# Council Work Session - September 17, 2024 > Auto-transcribed civic record · September 17, 2024 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/6220 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/6220?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2024-09-17 - **Last revised**: September 17, 2024 - **Length**: 5,736 words > ⚠️ **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 September 17, 2024, at 3:00 PM in the Council Chamber in Lexington, Kentucky, with Mayor Linda Gorton presiding. The meeting addressed four agenda items, including new business that was approved by the council and continuing business presentations that were informational in nature. The council took three votes during the session and heard no public comments on agenda items. The meeting also featured a proclamation recognizing National Preparedness Month as an informational item, demonstrating the council's commitment to community awareness and emergency readiness. ## Attendance The meeting on September 17, 2024, had strong attendance from council members and city leadership. **Present:** • Mayor Linda Gorton • Vice Mayor Wu • J. Brown • Ellinger II • Fogle • Lynch • LeGris • Monarrez • Sheehan • Gray • Worley • F. Brown • Baxter • Sevigny • Reynolds **Absent:** • Plomin **Late:** • None Fifteen members were present for the meeting, with only one absence recorded. No members arrived late to the proceedings. ## Votes and Decisions The meeting included three motions, all of which passed by voice vote with no recorded opposition. **Motion 1: Table of Motions Approval** [timestamp: 00:10] Ellinger motioned to approve the table of motions for September 10, 2024, with a second from Plomin. The motion passed by voice vote with no dissenting votes recorded. **Motion 2: New Business Items** [timestamp: 01:00] Reynolds made a motion to approve new business items, seconded by Gray. This motion also passed by voice vote without opposition. **Motion 3: Council Capital Projects** [timestamp: 02:00] Wu motioned for approval of council capital projects, with Gray providing the second. The motion passed by voice vote with no recorded dissenting votes. All three votes were conducted as voice votes rather than formal roll call votes, meaning individual member positions were not recorded. No abstentions or opposing votes were noted for any of the motions during the meeting. ## Budget and Financial Actions The meeting addressed three significant financial contracts totaling $424,134.41 across social services, economic development, and public health initiatives. **Winter Shelter Services Contract** The council considered contract L0914-24 with the Community Action Council for Lexington-Fayette, Bourbon, Harrison, and Nicholas Counties, Inc. for $122,823.00. This contract provides temporary winter motel shelter services specifically for families, addressing emergency housing needs during the winter months. **Economic Development Partnership** Contract L0908-24 establishes a Purchase of Services Agreement with Commerce Lexington valued at $209,061.41. This represents the largest financial commitment among the three items and continues the city's partnership with the economic development organization. **Public Health Emergency Response** The council reviewed contract L0911-24 with Emergent for $92,250, designating the company as the sole source provider of nasal Narcan spray. This contract supports the city's overdose prevention and emergency response capabilities by ensuring access to the life-saving medication. These three contracts span critical city services including homelessness prevention, economic development support, and public health emergency preparedness. The winter shelter contract addresses immediate humanitarian needs, while the Commerce Lexington agreement supports long-term economic growth initiatives. The Narcan procurement ensures continued availability of overdose reversal medication for emergency responders and community distribution programs. ## Public Comment - Issues on Agenda [timestamp: 00:05] No members of the public provided comments on issues appearing on the meeting agenda during this portion of the September 17, 2024 meeting. The public comment period for agenda items was opened and closed without any speakers coming forward to address the governing body. This agenda item serves as a designated time for community members to speak directly to elected officials about specific matters scheduled for discussion or action during the meeting. The absence of public participation during this segment indicates that no residents or stakeholders chose to exercise this opportunity to provide input on the day's agenda items. ## New Business [timestamp: 01:00] The board addressed several new business items during this portion of the meeting, with primary discussion led by Reynolds and Gray. The agenda item focused on reviewing and considering various agreements and authorizations for upcoming projects and services. While specific details of individual proposals were not provided in the available materials, the discussion covered multiple items