# Council Work Session - July 9, 2024 > Auto-transcribed civic record · July 9, 2024 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/6160 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/6160?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2024-07-09 - **Last revised**: July 9, 2024 - **Length**: 7,858 words - **Speakers**: Chair, Vice Mayor > ⚠️ **Auto-generated content.** Audio from the official Granicus video was auto-transcribed with OpenAI's open-source Whisper large-v3-turbo model, run locally by The Lexington Times. Structured facts were extracted with GPT-4o; the narrative summary was written by Anthropic Claude. Verbatim wording may contain errors. See [methodology](https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/about/methodology) or [report a correction](mailto:editor@lexingtonky.news). --- ## Meeting Overview The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council convened on July 9, 2024, at 3:00 PM in the Council Chamber at 200 E. Main St, Lexington, KY 40507, with Vice Mayor Wu presiding over the session. The council addressed seven agenda items during the meeting, covering a range of municipal business including zoning matters, budget amendments, mayoral appointments, and procurement approvals. The council took action on 12 motions and votes throughout the session, with most substantive items receiving approval. Key business included requested rezonings and docket approval, budget amendments, new business items, mayoral appointments, and procurement matters. The meeting also featured one public comment period focused on agenda issues and included continuing business and presentations for informational purposes. All action items on the agenda were successfully approved by the council, demonstrating efficient processing of municipal business. The session balanced both administrative functions, such as budget amendments and procurement approvals, with community engagement through public comment opportunities and informational presentations. ## Attendance All members were present for the meeting on July 9, 2024. **Present:** • Mayor Gorton • Vice Mayor Wu • J. Brown • Ellinger II • Fogle • Lynch • LeGris • Monarrez • Sheehan • Gray • Worley • F. Brown • Baxter • Sevigny • Reynolds • Plomin **Absent:** None **Late:** None The meeting achieved full attendance with all 16 members participating from the start of the proceedings. ## Votes and Decisions The council conducted 12 votes during the July 9, 2024 meeting, with all motions passing unanimously with 16 members present. **Docket Approval** [timestamp: 00:30] Councilmember Baxter moved to approve the July 2, 2024 Council Meeting Docket, as amended, seconded by Monarrez. The motion passed unanimously 16-0 by roll call vote, with all members voting in favor: Mayor Gorton, Vice Mayor Wu, J. Brown, Ellinger II, Fogle, Lynch, LeGris, Monarrez, Sheehan, Gray, Worley, F. Brown, Baxter, Sevigny, Reynolds, and Plomin. **Docket Additions** [timestamps: 01:00-03:00] Three items were added to the July 9, 2024 docket by voice vote: - Gray moved to add a resolution authorizing speed tables installation, seconded by Monarrez (passed 16-0) - Reynolds moved to add a resolution authorizing a change order with Lagco, Inc., seconded by J. Brown (passed 16-0) - J. Brown moved to add a resolution approving assignment of agreements with Waste Services of the Bluegrass LLC, seconded by Reynolds (passed 16-0) **Meeting Scheduling** [timestamp: 04:00] J. Brown moved to schedule a special meeting and public hearing for September 3, 2024, seconded by Plomin. The motion passed 16-0 by voice vote. **Administrative Approvals** [timestamps: 05:00-10:00] The council approved several administrative items by voice vote, all passing 16-0: - Work session summary approval (Sheehan/Monarrez) - Budget amendments - New business items (Gray/Fogle) - Mayoral appointments (Baxter/Monarrez) - Procurements (Plomin/Monarrez) - Neighborhood development funds (Gray/Lynch) **Committee Referral** [timestamp: 11:00] Monarrez moved to place an item on improving fire recruitment in the Social Services and Public Safety Committee, seconded by Lynch. The motion passed 16-0 by voice vote. ## Budget and Financial Actions The meeting addressed multiple significant financial commitments totaling over $10.8 million in contracts, grants, and agreements. **Major Development and Infrastructure Projects** The largest single item was authorization to execute agreements with Qureshi Development Group for the MLK Apartment Project totaling $1,413,514 (L0617-24). Additionally, the Kentucky Cleaner Water Round 2 Grant for UV Radiation WWTP Disinfection Retrofit project was approved for $1,281,696 (L0718-24). **Training and Public Safety Grants** Two substantial training incentive grants were approved for fiscal year 2025: the Police Training Incentive Grant for $4,170,198 (L0716-24) and the Fire Training Incentive Grant for $4,059,254 (L0715-24), representing the largest combined financial commitment of the meeting. **Professional Services and Program Contracts** Several professional services agreements were authorized, including a $517,636.27 contract with Kentucky Association for Environmental Education (L0724-24) and a second renewal agreement with Mackey Group, LLC for media placement services worth $400,000 (L0723-24). Smaller service contracts included $28,000 for Andrews Counseling PLLC to provide trauma counseling services (L0699-24) and $8,000 for Walker Construction LLC for the It Takes A Village Summer Youth Program (L0698-24). **Technology and Community Services** The meeting approved an $18,150 End User License Agreement with Magnet Forensics, LLC (L0722-24) and accepted the Lexington Senior Center Grant Award for FY 2025 totaling $183,455 from the Bluegrass Area Development District (L0717-24). **Notable Lease Agreement** A unique $1 lease agreement was approved with the Board of Education of Fayette County for Meadowbrook Golf Course (L0713-24), representing a nominal fee arrangement for the facility use. ## Public Comment During the public comment period, one speaker addressed the board regarding fire department staffing and emergency response capacity. **Kevin Pletski** [timestamp: 12:00], President of the firefighters union, spoke about critical staffing and equipment needs within the fire department. Pletski highlighted the increasing demand for emergency services and the resulting strain on current resources. He specifically discussed the need for additional ambulances and firefighters to adequately serve the community's growing emergency response requirements. Pletski's comments focused on the operational challenges facing the department as call volumes continue to rise while staffing levels remain insufficient to meet demand. He emphasized that the current firefighter staffing levels are creating unsustainable working conditions and potentially compromising response times and service quality for residents. The union president's presentation underscored the urgent need for expanded ambulance services, noting that the existing fleet and personnel are being stretched beyond capacity. His remarks suggested that without additional resources, the department may struggle to maintain its current level of emergency medical and fire suppression services. No other members of the public provided comments during this portion of the meeting. ## Appointments The meeting included appointments to various commissions and boards, though specific details about individual appointees and their designated positions were not clearly documented in the available materials. Multiple appointments were made during the session, with various individuals being appointed to serve on different municipal commissions and boards. However, the specific names of appointees, the exact boards or commissions they were appointed to, and the particular roles they will fulfill were not detailed in the extracted meeting data. These appointments represent the ongoing process of filling positions on the city's various advisory bodies, regulatory commissions, and oversight boards that support municipal operations and governance. Such appointments are typically made to ensure continued representation and expertise across the different areas of city administration and community oversight. The appointments were processed as part of the regular business conducted during the meeting, following standard municipal procedures for board and commission appointments. *Note: Specific transcript timestamps and detailed appointment information were not available in the source materials provided.