# Council Work Session - February 25, 2025 > Auto-transcribed civic record · Council · February 25, 2025 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/6348 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/6348?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2025-02-25 - **Body**: Council - **Last revised**: March 27, 2026 - **Length**: 2,372 words > ⚠️ **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 February 25, 2025, at 3:00 PM in the Council Chamber in Lexington, KY, presided over by Mayor Linda Gorton. The meeting included 5 agenda items, ranging from the approval of prior session motions to new business and neighborhood funding matters. Over the course of the meeting, the Council took 3 votes, heard 1 public comment on agenda items, and received an informational report from the Social Services and Public Safety Committee. Key actions included approval of the February 18, 2025, Work Session motions, new business items, and Neighborhood Development Funds. The Social Services and Public Safety Committee Report and the public comment period were informational in nature and did not result in votes. ## Attendance **Present (14):** Wu, J. Brown, Ellinger II, Morton, Lynch, LeGris, Curtis, Sheehan, Gray, Hale, Beasley, Baxter, Sevigny, and Boone. **Absent (1):** Jennifer Reynolds. **Late:** None. ## Votes and Decisions Three motions were brought to a vote during the February 25, 2025, Council meeting, all of which passed unanimously. - **Approval of February 18, 2025, Work Session Motions** [timestamp: 0:02]: Council member Gray moved to approve the motions from the February 18, 2025, Work Session, with Council member Curtis providing the second. The motion passed unanimously. No individual roll call votes were recorded. - **Approval of New Business** [timestamp: 3:04]: Council member Ellinger moved to approve New Business, with Council member Curtis providing the second. The motion passed unanimously. No individual roll call votes were recorded. - **Approval of Neighborhood Development Funds** [timestamp: 3:34]: The Vice Mayor moved to approve the Neighborhood Development Funds, with Council member Curtis providing the second. The motion passed unanimously. No individual roll call votes were recorded. All three motions were seconded by Council member Curtis. No nays or abstentions were recorded for any of the votes. ## Budget and Financial Actions The Council approved several financial items at the February 25, 2025 meeting, ranging from a small service contract to a six-figure funding reallocation. - **L0173-25**: The Council approved a contract with Charter Communications, operating under Spectrum Enterprise, for cable TV services supporting senior programs. The contract is valued at **$925.92**. - **L0176-25**: A software service agreement with TouchPhrase Development LLC, doing business as Julota, was approved for use by the Lexington Fire Department. The agreement is valued at **$37,096.00**. - **L0177-25**: The Council approved an amendment to an existing grant administration agreement with the **Community Action Council**. The amendment carries no additional dollar value. - **L0182-25**: An amendment to a HOME Investment Partnerships Program agreement with **AVOL Kentucky, Inc.** was also approved. Like the Community Action Council amendment, this action involved no additional funding. - **L0195-25**: The Council approved a reallocation of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding in the amount of **$227,760.51** directed toward a playground upgrade at **Family Care Centers**. This was the largest financial action of the meeting. ## Public Comment One member of the public addressed the Council during the public comment period at the February 25, 2025 meeting. - **Tonya Kua** [timestamp: 14:50] spoke on the topics of freedom of the press and freedom of speech. Kua expressed concerns about potential government infringement on her rights, referencing past legal issues in her remarks. She asserted her readiness to pursue legal action if she determined such action to be necessary. ## Public Comment - Issues on Agenda [timestamp: 02:00] No public comments were made on issues on the agenda. ## Approval of February 18, 2025, Work Session Motions [timestamp: 02:00] The Council took up the approval of motions from the February 18, 2025, work session. Council member Gray and Council member Curtis were the key speakers on this item. The motion was approved without notable debate or opposition recorded in the meeting data. ## New Business [timestamp: 03:04] The Council took up new business items during this portion of the meeting. Council member Ellinger and Council member Curtis were the key speakers during this segment. The Council approved the new business items presented. No additional details regarding the specific content of the items, any debate, or concerns raised are available in the meeting record. ## Neighborhood Development Funds [timestamp: 03:34] The Council took up a resolution regarding the allocation of neighborhood development funds. The item was presented with participation from the Vice Mayor and Council Member Curtis as the key speakers on this matter. The resolution was approved by the Council. *Note: Limited detail is available from the source materials regarding the specific amounts allocated, the neighborhoods or projects targeted, or any debate and concerns raised during discussion of this item.* ## Social Services and Public Safety Committee Report [timestamp: 03:34] Council member Baxter presented the report from the Social Services and Public Safety Committee, summarizing the proceedings of the committee's January 28, 2025 meeting. The report covered updates on three areas: - **Community Paramedicine** — The committee received an update on the community paramedicine program. - **Family Services** — An update on family services was presented to the committee. - **Partners for Youth** — The committee also heard an update related to partners for youth. The report was informational in nature, and no action or vote was taken by the full Council in response to the presentation. --- ## Decisions - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve the February 18, 2025, Work Session Summary - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve New Business - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve Neighborhood Development Funds - **Motion** — passed (0-0): place in the General Government and Planning Committee a review and analysis of all LFUCG operated community centers, for the purpose of making recommendations for improvements in all areas, including, but not limited to accessibility, operations, facilities, programming, staffing, budgeting, and