# Public Arts Commission - November 5, 2024 > Auto-transcribed civic record · Commission · November 5, 2024 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/6263 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/6263?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2024-11-05 - **Body**: Commission - **Last revised**: March 29, 2026 - **Length**: 6,451 words - **Speakers**: Chair > ⚠️ **Auto-generated content.** Audio from the official Granicus video was auto-transcribed by OpenAI Whisper-1, with speaker labels folded in from Granicus closed-captioning. Structured facts were extracted with GPT-4o; the narrative summary was written by Anthropic Claude Sonnet. Speaker labels and verbatim wording may contain errors. See [methodology](https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/about/methodology) or [report a correction](mailto:editor@lexingtonky.news). --- ## Meeting Overview The Public Art Commission held a meeting to discuss various ongoing projects and budget matters. The meeting focused primarily on informational updates across four agenda items, including budget discussions, general project updates, and specific briefings on the MLK Underpass Project and Gatton Park Tunnel Project. The commission conducted one vote during the session, though no public comments were received from community members. All four agenda items were handled as informational presentations, suggesting the meeting served as a status update session rather than a decision-making forum for new initiatives or policy changes. The meeting covered key public art infrastructure projects, with dedicated time allocated to discussing the MLK Underpass Project and Gatton Park Tunnel Project, indicating these are significant ongoing initiatives for the commission. The budget discussion likely provided commissioners with financial updates relevant to current and future public art endeavors. *Note: Specific meeting date, time, location, and presiding officer information were not available in the provided materials.* ## Attendance The following Commission members were present at the meeting: • Heather • Nathan • Jim • Richard No members were reported as absent or late. All Commission members were in attendance for the meeting. ## Votes and Decisions The Commission conducted one recorded vote during this meeting. **Motion to Adjourn** A motion was made to adjourn the meeting, though the specific member who made the motion and the member who seconded it were not clearly identified in the available records. The motion passed by voice vote, with no formal roll call conducted. No vote counts were recorded for ayes, nays, or abstentions, as is typical for procedural motions decided by voice vote. The meeting concluded following the successful passage of this adjournment motion. *Note: Transcript timestamps were not available for this vote in the source materials.* ## Budget Discussion The Commission held a discussion regarding the need for a revised budget to support informed decision-making about installation and design services costs. Heather served as the key speaker during this agenda item, leading the discussion on budget considerations. The conversation centered on the necessity of developing an updated budget framework that would enable the Commission to make well-informed decisions regarding upcoming installation and design service expenditures. The discussion was informational in nature, focusing on identifying the budget requirements needed to properly evaluate costs associated with installation and design services. The Commission recognized that having accurate budget information would be essential for making sound financial decisions moving forward. This agenda item served as a preliminary discussion to establish the groundwork for future budget planning and cost analysis related to the Commission's installation and design service needs. ## Project Updates Heather provided updates on various ongoing projects during this informational presentation to the Commission. The updates covered multiple initiatives currently in progress, including: • **Birth of Hope** - Status update provided on this project • **Meadowthorpe Community Center** - Progress report on community center developments • **Utility Box Wraps** - Updates on the decorative utility box wrap program • **Lavon Williams Carve Panels** - Status of the carved panel project honoring Lavon Williams • **MLK Underpass Project** - Progress report on the Martin Luther King Jr. underpass improvements • **Additional Projects** - Updates on other ongoing Commission initiatives This was an informational presentation with no action items or decisions required from the Commission. The updates provided commissioners with current status information on the various projects under the Commission's purview. *Note: Specific transcript timestamps are not available for this agenda item, and detailed discussion points were not captured in the provided materials.* ## MLK Underpass Project The Commission received an informational update on the MLK Underpass Project, with Heather serving as the primary speaker for this agenda item. The discussion centered on significant challenges the project is facing in moving forward, specifically due to restrictions imposed by the Kentucky Department of Transportation. These restrictions have created obstacles that are impacting the project's ability to proceed as originally planned. While the extracted data indicates this was a discussion item focused on the transportation department's restrictions, specific details about the nature of these restrictions, potential solutions being considered, or timeline implications were not captured in the available information. The agenda item was classified as informational, suggesting that no formal action was taken by the Commission during this discussion. The update appears to have been provided to keep Commission members informed about the current status and challenges facing this infrastructure project. *Note: Specific transcript timestamps and detailed discussion points were not available in the source materials for this agenda item.