# Council Work Session - August 12, 2025 > Auto-transcribed civic record · Council · August 12, 2025 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/6514 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/6514?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2025-08-12 - **Body**: Council - **Last revised**: February 14, 2026 - **Length**: 9,193 words - **Speakers**: Mayor > ⚠️ **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 met on August 12, 2025, at 3:00 PM in the Council Chamber in Lexington, KY, with Mayor Gorton presiding. The meeting covered 10 agenda items, spanning a range of legislative and administrative business including rezoning, budget amendments, mayoral appointments, donations, and procurements. The Council heard 1 public comment on agenda items and received at least one informational presentation, the Ad Valorem Presentation, which was not subject to a vote. Across the meeting, 14 motions and votes were taken, with the majority of action items — including docket approval and rezoning, budget amendments, new business, and several communications from the Mayor — receiving approval. The session concluded having addressed all scheduled agenda items. ## Attendance The following 14 members were present at the August 12, 2025 Council meeting: - Wu - Brown - Ellinger II - Morton - Lynch - LeGris - Curtis - Sheehan - Hale - Beasley - Baxter - Sevigny - Reynolds - Boone **Absent:** Gray No members were recorded as late. ## Votes and Decisions All 14 motions brought before the Council on August 12, 2025 passed unanimously. No roll call votes were recorded; individual aye/nay counts were not captured for any item. - **Approval of the July 1, 2025 Council Meeting docket** — Moved by Ellinger, seconded by Curtis. Passed unanimously. [timestamp: 00:04] - **Approval of the Work Session July 1, 2025 table of motions** — Moved by Wu, seconded by Baxter. Passed unanimously. [timestamp: 05:07] - **Approval of Budget Amendments** — Moved by Reynolds, seconded by Wu. Passed unanimously. [timestamp: 06:08] - **Approval of New Business** — Moved by Baxter, seconded by LaGree. Passed unanimously. [timestamp: 06:39] - **Communications from the Mayor – Appointments** — Moved by Baxter, seconded by Sheehan. Passed unanimously. [timestamp: 25:58] - **Communications from the Mayor – Donations** — Moved by Curtis, seconded by Morton. Passed unanimously. [timestamp: 26:29] - **Communications from the Mayor – Procurements** — Moved by Sheehan, seconded by Baxter. Passed unanimously. [timestamp: 26:59] - **Approval of Capital Projects** — Moved by Wu, seconded by Savigny. Passed unanimously. [timestamp: 27:30] - **Set General Services Fund Avaloran Real Property Tax Rate at Option Three** — Moved by Brown, seconded by Ellinger. Passed unanimously. [timestamp: 46:12] - **Set Urban Services Fund Refuse Collection Avaloran Real Property Tax Rate at Option Three** — Moved by Brown, seconded by Reynolds. Passed unanimously. [timestamp: 47:14] - **Place Ordinance on Docket for August 14, 2025 Council Meeting for Tax Rates** — Moved by Brown, seconded by Baxter. Passed unanimously. [timestamp: 47:46] - **Set Public Health Avaloran Real Property Tax Rate** — Moved by Brown, seconded by Baxter. Passed unanimously. [timestamp: 48:52] - **Set Soil and Water Conservation District Avaloran Real Property Tax Rate** — Moved by Brown, seconded by Wu. Passed unanimously. [timestamp: 49:22] - **Schedule Public Hearing for Avalorum Tax Rates** — Moved by Brown, seconded by Morgan. Passed unanimously. [timestamp: 49:55] ## Budget and Financial Actions The Council approved nine financial agreements at the August 12, 2025 meeting, spanning service contracts, emergency repairs, forgivable loans, and advertising expenditures. **Service Agreements with Bluegrass Area Development District** Two purchase of service agreements were approved with the Bluegrass Area Development District: contract L0691-25 for $61,288.30 to cover local member dues, and contract L0692-25 for $48,610 to provide a regional match to state Homecare funds. **Children's and Domestic Services** - Contract L0697-25 authorized a $50,000 renewal of a purchase of service agreement with the **Children's Advocacy Center of the Bluegrass**. - Contract L0705-25 approved a $60,000 agreement with **GreenHouse17, Inc.** for emergency repairs to a fire sprinkler system. **Public Infrastructure Forgivable Loans** The Council approved two Public Infrastructure Program forgivable loan agreements: - L0706-25: $489,613 to **Red Draw Liberty LLC** - L0707-25: $374,051 to **1000 Delaware LLC** **Recruitment and Media Advertising** Three contracts addressed advertising and media placement: - Contract L0729-25 authorized $19,575 with **LinkedIn** for advertising services to promote open positions. - Contract L0730-25 approved a third renewal agreement with **Mackey Group, LLC d/b/a Wiser Strategies** for media placement at $400,000. - Contract L0731-25 approved a first renewal with the **Kentucky Association for Environmental Education** for $648,636.27. In total, the nine financial actions approved at this meeting represent approximately **$2.15 million** in commitments across service delivery, infrastructure investment, emergency maintenance, and public outreach. ## Public Comment At the August 12, 2025 Council meeting, no members of the public came forward to comment on issues appearing on the agenda. [timestamp: 04:00] ## Public Comment - Issues on Agenda [timestamp: 04:00] No members of the public came forward to offer comments on issues appearing on the agenda. ## Docket Approval and Rezoning [timestamp: 04:34] The Council took up docket approval and rezoning items during this portion of the August 12, 2025 meeting. Ellinger and Savigny were the key speakers during this agenda item. The items were approved without dissent. No concerns or debate were recorded in connection with these items. ## Approval of Summary [timestamp: 05:37] The Council took up the approval of the summary from the July 1, 2025 work session. Council members Wu and Baxter were the key speakers during this portion of the meeting. No concerns or substantive debate were noted in connection with the summary. The Council approved the summary of the July 1, 2025 work session. ## Budget Amendments [timestamp: 06:08] The council took up a discussion of budget amendments during the August 12, 2025 meeting. Council members Reynolds and Wu were the key speakers on this item. The council approved the budget amendments as presented. No additional details regarding the specific line items, dollar amounts, or individual amendments are available in the provided record. ## New Business [timestamp: 06:39] The Council took up new business items, with discussion led by Baxter and LaGree. The items presented were approved by the Council. *Note: The available data for this agenda item is limited. For full details on the specific items presented, any debate or concerns raised, and the precise nature of the approvals, viewers are encouraged to consult the meeting video beginning at the timestamp above or review the official meeting minutes when published.