# Urban County Council - January 16, 2025 > Auto-transcribed civic record · Council · January 16, 2025 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/6316 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/6316?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2025-01-16 - **Body**: Council - **Last revised**: March 28, 2026 - **Length**: 12,022 words - **Speakers**: Mayor, 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 Urban County Council met on January 16, 2025, at 6:00 PM in Council Chambers in Lexington, KY, with Mayor Gorton presiding. The meeting included 4 agenda items, 2 votes, and 3 public comments. The Council approved the minutes from the December 3, 2024 and December 5, 2024 Council meetings, and passed proclamations recognizing Lafayette Boys Cross Country and the 140th Anniversary of Kentucky American Water. A Zoning Change Ordinance received its first reading during the meeting. ## Attendance All 16 members of the Council were present at the January 16, 2025 meeting. No members were absent or late. **Present:** - Mayor Gorton - Beasley - Boone - Brown - Curtis - Ellinger - Elliott Baxter - Gray - Hale - LeGris - Lynch - Morton - Reynolds - Sevigny - Sheehan - Wu ## Votes and Decisions The Council took up two items for a vote at the January 16, 2025 meeting, both of which passed unanimously. - **Resolution 0024-25** — A motion to accept a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Justice under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program was made by Mr. Morton and seconded by Mr. Ellinger. The resolution passed unanimously, 15–0. All fifteen members voted in favor: Beasley, Brown, Boone, Curtis, Ellinger, Elliott Baxter, Gray, Hale, LeGris, Lynch, Morton, Reynolds, Sevigny, Sheehan, and Wu. No members voted against or abstained. - **Resolution 0006-25** — A motion to purchase exercise equipment from Design2Wellness was made by Ms. Elliott Baxter and seconded by Ms. Sheehan. The resolution passed unanimously, 15–0. All fifteen members voted in favor: Beasley, Brown, Boone, Curtis, Ellinger, Elliott Baxter, Gray, Hale, LeGris, Lynch, Morton, Reynolds, Sevigny, Sheehan, and Wu. No members voted against or abstained. ## Budget and Financial Actions The Council considered two financial resolutions at the January 16, 2025 meeting, covering an equipment purchase and a federal grant acceptance. - **Resolution 0006-25** authorized the purchase of exercise equipment from Design2Wellness at a cost of **$95,997.05**. No additional vendor or procurement details were included in the available meeting data. - **Resolution 0024-25** involved a **$117,792** federal grant awarded to the **Lexington Police Department**. The resolution authorized the acceptance of these federal funds, though the specific program or granting agency was not identified in the available meeting data. Combined, the two resolutions represent approximately **$213,789** in authorized expenditures and incoming grant funding addressed during the meeting. ## Public Comment Three members of the public addressed the Council during the comment period. [timestamp: 1:09:58] - **Phoenix Berry** spoke about the rental crisis in Lexington, presenting figures that underscore the affordability challenges facing low-income residents. Berry noted that 30% of Lexington renters are extremely low income and that the average rent stands at $1,047 per month — a cost Berry characterized as unaffordable given the current minimum wage. [timestamp: 1:09:58] - **David Franklin** raised concerns about surveillance infrastructure in Lexington, specifically referencing a police observatory located near Fayette Mall. Franklin described the structure as resembling a panopticon, suggesting it raises broader questions about the nature and scope of law enforcement surveillance in the community. [timestamp: 1:11:35] - **Rabbi Litvin** presented a report on anti-Semitism in Kentucky, with a focus on incidents occurring in Lexington. Rabbi Litvin emphasized the importance of public awareness and called for action in response to the documented incidents. [timestamp: 1:14:19] ## Appointments The Council approved the following appointments during the January 16, 2025 meeting: - **Jylan Ross** was appointed to the **Access Lexington Commission**. - **Hil Boone** was appointed to the **City Employees' Pension Fund Board**. - **Emma Curtis** was appointed to the **City Employees' Pension Fund Board**. ## Contested Items - **Snow Removal Plan** [timestamp: N/A] The city's response to a recent snowstorm drew criticism from both council members and members of the public, making it one of the more contentious discussions of the January 16, 2025 meeting. Concerns centered on two main issues: the pace and effectiveness of road clearing, and how resources had been allocated during the storm response. Multiple council members joined public voices in expressing dissatisfaction, suggesting the criticism was not isolated to a single perspective but reflected a broader concern about the city's winter operations. Specific complaints focused on roads that were not adequately cleared and questions about whether equipment and personnel had been deployed appropriately. No outcome or resolution was recorded in the available meeting data, indicating the matter may have been referred for further review or left open for follow-up action. ## Minutes of the December 3, 2024 and December 5, 2024 Council Meetings [timestamp: 05:25] The Council took up agenda item 0058-25, concerning the approval of minutes from two previous meetings held on December 3, 2024 and December 5, 2024. The minutes were presented for review, with Ellinger and Sevigny among the key speakers during this portion of the meeting. No additions or corrections were raised by any Council members, and there was no substantive debate or discussion regarding the content of either set of minutes. The Council approved the minutes from both the December 3, 2024 and December 5, 2024 meetings without modification. ## Proclamation for Lafayette Boys Cross Country **Agenda Item 0060-25** [timestamp: 06:02] Mayor Gorton read a proclamation declaring **January 16, 2025, as Lafayette High School Boys Cross Country Team Day** in Lexington, honoring the team's state championship victory. - The proclamation recognized the Lafayette High School Boys Cross Country Team for their state championship win. - Mayor Gorton delivered the proclamation before the Council. - Coach Caleb Joy was present and participated in the recognition. The proclamation was **approved** by the Council. ## Proclamation for Kentucky American Water 140th Anniversary [timestamp: 14:25] The Council took up agenda item 0062-25, a proclamation celebrating Kentucky American Water's 140th anniversary. Mayor Gorton read the proclamation declaring January 2025 as **Kentucky American Water Month** in Lexington, honoring the organization's 140 years of service. The proclamation was presented to Catherine Nash, who represented Kentucky American Water at the meeting. The proclamation was approved by the Council. ## Zoning Change Ordinance [timestamp: 29:31] The Council took up Ordinance **0031-25**, a measure to change the zoning designation of certain properties to different residential zones. The ordinance was read during this meeting as its **first reading**, which is the initial step in the formal adoption process before a final vote can occur. The structured record does not identify specific speakers, properties, or debates associated with this agenda item, nor does it detail which residential zone classifications were involved in the proposed changes. No concerns or objections are noted in the available data. As a first reading, no final action was taken on the ordinance at this meeting. The item will need to return before the Council for further consideration before it can be formally adopted. --- ## Decisions - **Resolution 0024-25** — passed (15-0): Accept a federal Grant from the US Dept. of Justice under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program - **Resolution 0006-25** — passed (15-0): Purchase exercise equipment from Design2Wellness --- ## Full transcript ლევლჯაჼლიანელა რალაპელტანე უღესნერე როტქალუანე იბირრითუალრრ მში სტმ საბილი Secondly, I had thought that the უღესთუეთუე როსოლინელესუე სელესესინე როსესინემინე უღესიდირიესირიე Good evening, Madam Mayor, Council, General Public. Let us pray. Dear God, we thank you for the blessing of this day. We thank you, O God, for health and strength as it is. We thank you for watching over us and for protecting us, God, from dangers seen and unseen. God, we thank you for allowing us to come together this night, Mayor and Council, to conduct the business at hand. And O God, I pray in the name of Jesus that you would just bless them and endow them with wisdom and knowledge from on high. May they be reminded, O God, that apart from you, we can do absolutely nothing. We are the sheep of your pasture, O God, and we're depending on you. We're needy people, God, and we need you to guide us and lead us and direct us. I pray, O God, that you would just infuse this Council again with wisdom and knowledge, but also courage, O God, as they face difficult decisions and challenges for this city and its future. I pray, O God, you would guide them in such a manner that they would know exactly what it is you want them to do. And then, O God, give them the courage to stand and see your glory. O God, just be with them tonight, not just tonight, but in the days and weeks and months and years ahead. And God, may Lexington become a city for you that is a place where all people can rise to the level of living that you would be pleased with. Bless them, O God, as they conduct business tonight. And Lord, for all you've done, we say thank you. For what you're going to do, we say thank you. For what you're doing even now, we say thank you. God bless and endow this people with your power. These things we ask in your son Jesus' name. And everybody present say amen. Amen. Thank you. Thank you so much, Pastor Gaines. Councilmembers, we have minutes from December 3rd, 2024, and December 5th, 2024, council meetings. Councilmember Ellinger moves. Councilmember Savigny seconds. Are there any additions, corrections, questions about the minutes? All right. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right. That motion passes. Thank you. And now we have two proclamations. All right. At this time, I'd like to invite Coach Caleb Joy. I think they are out in the lobby. Councilmember Savigny and Vice Mayor Wu to join me at the podium. And we're going to welcome our Lafayette High School boys cross country track team. Cross country team to come on in. Coach Joy. Come back. Come back. Stay right here. This is the perfect place. Coach. How are you? Great to see all of you. Caleb is the head coach of the Lafayette High School boys cross country team. And we want to welcome you and the team with us tonight. We are also joined by the members of the cross country team. And thank you all so much for being here so that we can honor you. Lafayette cross country is celebrating a big win. Last November, the team was named the class 3A cross country state champions. The team is Lexington's first public school to earn this title. Coach Joy, congratulations to you and your entire team. We wish you many, many successful years to come. Now, at this time, I'd like to present you with this proclamation. For you and your team. Whereas the Lafayette high school boys cross country team demonstrated exceptional skill, dedication, and sportsmanship throughout the 2024 season. And whereas the generals achieved remarkable success securing the title of Kentucky boys class 3A cross country state champions. And whereas the team is Fayette County's first public school to earn the state title. And whereas their victory at the Kentucky horse park on November 2nd, 2024, exemplifies dedication, strong teamwork, and their competitive spirit. And whereas the success of the Lafayette high school boys cross country team brings pride not only to their school, but to our entire community. Now, therefore, I, Linda Gorton, mayor of Lexington, do hereby declare January 16th, 2025, Lafayette high school boys cross country team day in Lexington. Congratulations to all of you. Congratulations. Would you like to say a few words? All right, we're going to hear from Coach Joy. Hi, I'm Coach Joy. I'm very, very honored to be here today to be a representation of the boys behind me. Not just for them, but for the other boys and girls that are on our team. This is our first championship in Fayette County public school history on the boys' side. It's our first championship for Lafayette. We were, after the state cross country meet, we competed at a national level meet and the Nike regional meet. And we also finished as the number one public school in the southeast. It's been a really sentimental moment for me to come back to Lafayette. I was a graduate in 2016. I've been with the program for my fourth year now. To see that we have two seniors that are departing from us this year with the promise of them, when they were freshmen, that one day we would be state champions. And for that to come in fruition, my very first class of seniors to come through and pull out a state championship has been really special. I can't thank any more support from them, my boosters, my team, and support from our city. So thank you all so much. Of course he ran cross country at Lafayette. Vice Mayor Wu, would you like to say a few words? Thank you, Mayor. I don't think at the time we were printing this proclamation we knew this little tidbit. But Coach Joy here was just named the number one cross country track coach in Kentucky. And that's a big deal. And now he's in contention for that national title. So we're going to wish you luck on that as well. Not only is Coach Joy a terrific coach that brought such a great win for his team, he also has the, my wife has the pleasure of working with him. He's a paraeducator in the special education department at Lafayette High School. And those two arenas where he works, he has shown just such great attitude, upbeat demeanor. He really lives up to his last name, let's just say it that way. Brings a lot of joy to the classroom, to the field. Is not afraid to do hard things. And it's just been a pleasure to work with. So to see you succeed in this way I think makes us all really, really happy. And lets everybody cross our fingers for that national coach of the year title. Thank you. Council Member Savigny, would you like to say a few words? I just want to do a quick congratulations. It's always great to have, Lafayette is here a lot. So it's really nice to have Lafayette here again. So we're happy about that. And I wanted to just point out that they compete in Class 3A, which is the biggest class. It's where the best athletes are. And cross country people don't think of as a team sport. But to have five people have to cross the line before, you know, they have to have the best times of all the five people. And you can have one or two great runners, but to have five people beat five other people, that last person means as much as the first person. So I want to congratulate all five of you and the whole team. Thank you. Shall we get a photo with the council? Now you get to go in there. Thank you. Thank you. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Can we get a picture with you? Yes. Can we get a picture with Lafayette, as well? Yes. Yes. All right. Now, I would like to invite Catherine Nash to join me at the podium. Hello. Catherine is the president of Kentucky American Water. And we want to welcome Catherine as well as quite a... Do the rest of you want to join us up here? You might as well. I mean, you make it work too, right? She's the president of Kentucky American Water. And we're also joined by a few members of her team at Kentucky American Water. And we thank you all for being here. This year, Kentucky American Water is celebrating its 140th anniversary, the same year as the city's 250th anniversary. And we have a lot to celebrate. Kentucky American Water has a long history of excellence and service to its many customers in Lexington and across the Commonwealth. Kentucky American Water supports a variety of charitable, economic, and civic organizations. And I know that council members will remember the District Science Fair. The company is the founder and longtime sponsor of the Science Fair. It's coming up soon, so we will be celebrating it right here in the council chamber next month. Catherine, I want to thank you and your team for dedication to your customers, which is people who live here and across the region. And at this time, I'd like to present you with a proclamation. Whereas the history of Kentucky American Water dates back to 1882, when three businessmen established Lexington's first water utility, the Lexington Hydraulic and Manufacturing Company, to address the growing community need for safe and reliable water service. And whereas upon the completion of Lexington's first water treatment plan, reservoirs, and an underground water pipeline distribution system, Kentucky American Water began serving approximately 200 customers on January 30, 1885. And whereas Kentucky American Water today provides safe, reliable, and affordable water and wastewater services to more than 560,000 people in portions of 14 Kentucky counties. And whereas the company's commitment to quality service remains as strong today as it was upon its founding, with its three treatment plants receiving special recognition from the National Partnership for Safe Water for providing award-winning quality tap water. And whereas Kentucky American Water is committed to ongoing and appropriate investment in water system infrastructure in order to maintain quality, reliability, affordable services for its customers across the state. Now, therefore, I, Linda Gorton, Mayor of Lexington, do hereby declare January 2025 Kentucky American Water Month in Lexington. Congratulations and thank you for your work. Would you like to say a few words? Thank you and what an honor it is to be here and a privilege for us to continue to serve all of the people with water service dating back to the 1800s. So thank you again. We look forward to the future and for a long history and much more to come in the next 140 years. So thank you again. Thank you. Should we get a photo? Yes. Let's take a picture. Can we get a photo? Okay. Can you take it off? Yeah. Take it off. Good to see you. Good to see you. Okay. Council members, before we start our public comment, I'm going to take just a point of personal privilege to update you. We have been, the administration has been working on our snow plan and we've done our debrief on the snow response and I wanted