# Council Work Session - January 28, 2025 > Auto-transcribed civic record · Council · January 28, 2025 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/6325 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/6325?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2025-01-28 - **Body**: Council - **Last revised**: March 28, 2026 - **Length**: 6,129 words - **Speakers**: J. Reynolds, D. Gray, T. Morton, D. Wu, S. Lynch, A. Beasley > ⚠️ **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 Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council held a meeting on January 28, 2025, at 3:00 PM in the Council Chamber on the 2nd Floor of the Government Center, presided over by Mayor Linda Gorton. The meeting included 6 agenda items, covering a range of business from neighborhood funding to capital projects. The Council heard 1 public comment on agenda items and took 4 votes over the course of the meeting. Items approved included the meeting summary, new business, Neighborhood Development Funds, and Council Capital Projects, while the Social Services and Public Safety Committee Report was received as informational. ## Attendance All 15 council members were present at the January 28, 2025 meeting. No members were absent or late. **Present:** Wu, J. Brown, Ellinger II, Morton, Lynch, LeGris, Curtis, Sheehan, Gray, Hale, Beasley, Baxter, Sevigny, Reynolds, and Boone. ## Votes and Decisions The Council held four votes during the January 28, 2025 meeting, all of which passed unanimously. - **Approval of January 21, 2025 Work Session Summary** [timestamp: 0:05:08]: Motioned by Ellinger and seconded by Wu, the Council unanimously approved the summary from the January 21, 2025 work session. - **Approval of New Business** [timestamp: 0:05:39]: Motioned by Savigny and seconded by Reynolds, the Council unanimously approved the new business items before it. - **Approval of Neighborhood Development Funds** [timestamp: 0:17:11]: Motioned by Wu and seconded by Savigny, the Council unanimously approved the Neighborhood Development Funds. - **Approval of Council Capital Projects** [timestamp: 0:17:41]: Motioned by Gray and seconded by Baxter, the Council unanimously approved the Council Capital Projects. No roll call votes were recorded for any of these items. All four motions passed without opposition or abstention. ## Budget and Financial Actions The Council considered a range of financial actions at the January 28, 2025 meeting, including grants, contract amendments, appropriations, and personnel changes. **Stormwater Grants** - The Council took up two Stormwater Quality Projects Incentive Grants: a grant of **$305,250.00** to **Windswept Ventures, LLC** (L0066-25) and a grant of **$217,681.95** to **Mediocre Creative, LLC** (L0068-25). **Contract Amendment** - A final change order to the Rural Services Area Sewer Capability Study agreement with **Stantec Consulting Services, Inc.** (L0070-25) reduced the contract value by **$108,971.23**, reflecting a credit back to the Council. **Easement Releases** - The Council considered the release of easements at two properties: **1180 Newtown Pike** (L0074-25) and **2724 Kearney Creek Lane** (L0076-24). No dollar amounts were associated with either action. **Personnel and Appropriations** - An appropriation of **$40,560.32** was included to create **two unclassified part-time Aide to Council positions** (L0084-25). - A separate appropriation of **$83,444.89** was included to create **one classified Administrative Specialist Principal position** (L0087-24). - The Council also considered an amendment (L0086-24) to abolish various positions in the **Division of Community Corrections** and **Parks and Recreation**. No dollar figure was attached to this item. **Other Actions** - The Council considered accepting a **Memorandum of Understanding with the US Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force** (L0090-25), which carried no associated cost. - An ordinance (L0077-25) to lower the speed limit on **Fontaine Road** was also on the agenda, with no financial impact. ## Public Comment One member of the public addressed the Council during the public comment period at the January 28, 2025 meeting. - **Tyler Starrett** spoke at [timestamp: 0:02:33] regarding the proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the U.S. Marshal Service. Starrett urged caution on the matter, stressing the importance of public discourse before the agreement is finalized. Starrett's central concern was that the MOU should be carefully examined to ensure it aligns with community standards. ## Contested Items - **Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Marshal Service** [timestamp: N/A] One item drew public opposition during the January 28, 2025 Council meeting. Tyler Starrett spoke against the proposed Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Marshal Service, raising concerns about its potential impact on community standards. Starrett called for more public discourse on the matter before the Council moved forward. No additional outcome data is available from the meeting record. ## Public Comment - Issues on Agenda [timestamp: 02:33] The Council opened the floor for public comments on agenda items. One speaker addressed the Council during this portion of the meeting. - **Tyler Starrett** spoke on the item concerning the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the U.S. Marshal Service. No additional details about the specific content