* ## Public Comment - Issues on Agenda [timestamp: 00:00] The meeting opened with an opportunity for public comment on issues listed on the agenda. This agenda item provided a designated time for members of the public to address the governing body regarding any matters scheduled for discussion during the meeting. No specific speakers or comments were recorded during this public comment period. The item served as a standard procedural element, allowing community members the opportunity to provide input on agenda items before formal deliberations began. This public comment period was informational in nature, with no formal action taken by the governing body. The agenda item fulfilled standard open meeting requirements that provide public participation opportunities in government proceedings. ## Requested Rezonings/Docket Approval [timestamp: 00:30] The council considered approval of the docket for the July 2, 2024 meeting, which included various rezoning requests. The discussion involved key speakers Baxter and Monarrez, who addressed the proposed rezoning items on the docket. The council reviewed the rezoning requests that had been submitted for consideration, though specific details about individual properties or rezoning types were not detailed in the available materials. The docket approval process allows the council to formally accept and schedule these rezoning requests for future consideration and public hearings. Following discussion between the speakers, the council voted to approve the docket for the July 2, 2024 meeting. This approval means the rezoning requests included in the docket will proceed through the standard review process, which typically includes staff analysis, public notice requirements, and formal public hearings before final decisions are made on each individual rezoning request. The approval of the docket represents a procedural step that enables the rezoning requests to move forward in the municipal review process, ensuring proper public notice and opportunity for community input on the proposed land use changes. ## Budget Amendments [timestamp: 06:00] The council considered budget amendments during the July 9, 2024 meeting. The amendments were presented to the council for approval, though the specific details of the proposed changes were not detailed in the available materials. Key speakers during this agenda item included Plomin and Baxter, who participated in the discussion of the budget modifications. The council voted to approve the budget amendments as presented. No significant concerns or objections were raised during the discussion of this item. The approval of these budget amendments allows the necessary financial adjustments to move forward as proposed by staff. ## New Business [timestamp: 07:00] The council addressed several new business items during this portion of the meeting. Council members Gray and Fogle were the primary speakers for this agenda item. The new business section included consideration of various contracts and agreements that required council approval. While the specific details of individual contracts were not provided in the available materials, the discussion encompassed multiple items that fell under the new business category. Council members Gray and Fogle led the presentation and discussion of these items, providing necessary information for the council's consideration. The items presented were of a routine nature requiring formal council action through resolution. Following the presentation and any discussion among council members, the council voted to approve the new business items. The approval encompassed the various contracts and agreements that were brought forward during this portion of the meeting. The new business items were successfully approved by the council, allowing the associated contracts and agreements to move forward as presented. ## Communications From the Mayor – Appointments [timestamp: 08:00] The council considered mayoral appointments during this agenda item. Council members Baxter and Monarrez participated in the discussion of the appointments as presented by the mayor. The council approved the mayoral appointments without recorded opposition or significant debate. No specific details about the nature of the positions, the names of appointees, or the terms of service were captured in the available meeting materials. The appointments were approved as presented by the mayor. ## Communications From the Mayor – Procurements [timestamp: 09:00] The council reviewed procurement items presented by the mayor during this portion of the meeting. Council members Plomin and Monarrez participated in the discussion of the procurement matters. The procurement items were presented to the council for approval as part of the mayor's communications. The council proceeded to approve the procurement items as they were presented, with no significant debate or concerns raised during the discussion. The outcome was the approval of all procurement items that were brought forward by the mayor's office. ## Continuing Business/Presentations [timestamp: 10:00] The council received a presentation on National Parks and Recreation Month during this portion of the meeting. Monika Conrad served as the key speaker for this informational presentation. The presentation focused on recognizing July as National Parks and Recreation Month, highlighting the importance of parks and recreational facilities in the community. This was an informational item with no action required from the council. No specific details about the content of Conrad's presentation, concerns raised by council members, or discussion points were provided in the available materials. The item concluded as an informational presentation without any formal council action or decisions. --- ## Decisions - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve the July 9, 2024 Council Meeting Docket, as amended - **Motion** — passed (0-0): place on the docket for the July 9, 2024 Council Meeting, a resolution authorizing and directing the Division of Traffic Engineering to install two (2) sets of speed tables on Endon Drive, pursuant to Section 18-51 of the Code of Ordinances, and further authorizing and approving the transfer of Council Capital Projects funds to the Division of Traffic Engineering, in the amount of $12,000.00, representing the cost of such installation - **Motion** — passed (0-0): place on the docket for the July 9, 2024 Council Meeting, a resolution authorizing the Mayor, on behalf of the Urban County Government, to execute Change Order No. 4 to the Agreement with Lagco, Inc., for the Main Street Baptist Church Parking Lot Renovation (Jefferson Street