to ask CAO Hamilton to give you a fuller update on what we're doing. Welcome, CAO. Well, I woke up to a very pleasant conversation this morning when the mayor said fix this. So anyway, let us tell you what we've been doing today, this morning and a lot of today. I met with the divisions and Tyler Scott and I met with the divisions and we started by saying let's come up with a plan in case it snows Monday. I don't want to talk about anything next year. I've got to get through this winter. That's the main thing. And it can't be equipment that takes three and four months to order. I need it now. So let's stay in the present and see what we can do. And so I want to tell you what the strategy that we think we ought to follow, the steps that we are going to do with everybody's permission that I think will help us. Okay. The first thing is Parks and Rec is ready to redeploy their existing snow plows. There's eight of them. So we figured that we would be better putting those snow plows in the neighborhoods and we'll worry about the parking lots for the parks after we get these neighborhoods fixed. And we can put everybody back into the parks and get all that done, but let's get these neighborhoods where they can function. So there would be eight that we would put in there for the neighborhoods. Then we asked fleet, what about the trucks looking all over government? What about putting snow plows and the snow plowers and the bins for salt that they can distribute across government? Well, there's five of these that we could deploy. We wouldn't have to buy new trucks. And we would have to buy the plows and these bins that hold the salt. That's about $75,000. We have talked to the people that have those. They have three of them right ready now. They'd have to make two, but they'd be ready by the end of next week. So if we could lay off of the snow for at least seven days, we'd have that. So that's 13 more. That really starts to help us with 13 more. The eight coming from parks and the five new ones. And they're going to be out in the neighborhoods, so our big trucks can go on and then help on these other streets where you all are getting beaten to death. So I think that would help. Okay. Then what we would do is fleet services needs to buy three additional tanker trucks. And this is what you do for that. I always forget how to do this. The salt brine and the beet, whatever you call it. The beet heat. Okay. And why we need to do that, because I said this morning, and Tyler had looked at it, I said, of course the airport has this unbelievable piece of equipment that goes through and gets the ice off, but you'd have to have an 18-wheeler to get it somewhere. I said, but what can we do? Can we buy a piece of equipment that helps with this ice? And Streets and Roads said, your better deal is to get more of these tankers that we can get out on the road for the brine and the beet heat to not have that ice form. And we have it, so what we want to do is order three of those. Now, the problem is they take eight months to come in. I would like to order them now, because otherwise what we're going to do is I'm going to be up here telling you, well, guess what, next year we'll have these things. So right now I'd like to go on and purchase those three tankers. Now, the next thing, and they're not cheap, but they're about $220,000 apiece. But considering what we've been into, you know, we need to get prepared. Then we are going to do an emergency contract to see if we can find somebody that we can put on contract that can go out and do these neighborhoods for us, can help with these neighborhoods. Now, I don't know that we can get somebody, but we need to try and have them ready sort of like we have, We need to have somebody that can get out in those neighborhoods right on call when we need them. So that's the next thing. Then what we're going to do is improve and increase our whole conversation with Fayette County Schools. We need to all be together when the snow starts, in the middle of the snow, the second quarter of the snow, the end of the snow. And then we need to do this before any of this starts. We need to have these meetings at the beginning, the middle, the end, and see where we all go. Because we don't get anywhere with finger pointing. You know, we're all in this together, and the citizens don't want to hear that anyway. So we've got to get all that straightened out. So those are the things that I think we can do and we can do right now, and I think they'll help. Now, that doesn't mean that we don't need to look at everything. We need to go back, but I couldn't do that this morning. We need to go back, and after you hear Nancy's presentation on Tuesday, you need to see, are the routes right? Do we need to adjust here or there? That's the kind of stuff we have some time to do. And then are there other ideas? We need to look at, we need to do some research for some more cities to see what they're doing, that maybe they're doing something that we're not doing. And we need to be not Buffalo, but not Atlanta. We're in the middle. And that's where we've got to be. We've got to find out what we need for that. We don't need to buy millions of dollars worth of equipment to sit out there, or hire all kinds of people. But we have to be ready to deal with what happened to us last week. We've just got to be ready. So that is our plan. And besides the mayor calling me up this morning and saying, get this fixed, I'm really tired of hiding my name badge. I had to go somewhere the other day, and somebody said, where do you work? I wanted to say I work at Lingerie at Dillard's. But I didn't. They just thought I had a heart problem. But anyway, those are the ideas that we came up with them today. And I'm hoping that you approve of these and think that it would help, and that we can get started. So we will send all this to you. I mean, that's a lot to digest, just hearing it. We'll send it all to you. You can be thinking about your questions, because you're going to hear from Commissioner Albright. I first want to thank CAO Hamilton and Chief of Staff Tyler Scott, because I was pretty direct with- Oh, that's pleasant to say. What I wanted them to do. And so we have had this really good, you did a really good job of doing an immediate debrief. We realize it's not for the long term necessarily. So thank you for that. We'll get that sent out to you. And be thinking of your questions for, is the presentation next week? Tuesday. Nancy's on on Tuesday. Tuesday. She's sort of talking about where we are and what we did in this last one. Yes. So I really appreciate you very much. Well, we're going to order, if there's no thing, I'm going to order those plows tonight. And you don't have to hide your badge anymore. I don't know. I'm not yet there. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. And we'll send that to you tonight. Thank you. So that brings us to the first public comment, which is for issues on the agenda. And we really don't have any tonight. Everybody else wants to speak later in the meeting. So we'll go right on with our first reading of ordinances. If you would please. Item 1. An ordinance changing the zone from neighborhood business B1's highway service business B3 interchange service business B5P and mixed low density residential R2 zones to mixed low density residential R2 planned neighborhood residential R3 and medium density residential R4 zones for 12.49 net, 20.09 gross acres for property located at 475 and 495. Haggard Lane and 450 Radcliffe Road. Transit property owners LLC council district on item two. In order to submitting articles 111, 313 B, E, G, and L, M, 8, 1, C, N, D, 8, 2, C, N, D, 8, 3, C, N, D, to regulate short term rentals in agricultural zones, urban county council item three. In order to submitting section 1377B11 of the Lexington Fair Urban County Code of Ordinances to require approval from the health department for short term rentals utilizing septic tanks prior to the issuance of a short term rental special license, special fees license, amending section 1379A7 of the code to set the maximum occupancy in short term rentals to the number allowed in the licensee's conditional use permit, if applicable, and otherwise the zoning ordinance. Removing the subpoena authority of the administrative hearing board from section 1380 of the code to section 1381, item four. In order to make certain the budget of the Lexington Fair Urban County government to reflect current requirements for municipal expenditures and appropriating repurposing funds, FY 2025, schedule number 15, item five. An ordinance creating chapter 27 of the Code of Ordinance of the Lexington Fair Urban County Government, establishing a small farm conservation easement program for Fayette County, Kentucky, and setting forth regulations and requirements for the application evaluation and purchase of the conservation easements for the program. Item six, an ordinance amending the authorized strength by abolishing one classified position of evidence specialist grade 517N and creating one classified position of police intelligence specialist grade 515N on the division of police effective upon passage of council. And item seven, an ordinance amending the authorized strength by creating one classified position of behavioral health and wellness coordinator grade 523E in the division of police effective upon passage of council. Thank