of Starrett's remarks are available in the meeting record. This portion of the meeting was informational in nature, with no action taken as a result of the public comment period. ## Approval of Summary [timestamp: 05:08] The Council took up the approval of the summary from the January 21, 2025 Work Session. Ellinger and Wu were the key speakers on this item. The summary was approved without noted controversy or outstanding concerns. ## New Business [timestamp: 05:39] The Council took up New Business, during which several items were presented for consideration, including various authorizations and grants. Savigny and Reynolds were among the key speakers during this portion of the meeting. The items brought forward under New Business were approved by the Council. *Note: The available meeting data does not include a detailed breakdown of the individual items, specific debate points, or concerns raised during this portion of the meeting. Readers seeking the full discussion are encouraged to consult the meeting video beginning at the timestamp above or review the official meeting minutes for a complete record of the authorizations and grants that were acted upon.* ## Neighborhood Development Funds [timestamp: 17:11] The Council took up a resolution approving Neighborhood Development Funds for various community projects, including scholarships and community events. Key speakers on this item were Council members Wu and Savigny. The resolution was approved by the Council. *Note: Detailed information about the specific funding amounts, individual project recipients, any debate or concerns raised, and the vote breakdown is not available in the source data for this item.* ## Council Capital Projects [timestamp: 17:41] The Council took up a resolution regarding the approval of funds for capital projects. The item was presented and discussed by key speakers Gray and Baxter. The resolution included funding for capital projects, with a noted component being the construction of a new backstop at Shilito Park. No additional details regarding the total funding amount, project timeline, or other specific capital projects included in the resolution were provided in the available record. The Council approved the resolution. ## Social Services and Public Safety Committee Report [timestamp: 18:13] Council Member Reynolds presented the Social Services and Public Safety Committee Report, providing the full Council with updates on the committee's recent activities. The report covered two primary areas: - **Affordable Housing** — Reynolds provided an update on the committee's work related to affordable housing initiatives, though specific details, figures, or action items were not elaborated upon in the available record. - **Juvenile Treatment Court** — Reynolds also reported on developments related to juvenile treatment court, a program falling within the committee's public safety purview. The presentation was informational in nature, with no votes or formal actions taken as a result. No additional speakers, debates, or concerns were recorded in connection with this agenda item. --- ## Decisions - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve the January 21, 2025, Work Session Summary - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve New Business - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve Neighborhood Development Funds - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve Council Capital Projects - **Motion** — passed (0-0): refer the EmPATH Center to the Social Services and Public Safety Committee for an update and presentation - **Motion** — passed (0-0): place Parks and Recreation Youth Programming in the General Government and Planning Committee - **Motion** — passed (0-0): adjourn at 3:40 p.m --- ## Full transcript ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Welcome, everyone. It is 3 o'clock. So I will go ahead and call to order the Urban County Council work session of January 28th, 2025. And the first item on our agenda is public comment for issues on the agenda, and we have one person to speak. And the way this works is I'll call your name and you'll come to the podium. And when you come to the podium, you need to restate your name and your council district for the record. So we have Tyler Starrett. Welcome. My name is Tyler Starrett, District 9, and I'm here to speak on Light Item J, the Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Marshal Service. So I did not come here today to advocate against the police department, nor did I come here today to advocate against the U.S. Marshal Service. Instead, I came to advocate for a bit of caution. Thanks to the work of the Lex PD, Lexington has found itself at a relative time of peace, with reported violent crimes down almost 20% from the 2023 numbers. And as we take a moment to remember the members of our community who have made this a reality, we must remember that this comes from the standards that they have set in the oaths to defend their community. We must also remember that at the time, the current recent shifts at the federal level do not align with the standards of our community. Alignment with judiciary, law enforcement runs the risk of further exacerbating recent anti-cop and ACAB sentiments if we rely on the forms of task forces with limited oversight and liabilities. Because of this, I would like to ask the council that we delay this manner until a time where it can be certain that the effects of long-term law enforcement in our city do not damage our community. If this memorandum really does reflect a dire need to the community, that time should be spent with rigorous public discourse as to what the issues the city faces. Otherwise, we run the risk of alienating the more vulnerable portions of our community with unnecessary federal intervention. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Council members, next up is the docket approval. And there is none. And we do have a summary from the council work session January 21st. I'll entertain a motion to approve. Motion approved. Second. Thank you. Council Member Ellinger, Vice Mayor Wu seconds. Are there corrections, additions, questions? All right. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right. That motion passes. There are no budget amendments. And there is nothing for your information only on budget adjustments. So that brings us to new business. And I'll entertain a motion to approve. Moved. Second. Thank you. Council Member Savigny moved. Council Member Reynolds seconded. And if you have questions, please log in. Council Member Reynolds. Thank you, Mayor. Could I have Chief Weathers or Commissioner Armstrong expound a little bit on Item J? Here is the chief's representative. You're also welcome. Thank you. Thank you so much. Could you just explain this a little bit more, what its purpose is and what's going to happen here? So this is a partnership we've had for 30 years with the United States Marshal Service. It is a joint task force with multiple law enforcement agencies in our community of San Francisco. It also exists all over the country. And this is allowing us to use state, local, and federal resources to apprehend people who have active warrants for their arrest. It also helps us track down sex offenders. And in the past, we've also used it to locate missing children because they have access to better federal resources and international resources that we don't have. So it's kind of like if there's a warrant for sexual assault, you're able to all work together to find that person. Exactly. So let's say I have someone who commits a violent crime here in Fayette County. They often don't stay in Fayette County. They often don't stay in the state of Kentucky. And so we're going to try and locate these individuals in another county, another city, another state, or in another country. It's helpful for us to have folks who have a national resources to be able to locate those individuals. So, for example, someone who commits a murder here in Fayette County, we often get that warrant to the marshal's task force, and they make it a priority to locate that individual. They're not investigating the person for the crime. They're simply helping us locate an individual for whom there is an active warrant for their arrest so that they can come back and be in the court system here in Fayette County. And this wouldn't take too long. And this wouldn't take place looking for people unless there was a reason to, like a warrant? Not a reason to, unless there's a warrant. If there is an active warrant for the person's arrest, and the marshal's task force doesn't take any warrant if there's a warrant for a speeding ticket, a failure to appear. These are simply violent crimes, murder, sexual assaults. They also recently assisted us. We had some children who were kidnapped and taken out of the country. We don't have access to state department relationships, to international relationships like that. And the marshal's task force helped us get the kidnapped children and return them safely home. Thank you for clarifying that. Of course. Thank you. That's all. Thank you, mayor. Thank you. Councilmember Sheehan. Thank you, mayor. I don't have a question about item F, but I do want to just thank division of traffic engineering for working with me to look at solutions to traffic calming on this section of road on Fontaine Road from Richmond Road to Shinaway. We've had two pedestrian involved crashes in that particular stretch of road. So we are starting with lowering the speed limit there because we know there are better outcomes when the speed limits are lowered and there are crashes particularly involving pedestrians. So I want to say just thank you to our division of traffic engineering, particularly director Neal and Roger Mulvaney for working with me on this. Thank you. Councilmember Gray. Thank you, mayor. And, sir, I have a question for you regarding letter J, I believe. Is that what it was? Yes, ma'am. In regards to because I know in the news recently there's been a lot of murmuring regarding ICE. And that right there has one of the questions I've received about ICE. And I'm wondering if you could clarify that. Yes, ma'am. And that right there has one of the questions I've received. Do you know how active typically when you work with U.S. marshals, do you also bring in ICE for that as well? We do not. Thank you. I already knew the answer. I ask questions. I already know the answer, too. Thank you, sir. And in addition, I had a question regarding one of the abolishing positions for parks and rec. I believe it is H. Thank you, someone. Just to remind everybody since we're in the new month with new councilmembers, be sure to introduce yourself when you're at the podium and tell us what you do. I'm Michael Johnson, Deputy Director of Parks and Recreation. Thank you, sir. So my question, one of the council recently met and I know that