# Council Work Session - October 7, 2025 > Auto-transcribed civic record · Council · October 7, 2025 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/6584 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/6584?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2025-10-07 - **Body**: Council - **Last revised**: February 15, 2026 - **Length**: 11,907 words - **Speakers**: Mayor Gorton > ⚠️ **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 Government Council met on October 7, 2025, at 3:00 PM in the Council Chamber at 200 E. Main St, Lexington, KY 40507, with Mayor Linda Gorton presiding. The meeting covered 7 agenda items, including action items and informational presentations. Council members took a total of 9 votes during the session, approving items related to requested rezonings and docket approval, a summary, and budget amendments. Two presentations were delivered during the meeting: a proclamation recognizing Fire Prevention Week and a partial report-out from the STREEET Safety Task Force. No public comments were heard during the public comment period for issues on the agenda. ## Attendance All 12 councilmembers were present at the October 7, 2025 Council meeting. No members were absent or late. **Present:** - Councilmember Ellinger - Councilmember Sheehan - Councilmember LaGree - Councilmember Curtis - Councilmember Savigny - Councilmember Morton - Councilmember Sydney - Councilmember Baxter - Councilmember Reynolds - Councilmember Lynch - Councilmember Hale - Councilmember Brown ## Votes and Decisions All votes at the October 7, 2025 Council meeting were conducted by voice vote. Nine motions were considered, all of which passed. - **Docket Approval** [timestamp: 0:02]: The docket for the October 9, 2025 Council meeting was approved. Motion by Councilmember Ellinger, seconded by Councilmember Sheehan. - **Work Session Minutes** [timestamp: 5:00]: The motions from the September 16, 2025 Council work session were approved. Motion by Councilmember Sheehan, seconded by Councilmember LaGree. - **Budget Amendments** [timestamp: 5:34]: Budget amendments were approved. Motion by Councilmember Sheehan, seconded by Councilmember Curtis. - **New Business Items** [timestamp: 6:08]: New business items were approved. Motion by Councilmember Sydney, seconded by Councilmember Ellinger. - **Mayoral Appointments** [timestamp: 6:46]: Mayoral appointments were approved. Motion by Councilmember Curtis, seconded by Councilmember Savigny. - **Mayoral Donations** [timestamp: 7:18]: Mayoral donations were approved. Motion by Councilmember Baxter, seconded by Councilmember LaGree. - **Mayoral Procurements** [timestamp: 7:18]: Mayoral procurements were approved. Motion by Councilmember Curtis, seconded by Councilmember Reynolds. - **Council Capital Projects** [timestamp: 7:56]: Council capital projects were approved. Motion by Councilmember Lynch, seconded by Councilmember Hale. - **Amendment — Mint Lane Pump Station Site Analysis** [timestamp: 10:41]: An amendment to the motion regarding the Mint Lane pump station site analysis was approved. Motion by Councilmember Brown, seconded by Councilmember Morton. All nine votes passed by voice vote; individual ayes and nays were not recorded in the available data. No roll call votes were taken. ## Budget and Financial Actions The Council addressed several financial items at the October 7, 2025 meeting, ranging from grant awards to contract amendments. - **L0799-25** authorized a Memorandum of Understanding with **Voices of Hope – Lexington, Inc.** The agreement carries no budgetary impact. - **L0844-25** approved the conveyance of an easement to **Pemberton Properties, LLC** for **$500**. - **L0904-25** authorized a change order with **TSW, Inc.** in the amount of **$38,400** for the Castlewood ADA Access and Sport Court Design project. - **L0906-25** approved a Purchase of Service Agreement with the **Kentucky Veterans Hall of Fame** for **$30,000**. - **L0909-25** awarded a Stormwater Quality Projects Incentive Grant to **Friends of Wolf Run, Inc.** in the amount of **$48,183.75**. In total, the meeting's financial actions committed approximately **$116,583.75** in expenditures across contracts and grants, in addition to the nominal $500 easement conveyance and the no-cost MOU with Voices of Hope – Lexington, Inc. ## Contested Items - **Mint Lane Pump Station Site Analysis:** The council considered a motion regarding the site analysis for the Mint Lane pump station. During deliberations, the motion was amended to include an additional location for assessment. The item was decided by a split vote, indicating disagreement among council members over the scope of the site analysis. No further details are available in the source data regarding which specific members voted for or against the amendment, or which additional location was added to the assessment. ## Public Comment - Issues on Agenda [timestamp: 00:00] No public comments were submitted or made on agenda items at the opening of the October 7, 2025 Council meeting. ## Requested Rezonings/ Docket Approval [timestamp: 02:07] The Council took up Agenda Item II, covering requested rezonings and docket approval for the upcoming council meeting. Councilmember Ellinger and Councilmember Sheehan were the key participants in the discussion of this item. The Council reviewed and discussed the docket, which outlines the schedule and items to be considered at the next council meeting. No additional details regarding specific rezoning requests or points of debate are reflected in the available record for this item. The docket was **approved** by the Council. ## Approval of Summary [timestamp: 05:00] The Council took up the approval of the summary from the previous work session. Councilmember Sheehan and Councilmember LaGree were the key speakers during this portion of the meeting. The summary was approved by the Council. ## Budget Amendments [timestamp: 05:34] The Council took up Agenda Item IV, Budget Amendments, as a discussion item during the October 7, 2025 meeting. Councilmember Sheehan and Councilmember Curtis were the key speakers on this item. The Council considered the proposed budget amendments, and the item was approved. *Note: The available data for this agenda item is limited. Specific details about the content of the amendments, any debate or concerns raised, and the nature of the individual changes presented are not reflected in the source material for this summary.* ## Continuing Business/ Presentations [timestamp: 07:56] Council received updates on various ongoing projects and initiatives during this portion of the meeting. Councilmember LaGree was the key speaker during this agenda item. No additional detail on the specific projects or initiatives discussed, concerns raised, or debate among council members is available from the provided data. The item was informational in nature, with no vote or formal action taken. ## Proclamation: Fire Prevention Week [timestamp: 14:29] Mayor Linda Gorton presented a proclamation designating National Fire Prevention Week during the October 7, 2025 Council meeting. The proclamation was informational in nature, with no debate or vote required. No concerns were raised during this agenda item. ## Presentation: STREEET Safety Task Force Partial Report-Out [timestamp: 19:15] The Council received a partial report-out from the STREEET Safety Task Force during this agenda item. Key speakers included **Alyssa McKenzie**, **Sylvia Cassidy**, and **Tori Kruse-Falk**, who presented the task force's recommendations on street safety improvements. This item was informational in nature, with no vote or formal action taken by the Council. *Note: Detailed specifics of the recommendations presented, any concerns raised during discussion, and the full scope of the task force's findings are not available in the provided source materials beyond the summary that the task force presented recommendations on street safety improvements.* --- ## Decisions - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve the October 9, 2025 Council Meeting Docket, as amended - **Motion** — passed (0-0): place on the docket for the October 9, 2025 Council Meeting, a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute a deed of easement with Kentucky Utilities Company granting an electric line easement across a portion of the property located at 1306 Versailles Rd and further authorizing the mayor to execute any other documents necessary to transfer the easement - **Motion** — passed (2-1): place on the docket for the October 9, 2025 Council Meeting, an ordinance pursuant to Section 2-1(a) of the Code of Ordinances, adopting a schedule of meetings for the Council for Calendar Year 2026 - **Motion** — passed (0-0): place on the docket for the October 9, 2025 Council Meeting, an ordinance changing the zone from a Single Family Residential (R-1D) zone and a Townhouse Residential (R-1T) zone to a Medium Density Residential (R-4) zone, for 0.431 net (0.498 gross) acres for properties located at 119 Burley Avenue, 122 Simpson Avenue, 1104 Fern Avenue, and a portion of 109 Simpson Avenue, without a public hearing - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve the September 16, 2025 Table of Motions - **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): have a complete site analysis and cost feasibility study of two locations: the existing site and downstream at Bowman Mill Rd on Mill Ridge Farm property, that includes future growth of the facility and the region per the Master Plan for Area 1, delivered to Council at a regularly scheduled Work session by March 1, 2026, as amended - **Motion** — passed (0-0): amend the previous motion to direct the Division of Water Quality to expand the scope of its analysis related to the proposed Mint Lane sewer project to include a complete site analysis and cost feasibility study of : (1) the existing location, (2) the