Coleman, which is a two-year champion. So I've contributed family-wise, money-wise, and attended a lot of bands, and Lafayette, they always amaze me. So I've contributed 10 years of family to a great program, and I just wanted to congratulate them for that. Thank you. Councilmember Fogle. I'll jump on that bandwagon, being a graduate of Lafayette High School. My best friend Amy May was a rifle and my whole entire family attended Lafayette. So I've seen a lot of victories come through Lafayette. I also would like to lift up, don't know if we have it or not. Maybe I can get with Commissioner Armstrong. If we have, due to the recent shootings in Maine, do we have an active shooter evacuation plan enacted here in Lexington, Kentucky? Just, and I'll ask that on another day, no podium thing. Just really wondering if we have any kind of plan in place. Also, it was amazing to watch our very own Mr. Glenn Brown sing at a singing for democracy last night. He's in a group, Men in Christ, and the Holy Spirit was truly in the room. And so I would like to say personally, thank you. Also to lift up Miss Sally Hamilton, Parks and Recs, and Commissioner Ford, we're really close. November the 6th is the demolition of, and you, Mayor, and Councilmember Lynch, everybody that worked on it. November the 6th, we're turning it down. 1920 swimming pool in Douglas Park. And so that's the beginning of our next journey. And looking forward to November the 18th where the city will honor former pool pageant lifeguards. We will honor Miss Nida Garten, who has taught so many people how to swim in that pool. And so looking forward to that and then the amazing groundbreaking that you will be attending December the 6th. So that's my council comment and please everyone out there that's viewing this, please be careful or the little kiddos will be trick or treating. Please take your time, watch for them and I hope everyone has a safe journey and get back in home safe. And if you want to donate, my room number is 501 on the fifth floor. Leave it at the security desk. out the candy. Thanks. Council member Reynolds. Thank you Mayor. First I would like to place an item in environmental quality and public works. It has been apparent to me by more and more constituents that they are very concerned about the smell most likely from the wastewater treatment plant and director Martin has been good about having a presentation and working on some steps but I think that it would be best to put that item of the smell around Lees Town Road in in committee so moved I think I heard council member Menores. Second, any questions? To put odor control in the committee? I mean, at the wastewater treatment plant. That would have been too big of an issue. All right, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? That passes. All right, next I wanted to advertise that tomorrow night in Valley Park will be the Dia de los Muertos. event by Casa de Cultura and that starts at 6 and we'll go to 10. There will be all kinds of really awesome presentations. There will be food and so come on out. Dia de los Muertos is a holiday in Mexico and some other Latin American countries that celebrates our ancestors and people that have gone before us. And the idea is that they come back to visit us. We decorate our graves and we light candles and have the food that they like. And then they come back to visit us on the 1st and on the 2nd of November. So that event is tomorrow. And then on Saturday and Friday and Saturday, because I am just a ballerina, I wanted to let you know about this ballet event, also celebrating Dia de los Muertos. It is a beautiful, beautiful event. I cannot say enough about this performance. It is very moving and emotional. so come on out Friday night at 7pm and Saturday at 2pm at the Opera House so thank you Thank you, Council Member Ellinger Thank you Mayor Happy Halloween to everyone That means it's October 31st and in 37 days we go on break, we have four council meetings left and at this point I have not seen a calendar, I don't know the administration has asked me employees have asked me what is our schedule for next year I've had council members have emailed can can our new council administrator give us an update of where we stand on our on our calendar because I haven't had zero input on it and I'd like to know where we stand I've been told that it's going to be walked on Thursday and if that's the case that's very disappointing to me because in the past we've always been part of this process we were given a calendar in in and i have history here this is my 17th year on the council and we have a process we all get to participate in our calendar it's all 15 of us it's our calendars it's the administration it's employees and we all should be part of this process and i have not been part of the process haven't seen anything and here it is on October 31st and we literally have four meetings left before we go on break so I guess I asked the administrator do you know what where we stand right now and are we going to be going because if it is going to be walked on I'd like to see a calendar so I could have some maybe input and others could. Mayor do you mind if I speak to that? No please go ahead Vice Mayor. We're in the final stages of finishing the draft calendar we had some confusion that we had to get cleared up with legal so I've been working with council Administrator's Office, Shante