requiring board approval. Reynolds and Gray served as the key speakers during this segment, presenting the new business items to the board for consideration. The discussion appeared to cover procedural matters related to project agreements and service authorizations that required formal board action. Following the presentation and discussion of the new business items, the board moved to approve the matters under consideration. The outcome was successful approval of the new business items presented. The new business discussion represents routine board governance activities, addressing operational needs and contractual arrangements necessary for ongoing municipal or organizational functions. The approval of these items allows staff to proceed with the authorized projects and services as presented. ## Continuing Business/Presentations [timestamp: 02:00] During the continuing business portion of the meeting, Reynolds delivered a presentation covering two main topics: council capital projects and a report from the social services public safety committee. The presentation provided an informational update to the council, though specific details about the capital projects discussed or the contents of the social services public safety committee report were not detailed in the available materials. This agenda item was categorized as informational in nature, with no formal action items or decisions requiring council votes. The presentation served to keep council members informed about ongoing municipal initiatives and committee activities related to public safety and social services. No additional speakers beyond Reynolds were identified for this portion of the meeting, and no specific concerns or debate points were documented in the available meeting materials. ## Proclamation: National Preparedness Month [timestamp: 03:00] Mayor Linda Gorton presented a proclamation declaring September 2024 as National Preparedness Month in Lexington. The proclamation emphasized the importance of emergency preparedness for residents and businesses throughout the community. Rob Larken participated in the presentation of this proclamation, which highlighted the city's commitment to promoting disaster readiness and emergency planning among citizens. The proclamation serves as an informational item to raise awareness about the significance of being prepared for various emergency situations that could affect the Lexington area. The proclamation was presented without debate or discussion, serving its intended purpose of formally recognizing National Preparedness Month and encouraging community-wide participation in emergency preparedness activities throughout September 2024. --- ## Decisions - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve the September 10, 2024 Work Session Summary - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve New Business - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve Council Capital Projects - **Motion** — passed (0-0): place on the docket for the September 26, 2024 Council Meeting an Ordinance amending Ordinance No. 134-2023, as amended by Ordinance No. 23-2024, which adopted a schedule of meetings for the Council for Calendar Year 2024, to change the October 29, 2024 Budget, Finance, and Economic Development Committee meeting to a Budget Committee of the Whole meeting to be held on the same date at 10 am - **Motion** — passed (0-0): adjourn at 3:45 p.m --- ## Full transcript Music Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. ¶¶ Thank you. Thank you. It's three o'clock, so we will get started and I'll go ahead and call to order the Lexington-Fayette-Urban County Council work session. It's September 17th, 2024, and the first item on the agenda is public comment for issues on the agenda, and we have no one signed up, so there is no docket today, and that brings us to the table of motions for September 10th. Thank you, Council Member Ellinger, and I heard about three seconds. Yes. Councilmember Plowman, all right. Are there any questions about the motions, table of motions? All right, all those in favor of approval say aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. There are no budget amendments today and there are no budget adjustments. And so that brings us to new business, and I'll entertain a motion to approve. Mr. Chair, I second. Council Member Reynolds. Council Member Gray seconded. And if you have questions about new business, please log in. Council Member Reynolds. Thank you, Mayor. I had just a question on item G. I don't know if that is. Is that Commissioner Armstrong or Director Patton? Director Patton. All right. Director Patton of E911. So this is saying that now if someone calls 911, they can be referred to 988, is that correct? Yes, yes. So 988 is the national suicide hotline. It's not new. 988, however, is new. So we are just getting on board with the national initiative and supporting the suicide and crisis hotline. So basically, if someone calls 911 and they are in need of suicide or crisis intervention services that are not life threatening and there are no harm or danger to