pump station / storage tank site described as Mint Lane RSA (2) in the August 22, 2023 Sewer Capability Study prepared for the Division of Water Quality (3750 Bowman Mill Road), and (3)land owned by the Lexington-Fayette County Airport Board both in and adjacent to the Bluegrass Airport Rural Activity Center. The analysis should account for future growth in the region (per the Master Plan for Area 1), geotechnical issues, and costs of acquisition and is to be delivered to the Council at a regularly scheduled Work session by no later than March 1, 2026 - **Motion** — passed (0-0): adjourn at 4:24 p.m --- ## Full transcript So so so so it's three o'clock so I would like to go ahead and call to order the Lexington Fayette Urban County work session it's October 7th 2025 and the first item on our agenda is public comment for issues on the agenda and thus far we do not have anyone signed up we may gather some in a bit but that brings us to rezonings and the docket approval if I could have a motion to approve councilmember Ellinger is there a second councilmember Sheehan seconds and are there any issues for the docket councilmember Sheehan thank you mayor I have a walk-on motion I moved on behalf of the administration I moved to place on the docket for the October 9th 2025 council meeting a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute a deed of easement with Kentucky Utilities Company granting an electric line easement across a portion of the property located at 1306 Versailles Road and further authorizing the mayor to execute any other documents necessary to transfer the easement so moved thank you is there a second I think I heard councilmember LaGree are there any questions right all those in favor please say aye is anyone opposed all right that motion passes councilmember Ellinger Thank You mayor I moved to place on the docket for the October 9th 2025 council meeting an ordinance pursuant to section 2-1 a the code of ordinances adopting schedule of meetings for the council for calendar year 2026 so moved I heard councilmember Curtis second and are there any questions all those in favor please say aye is anyone opposed all right that motion passes councilmember Savigny Thank You mayor is it the time I can make a motion for my walk-on thanks I moved to place on the October 9th 2025 council meeting docket an ordinance changing zone from a single-family residential r1d zone and a townhouse residential r1t zone to a medium-density residential r4 zone for 0.431 net and 0.498 gross acres for properties located at 119 Burley Avenue 122 Simpson Avenue 1104 Fern Avenue and a portion of 109 Simpson Avenue without a public hearing so moved all right is there a second councilmember Ellinger seconds are there any questions all right councilmember Morton did you have questions councilmember Savigny could you just is was this a contentious zone change or was there any public input towards there that wanted a public hearing anything it was not a contentious zone change and I did not get any requests for it for a hearing any other questions all right all those in favor say aye does anyone opposed all right that motion passes is there anything else for the docket okay all those in favor of the docket as amended please say aye is anyone opposed all right that motion passes thank you next up we have approval of the September 16th 2025 council work session motions could I have a motion councilmember Sheehan second by councilmember LaGre are there any questions corrections additions anything at all all right all those in favor please say aye is anyone opposed all right that motion passes thank you next up council we have budget amendments I'll entertain a motion to approve councilmember Sheehan second by councilmember Curtis and log in please if you have questions all right all those in favor say aye is anyone opposed all right that motion passes thank you there are some for your information only budget adjustments and that brings us to new business could I have a motion to approve councilmember Sydney second by councilmember Ellinger please log in if you have questions all right all those in favor say aye is anyone opposed all right that motion passes thank you we do have several communications from the mayor first is appointments could I have a motion thank you councilmember Curtis second by councilmember Savigny are there questions all those in favor say aye is anyone opposed that passes next communications is for donations could I have a motion councilmember Baxter second by councilmember LaGre are there any questions all those in favor please say aye is anyone opposed all right that motion passes the final communications from the mayor is procurements could I have a motion councilmember Curtis second by councilmember Reynolds are there questions all right all those in favor say aye is anyone opposed all right that passes that brings us to continuing business and presentations and first I'll entertain a motion to approve the council capital projects councilmember Lynch who did I hear as the second councilmember Hale seconded are there questions all those in favor say aye is anyone opposed thank you that passes next I'll call on councilmember LaGre for the environmental quality and public works report thank you mayor this is a long one the meeting of the environmental quality and public works committee on August 12th 2025 was called to order at 1 p.m. the June 10th 2025 committee summary was approved unanimously with no additions or corrections first we received an overview of the municipal separate storm sewer system or the ms4 program presented by our ms4 program manager Bailey young ms4 means that our storm sewers are separate from sanitary sewers sanitary sewers carry our waste to our wastewater treatment plants while storm suitors sewers drain directly into creeks without treatment young explained that the ms4 program aims to maintain and enhance the quality of the state's waterways by reducing the number of pollutants in stormwater that enters the ms4 no action was taken on this item next director Martin with the division of water quality provided a presentation to clarify the necessary information for moving forward with the design of the new mint lane pump station two million dollars have been allocated in the 2020 or the fiscal year 26 budget for design and property acquisition for this consent decree project stemming from a history of overflows at the existing pump station and it must be completed by December of 2030 the proposed pump station would be located on land owned by Fayette County public schools adjacent to the existing mint lane pump station given the deadlines imposed by the consent decree it is recommended to proceed with the construction of a new pump station and wet weather storage tank within the existing urban service boundary or USB limits as well as to initiate design services and property acquisition in fiscal year 2026 there was a motion made by councilmember Savigny to have a complete site analysis and cost feasibility study of two locations the existing site and downstream at Bowman Mill Road on Mill Ridge Farm property that includes future growth of the facility and the region per the master plan for area 1 delivered to council at a regularly scheduled work session by March 1st 2026 this motion was seconded by Curtis the motion passed with a vote of 7 to 2 on behalf of the committee I so move thank you is there a second councilmember Sheehan seconds are there any questions councilmember Brown thank you mayor I'm gonna make a motion to amend the motion that's in the packet from the report out this is just to clarify councilmember Savigny's intent and then also to add an additional location to be assessed for the Mint Lane pump station so the motion reads I move to direct the Division of Water Quality to expand the scope of its analysis related to the proposed Mint Lane sewer project to include a complete site analysis and cost feasibility study of one the existing location to the pump station storage tank site described as Mint Lane RSA 2 in the August 22nd 2023 sewer compatibility study prepared for the Division of Water Quality 3750 Bowman Mill Road and three land owned by the Lexington Fayette County Airport Board both in and adjacent to the Bluegrass Airport Rural Activity Center the analysis should account for future growth in the region per the master plan for area 1 geotechnical issues and the cost of acquisition and is to be delivered to the council at a regularly scheduled work session by no later than March 1 2026 so move all right councilmember Morton seconded are there questions on the amendment yes councilmember Ellinger Thank You Mary could you explain how this changes what initially was brought forward and I'll try to do my best if somebody wants to help clarify it so the emotion from councilmember Savigny was to do an analysis and feasibility on the current site where the pump lane exists now and then to go further downstream and do an analysis of the feasibility study at the Bowman Mill Road site and now what we're also asking is them to go further downstream to the rural activity center near the airport location and do the same analysis and feasibility study for the pump station are there other questions all right all those in favor of the amendment please say aye is anyone opposed all right that motion passes now is there anything else about the amended motion on the floor all right all those in favor please say aye is anyone opposed all right that motion passes mayor finally Hanna Krebs planner principal and outreach and strategic planning presented on street art sometimes called asphalt art or street murals street art provides a way to creatively activate a city's largest public space roadways and transportation systems street art can accomplish two goals it functions as traffic calming by reducing vehicular