and Kendra and Michael Cravens, on figuring out literally how many meetings of certain types were, you know, required by statute and as compared to last year, this year. So, we're basically almost there. I'm waiting on responses from a couple of committee chairs and then it's going to be finalized, sent out to council members this week and then walked on on Thursday's council meeting. I guess since it still is my last two minutes, does that mean we will try to do two readings on Thursday and be done with it? This is a process that I think everybody needs to participate in, all of us, because it's not just one person's calendar, it's everybody's calendar and we all should have an opportunity to make any recommendations or look at it. I know one of the first things that was sent out was that there was going to be retreat on January 5th. Well that was at least a week sooner than we have come back in the past and we've worked hard in the past to really work on a calendar I think that works for everybody because there's people have other jobs here that really need a calendar and I recommend that we don't deviate much from what we've done in the past and try to stay on that calendar and I would really appreciate an opportunity to see that before we do a walk on. We can always make amendments to it but we can go ahead and put out a calendar and then we can, because it's an ordinance, we have to pass it. It needs two readings and I certainly hope that we don't put it on Thursday and then get two readings without any kind of input on it. I think that if I might say one thing, once the council passes the schedule of meetings and law can tell me if I'm wrong, you must schedule, if you change a meeting, then it becomes a special meeting. Is that correct? If they've already passed the ordinance. That's normally how it works, Mayor. And with a special meeting, as you know, only the items on the agenda can be heard. So that, just to that one. And that's all the more reason why I want to get as much input from all council members so we don't have to go to that process because we've had to deal with that in the past. And I'd like to have everybody's input so that we take care of it on the front end, not the back end. If we get it and have a second reading, then we haven't really had participation on the council. And that's very disappointing to me. Vice Mayor, do you know when it might go out to the council? That's probably as soon as tomorrow afternoon. We're waiting on word from two people to settle some dates. Okay, Councilmember Fred Brown. Thank you, Mayor. Yeah, I'd like to speak to the calendar too. I don't mind having the calendar out this week, but I certainly would not want to vote Thursday night on this calendar. I think we need to digest it in the next two weeks. And then if we want some input, we could do that. But this is my 22nd year on the council and we've always had the privilege of looking at a calendar prior because it does affect each and every one of us on our scheduling. And sometimes we do make changes. And the time to make the change is initially before. And I think we could all get it resolved and vote on it, not this Thursday, but I haven't heard anything that we were going to vote on it Thursday, but I sure would not appreciate it if it came up Thursday until we each council member had a chance to look at it. Thank you. Thank you, Councilmember Fogel. Thank you, Mayor. would like to have input as a working-class mother grandmother of 11 I have family in a full-time job that I have to consider and work into the schedule so that would be really important for me so thank you any other comments all right thank you very much there is a mayor's report if I could have a motion to approve right council member Plumman moved and I think I heard council member Reynolds second are there questions all those in favor please say aye is anyone opposed all right that motion passes we also have price contract bids if I can have a motion to approve council member Fogle moves council Member Savigny seconds. Are there any questions? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. And then I am going to have to jump on the Lafayette band bandwagon because my husband was in the Lafayette band, And when we first got married, I couldn't understand. Now, keep in mind, this is a while ago. He had record albums of the Lafayette High School Band. And I thought, boy, this is weird. And then both of my children were in the band, and I got it. And band is the sort of activity that gives young people a smaller group. my son i think was in the band with councilmember baxter my daughter was in the band with one of your daughters these high schoolers get this experience of bonding of teamwork of what it means to have a team and it teaches them so much above and beyond music it's just unbelievable and sports does the same thing so I'm really proud of all of our athletes and band members who have been putting in all the time and work and effort so it's a good thing so I think that this is time for public comment for issues not on the agenda and I think that they've all left for some reason is Is there anyone left who signed up to speak for public comment? All right. Well, that concludes our business. If I could have a motion to adjourn. Thank you. All those in favor, say aye. All those in favor of adjourning, say aye. Aye. Thank you very much. We are adjourned. you