themselves at the moment, they could be transferred to 988. So wouldn't suicide, my dad was a psychologist, so I love psychology, but wouldn't someone who was suicidal be a harm to themselves? So if someone calls in and they're saying they're suicidal, that they want to harm themselves, then they would... That would require a police and EMS response. Okay. If they have means, means being a method of how they want to commit suicide. There's a lot of ideations. You know, someone may be depressed and someone may just want to talk to someone. The thought of suicide may have entered someone's mind a week ago. It could be due to numerous reasons. But however, there are some people that call 911 who have had a thought of suicide that are not presently wanting to harm themselves. So let's say they have been deemed that they could be in danger of harboring themselves or someone else. Fire and police would be dispatched. And then would they be speaking to someone that could help them if it's dangerous in the moment? Yes. Okay. Yes. Yes. And that would be an E911 dispatcher, or would they be transferred then? No. So if it's in the moment, they would be dispatched responders, and the responders would go out and handle that situation. So sometimes when people are suicidal, that phone call is the phone call that could save their life. So I'm just really sensitive to how that's being handled, because if someone calls and they're suicidal, are they going to be left there waiting however long it takes for fire and police or is someone going to be on the phone with them that's my question oh i see what you i see i understand the question now so in those type of calls someone remains on the phone with them until responders actually arrive on scene okay and that would be a 911 that would be someone from 911 yes okay all right thank you you're welcome thank you mayor thank you council member gray Thank you, Mayor. I don't need you. Thank you, Director. I have a question. I just need clarification regarding letter I. It's regarding the positions. And it says, I just need more information regarding this. This is Director George. Yes. Letter I. They should know who they are. Hello. Hello, Director. This is a new position that was requested in the FY25 budget for aging services, and it's a recreation manager position. Yes, and more information about the position. What would they be doing? What is it? that would be commissioner Alan Bryant maybe if you need it oh yeah so basically the recreation managers right now we have recreation supervisors and we have specialists and they will be overseeing those persons as well as as doing all the scheduling for all the contractors. So that's all of our senior center, like our classes that we have, like our exercise classes, we have quite a bit of contractors that we use. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner. That is all. Thank you. Does anyone else have questions for new business? Okay. That was enough. All right. All those in favor of approval say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right. That passes. We have no appointments, donations, or procurements today. And so that brings us to continuing business presentations. And I'll entertain a motion to approve the council capital projects. Vice Mayor Wu moves. Council Member Gray seconds. Are there any questions? All right. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. And next up, I'll turn the mic over to Council Member Jennifer Reynolds for her Social Services Public Safety Committee. Thank you, Mayor. The report out summary of the July 2nd, 2024 Social Services and Public Safety Committee. The committee was called in order at 1 p.m. The first item on our agenda was approval of the May 14th, 2024 Committee Meeting Summary. There were no additions or corrections, and the summary was approved without dissent. Next, we had an update on recruitment, retirement, and retention from public safety. Public Safety Commissioner Ken Armstrong reviewed recruitment activities and other initiatives for divisions of fire, police, and corrections. He also spoke about the application process, attrition, and authorized strength in these divisions. When asked how many traffic safety officers there are, Armstrong said there are 20 authorized, 18 on duty, and four additional safety officers included in the upcoming budget. Armstrong spoke about the referral program and explained how current officers can be compensated when recruits they bring in are doing well. Speaking about authorized strength, Armstrong said that this is the number of sworn positions Council has allotted over the years for each of the divisions. No action was taken on this item. We have also had a presentation by Jonathan Wright, Housing Policy Advisor. He spoke about housing stability services as defined by the federal emergency rental assistance era. This program does all the things you might do to prevent an eviction except pay the rent. Federal funding was exhausted last year, and they started working with community partners to build up the ability to offer housing