* ## Gatton Park Tunnel Project The Commission received an update on the progress of the Gatton Park Tunnel Project during the meeting. Heather provided the briefing on the project's current status. The primary development reported was that construction documents for the tunnel project are expected to be ready for presentation at the December Commission meeting. This represents a significant milestone in the project's development timeline, moving from planning phases toward the construction documentation stage. The agenda item was classified as informational, indicating that no formal action was required from the Commission at this time. The update served to keep Commission members informed of the project's advancement and to set expectations for the upcoming December meeting when more detailed construction documents will be available for review. No specific concerns or debates were noted during this discussion, suggesting the project is proceeding according to schedule. The brief nature of the update indicates this was primarily a status report to maintain Commission awareness of the project's progress rather than a detailed technical presentation. The Commission will receive more comprehensive information about the Gatton Park Tunnel Project, including detailed construction documents, at their December meeting. --- ## Decisions - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Motion to adjourn the meeting --- ## Full transcript ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ this budget would help me make a more informed decision. I don't think, the new budget doesn't say installation. It does, it does. Oh, it does, I'm sorry. It does say installation, but it does make a note that there's no hardware included in that installation cost, so that is going to be an increase over what is, you know, what's put forward. Probably not a lot, but I would think a couple few hundred bucks to. Yeah, I think just between, you know, the point's been raised about could LFBCG staff assist in installation, would that reduce any of the costs? I mean, I think there are just a couple outstanding questions, the difference between the installation figures in this versus this, the difference between the design services and project development in this versus the budget that we received. I just think a revised budget would help me make a more informed decision. I completely agree, because I have a question about these two fabric banners. Yes, to the 2,700, and then the fabric ones are 8,800, and I realize that you've got some wiggle room about other things in there, but that's just not, that's not clearly stated, so I agree that we have a few areas where I don't, the numbers don't match, and so I would think a revised budget would help inform us much better for a vote. That sounds great. Thank you so much. Thank you. Can I just add that, regardless of the numbers, this is a really great project. I'd like to see it in a community center there. I'd like to see it moved to other community centers. It's such a strong project, and I just want to say that, because I commend your work. So we're meeting in December, maybe you'll come. What, what? We're meeting in December, maybe you'll come. Oh, sounds great. Okay. Is that a good resolution at this time, everybody? Ask them to return with a consolidated budget? All right. Thank you for your time and your talent today. We look forward to seeing you again in December. Thank you. Thank you very, very much. I'm going to keep my score sheet for December, just in case. All right. Then, Heather, you have made us a nice grouping of all the updates here. Do you want to lead us through it? This is a nice update. Well, I think there are a number of projects in the works, and when we talk about them as individuals, then you kind of lose sight of the many projects that are actually ongoing. So I just thought I would do a little update here and actually got another update just this morning, and that is, I'm just going to run through these, and then if you all have questions about any of them, let me know. Yes, ma'am. But the Birth of Hope with Dave Cottle. I did attach a little news story that the, he's working with a fabricator in Jeffersonville. Jeffersonville? Yes, Jeffersonville. And so that newspaper did a story, and also a Louisville TV station, and I had the link, but unfortunately, we can't get the link to play. But I will forward it to you all, and you all might be able to, because I did get it to play once, but there's some other, I think they might be having issues, but you all might be able to get it to play. But it was a nice story on Dave and at the fabricators, sort of seeing it in the works. But I did receive an email from him today saying he's going to aim at December 11th, 12th, and 13th for installation. And so that's exciting, and I hope to actually announce that publicly so that people could drop by and watch it in action. And then also we will be planning a ribbon cutting media event shortly after that. So, you know, there's