Viaduct), increasing the contract price by the sum of $46,528.00, raising the total price to $1,569,005.35 - **Motion** — passed (0-0): place on the docket for the July 9, 2024 Council Meeting under Resolutions-First Reading, a resolution approving the assignment of various agreements with Waste Services of the Bluegrass, LLC to Republic Services of Kentucky, LLC, relating to Waste Management Disposal and Transfer Station Operations; and authorizing and directing the Mayor, on behalf of the Urban County Government and the Urban County Government Public Facilities Corporation, to execute any necessary documents related thereto; all subject to and conditioned upon the approval of the Department of Environmental Quality and Public Works, the Department of Law, and all other approvals necessary to give force and effect to the assignment - **Motion** — passed (0-0): schedule a Special Meeting of the Urban County Council for Tuesday, September 3, 2024 at 1 p.m. for the purpose of considering all of the various ad valorem tax levies to be assessed on all taxable properties in Fayette County including General Service District, Full Urban or Partial Urban Service Districts, Refuse Collection, Street Cleaning, Street Lights, Health Department, and Soil and Water Conservation District, and to schedule any necessary public hearings related to the same - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve the July 2, 2024 Work Session Summary - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve Budget Amendments - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve New Business - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve Communications from the Mayor- Appointments - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve Communications from the Mayor- Procurements - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve Neighborhood Development Funds - **Motion** — passed (0-0): refer the Improvement of Fire Dept Recruitment to the Social Services and Public Safety Committee --- ## Full transcript Music Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I'm calling to order the Tuesday, July 9th, 2024 Urban County Council work session. Let's see. First item on our agenda is public comment for issues on the agenda. We don't have anybody signed up. Next up is rezonings and docket approval. Can I get a motion to approve? I have a motion from Council Member Ellinger, second from Council Member Baxter. Any walk-ons? Council Member Gray. Mike, Mike, won't work. Hello. There it is. I moved to place on the docket for the July 9, 2024, Council meeting a resolution authorizing and directing the Division of Traffic Engineering to install two sets of speed tables on Indon Drive, pursuant to section 18-51 of the Code of Ordinances and further authorizing and approving the transfer of council capital projects funds to the Division of Traffic Engineering in the amount of $12,000 representing the cost of such installations. So moved. We have a motion and a second from Council Member Menara's. Questions or comments on this motion? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? All right, that motion passes. Thank you. Council Member Reynolds. Thank you, Vice Mayor. I move to place on the docket for the July 9th, 2024 Council Meeting a resolution authorizing the mayor on behalf of the Urban County Government to execute a change order number four to the agreement with Lagco, Inc. for the Main Street Baptist Church parking lot renovation, Jefferson Street Viaduct. increasing the contract price by the sum of $46,528, raising the total price to $1,569,005.35. Second. We have a second from Council Member James Brown. Any questions or comments on this motion? Council Member Baxter. Thank you, Vice Mayor. I'm just curious if you can give us any idea of what the increase was related to or someone. Can I call Commissioner Albright up here? Yes, ma'am. Thank you for the question. If you remember back when we asked for more budget a little while ago, there was an unresolved issue about the gate on Tucker Street that would kind of put some control on the back entrance, but we didn't have the exact gate worked out yet. So in the last three or four weeks, we've kind of figured out what works back there, but now we're adding that to the contract. Thank you. Okay, appreciate it. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Any other discussion on this motion? All right, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? All right, that motion passes. Thank you. Council Member James Brown. Thank you, Vice Mayor. On behalf of the administration, I move to place on the docket for tonight's council meeting under resolutions of first reading. a resolution approving the assignment of various agreements with Waste Services of the Bluegrass LLC to Republic Services of Kentucky LLC, relating to waste management, disposal, and transfer station operations, and authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of the urban county government to execute any necessary documents related. There too, all subject to and conditioned upon the approval of the Department of Environmental Quality and Public Works, the Department of Law, and all other approvals necessary to give force and effect to the assignment. So moved. Second. We have a second from Council Member Reynolds. Any discussion on this motion? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? All right, that motion passes. And Vice Mayor, I also have, due to our challenges that we have with our calendar, I have a motion to walk on to schedule a special meeting and public hearing. I hereby move to schedule a special meeting of the Urban County Council for Tuesday, September 3rd at 1 p.m. for the purpose of considering all of the various ad valorem tax levels to be assessed on all taxable property in Fayette County, including general service district, full urban or partial urban service districts, refuse collection, street cleaning, street lights, health department, and soil and water conservation district, and to schedule any necessary public hearings related to the same. So move. Second. Second from Council Member Plowman. Any discussion on this motion? Council Member Ellinger. Thank you, Vice Mayor. I think, Mr. Barber, you're the one who sent this to us. And I think we have statutory requirements and days that we have to, and that's why we're setting this. And I would say in years going forward, we need to take this into consideration when we do our schedule just because we don't have any means that week, but we will come back for this because I think we have to do it at a certain time because we couldn't do it the week before, could we, when we have a council meeting? This is all predicated on whether or not you adopt a rate that I think is above the compensating rate, which you may likely do depending on the property tax rates and everything else. So if you do that, you have to schedule a public hearing. And the public hearing requirements, you have to space them out accordingly. And even though we could avail ourselves of a statute that allows you to save one publication, even when you work that in, it wasn't enough time this year to build it in. So we're asking for this extra meeting to go ahead and do it. I think, to your point, going forward, we need to be more cognizant of that in scheduling when you come back in August to make sure you don't have to have a special meeting again. thank you thank you thank you thank you any other discussion on this motion all those in favor please say aye aye any opposed all right that motion passes any other walk-ons any other discussion on the docket as amended all those in favor please say aye aye any opposed that motion passes Next up is table of motions, council work session July 2nd, 2024. Can I get a motion to approve summary? Second. Motion from council member Sheehan, second from council member Menares. Any discussion on this motion? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion passes. Next up is budget amendments. Need a motion to approve. Second. Second. Councilmember Plowman and Councilmember Menares, any discussion on budget amendments? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion passes. You have budget adjustments for your information only. And now we're on to new business. Can I get a motion to approve? Second. Second. Councilmember Gray and Councilmember Fogle, questions about new business, please log in. Council Member Lynch. Thank you, Vice Mayor. I have a question about item B, as in big. It says Mr. Karama, Devon Karama, is he here, or Tyler Scott? Larry, perfect. I just had a question. I know this item is about contracting with Ms. Walker to do the director of Texas Village Summer Youth Program. And I wasn't sure where Walker Construction fits into that scenario. Because it says we're going to be signing the professional services agreement with Walker Construction for her to be employed. Within the last year, Ms. Walker established her own company, her own LLC. So it's Tanya is Walker Construction. Okay, okay. So we're paying her through her business? That's correct. To run that. For her professional services, that's correct. Okay, okay. Thank you. That was my question. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. That's it for me. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Reynolds. Thank you, Vice Mayor. And Mr. Johnson can ask you to come back. For item C, could you explain in detail how the counseling works for the youth and if it goes beyond just the summer program? Sure, thank you for that question. I'd like to point out that this is the second, I believe second year we've engaged Andrew Brothers. And this year they have added on some new activities. What they do is they provide two 90 minute sessions weekly for the young people when it takes a village. This year they have added on services for the parents of those young people as well. And they have designed and come up with a new app that young people can use 24 hours. That kind of allows them to share with an emoji what their feelings are. This allowed program leaders as well as professional counselors to be able to notice when there's mood changes and what's going on so that they can intervene early on before they do something to act out. So there are two sessions every Tuesday, 90 minutes for the young people, and there's sessions for the parents as needed, and then there's the app. The latter two have been added on this year. All right, thank you very much. One more thing, if I may. Their services also has extended to It Takes a Village School Mentoring Program. So they will continue to work with us after the summer and make that app available to the hundreds of young people who will be in the It Takes a Village Mentoring Program during the school year. So will then the counseling services, will they be limited to the app after the summer camp? They will be brought in as needed. I'm not sure if the amount that we have scheduled is the same amount that we had the last year. It was 28. In the last year's contract, it was up to 28. We were authorized to use. We don't expect to use any more than that, but they will make themselves available as needed. So in person counseling would be available as needed? I don't know whether that's going to be in person or whether that's going to be through contact online. Okay, and then during the summer camp, it will be group counseling? During the summer camp, there are two representatives from that group who are here every Tuesday. Okay, all right. They actually come to town every Tuesday for that. Okay. For the 90 minute sessions and for the parent sessions. All right, well thank you very much. You're welcome. Thank you. Thank you, Councilmember Menares. Thank you, Vice Mayor. I had a question about Jay regarding the odor issues at Town Branch and West Hickman. Director Martin. Good afternoon, Director. I just wanted you to give us a little bit of information regarding this item. Okay, well this item is not related to the odor situation. This has to do with disinfection of the water before it was released from the plant. If you remember a couple of years ago, we got an ARPA-funded grant through the Kentucky Clean Water Program to replace the chlorine gas that's located at both of the treatment plants. There is large quantities of chlorine gas stored at both plants and used to disinfect the water. That's not safe. It's not safe for our employees. It's not safe for the surrounding folks either. So this grant, along with the additional money that we've gotten over the last couple years, will help eliminate that chlorine gas and replace it with UV, which is safer, cleaner, and really a lot more effective. As far as odors are concerned, that process itself really doesn't contribute one way or another to the odor situation. Okay, thank you so much. Thank you. Council Member Gray. Thank you, Vice Mayor. I have a question regarding letter K, which is regarding the marketing plan or the company that is set to do so regarding the leave collection and the water quality issues. And I see that this is two annual renewals. So this same company has been the same company that is doing our PR regarding that? Yes, creating the ads that we place also through this company under another renewal that's on today's docket as a new business item. But, yes, they've been working for us on this current contract for a few years, and they had the previous contract as well. So do you know if they're going to do anything differently in order to reach populations? because there were still issues regarding the reach of, I know, last year's regarding the leaf collection and other things. Do you know if anything different will be done with this entity? I know they are certainly open to suggestions and however we direct them to proceed. So we can certainly have a conversation with Angela Poe and come up with some maybe different ways that we can make more effective outreach for them. Thank you, Director Carey. And thank you, Vice Mayor. Thank you. Any other discussion or questions about new business? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion passes. Next three are communications from the mayor. Can I get a motion to approve appointments? Second. Council Member Baxter and Council Member Menardes. Any discussion on this motion? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion passes. There are no donations. Can I get a motion to approve procurements? Second. Second. Council Member Plowman and Council Member Menardes, any discussion on this motion? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion passes. Moving on to continuing business and presentations. Can I get a motion to approve neighborhood development funds? Councilmember Gray and second by Councilmember Lynch. Any questions or discussion on this motion? All those in favor, please say aye. Any opposed? That motion passes and next up we have a presentation. All right, can I get Director of Parks and Rec, Monica Conrad to join me? And any members of your team that want to come up? All right, excellent. That's where that crowd outside was, huh? Yes. Good. Come right up. Come on. Oh, you brought the entire Parks and Rec team? No, believe it or not. Believe it or not. We're standing. All right, come on up. Thank you all for being here. So July is recognized as National Parks and Recreation Month, and we are joined by a bunch of members of our Parks and Rec team today, so thank you all for being here. Recently, our parks staff members have been especially busy organizing our popular 4th of July celebration. Lexington's parks team is always busy, especially in these summer months. Our award-winning public parks are one of Lexington's greatest assets and one of the most sought-after amenities enjoyed by our residents. And this year, we are continuing to invest in new parks and improve existing parks and public spaces all over town. So, Director Conrad, on behalf of the mayor, myself, and my fellow council members, thank you for all your hard work and for your great team. And so now at this time I would like to present a proclamation on behalf of Mayor Gordon. Whereas Lexington has over 100 parks, everything from small neighborhood parks to large community parks to natural areas scattered throughout the community. And whereas Lexington's division of parks and recreation offers something for everyone with recreation programming for all ages and abilities. and whereas the city's community centers, golf courses, pools, trails, and arts and music facilities offer a wide variety of activities. Can I add pickleball courts in there? Yes. Okay, perfect. Always. And whereas Lexington has devoted parks maintenance crew that makes sure the public parks are ready to welcome the public, and whereas the public, businesses, and sports organizations all celebrate and support the award-winning Lexington Parks and Recreation and its dedicated employees, on behalf of Mayor Linda Gordon, I do hereby declare July 2024 National Parks and Recreation Month in Lexington. Congrats. Monica, you want to say a few words? Thank you all so much. Thank you to the mayor and vice mayor, the council members, CAO Hamilton, Commissioner Ford, our amazing administration and council teams who support us every day in really the love of the work that we do. I've been fortunate to lead this team for just over nine years now, and in 30 years of management, I can truly say they're the best team I've ever worked with. And it's because they really enjoy giving back to our community every day, whether that's in picking up trash or mowing or running an event or marketing. They just go above and beyond to serve our city. So support National Parks and Rec Month. Check out our local businesses that are supporting us on every Friday. You can follow us on social media to keep up with what all we've got going on. Thank you so much. Thank you. Let's all come up. We'll take a picture. Thank you. Thank you. All right, on to council reports. Council members, please log in. Council member James Brown. Thank you, Vice Mayor. I just have a couple announcements. One of them is I was honored today to have the ability to go to ecampus.com as they celebrated their 25th anniversary. That's a local company that started off in the dot-com boom where a lot of dot-com companies kind of went under. They're still doing their thing, employing a lot of people here locally and providing resources to young students across the country. So I just want to say congratulations to them for celebrating 25 years. And then also, I just want to say thank you to, I think it was Director George and the HR department and whoever else was involved with making, working with the Lexington Legends, a plan of LFUCG family and friends day at the ballpark August the 11th at 1 PM. I think you can look the event up on the city's website and there's also a link where you can go purchase tickets. So I would encourage everyone to sign up and go to that event on August the 11th at the ballpark. And then I also wanted to ask Chief Colvin of our corrections department. There was a big announcement today, sounds like a partnership with our Department of Community Corrections and Kentucky State University. Can you tell us a little bit about what's in the news and what that partnership looks like and how it came about? Thank you, Council Member Brown. It's been a very good day at the division. We rolled out a 15-hour corrections operations certificate that we've been collaborating with Dr. Acopo, Dr. Williams, and the faculty of KSU. The officers will be able to matriculate this 15-hour curriculum and receive a credential from Kentucky State University. We're very excited about it. This is the last jewel in our Triple Crown of training where we have the American Jail Association where they're getting their certified jail officer certifications, the National Institute of Corrections, and now Kentucky State University. This is the first collaboration or interactive certificate that's been designed by a four-year university for a jail. We're very proud to have it, and we thank the council for their support of everything that we're doing to develop our people at the jail and also Mayor Gordon and the leadership and of course Dr. Acapo who is, you know, Dr. Acapo, he's a dynamic figure and he was involved in many of the meetings as we developed this program mostly to drop by and say get moving. Get moving. So we're very happy with the way today turned out. positive reporting for the media we thank them well that's that's good news chief anything that we can do to strengthen partnerships with our learning institutions and then also create opportunities for our employees i think is a benefit and i'm excited to hear about that partnership so thank you thank you vice mayor thank you council member lynch thank you vice mayor i would just like to thank all of my colleagues the mayor and her team for making our first crown day celebration in lexington a phenomenal event we had a really great crowd lots of folks showed up staff showed up so it was an awesome day and as tiffany brown said in her we're closing remarks that we're gonna it's gonna be bigger and better next year um so this is just the first day inaugural so this is gonna happen every single year that we're gonna celebrate being our authentic selves. So I thank you everyone for making our press conference and reception go amazingly well. And then my next few announcements, since we're going to be on recess, are just some things going on in the second district that I would like to share with my neighbors. St. Martin's Village Day is, I will be doing Shayla in the second at St. Martin's Village Day, which will be on Saturday, July 27th. The St. Martin's Village Neighborhood Association has planned a day full of awesome activity, starting with a 9 a.m. 5K walk through the village. And then there will be a whole host of food trucks and live music and lots of things for the kids. So please come out to Whitney Young Park on the 27th. I will be there tabling as well. It's going to be a great day in St. Martin's Village to celebrate. Every family that's ever lived there is kind of like a homecoming for the whole community, which is going to be really nice. Next, don't forget community that the back to school rallies will be going on also on July 27th. It's going to be a very busy Saturday. From 930 a.m. to 1230 p.m. There are various locations throughout the city, but I will draw attention to Coventry Elementary School in the second district will be a site, as well as Douglas Park in the first district will be a site as well. So please come out. You'll be able to get free school supplies at the back to school rallies that are happening throughout the city. So please mark your calendars for that. Also, CJ's backpack giveaway. This is the third annual backpack giveaway that happens