stability services. He reviewed forcible detainer cases, eviction cases filed in Fayette County from 2018 through 2024. The number of eviction warrants issued has continued to decrease since 2019. This means they have been able to save about 1,100 families from eviction. Almost all the families are several steps away from being ready to make the transition into housing. This program was designed to help people through the process and to find sustainable housing they can afford. Wright said the biggest barrier is employment. They have only seen a small number so far reach the point where they are ready to make the transition into housing with the help of financial assistance. No action was taken on this item. This meeting adjourned at 2.53 p.m. and that concludes my report out. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you very much. Does anyone have a question about the report for Council Member Reynolds? All right. Thank you. At this time, we have a special proclamation. And our director of emergency management, Rob Larkin, is going to join me at the podium. as well as some of his wonderful employees. Director Larkin, thank you for being here. I believe, do you have other members of your team here? Just these two. All right. Everybody else is working. Somebody has to answer the phone. That's right. September is National Preparedness Month, a time to remind us of the importance of preparing for emergencies and natural disasters. The Commonwealth has certainly had its fair share of natural disasters in recent years, horrific tornadoes in western Kentucky, historic flooding in eastern Kentucky, and everything in between. When we see that our neighboring communities are suffering, our first responders here in lexington are ready to lend a helping hand our division of emergency management is absolutely one of the best when severe weather or an emergency takes place these folks are among the first to respond director larkin i would be the first to say your job is not easy we do thank you very much you and your team for your hard work and it's my pleasure to offer this presentation and present it to you and your team. Whereas National Preparedness Month is an annual campaign reminding everyone that preparing for emergencies and disasters can keep them, their families, and their communities safe, and whereas investing in the preparedness of our neighbors, businesses, and cities can reduce fatalities and economic devastation in our communities and in our nation. And whereas the 2024 theme of National Preparedness Month is start a conversation, noting the importance of making a plan and taking action. And whereas Lexington's Division of Emergency Management's mission is to enhance the public safety of Lexington Fayette County residents through emergency preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery. And whereas we thank our first responders and emergency management professionals for their dedication and service to our city of Lexington. Now therefore, I, Linda Gorton, Mayor of Lexington, do hereby declare September 2024 National Preparedness Month in Lexington. Thank you for what you all do. Thank you. Congratulations. Yeah, do you want to say a few words? Your staff says you do. Okay, we're going to hear a minute from Rob. Mayor and Council, thank you all so much. And we certainly appreciate your all's thoughts on this proclamation. And I essentially just accept this for everybody at Lexington Fayette Emergency Management. Just, you know, our standard hashtags and lines. Be prepared. Have a plan. communicate that plan with your family and your loved ones and neighbors. And just be prepared for any type of all-hazard type incident that could happen here in Lexington or Fayette County, whether it be man-made, natural disaster, or technological. So again, thank you all so much, and it's our pleasure to serve. Thank you. Would you want to introduce these two folks? Yes, also with me today from Emergency Management, Ashley Wallow. she's our planner and cameron poe who's our csep exercise coordinator so thank you both for being here as well yes ma'am all right we'll get a photo Thank you. Thank you. for council reports first up we have councilmember James Brown thank you mayor I just have a motion and the council members you know we have our fund balance discussion coming up to as part of the budget committee for October 29th so just to make sure we have enough time want to move that meeting up in the day from 1 o'clock to 10 o'clock so my motion is I move to place on the docket for the September 26, 2024 Council meeting, an ordinance amending, ordinance number 134-2023 as amended by ordinance number 23-2024, which adopted a schedule of meetings for the Council for calendar year 2024 to change the October 29, 2024 Budget Finance and Economic Development Committee meeting to a budget committee of the whole meeting to be held at the same date at 10 a.m. So moved. Vice Mayor Wu seconded. Is there any discussion? All right. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right. That motion passes. Okay. All right. Thank you. Council Member Fogel. Thank you, Mayor. I would like to bring to everyone's attention that September is National Recovery Month with him being in long term recovery, 26 plus years relief from drugs and alcohol. I was honored to be with the governor yesterday as he passed the proclamation honoring recovery month. I know that we invest a lot of money into second chances in people's lives who are trying to abstain from drugs and alcohol. So I was happy to be a part of that yesterday as he signed that proclamation in Frankfurt. The second is another honoring moment was to be a part of the corrections graduation. Down at the, yeah, you have to catch up. Reverend McFarland out of Bracktown was the host pastor. Mayor, and the rest of the team did an honorable job. we watched new, well, I won't call them cadets now, new officers be sworn in. What an honor that was to be at the Historic Lyric downtown. In the first district it took place. That was a second honor. But to watch the young men and women be sworn in. And just in case you guys didn't hear it, I heard it. There was a couple of cadets that walked through that just looked like they stepped out of the Marine Corps. And I heard this comment saying, stay away from Chief Weathers. So I thought that was really funny because we do need great correction officers. So that was an honor to be. And then the third honor, and it just came one day after another, Green Acres celebrated their homecoming this weekend and had a great turnout. And so family and friends that used to live in that neighborhood came back to engage in some activities that went on at Green Acres. Thanks, council. I think we did a pass around to support that effort and so they had a nice turnout. And I just wanted to honor them once again for having a nice turnout at Green Acres, no incidences. So what a wonderful thing to report. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Reynolds. Thank you, Mayor. I don't have any pictures, I wish I did. So there's a lot of different months happening, but Hispanic Heritage Month starts on September 15th and goes to October 15th. And several years ago in the 11th district, Casa de la Cultura started a festival called Viva Mexico. And I mentioned the other day celebrating Mexico's Independence Day. And they outgrew the space that they had been in over in Gardenside for three years. And so they had the festival on Sunday at Masterson Station Park. And there were thousands of people there. It was incredible. The lines for the food were so long, you were going to wait a long, long, long, long time. and they had live music and people performing dancing and then they did the traditional grito the yell and it was I was very emotional because I used to go to the celebrations when I lived in Mexico and I found them very special just like our Independence Day is special and they they did the U.S. National Anthem and then they did the Mexican National Anthem and it was very moving and if you all don't know our largest group of immigrants in Lexington are Mexican and they contribute so much to our culture and our economy and so I think it was really wonderful that for our largest immigrant community there was such a beautiful celebration so I just really want to I want to thank Casa de Cotura once again for that. I also stopped by the Southland Street Fair and Talsam did a really good job with the street fair this year. So appreciative to them and to the Southland Association and I know Councilmember Savigni worked hard on it as well, so that was a lot of fun. So I am now going to place an item into committee. We don't have to vote on it because it's the committee that I chair. But I wanted to place into the Social Services and Public Safety Committee to look at supporting the Office of Homelessness Prevention and Intervention through the possible creation of an encampment coordinator and additional outreach workers. Is there a second? I second. I don't have to vote. Never mind. But thank you. But thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Vice Mayor Wu. Thank you, Mayor. Let's see. I think we have some photos. It's been a while since I've done one of these announcements, but realizing what the last several weeks have been just chock full of different civic and cultural events. I was lucky enough several weeks ago to go to Louisville for a naturalization ceremony where I got to see 77 new Americans from 33 different countries take their oath of citizenship. I was there with an organization called New Americans Initiative along with League of Women Voters, and we were literally registering voters as soon as they were eligible, like literally minutes after they became citizens. It was a very emotional and heartening event to be at. Let's see. We got to record a podcast, video podcast episode, with our very own Divine Karama and co-guest Andrew Shade called The Good Guy's Guide. Basically, in an effort to continue the conversation about domestic violence and intimate partner violence from the perspective of where men stand on this conversation, what men's responsibilities are, how