* ## Communications From the Mayor – Appointments [timestamp: 25:58] The Council took up the matter of appointments communicated by the Mayor. Baxter and Sheehan were the key speakers during this portion of the meeting. The Council approved the Mayor's appointments. ## Communications From the Mayor – Donations [timestamp: 26:29] The Council took up the item covering donations communicated by the Mayor. The discussion involved key speakers Curtis and Morton, who addressed the donations presented for the Council's consideration. The Council approved the donations as communicated by the Mayor. No additional detail regarding the specific donors, recipients, amounts, or nature of the donations is reflected in the available record for this item. ## Communications From the Mayor – Procurements [timestamp: 26:59] The Council took up the Communications From the Mayor – Procurements agenda item, during which mayoral procurement communications were presented for Council consideration. Sheehan and Baxter were the key speakers during this portion of the meeting. The structured data available for this item does not detail the specific contracts, vendors, or dollar amounts included in the Mayor's procurement communications, nor does it describe particular debate or concerns raised by Council members during the discussion. Based on the available information, the item appears to have moved through the Council without significant controversy. The Council approved the procurements as communicated by the Mayor. > **Note to readers:** The source data for this agenda item is limited. For a full accounting of the specific procurements approved — including vendor names, contract values, and departmental assignments — readers are encouraged to consult the official meeting minutes or the full procurement communication on file with the City Clerk's office, or to view the meeting video beginning at approximately the 26:59 mark. ## Continuing Business/Presentations [timestamp: 27:30] The council took up continuing business and received presentations on ongoing matters during this portion of the August 12, 2025 meeting. Key speakers during this agenda item included Wu and Savigny. The council discussed ongoing capital projects and received reports from committees. No additional detail on the specific projects, committee names, figures, or concerns raised is available in the meeting record for this item. The agenda item was approved by the council. ## Ad Valorem Presentation [timestamp: 29:47] Director Luker presented information to the Council regarding the FY 26 ad valorem process and tax rate options. The presentation was informational in nature, providing the Council with an overview of the ad valorem tax process as it relates to the upcoming fiscal year. No vote or formal action was taken as a result of this presentation. The item served as an informational briefing for Council members on the available tax rate options for FY 26. --- ## Decisions - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve the August 14, 2025 Council Meeting Docket - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve the July 1, 2025 Work Session Summary - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve Budget Amendments - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve New Business - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve Communications from the Mayor – Appointments - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve Communications from the Mayor – Donations - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve Communications from the Mayor – Procurements - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve Council Capital Projects - **Motion** — passed (0-0): set the General Services Fund ad valorem real property tax rate at Option 3; to set the General Services Fund ad valorem personal property tax rate including public service companies, noncommercial aircraft, and noncommercial watercraft at Option 3; and, to set the General Services Fund ad valorem tax rates for motor vehicles, tobacco in storage, agricultural products in storage, insurance companies’ capital, and abandoned urban property at the same rates as the prior fiscal year (the current rates)(.088, .015, .045, .15, and 1.00) - **Motion** — passed (0-0): set the Urban Services Fund – Refuse Collection ad valorem real property tax rate at Option 3; to set the Urban Services Fund – Street Lights ad valorem real property tax rate at Option 3; to set the Urban Services Fund – Street Cleaning ad valorem real property tax rate at Option 3; and, to set the Urban Services Fund – Public Service Companies ad valorem tax rate at Option 3 (the combined amount of the 3 urban service rates) and Insurance Co. Capital at .0920, the same rate as the prior fiscal year - **Motion** — passed (0-0): place on the docket for the Thursday, August 14, 2025 Council Meeting an ordinance pertaining to all of the tax rates for general services and urban services as provided in the respective amounts from the above motions and levying them at these rates on each $100 of assessed valuation - **Motion** — passed (0-0): set the public health ad valorem real property tax rate at 0.0243 and the public health ad valorem personal property tax rate at 0.0243, and to place an ordinance on the docket for the Thursday, August 14, 2025 Council Meeting levying the taxes at these rates on each $100 of assessed valuation - **Motion** — passed (0-0): set the soil and water conservation district ad valorem real property tax rate at 0.001, and to place an ordinance on the docket for the Thursday, August 14, 2025 Council Meeting levying the tax at this rate on each $100 of assessed valuation - **Motion** — passed (0-0): schedule a public hearing on all of these ad valorem tax rates for the August 28, 2025 Council Meeting at 6 p.m - **Motion** — passed (0-0): place the sewer clean out reimbursement program into the EQPW Committee - **Motion** — passed (0-0): adjourn at 4:03 p.m --- ## Full transcript ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Welcome everyone. It's 3 o'clock. Today is Tuesday, August 12, 2025. And I'd like to go ahead and call to order the Lexington-Fayette-Urban County Council Work Session. And the first item on our agenda is public comment for issues on the agenda. And it looks like we have no one signed up. We do have until 3.30. So if someone does come and sign up, we'll circle back and have public comment. Next is docket approval and rezoning, and I'll entertain a motion. Thank you. Council Member Ellinger and seconded by Council Member Savigny. Are there any questions, additions, things you want to put on to the docket, Council Members? Welcome back from your break. All right. All those in favor of approving the docket, say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? All right. That motion passes. Next, we have the work session July 1, 2025 table of motions. Vice Mayor Wu moves to approve. Council Member Baxter seconds. Are there any corrections or additions? All right. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right. That motion passes. And that brings us to budget amendments, which we have quite a few. I'll entertain a motion to approve. Motion approved. Council Member Reynolds, seconded by Vice Mayor Wu. Please log in if you have questions. All right. I see none. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right. That motion passes. Thank you. For your information only, we have some budget adjustments. And that brings us to new business. Is there a motion? Council Member Baxter and Council Member LaGree seconds. Please log in with your questions. Council Member LaGree. Thank you, Mayor. My question is about item FF. I believe Ms. Peacher is here. Hi. Welcome, Brandy. Brandy, I know you and I talked about this a little bit, but would you be willing to share an overview of this item and maybe a little bit more about the engagement process with downtown stakeholders and what to expect in terms of timeline? Sure. Thank you, Council Member. So this item is in regards to $90,000 that is being granted to LFUCG from the Triangle Foundation. This money is purposely for a study or a plan to look at Main Street and Vine Street, not including the Town Branch Common Side, but those portions of downtown and what we can do to enhance those pedestrian, bike, and driving experiences in downtown. More than anything, I think it's about having a cohesive look for our plantings, our amenities, our wayfinding signage, all of the various things that add to that streetscape. It's been quite some time since that has been looked at. As far as engagement is concerned, this is not going to be done in a vacuum. We understand the downtown master plan is underway, and we intend to lean into the findings of that and coordinate with that group as this effort gets underway. And then we will, of course, work with key downtown stakeholders. Yet all of that to be defined. We are writing up an RFP right now that we hope to release fairly soon with a call back for that this summer, late summer, early fall, and get things going. My hope would be we could wrap it up this year with the plan, but yet to be seen if that's how consultants feel as well. Great. Thank you very much. This is really positive, and we're appreciative to you for your work and to the Triangle Foundation. Thank you. Sounds great. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. That's it. Thank you. Council Member Reynolds. Thank you, Mayor. I had a few questions. The first is on item J. I don't know if Commissioner Ford could answer this. This is about the new emergency service access to the- Director Conrad. Director Conrad, sorry. Hello. About the access to the boat ramp. And my question is, will the park now always have a gate that will close at dark, or is this specifically just for emergency access? Great question. Thank you, Council Member. Yes, so this particular gate and access from the current gate to the boat ramp will be utilized by emergency services. So when they're doing training, when they've done rescues for Raven Run, it'll be solely for that use. The long-term plan, of course, calls for different entry and access. But for now, this is just for the emergency access piece. Okay. Thank you so much. You're welcome. I appreciate you answering my question. And then the next is on item Z. I see Director Heron. I don't know if Commissioner Lanter's here, who wants to answer that question. Hi, Director. Thank you. My question is, so this was for, we're talking about an agreement with the housing authority. And that we, I guess it was we had funds to try to help work with landlords, is that right? Yes, we had funded them to do landlord engagement and recruitment for our homeless assistance programs. And so this is, we're talking about extending that because the funds were not used, is that correct? Correct. Roughly about 118,000 in funds were expended out of an award of 300,000. So rather than go ahead and renew the agreement, we want to extend the period of performance. And see how they do at hitting their target outcomes before we look at potentially renewing it. There was significant time on the front end of the project in identifying initial staff. And then that staff member left, unfortunately. And so for probably roughly about half the term, they were without a staff in this position. They do have a very enthusiastic new team member that I'm hopeful will be able to reinvigorate the program. Great, and if it doesn't work out for some reason and we don't use this money, then we'll look at other options. Yes, they do not have an automatic renewal on their agreement. We would have to bring another agreement back here. So it's contingent upon how the Program Performance and Evaluation Committee of the HBI Board feels about their outcomes. Sounds like a great program, so I hope it works out. We're really hopeful. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Lynch. Thank you, Mayor. I have a couple of questions about two items that are parks and recreation related. So if Director Conrad, if you don't mind to come to the podium. And they are items B as in bike and I as in incredible. Oh. My first question on item B, I was just curious, where will this project take place? Yes, Council Member, this is a memorandum of understanding between KIMBA, the Kentucky Mountain Biking Association, and Parks and Recreation. So we've had an agreement. This is just a new agreement that spells out their trail maintenance as it relates to our mountain biking trails at Veterans and Deer Haven. But as we expand those, we would include those as well. Okay, awesome. And then item I, I'm very excited about item I. That's why I said incredible. How many agreements do we still lack to be signed? I know we have several. It looks like we still have five agreements that are not signed. Can you remind me which? It looks like Coulivan, Georgetown Street, Green Acres, Highlands, and MLK. Okay, thank you so much. You're welcome. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Sheehan. Thank you, Mayor. I would like to ask about item O. This might be Mr. Atkins or Mr. Benz. If we're going for, like Council Member Lynch just said, I will say O for outstanding. So this is for a project that is an infill project on underutilized land in my district. It's a mixed-use development with housing. So I'm very excited to see this moving forward. Could you tell me a little bit about this public infrastructure program loan? Sure. So as you said, it's a mixed-use project. It's infill. It's a brownfield project. They applied for public infrastructure funding in the amount of $374,051 for some shared and public parking, a sidewalk, and related earthwork, pavers, and curb and gutter improvements on the site. The total project cost is about $5.5 million, so it's a great investment in the community there. They're creating 12 affordable units out of 32 total residential dwelling units there. And they'll also have two 1,500-square-foot commercial spaces on the site. They're expected to create at least 13 permanent full-time jobs, which made them eligible for this program. Great. I'm happy that you were able to provide this funding in this way to move this project along. So thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Morton. Thank you. So I'll first start off with Commissioner Casey Allen Bryant for C&D. And I guess just while you're coming, so what type of resources does this membership entitle LFUCG to? And then in return, what do we believe the benefits, the return on investment is for this membership? Excuse me. Hello, Council Member Morton. So I wish I could give you more information. Social Services basically just handles this agreement. A lot of the services that LFUCG receives is in terms of our economic development and work development and our regional planning, which, of course, we don't do, but we do handle the agreement for it. We could possibly give you some additional names to contact if you want very specific information about the various programs that utilize these funds. Your other question was what? To have to see, it was just like what is the return on investment? Well, you kind of mentioned it, but we need more information. Right, right, right. So like I said, we basically just handle the agreement. Great, great. So I look forward to getting just the return on investment, whatever we can get. Sorry, we have a board member here. Council Member, Commissioner Ford serves on the Bluegrass Ad Executive Board. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member. Thank you, Commissioner. Our agreement with Bluegrass Ad is two parts. One primarily is in Commissioner Allen-Bryant. That's the grant match for our home care program. That's a long program that we've always utilized. Our membership, which we're glad now, Mayor, to be in restored order, really allows us to foster those partnerships with the ad. One example of that is the agreement that I think for the project that we have down in Berea, Mayor, with the regional park. That's an example of our government working closely with mayors and county judges, executives in our region to foster regionalism and support the community. So we're very glad that our relationship with the ad is going so well. We look forward to continuing it. Okay. And then I guess there's some resources that are citywide that our constituents can reach. Yes, indeed. I think I also failed to mention our planning staff in regards to transportation planning. Those are other examples where our government works in a collaborative fashion with the ad to provide the resources that our residents benefit from. Okay, cool. And then still on the same notion. So it looks like we're going to commit to a grant but not know the full cost of service or the match required. So can you talk a little bit about that? Just item D. Right. So that amount has been unchanged, at least for my tenure here, and it's funded in our mayor's budget. And we have the grant matches the same as well from year after year. Okay, cool. And then how do citizens access the service? Is there information about the program to share on media? How do they access the service? Right, so it would be through their