many of us spoke about the fact that programming under parks and recs is really a big concern for us, that we have more programs in our parks. And I see that we're nixing a position. Could you tell me why are we abolishing this position? So for several years we have used recreational leaders and counselors for seasonal positions to fill that need. So we have not filled this position for several years. So I think it's more of a house cleaning issue. As long as I've been with parks, we've not had this. Have we actually promoted this opening? Or what have we done in the past to ensure? So what we're doing, and we do this routinely when there are positions that are vacant and unfunded that have been that way for several years, we go ahead and remove them from the authorized strength. And so we're doing that with these positions and we do it pretty much every year. And so these positions have been vacant and unfunded since probably, was it 2015, I think is what the e-mail said. So it's not impacting any programming or anything. It's just positions that are no longer being utilized. And so we want to go ahead and remove those from the authorized strength. So if council does fund for programming in our parks, those positions will be reignited or brought back, correct? We won't need them. Because they're just seasonal positions that we haven't been using. Okay. So there will be zero problem? There shouldn't be any problem. There should be no impact to programming if we abolish these positions. Well, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Councilmember Morton? I actually want to follow up on that same item. So and this is going to go into Councilmember Gray's question. So say that the council decided they wanted to fund this in the next budget. Is that position a locked in position? Could that be moved to another seasonal position like a park director, a park leader, a new program in the park? Is this a locked position or could it be moved or rejuvenated? So your question is if you gave parks and rec additional funding, could they use that funding for another position? If we fund it. So I guess what I was told was this position has not been funded or filled over the last three years. If we decided to fund this position, is this position, for instance, is this, let's do an example, Jacobson Park summer camp, is it locked in at Jacobson Park summer camp or can it be moved elsewhere? Sir, if you want to do, if the council decides in the next budget to do permanent positions for this, for community programs, we will do full-time permanent positions. These part-time seasonals won't be of any use. So we wouldn't be able to use these during the summer? No. If your directive is to fund more positions, we'll set up those positions. This is not a game changer. These are just positions that are not used in their system anymore. But if you want to establish more, we will easily do it. They wouldn't count. You wouldn't want this position. Okay. Am I answering your question? It's not going to hurt if we abolish these positions and later on in the budget you decide I want some more positions established. We will establish those. And it wouldn't be, so basically the time curve of creating that position, how long would that take once we do establish them? Once we establish them, what they do is they come in starting January 1st, they do like a, I call them JAQs, they're job descriptions. And they'll do those and then they'll start to advertise. So that usually from the time you do the job descriptions, you've got somebody in there, it's about 90 days. And then my last question would be this. So regarding this upcoming summer, there's no way that we can look at these positions and use these positions in our park for this summer, seasonal? Well, I'm not going to have him answer that. So if you funded an additional position, we would use a different job classification. I think we're getting actual number of people and job classifications a little bit confused. So we would just, so if you wanted to add somebody to do a recreational programming, we would use the other job description of recreational leader. If we wanted to add a camp somewhere, we would have a camp leader. It's not that we're changing the positions, we're just getting rid of an old job description. And you've got the same situation, because these jobs are not funded. So you've still got to go through your budget process. Thank you. Council Member Savigny. Thank you. CEO Hamilton, I have a quick one for you. Thanks. On item I, I remember we had an issue with something like this two years ago with environmental services. They had part-time positions and then moved to a full-time position. Is there a reason why we called the fiscal impact, like the full amount of the position, versus the fact that you're taking away the part-time, the person who's working part-time at a full-time job, you're kind of, you're moving that out. So that's the negative piece of it. That's what she had. She worked full-time. So you're actually, you're creating position, and you're saying that the net impact is $83,000, but that's not really the net impact. Is that correct? I just don't know. I don't know exactly why we'd do it that way. I don't have the budget number for her salary right now. But that was discussed during the process. We'll get that information for you, exactly what that is. Those people were, why we're doing this, is those people were working too