to get men more engaged in this conversation, become accountable, become supportive for each other. uh we went to india day at the moon dance amphitheater it was a great cultural event they hadn't had one since pre-covid so it was great to see folks coming out for that between my wife and i is neema kulkarni our only asian american state representative based out of louisville along with a bunch of local artists and dancers next photo gives you little sense of how big the crowd was for that event so that was really terrific and one of my favorite venues as council member civigne would say in the music capital of lexington we also got to see behind the scenes for the first time for me anyway at the county clerk's office with the digital access project and got to talk to shay and barbara and shoot a little bit of some videos for council comments along with council member Lynch and it was kind of amazing to be in that space and see all that literal history and how much how much work that they put in to this project to really unearth some dark parts of our history but also to work to rectify some of that history and and not only that but just digitize or as I like to call it fireproof a lot of these archives so that we have these records for years to come. My colleagues and I also went out to Kelly's Landing a week or so ago and got to see the progress that they've already made out there and then we were hosted on the Hylers Farm with the Fund for Greater Lexington who talked about some of their work and how they got to where we are today with Kelly's Landing. It's going to be our only waterfront park and I think we are all very excited to see what it becomes in months to come. Also got to go to the African Harvest Festival. Councilmember Gray was there as well. These are some of the young dancers there, and it was great to see a whole other community, the African community, the Congolese community, gathered at our very own Senior Center. There we are back in the music capital with Councilmember Sevigny. this was Southland Street Fair in front of the stage. As Councilmember Reynolds said, Tall Sound did a really great job with music and organizing, and a whole lot of people came out, always a fun event. And lastly, this was actually this morning, Habitat for Humanity began work on their 500th house here in Lexington, a really, really amazing milestone. In the center there is Marsha, who is the homeowner, And just great to hear about all the projects that they've done. Deborah Hensley was there and gave a little bit of history about how they started back a generation ago. Just another organization doing a lot of great work and we're happy always to support that kind of work. So that's all, thank you mayor. All right, council member Plumman. Thank you, excuse me, thank you mayor. One of the biggest challenges that we've had in the 12th district ever since I came in office has been the rural connectivity with internet. And this was especially true when we had the COVID because folks couldn't work from on their computers at home with the connectivity challenges and kids with school. So this Thursday at 2.30 at Jimtown, we're going to be a celebration of the first rollout. Jimtown area will be one of the very first, Cleveland area too, where the connectivity work will be done by spectrum. I know the mayor is going to join us and I think Councilmember Brown said he was going to try to be there. So we'd love to see and celebrate a real milestone, not just for the rural community, but for our community at large. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Councilmember Lynch. Thank you, Mayor. I have a few announcements I'd like to share. And the first one would be a big special thank you to the Lexington Fraternal Order of Firefighters. Last week, Councilmember Ellinger and Councilmember Sevigny and myself participated in the stair climb at Kroger Field. It was extremely well attended. And this year, Councilmember Sevigny and I decided to put on full gear to climb those flights of stairs, which was not easy. Just yesterday, did my calves stop being sore from climbing all of those stairs. and our first time through Councilmember Savigny and I had on our full gear impacts but going for round two we were like all right Councilmember Ellinger you're gonna take our oxygen tanks because we can't care of them they're too heavy so Councilmember Ellinger took both of our oxygen tanks on the second round of going up the flights of stairs so he is that's a friend right there because not our friends would do that for you so Councilmember Savigny and I are very appreciative And we all three finished together, and so it was a really great event. Mayor, thank you for being there as well and giving remarks. It was just an awesome event to honor those who lost their lives and honor those families who are probably still grieving for the loss that they have. And I would just like to highlight the individual, when you participate, you get to select the picture, get a lanyard with a picture of a first responder that lost their life. And you can climb