a brief window there right before the holidays, so maybe we could get that scheduled in the next few days after the 13th, but I'll check with the mayor, and of course, you know, would hope that you all would be able to be there, our first, you know, completed commissioned work. So I think it'll be really exciting, and of course the detention center will be involved. I had passed around, oh, and I meant to bring it, but I forgot, I passed around just wording for the plaque that we'll install, and I'd shown it to Dave as well, so it would just have the title of the work, his name, the date, and then there was sort of a commemoration at the bottom, wording from Chief Colvin at the detention center where he had stated early on to us what we do here matters everywhere. I think I'm saying that correctly. But what we do here, I think that's correct. But anyway, so that was going to go on the plaque, and I think I've located a company to do that, and the city has said they will install it, so my hope is that we can have that installed while he's installing, and it'll all be done for our little ribbon cutting event. So the next piece, the Meadowthorpe Community Center with Sherry Graham Green, that is officially completed. There's an image of the finished mural. They had a little celebration in the neighborhood for their 75th anniversary, neighborhood anniversary, and but we had said originally that we would maybe like to do a ribbon cutting, and so I wanted to see what you thought about that. I thought maybe Council Member Reynolds would be interested in doing that. She's going to have a ribbon cutting for the Kip's piece, the Blues Man over on Manchester Street. So I don't know what you all think about that, but it might be a nice thing to kind of recognize, you know, another community art project, public art project supported by the Public Art Commission. And then also just within the past couple of days, the utility box wraps, the first round are finally going up. They started at the end of last week, and yesterday I got just a couple of images from Image 360 is doing this work, and so two have been installed. Madeline Moses, her work is at Loudoun and North Lyme, and then Linda Mikulski's work is at Liberty Road and Starshoot Parkway, which is right across from Liberty Elementary School. So they anticipate, I believe, that all of them are going to be completed this week, and so I'll let you know. So that would be a total of six. Now that we kind of have the process down, I'll be submitting the next six for approval by the state. And that took longer than I'd anticipated, but I don't think it will again. I don't think it will take as long again now that we're kind of in the loop. The next item, the Lavon Williams Carve panels, which you had referenced, Council Member James Brown. Those were purchased, and the intent was to put them in the government center lobby, and so I am working with a carpenter and artist, Scott Wilson, who has come in, and we've met with Lavon, and Lavon is part of this design plan. And so we're coming up with, Scott has sent me sort of preliminary drawings of some frames that will be created to hold the panels, and I could show you better than tell you, but as you are entering the government center, and there are the steps on either side of those steps up high, there are these, I think what used to be planters, they're wooden boxes. And so these are going to use those wooden boxes as a base and build up off of those. They are not original to the building, but they would provide a base. And I want to run these by the building folks first to see what ideas or concerns they might have, but that is the plan. And so that's the first draft of a design, so I'll talk with the building folks about that and see if they have any concerns or other things we need to think about. But the goal is to get those installed. And then just to let you know, so the MLK underpass project, I felt that we really can't do anything on that unless we were able to determine who has authority and who grants permission or not. So I finally, it was really through the utility box project that I found the right place with the Kentucky Department of Transportation. And so in talking with them and showing them photos, that is the response I got, which was a pretty flat, we don't do that. So they say they do not allow painting or wrapping of any structural components, that they're inspected for structural integrity, and painting or wrapping makes it hard for them to identify problem areas. Also lighting under the bridge would have to be approved, but they felt that anything with multiple colored lighting will likely not be approved. So I think, you know that, and I still didn't get a clear answer from the city or from the state on who officially, you know, has authority over every inch of that bridge, the pillars versus the... So, you know, we had allocated some funds there. There's also some in the Knight Foundation remaining from my Art on the Town project that we had asked them to put toward this project. So, you know, I don't know if there's some other ideas about that area without using the pillars or the infrastructure of the bridge itself, other things we might consider or be able to do. I mean, certainly everyone agrees that area really needs, and it seemed like perfect timing because I believe Lextran is going to be upgrading their facility, so it'd just be a nice time. There is the big, weird kind of wall, paneled wall right beside the government center that is the pass-through, and that's not, it's the ramp