♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ It's 3 o'clock, so I'll go ahead and call to order the Lexington-Fayette-Urban County Council Work Session. And today's February 11th, 2025. And we do not have anyone signed up yet for public comment for issues on the agenda. And we do not have a docket. So the first item then is our table of motions from the February 4th work session. Thank you. Vice Mayor moves approval. Council Member Ellinger seconds. Is there any discussion? Corrections? All right. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right. That motion passes. There are no budget amendments. And there are no budget adjustments. So that brings us to new business. I'll entertain a motion to approve. So moved. Second. Thank you. Council Member Gray and seconded by Council Member Baxter. And if you have questions, please log in. Council Member Morton. Thank you. I have a question for Item K. How's it going? Can you just talk about the purpose of these funds and then how successfully we measure it, please? So these were funds that the council put in as part of the fund balance last year, $140,000 to be run over the next two years. So we will be doing these from the back date to January 1 of this year. And we'll run through December of next year. The funds are used for things like the Minority Business Accelerator Program that Tyrone Tyrett Commerce Lexington runs. They help with minority business certification, financial classes, things like that, really promoting the minority business community and working with Sherita actually here and our shop here and city government. So there is a questionnaire that's attached in the documents that you've seen that they will have to fill out quarterly to get the quarterly reimbursement. Then they will also have an annual report that has to be filed. Both of those go to the Economic Development Investment Board of which Council Member Brown, Council Member Figney both sit on as well. And it's reviewed there and discussed there, and then those can be provided to Council if they would like to see them as well. And it also makes Mr. Tyra available to be fed or this committee upon the request of the chair. Okay. So the success is more so, I guess, through those reports is how we will see the success and rate the success of it? Mm-hmm. In my mind, we take a look at those numbers and we're doing well within those business sectors with minority businesses. And Charita is getting more businesses to draw in our bid pools from an internal perspective as well. Okay, cool. Thank you. And then just item L. Ms. Tiffany, how are you doing? Could you just speak about the housing stability and rent assistance and just how these funds can be accessed for public transparency? So with this program, back in the spring of last year, we used the interest that was accrued from the Housing Stabilization Program and we put that money towards some partnerships. This one particularly is with Goodwill Industries of Kentucky and Fayette County Public Schools and families with children who are experiencing homelessness. They are referred to the McKinney-Vento Program. They are then referred to Goodwill. And if they go to Goodwill, go through their program, hopefully get employment, then they can qualify for first month's rent and deposit. Okay, cool. So just through the Venti Program? Yes. This particular one is just through the McKinney-Vento Program. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you. Council Member Reynolds. Thank you, Mayor. I have two items. The first is G for either Director Martin or Commissioner Albright. This is a stormwater quality incentive grant project. Money is being given to Fayette County Public Schools to install permeable pavers in the new school property off of Mason-Healy. But it's kind of for a small area. Is that right? Yes. Charlie Martin, Director, Division of Water Qualities. Yes. The way this program works on these infrastructure ones, typically we're trying to pay the difference of what they would normally pay if they were using standard asphalt. And it is the incentive. It's incentivizing them to do something that's permeable that reduces the amount of runoff that would come from the normal parking lot that they would build. And Fayette County Schools has utilized this program a lot over the years. Yeah, that's great. I'm in big favor of permeable pavers. So this is just for one section of the parking lot, though, right? Yes. I believe it's the west parking lot where the faculty would primarily be parking. You know, there's a limit on how much that you can get on a grant. I'm sure they would like to expand that. But in the grant pool, we try to limit the top amount so there's more available to more people. Okay. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. The next is Item I. That is, I don't know if that is Director Horn or Duncan. Excuse me. So this is like a contract for electric scooters or bikes? Council Member Reynolds, Jim Duncan, Division of Planning. This is a contract with a company that collects the data for the usage of the scooters, yes. Okay, so they go with the companies that are in use, they collect the data, and then they share that with the U.K. and with us. Yes. Okay, and we've been doing that for a little while. Several, at least five years now, yes. Okay, and that data has been helpful? Yes, it's also showing that scooter usage is going way down, too. It's just not being used the way it used to, and it's being used for different kinds of trips. But yes, the data is still useful, and then it also helps inform other policies related to scooter use. Okay, and then does U.K. pay for any of this, or do we just pay this amount here? The amount that we pay for the populous contract comes from the license fees from each of the providers. So that's completely covered by the burden lift as they pay their license fees to us. And then U.K. collects a portion of the fee that's generated per ride. Okay, perfect. Thank you so much for that refresher. Appreciate it. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Baxter. Thank you, Mayor. Director Martin, I have a couple follow-up questions. Item G, please. Overall, can you remind me the amount of money that is in the stormwater grant program? By ordinance, it's 10% of gross revenue by ordinance. So it's roughly almost maybe close to $1.9 million now. Okay. There is a lot of overlap because, I mean, here we're just getting around to awarding the ones that are for this fiscal year, while we open things up for next year. I think you all got an e-mail about this on Friday, about next year's grants. And it sometimes takes people a while to get moving with theirs, and so we've been really trying to focus that it doesn't get stuck for too long. Sure. I heard you say that Fayette County has utilized this program, Fayette County Public Schools has utilized this program several times. And that just gives me a little bit of pause. I'm curious, so do we not have any parameters around who is eligible to apply for these grants? It's just who? I guess we can see it as a benefit to the government as well because it's assisting in our stormwater management. It's just a lot of money going to school systems. I'll speak on their behalf on one point. I would love to. They're our second largest rate payer. You pay per 2,500 square feet of impervious area. And so, you know, schools and other institutional folks are pretty large. We have had other businesses that have engaged in this, small and large, and a lot of times doing the same thing, converting their parking lot over to pervious pavement because the benefit for them is not only helping from water quality but also because that's considered a BMP or best management practice. It's a way for them to be able to reduce their fee overall. So they're incentivized to do this. We created the incentive program years ago. Mayor, you remember this. With the idea of people getting rid of parking lots they don't need or at least lessening the impact, because those parking lots are our biggest problem when it comes to sheet flow runoff. Sure. And I'm assuming the long-term maintenance still falls back on the schools, right? They can't come back to us for any maintenance concerns, correct? Absolutely, yes. It's their deal. And if they don't maintain it and it becomes impervious again because it's been clogged up and stuff, we will start charging them whatever the current rate of that time is for 2,500 square feet. Okay. All right, that's helpful. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Savigny. Thank you, Mayor. Charlie. Sorry, I've got one on the same thing. So I've actually written and got awarded for Class B infrastructure grants and Class A. I did think that you had to be actually changing an existing condition, which would have been they had installed, like they were an installed organization with a parking lot, that they were then changing to get the incentive. I was not aware that you could. And when I wrote one, that was the exact situation. Like it was the change. It was like creating the change, and that's how you got it. So I wasn't aware of it being done this way, and I don't know it. I will check on it. I can think of one other one off the top of my head that was doing the same thing. It was in the distillery district. It was a new parking lot. And one of the things I tried to make sure that I really emphasized to my team, and they conveyed to the board that actually reviews these things, is we're not buying somebody a new parking lot. We're only paying the difference between what it would cost for them to build a parking lot than to them to upgrade it to make it impervious, because there's a cost difference between those two. But I think I've also been on the end of a project that we were kind of told, as part of the development plan, that we had to do some pervious pavement. So I don't think we got money for it. It was just part of the development plan that said you need to do it this way. I guess we may need to dig into it, because I'm not as familiar with that. This program cannot pay for what is required for compliance. So if you're required to reduce your peak runoff because of redevelopment by a certain percentage, you can't go to this program and get that money to