website. I know you had asked for specific websites for them to go to. Given the hour that you sent me the request, I'd have to get that back to you. Cool, thank you. Moving on, we'll go to item P. Thank you. How long is this grant funded at 100%? Good afternoon, Council Member. My name is Mario Cheek. I'm sitting in today for Director Patton. This grant is funded until September 30th of 2026 at 100%. Okay. And can you just talk a little bit about what the position will do and then how this position will interface with our paramedicine team? Sure, absolutely. So this position allows us to put a triage worker directly in the 911 comm center. This individual will be responsible for handling calls from our citizens who are in mental health situations. And those who don't necessarily need a first responder at the time, they'll be able to facilitate the needs that they have to paramedicine or other organizations. Great, thank you. And just, I'm in major support of this position. We spoke about this when we were talking about expanding the crisis response. And I think this is going to be a great tool and a great resource for paramedicine, but then also a great resource for our community. So thank you. Thank you, sir. And then, I think I got 18 seconds. We'll go down to item U. And I'll ask it before my time runs out. Can you speak to what positions are being transferred out of the mayor's office? And then what is the reason for this move? Do you anticipate any positions being moved out of the mayor's office in the future? The positions that we are moving out of the mayor's office are the positions for Global Lex. And after a review of what that program does, it's a better fit to be in social services as opposed to the mayor's office. And so that's the reason for the move. And as far as I know, there is no plan to move any additional positions out of the mayor's office at this time or in the future. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Brown. Thank you, Mayor. My question is for item EE. And it looks like it's the Valley Park building renovation. I know Council Member Reynolds and her neighbors are excited about it. It sounds like it's a change or an increase. I guess my question is, is this something that was identified from the ADA review of our properties, the need to make this change at this facility since we're already renovating it? And is the funding for it just cost savings in the project from the builder being efficient? Yes, sir, Council Member. I can't speak to definitely if this particular area was addressed in the ADA plan. But it is something that our team and Lisa, who's managed the project, noted from the first day we started looking at the project was that we needed better access. Anytime we go into these projects, we try to find ways and efficiencies if we already have a contractor on site to improve that access. So this was through BMI Builds. They've done an amazing job managing the project. We saw some cost savings and found ways to not only improve accessibility, but also improve the parking areas. Okay. Yeah, it looks like a real beneficial change or addition to this project. And I just wanted to know if the ADA study was already paying off and whether or not the builder was saving us money by efficiently building this project out. So thanks for that. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Savigny. Thank you, Mayor. I just have a question on X. That's CEO Hamilton or Director George. The one thing that kind of sparked my interest on this, it was a, it looks like we abolished a position and created a higher level position. And do I understand that the fiscal impact of this of $22,000, 544, is that unbudgeted? Is it unbudgeted? Is that what you said? Yeah, because it didn't say it's budget neutral. And I just am curious, what happened here? There are some attrition dollars in the personnel budget for the law department that they'll be able to use to pay for the change in this position. Okay. All right. Thank you very much. That's all I had. Okay. Thank you. Vice Mayor Wu. Thank you, Mayor. I have a question about item Z, as in zebra. Is that Mr. Heron, maybe? Can you just tell us a little bit more about this Landlord Engagement and Recruitment Program? Yes. So this project was funded for a project that would help recruit landlords to be paired with homeless assistance programs that could be either directly through Lexington Housing Authority, such as Section 8 and other programs, but primarily for our coordinated entry system serving those that are experiencing literal homelessness. We had significant wait times that have continued to increase between enrollment and move-in, primarily due to barriers and identification of affordable housing units to be paired with assistance. So this program funds a full-time landlord liaison who can help to actually outreach and recruit landlords to participate, can help walk them through paperwork and processes, through trainings and briefings, offers incentives for enrolling new units or for new landlords coming on board, and also has some funds to help households going through that process with security deposits. Can you give us a sense of how many landlords participate in this program? Yeah. So far, they've recruited five new landlords in the first year and added 20 new units to the program. Again, with there being some significant time that they did not have a staff in the position. What that has translated into is roughly 66 households that were previously experiencing homelessness moving into housing. All right. Thank you for that. I look forward to seeing this program grow. Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Morton. Thank you. I'll talk about item Z as well. You're getting your steps in, Jeff. Thank you. Can you just talk about how recruitment is going and some of the barriers that it's being faced within that, I guess you'd say? So some of those questions would need to be directed to Lexington Housing Authority as the operator of the program. Largely, a lot of what we typically deal with would be things like the fact that our programs are limited to paying values that would meet HUD's fair market rent levels, which typically are lower than our average rents for almost every unit size. And then some of the other barriers are typically concerns, whether valid or not, about the length of time that it takes for certain processes and paperwork, inspections. Essentially that people have a belief that it's going to be a lengthy delay in getting their units rented. And that's part of what we're trying to combat. And then stigma around working with this population. Thank you. Thank you. To item Y, Ms. Glenda again. Yes, ma'am. Not the whole thing, just the Black and Williams, well, the community resident position. Think about what that position is going to be. In item Y, excuse me, letter Y. Council member, that recreation supervisor is primarily going to coordinate the activities in the gym, the recently renovated gym at the Black and Williams Center. Cool, just want to make sure that's what it's for. Sure. And that's it. Thank you. Thank you very much. All right, that brings us to a vote. All those in favor of new business, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? Aye. All right, that motion passes. I need to recuse on item M. All right. But yes on the rest. Item M, thank you. Because I'm on the greenhouse board. Okay, thank you very much. Next, council, we have communications from the mayor. First is appointments. Thank you. Vice mayor moves. Is there a second? Council member Hale seconded. Any questions? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Next, communications from the mayor is donations. Could I have a motion? Thank you. Council member Curtis, is there a second? Council member Morton seconds. Are there any questions? All right, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Next, communications from the mayor is procurements. Could I have a motion? Council member Sheehan moves. Council member Baxter seconds. Are there any questions? All right, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? That motion passes. That brings us to continuing business presentations. First, I'll entertain a motion for the capital projects. Vice mayor moves. Council member Savigny seconds. Council members, do you have any questions? All right, all those in favor, please say aye. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Next, I'd like to call on council member Lagree for the environmental quality and public works report. Thank you, mayor. The meeting of the environmental quality and public works committee on June 10th, 2025, was called to order at 1 p.m. The May 13th, 2025, committee summary was approved unanimously with no additions or corrections. Jada Griggs, sustainability program manager, presented the empower Lexington plan as it pertains to the emissions reduction plan and the race to net zero. The plan focuses on three main areas, environment, people, and the economy. Ms. Griggs shared that achieving net zero means balancing emissions produced by human activity and those absorbed or offset. She also highlighted partner organizations focused on building resiliency and noted that the greenhouse gas emissions inventory was reactivated in calendar year 2021. Griggs shared that next steps will include a focus on shaping the kind of city we want Lexington to be for future generations, which will require a collective effort from all of Lexington Fayette County. No action was taken on this item. Heather Wilson, urban forestry section manager, provided a summary of last year's urban forestry presentation, and then reviewed the responsibilities of the urban forestry team. She explained that the city offers a financial incentive program to remove and replace trees in the public right of way easement. Funding is limited to a first come, first served basis. Wilson highlighted the seasonal street tree clearance and pruning program and shared district level statistics. When asked about additional funding, she noted an interest in establishing a separate program that specifically addressed tree replacements. No action was taken on this item. Our last item, HB 443, updates to the engineering manual and dumpster service standards, was reported out at the June 10th, 2025 work session. The meeting adjourned at 2.39 PM, and Mayor, that concludes my report out. Thank you. Thank you very much. Does anyone have any questions for Council Member Legere? All right, thank you. All right, next is the ad valorem presentation, and Director Luker will make that presentation. Welcome. Good afternoon. And hopefully the ones of you all that attended the workshop yesterday, I didn't bore you too much, and you're back and ready to talk about this again today. So let's get started. So here's an overview of what we're going to do today. This is just a presentation that goes through our FY 26 ad valorem process and how we're going to set those rates today. So the schedule we have is dictated by state statute. This sets the deadline for establishing the final tax rates. The packet that's provided, that we've provided to you, included a proposed calendar that was based on our certification date of July 22nd, which is noted as day one in red on this calendar on the screen. We're required to set the property tax rates within 45 days, which day 45 is September 4th. This proposed timeline will keep us in compliance with our 45 day requirement and other statutes. Based on this calendar, the rates are scheduled to be decided today. First reading would be Thursday. We would have advertisements on the 15th and 19th. And then the second reading in a public hearing would need to be at the council meeting on August 28th. The taxing districts we're going to discuss today, we have our LFUCG districts, which are the general services district, which is paid by all property owners in Fayette County. We have our urban services districts, which are paid only by the property owners who receive the services. And those are for refuse collection, street lights, and street cleaning. We also have three special taxing districts, the soil and water conservation, agricultural extension, and the health department. So what is an abalorum? So an abalorum is a tax based on the assessed value of an item, such as real estate or personal property. The way that we calculate the abalorum tax is based on every $100 of the value of the property. So in Lexington, for this calendar year, the average home price is $260,000. So in order to get what the tax cost based on the rate, you would take $260,000 and divide it by 100, and you get 2,600. So you would take 2,600 and multiply that by whatever the tax rate is for the services. And we'll show you illustrations of that later on in the presentation. If anybody wants more information, the sheriff's office, she has a great frequently asked questions page that you can look at. And lots of reference material on there if you really want to dig in and read a lot about it. So we just like to show the tax rates for other various municipalities in Kentucky. So these tax rates that are listed on this chart are real property rates only, and it does not reflect the total tax burden for households. So there are other taxes outside of the ones that are local governments. For comparison purposes, the Lexington city rate is the full urban services rate, and the county rate in this chart is the combination of the general services, health department, LexTran, extension, soil and conservation rates. These rates don't include the school rates and they don't include the state rates. So as you can see, Lexington County has the sixth lowest tax rate among the contiguous counties and other large cities, counties around the state. We also like to show a comparison of the real estate taxes for Lexington. So this is for the prior fiscal year because the rates are not set yet for FY 26. So of this, of the tax bill, 80% goes elsewhere other than the city. The city only gets about 20% of that, and only about 6% of that goes to the general fund. So the majority of a tax bill in Fayette County goes outside of the city, doesn't come into us. So this chart shows our real estate values and how they've grown. You can see the value of real estate for FY 26 is $39.7 billion. That's a 6% increase over FY 25 certified assessments. It was $37.56 billion for FY 25. The 6% increase is more than the assessment increase that we had in the adopted budget of 4%. So the avalor of options that we have for consideration, that we've prepared for you to consider is the compensating rate, which gives approximately the same amount of revenue as prior years for existing properties. Any revenue increases are derived from new property. The plus 4% rate is the House Bill 44 rate, and isn't subject to voter recall, but does require a public hearing. If we set rates above the 4% revenue increase for existing properties, it's subject to voter recall within 45 days if a petition is signed by 10% of voters in the last presidential election. Which is 14,547 signatures. Setting the rate above 4% would also lead to having two separate property tax bills. So here are our options for the general fund. So the first option is all rates remain the same as last year. This option provides an increase in budgeted revenue in the amount of about $485,990, which is net of the increase to the library. This rate is higher than the 4% increase allowed, so it would be subject to voter recall and would require two property tax bills sent out. Option two is the compensating rate, which would decrease our real estate to 0.073 and personal property to 0.0886. These rates would decrease our revenue by $684,000, and that's net of what we have to pay the library. Option three is the 4% rate, and it decreases the real estate rate from 0.076 to 0.075, it increases the personal property rate to 0.0911. This rate does require a public hearing. It would increase our revenue by $158,990, net of what we pay the library. Please note, while we're talking about an increase in revenues, this option, in effect, decreases the rate charged for real property in Lexington for the general fund. The Vacant Property Review