onto the bridge, but I'm guessing maybe that's city property. But anyway, so I just wanted to tell you that I'm not sure that we could move forward with sort of the ideas we wished for that area, but maybe there are some other ideas that we could think about. Can we reconvene the group and maybe just start again with this information informing new decisions and new ideas? Because I mean, I really do want something to happen there, and you and I had talked earlier about this where you said essentially all ideas had been shut down, but surely there's something that we can do there, so we just need to reconvene. So is that, would next steps be to put together that little work group and start again and bring that back to the commission? Okay. I mean, he went ahead and sent me the application, but with his very negative response, I wasn't sure it'd be worth it, but it does seem like you might be able to just take all the parameters of the site, you know, what we know about it, potentially craft a open call for artists, and see just, because we don't need to come up with all the solutions. We just need to know what the scope of what we can do, and then see what artists can come up with for an intervention with that space. So I think that could, we could pay for, you know, three or five artists to, you know, put out a national call or however far we want to put out the call, but, you know, pay for some design time from artists to look at the space. Jim, kind of like we did with, that led to Concordia, you know, we had, we just let artists investigate the city, but we just tell them, here's the site, here's the parameters, you know, what can you come up with? Yeah, and up to that point, I was going to say that the parameters can just be given to the artists, because they can still create art that's not attached to structural members. It's got a different kind of location or attachment. That space was fairly wide, I remember. So there's, I'm sure there's creative solutions within these parameters, so I agree. Just shifting gears. Okay. Reload. If that committee has a few minutes right after this, I'd be willing to, I was on that, if we could just go take a little look. Well, that was my next question was, because I know it was you, me, Heather, Richard? Does anyone else want to be part of that? And we can reconvene and discuss. I'll join the group. Okay. There you go. All right. Well, let's just take a minute after this meeting if we have a second to do that, and then we'll come up with a meeting. Very good. Okay, great, thank you guys. Okay. Thank you. And then the Gatton Park Tunnel Project, they have let me know they're nearly there, and so I anticipate that they will have their construction documents and everything for the December meeting. And so that would be the final review. And then Underground Railroad and also Gainesway Park are their, Underground Railroad certainly is moving forward, and I mean, if you want to give an update, Nathan. I can give just one little piece that the phase one artist process is complete, and they have the phase two application, or not application, phase two. And when I say this, it's not our phase, our applications, this is, we broke the contract into four parts. And so he's completed the model, an enlarged model, and then did a 3D scan and print. And so that is, that portion is complete, so he's moving on into the life-size clay now. We did let him know that engineering is part of, that was in the contractor's phase two, so that's the one piece that we need to see at Public Art Commission before those funds can start to move to the project. Yeah, the stamp construction drawings. And also, we will have to create our own contract. So there will be a contract that has to be, when we approve the final design, then a contract with the city has to be created. And so just remember, there will be that time that we do that contract, and then it goes to council. And so, you know, that kind of, I think I hadn't really thought through that with like the MetaThorpe project. It was time consuming to finally get that product, you know, once we'd approved it, and then get the contract done, and then get it to council, and then, you know, in order for any money to be allocated, you know, actually. Oh, disbursed, thank you. So just keep that in mind. And yeah, and then, you know, really Gainesway, it's just been a matter of timing and time. And I think with that, for me, once we get the detention center project installed and completed, then, you know, I was thinking maybe I could then turn my time, turn my attention more to Gainesway, and we could reconvene and sort of get that going again. But that is an update. So if anyone has any questions or comments. I think the project is a freedom trail, isn't it? Oh, sorry. It's not on the ground, right? Yeah, no, I'm sorry. Okay, and with that contract, would that keep the project on track? Because, I mean, everything's moving forward towards next spring? Yes, the completion date anticipated is June of 25. So right now, everything is on track. We haven't heard otherwise from the artist. But he has been notified that the engineering piece, we've requested to have that front-loaded in this phase two part of the contract so that we can move forward with the necessary movements, because we will need that public art funding is crucial for us to enter the third phase. And, you know, one thing I thought about, and maybe this could happen, is that maybe I could go ahead and get them moving on the contract, assuming everything is going to be fine, and just have it ready for when, so that could at least take out that link of time. So I might just get in touch with you, maybe send you the, ask them to create a first draft, and then you all could look at that. So maybe that would help sort of squeeze in that amount of time, but, you know, also if their council breaks or, you know, that sort of thing, that. And we have also already met with the landscape architects, who's already, have they put the design together? We accepted the design yet? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, okay. I think they're working, they're finished. The landscape architecture firm did make a visit to Lexington, and they are in communication with the artist as well, so he can help inform, you know, as much as he would like to, the site design. But they're working on, and all of that design work from the landscape architecture firm is being donated, so that's a big bonus to the project. We'll still have to, they still have to pay for the actual build out of it, but the design process, so that was a good benefit. One of the members is actually going to visit the landscape architecture firm. They're based out of Atlanta, but they have an office here, and so they are, he's gonna be visiting the landscape architecture firm and the artist studio coming up in the next week or two. Very good. Other reports or updates? Any subject, any topic? I see no listing for old business or new business, and I see no public to comment. So that brings us to a motion to adjourn. Make a motion to adjourn. Motion from the lady. Second from the gentleman. All those in favor? Opposed, like sign. We are adjourned. Great meeting. Thank you all very much. See you in December. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. A week without driving. Discover the benefits. Imagine taking a break from driving for just one week. It's a great opportunity to improve your health by walking and biking, and this also reduces your carbon footprint and allows you to enjoy cleaner air and quieter streets. LexTran offers a stress-free alternative, especially when you plan your route ahead of time, whether at LexTran.com or on their app. And by letting someone else do the driving, you'll save on gas and parking and connect with your community in new ways. Give it a try. Your body, wallet, and the environment will thank you. Be sure to hop on LexTran Route 8 on October the 19th and make your way to the Lexington Transportation Expo. Yn ddiweddaraf, mae'r cyfnod yma'n gyfartallu'r llwyf. Mae'n rhoi'r gwaith i'r cyfnod yma i'r cyfnod yma. Mae'n rhaid i chi ddod o'r ôl i'r cyfnod yma. Yn ystod yr amser, mae'n rhaid i chi ddod o'r ôl i'r cyfnod yma. Gyda'r cyfnod yma, mae'n rhaid i chi ddod o'r ôl i'r cyfnod yma. Dim oend! Yn ystod yr amser, mae'n rhaid i chi ddod o'r ôl i'r cyfnod yma i'r cyfnod yma. Dyma'r ffusnes yma, mae'r llyn. Mae'r llins yma, mae'r llins yma, mae'r llins yma, mae'r llins yma, mae'r llins yma, mae'r llins yma, mae'r llins yma. Yn y gyfran yma, mae'r llins yn cael ei gysylltu â'r ffusnes yma. Mae'r llansiad yma yn cynrychioli'r llins. Mae'r llins yn cael ei gysylltu â'r ffusnes yma. Mae'r llins yn cael ei gysylltio â'r ffusnes yma. Yn y gyfan, mae'r llins yn cael ei gysylltio â'r ffusnes yma. Yn y cyfan, mae'r llins yn cael ei gysylltu â'r ffusnes yma. 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Diolch am wylio'r fideo. Diolch am wylio'r fideo. Diolch am wylio'r fideo. Diolch am wylio'r fideo. Diolch am wylio'r fideo. Diolch am wylio'r fideo. Diolch am wylio'r fideo. Diolch am wylio'r fideo. Diolch am wylio'r fideo. Diolch am wylio'r fideo. Diolch am wylio'r fideo. Diolch am wylio'r fideo. Diolch am wylio'r fideo. Diolch am wylio'r fideo. On this edition of Lexington Now, the firefighters toy program kicks off, the minority business enterprise program, and Lex 250. I'm Neal Noah and welcome to Lexington Now for the week of November 4th, 2024. The firefighters toy program officially began their annual toy drive this past week. Here are the details on how you can help this worthy cause. Well, good afternoon. My name is Lieutenant Chris McFarlane with the Lexington Fire Department. I'm also in charge of the Lexington Fraternal Order of Firefighters, firefighters toy program. We're excited to announce that in 2024, we are starting our toy program. This is our kickoff. I want to say special thanks to staff and the mayor for being here with us. I just wanted to make a couple announcements about what you can do to help our program. You can bring a new unwrapped toy to any one of our 24 fire stations. We have a nice little Herbie out there that's reconditioned to accept toys. You can drop those off. If the fire trucks aren't there, you're welcome to knock on door and leave them with them as well. But any one of our 24 fire stations are a drop off point. And then we'll work to get those toys delivered here to the North Pole. The North Pole this year is at the old Windstream Building on the north end of town. It's 130 West New Circle, Suite 170. This is where we will host the signups and this is where the families will go or come to pick out the toys that day. We also have a great program that we work with Amazon. We have an Amazon wish list. So this happened during COVID and a lot of people weren't able to get out and go to the stores. The stores were closed. They were buying things on Amazon and then just dropping them off to us. On our website and on our Facebook page, we'll have a QR code that when you scan that, it'll take you straight to our wish list. And it's items that we know 