you. Thank you. Are there, council members, are there any walk-ons tonight? All right. Are there any motions to suspend the rules and give second reading? And this might be a good place, since this is the first time for that question for our new council members, to remind you when you do have motions to suspend the rules, you must have a reason. Okay, according to all the rules, to say why you want to have a second reading, so thank you. And that takes us to first reading of resolutions. Item one, a resolution accepting a bid of Tribute Acquisition Company in the amount of $3,602,388 for the Wolfhorn Trunk G. For the Division of Water Quality and Authorize the Mayor on behalf of the Urban County Government to execute an agreement with Tribute Acquisition Company related to bid item two. A resolution accepting a bid of Cleary Construction Incorporated in the amount of $4,288,460 for the Floyd Drive Trunk for the Division of Water Quality and Authorize the Mayor on behalf of the Urban County Government to execute an agreement with Cleary Construction Incorporated related to the bid item three. A resolution accepting the bid of Louisville Paving Company Incorporated in the amount of $698,980 for the Furlong Drive Offline Channel BMP Project for the Division of Water Quality and Authorize the Mayor on behalf of the Urban County Government to execute an agreement with Louisville Paving Company Incorporated related to the bid item four. A resolution accepting a bid of W Principles LLC in the amount of $1,504,000 for the Town Branch Wastewater Treatment Odor Control Improvements for the Division of Water Quality and Authorizing the Mayor on behalf of the Urban County Government to execute an agreement with W Principles LLC related to the bid item five. A resolution ratifying the permanent classified civil service appointments of Terry Conner, staff assistant, senior grade 511, and 18.543 hourly in the Division of Revenue. Effective December 17, 2024, William Fairchild, engineering bonds officer, grade 517, and 26.056 hourly in the Division of Engineering. Effective December 24, 2024, Halston Higgins, information officer in E, grade 518N, 24.200 hourly in the Division of Environmental Services. Effective December 3, 2024, William Razor, attorney, grade 526E, 2,970.64 biweekly in the Department of Law. Effective December 24, 2024, Andrew Greer, telecommunicator senior, grade 519N, 26.132 hourly in the Division of E911. Effective January 15, 2025, Gabriel Gunther, telecommunicator senior, grade 519N, 27.169 hourly in the Division of E911. Effective January 8, 2025, Brittany Martin, telecommunicator senior, grade 519N, 27.548 hourly in the Division of E911. Effective January 22, 2025, Maggie Oswald, administrative specialist, grade 516N. 23.505 hourly in the Division of Corrections. Effective December 3, 2024, Terrence Cunningham, grants compliance officer, grade 518N. 25.765 hourly in the Division of Grants and Special Programs. Effective December 17, 2024, item six. A resolution authorizing the Department of General Services to purchase exercise equipment from Design 2 Wellness, a sole source provider, and authorizing the mayor on behalf of the Urban County government to execute any necessary agreement with Design 2 Wellness related to the procurement at a cost of up to $95,997.05, item seven. A resolution authorizing the Division of Police to purchase maintenance from the FARO 3D crime scene scanner from FARO Technologies Incorporated, a sole source provider, and authorizing the mayor on behalf of the Urban County government to execute any necessary agreement with FARO Technologies Incorporated related to the procurement at a cost of up to $2,240, item eight. A resolution authorizing the mayor on behalf of the Urban County government to execute change in our warrant to the agreement with HDR Engineering for the Citation Boulevard Phase 3A project, increasing the contract price by the sum of $85,020 from $366,360 to $451,380, item nine. A resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of the Urban County government to execute a contract with Fayette County Public Schools for preschool education and related services for the 2024-2025 academic school year at the Family Care Center at no cost to the Urban County government, item 10. A resolution authorizing the mayor on behalf of the Urban County government to execute an agreement with a Caring Place Incorporated to conduct a feasibility study regarding the most effective hub structure in Lexington at a cost of up to $150,000, item 11. A resolution authorizing the mayor on behalf of the Urban County government to execute a purchase of service agreement PSA with Conscious Consulting LLC pursuant to RFP 52-2024 for a citywide domestic violence prevention campaign at a cost of up to $80,000, item 12. A resolution authorizing and directing the mayor on behalf of the Urban County government to execute a purchase of service agreement with the Lexington Children's Museum Incorporated to provide funding associated with the campaign assessment and a master plan and assessment at a cost not to exceed $76,500, item 13. A resolution authorizing the mayor on behalf of the Urban County government to execute a site-specific agreement with the Jesmond South Elkhorn Water District and Ashgrove Farms LLC to provide sanitary sewer conveyance and treatment capacity to a portion of Ashgrove Farms in Jesmond County, item 14. A resolution authorizing the mayor on behalf of the Urban County government to execute an agreement awarding class A neighborhood incentive grant to Andover Forest Home Owners Association Incorporated for stormwater quality project at a cost not to exceed $120,000, item 15. A resolution authorizing the mayor on behalf of the Urban County government to execute an agreement awarding Class B education incentive grant to Fayette County Public Schools for a stormwater quality project at a cost not to exceed $4,976, item 16. A resolution authorizing the mayor on behalf of the Urban County government to execute an agreement awarding class A neighborhood incentive grant to Waterford Two Home Owners Association Incorporated for a stormwater quality project at a cost not to exceeds $120,000, item 17. A resolution authorizing the mayor on behalf of the Urban County government to execute an agreement awarding Class B education incentive grant to the University of Kentucky Research Foundation for a stormwater quality project at a cost not to exceed $30,698, item 18. A resolution authorizing the mayor on behalf of Urban County government to execute change order number one final to the engineering services agreement with GRW Engineers Incorporated for Town Branch Thinketing Process Design for the Division of Water Quality Decrease in Contract by the sum of $57,080 from $261,140 to $204,060, item 19. A resolution authorizing the mayor on behalf of the Urban County government to execute change order number one to the agreement with the University of Kentucky Research Foundation for a stormwater quality project for the Division of Water Quality Decrease in the contract by the sum of $4,212.69, from $34,997 to $30,784.31, item 20. A resolution authorizing the mayor on behalf of the Urban County government to execute change order number one to the agreement with Living Arts and Science Center Incorporated for a stormwater quality project for the Division of Water Quality Decrease in the contract by the sum of $5,626.76 from $35,296 to $29,669.24, item 21. A resolution authorizing the mayor on behalf of the Urban County government to execute grant award agreement related to the grants under the LexGro Trees Grant Program with Andover Forest Homeowners Association Incorporated, $100,000. Beaver Creek Hydrology, $80,000. Crawford Middle School PTSA, $9,855.78. Healy Green Homeowners Association Incorporated, $25,052. Trees Lexington Incorporated, $91,943.50, and University of Kentucky Research Foundation Arboretum, $86,134 for the Division of Environmental Services at a cost to receive the sum stated, item 22. A resolution amending section two of resolution number 593-2024 to adjust the amount from the funding sources utilized to fund change order number one to the contract with LM Asphalt Partners LTD DBA ATS Construction for the Salt Dome and Associated Improvements at Old Frankfort Pike, item 23. A resolution authorizing the Director of the Mayor on behalf of the Urban County government to accept a grant funds in the amount of $157,353.50 from Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet for the continuation of the litter abatement grant funding program in Fayette County for the calendar year 2025. The exception which does not obligate the Urban County government to the expenditure of a local match and authorizing the mayor to transfer adequate funds within the grant budget, item 24. A resolution authorizing the Director of the Mayor on behalf of the Urban County government to accept a federal grant from the US Department of Justice under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program FY 2025 for Lexington Police Department in the amount of $117,792, item 25. A resolution authorizing the Director of the Mayor on behalf of the Urban County government to accept an additional award in the 2024 consolidated plan from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Emergency Solutions Grant in the amount of $1,090 and to execute any