Commission has established $1 per $100 evaluation for abandoned urban property. This tax will apply to 45 parcels of land in Lexington for the current fiscal year. So if we look at the average $260,000 house that we mentioned earlier, this is an illustration of what each option would look like for that $260,000 house. This is the rate that the residents would pay. So you can see, prior year rates, keeping rates the same, is about $2.60 more than option three. And then option two lowers the rate by about $8. The administration is recommending option three, which is the House Bill 44 allowable 4% rate. So now we have the Urban Services Fund. Ad valorem is the largest category of revenue to the Urban Services Fund, nearly 90% of all revenues. Property owners in the urban service area have one or more of the services, which are the refuse, streetlights, and street cleaning. Option one is the prior year rates. It would keep all the rates the same and would increase our budgeted revenue by $1,129,000. This option would be subject to voter recall for refuse collection and would require two property tax bills. Option two is the compensating rate. This rate generates approximately the same amount of revenue for existing properties. This rate would decrease the service rates for refuse and streetlights as well as the PSC rate, which is the sum of the three urban services, but it would maintain the same rate for street cleaning. This option decreases revenues by $1,586,000. Option three is the House Bill 44 rate, and this would decrease the rates for refuse and then the Public Service Commission because you're decreasing one of those. But it would maintain the current rate for streetlights and street cleaning. This would generate an additional $452,000 in additional revenue. Option four is an option we didn't have in the general services, but we do in urban services, is a cost of service rate. So cost of service each year standing alone without using fund balance. A cost of service rate would generate approximately $1.8 million in additional revenue. The rate for refuse collection under this option requires a public hearing and is subject to voter recall, and it would require two property tax bills. So options one, three, and four require a public hearing because they exceed the compensating rate. Options one and four are also subject to voter recall because they exceed the 4% rate and they would require two property tax bills. Here are what those options look like with the various services. So you can see what that does for each service with each option. The administration is recommending option three, which is the House Bill 44 allowable 4% option. And now, we emailed this to you all this afternoon as we got the last of the agency's rates today. Soil and water conservation, they're requesting to maintain their current rate. The extension is requesting the compensating rate, so council's not required to approve their rate. You all don't have to take action regarding that one. And then health is requesting to maintain their rate as well. Are there any questions? Melissa, thank you very much. And we'll get some questions here in a second, I imagine. Council Member Brown. Thank you, Mayor. And thank you, Melissa, for the presentation and your work. And thank you, Commissioner, and your whole team for putting on the workshop yesterday. I think just giving council members an opportunity to better understand what we're being asked to do today and have the opportunity to ask questions, I think, which is beneficial going forward. So my question is in regards to the urban services fund and the refuse collection. With knowing what we have down the road with the wage rates that we increased out at the Department of Waste Management and then with the landfill fees going forward. What was the consideration for reducing that tax rate with the challenges that we have going forward? So that's a great question, because when you look at the cost of service rate and then you see what we're recommending as the 4% allowable. We have had a lot of changes going on with our division of waste management. And in the FY 26 budget, we have included funds for a waste efficiency study. And so we want to see how that study plays out. We also, we've not had but one month into our new contract for our waste hauling. So we don't feel like we have enough new data yet to recommend increasing that rate. We want to give this year and see we were able to have a balanced budget for FY 26. And so we didn't feel comfortable until we had a little bit more data on what the new hauling contract would be. Let's see what this waste efficiency study shows. Let's let the new director have some more time in there to get things going. And so there were a lot of things that we discussed whenever we were talking about setting the rate for refuse. Okay, so you all feel comfortable with what you're recommending for us to approve knowing what's before us, you think the efficiency study. And then just waiting to see how things shake out will give us enough time to make better decisions going forward. We do, we feel comfortable this fiscal year. All right, thanks for that explanation. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Ellinger. Thank you, Mayor. And actually, that's the question I wanted to follow because I think that was the most glaring because a few years ago we took care of the street lights, so that's kind of paying for itself. But it looks like with the refuse collection, what is the number? About 1.3 million, is that just doing math that it comes up a little shorter? It's about 80% of the number, so yeah. Okay, so that was the one that I was glaring. And you mentioned it, but at one point we were 0.08, then we went to 0.078, then we went 0.076, and now we're at 0.075. I wish every institution in this community would do the same thing that we're doing. Not raise it, but try to do what we can to lower it. Since we have home prices are going up, and assessments are going up, and we have more housing than more real estate. So you would hope that we could live with insider means, and hopefully not have to increase the revenues, but actually try to decrease the cost that we're doing for our constituents. So thank you for bringing this forward to us, and thanks again for that workshop. It was very helpful. You're welcome. Council Member Savigny. Thank you so much for this, and I'm really on the same page since I was the EQPW link chair. I mean, this is something that we brought up that we were running that business kind of at a loss. We're dipping into our fund balance for that fund every year. And perhaps this year, if I'm so lucky to be on the EQPW link again, maybe we can think a little bit more ahead about how this might play out. And maybe look at some alternatives so that we can get that business. And hopefully some of these studies will help us get it more in line with what we have. Because we all know that you can't run a business at a negative, you can only do that for so long. So, I appreciate all the hard work. Thank you. Council Member Lynch. Thank you, Mayor. With the administration's recommendations, will those recommendations cause two bills to go out to our neighbors, or one? No, our recommendations would result in one bill. Okay, thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Are there any other questions? If not, I believe Council Member Brown has some motions. Thank you, Mayor. And based off of the administration's recommendations, I'm going to make these motions in regards to the Avaloran tax rate. So starting with general services, I move to set the general services fund Avaloran real property tax rate at option three. I move to set the general services Avaloran personal property tax rate, including public service companies, non-commercial aircraft, and non-commercial watercraft, at option three. And I move to set the general services fund Avaloran tax rates for motor vehicles, tobacco in storage, agricultural products in storage, insurance companies, capital, and abandoned urban property at the same rates as the prior fiscal year. The current rates, 0.088, 0.015, 0.045, and 0.15, and point, I'm sorry, and 1.00. So moved. Second. Thank you, Council Member Ellinger. Seconds. Are there questions to the motion? Anything? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, thank you, that passes. All right, thank you, Mayor. And urban services. I move to set the urban services fund, refuse collection Avaloran real property tax rate at option three. I move to set the urban services fund street lights Avaloran real property tax rate at option three. I move to set the urban services fund street cleaning Avaloran real property tax rate at option three. I move to set the urban services fund, public service companies Avaloran tax rate at option three. The combined amounts of the three urban services rates and insurance company capital at 0.0920 the same rate as the prior fiscal year. So move. Council Member Reynolds seconds. Are there questions? All right, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? Thank you, that passes. All right, and then the ordinance for all of LFUCG taxes. I move to place on the docket for the Thursday, August 14th, 2025 council meeting an ordinance pertaining to all of the tax rates for general services and urban services as provided in the respective amounts from the above motions. And levying them at these rates on each $100 of assessed valuation. So move. Second. Thank you, Council Member Baxter seconds. Are there questions? All right, all those in favor, say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? All right, thank you, that passes. Thank you, Council Member Brown. Okay, then next we'll move to special districts. I move to set the Public Health Avalor and Real Property Tax Rate at 0.0243 and the Public Health Avalor and Personal Property Tax Rate at 0.0243. And to place an ordinance on the docket for the Thursday, August 14th, 2025 council meeting levying the taxes at these rates on each $100 of assessed valuation. So move. See, I heard a few seconds, Council Member Baxter. Okay, is there any question? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. And I move to set the Soil and Water Conservation District Avalor and Real Property Tax Rate at 0.001 and to place an ordinance on the docket for the Thursday, August 14th, 2025 council meeting levying the tax at this rate on each $100 of assessed valuation. So move. Second. Vice Mayor Wu seconds. Any questions? All right, all those in favor, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Thank you. And I further move to schedule a public hearing on all of these Avalorum tax rates for the August 28, 2025 council meeting at 6 PM. So move. Second. Council Member Morgan seconds. Are there questions? All right, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Thank you very much, and Director, Commissioner, and your staff, thank you so much for your good work. Appreciate it. Now it's time for council reports. Council Member Sheehan. Thank you, Mayor. I have two announcements. First is, as you have heard in the press conference today, a subcommittee is being formed for the review of our boards and commissions. As chair of our general government and planning committee, I'm officially announcing the appointments for that subcommittee. It will be co-chaired by Vice Mayor Wu and Council Member Lynch. And Council Member Brown and Council Member Curtis will be members of that subcommittee. And then my second item is to place an item into committee. There have been issues with aging infrastructure where a community member has a sanitary sewer overflow inside their home, and there have been limitations on where our LFUCG staff can go on private property to assess a sewer line. So if an access point is placed in a location on the edge of the property line, it would make it easier for our LFUCG staff to be able to evaluate where a problem is occurring. So I've been talking with Director Martin about a potential program to help with this issue that he would like to present to council. So I move to place into EQPW committee the Sewer Cleanout Reimbursement Program. All right, excuse me, we have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? All right, that passes. That's all I have today, thank you. Okay, thank you very much. Council Member Morton. Thank you. Do this all in one report, hopefully. Council has been on recess. The first district office has been anything but idle. My team and I have been out in the community, connecting with residents, supporting events, and keeping the work moving forward. So let's run through some of the events that we were privileged to attend. Starting off with the tour of the Kilrus Food Forest. I kicked off the recess with a tour alongside Mr. Nachi and the DES team, exploring how intentional land stewardship can feed communities and foster sustainability. Moving on to Civic Lex Field Day. My team tabled at Castlewood Park, meeting residents where they are, and sharing resources, but ultimately, at most, having fun. Then moving on to Windburn Public Safety Day. So we attended the event at Community Action Facility in Windburn, connecting residents with first responders, safety resources, and prevention programs. Building those relationships between public safety and communities who have historically not trusted. And then we also had, and that's Adam, Officer NRO Adam Dunn, a great guy, a privilege to have him in our area, a great guy. So moving on to the Green Acres meeting that we had with the engineering team. The engineering team joined us for a discussion on the Asbury and Citation Project that may or may not come into Green Acres to discuss the future of their neighborhood, but then also what they want, and community engagement at its finest. I appreciate the engineering team coming out and doing that. The YMCA Power Scholars. I had the chance to speak with young leaders about civic engagement and community leadership. They are not just our present, they are our future, and I will continue to say that. Councilman Beasley and I got to drop the Real Talk, Real Change podcast, our fifth episode featuring, like I said, Councilman Beasley. This episode blends thoughtful conversations about youth engagement with a dose of humor that's sure to keep you engaged. Super Sunday at Douglas Park. I joined the community tradition, which brought neighbors together for fellowship, resources, and celebration, but most importantly, basketball. Health First event. I connected with residents around wellness, prevention, and access to care. The Festivals of Neighborhoods, which was put on by our partners for youth, they're doing such great things. We celebrate a community partnership at Charles Young Park, highlighting the people and programs that strengthen Lexington, but most importantly, strengthen our youth. The council comment with AME Church. This actual Sunday is actually their 204th anniversary, and we got to do a council comment about the church and the history of the church. Specifically, the fact that it was part of pretty much protecting slaves, the Underground Railroad. So that was an amazing council comment. Part one is out, part two is coming, I encourage you to check it out. Moving on to grilling and chilling at Coogan Park. My staff supported youth activities partnership with Food Chain right in Coogan, right in the heart of our first district. The Relay Race at Alcove Apartments. My staff attended and supported an inaugural event, a fun way for leadership to engage youth and promote healthy activities right in Windburn at the back of the port. As you can see, our youth are pretty important to me, and they are, like I said earlier, the present, but then also they are the future. We must wrap our arms around them. And then the NBC Leo Conference in Texas. So the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials, I wrapped up the recess alongside Council Member Lynch and Council Member Hill, sharing strategies with other African American elected officials all over the nation to protect equitable policies. But most importantly, to make sure that we are moving forward with our ideas, with our strategies, and