speeds making it safer and more comfortable to walk bike and drive it also promotes placemaking by creating people people-centered spaces that foster community Krebs emphasized that street art is not a complete solution rather it is one of many tools the city can use to accomplish these goals and it should be implemented through extensive collaboration and dialogue across city departments and within the community no action was taken on this item the meeting adjourned at 2 39 p.m. and that concludes my report out Thank You mayor all right thank you very much are there any further questions for councilmember LaGree all right thank you so much at this time we have a proclamation I would like to invite fire chief Jason Wells to join me as well as all your folks it always takes the team right all right as you all may know it is National Fire Prevention Week and we are all I would say a hundred percent of the people in this council chamber in support of our fire and the difficult job that they do and so we wanted to honor you and your brothers and sisters who are serving right now and with that I want to read and present you a proclamation so here's how it goes whereas Lexington is committed to ensuring the safety and security of the community and whereas the 2025 National Fire Prevention Week theme now get ready for this charge into fire safety lithium-ion batteries in your home strives to educate everyone about the importance of using charging and recycling lithium-ion batteries safely to reduce the risk of fires in homes and communities and whereas the presence of lithium-ion batteries in many household devices introduces unique fire risks and whereas handling lithium-ion batteries safely means buying only listed program products charging batteries safely and recycling them responsibly to prevent battery related fires and whereas the Lexington Fire Department is dedicated to reducing the occurrence of home fires and injuries through prevention and education now therefore I Linda Gorton mayor of Lexington do hereby declare October 5th through 11th 2025 National Fire Prevention Week in Lexington thank you for all you do congratulations thank you oh all right so thank you very much mayor it is our honor and pleasure to serve our great community thanks to you to your entire leadership team including CAO Hamilton Commissioner Armstrong back there and our wonderful council you all enable us to do what we love to do and that's to help our neighbors as always it's my honor to serve and represent the brave and selfless members of the Lexington Fire Department who are out there each and every day regardless of their role serving our community and even though the mayor mentioned it I am statutorily required to reiterate the fact that this year's fire prevention theme is charge into fire safety lithium-ion batteries in your home and that allows us the opportunity to kind of educate our neighbors on the importance of safe handling of those products so thank you all again thank you very much shall we get a photo with the council right all right thank you so much and at this time we have the presentation for street safety task force a partial report out and I think we've got Sylvia and Alyssa or just Sylvia Victoria and okay all right very good all right all right thank you mayor Gorton council members my name is Alyssa McKenzie I'm the 10th district legislative aide I'm joined by Sylvia Cassidy of the 5th district and Tory Cruz Falk the vice mayor Wu's aide so before presenting this partial update we just want to say thank you to everyone who's on the task force and been working throughout the year also those who are here today this task force has spent the year investigating advocating and driving changes to address the public's demand for safer streets through three key areas engineering education and enforcement and this task force is not only timely but a response to what we see as an emergency it's a direct answer to community calls for action after constituent crashes and fatalities we recognize this is a big concern for all of you and all of you hear from your constituents because it affects every resident and every district but to show the impact we wanted to look at some data from KSP and LPD and this shot slide shows crashes fatalities and injuries over the past five years with 2024 highlighted it's also important to note that based on a recent report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration it's estimated that fatal and serious traffic crashes cost Kentuckians 30 billion dollars annually this is an economic impact of medical care lost productivity and traffic congestion impacts and the biggest part of this is actually quality of life costs loss of remaining lifespan extended or lifelong physical impairment or physical pain and these numbers are really to highlight the immediate need for practical focused solutions that work to improve the safety of all residents while this work is vital in every district the task force was led by councilmember Savigny and councilmember Sheehan as co-chairs with councilmembers Baxter Curtis Legree and Vice Mayor Wu they worked alongside the following individuals many of whom are doing this work on a daily basis but were brought to the table for cross-collaboration throughout the year the task force prioritized public engagement with opportunities listed here and monthly meetings were open to the public we also used Engage Lexington to create two tools an idea tool and a mapping tool you can see the mapping tool here with contributions of where residents felt uncomfortable or comfortable walking biking or riding the bus all of this was considered when developing the following recommendations that align with theme D goal one of Lexington's comprehensive plan also complete streets envision zero they're going to be separated by the three key areas mentioned earlier but have overlapping pieces if adopted and implemented and as we go through them you can think about how they might realistically work in your districts I'll now pass it along to Sylvia Cassidy who will go over engineering first thank you Alyssa and thank you mayor and councilmembers I will be presenting the recommendations of the engineering subgroup of the street safety task force over the past few months we focused on how the physical design of our streets and roads affect traffic safety ordinary elements like spacing signage and lighting play a major role in how people feel as they move through our city recognizing this the engineering subgroup examined what tangible changes can be made to reduce traffic incidents now and how new infrastructure can encourage safer road behavior in the future as you will see in our recommendations this group follows some of the prescriptions of the complete streets action plan by utilizing readily available data to identify areas for improvement coordinate projects based on need and evaluate how this meets complete streets principles our first recommendation is a roundabout feasibility study the city will use vehicle crash data just like five viable locations for roundabouts and then a consultant will set each site for design considerations cost estimates and potential right-of-way or utility impacts roundabouts are intended to improve safety by calming traffic at busy intersections that handle hundreds or even thousands of vehicles per hour in contrast traffic circles are typically used in lower traffic areas these are designed for intersections that see fewer than a couple hundred vehicles per hour and they are often found on residential or local streets this brings us to our second recommendation fund a traffic circle quick build pilot project quick builds are low-cost rapidly implemented and scalable infrastructure improvements the traffic circle quick build will use temporary inexpensive materials like plastic bollards rubber curbs or pavement paint the goal is to test feasibility demonstrate impact and build community support for permanent installations our next recommendation is a signalized crosswalk adjustments this will analyze signal timing and explore the integration of pedestrian only intervals within the coordinated signal system it could support broader implementation of leading potential intervals which give pedestrians a head start before adjacent vehicles receive a green light like the roundabout study this effort will rely on crash data and insights from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet's vulnerable road user study which identifies those at higher risk in our transportation system such as cyclists and pedestrians engineering subgroups final recommendation is for LFUCG staff to complete the quick build program structure and implementation plan this program will guide the development of a variety of low-cost rapidly implemented street improvements from protective bike lanes to curb extensions and pedestrian islands so it enhances safety and mobility while allowing for flexibility and community feedback that concludes the recommendations from the engineering subgroup all aimed at creating a safer more efficient streets through simple interventions and data-driven designs thank you and with that I'll hand it over to my colleague Tori Kruse-Falk thanks Sylvia I'm Tori Kruse-Falk I'll be representing the education subgroup today over the past eight months the education engagement team has reviewed past and current initiatives relevant to safe streets and as a subgroup discussed what efforts we want to expand or revive and what capacity is needed for implementation these discussions led us to the following recommendations that are consistent with our policies in the comprehensive plan as well as the complete streets action plan our first recommendation is experiential engagement in placemaking so think asphalt art events like street fest block parties open streets just to name a few