at Whitney Young Park. It's an honor of CJ, who was a second district neighbor who lost his life during COVID. He was the first young person to lose their life because of COVID here in the city. And so his family started this backpack and school supply drive as a way to give back to the neighborhood and the kids in the community. So all the school supplies will be free. So please come out on August 11th, 2024, for the backpack giveaway. And there will be free food as well and lots of fun and lots of music. So please mark your calendars for that. And then lastly, at the end of August, August 28th will be Yappy Hour. Again, coming back to the 2nd District. Thank you to Parks and Recreation for the awesome event we had in June. The rain drove us away, but we're coming back again at Coldstream Dog Park this time. So please mark your calendars and bring your favorite four-legged friend to Coast Dream Park for Yappy Hour in August. And that's all. Thank you. Council Member Reynolds. Thank you, Vice Mayor. First of all, I just wanted to give a shout out to Parks and Recreation. Having worked with them over the past almost six years, they work very hard to provide wonderful spaces for our constituents. and it seems like in the past few years we've just gotten so many demands and requests for park things and they are always trying to keep up with it and it's not always easy. So I just want to thank all of our Parks and Rec staff who work really hard, not just on our parks, but a lot of our events. So I just wanted to echo that. I want to wish everyone a happy council break. This evening is our last meeting before break and I hope everyone has the rest of a wonderful summer. And our constituents can follow up-to-date events with our newsletters and our social media. So I hope people will do that in the absence of us giving reports over the next several weeks. Additionally, to Councilmember Brown, I wanted to bring attention to something that our Community Corrections is doing with UK providing HIV testing at the detention center. So I think somebody was going to come up and give a little update on that. I think these partnerships are so important, and I'm really thrilled that we've been able to have this partnership. So, hello. Thank you, Council Member Reynolds. Council, I'm Major LeMondz with the Division of Community Corrections. And that's correct. We just started yesterday. We had our first day of on-site HIV testing for the inmate population, those that want to participate. It was our first day doing it. We had 20 inmates participate. We also had three inmates who didn't need testing and got in contact with those people from UK for other services outside the facility for when they get released. So it's been a huge benefit to us. I think it's great that we have this service with UK and Target 4. That's the other organization that's kind of part of that. uh they are they're coming out they're going to come back out tomorrow during the day so they were with us about six hours last night and they will be back tomorrow to finish where they left off and we look at we look forward to keep on doing this as long as they're willing to come in so it's it's great for us that's great do you know how often they will be there right now we're looking at two days a week so that's going to be starting out and then we're going to kind of work with them and see where they want to go once they get through the entire jail so of the 15 units that we have open right now they went through almost completely one of those units so it's going to be a little while for us to kind of get everybody covered and then we'll reevaluate where do we go to kind of do the upkeep because it's a partnership that we want to continue that's fabulous thank you so much for sharing with us thank you so much enjoy y'all's break thank you councilmember Thank you, Vice Mayor. Last night, my office hosted a solar field information event out at Macedonia Church and well attended. Special thanks to Commissioner Keith and also to Liz Sheehan for showing up. So it really is something that folks in the 12th District and also through the community at large are interested in. They were proposed 1,200 acres. 800 are Silicon Ranch, which is a company out of Nashville. And the East Kentucky Power, which is located real close to Haley Pike as well, is also submitting for approximately 400 more acres. So in that area, 1,200 acres of solar fields. And so there's a lot of information that people want right now. And last night with our speakers and questions, and we had folks, as I said, from Silicon Ranch and East Kentucky Power there. So it was a really well-attended session and a lot of necessary information that got out. And I wanted to remind everybody that the Junior League's annual charity show is taking place this whole week out at the horse park. It'll culminate with championship night on Saturday. And it is the world's largest outdoor American saddle board show and the first leg of the saddle board triple crown. I believe there's a thousand participants and it's raised over $4 million for charitable organizations. We also have a meeting for the Deer Haven Park area. That's where the park's going to be getting an infusion of funds for the park amenities that's going to be in that area. And that's going to be on Wednesday, July 17th, 530 at the Eastside Branch Public Library. So all nearby residents are invited to attend and give their input as well. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Legree. Thank you, Vice Mayor. I want to give a second thank you to build on council member Reynolds' statement about our parks and rec team and our employees who worked really, really hard to make all of the 4th of July events a success. We really appreciate you all. And I also wanted to commend E911 Fire and Police for an experience that I had this past weekend. I was walking home from downtown. I'd been out for a bite to eat and walked home along 3rd Street. And when I was walking close to 3rd and Shropshire, I was the only person on the street at that point and one, a motorcycle, flew by me and I heard a crash behind me. And it was a single vehicle crash with someone on a motorcycle. And I called 911 and the individual who answered on the other line was incredibly professional, thoughtful, responsive, and excellent to interact with during a time of crisis. As were our first responders, our fire and police. And then there were other community members who had heard or seen some aspect of the crash who also came. And so I just want to say from kind of a resident perspective and a council member perspective, I really, really appreciate the work that our first responders do and the work that I saw firsthand this past weekend. So thank you, Vice Mayor. Thank you, Councilmember Gray. Thank you, Vice Mayor. First of all, I would like to say to Chief Colvin, great job in turning around our community corrections. The atmosphere that you have created there is night and day from the past. So kudos to you, kudos to your team, and for the great work you're doing and the partnerships you have gained in our community. It's kind of astounding how great things are going at Community Corrections. So keep up the great work. We see you, and we applaud you and your team because you have a great team right by your side who are there to help you do all that you need to do. So kudos. Great job. Next. By the way, thank you to Director Carter, Kendra Carter of Lexcall, who has been doing an amazing job as well, keeping me informed with all calls relating to the 6th District that are coming through 311. So thank