♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ It's 3 o'clock and today's January 27th, 2026. And I'll go ahead and call to order the agenda is public comment for issues on the agenda. And before we do that, I'd like to refresh everybody's mind. Can you all hear me okay? Thumbs up. That when we're in an official council meeting, in order to be counted at present, you have to be seen and heard when you speak. And for our public, we do have some public signed up and it will work very much like it does in person. I'll state your name and they'll be let into the meeting and they'll state their name, their council district, and have three minutes. So I'll ask Michael Cravens, if there's anything else he would like to, for me to cover before we have our official points. Michael, are you good? Yeah. The only thing I would say is as a reminder, and I think I'll let y'all know this separately, but keep your cameras on while public business is being discussed. As far as public comment, I've checked your rules and I'm not seeing anything that prohibits receiving public comment from the same speaker, both for issues on the agenda and issues off the agenda. So you would just need to, you know, the speaker would need to tell her comments appropriately based on that, but otherwise I think it's permitted. So that covers the main things. All right. Very good. Thank you very much. All right. With that, we'll go on to public comment for issues on the agenda. And we do have one person signed up for both public comments. So I'll ask Amelia G to be entered into the meeting. And this is for items on the docket. And if you'll state your name and you'll have to be on camera to speak to the public. So I'll ask Amelia to state your name and your council district, and you'll have three minutes. Welcome. Hi, thank you. I'm Amelia McKee. I live in district 11 and this is. For the. On the agenda topic. It's on the topic of neighborhood development funds. And this is an affluent HOA asking the city to subsidize its operating costs. And would be an obvious misuse of neighborhood development funds. And it should be denied. And I yield the rest of the time. Thank you very much. At this moment, we don't have anyone else signed up to speak. So we'll go right on. Okay. Thank you. There is no docket today. And. We do have the January 20th, 2026 council work session table of motions. I'll entertain a motion to approve. Council member Savigny. And is there a second. All right. We've been a little patience with our video here. Is there any discussion corrections or additions to the January 20th? All right. All those in favor say aye. And raise your hand. Now. Let's see, let's all take an eye. Okay. So I can see four people on my screen. So that's why I'm asking. I need to switch this around. I think so. I can see you. Everybody had their hands raised. Yeah. Okay. Great. Alrighty. So that item passes. Is there a motion to approve. Yes. Okay. I have actually lost my video, but. The next item. Item passed. There are no budget amendments. There are no budget adjustments and there is new business and I'll entertain a motion. Okay. Now. So vice mayor. I am going to have to leave the zoom to get my video back on. So will you take over? Yep. Sure thing. I'll be back. Any questions on new business? All right. All right. Looks like there no questions. All those in favor, please say, aye. Aye raise your hands. Yep. Anyone opposed. All right. That motion passes. Excuse me. One second. I actually have to pull this. Give me one second. Apologies. All right. Next up. Let's see. We don't have communications from the mayor appointments, donations or procurements. So that takes us to continuing business and presentations. Neighborhood development funds. Can I get a motion to approve? Motion approved. Okay. Council member Ellinger. Do we need a second? Do we have a second? Okay. Council member Higgins hoard. Discussion council member Reynolds. Okay. Thank you, vice mayor. Can I ask who's sponsored? The one that was just mentioned for the HOA removal of trees. And could you give some information on that? Yeah, I believe that was us. I don't have it sitting in front of me, but I believe that was us. I don't have it. The controversy there, I suppose. But we'll be looking into it. Okay. Well, we're getting ready to approve it right now. So that's why I was asking. Council member Hale. Did you have something to add to. Council member Reynolds question. Yeah. Okay. Do you suggest that we go ahead and reject this right now? And until you. So you're able to get more clarity on it or. I mean, I think it's, I mean, we've edited it. It's it's an India kind of project. We do these. I wouldn't say all the time, but, but kind of frequently, not an uncommon ask from a neighborhood. So. I would vote to approve it. Okay. Okay. Okay. Council member Hale. You're good. Okay. All right. All those in favor, please say aye. Or raise your hand on the screen, please. Any opposed. All right. That motion passes. I'll hand the chair back to mayor Gordon. We just finished. All right. Very good. Thank you. Okay. At this time, I'll