other agreements and amendments with the sub-recipients for the use of ESG funds. The acceptance of which obligates a match in the amount of $1,090, which shall be provided by the Arbor Youth Services and authorizing the mayor to transfer unaccompanied funds within the grant budget, item 26. A resolution authorizing the Director of the Mayor on behalf of the Urban County government to execute and submit a grant application to Kentucky Board of Emergency Medical Services to provide any additional information requested in connection with this grant application and to accept this grant if awarded, which grant funds are in the amount of $10,000 in state funds, item 27. A resolution amending resolution number 524, 2024, to increase the easement acquisition budget and other property rights necessary for the St. Martin's Pump Station elimination project by $20,000 from $30,000 to $50,000, item 28. A resolution authorizing the Division of Fleet Services to purchase license fees and professional services from Chevron Fleet Solutions LLC, a sole source provider, and authorizing the mayor on behalf of the Urban County government to execute any necessary agreement with Chevron Fleet Solutions LLC related to the procurement at a cost exceeding $159,000. And item 29, a resolution authorizing the Mayor on behalf of the Urban County government to execute an agreement related to council capital project expenditure funds with Northside Common Market Corporation, 3,350. LFUCD Division of Environmental Services, 910. LFUCD Division of Parks and Recreation, 15,000. LFUCD Division of Engineering, 90,000. LexArts Incorporated, $3,673.68. LFUCD Division of Parks and Recreation, 50,000. Union Benevolent Society, number 28, Incorporated, 40,000. LFUCD Division of Parks and Recreation, 50,000. And LexArts Incorporated, $7,500 for the office of the Urban County Council at a cost of the sum stated. Thank you. All right, thank you very much. Are there any walk-ons, council members? All right, are there any motions to suspend the rules and give second reading? Council Member Baxter. Thank you, Mayor. On behalf of the administration, I move to suspend the rules and give second reading to item number 24. It's a Department of Justice grant. so moved thank you is there a second councilmember Sheehan seconded any discussion all right all those in favor say aye is anyone opposed all right that motion passes thank you thank you councilmember Morton thank you mayor on behalf of the administration I move to suspend item number six and give resolution 1-2 5 a second reading just in order to expedite equipment purchase and keep Dunbar Center improvements moving forward so moved thank you councilmember Ellinger seconds are there any questions all those in favor say aye is anyone opposed all right that motion passes are there any other motions to suspend the rules all right if you will give second reading to number six and number 24 I appreciate it item 6 a resolution authorizing the Department of General Services to purchase exercise equipment from design to wellness a sole source provider and authorizing mayor on behalf of our beginning government execute and a necessary agreement with design to wellness related procurement at a cost not to see $95,997 and five cents item 24 a resolution authorizing and directed the mayor on behalf the urban County government except a federal grant from the US Department of Justice under the Edward Byrne memorial justice assistance grant program FY 2025 for Lexington Police Department in the amount of one hundred and seventeen thousand nine seven hundred and ninety two dollars thank you thank you is there a motion to approve councilmember Ellinger second by councilmember Baxter and when you are ready if you'll take a roll call vote please councilmember Beasley yes councilmember Brown councilmember Boone yes councilmember Curtis yes councilmember Ellinger yes ma'am councilmember Elliot Baxter councilmember gray yes councilmember Hale yes councilmember LaGree yes councilmember Lynch yes councilmember Morton yes councilmember Reynolds yes councilmember Savigny yes councilmember Sheehan yes and vice mayor Wu thank you thank you those all pass now I'll entertain a motion to approve the appointments communications vice mayor Wu second I hear you counts it's councilmember gray I thought I heard you any questions all those in favor please say aye is anyone opposed all right that motion passes next I'll need a motion to approve the procurements councilmember gray second by councilmember Curtis and are there any questions all right all those in favor say aye is anyone opposed all right that motion passes and we also need a motion to approve the communications regarding donations thank you councilmember Reynolds second by vice mayor Wu are there questions all those in favor say aye is anyone opposed all right that motion passes council members the next communications are for your information only there are a few pages of them and that brings us to the back and we do have a fire discipline tonight and chief Wells will present that to us welcome chief Wells thank you mayor and welcome to all the new council members my name is Jason Wells I'm the fire chief and I have a discipline for you this evening on Friday March 29th 2024 an external allegation was made that firefighter Patrick gray employee number 58375 violated UDG 2.01 conduct unbecoming at the conclusion of the investigation the employee met with me and accepted a 48-hour suspension and mandatory employee assistance this discipline sim stems from an external complaint regarding the behavior of firefighter gray on an EMS call the subsequent investigation validated that complaint this is his first documented violation of UDG 2.01 since his employment in October of 2019 Thank You chief is there a motion to approve councilmember Reynolds second by councilmember Baxter are there any questions for chief Wells all right all those in favor of approval please say aye is anyone opposed all right that motion passes thank you very much chief now this brings us to council announcements councilmember gray Thank You mayor first of all I would like to say thank you to Commissioner Nancy Albright we know the 6th district we has been hit really hard with the snow and ice but I have been Commissioner has been extremely extremely open to me every single time I come to her office and my calls and my text and my sent sending pictures I just want us to say publicly thank you for the excellent job you are doing you have been under the heat you've not under you've been on top of it and you've been on fire and you've withstood as a leader that you are standing firm in your decisions and I just want to say kudos to you and thank you you are such an asset to the city election to LFE CG yes and Lex TV video earlier to first of all I would like to we have two major birthdays first of all I would like to say happy birthday to my colleague Whitney Baxter today she is celebrating her 29th birthday 29th we're just gonna stand on that and I just want to say happy birthday to you thank you for don't cry this is a good time I want to say thank you to you publicly for being the negotiator the mediator that we need and the mom that this council needs so thank you she is the council mom just in case the public needs to know and also before we slide on through I just want to say happy birthday to the happy sixth birthday to my niece who is the deputy council girl for the 6th district and she takes her job extremely seriously if you say deputy she will she'll spring up she thinks I color all day but because that's what her job is when she comes to the office is color I do not color all day but she gets to and I just want to say happy birthday Kennedy you are destined for greatness and I know that we have a lot of great things coming to the city of Lexington but earlier today I typically don't receive calls from the 6th district and let's just say my phone my personal phone my house because they come to my house too and my email has been blowing up and I have been on the ground in the district surveying and sending information this is the streets today in my district I almost slid into a house going down this hill in my district this is Summerfield I didn't make it to Tuscany but this is just what my district is looking like and I take their their calls very seriously I take their safety extremely seriously but I'm hope I'm glad that we as a city are moving forward but we can do better and I know we as a city can do better for our residents because their safety matters to all of us I guess the video will play that's a I believe that's another street in the district that is in the Hamburg area like I said I haven't made it over to Tuscany I know that I've had a large number of calls specifically from those two neighborhoods so I want to get out there today even though I've been there every single day twice a day but I wanted to see where we were today and that's where we are as of two o'clock today but I know that Commissioner Nancy Albright has received all of my pictures and I know that her team and doctor I mean a doctor director Alan are fully on the job and I'm just thankful for our employees who are out there on the ground making sure that we are safe I just want my colleagues to see why I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off making sure that my district gets the