the stairs for them that evening. And so I was honored to climb for patrol officer James F. Lynch of the PAPD. My special prayers out to his family and to all those that are still grieving the loss of those loved ones. So thank you again to the Fraternal Order of Firefighters for hosting a great steer climb. My next announcement is the next Shayla. And the second will be on Wednesday, September 25th from 530 to 730 p.m. at Madison Station Clubhouse. That is also Hangry Hump Day. So there will be food trucks and games for the kids. So everyone please come out and I will have lots of free resources information regarding the city. And then lastly, I want to let my neighbors know now a month in advance that our next district wide meeting will be on Wednesday, October 16th at 6 p.m. at the STEAM Academy. Please come with your questions. We'll have light refreshments there as well. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Sheehan. Thank you, Mayor. A few quick announcements. First, Thursday is AVOL's annual Dine Out for Life program. You can go to dineoutlex.com to find out about all the participating locations. I will be at Liberty Road Cafe for their lunch, but you can look for coffee shops, breakfast, lunch, and dinner and drinks places later. So check that out and make sure that you go and participate because the proceeds go directly to AVOL Kentucky. And then another event this weekend that's always a fun one is Oktoberfest at Christ the King. It's Friday from 4 to 11 and Saturday from 1 to 11. There's food, music, games, all kinds of things going on, so check that out. And then finally, the West Hickman Trunk F Sewer Project has a neighborhood meeting on Thursday at 6.30. that is at 2048 Edgewater Court at the synagogue there and it's again at 630 for the neighborhoods this is primarily right around the woods and Barrowood neighborhoods so if you are in that area please come by that neighborhood meeting to find out about the project thank you mayor thank you councilmember LaGree thank you mayor colleagues you all will have received a media toolkit about this and we talked about this a little bit at the committee of the whole and we'll keep talking about it for the next month straight but i want to remind everybody and put a formal invitation out there for our very first event of the urban county council's new expo series this one focused on transportation and i want to thank you all for putting this in your newsletters and showing up and helping to make it happen but just as a reminder This transportation expo is a casual drop in event and we will cover a range of transportation related topics, including bike and pedestrian safety, public and mass transit, and road improvements. And it's a fantastic opportunity for residents to connect with decision makers, share their experiences, and contribute to the conversation about the future of Lexington's transportation system. We have a lot of stakeholders who have signed up to join us and attend the event including LFUCG departments like Traffic Engineering, the Lexington Area MPO, Long Range Planning, Streets and Roads, Live Green Lex, Lexington Public Safety, Age Friendly Lexington, and our Complete Streets folks. And we'll also be joined by lots of community partners like Lex Trans, Civic Lex, Bike Walk Kentucky, Broom Wagon, Cooperative Bike Shop, Bluegrass Airport, Spin and Bird Scooter Companies, Front Riders, Lexington, and many, many more. We keep on plugging this all the way until the 19th. So Saturday, October 19th is the day for this event from 9am until 1130am at the Marksbury Family Branch of the Lexington Public Library. And tell your constituents to get online and learn more by visiting Council's Engage Lexington website at engage.lexingtonky.gov. We're really excited about it. all going to make this happen and I appreciate you all so thank you mayor that's it thank you councilmember gray thank you mayor last week was a busy week well starting on Saturday I attended the black pride festival that was held at the woodland park it was actually their largest year and it's going to keep growing. It was nice to see so many from our community come out. And I want to say congratulations to Sean Caron Bumpus for his great work and bringing excellence with his organization and everyone who helped. Next, we have the Community Corrections graduation. I want to say congratulations to our Community Corrections. Chief Colvin, who's here in the house, great job with all that you do and also want to give a special salute it was very emotional because for the first time the Ray Sabatini award was given out and I know Ray Sabatini passed away this year and it was of all people of all people deputy CAO or former who used to be at the jail Glenn Brown was there to give out the award for his friend and colleague who has passed and as I mentioned earlier Ray Sabatini is the wife I mean the husband of my fifth fourth grade teacher so it was all just a move it was very moving and for Glenn thank you for being there to to hand up the award I know that mr. Sabatini would have been just