turn it over for budget finance and economic development to the chair. Council member Brown. I apologize, mayor. Can you come back to me? And we, and we go to the presentation and present after the presentation. Is that okay? Yes, that's fine. Okay. So, we'll go to the presentation. And that is Ashley Smith. So we'll welcome Ashley to the meeting. All righty. Well, good afternoon, mayor Gordon and city council members. Thank you again to council member James Brown for the opportunity to share today. We're here today to speak about the sprout mobile pharmacy market powered by black soil. Okay. If you'd like to stay in touch with me, please feel free to email me at Ashley at black soul. Okay. Why? Or visit our website at any time. Black soil. K y.com. And just a little bit about us. We are a 501 C3. We were established August 25th, 2017. And simply we have the mission of reconnecting black Kentuckians to their heritage and legacy in agriculture, which we've successfully done for the last going on nine years. This August at the bottom here, we have the list and roster of our board of directors. Co-chairs Brian Johnson and Erica Hudson vice chair at homes and secretary treasurer, Charlie Roland. And basically we are an agribusiness that serves the entire state of Kentucky. Actually the entire region as far West as California, we were motivated to start this organization seven years ago, excuse me, nine years ago with the effort of trying to break into institutional procurement. Like at the city through the CSA voucher program. Since then we have built a very strong brand name and recognition. And I'm going to speak not only about our mobile pharmacy market, but our neighborhood pharmacy markets, which house the eat local year round challenge. We work to bring together families and households while equipping farmers around marketing and branding services. We then aggregate and distribute their products all throughout the community. Basically it's a farm to community benefit program that educates households around where their food comes from. We really support the ability, regardless of financial and socioeconomic status for affordability and accessibility. So you see some pictures here from programs. We have a durable supply chain. Many of these vendors we've worked with since 2017, which allows us to be able to control our pricing. We also work with farmers, chefs and makers who help us create ready to eat meals, frozen meals, as well as value added products, such as farm to table, hummus, honey, sunrise, bakery bread, coffee, candles, and honey. We also have two locations for our neighborhood pharmacy markets. One in the 10th district at eight 20 lane Allen suite one seven six in the garden spring shopping center. And one that is located in the second district located at seven 60 Florence Avenue, both of these locations opened in June of 2025. So we're thrilled to celebrate our first full year in operation in 2026. So as a marketing and branding organization and agribusiness, we work to educate and expand folks understanding of where their food comes from. We really pride ourselves in helping folks eat local year round with helping them understand the season and seasonality of Kentucky produce, local meats as a small agribusiness. We are really focused on working with small to midsize farms. Our 2025 market impact. We spent the last three years. So 2023, all the way to 2025 are really working to wean ourselves off of federal funding. So when the federal shutdown and the ups and downs and uncertainties from federal funding hit many institutions and entities, we were able to keep going without missing a beat. So last year we worked really hard and invested over $200,000 of our herd earned donations, revenue and other ways that we've raised funds in the community to invest directly in Kentucky farms. We worked with organizations like Aetna better health of Kentucky to serve 400 families across 12 rural counties and through our mobile pharmacy market. We were able to serve at least, excuse me, I'll talk about that on the next slide, but through our neighborhood pharmacy markets, we were able to serve 5,000 families and with the average spend of under $40 on folks, staple goods and groceries. So what brings us here today is to really propose an opportunity to really expand the city's opportunity in recognition of its mobile market efforts. So here you see our spout mobile pharmacy. This has been a one of a kind grassroots opportunity to bring fresh food through our rolling food oasis into food and transportation in secure communities. So what we call, when we go out into the community with the sprout mobile pharmacy market, our missions, we served nearly 2000 families last year across nearly 60 missions. We have the opportunity to work with seven community partners through our farm to faith community partners, our farm to school markets, as well as private organizations. We were able to work in partnership with 1,000 families in service to them through free food distributions. So here's one free food distribution that we did in partnership with miss Maddie