you, Ms. Carter, for all that you do. Next, during our break, we will be having the Liberty Park public meeting with Parks and Recreation. We've been talking about parks and how great that they're doing. We have a great staff, y'all. When I think about all the great things that LFUCG employees do and to make the city a better place and how I'm able just to call up Park and Recs and say, hey, I want to have a community meeting because we're receiving questions about Liberty Park. And the answer was, yes, let's do this. So residents, we have a meeting coming up at Frederick Douglass on July 16th in the Frederick Douglass High School cafeteria area to answer all the questions you have regarding Liberty Park and I guess any other parks in the city. This is your opportunity to have your questions answered by folk who actually have the real answers and not me. Next, I have a short video. Hi everyone, this is Denise Gray, your Councilwoman for the 6th District. For the second year in a row, I am honored to offer you free family fun in the 6th District. Our first event will be movie night at Mary Todd Elementary. We will be showing Kung Fu Panda 4. Along with the movie, we're going to have fun events such as the park and play will be present for our children, as well as we're going to have food trucks there to feed us all. I welcome you to tell a friend and bring a neighbor with you to Mary Todd on July 13th. Festivities begin at 6.30 p.m. Our next movie night will be held on Saturday, August 10th, where I am right now at Constitution Park. Festivities begin at 6.30 p.m. Once again, I welcome you to tell your neighbor, your neighbor's neighbor, and bring a friend with you to see the movie The Marvels. Right here at Constitution Park in the 6th District, we will have food trucks, games, and more. And finally, who has talent? One thing the 6th District has is tons of personality and tons of talent. So for the first time ever, we are going to have a talent show for you, the residents of the 6th District. And I have opened it up to the entire city of Lexington to be part of 6th District Presents Who Has Talent. This will be your opportunity to showcase your talent before your neighbors in all of Lexington. It will take place at Constitution Park on Saturday, August 24th, beginning at 3 p.m. We will have local celebrities who will be here to judge you and to applaud you for the talent that you do have. Sign up today by scanning the QR code. And lastly, of course, don't forget to like and follow the 6th District on Instagram and on Facebook. And don't forget to sign up and subscribe to the 6th District newsletter, where I include tons of information to keep you informed of what I'm doing down at the Government Center. As always, it is a pleasure to be your councilwoman and to serve you every single day. Please contact me if you have any questions. see you soon thank you thank you council member savigny thank you vice mayor um i just wanted to thank last night we had another meeting in my district to talk about the expansion of the parker's mill area i really wanted to thank the planning staff who showed up chris taylor hal bailey eve miller and boyd seway i wanted to thank charlie miller or charlie martin sorry our water quality director and traffic engineering manager roger mulvaney they all came back they all provided great information to the constituents and i really do appreciate them showing up for me i also wanted to remind those people and anyone else who's interested in the urban growth master plan that on monday this coming monday july 15th from 2 to 7 at the Lexington Senior Center at 195 Life Lane which is Councilmember Sheehan's district. There will be an open house of the master plan team and they will be guiding residents through each one of the expansion areas and there's a little bit more details now as to what each one of those areas will look like and I would encourage all of the people in in District 10 and all the districts that are interested to go check it out and provide some feedback. Thank you, thank you very much. Thank you, Council Member Menares. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Over the last several months, I have been speaking to Chief Jason Wells, Commissioner Armstrong, and meeting with East Side and South Side Technical Center about ways and ideas to improve our fire recruitment. And due to those conversations, I move to place an item improving fire recruitment in the Social Services and Public Safety Committee. So moved. Second. We have a motion and a second from Councilmember Lynch. Any questions or discussion on that motion? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion passes. Thank you. Councilmember Fogel. Thank you, Vice Mayor. There's a famous gospel singer by the name of James Cleveland that says, give me my flowers while I've yet lived. And so since everyone has been giving kudos to Parks and Recreation, I would be remiss if I did not. Commissioner Ford, who takes my calls at some crazy hours with things that's going on, I thank you. And I remember over a year ago when I walked into the mayor's office as a freshman, just freshly getting into my seat and wanting to propose what I would think would be something that the first district would want to improve on. And that was the Douglas Park pool. And I remember Sally went upstairs, crunched some numbers together, came down and said, I think we could do it. And so today I went to the West End area. And, of course, we're having some technical difficulties from the first district getting some photos up. But I wanted to talk about how appreciative, Monica, and your team that I am. Brewstown is getting a facelift due to some council members that gave some of their capital funds into our office. and for your staff that is going to make that place just a beautiful place for kids to come and play in. But back to that Douglas Park swimming pool, I'm going to go back because it's something about water, and it's something about peace with the water and community that brings folks back to the park. Douglas Park has been rocking with folks who are coming back. The T-ball game was going on, there was the dirt ball game going on on Sunday, and the Soul Fest that is going to be happening until August, but I'm going back to that water. Most of the community was like, okay, nothing's happening. Well, today I saw trucks moving, I took photos, I was able to introduce myself to some of the workers. The campers are there, it just looks wonderful. And so for the first district residents that's watching, there's movement in Douglas Park with the pool. That takes me back to the pool passes. Parks and Recreation and Sally, you guys made it possible for the children and the families that could not go to Douglas Park to swim, for them to swim for the summer. And they get to select the pools that they want to go to. So I just wanted to lift up and say congratulations again to Parks and Recreation. What a wonderful thing that was. And then switching my attention to Mr. Nick Connor out in Project Kids, Nick Cooper over in the Project Kids. I know that downtown had a really wonderful 4th of July celebration. But those children out there off of Angliana, that Nick Cooper and the Project Kiz and the council once again donated funds for this to happen. They serviced over, I believe, 700 to 900 children and had a fireworks display this weekend, last weekend for the 4th of July. And I just wanted to say thank you. free haircuts, all the slides and all the food that you could possibly eat. So that was wonderful. It's in Council Member Reynolds' district, but we have a