how to move our district and city forward, alongside with many other events. The current place event, Nature in Your Park, Partners for Youth Banquet, a lot more. It was a great, great recess. So we got a lot more work in store, and a lot more work to do. So with that being said, we've been here about eight months, and my summer update will be out soon, highlighting all the work happening in our office, from legislative items to community impact. Plus, we're launching a weekly recap video to keep you connected and informed on everything happening, not just at this council, at this horseshoe, but then also in District 1. So as promised, I will be an accessible leader, show up, be responsive, share information and resources to our neighborhoods, but most importantly, address all of our challenges head on through innovative solutions. So our promise remains the same. I will support, uplift, and defend all of our neighborhoods, and nothing will or has changed. So thank you. Thank you, Vice Mayor Wu. Thank you, Mayor. Chris, I think we have some photos here. I wanted to share some sad news for Lexington. Tony Bruzate, there in the picture, died unexpectedly this weekend. I met Tony and his wife Jessica during my 2022 campaign for council. If you go back to that first slide, this was the night of election night before the returns came in. And I gave them an award for being the power couple on my team, because between the two of them, they knocked hundreds of doors and put up dozens of signs for me. And I wouldn't be up here today without them, without Tony. Tony was also a dedicated public school math teacher at the learning center and was just voted teacher of the year for this past academic year. He was an avid environmentalist and bird lover. He was constantly trying to put a pair of binoculars around my neck. And he was the president of the Central Kentucky Audubon Society. He was an advocate for social justice. He was a wonderful teacher, a loving husband, a friend, a neighbor, a funny guy, and occasionally a snazzy dresser. And those of us left behind by his untimely passing can only hope to live a life that Tony would be proud of, so. Thank you. Thank you very much. Council Member Lynch. Thank you, Mayor. I would like to thank Council Member Sheehan, Chair Sheehan, for helping us come together for our boards and commissions subcommittee. We had a great press conference this morning announcing to the public the formation of our subcommittee to look at the city's boards and commissions. So I would like to extend an invitation to all of our neighbors to come out and attend our subcommittee meetings and be engaged in this work along with Council Member James Brown, Council Member Curtis, and my co-chair, Vice Mayor Wu, on this subcommittee. Also, if you are not a member of a city board or commission, I would like to go ahead and invite you to go to the city's website, lexingtonky.gov, and apply to be on one of the city's boards and commissions. And then lastly, I'd like to invite my colleagues, although you may not be on the subcommittee, we still value your input and your feedback, so do plan to attend some of our subcommittee meetings and give us input as we try to shape and make our boards and commissions more efficient and accessible and transparent for our community. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Reynolds. Thank you, Mayor. Welcome back, everybody. It's good to be back. I am going to have a few announcements of things coming up. I'm not going to go over what I've been up to the past few months. But I first wanted to place an item in committee. Most of you know that at the beginning of the summer, there was a tragedy in my district related to carbon monoxide poisoning. One person died and a lot of people went to the hospital. Therefore, I am placing in the Social Services and Public Safety Committee looking at updating requirements for requiring carbon monoxide detectors in housing units. Then I'm just going to mention a few things coming up in the next week so people can get back in the swing of things. Tonight is the Meadowthorpe Neighborhood Association meeting. It is at 7 PM there at the Meadowthorpe Community Center. And then tomorrow, Wednesday the 13th, is the Historical Western Suburbs Neighborhood Association meeting. That's from 6 to 9 at 715 West Short Street. If you are in that neighborhood, then you are welcome to attend. Friday the 15th at 7 PM at Main on Main is Arbor Youth Services fundraiser. So if you don't have plans, please come out and support Arbor Youth Services with a fun time and some great auction items. And then Saturday the 16th, Partners for Youth is having another festival of neighbors in Valley Park. And that will be from 1 to 3 PM. So I'm going to go stop by and I hope folks in that neighborhood will join me and have a great little festival. On Sunday the 17th from 1 to 4, there will be a health fair at Centro de San Juan Diego, and that is a figure that they hold annually with different partners to try to reach out to the community. And also, they hope to have language accessible activities as well. Thank you very much. Thank you. Council Member Brown. Thank you, Mayor. And hearing Vice Mayor Wu talk about his friend and passing and losing a community treasure made me think about somebody in my neighborhood just recently. I know a lot of y'all know Trevor Klaber and Farmer Brown, I know his mother passed recently. And she was someone who, to me, encouraged me to serve our community through the Neighborhood Association and was supportive. So I think anytime we get the opportunity to acknowledge those folks that make a difference in our community, we should do that and kind of let those families and friends know that we'll keep them in our thoughts and prayers as they go through these difficult times. The other thing I'll say too, and I don't want to get into just naming departments and government just because it's a lot of people doing a lot of work every day. But I know this summer, while we were out of this office, we spent a lot of times in our parks. And I know our parks department were helping a lot of neighborhood associations and community partners put on events. So I'd just like to recognize them for all the work that they've been doing, partners for youth. And like I said, I don't want to start naming people because then you start leaving folks out. But over the last few weeks, and I think we've had some incidences in this community that have made national news. And our partners in public safety have been carrying a load that I think that we all know that they're going through and that we support them. So I just publicly wanted to say to our police department, our fire department, E911 and corrections that we see you all in public safety, appreciate everything that you all do to keep us safe and to respond into emergencies. And we were on break, I know a lot of us were in and out of town. I just don't want you to think that we don't see you and recognize that if we don't respond immediately. But I think everyone on this council and everyone in this government and the mayor appreciate everything that all those departments now include one less. They're not public safety in the mayor's office, but I think they do a lot of work to support that as well as emergency management. But I just wanted to say to them, we know you all have been carrying a big burden lately and we appreciate all that you do. I sent an email to the chief last week and the first thing that he came back with was, this is a public safety team effort, so thanks for the acknowledgement. But he wanted to acknowledge the other divisions that support what they do. So I wouldn't expect anything less from the chief. So thank you, Mayor. Thank you. That brings us to public comment and we have no one signed up. So that brings us to adjournment. Do I hear a motion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. We are adjourned. Thank you for attending. Has the moon lost her memory? She is smiling alone. In the lamplight, the withered leaves collected my feet. And the wind begins to howl.