0 to 12 would like and that they will ship them straight to us here at the North Pole. Really neat. If you're not wanting to get out in all the hustle and bustle of shopping, but you can go to from your couch or your office desk. We have a lot of offices that will call us and say, what can we do? And I said, well, you can donate money, but we'd rather you just donate toys and send them here. Because we're just going to take that money and buy toys anyways. And so they find it pretty fun to fill their Amazon cart up and then purchase those. And again, it ships them straight to us here at the North Pole. Thank you for your support years after year. This is 94 years we've been doing this and we appreciate the continued support. The giveaway day will be on December 14th. You can check out our Facebook page, which will tell you the location, the sign up times for the families. Very important to go to that. Also, if you send a text message, which is on our web page and our Facebook page, you can send that information to it. We will respond back with the sign up information. They are starting next week on the 4th and running through the 13th. All this information can be found at our website, which is www.LFDFOF.org and our Facebook page, the Lexington Fraternal Order of Firefighters. For 94 years, this program has served our community well. It started during the Great Depression and has continued through recessions, booms, busts, even a pandemic. To make the Firefighter Toy Program work, our firefighters go above and beyond each year. While collecting and giving away toys for 3,000 children produces a lot of joy, it also comes with a lot of hard work. Our firefighters volunteer their time. Their time to reach out, their time to encourage the community to give, to make sure that these toys are ready for Christmas morning. It's easy to give, as you just heard. Drop off new unwrapped toys for children 0 to 12 years old at any Lexington fire station. And I do want to congratulate our firefighters and a big thank you to the generous businesses, and citizens, and churches, and other community groups that have donated toys. It really does take a village to do this. And to start the drive off to collect toys, it's my honor again to donate the first toy to Chief Sauce, Lieutenant McFarlane, and the FOF. And I have something really special this year. If you have young children, you're going to recognize who this is. Hang on. It's a Bluey fire engine. And if you know Bluey, this is from the wildly popular TV show Bluey. And it even has the appropriate firefighters with it. So congratulations, well done, and we'll give that to you, and it'll go right into the toy drive. Yes, thank you. The Minority Business Enterprise Program aims to increase participation in city contracts. Sherita Miller, Minority Program Coordinator for the City, explains. Hello, my name is Sherita Miller, and I am the Minority Program Coordinator, also known as the Minority Business Enterprise Liaison for Lexington-Fayette-Urban County Government. And my role is to assist diverse businesses through our procurement process. The City of Lexington, we have increased our participation goal on city's contracts and procurements. We now have an overall 17 percent goal with separate minimum goals for minority business enterprises, 5 percent, 12 percent for women business enterprises, in addition to the 3 percent veteran-owned participation goal that we ask our contractors to make a good faith effort in meeting on the city's contracts and procurements. Through the Minority Business Enterprise Program, in partnership with the Kentucky Apex Accelerator, which is formally known as the Kentucky Procurement Assistance Technical Center, I host outreach webinars and events on how to do business with LFUCG. I talk about certifications that are accepted through the Enterprise Program for diverse businesses. So I have quarterly webinars and in-person events. For example, upcoming, my director and I, we're going to have a co-presentation on doing business with LFUCG. And it's a webinar in partnership with the Kentucky Apex Accelerator. And we will talk about, I'll do an overview about the Minority Business Enterprise Program, some of the benefits that it provides to diverse businesses. Along with my director, Todd Slayton, he will talk about how to do business with LFUCG. We'll talk about the IonWave system, that's our purchasing software system where all of our bids and proposals are issued, how to get registered in that system, and just be prepared for upcoming opportunities that the city has. The city has a lot of contracts and procurements and projects coming up over the next fiscal year, so we'll highlight those as well. There is networking opportunities, and particularly at in-person events hosted through the Enterprise Program. They can do some B2B, they can network among themselves, but also get the opportunity to meet prom contractors. At times, the prom contractors will contact me and say, Sherita, I don't know of any MBE or WBE or veteran-owned small businesses. And through the Enterprise Program, I do maintain a certified list of those business types. And those contractors, they get that list on a monthly basis after attending a pre-bid meeting or a pre-proposal conference, or anybody can contact me directly to get that list. That certified list is now on the Enterprise Program's LexLynx page, so anybody can access that certified list. Contractors are those companies who bid on some of our larger construction projects. And then we also have our professional