Morton. During our state of the soil, annual national convening, families were able to come out in the East end and learn where their food comes from while they were able to pick and choose and build their own grocery shares. You'll learn a little bit more about our $5 vouchers. We were able to use our free food distribution. You'll learn a little bit more about our $5 vouchers. We were able to distribute nearly 900 of those last year. So for 2026, our missions span across 10 community partner sites and these very all throughout communities that we believe are targets for our audience. Those individuals who are oftentimes hard to reach and underrepresented with local food accessibility and affordability. So we keep our farm to faith partnerships through working with faith communities and churches all throughout the city, private organizations and nonprofits such as big as fans and Aval, as well as our Fayette County public school connections that we've really nurtured in partnership with the family resource coordinators. The Lexington housing authority will be visiting six of those property sites in 2026. You also have outside of this presentation, each one of our schedules that align with our community partner sites. These flyers, we ask that you add into your newsletters where they align with your council districts. This allows any and everyone to attend these mission visits and sites, and it allows the community to really build up their excitement around being able to eat local year round. So how does sprout work? So we really focus on a really convenient, quick opportunity to build in convenience, build in convenience, expand the convenience for all Lexingtonians. So folks are able to select from a five, 10 or $20 grab bag model. This is an extremely unique opportunity for folks to be able to come and see the different produce that rotates throughout the season. These bundles are created with care by our Kentucky farmers. So you see a customer there looking at some of our produce. So how sprout works continued. So we accept these tenders listed here. One thing we pride ourselves on is that sprout is ADA accessible. We also accept cash debit and credit cards, FIMO cash app, Black Soul KY gift cards. And then here on the right of your screen, you'll see what we have as our sprout $5 vouchers. These allow us to create our own closed currency that we manage and control through Black Soul KY. So we worked again in partnership in distributing 880 of these vouchers last year, mainly in partnership with our Fayette County public school, family resource coordinator centers. These individuals would come to the sprout mobile pharmacy market. The lead organization, whether it be a neighborhood association was able to distribute these pass out different educational materials, capture contact information so we can continue the engagement. These allow us to be able to track and basically reconcile at the end against sponsored vouchers. So again, we are one of a kind opportunity. We are the state's only mobile market that is 100% curated by local Kentucky farmers. So we are an economic engine for development and cooperative economics. So a bag for everyone. We've got an example here of the three different levels that allow folks to really pick and choose and have that dignity and empowerment to engage their food choices. So our ask of LFUCG is really simple. We're seeking an end opportunity to expand the current mobile market recognition to include Black Soul KY and God's Pantry. And secondly, we're seeking to serve 1000 Lexingtonians via $5 vouchers across our sprout missions directed through council member budgets and neighborhood development funds. So I thank you so much for your time today as well as your consideration. Thank you very much, Ashley. You're doing a wonderful job with this. I'll entertain any questions from council members. What questions do you have? Council member Savigny. Thank you, Mayor. And thank you, Ashley, for first of all, thank you for locating in the 10th district. It's I love going over there and I really like all the products are great. And I do think you guys have great service. Like your, your people are very thoughtful and nice to anyone who comes in. So I would, I just encourage my fellow council members. I do think it's a great mission and it's, it's a wonderful way to promote healthy, healthy food. And you guys are doing a fantastic job. And I've, I have supported them with NDF in the past and some capital funds for some some refrigeration items, if I recall. So we're working on that right now. Thank you very much. Thank you. Council member Brown and then vice mayor Wu. Thank you. Thank you, mayor. And thank you Ashley for the presentation and joining us to joining us today. And congratulations on your one year anniversary of your pharmacy markets. That's a, that's a big accomplishment. Just a couple of questions. So the, so do you, do, you know, right off the top, what housing authority sites you're going to, you're going to participate at this year with the sprout. I do now don't misquote me, but I'm going to pull this off