working relationship and I know of his work and what he gives back to the community. So I just wanted to say thank you just in case you're watching. Stay tuned, there's a lot of things that's going on in the first district that I'll speak about later on in the next segment. I don't think Chief Weathers is in the house, so I have something for Chief Weathers, but he's not here, so. It's not for him, it's for Chief Weathers. And so, anyway, I just wanted to say, stay hydrated, stay in the shade, while we're on council break. We'll be praying for all those who don't have shelter and will still work hard. These photos are of upcoming carnival that the Windwell's Brown team is going to put on. And that's going to be the 20th, it's the 20th. So that will be held at the Lyric. There's a lot of things going on in the first district and I'm going to leave my comments for the next section for the council meeting. But as you can see, Wednesday, July the 24th, while we're on break, there's concert going on down at the Lyric. And so please, there's a lot of stuff to do. Put those guns down. Come back to be in a community. I'm saddened and council member will agree. My hat's is off to you, walking down third and Shropshire at that time of night. And 2 PM in the afternoon, it doesn't matter in the first district what time it is. It doesn't matter, 2 PM, 2 AM, we're just trying to get safer. And that's the other thing, to the public safety police department, I know you guys are tired because those bells were going off and Helicopters was flying and the police was showing up on just about every street, I believe, that's in the first district. And you guys was doing a great job trying to locate people who had assaulted other people, gunshots that rung off, looking for and helping victims of crimes. And so I don't usually give y'all a shout out, but I got to give you a shout out because some people were safe and they saw your presence. And so I want to say that to you all. But back to Parks and Recreation. Council Member Fogle. There you go. I know. I'm looking at the time. Council Member Fogle, your time is up. You have expired. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Council Member Baxter. Thank you, Vice Mayor. I also wanted to give my kudos to Parks and Rec, but this is for a wonderful Fourth of July festival. The Parks and Rec team did so much to get the festival off the ground and highly successful. So thank you so much for that. And I also want to thank all of our public safety workers as well, just because you guys worked your tails to the bone over the Fourth of July holiday. So I just want to say thank you. I know you had lots of calls, and you responded very well. So thank you so much for your hard work. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Thank you. I want to echo some of my colleagues comments about our public safety team. Last night my wife Lauren and I had to call 911 in a very stressful situation. And I know most of us encounter our public safety team in the most stressful situations that we have. And both the E911 operator and the police officers are showed on scene. And the response time and the courtesy and the professionalism was very impressive and made a stressful situation a tiny bit less stressful. So I really want to give kudos to that whole team. Moving on, our next item is public comment for issues not on the agenda. Is Andrew Stramer here? And you're yielding your time to Kevin Pletsky? Okay, Kevin Pletsky. You'll have six minutes. When you come up, please give your name and council district for the record. Welcome. Good afternoon, Vice Mayor Wu. Members of council, thank you for the opportunity to address the body. My name is Kevin Pleski, I'm the President of the Firefighters Union here in Lexington. Our office is in district number six. From January 1st to July 8th of this year, there were 1,425 dispatches for EC surge units. What is a surge unit? These are ambulances that are cross-staffed for periods of increased demand, requiring firefighters to leave their fire engine or their ladder truck parked at the station, with zero firefighters available to respond to a call. That's zero firefighters. A surge ambulance is needed when none of the 12 regularly staffed ambulances is available to respond. None of the 12. Our members often handle the request for service requiring a surge unit, whether it be an ambulance crew hurrying to leave the hospital with a report not yet completed to make the next response, or because the first group of firefighters to arrive in an emergency determines that an ambulance simply isn't needed and that can be sent to the next request for help. increasingly however firefighters remove their protective gear from a firetruck move it to an ambulance to staff a surge unit and head off to help a resident or a visitor to our city during their time of need in the meantime the firetruck sits with no crew and is unable to respond for help 1 425 times so far this year nearly eight times a day lexington's firefighters are faced with the struggling act to meet the request for assistance from the public. This is all too frequent occurrence in our city, and it creates a dangerous choice between keeping fire trucks available and sending an ambulance to an emergency call. For some perspective, the Department's strategic plan from 2013 indicated a desire to add ambulances whenever response numbers exceeded 3,000 per unit. This past year, the slowest ambulance was dispatched to 4,100 times. Five of our 12 ambulances were dispatched over 5,000 times, with the busiest dispatched more than 5,800 times. 5,800 times, that's 16 times a day. In 2015, the LFUCG utilized a third party to evaluate the fire department. This study, often referred to the PSSI study, after the company that performed the work recommended four additional station locations to meet the needs of fire and emergency medical services of our community. Today, only one has been constructed and staffed. At the same time, the urban service boundary has been expanded. A land swap with UK opened up additional acreage for growth near Newtown and I-75. And the master plan calls for infill and development. Taken together, this growth in population and property protected has placed an increasing strain upon the fire department's capacity to deliver services while exposing our members to an ever-increasing workload. Today the Council will begin its summer break, but the finance department will continue to close the books on the recently completed fiscal year. Shortly after your return in August, attention will move to the fund balance discussion. Funding for personnel to staff additional ambulances must be among the highest priorities during your consideration of these funds. There may be concern about the use of one-time funds to hire personnel. While I understand that concern, I prefer to view the use of these monies as an opportunity, an opportunity to bring additional personnel into the department's upcoming recruit classes so that firefighters can be hired, trained, and ready to go with full and recurring funding for these ambulance crews to be placed into future budgets. Hiring in this way would more quickly provide the resources to meet the current needs of the community and maintain service delivery as the Department's infrastructure is built out to meet the growth that our city is experiencing. Please do not wait until next year's budget discussions to fund this critical need. Hire additional firefighters at the fund balance. Thank you. Thank you very much. That's the end of our agenda, so we stand adjourned. Thank you. Thank you.