special events - **Motion** — passed (0-0): place in the Environmental Quality and Public Works Committee a review of the Stormwater Grant Program - **Motion** — passed (0-0): adjourn at 3:16 p.m --- ## Full transcript You You Do So So So Good afternoon everyone. It is three o'clock and so i'll go ahead and call to order the lexington fayette urban county council's work session and it's 2 25 25 today The first item on the agenda is public comment For issues on the agenda and we have no one signed up for that So there are no Rezonings no docket. We do have the february 18th work session motions. Could I have a motion to approve? Thank you. Council member gray second by council member curtis And are there any questions or comments? All right, all those in favor say aye Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. There are no budget amendments and no Fyi adjustments to the budget. We do have new business. I'll entertain a motion to approve Council member ellinger second by council member curtis Please log in if you have questions about new business Are there any Questions All right, all those in favor say aye Is anyone opposed? All right. Thank you. That passes There are no appointments. No donations. No procurements And this brings us to continuing business and i'll entertain a motion To approve the neighborhood development funds. Thank you. Vice mayor second by council member curtis. Are there any questions? All right, all those in favor say aye Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes now We have social services and public safety, which I believe is council member reynolds. Are you doing it council member baxter? Thank you Thank you. Mayor. Um, this is the report out for the january 28th 2025 Committee meeting of the social services and public safety committee social services and public safety committee The meeting was called to order at 1 0 7 p.m And the first item on our agenda was approval of the november 12th 2024 committee summary There were no additions or corrections and it was approved without dissent Second jason wells chief of the fire department provided background on community paramedicine program and introduced lieutenant alex yawn who recently took became the head of the paramedicine team and Talked a little bit about why Innovative health care model that expands the role of emergency medical services to provide non-emergency care and address unmet needs within the community Talked about the makeup of the paramedics social workers police and peer support and yon said that they hope to start a crisis response team soon um He's hopeful. He is hopeful that this will increase our staff and provide 24 hour response. No action was taken on this committee item Next sheila horton holt director of family services provided the mission statement of family services and Talked about the family care center recently celebrating 35 years Of providing a comprehensive approach to meeting the needs of teen mothers for education career preparation parenting support health care and child care the future needs for the family service center Includes early child care playground renovations an annual grandparents event creating a resource room for staff And hosting community resource fairs. No action was taken on this committee item Finally shanrika shackelford the executive director of partners for youth explained the mission and promoted Is to promote positive positive, excuse me youth development and prevent juvenile delinquency through collaboration and capacity building Future goals include celebrating 30 years of community programming Expanding the summer youth job training program increasing the number of scholarships and actively applying for grants Shackleford suggested council Could continue to get word out to potential employers to help with this program and let businesses know that we focus on all youth No action was taken on this item During our annual review of committee items. The following items were removed From the the committee referral list on the expansion of the adult The adult mental health court with aftercare program review of golf cart policies Improvement of fire department recruitment and emergency financial assistance program and the meeting adjourned at 12 29 p.m. Thank you, ma'am Thank you very much. Are there any questions for council member baxter about the report? All right. Thank you. It's time for council reports Anyone okay council member lagree Uh, thank you. Mayor. I just have one item to enter into committee. Um, So i'm placing hailey pike solar study into the environmental quality and public works committee But I don't need a motion, thank you, so no no motion. Yeah, thank you council member gray Thank you council member gray Thank you mayor up next um today I released My second council comment for them for the year 2025 as I like to say Um, so we're going to play just a short snippet as you know, I like to use my my awesome sense of humor to make some possibly Dry subjects a little bit more entertaining and She is not ready Oh Well in that council comment it is regarding code enforcement All righty, you got it, okay It's only going to be one minute of the um of the council comments I Just want you all to see the great work that Our lex tv team did um using animation and the great sense of humor of our own. Um Lee still code enforcement director. All right now we're ready starting at 119 Or not So i'm going to ask you some of the questions that my office has received from residents Regarding code enforcement and oftentimes Many of the things are not covered by code enforcement. So in this game I'm going to give you some of those scenarios and you're going to say Let us know if it's code enforcement Or not. Okay Let's start off with a really easy Ready? Yes. Okay. You ready audience? Let's do this Okay My neighbor has a giant pile of trash in the middle of their front yard It's been there for over a month and they have three junk cars parked there in the front yard, too Is that code enforcement or not? It is split Part of it is code enforcement with the trash and debris and the cars parked in the yard falls to the lex park Okay, let's work or even our traffic safety our non-emergency, uh public safety yes, yes awesome Well, that's a snippet of it, um, I wanted to make it into like a game show um, so, um, yes, really i'm Especially cheesy and I believe that people learn a different kind of way you can put things in writing And if you're having a quote unquote dry subject you want to make it as an entertaining as possible so that people can Retain the information. So thank you to lex tv group who is always doing great