opportunities like street fest become reference points for community members on what a street can be streets can and should be safe joyful colorful and a place for community building these efforts not only benefit the work of this task force but improve our civic health overall our goal here is to determine what education placemaking and experiential engagement work is most impactful in resident and expand these efforts through funding and programmatic development we know how valuable it is when we have informed connected and passionate residents engaging with us in our work a community champions initiative would help people get connected to their government by providing tool kits resources contacts and next steps for folks interested in driving projects forward in their communities the high street pilot project is a perfect example of this it started with community champions from the neighborhood that reached out to their council member and to staff who together worked towards a successful quick build project that slows traffic and provides a safer and more enjoyable experience for folks using high street on foot bike wheelchair and scooter we want to build infrastructure to empower more people to engage with us in this way to cultivate more knowledgeable connected community members who can help drive projects and engagement forward in their neighborhoods and districts with the ultimate plan to build out a planning education academy our third recommendation is to build internal and external capacity this recommendation invests in building shared knowledge of complete streets and vision zero across LFUCG staff the local design and construction community and the public so that everyone involved in shaping Lexington streets is aligned on the same safety and equity goals for LFUCG it means making sure city leaders and staff planners engineers road crews and others across LFUCG share the same basic understanding of complete streets and vision zero building shared understanding across government is a critical first step before scaling outreach citywide for the community it means two things helping residents learn about the benefits of safer street design and how they can be a part of shaping projects and working with local designers engineers and builders so that both public and private projects follow the same principles for safety and fairness our final recommendation is to bring in an external consultant to bridge departments and assist with cohesive messaging around complete streets vision zero the division of planning and public information and engagement we're hearing from staff that having a person who can bridge departments and divisions would be incredibly valuable to this work we will continue to work with staff to refine the scope of this ask and ensure that staff are supported in a way that moves their goals forward ultimately we want to continue to build unified messaging between departments with ongoing projects relevant to street safety without creating a burden to our current staff in addition to these recommendations it's the education team's goal to support ongoing education and outreach initiatives as well as promote the work being done by the engineering and enforcement teams I believe that this task force is trying to change culture and it's vital that as we make changes to our policy and our built environment that we talk about the benefits of them in a joyful and accessible way with that I'll hand it over to Alyssa for enforcement recommendations thank you Tori enforcement has four recommendations and these are all data driven and they combine traditional law enforcement with policy and reinforcement of positive driving behavior leading to a story mentioned hopefully joyful interaction with our city and travel so the first recommendation is focused enforcement using data from LPD and traffic engineering and this has two parts the first part is using LPD data and traffic engineering data to identify high risk intersections for potential increased enforcement and directing resources where they'll have the most impact part two is a pilot signage project using traffic engineering's myovision traff op software to gather traffic intersection data this is numbers of cars percentage of people running lights number of pedestrians cyclists and near misses at intersections so we don't have to be complaint driven we can respond proactively using data and the task force recommends looking at high risk intersections identified without signage getting a baseline and then adding signage about lights being monitored to see if that changes driving behavior. Then considering tweaks and timing of intersections and see if that changes how people drive through our city. Our traffic division is piloting this project this fiscal year and the task force wants to see how data could inform enforcement moving forward. The second recommendation is inner city automated enforcement because by law we can't use cameras at intersections to issue citations for red light running. Research shows that automated enforcement tools are very effective in significantly reducing violations and crashes without increasing capacity and resource demands for law enforcement. So the task force recommends collaborating with other cities to advocate for state level legislation that would allow the use of automated tools to issue civil citations for red light running, i.e. red light cameras. The third recommendation is a no parking in bike lane ordinance. And we recommend working with Lexpark in law to create an ordinance that would improve safety by eliminating the ripple effect of bike lanes being blocked and cyclists being pushed into traffic and drivers being pushed into further lanes. This would signal a strong commitment to multimodal access and prioritizing all road users. The fourth recommendation is a drag racing ordinance that would be modeled after Louisville Metro's approach. And while Kentucky law already prohibits drag racing, a stronger local ordinance would be a response to community feedback and enhance enforcement capacity. So what's next? We tried to distill eight, ten months of work down and there's a lot here. But today you can engage with these two items, the Engage Lexington page or the Submit a Traffic Complaint page from LPD's PIO office. If you already have, if you've shared it, thank you. But moving forward, the task force has three meetings left and they'll use those to identify opportunities for collaboration, alignment with internal and external groups, and the handoff of projects based on feedback from today and upcoming fund balance discussion. We are, as we said before, considering this an emergency, but we do have momentum and we have a plan. The public's been participating and they're calling on us for a timely response. These recommendations are an opportunity for collaboration and a targeted response to an urgent community need. So we thank you for your time and we now welcome remarks and questions. Thank you very much. Are there any questions? Council Member Sheehan. Thank you, Mayor, and thank you for the presentation. I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to all of the members of the Street Safety Task Force. A number of you are here today, if you want to just like wave for a second so everybody knows who you are. You all too, including our legislative staff and the council core office, or everyone who participated in this work. I know several of our council members have been interested in this work, but not everyone was serving on the task force. But I know that we have indicated that this is a priority for council. So I would like to invite you all to join in these efforts. So if there are recommendations here that you see that you would like to participate in helping to move forward, please let someone on the task force know that's in the leadership team from council. Or you could talk to myself or my co-chair, Council Member Savigny. So we want this to be a collaboration on council and obviously we have several items here for us to all work on and move forward. And while we do have an implementation plan to work on in our next few meetings, we want you all to be a part of that conversation, so thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Morton. Thank you, Mayor. First, I'll start with regarding the enforcement using data analytics. And I'll start with LPD, a couple questions. So anybody that was on this group for LPD. So for that, we would have either Director Neal or Roger Mulvaney from Traffic Engineering speak to that. Well, I have a specific question for LPD. Thank you. Welcome. Thank you. So just tied to just traffic enforcement, all those good things. In the Traffic Safety Division, how many officers are primarily focused on traffic enforcement? Good afternoon, Sam Murdock, Special Operations. Currently we have ten Selective Enforcement Unit officers, and those are the ones that would go out and work, they're actually sworn officers, they work the traffic complaints. We also have five other sworn officers that are in more of a logistical support staff. They're involved in our Collision Reconstruction Unit, but the enforcement, we have ten designated with two supervisors. Okay, and are these officers on duty 24-7, so we have them spread out, or is that just specific shifts? If they're a specific shift, what shifts? Your Selective Enforcement Officers will generally typically work 0700 to 1700, and then we'll adjust them for special events, such as UK football games or concerts. Every sworn officer can also issue a citation as well. Of course, of course. But the folks that are specifically targeting traffic concerns, I guess you would say, or speeding, all those things, that's 0700 to 1700. Those officers will work a- Hello, Chief. Welcome. Hello, and I think the confusion there is if we dedicate somebody to a