do that. And so the development plan in question, I don't know which one you're talking about, but if the way they were reducing their peak runoff in a post-development situation was being proposed as impervious pavement, that's fine, that's acceptable, but it's not grant eligible. Oh, okay. All right. I do have a little bit of heartburn on this particular one. So I can't tell you that I'm going to be fully supportive of it, because I really think they're kind of taking advantage of our system. And we have a fairly pervious piece of land currently, and I think it's a shame that we end up having to give money to have someone build something to what should be a standard. So thank you. All right. Thank you, Chair. Thank you. All right. All those in favor of 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 Environmental Quality and Public Works Committee, and I'll call on Councilmember Legree. Thank you, Mayor. This is the Environmental Quality and Public Works Committee December 3, 2024, report-out summary. The meeting was called to order at 1 p.m. The first item on our agenda was approval of the October 22nd, 2024 committee summary, and there were no additions or corrections, and the summary was approved without dissent. Our first presentation was the consent decree and remedial measures plan update. Director Martin discussed the consent decree status, the remaining capital obligation, and the active and upcoming projects. All stormwater and supplemental project obligations are complete. He clarified the start dates for projects around town and discussed the impacts in some areas. And he also discussed the capacity management operations and maintenance or CMOM obligations, which are ongoing, and that the focus is on the remedial measures program, RMP, and the remaining schedule. No action was taken on this item. Next, Richard Dugas, Administrative Officer in Environmental Quality and Public Works, provided a history of the Waste Digester Task Force, beginning with the purpose and timeline. He stated that addressing contamination rates is key to having a successful composting program, and contamination rates for Lexington-Fayette County are above the national average. Four recommendations were reviewed, and developing and implementing a recycling and yard waste contamination plan was identified as the priority. The Environmental Quality and Public Works staff will update the committee every six months, beginning in the summer of 2025, on this initiative, and will continue these updates until implementation is complete. There was a motion and a second to approve the Waste Digester Task Force report out recommendations as presented to the committee and included in the committee packet. That motion passed without dissent, and on behalf of the committee, I so move. Thank you. Is there a second? Second. Council Member Savigny seconds. Any questions? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Finally, Richard Dugas, Administrative Officer in Environmental Quality and Public Works, presented the annual review of recycling practices. He reviewed materials collected in 2020, noting that curbside paper collection was suspended in 2019. He also stated that grants continue to provide ways for us to fund our recycling practices. He discussed facility upgrades that took place in 2022. He also stated that the current baler has reached the end of its lifespan, and that a new baler was scheduled to be installed in December of 2024. No action was taken on this item. The meeting adjourned at 2.05 PM, and that concludes my report out. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you very much. Does anyone have any questions for Council Member Legree? All right, thank you. All right, it's time for council reports. Council Member Reynolds. Thank you, Mayor. I think I have some photos. A bunch of us attended the annual fire awards banquet on Saturday. And there were all kinds of awards given out. We have a world class fire department, and we're so happy that we can say that we have them. There should be a few more photos. And it's really an honor to hear the stories of people, and we can keep it on that one. Thank you, Chris. To hear the stories of people that were saved, people that were rescued, and just the incredible work that our department does on a daily basis. Oftentimes we don't know what our public safety is doing because we're just so fortunate to have them as part of our daily lives. But we know that Lexington would not be a safe place without them. So really thankful for them. And then we'll go to the last picture. I wanted to just mention, because we hadn't had an opportunity to do so, that Sarah McGill won in an international competition in Saudi Arabia the gold medal. If you could go to the last photo. The last one. Oh, I'm sorry. To the one with Sarah. There we go. Oh, there. That's good. Thank you. She won the gold medal in Saudi Arabia as the toughest firefighter alive this past year, which is pretty amazing, all the way from Kentucky. She is a rock star and just so fit and good at what she does. And so I just wanted to make sure that we mentioned that, because that