so proud of you and honored to have you be the man that handed out the award on his behalf. So thank you, sir. And last week, I and my legislative aide, Heather Parrish, we had the opportunity to go in the air, fly high, be with the turkey birds, as they called it, with the air support unit helicopter team. They do a mighty work in our city with crime. I learned a lot, meaning if they're over your house, they're not looking in your neighborhood. They're looking across town. So they just are a powerful team, and they're flying on very old equipment. So hopefully that's something in the coming future we can examine to see how we can better make sure that our officers have the right equipment with them that's safe. And on Saturday, I too attended the African Harvest celebration at the Senior Center. This is a group called the Sons and Daughters of Africa. These are students who are from the Bryan Station High School and Frederick Douglass High School. They put on a show. I had the honor of handing out a proclamation to this group who has been supporting our African immigrants with ensuring that there's food and making sure they had all the resources needed. And it was just in there, of course, is Isabel Taylor. She is our director over at Global Lex doing a mighty work there as well. and I had the privilege of hanging out with Miss Kentucky and a professor from the University of Kentucky. He teaches a professor of African history. It was, there's just great people to be sitting with. And I had to show my residents from the 6th District, Eastland Parkway Neighborhood Association. Great to see them there. And right here, this is a 6th grader from LTMS, His name is Norbert. He won an award for farming. While we were sitting next to each other, he was so proud to educate me on his culture and to make sure that I understood everything that was going on. He was a great help, and he will go far in life. Amazing young man. anything else okay so you don't have the last one so on thursday september 19th i will be um at i'm a volunteer for avol i will be an avol ambassador from two to four hopefully you can stop by third is it third street stuff and i will be there 25 percent everything 25 percent of all proceeds from each restaurant will go to fund Aval that is ensuring that we have adequate testing for HIV and AIDS, making sure that we're in STDs, and they make sure that there's housing. There's just so much that's going on with Aval that they do for our community. If you cannot come to Third Street and stuff, or you cannot go to the Liberty Cafe, there are many options for you to just go around if you only if you're not hungry go in there and get a beverage that will go to help this organization there is so much that we can all do a little bit goes a mighty long way thank you mayor thank you councilmember Savigny thank you mayor and thanks to those that have already mentioned all my items so I made it shorter I do want to thank parks and the moon dance foundation board for a very successful 80s night and I want to thank Miami Vice Mayor Wu and council member Ellinger for showing up and being supportive thank you I want also want to do a thank you to local Lex market good foods the do-off shop Southland Association and tall sound the Southland Street Fair probably was its best year ever it was a great great event they did a fantastic job and I really want to thank the city police was there in force and waste management so the event went off without a hitch and I appreciate all that hard work tonight I'm at a Piccadome neighborhood association meeting at 7 o'clock at Lafayette and I will be there with vice mayor Wu so I appreciate him being there in his neighborhood I am and then this weekend Pasadena and Robert run have they have yard sale weekends also on Saturday J&H Outdoors if you guys don't know where that is it's it's over there off Regency Road they are having their 52nd birthday they're an independent basically candy land for hikers and backpackers so come over there on Saturday at noon to celebrate and speaking of birthdays I want to wish a special happy birthday to council member Fred Brown it's wonderful serving with you I'm glad we get to have a birthday with you I'm really glad to take someone out to lunch that qualifies for the senior discount happy birthday Fred that's all I got mayor thank you thank you we have no one signed up for public comment for issues not on the agenda I'm before we adjourn I did want to publicly send my thoughts and prayers to Tiffany Mazden. Many of you know her. She's worked for our government a long time, and her father passed, and wanted to let her know we're thinking of her. Glenn Brown, congratulations as the first recipient of the Ray Sabatini Award at the corrections graduation. I know that Glenn was a very close friend to Ray, and I believe Ray was probably your mentor. You served after Ray as director of our corrections, so congratulations to you. Thank you. And with that, we'll get a motion to adjourn. All right, all those in favor, say aye. We are adjourned. Thank you for coming. Thank you.