service companies as well, our firms for architect, engineering, design. We also have suppliers who provide materials for, you know, contracts and procurements on the construction side, maybe even the professional services. And then we have vendors, vendors who provide our commodities. That could be paper, janitorial supplies, automobiles, et cetera. So the word contractor is mostly used in the construction industry, but we use different terms from contractor to supplier to vendor, et cetera. And so on an annual basis, I'll have at least one to two in-person events where they can learn about upcoming projects and contracts that the City of Lexington has. I host that annual Construction Business Connection event in February. That's the largest event that I host where departments and divisions, they can come share the upcoming opportunities, but also get to network and meet the companies in attendance. So the program has grown. Recently, we conducted a disparity study. It's the very first one for Lexington Fayette Urban County Government to assess the disparity in the availability of minority and women-owned businesses on the City's contracts and procurements. So we're in the process of implementing the measures recommended by the consultant firm, which was the BBC Research and Consulting LLC, and we had two local sub-consultants on the project team, which was EHI Consultants and Abundant Living. And so we're in the process of implementing, if not the remaining of those measures. The majority of them have already been implemented, but we still have a couple more to implement as well. Companies register in advance for the events. Like I said before, I have a partnership with the Kentucky Apex Accelerator. They do all of my event and webinar registration. And when you register with the Kentucky Apex Accelerator, you have the option to become a client because they help all small businesses, not only in Lexington Fayette County, but throughout the state of Kentucky, who's interested in government contracting, just not at the local level, but at the state and federal level. To learn more information about the Minority Business Enterprise Program, you can contact me, Sharita Miller, Minority Business Enterprise Liaison via email, smiller at lexingtonky.gov, or you can call me at 859-258-3323. 250 LEX officially kicks off when we come back. ♪ Hello, everyone. I'm Tiffany Brown, Equity and Implementation Officer in the Mayor's Office and Chair of the Ascension Place Committee. I'm here today to talk about Ascension Place, an initiative dedicated to preserving the history of Lexington's rural Black Hamlet and celebrating those that remain active today. More than 20 historic Black Hamlets have been identified in Fayette County. Most are located in rural areas. Our historic Hamlets have been and are home to generations of lived experiences, traditions, and culture. Houses, churches, schools, grocery stores, agricultural enterprises, and lodge halls for community gatherings were found in many Hamlets. Ascension Place is a partnership between community members with direct connection to our Hamlets and the City of Lexington. Its goal is to raise awareness about what the Hamlets represent and to identify steps that are needed to take to preserve their history. The Ascension Place Committee includes local historian Yvonne Giles, local historian Calvin Graves, Executive Director of the Lexington History Museum Mandy Higgins, Catontown resident Dr. Alvin Seals, Catontown Baptist Church pastor, Reverend Leon Slatter, and others. With support from members of the Catontown community, Ascension Place is currently raising funds for maintenance updates and programming of the Catontown Rosenwald School and property located at 705 Caton Lane. In the early 2000s, members of the Catontown community worked with the City to preserve the school. In the early 20th century, Rosenwald schools were found across the South serving rural Black children and families during segregation. Many of the buildings have been destroyed. Lexington is proud that the Catontown school still stands and wants to preserve the history and significance that so many of these schools have had in our Hamlet community. The funds will complete the restoration of the school and upgrade the historic cemetery and church building. The school will permanently house artifacts that tell the story of Lexington's Hamlet. We hope you will join us. Welcome back to Lexington Now. City officials formally introduced the plans for next year's school year. This year's school year will include a new school district, a new school district, a new school district, a new school district, a new school district, City officials formally introduced the plans for next year's celebration of Lexington's 250th birthday. 250 Lex will be a year-long celebration of culture showcasing the best of Lexington. We have a lot of history to celebrate in 2025. The 250 Lex Commission has all kinds of events planned. Most are free. All are open to the public. In a few minutes, Eunice Beatty is going to tell us more about some of those plans. In addition to our city, several of our city's major institutions are also marking major anniversaries in 2025 that will give us even more to celebrate. Transylvania University Oh, I saw President Lewis here. Where are you? Okay, President Lewis, Transylvania next year is celebrating its 245th anniversary. Woo-hoo! And the University of Kentucky will be 160 years old. The Red Mile will celebrate its 150th year and the University of Kentucky Coliseum will turn 75.