attention that it truly does deserve thank you thank you councilmember Reynolds Thank You mayor first off I would like to place two items in the Social Services and Public Safety Committee the first one is an update on family services I move to place an update on family services and the Social Services and Public Safety Committee is there a second oh I don't have to I'm sorry Jerry you can do right I'm sorry I forgot yep okay and the second one is an update on partners for youth so those will be placed and we will have updates this month on those per requested by Social Services second of all I would like to ask CAO Hamilton's to come back up I have a question first off I echo councilmember gray that Commissioner Albright has been extremely responsive and we really appreciate her taking all of our calls there's a lot of us and she has a lot going on and so we're really appreciative to all the staff and everyone that's working so hard so in this new plan of ordering extra plows and you mentioned that they would be for the neighborhoods does that mean neighborhood roads that are not currently ranked or is that for ranked roads yeah I about did all I know my first thing up they always call this level 5 yeah you go ahead it'll probably be a combination of both what we're gonna try and do is some of these parks employees and if we get these contractors set up we'll take over some of the rank for roads and then also this the fake school bus route roads that aren't on ranked roads which is what we've started on rank five kind of informally said that I think I'm sure all of us have been hearing similar but different things and I think what I'm hearing most out of my district one is you know some of the ranked roads weren't cleared and we thought they were cleared and then two people not understanding that if it's not ranked it's not getting cleared and so there's a desire I think from a lot of people after so long just because this has the cold has gone on and on and on for their roads to be cleared like the videos we were seeing those are probably not ranked roads and aren't on our plan so folks are I think desiring that so I was just curious how we were gonna possibly maybe address that right that would that is kind of how we plan to there there will be a budget component to that that we'll have to bring forward for sure okay thank you and if I might add if I think what I heard you say is all basically all the roads is what you're saying and now that is another situation we would have to bring you the cost to the taxpayers of what it would cost to plow and clear all 12 almost 1,200 miles of road that has never been an expectation here and that we're talking about a different budget number so if you want to see that number we're happy to bring it to you most cities do not have most cities of our size or bigger do not have a plan to plow all roads it's very expensive what we're trying to do is get to all the roads that were school-related that are probably the rank 5 and some of the rank 5 into the neighborhood that I I want to be clear about what you're asking I want to see a plan for every 1,200 miles I'm saying that right now after this storm going on for so long in this type of storm I think that a lot of our residents would like more plowing in neighborhoods that's all I'm saying I'm sorry to say this you would the problem was the ice and the temperatures it was not the snow it's we I mean if you've been out on your own sidewalk you had to chop through the ice before you could plow or shovel and so I want to be sure people have expectations that are realistic this this was very unusual because we haven't been about freezing until today and that's why it has stayed I'm just explaining what I'm hearing that's all I'm hearing it too but I think the expectation everybody here needs to understand what the expectation needs to be and if it is to clear everything including ice it we will bring you how many millions of dollars and I was gonna say it's a council announcement so I think councilmember Reynolds just finished making her I just needed to understand what her expectation is that she's asking I understand mayor I just wanted to have my question answered yeah thank you yeah thank you councilmember Brown thank you mayor and I'll touch on snow removal at the end of my announcements but um I'll start off by just welcoming the new council members I didn't say it Tuesday I know it was a lot of I felt like I did a lot of talking on Tuesday and just thought I'd take this opportunity today to welcome the new council members and I'll just say that I'm encouraged by my interaction with the new council members and they're the way they carry themselves the the interest they show in learning new things and the energy they bring to the job so I'm looking forward to working with you all next I'll say and I'll say this on behalf of myself and councilmember gray we just want to invite everybody out to the MLK holiday celebration this coming Monday with the March the Freedom March at 1 p.m. and the commemorative program at 2 p.m. to come out and celebrating this long-standing event and Lexington's downtown and then next I'll just I'll speak a little bit about the snow removal and I appreciate and want to thank our city employees that have been addressing this event this tremendous event over the last I think 11 days now I appreciate the administration acknowledging that you know there's some challenges and actually having a meeting and stepping up and looking for solutions moving forward and I just think we have to take some accountability about what our folks in our neighborhoods in our community expect from us I think it's kind of challenging for us to to you know I think we all doing the best we can I don't think anybody wants to point fingers at who's not doing what and who's not doing who but I think there's still a lot of work to be done and I think we just have to acknowledge it and I think that's what happened and I think the administration has come up with a plan to try to move us forward and to address these events when they happen because I think we're I think we're gonna have some more of them this winter so we just need to be prepared for so I'll stop there and I wish councilmember Baxter a happy birthday so thank you mayor Thank You councilmember Sheehan Thank You mayor colleagues as you heard on Tuesday we have initiated a task force focused on street safety in our community councilmember Savigny and I are co-chairing this task force and we met this morning we we want you to know that we know there is significant interest from this council on this topic and we all approach it from a variety of perspectives so we want to be clear to you all that you know that you are invited to participate even if you weren't in the named members of the committee or the task force we plan to operate the task force just like we operate our council committees so if you attend we can acknowledge you and you can give feedback in those meetings our first meeting will be publicly noticed but it is planned for next week on January 23rd at 3 p.m. in the fifth floor conference room if you can't attend or choose not to attend the task force meetings you can also reach out to us to ask for updates or provide feedback we also have planned scheduled times for report outs to the full council so you will get information and can give feedback and we'll have discussion as those times approach please email Dave and I if you council member Savigny and I if you plan to attend the task force meetings or even the first one so that we can adjust the seating in the room to accommodate all the task force members and then any additional council members we will also be looking for public engagement and feedback and we will let you know when that is set up so that you can share the opportunities with your residents as well I'm gonna turn to the snow as well as some of my colleagues have spoken based on some of the information that I have heard today I I still want to reiterate and I said this on Tuesday we are seeing more intense storms our wind storms and our rain storms have been more intense over the last two years and I expect that our snow storms will continue to be as well so I think we do need to be planning for that and not just what we might have had historically so I would like us to have that as part of the conversation and part of the planning but also Commissioner Armstrong I'm not Armstrong sorry Commissioner Albright not gonna put you on the hook Commissioner Albright I I think that I heard in your remarks about the rank five roads that some of our bus routes are in that rank five is that correct we don't technically have a rank what happens after rank one through four right we've started kind of calling the the bus route information that we have that is not on a currently ranked road a rank five okay and so with everything that has been happening and and this and the some of the conversations in past snowstorms I I would like us to can to be evaluating whether those all of the school bus routes should be higher ranked and not after rank one through four so that we can be focused on and our families and getting our kids to school safely for in-person activities so thank you just to be clear most of the bus routes are also on the rank one through four yes the rank five ones are the ones that weren't on a ranked road so the