work And thank you to director lee still and also a huge. Thank you to my legislative aide heather parish I have a lot of out-of-the-box ideas in order to communicate with the residents and i'm thankful that I just give her an idea of what I want and then she jumps in there and writes the script So thank you to my team. Thank you director lee still thank you to Of course lex tv. Thank you Thank you next is council member beasley Thank you, mayor On behalf of council member morton and I I move to place in general government and planning committee a review and analysis of all lfucg Operated community centers for the purpose of making recommendations for improvement in all areas included but not limited to accessibility operations facilities programming staffing budgeting and special events so moved council member morton seconds any questions All those in favor say aye Is anyone opposed that passes? Okay, council member hale Uh, thank you mayor Um, just a reminder that on um that our seventh district community town hall was postponed due to weather Um, so, um coming on monday march the 10th at 5 30. We will have our town hall at the woodhill community center Again, this is going to be an excellent opportunity for District seven residents to meet the 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 seven Regardless of your neighborhood. Also, we will be having uh translation services in french swahili And spanish so I encourage all of district seven to come out on march the 10th at the woodhill community center Thank you, mayor. Thank you council member morton Thank you. Thank you. Um, I have a very busy weekend. I'll start off with the apollo event that was at the lyric theater Um this weekend this saturday, um, this was a fantastic time at the lyric theater for the apollo event Which was a huge success with only standing room, um available It was wonderful to see and take part in this great initiative and see so many of my first district of constituents and Lexington constituents in the building. So I want to thank councilman lynch and councilman gray for attending And um the the lyric board and um, christian adair for putting on such a great event And that's it was a great time and that's actually the the gentleman that won. He One of our youth won first place fifteen hundred dollars. So he it was great Um moving on um sunday we had the lift every voice black history celebration Um, I had inspired an experience that consolidated where um, the event was full house as well only standing room At that place and I think it was only standing room about started 345 and it started four So either way, you know Mayor gordon was there council member beasley was in attendance and I want to thank them for coming But then also our our honorable governor andy beshear Was there and he gave a very great speech and I'll just leave i'll leave it with this this statement He said there's no shutting us up His message was very powerful and reminded us of the importance of the voices of using our voices to advocate for justice equity And progress in our community, but most importantly doing what's right. Um this week yesterday. I was I attended the nest I'm a great non-profit. Um in the in the first district. I had the opportunity to tour with mr. Jeffrey white the executive director Um, you know, they they are serving our most vulnerable children and it's innocent. It's a program that Um, I think it's beautiful being able to drop your child off with um for For care without an appointment, um so that you can get to a job interview so that you can get two things that come up And then you know, they're they're there and they have great staff. So it's a pleasure to be with them yesterday They actually have an initiative taking place called a dollar for diapers running through february 28th and a 50 donation Which is on the on the board, um provides a lexington baby with a month's um supply of diapers So any of those that are listening that are feeling? The need to donate or have the ability to donate please reach out to the nest they could use your help And then lastly, um, I know last week at our council meeting We just pushed we pushed forward some investments in the dunbar center and the administration Commissioner ford and parks and rec director conrad are taking the steps into investing our community center So i'm happy to to work with councilman beesley on this item to make sure Um that our community centers are being as impactful as possible to the surrounding communities communities But also making sure that they're tailored to those communities needs So I look forward to working on that item with councilmember beasley and I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you councilmember savigny Yeah, thank you mayor. Um, i'd like to put the stormwater grants program For review into the eqpw committee so moved second councilmember gray seconds any discussion All those in favor say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right. Thank you Thank you Anything else All right. All right that moves us on to public comment For issues not on the agenda and we have one person signed up and um Tonya kua, I think you know the rules, right? So welcome and you got oliver And after your name and council district you'll have three minutes to speak All right, so Busy day today catching my breath. But um, anyway sneak while we are live in a district 11 But it's not related to that district. This is more so related specifically to lfucg Um, so tomorrow there's a special meeting that's going to be called where um, I can only assume due to history of events in my past and being traumatized by this government Uh that they're going to try to prevent me from exercising my right to freedom of the press and freedom of speech um seven years ago, um this government sued me Because I requested my own records and I got an opinion in my favor by the kentucky attorney general And when I tried to sue y'all back in federal court I was so traumatized that I fouled it improperly and this is just i'm just here today as a warning That tomorrow during this special meeting y'all try to infringe on my rights i'm not going to refuse I'm not going to give y'all any reason to arrest me, but I can guarantee you i've done my homework I've been through hell and now i'm back. I will absolutely sue this government. Y'all will not infringe upon my rights Everybody that I fail to complain about is a public official or elected official. They do not reserve the right to privacy Thank you All right, that leads us to a motion to adjourn do I hear one all those in favor say aye All right. We are adjourned. Thank you all for being here Hey You I