many hours. You remember this whole conversation? Yeah, yeah. No, I do. And they were part-time, and they were working them as full-time. And I said, you can't do that. So that's why we're changing this to get this straight. And I agree, which I think is great. I'm just curious why you say the fiscal impact is actually the full price of the position versus you're removing the other pieces. Yeah, I'll find out why we did that. Okay, thank you. But you understand why we're trying to get this to where we're paying those people correctly. I think you're doing the right thing. You said it wrong. It doesn't seem right to me, but thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right, all those in favor of approving new business, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. There are no communications from the mayor. And that brings us to continuing business and presentations. I'll entertain a motion to approve neighborhood development funds. So moved. Vice Mayor Wu, Council Member Savigny seconds. Are there questions? All right, all those in favor, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. And I'll entertain a motion for council capital projects. Second. Council Member Gray moved. Council Member Baxter seconded. And I'll entertain any questions. Do you have questions? All right, all those in favor, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. And now it's time for social services and public safety report by Council Member Reynolds. Thank you, Mayor. The Social Services and Public Safety Committee of November 12th, 2024 report out summary. The meeting was called to order at 101 p.m. The first item on our agenda was approval of the October 8th, 2024 committee summary. There were no additions or corrections and the summary was approved without dissent. Our first presentation was provided by Rick McQuadey, Affordable Housing Manager. He explained the purpose of the Affordable Housing Fund, which is to leverage public and private investment to preserve and produce safe, quality, affordable housing for Fayette County residents whose incomes are at or below 80% of the area median income. When asked about the percentage of additional homeowner units, McQuadey said that it is extremely low, requiring up to 150,000 subsidy. McQuadey closed by saying the pro-housing grant is in and we should hear something in the spring. No action was taken on this item in committee. Next, Judge Lindsey Hughes-Thurston and Katie Figgs, Program Coordinator, provided an update on the Juvenile Treatment Court. The mission of JTC is to protect public safety and reduce the recidivism rate of juvenile offenders by increasing their overall oneness. Using an integrated approach, the JTC seeks positive and long-lasting life changes. JTC implements a four-phased approach, which includes random drug screening, mental health services, and family and educational support. Figs reviewed the current census since the first court date on March 11, 2022. 39 out of 70 referrals were accepted, and there were 11 graduates. No action was taken on this item in committee. Finally, Jeff Crook, CEO of the Hope Center, spoke of the Hope Center's veterans housing slash shelter, which amounts to a 7.3 million expansion project. They received 2 million from ARPA funds for this project, and 1.5 million from Veterans Capital Funds. Fund raising is in progress for the remaining project balance, and they currently need 1.2 million. The project is progressing, and they expect completion by February 2025. Addressing whether the funding could expand emergency housing, Crook explained that the ARPA funds were specific to the terms of being unable to expand emergency housing. The funds are for transitional housing or other forms of housing. No action was taken on this committee item, and the meeting adjourned at 2.40, and that concludes my report out. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you very much. Does anyone have any questions for Council Member Reynolds about her report? Thank you so much. Council reports are next. Council Member Sheehan. Thank you, Mayor. Prior to our work session today, I was on a call that pulls together people to collaborate and talk through our Empath Center. And for those of you who might not know about this particular center within our community, it opened about six months ago, and some of us did a tour. But I kind of think of it like an emergency room for behavior or mental health. And it helps divert folks who might be taken to a typical emergency room to other care that is more appropriate for behavioral health. So now that they've been operating for six months, I asked if they would be willing to come to Council to talk about the program and how it's going and kind of give us an update. So I'm going to make a motion to put a presentation from the Empath Center into Social Services and Public Safety Committee. So moved. Second. Thank you. Any comments or questions? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Is anybody opposed? All right. Thank you. That's all. Okay, thank you. Vice Mayor Wu. Thank you, Mayor. I would like to place an item into the Social Services and Public Safety Committee. I'd like to see a CASA update, and for those who don't know, that's Court Appointed Special Advocates. I think last time they did an update was a little over two years ago. Next, I would like to wish everybody a happy Lunar New Year's Eve. It does not require a motion. The Vice Mayor can place items into committee without a motion. Thanks for asking. I want to wish everybody a happy Lunar New Year's Eve. This is one of the biggest annual holidays around the world, celebrated in lots of Asian countries, including Korea, China, Vietnam, and all over the rest of the world, including the United States. A few things you can do to celebrate Lunar New Year's is clean your house and have a good start. But tomorrow is New Year's Day. Do not throw anything out on New Year's Day, or you might be throwing out your good luck. So remember that. If you have younger relatives or kids, you can give them little red envelopes full of money. Make sure the bills are crisp and you give even amounts of money. So don't give $5, give $10, or give $2. Wear red. Council Member Curtis also got the memo, so I appreciate that. Red symbolizes happiness, luck, and celebration. And lastly, of course, go eat some really good Chinese or Asian food this week, particularly noodles, which symbolize long life, and fish, which symbolizes prosperity. And lastly, on Saturday, I attended the second annual Lexington Unsung Hero Awards. We've got some pictures up at the Carrick House. I was joined by Council Members Morton and Sevigny were also there. It was a really terrific event, great food, stylish attendees. And on the turntables, spinning banger after banger was our very own Boyd Seway from planning. Believe it or not, hidden talents. That's Rolanda Woolfork, who I had the pleasure of giving the final award of the night to. But I just wanted to, in this venue, give a quick shout out to all the winners that night who are doing really great work in all parts of our community. From Judith Humble's environmental leadership, Remy Simpson's saving of abused pets, Justin Royal's educational leadership at Bryan Station, Gail Reese's senior transportation service, Amy Ross's 25 years of being a police dispatcher, Lanance Martin's vital work with Candiba Drug Delivery, Ed Dove's legal work for Human Rights Commission, Alicia Mudiyangwa's uplifting of the Swahili-speaking community, and Rolanda Woolfork's community organizing and advocacy. And one of the things I said at the awards was, I knew a few of these folks. I knew Judith and Ed and Alicia. But realizing for every one person that I knew that was doing impactful work in Lexington, there are at least two, three, and probably dozens of folks doing great work and really being unsung and not celebrated enough. So I just wanted to kind of shine a light on these folks. These are the people who are really making Lexington a great place. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Brown? Thank you, Mayor. I just want to take the opportunity to thank you and your team for putting together a great speech today at the State of the City Address. I think, and you said it to me afterwards, a lot of times we do a lot of meeting, do a lot of work, and it doesn't always seem like it materializes in this room, but when you go out into the community and our neighborhoods and business districts, we see the work. And I think you highlighted the CAO and her team for their administration of the ARPA, the American Rescue Plan funds. That money is out. It was submitted, executed in a timely fashion. And I think we'll continue to cut ribbons and to see the impact of that investment for years to come. So I just think it's good. Then also, you know, not only that investment, but the work that we're doing across the board in regards to economic development and social services and public safety, and then just the community broadly. That speaks volumes, and I think you did a good job of summarizing that today. So thank you. And then, Mayor, I just wanted to ask you and your team, and I don't expect any answers today. I know there's a lot of conversations. We've all been getting a lot of questions from constituents about how actions and orders at the federal level are going to impact us budgetarily when it comes to us here at the local level. So at some point, if you all could just stay in communication with us, and if it's, I don't know if it's a workshop or a forum, just to give us an understanding of what to expect and how we need to maneuver locally. I think what we know now is that we don't really know, in terms of grants, what exactly is going to happen. But we have several people, some in D.C., some working from here trying to find out what the real truth of the grant freeze means, and who it affects, and what in our government it might affect. But we don't have anything hard and fast yet. So as soon as we do, we will sure let you know. Yes, ma'am. I think it's just important that folks know that we are where we're watching and monitoring and ready to pivot and move when we need to. Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Council Member Ellinger. Thank you, Mayor. Actually, I was going to ask about the federal freeze and get your input on that. So my question is moot at this point. I think it's supposed to go in at 5 o'clock today, whatever is going to happen. So I am looking forward to update because it could have drastic changes and catastrophic effect on our community and other local communities. All local communities use grant funds. And so we're very anxious to find out exactly what this means for us. So thank you. Council Member Lynch. Thank you, Mayor. I just want to extend an invitation to all of my colleagues and all of the community to our ribbon cutting of the Black and Williams Gymnasium, which will occur next Wednesday, February the 5th at 11 a.m. The facility is beautiful. I'm very, very excited about this additional renovated resource for my second district and for the whole community really at large. So please come out. Mark your calendars for Wednesday, February the 5th at 11 a.m. It will be an event you won't want to miss. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Beasley. Thank you, Mayor. I just want to take a minute to thank everybody who came out for the community corrections graduation last week. See that? I'm going to cry. We had a special graduate. Yes, I was very proud of my daughter, and I appreciate you all showing up. Thank you. Thank you. We're proud of her. Council Member Gray. Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, Council Member Beasley, for your tears of joy, I guess. She's spitting herself, world. So first of all, congratulations to all of the graduates and the parents of those who graduated on Friday from community corrections. Welcome to the LFUCG family, to all the new recruits who just graduated and their families, because you, too, are part of LFUCG. I would like to personally invite everyone in this room and those who are watching at home to town hall, where you will receive an update from myself, Director Lee Steele of Code Enforcement, and Council Member Shayla Lynch about all that we have been doing in this past year after our, I believe, seven town halls that we had last year to listen to the people about what their true concerns were regarding code enforcement. So I hope to see you next week, February 5th, at Frederick Douglass High School in the cafeteria. Doors open at 6 p.m. The town hall begins promptly at 6.30, and it will go for one hour. So I hope to see you there, and I hope that you will be pleased with all the great work that we have done. And colleagues, I hope to see you all there as well, because the work that we do touches every single part of the city of Lexington. Lastly, over the weekend, I, for probably the 10th year in a row, have judged the Fayette County Public Schools Cheer and Dance Showcase. It was held this year in the 10th district at Dunbar High School. Congratulations to all of the young scholars, student-athletes who were there participating, your leadership, and your true athletes. And I love the way that you encourage one another to keep pushing and moving on. That's what we're about, encouraging one another to do positive things. Keep up the great work to all of you all. And thank you to the coaches and the parents for all the time that you put into these young people. That is all, thank you. Thank you. Council Member Morton. Thank you. Likewise, I want to say congratulations to the folks that graduated from corrections this past weekend. You know, everyone knows my thoughts on Chief Colvin. He's a great guy, so I look forward to working with you in the future, Chief. But on to the report. This past weekend, I had the privilege of serving as a judge for the SANS program, which is short for Artistic Hands Shaping a New Society event. This was an inspiring experience to witness such incredible talent and creativity from participants dedicated to shaping a brighter future through art. Events like these remind us of the importance of fostering and celebrating artistic expression in our communities while also investing in our youth. And I'll read their names because I always like to give flowers to the youth and to those that took place. Ms. Ella, Ms. Hudson, Ms. Camden, Ms. Anna, Ms. Adeline, Mr. Braden, Ms. Lila, Ms. Kelly, Mr. Phoenix, Ms. MJ, and then Mr. Tinson. I just want to give them their flowers. Also, as Vice Mayor Wu mentioned, there was a great event this weekend, the Unsung Heroes Awards. And I got to attend that with Vice Mayor Wu and Council Member Savigny. And I want to give a shout out to two of the unsung heroes that actually are a part of the first district, Mr. Alicia and then Rolanda Woolfolk. They are truly inspiring and I want to thank them for being unsung heroes and all the work they do behind the scenes to make Lexington a better place. Going on down. As you may know, one of my main priorities is to spread information. What is taking place here at LFUCG and what is not taking place. So in lieu of this, my office has decided to create a district podcast. And our office would like to get the feedback of the first district constituents on what the name of this podcast would be. So we're going to do two different things. I'll give you the three names, but we're going to have a survey on our media. And you can just do a quick vote to help pick that name. But the names we came up with, the top three, I've been working with some youth in our district to come up with them, is Unfiltered Governance, Real Talk, Real Change, and Government Unplugged. So I look forward to hearing your feedback on that. And then lastly, in lieu of our conversation from earlier about the program and about parks, I want to place the item in committee. Because the park program is one of my priorities, but also in our budget conversation this week it was a priority of many council members. And I believe it is pertinent to place youth programming in GGP to talk about parks programming and further discussions around it. So I move to place youth programming in the GGP General Government Planning Committee. So moved. Second. All right. Council Member Curtis seconds. Any questions? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right. That passes. Okay. Thank you. Council Member Reynolds. Thank you, Mayor. I, too, want to extend my congrats to the community correction graduates. We're so thankful for them and glad for their success. I wanted to mention there's been a lot of pop-up workshops happening at the Marksbury Family Library branch. So if you live in 11th district or near there, please pay attention to that. And there is going to be a community forum on gun violence by one Lexington held there on Wednesday from 6 to 8 PM. So I hope that folks will turn out for that. And then pay attention to the library schedule to attend other workshops that would be important to the community. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Curtis. Thank you, Mayor. So I just wanted to provide a few quick updates to some of the constituent concerns that we've been getting in the fourth. So first of all, I'd like to shout out to Bella Wood Neighborhood Association. I was supposed to attend y'all's meeting on Thursday, and y'all were very flexible when the timing didn't quite work out with our council meeting. I'm very appreciative of that grace. So our office has gotten multiple requests for assistance regarding delayed mail services. And even though this is not a local issue, we're in communication with our partners in Congressman Barr's office and some of our other federal folks to see if we can get some motion behind this to get that taken care of for y'all. And I'll keep you posted on that. Lots of questions about the Wilson Downing sidewalk project and its status. So it was paused due to the winter weather emergency. Work on that is set to resume as soon as the weather allows. And as of our most recent update, we're estimating that work should be completed on that around the end of February, give or take, given the weather. And I'll keep you all posted on that. And also, I want to thank everybody in the fourth district who's continued to reach out with their concerns about streets and roads in response to the winter weather emergency, even going into this week. We have been working carefully and intentionally to move through that, and I appreciate the grace that y'all have shown our office as we've been getting up and running so we can handle those requests. On a broader note, I want to just take a second and thank folks for all of the wonderful events I've gotten to attend the past week or two. This included the ribbon cutting for our new space downtown at the Pam Miller Arts Center, which is something that I really, really value. And I think arts are an incredible part of our community, and we're going to need them a lot over the next few years. I want to thank everybody who came to the corrections graduation again, and congratulations. Congratulations, Council Member Beasley and to your daughter. It was such a joy to be there with you and to celebrate that special moment. And Mayor, thank you so much for your speech today, the State of the City Address. It was wonderful, selfishly speaking, to be able to watch from a little closer this year than last. And I also want to take a second and acknowledge all of the work that went into the MLK Day celebrations last week. That was a very impactful day for me personally and I know for a lot of people given the other events occurring in our country at the same time. I want to thank again Council Member Brown, Council Member Gray for their work organizing the event. It was truly wonderful. And I would also like to take a moment of privilege personally to address some broader things that are happening right now. It's the biggest honor of my life that I was elected to serve the folks of the fourth district, but we don't exist in a silo. And due to the circumstances of my election, I'm also currently the only openly transgender person serving in public office in Kentucky right now. One quote that stuck out to me during the MLK Day celebration that I haven't been able to get out of my head since is that in the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. I don't know what's going to be happening at the federal level and obviously there's a lot of confusion around grants funding, freezing, etc. But I do think it is my obligation to acknowledge that last night, the President of the United States issued an executive order implying that transgender folks cannot live honorable, truthful, or disciplined lives. And I just want to state for a record that that's not true. I want to point to every single trans person who's watching this who may be feeling alone or like their life doesn't have value. And I'd like to just say that our worth, our humanity, and our dignity were given to us by our creator, not by our government, not by any individual within our government. And when these folks inevitably end up coming to all of us, because every single person on this horseshoe represents transgender Americans, represents transgender Kentuckians and transgender Lexingtonians, I ask that you show them the same kindness and grace and patience that you all have shown me since I was sworn in. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you very much. All right, Council. There is no one signed up for public comment for issues not on the agenda, so I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. Thank you. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. We are adjourned. Thank you very much.