rank four ones one through four also carry buses right and and I and I understand that because there had been some talk about whether or not there could be bus like snow weather bus routes right like as a separate kind of response when we have more intense weather because those ranked roads are high more highly traveled but I think if there are a subset that are unranked roads I think we should consider putting those into the ranked road so they get treated earlier so we again can get our kids back to school so I understand thank you okay thank you mayor thank you councilmember Baxter happy birthday thank you mayor I appreciate it aren't you so jealous that we're that I'm here today on my birthday happens every year every year thank you all for the birthday wishes I appreciate it I want to reiterate my thanks that I said on Tuesday to all of our road crews and everybody who had a part in our snow response but I failed to mention 3-1-1 who has been like my lifeline they have probably received more can you please submit a ticket can you please take it from me and the last week then they have probably in the last five years so I just wanted to specifically call them out and thank them for always responding in a very quick manner next I just want to take a moment to speak to my residents the residents of the ninth district I have heard you loud and clear and I understand your frustration and disappointment in the city's response to the weather event first I want to say I'm sorry I want to apologize for failing you the snow plan we developed had flaws and we can and will do better next I want to thank you for reaching out to me and sharing your concerns and road conditions because without your input I would have had no idea how bad it really was I also want to thank you for your patience you're patient with me as I responded to hundreds of emails and returned dozens of calls and you were patient with the city as we attempted to respond to your request for service you've waited weeks for garbage pickup and mail delivery and that's not acceptable I'm happy to hear that we are taking quick action and CAO I'm like we've chatted we're I'm like beyond grateful for the work that you all have done to add some add some resources but now I'm questioning why the resources we had in our possession weren't used in our response I will continue to advocate for my residents and I know that the city can do better and we will so thank you for placing your trust in me to be your voice thank you mayor thank you councilmember Boone thank you mayor I like to express my excitement and support for the small farm conservation program ordinance that received first reading this evening last year planning and preservation worked with the Rural Land Management Board to establish this new program that authorizes the purchase of conservation easements on parcels that are at least 10 acres but less than 20 acres in size it will diversify participation of the purchase of development rights program and fill a void for for small farm owners many residents in the 12th district utilize smaller properties to produce fruits and vegetables for farmer farmers markets grocery stores and restaurants further strengthening our local food system additionally there are properties engaged in the agriculture activities such as raising smaller livestock that don't require so much acreage such as goats and chickens this program will enable these farmers to access to both local and federal funding while ensuring the conservation of their land prospective farms will be graded on a point system and appraised for full transparency and equity similar to the PDR program they will be inspected annually to assure compliance with the farming farming operations this program will be a wonderful opportunity to complete connections between existing PDR farms while building critical mass in our protected farmland in rural Fayette County thank you to everyone who has had a hand in developing the ordinance and to my fellow council members for their support and to the Rural Land Management Board for their dedication to preserving our irreplaceable farmland thank you mayor thank you councilmember Beasley thank you mayor first I'd like to say happy birthday to councilmember Elliot Baxter and then I want to just take a second to yesterday we got to be present when they blessed the safe haven baby box that we recently got at fire station 2 which is located at 1276 Eastland Drive and for those of you who don't know what the safe haven baby box is it is for families facing crisis who want to keep their infants safe and they can put their child in the safe haven box for the firefighters to make sure that they get medical attention to the hospital and it's just a safe way to surrender your infant and keep them safe thank you thank you councilmember Savigny thank you mayor if you live in the Deerfield neighborhood I'd like to invite you to come out next Tuesday from 6 to 7 30 we would like your input about neighborhood green space that is there and the water quality projects that we're doing there and then we're going to talk a little bit about your neighborhood and how to form a stronger neighborhood Association so I hope you guys will come and join us it's going to be a good event I also wanted to I wanted to highlight this week in the midst of all the snow this street safety task force got announced and councilmember Lucien and myself have been working on it for about six months or so so I'm kind of glad to see that it finally came to fruition and I'm excited to co-chair it with her and I'm really excited to have all of your guys input and and the community's input and I really think that we can make a difference in a very limited amount of time because if you know me I am not very patient and I like doing things doing things well but effectively and and and enjoying and reaping the rewards of the work so I hope you'll all join us thank you so much thank you councilmember Morton thank you I would like to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude to Reverend Gaines he's not in the building but he's a pastor of Consolidated Baptist Church and I invited him to give the invocation today and I just want to thank him for his leadership and for coming out and speaking to the group to the council let's see also well let's speak towards Reverend Gaines. Reverend Gaines your steadfast commitment to service and leadership uplifts us all and we are truly thankful for your presence and your wisdom you share your contribution plays a vital role fostering a spirit of unity and a purpose within our community likewise yesterday I had the privilege of taking one of many public safety tours and I went to SCDC and I want to give a shout out to Chief Colvin I mean he's his leadership it's great and he exemplifies exemplifies that leadership is not about being in charge it's about taking care of those that are in your charge and that's exactly what he does whether it be his correctional officers whether it be the folks that are housed at the the SCDC he is a true leader and I look forward to working with him in the future what a great guy and that's it thank you that brings us to public comment for issues not on the agenda and we have a few people and please if you want to speak be in the chamber when I call your name first is Phoenix Berry and you will be followed by David Franklin and you'll come to the podium and you'll state your name and your council district and you'll have three minutes welcome hi everyone my name is Phoenix I'm a concerned constituent from the 6th district as you all may or may not know 30% of renters are here in Kentucky are extremely low income and I wanted to bring this to your all's attention as we do go into this year because we are in a rental crisis and because of what happened with HB 5 I'm also concerned about our houseless friends according to apartments calm the average rent here in Lexington alone is $1,047 a month and the Kentucky minimum wage is still 725 I just wanted to again make sure that we are keeping aware of the fact that there is a rental crisis here in our beloved city and that there has to be something that we can do we have to work together and either open up a pathway to create funding or some type of program so wanted to bring that to your all's attention thank you so much thank you very much next is David Franklin and then I need to ask is Daniel Mayers here okay and are you giving your three minutes to rabbi Lipman okay and is Robert Jeever or Giver here are you also giving your three minutes to rabbi Lipman okay thank you so rabbi Lipman you will follow David Franklin welcome hi my name is David Franklin I am part of district 10 before I raise my issue I would like to give an introduction to the philosophical theory of a panopticon the panopticon was a design for a theoretical prison thought up by English philosopher Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century the prison consists of an observatory in the center with a 360 degree view of the prison cells surrounding it the windows of the observatory are tinted so that none of the prisoners can know whether or not they're being watched by a correctional officer inside the observatory because of this every prisoner is compelled into self-regulation that may be fine for a prison where a high degree of order is required but outside of a prison a certain