is quite a feat. And she was representing Lexington. We had another firefighter there representing Lexington as well. And so we have a pretty amazing fire department. Not only are they great at what they do, but they represent us on a national level. So just wanted to mention that. And thank you very much. Thank you. Council Member Lynch. Thank you, Mayor. I just would like to lift up and thank everyone who came out for the ribbon cutting of the Black & Williams Gymnasium last Wednesday. It was a beautiful event. Thank you to the mayor, to Sally Hamilton, to Council Members James Brown, Council Member Denise Gray, Council Member Tyler Morton for coming, Commissioner Ford and Commissioner Lanter for your support and your dedication to this project. And I have to give a special shout-out to Josh Ives, who was definitely the on-the-ground driver. It would not have happened if it had not been for him and his leadership. So thank you to everyone who made the ribbon cutting happen and the gymnasium happen. It is a great resource for my neighbors, and I'm very excited that it is completed. And then secondly, I just want to remind my neighbors about the community meeting that we're having next week on February 19th in partnership with the Fayette County Public Schools to discuss the new elementary school that's going to be built along Greendale Road. I'd like to invite my colleagues as well and all of my District 2 neighbors to come out and look at the new designs and ask questions about the upcoming groundbreaking. Thank you so much, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Brown. Thank you, Mayor. I just want to add my sentiments to how much I enjoyed the fire awards banquet. I think Council Member said it best. It's impressive when you hear about all the hard work and sacrifice that that department makes year in and year out for the folks in our community. So congratulations to the award winners, and congratulations to the retirees and also the folks that got promoted. The next thing I'll say to or ask about, I got a text message last night from a person that was concerned about some homeless individuals downtown as the weather was dropping. And they just had some concerns and didn't know who to call or how to get resources to those folks. So I'll just ask, what is the best way for folks to call after hours to try to address some issues or to be proactive with making sure that folks are getting resources and safe? Is there somebody here that can answer that question? There is a phone number. Tiffany, do you have it on top of your head? Sorry, I didn't introduce myself earlier. I'm a senior administrative officer in the Commissioner's Office for Housing Advocacy and Community Development. I do not have the number off the top of my head, but there is a number for our street outreach team that could be reached 24-7. Is that what you're- That's what I'm asking. So if that can be shared, emailed to the council members, and we maybe can share that information in our newsletters and with constituents, I think that would be helpful. I know it's out there, but it just didn't readily come to mind when I got a text. So I text Jeff Heron at like 1030 last night, and he promptly responded and said he's going to send an outreach team to that area and see if they need help. I can share a card. There's an actual card with just basic information, with our shelters, outreach number. I can send that to the council members. Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you to Jeff Heron for responding at 1030 last night. And then I'll just say a happy belated birthday to our very own Kendra Thompson. I know I didn't text you yesterday. I didn't have it in my calendar, but I will next year, and I hope you had a happy birthday. So thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Morton. Thank you. I just have a couple upcoming events and community updates. First, the Windburn Neighborhood Association will be meeting this upcoming Monday, February 17th at 630 in the MLK Park at the Windburn Shelter. So I look forward to joining our great neighbors of Windburn and having some great conversations. Second, just another reminder that the Green Acres Black History event is on February 15th, which is this upcoming Saturday, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Great food, great time, great information. Come out and join us. And then lastly, I'd like to make a motion to add the review of sober living ordinance into the Social Service Public Safety Committee. The goal of this item is to bring Lexington into compliance with state sober living operation laws, aiming to ensure that sober living operators provide individuals with recovery safe and well-maintained residences, while also making sure operators are licensed, certified, and good neighbors to the surrounding communities. And I look forward to working on this item with Council Member Lynch and Council Member Sheehan. Second. Second by Council Member Gray. Is there any discussion? I will give the chair to the Vice Mayor. We have been working on an ordinance, a law, and some of our commissioners, as requested by the Oakwood neighborhood. And I haven't seen a progress report lately, but it is based totally on the state law, so that we are following state law. So I'm presuming, is that the ordinance you'd like to look at for drafting? Correct. And I spoke with law, and we all got it hashed out. So it's just a procedure. Same one. Okay. Very good. Thank you. Thank you, Vice Mayor. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? All right. That motion passes. Council Member LaGreve. Thank you, Mayor. I'd simply like to put a Lextran update into the Environmental Quality and Public Works Committee. Is there a second? Second. Or that's your committee, isn't it? I'm the chair, so. I'm getting the new. It's okay. So you don't need a motion. Just, yep, that's it. Thank you. Okay. Very good. Thank you. All right. Council Member Beasley. Thank you, Mayor. I would just like to say thank you to Director Steele and the guys over at Code Enforcement. We had an apartment building call us. Their elevators had not worked since November the 18th. It was a retirement community, and they helped us get those back up and running. And as of last Friday, all three buildings' elevators were working. So I just wanted to say thank you to Code Enforcement for helping us get that taken care of. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Hale. Thank you, Mayor. It was a pleasure to attend last evening's Fayette County Neighborhood Council meeting. I'm grateful for the invitation and the opportunity to engage with such a dedicated group. I'm grateful for the commitment and diligence of our neighborhood associations whose efforts are essential for fostering informed, safe, and beautiful communities. Please do not hesitate to contact our office should you require any more assistance or have any concerns. I'm also excited, again, to announce our first community town hall that's going to take place at the Woodhill Community Center Wednesday, February 19th at 5.30 p.m. Again, this will be an excellent opportunity for District 7 residents to meet with their new council member, engage in meaningful dialogue, ask questions, and share suggestions on how we can enhance our community. This event is open to all of District 7. So stay tuned for additional town halls in other areas as well. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Gray. Thank you, Mayor. First of all, before I begin my actual announcements, to the fire department, Lexington Fire Department, you, whenever we go to those awards center of our public safety, I'm always alarmed or surprised, I don't know why, of how great we are as a city with our public safety. You all are real life superheroes. The things that you all, our firefighters and even our police are doing, the things that normal people just don't do. So I want to say thank you to our Lexington Fire Department for all that you do, the lives that you save every single day, 70,000 calls to E911 last year. It is just amazing, that number right there. So thank you for all that you do for the residents of Lexington. And even, actually, you do more than just for the people of Lexington. You're doing things for the people of the Commonwealth and of this nation. The fact that you all are going to Florida to help people in the middle of floods. You're in eastern Kentucky helping people who need help at their worst time of their life. Thank you for what you do, superheroes. And sheroes. Back to my full announcement. Did anyone watch the Super Bowl? I did. I watched the halftime show and I saw my favorite artist, Kendrick Lamar. One of those dancers was one of our own Lexingtonians. Congratulations to Lexington's own Kendall Hughley, who was one of the dancers for the now iconic Super Bowl halftime show with the best rapper ever, Kendrick Lamar. Kendall was one of 20 dancers chosen out of hundreds who auditioned from across the country. This was her first professional performance and she earned her Super Bowl spot over many professional dancers. Kendall is the daughter of Larry and Mary Hughley. They are the owners of Upgrade Dance Company. Kendall performs and choreographs dances with Upgrade along with her sister Kayla and brother Bryson. We Lexingtonians are just doing our thing all over the country and all over the world. So kudos to you. Keep dancing. Awesome job. You worked it out, girl. And next, I would like to say congratulations to the second best high school squad in the entire United States of America. Congratulations to the sixth district's own Frederick Douglass High School cheerleaders on your wonderful accomplishment. You all stuck every single thing and I'm just so proud as a reformed cheerleader. I'm always a cheerleader. You just make me proud for how you all pushed through and you showed excellence of what we bring from Lexington. So kudos to you, young ladies. Kudos to the coaches as well. Great job. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. All right, that brings us to public comment for issues not on the agenda. We have no one signed up, so I'll ask for a motion to adjourn. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. We are adjourned. Thank you for coming. Thank you.