specific unit, that's extra. The officers we have working the street 24 hours a day, seven days a week, are also out there enforcing, and they can be tasked to enforce certain traffic violations, as you will. So it's kind of like a supplementary thing for our Selective Enforcement Unit. Also, there are overtime assignments for the same thing. So given any given day, there are officers out there, many officers out there, enforcing traffic and for specific traffic reasons. Those that are not, hey, if they observe a violation, they'll take action. Of course. But okay, so let's go back one step then. So can you tell me the goal or the mission for the Traffic Safety Division? What their specific role is to do for LPD? For our Traffic Division as a whole? Correct. We have 22 traffic safety officers, and those are non-sworn individuals. Those are in the yellow and blue cars. And what they'll do is they'll respond to the collisions. They'll work collisions, they'll also work traffic control, they'll assist us with UK games. Our Selective Enforcement Unit, they'll work traffic complaints in conjunction with patrol, as Chief Weathers said. We've received numerous traffic complaints throughout the week. But also what we do is a top five collision location throughout the city. And what we'll do is we'll have officers work those intersections and locations to try and get them to reduce the number of collisions at those intersections for the month. Okay, thank you. Let's see how much time. So and then out of that division, you mentioned, so there's about ten, but maybe five with logistics, and their shifts are 0700 to 1700. That's five days a week, Monday through Friday, or seven days a week? Five days, sir. Okay. And then lastly, do you have any type of statistics based on, I guess, how many stops or tickets specifically that those folks in that division gave out this last year, or the average monthly, or anything like that? I do not. Currently, I can look it up. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you. Council Member Curtis. Thank you, Mayor. And so I have so much to say about this task force, but I'm going to start by asking a couple of quick clarifying questions for my colleagues on council about a couple of our engineering items. So if I could ask Roger for engineering, would you be willing to answer a couple of quick questions? Just because I know we're throwing a lot at folks really fast. So one of the things that we've talked about in engineering a lot has been the concept of quick builds. We sort of, Sylvia gave us a very quick overview, but I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about the resources that go into that, what that looks like in terms of implementation, and our ability to act in that way that is a little more responsive to time sensitive needs rather than these years long infrastructure projects. I'll give it a go. Thank you. For quick build projects, I think the high street example is a good example of what it takes to get from conception to construction. The neighborhood reached out to a council member. Council member worked with some folks in the division of traffic engineering and some other folks, if I'm forgetting. And I wasn't directly involved with that, but from an outside perspective, at least within traffic engineering, if that could be said, I feel that that's a good example because there's conversations, they identify a site, they identify a need, and they come up with solutions. The solutions are sort of on the economical side of cost. So therefore, it's something that can be done with an existing budget or something of that nature. There's more control. And we look at devices that have had a good track record. For high street, we wanted to use devices that would narrow a lane down effectively. So you start with pavement markings, and then you have sort of the vertical delineator post. You figure out the cost for that and the time it takes to have that constructed. It can be very quick in the sense compared to a years long capital project. I think that's the main goal of the quick build is that it's something you can have done. calendar year, as opposed to multi-years and getting federal dollars. So I think maybe that's the big point I should try to share with what a quick build is. Thank you so much, and speaking about our recommendations, one of the things that I have gotten very much in the weeds and find myself still flubbing now and again is the difference between a roundabout and a traffic circle. And I was wondering if you might expound on that for my colleagues a little bit. Sure, and even within, yes, different engineers will give you different answers, too. But a roundabout is sort of the main idea of what it, they're all traffics. It's confusing even to me. All traffic circles are roundabouts, or all traffic circles are, or whatever. But roundabouts are more of your, you think of your higher volume intersections. You could have single lane roundabouts, similar to what's on Old Frankfort Pike and Alexandria Drive. Or you can have multi-lane roundabouts, similar to what's on Reynolds Road, Keyshire. Those are roundabouts. Traffic circles, a little bit smaller. There are many roundabouts a little bit smaller than that, maybe more for a residential collector type setting, for example. And then a mini roundabout is more for like a local on local intersection within a residential area. Not really meant for through traffic, more for traffic calming within a local roadway network. I hope that answers the question. Yeah, absolutely. And the reason that I ask that is just to make it clear to folks that when we have these two different recommendations, these are similar tactics, but they're not talking about ultimately the exact same thing. And there's a reason that we separated those out, because one is a long-term infrastructure plan, and the other is a quick build program. So I'm going to have some more to say in a second, but really quickly. We talked a lot about the data that we're going to be using for these projects to determine where they'll be located and how that selection process will work. Really quickly, I was wondering if you could speak to the availability of that data in the short term. And also to how that's determined for the entire city of Lexington and not necessarily just we're going to put one in every district, for example. Yeah, data comes in two forms. I think they're going to be the most relevant for the decisions that we make. One is safety data, crash data, and there's readily information. Every time an officer takes a crash report, that gets loaded into a statewide database. And then there's several agencies that have taken that data and have filtered it such that it becomes usable for entities like us to then rank intersections or roadway segments. The other set of data is going to be traffic volumes. Traffic volumes on a county-wide or city-wide scale is going to be more on the analytic platform. We have some subscriptions to sources for that information. So we have that information available to us. If you need more information on that, I can provide more. Wonderful, thank you so much. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Brown. Thank you, Mayor. And thank you all for the presentation. Thank you, you all did a great job of going through the information and making it clear and understandable. I just want to give some acknowledgement to the co-chairs, Council Member Sheehan and Council Member Savigny for putting some focus on this issue. I think the community and I think folks in the public have communicated with us that this needs to be a focus and a priority and something that we need to address. And I appreciate you two stepping up and leading this effort because I think you have presented us with some action items, with some policies that we can change, and some things that are digestible that can actually really shift and change the culture. I think when you talk about street safety, a lot of folks don't, it's not like a sexy item or a controversial thing, but it's important to a lot of people. And I think of how many times I turn on the news at night and one of the highlights to get, not highlights, but one of the headlines to get quoted or said is somebody died in a vehicle crash. And then we just move on, so that's just not acceptable. So I appreciate the work that you all have done. I appreciate the other council members and the rest of the team and staff that have participated in this. I think a lot of the recommendations are crystal clear and I plan to engage and support and work to implement some of these. And I just have a couple of questions, just for clarity for myself. I'm not an avid bike rider, but every now and then I pull out my bike and I get on it. And in my neighborhood, we have parking stripes and they're not bike lanes. Is there a way to tell the difference between parking stripes and actual bike lanes? Because if we're going to create an ordinance about parking in bike lanes, I think we need to just be clear about which is which. That's a very good question, Council Member. Bike lanes will typically have signs and markings that clarify that it is a bike lane. And we use, there are regulatory signs, they're black and white, that'll say bike lanes. They may even say bike lane begins, ends, things of that nature. And on the pavement itself, it'll have a figure of a bicycle with an arrow to also indicate that that's a bike lane. Typically, bike lanes are also a little bit narrower than where we've installed edge lines to account for parking. Now that said, the parking area is, where we've done edge lines and parking areas, that's a little bit wider to accommodate a parked car. It's a little bit wider than a bike lane, but it's also, there's no reason why a bike can't use it, but it's not a bike lane per se. Maybe we ought to, and I think those