degree of freedom is expected having a panopticon in a public space would limit the free will of the people and treat us like criminals we would be self-regulated into giving up our First Amendment the freedom of assembly in fear of repercussions people naturally act differently when they suspect they are under surveillance because your behavior in private is not something you may want to share with a camera it is obvious that a panopticon should never be built in Lexington however I am here to tell you that one already has besides the thousands of AI powered security cameras and non AI powered security cameras there is a physical police observatory that was constructed next to Fayette Mall on December 16th 2024 the observatory has a 360 degree view of the surrounding area and tinted windows it is the exact design of a panopticon here in Lexington and the prisoners here would be us however I have checked and the observatory has been taken down somewhat recently but I would like to make sure that such observatories do not remain in Lexington in the future and that we lower the surveillance measures that have been rising in Lexington because it has gotten out of control thank you thank you next is rabbi Litvin and you will have nine minutes welcome Thank You mayor Rabbi Litvin district 3 I rise today on behalf of the Kentucky Jewish Council the preeminent advocate for the Jewish community in the Commonwealth the Jewish Council produced in the first week of this month the annual report on anti-semitism in the Commonwealth it was reported on two weeks ago to the legislature when they first came together to meet this morning to the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights here today and we reported to the Louisville City Council in February I want to make clear before I begin that in bringing this to your attention is not in any way an indictment either of the mayor or of Commissioner Armstrong or of Chief Weathers all of who we have tremendous confidence in but rather the greatest disinfectant is light and knowing about these issues allows us to face them Judaism teaches me the flammable that site get to live with the times LaBaba sure but taught that meant living with a weekly portion Jews around the world this week are studying the portion of Schmoes the first portion in Exodus in the beginning of the portion Pharaoh fearing Moses decrees that every Jewish baby should be killed when that doesn't work his next decree is to kill all the newborn babies all the newborn male babies in Egypt the simple message is what starts with the Jews or what starts with one minority group never ends with that group the report begins by defining anti-semitism and I sent this from a term that was coined in the late 1800s by William Maher a philosophical father of a Nazi Party he used it to replace the word Judas and or Jew hatred which he felt sounded as dirty as it is in 2021 Kentucky became the first state in the country to adopt the IHRA definition of anti-semitism the definition supported by the Jewish community and 30 states have followed us and the semitism had a unfortunately strong year in 2024 from a pogrom against Jews in Amsterdam the weaponization of international bodies like International Court of Justice the International Criminal Court the UN and NGOs like Human Rights Watch and care the American face of Hamas a wave of anti-semitism took place on social media especially X and tick-tock targeting of Jewish centers all over the United States and a sharp rise of anti-semitism on campus a tremendous amount of what we're gonna be talking about Lexington happened on campus however campus is still a part of Lexington despite what they might think in January there were two incidents that happened here in Lexington a Holocaust lecture required police presence at the University of Kentucky after flyers advertising an 88 Holocaust 88 year old Holocaust survivor giving testimony on Holocaust Remembrance Day were torn down on campus we will again have a Holocaust survivor speaking two weeks from today on UK's campus and on the 27th a Jewish group was threatened by the black Hebrew Israelite hate cult a Jewish organization was threatened in Lexington on the 12th of February and at a City Council meeting here in this room the police believed there was a big enough threat against a Jew who spoke about Israel meeting myself but they asked me to remain in this room to be escorted out of the building two weeks later at the next City Council meeting another member of the Jewish community was threatened as he tried to leave the room an anti-semitic march with calls for violence against Jews took place in March here in Lexington in April a similar march took place here in Lexington in May on the 1st of May another march took place again at UK here in Lexington a Jewish student was harassed at a local bar on the 3rd of May a Jewish family was harassed as they walked on a Saturday afternoon in Lexington another Jewish organization received a phone call with threats against the Jewish population at a meeting of the governor's anti-semitism task force the University of Kentucky despite numerous complaints from students warnings from students and pleas for help from students looked to the governor's council in the face and said there was no anti-semitism issue at UK that is obviously misinformation on the 15th of May yet another pro-Hamas rally with calls for violence against Jews took place here in Lexington excuse me in June there were three different threats against Jewish centers here in Lexington including the Jewish Student Center at the University and local synagogues in August on August 9th there was yet another pro-Hamas rally with calls for violence against Jews on the 17th of September a Jewish student was threatened for their faith at the University of Kentucky campus on the 4th of October on Rosh Hashanah the Jewish New Year Jewish student Jewish children between the ages of six and nine who were attending a service for the high holidays were threatened by UK students who were three times their age they were told they were responsible for violence halfway across the world as Dr. King said when people say Zionist they mean Jews they're talking anti-semitism especially when they're screaming those slogans at six-year-old Jewish kids in Lexington Kentucky on the anniversary of October 7th there was yet another rally which caused for violence against Jews and they announced the forming of an SJP the Hamas link student group that has been banned on many campuses around the country which opened up on campus here in Lexington in November lastly there were two events in December the holiday parade was appropriated as many of you who were there were aware of with signs denying Jewish history and expressing support for radical hate groups against Jews and of the 26th just as the year was ending a leader of the Jewish community here in Lexington received a call with a death threat there were three central concerns that the Jewish Council brought to people's attention in the past year the first is university campuses there's a tremendous wave of anti-semitism on college campuses across the country and here's been no different we've seen at UofL UK and KU and Murray student-led movements calling for violence against Jews we've had anti-semitic professors at several universities stand against students including at UK there's been in local media particularly print media they have failed their responsibility as a platform free speech is one thing but a paper chooses who they platform and platforming hate speech is immoral and is not a free speech issue and lastly radical political and Islamist ideologies have seen a huge uptick both of the griper movement Islamist ideologies neo-nazi ideologies which target American values not just Jewish values the report was sent to each of you this afternoon and if any further questions on the report I'm happy to answer them again I want to make very very clear but the fact that we have these incidents here in Kentucky and we have these incidents here in Lexington is not an indictment of our local system this is a systemic problem that takes place all across the world the fact that we have people in Kentucky addressing it the fact that Kentucky led the nation in adopting the IHRA resolution the fact that this council stood strong against a onslaught of anti-semitic screeds pushing them to intervene in a foreign affair stands very much to the city's credit and stands very much to Kentucky's credit this is not a Kentucky problem this is an American problem but it's one we must be aware of lastly I will note that as we are speaking the final details seem to be working out in a hostage ransom where the American government is pressuring Israel to pay tremendous amounts both in money and blood to save any of the hostages who are still alive we pray for peace in the Holy Land and as the mayor first said where after the despicable attack on October 7th raping and killing Jews all across southern Israel we don't want the violence that is there to come here thank you all for attention to this matter God bless you God bless America bring the hostages home free them now I'm just all high thank you so much thank you that concludes our public comment and so I'll entertain a motion to adjourn is there a second all right all those in favor say aye we are adjourned thank you for coming