are subtle differences, the width and the marking. because I know not all the markings are always in bike lanes. But maybe there's a way to delineate between the two, just so it's clear, maybe going forward. And then let me ask a question about the drag racing ordinance. How would that be any different than what we have, that we have in place now? Folks, I mean, would anything be any different? Because I think officers still have to witness the action before they can act on it. And would the ordinance just be us planting a flag and saying that this is not acceptable in our community. And potentially making the penalty more. So, yeah, so I think it was the recommendation of this subcommittee, to fashion it somewhat like Louisville's. Louisville has an ordinance that it's more of a civil citation on the owners of the vehicles, as opposed to the users of the vehicles at the time where the drag racing is determined. So it's a little bit different in that sense. But it relies heavily on impounding, as opposed to criminal citations. So that's the difference. So it's a different kind of model to do slightly different, to prohibit slightly different conduct. Okay, well that helps me understand it, and I would be supportive of that as well. It's just, we hear constantly about how that happens in neighborhoods and in downtown, on downtown streets, and it's just not safe. So again, I commend all the folks that have put work into this, and I look forward to helping to support and move these initiatives forward. So thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Legree. Thank you, Mayor. I want to say thank you all for an excellent presentation, and thank you to our chairs for their leadership and the structure of this work. You all gathered a lot of resources to get us here, and you did an excellent job shepherding us forward and keeping everybody on track. And I want to share that this could have been a much longer presentation based on the amount of work that each section produced to get us to this point. And as was reiterated during the presentation, we really built this task force in response to urgent needs within our community, and those needs continue to exist. And I think really wanted to be responsive in a meaningful way across these three areas of focus and to make our work doable and cross-departmental. So our staff and our task force members worked incredibly hard to get us to this partial report out. And so many people who have been involved have taken time off work, have taken time out of their days to be here during this presentation and to join us across our many meetings. And I just want to say thank you to you all for your ideas, your input, and your hard work. We really do feel like these recommendations will help us create real impacts, change our culture, and I think generate more safety and accessibility for all road users. So thank you all, and I appreciate everybody's collaboration. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. I'm going to go next to Council Member Reynolds, who hasn't spoken yet. Thank you, Mayor. I, too, want to thank my colleagues, Council Member Savigny, Sheehan, and everyone that served on this task force, both from council and from the public. This work is really important work. When I started on council, I really had no idea how important traffic engineering issues were. But I have seen that over the years, time and time again. And when we have seen the uptick of accidents, we've all been impacted by it. So I think that this work is vital to making Lexington safer. And I think that the recommendations are things that are tangible that we can work on. And myself, personally, in response to Council Member Sheehan's question, is that I would love to really work on the quick builds, looking at the roundabouts, the signal crossings. Those are all things that I would love to be involved in, that I've been involved in. Some of them already in my own district, and anything I can do to help contribute. I'm more than happy to do that, so I just wanted to say that. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Morton. Thank you. Just regarding next steps, you may have the info, you may not, maybe early in the process, but I'm just curious. So under what's next, the fund balance and FY27 budget are highlighted. Do you have a specific dollar amount that will be requested at each stage, so like for our upcoming fund balance discussion? I'll answer that question. We do have a fund balance ask, and we've put that request in, so I can talk with you about that on the side. But we'll do the presentation during our fund balance discussion. And in our next couple months, we'll continue to work on what might be an ask for the next budget season. Okay, and then just to follow up, was there discussions like how projects will be prioritized, what process will be implemented to ensure capital projects are distributed equally across all districts, or anything like that? This is where the data driven process comes in. So the intent of this is to really focus on intersections where we have seen a higher crash rate. And we'll be working with traffic engineering and the consultants that they work with to evaluate the ones that will have the biggest impact for safety. So that might not be in every single district, or there might be concentrations in one part of the county that aren't in other parts of the county. But it's really based on the crash data. Okay, thank you. Thank you, appreciate it. Council Member Curtis. Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you to Council Member Savigny and Council Member Sheehan for the invitation to serve on this task force. Each of you all got this handout beforehand that has the crash statistics on it. And I think that sometimes when we're in these rooms and we're talking a lot about policy and we're talking a lot about data, we see numbers and we can forget that there's a person on the side of every statistic. And so these are all people, not just statistics. And when we talk about this as an urgent need, it is urgent in the sense of life or death. I remember coming to this chamber shortly after a friend of mine was killed while crossing a crosswalk on Nicholasville Road. And Mia should still be here today. And all of our neighbors like them deserve to have a council and a government that takes their lives seriously. And that is what we are doing. That is what this task force has done. I remember sitting in the audience in chambers, and I remember Council Member Sheehan and Council Member LaGrieve very specifically, your heartfelt and eloquent remarks in that moment, and it was what I needed to hear. And the action that we've taken on this task force is what I needed to see happen as a result of that. And so I just want us to come back to that at the end of the day that these are people. And the decisions that we make here about policy, about funding, are really decisions that we're making about people. There is not an issue I can think of more than transportation that impacts every single human being in this city and in this county. Regardless of if you live in one part of it, another, whether you walk, drive, take the bus, what have you. These are things that are universal. And these are things where we have not only the opportunity to do some good, but now a tangible plan with direct action to do some good. And so I ask that you all keep that in mind and join us as we work to implement these recommendations going forward. So thank you very much. Thank you, Council Member Savigny. Thank you, Mayor. And I too want to thank you all for the presentation. I just want you to know that Alyssa McKenzie and Tori Cruz-Falk and Sylvia Cassidy worked very hard. This originally looked like something I would do, which was a bunch of words. And they really made it much more comprehensive. So my hat's off to you all. Thank you for your work. I want to thank all the task force members that showed up too, because they have actually, we probably have about 90 to 95% attendance. It's a decent sized group. So they're all really interested in this. This has been a big group effort. I want to speak a little bit to what Council Member Curtis talked about. And when you make these things personal, it means more. And so Mia died in my district. And her parents called me. Her parents spoke to me. I had Zooms with her parents, all of her friends in New York. And it was very tough to say, why did this happen? And it was difficult. So it became real for me. And then at that same intersection I had, which is near where Council Member Ellinger lives, one of his neighbors asked me to walk that whole intersection with him. And he's facing his own life-threatening issues. But he basically told me, you are responsible for my kids to be safe on this street. And when someone says that, you take it seriously. So I don't know that I can do everything, but I'm going to do everything that I can while I'm here to try to make a dent and try to use automation where we can use automation. Try to use data where we can use data to at least be the most effective that we can be. And I've really seen that within the, during our meetings, but also we've had Council Member Baxter and I both work on the enforcement section. We've met with police, had great discussions about the data that they have. We talked about tools that were over in traffic that they weren't quite aware were over there. So it was really nice to have, to actually connect different divisions. So I just think there's a lot we can do, and I think we can just be more efficient at it. I thank everyone who's been supportive, and I hope you're supportive when we make some asks, because everything does take a little bit of money, unfortunately. And this is serious business, and with serious consequences. So thank you so much. Thank you all. All right, are there any other questions or comments? All right, thank you for your presentation. That brings us to council reports. Council Member Brown. Thank you, Mayor. And I'll try to be brief. I just want to introduce folks to Parker Williams. He's my paid intern from Partners for Youth. Raise your hand, Parker. It's this program that he's a part of is Partners for Youth Extending the Summer Youth Job Training Program year round. So we look forward to working with you, Parker. Council members, we might have some capacity. So if you have something that you might want to work at our office with, Parker might be interested in helping to make that happen. So don't worry him out, but I think he's available. So thank you, Parker. There was a lot happening over breaks. I won't name all the things I've been to, but I'll just mention a couple of the most recent. One of them is the community corrections family picnic. Myself and Council Member Beasley, who I keep running into everywhere, was out there enjoying good weather with the folks at corrections. They were out there with their families. They had good cooking, good activities, and just having a good time. And then also the fire prevention festival that took place this weekend at Masterson Station Park was well attended. I think they even ran out of food at certain points. So I just want to say thanks to our partners in public safety. It was good to see our other partners in public safety out there supporting both of those events as well. And then I'll also just like to say thank you to Director Neal, Jeff Neal, Andrew Grinwall, and David Filiatru. I can't never say David's name right. But we had a neighborhood meeting last night. Council Member Morton and we met with the Radcliffe-Mallborough Neighborhood Association, as well as the Elkhorn Park Neighborhood Association about traffic concerns with the new developments and some of the connections that were made. They came to that meeting, and part of the reason for that meeting is to talk about their concerns, but then also talk about solutions. And I think that was a positive outcome from that meeting, to talk about what they were concerned about and how we could address them. So I know that was a contentious zone change going forward, but I feel like we're on the other side of it in working to make this development something that the neighborhood could be proud of. And I think the folks here at our staff at the city are helping to make that happen. So thank you, Council Member Morton and team for that. So thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Lynch. Thank you, Mayor. Just want to announce a few things going on in the second district this week. Not to steal any of Chief Wells' thunder, but this morning our newest junior fire chief was sworn in, Jillian Sensible. She is a student, a fifth grade student at Sandersville Elementary School in the second district, and I was overjoyed to be there and witness her receiving her badge, and she read her essay that was excellent. And so just very excited to celebrate with our Sandersville Sharks, with our new junior fire chief right from their school. So glad to have Jillian on duty this week. Also, I'm going to remind my neighbors that our district-wide meeting will be occurring on Wednesday, October 22nd at 6 PM. So mark your calendars, please. Also, neighbors, the Sprout Mobile Pharmacy, which is sponsored by Black Soil, will be at Sandersville Elementary School on October the 9th from 3 to 5 PM. As has been the case since this started in June, they sell out really fast, so get there and get in line very early for that. Also, this next event is not going on in the second district, but it is my sorority partnering with our senior center. So I want to share it, but my sorority will be having a blood and vaccination drive at the Lexington Senior Center this week on Friday from 12 to 4.30 PM. So if you would like to give blood or get vaccinations, please come out. There will also be health vendors and resources that you can receive as well. So thank you to the Lexington Senior Center for partnering with us on this awesome event, again, because they partnered with us earlier this year. And then lastly, neighbors, there's a Freaky Friday Flix at Madison Station Park this Friday at 6.30 PM. Come on out and watch a great movie with your family. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Sheehan. Thank you, Mayor. First, I want to recognize Code Enforcement. They just received their annual audit from the International Accreditation Service, IAS. They were accredited for the next year, but in their report, the IAS group acknowledged that they had an unprecedented caseload for a department of our size here that exceeded 10,000 cases per year and still managed to outperform the metrics set by IAS. So thank you to our Code Enforcement team, and congratulations on your accreditation and recognition. And then I would like to also recognize Dementor Friendly Lexington. They celebrated their fifth anniversary at the Lexington Senior Center recently. And I want to congratulate them on their recognition and let community members know that if you want to get trained to be Dementor Friendly, they're doing trainings for neighbors. And you can find out more about Dementor Friendly Lexington and that initiative at AgeFriendlyLexington.com. And then finally, we have two neighborhood meetings coming up in the district. There is the Lansdowne Merrick neighborhood meeting tonight at 7 PM at the Tate's Creek Christian Church in room 118. And the Ashland neighborhood is meeting on Sunday at 4 PM at the Ashland Estate. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Hale. Thank you, Mayor. So as my constituents know, public safety is very huge for me, just in all aspects of our community. And I had a meeting with Woodhill, with the Woodhill community back in the beginning of, I think it was around February. And we was talking about concerns with the neighborhood, what are some of the concerns that they have with the neighborhood with safety. And one of the main concerns they talked about was how dark Woodhill is at night time. So I actually rode through there at night time and actually saw how dark it was. And one of the big concerns was it was just old lighting, old street lighting. So what we did was we funded, I partnered with LFUCG Traffic and Engineering. I want to thank them and with KU. And we were able to replace all the light bulbs up Woodhill Drive and we upgraded them all with LED lighting. So hopefully this will allow that neighborhood to feel a little bit more safer. Next, our fall district meeting will be Monday, October 13th at 6 PM through 7 PM at Edith J. Hayes. Again, this is an opportunity for Q&A. Representatives from planning will be there to answer questions about development in the area. KYTC will be there to update on the Richmond Road Improvement Project. And Neighborhood Resource Officer for East Sector will be there to answer questions and hear concerns regarding public safety, and this is a district wide meeting. So I encourage everyone in District 7 to come out to Edith J. Hayes on October 13th at 6 PM. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Morton. Thank you. Got a couple pictures going to pop up, I believe. So starting with Mr. Will, our office has the pleasure of hosting an intern from the STEAM Academy. He actually had to leave, so I'll shout him out next meeting, possibly, if he's here. But Will, who has been a great addition to our team, he's recently contributed thoughtful blog posts on our latest District 1 newsletter, sharing his perspective of local government and community service. This partnership helps expose young people to civic engagement and the inner workings of public service. So Mr. Will's a great addition to our office for this winter, and that's a Will up there, and moving on. So we also officially launched the District 1 Youth Advisory Board and held our first meeting of September. The board gives students a voice in local decision making and creates a space for them to share the challenges and opportunities they see in their neighborhoods. This initiative reflects our office's ongoing commitment to youth empowerment, youth leadership, youth development, and civic education, excuse me, for our youth. And keep on going through, that was just a little fire, but our office participated in the Williamsboro Brown Neighborhood Association Fall Cookout, which also marked the conclusion of their fall break free lunch program at the Charles Young Center. Events like this strengthen neighborhood connections, celebrate community leaders, and ensures families have access to resources and meals when school is out. Showing the power of grassroots support and collaboration in exactly what community is. And then, this weekend we joined the Windburn Broncos Homecoming Parade to cheer on our local youth athletes and celebrate their hard work and team spirit. Supporting youth sports not only encourages physical activity, but also builds community pride and unity across the district, and builds many different skills for our youth as they grow older. And then lastly, I had the pleasure of attending the Oakwood Day, a fun family focused event centered on fellowship, food, and neighborhood connection. These gatherings are vital for fostering a sense of belonging and highlighting the strength of togetherness that make District 1 such a special place to live. And with that, I'll wrap it up. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Reynolds. Thank you, Mayor. This Friday is the kickoff of Tree Week here in Lexington. I'm excited that it's going to be in the 11th district at McConnell Springs. It will be this Friday from 5.30 to 7.30, and I'm glad that the mayor will be there to do a proclamation. There will be a tabling event with different partners, and we'll be planting a bur oak, a tulip poplar, and a Kentucky coffee tree. So I hope everyone will come out for that event, and then go to other Tree Week events this week. And then also, you all have received the link to the public safety recruitment video. And we're going to show that in just a second for those who haven't seen it yet. It's very exciting. Public safety has been working hard on different recruitment efforts. And this effort combines promoting all of public safety in one video, helping to bring people here to Lexington or keep them here in Lexington to work for our public safety team. I really want to thank everyone that was involved in making the video, especially Emily Fay with Emergency Management. And she is here afterwards if anyone has any questions for her about it. But I'm also going to ask each of you that's here in this room to share the video, make a post about it, share it with people you know, and try to help us spread the word about our amazing public safety team. And now we have the video. Lexington, Kentucky, a city known for its beauty, tradition, and unbridled spirit. You can take in the beautiful scenery in one of the country's most historic and top rated cities. Enjoy the horses at historic racetracks and embrace the team spirit of our numerous championship sports teams. Nightlife, diverse community celebrations, the art scene and shopping opportunities abound. With a great education system and unmatched culinary experience and some of the best parks in the nation. Lexington is truly a place where you can live, work and play. But what makes our city special is the strength and bond of our Lexington public safety family. Our public safety family is made up of five dedicated teams, each working with pride and a deep commitment to our community. The Lexington Police Department is here to protect us with honor and professionalism. Lexington Fire and Emergency Services is always ready to respond with bravery, care and compassion. Our 911 operators are the calm, reassuring voices you hear in times of crisis, getting you the help you need. Emergency Management, working hard to make sure our city is ready to respond regardless of the challenge. And the Division of Community Corrections plays a vital role in both keeping the city safe and helping our residents rebuild and thrive. These five divisions come together to form Lexington's public safety family, a network of strength, integrity and service. Each role is essential to protecting Lexington and making our city a safer and better place to live, work and play. When you join the Lexington Public Safety Family, you're choosing more than just a career, you're becoming part of a community. Here, you'll find a place where your work makes a difference and where you can enjoy life to the fullest. Join Lexington's public safety family. Our Police, Fire, E911, Corrections and Emergency Management Divisions are looking for professionals ready to protect, serve and grow with us. Together, we're building a brighter, safer future for Lexington. Make a difference. Come be part of our public safety family. I'm going to hit on two of my favorite topics. I'm really excited. We just wrapped up Lexington's Week Without Driving, and I know that so many council members participated in that initiative in different ways. It was September 29th through October 5th. And just as a reminder, the Week Without Driving invited community members who drive regularly, especially folks like us who are elected officials and other decision makers, to try and go full week without driving. And I think that that was a really worthy challenge, and it makes us think about our city differently. And as we were just discussing with policy, it helps shape policy in a meaningful way that's focused on people and making our city better for everybody. So I also want to say that my favorite council comment video every year is the Week Without Driving video, because we all come together. It's fun, it's informative, it's a little silly. And it's great to see everybody collaborating on a video for Week Without Driving. Though Council Member James Brown did not drive the bus this year, which I really like that. I loved everyone sharing out the information about the week and the fact that we could work together to promote it. And I want to give accolades to Living Streets Lexington and to all of the organizers who worked hard to elevate the events, to plan them, to get so many community members to turn out. I think that you all are building relationships. You're building our civic fabric, and you're doing really meaningful work here in our community. Now I want to turn to my second favorite topic, trees. Council Member Reynolds mentioned the Tree Week kickoff, the signature tree planning, which is always a fun event, and this year it's going to be even better, because it's connected with our 250 elect celebration. Tree Week is October 10th through 19th, and there are so many fantastic and often free activities that are going to be happening. During the course of Tree Week, and I know you all know there are so many in each district. But for example, I just want to give one shout out, the 34th annual Arbor Day celebration is on Saturday, October 11th from 10 AM to 5 PM. That's always really fun, because we can do a big proclamation. There are so many vendors and community members who are volunteering. There's another tree planting at 11 AM that day. And then people get to go to different parts of the Arboretum and the Children's Garden and celebrate Arbor Day together. Just on one day, on Saturday, October 11th, there are 12 different Tree Week events, so that's really awesome. And all throughout the week, there are really interesting and informative things happening. For people who have all different interests. So I encourage you to find some that look good to you, turn out, tell your friends, and try something new. And thank you to all the organizers who work together on this series of events. It takes a lot of collaboration to make it happen. That's it, Mayor. Thank you very much. Thank you, Council Member Savigny. Thank you, Mayor. I just have a few announcements for different communities. The colony is having a potluck on Sunday on John Alder Lane. John Alder Lane starts around 4 o'clock. Picadome is having their outdoor event in the Vista Street green space on Sunday, September, on October 12th. And their main topic of conversation is going to be our growth management and preservation discussion, and Vice Mayor Wu will be there with me. And if any of you want to talk to them, come join us. And then I have the privilege of going to speak to the Fayette County Neighborhood Association on Monday the 13th. They want to hear what we're doing in the street safety task force. So I'm excited about that. If any of you want to join us, there are neighbors from your districts as well. And then lastly, I want to congratulate Council Member Jennifer Reynolds and her fiance, Pedro. They got engaged, and there is nothing like love, Jennifer. And you can see it on your face, and I'm so happy for you both. So thank you. That's it, Mayor. Thank you. Congratulations. Council Member Baxter. Thank you, Mayor. Director Larkin, could you come up? And while he's coming up, I'm going to ask him a question. But I just wanted to say big kudos to our public safety family for that video. I am told it was posted at 9 a.m. yesterday, and we already have over 10,000 views, which is amazing. And I think that it is probably one of, if not the only, type of video similar in the country. So we already knew we had the best public safety family, but now the rest of the world is going to know, too. Director, my phone is blowing up over here, and I just wanted you to have the opportunity to tell us what in the world is going on outside this building, because it seems we have a lot of rain. Yes, ma'am. Excuse me. So we have had a significant amount of rain here in the past 24 hours. Some areas have exceeded over 4 inches. We are in a flash flood warning until 6.30 p.m., and the flood warning in general will end at 7 p.m. So it has been raining. It looks like it's clearing up to the west of us, which is a good thing. There's been no significant incidents that we're aware of other than a few streets have gone under water, but that's receding. And, of course, our tagline for this type of weather is turn around, don't drown. Thank you. I appreciate that. Just in case anybody doesn't know, Fayette County Public Schools has canceled all outdoor activities for the evening, so just wanted everybody to be aware. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Brown. Thank you, Mayor, and I apologize for chiming back in, but I told the folks in HR that I would make an announcement about the employee benefits fair that started today. There have been roughly over 100 employees that stopped by today. Tomorrow they'll have flu shots and chair massages from 11.30 to 5 p.m., and employees can visit all the vendors, register to win prizes, spin the wheel, and win other prizes and swag. So your LFUCG employee, please go to the fair. Thank you. Thank you. Any other reports? All right. Before we go ahead, I would like to introduce my new Director of Arts and Culture, Celeste Lewis, if you don't mind to stand up. Yes. As most of you know, Celeste has been busy running the Pam Miller Downtown Arts Center, and she and Heather Lyons have had a very good overlap, so that Heather could impart lots of knowledge and ways to Celeste, and we want to wish Heather a wonderful break. She's kind of thinking about what her next steps will be, and we appreciate her work very much and welcome you, Celeste. Thank you. Now, we do not have anyone signed up for public comment, so that brings us to adjournment. Any motions? All right. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. We are adjourned. Thank you for coming. Thank you.