the top of my head. I know we'll be at Fane bridge. We'll be over in the East end. We'll be at Connie Griffin tower. And we'll be located off of for sales road, I believe as well. But again, you have that graphic that lists our calendar and schedule of all of the Lexington housing authority dates, as well as the properties. Okay. Okay. I'll go back and reference that. And then also let me ask you, and I might've missed it in your presentation. So the $5 vouchers, how have you funded those in the past? Did that just come from donations? To, to, to come up with the money to fund those $5 vouchers? Well, it's a mixture. So again, the last three years, we really worked to be very diligent in our philanthropic efforts. So through private philanthropy, unrestricted grants, individual donations, as well as revenue being reinvested from our other stores. Okay. Okay. No, I'm sorry. No, I'm just, I'm just curious. I, you know, I applaud you in the efforts that you're making to, to not be so reliant on federal funding because it is such a uncertainty right now. So anything that you could do to sustain your efforts locally, I think is what you need to do. Mayor. And then I have a question and I don't know if anybody is on this call to answer it. I reached out to Todd earlier. And, and if, and if they, if they can't answer today, I think that's okay. Well, I can always follow up with them, but when it sounds like Ashley is asking of us, it's just an opportunity to partner, to address food insecurities through the being a mobile market partner. And my question to Todd was, do we have to open up the RFP to, to put it out there competitively, or is this just something that we could look to partner on? I think that's a good question. Do we have to open it up competitively or is this just something that we could look to partner with them to be in addition to the, to the, to the other option, the, the Kroger fruit truck. But you might know, or somebody else on the call might know if that's something that we can just entertain without putting it out RFP. I of course would want Todd and Dave Barbary's opinion, the way we did our current mobile market. I think that's what you're referring to. Correct. Yes, ma'am. Yeah, we did. I don't remember if we put out an RFP, we did ask various groceries. If they wanted to partner as well as, you know, folks to run it, which God's pantry does. So I don't recall if we put that out in an RFP or not. So we'll have to get some guidance from the two of them. Well, I can't be helpful on the RFP aspect of this because I can't recall if we didn't RP for that or not, but I do believe the mobile market generate a PSA that we did. So I do know that anything we do would likely be through a PSA, either an amendment to the existing PSA or a re letting of the PSA. But in terms of the RFP question, we'd have to check with procurement to see how that was handled last time. Yeah, we can do that. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Well, that's something that I'm interested in us. Taking a look into, because if it's not, you know, a huge budgetary. And it's, and it's just recognition and partnership, then I think that's something that we ought to, we ought to entertain. So, all right. So Ashley, thank you again for addressing food insecurities here with local Kentucky farmers. And, and, and thank you for all you do in, in, in our community. Thank you, mayor. Thank you. Vice mayor Wu and then council member Lynch. Thank you, mayor. Thank you, miss Smith for the presentation and all the great work you're doing. It's hard to believe that you're almost at 10 years with your organization to the RFP question. Council member Brown. And I don't want to speak for procurement. Aren't we always looking at a $40,000 threshold before we have to, we're obligated to do an RP process. So if it's less than that scale, I don't think we necessarily do. But again, I don't want to speak for either. But miss Smith, I just wanted to say, I feel like black soil is and has always been like a great example of an organization punching above its weight and doing a lot with a little. And I'm looking forward to being able to support you in expanding your work. That's it. Thanks mayor. Thank you. Council member Lynch. Thank you mayor. And thank you, miss Smith for the presentation. I just want to say thank you to you on behalf of my district, two neighbors who enjoy having black soil and the pharmacy market come to the district so often. So I really appreciate that and appreciate the partnership with black soil that the council district to office has. And especially the Sandersville elementary location, the families in my neighborhood love that. Imagine the station. They love that. So thank you so much for that partnership, especially because I know it is helping out a lot of my neighbors a lot of the time. So thank you. Are there any other questions? All right. Council member Reynolds. Thank you, mayor. Sorry, my hand blends in with my background. Actually, I am just always so impressed at what you do. And I always feel like some, somehow you make magic. And the mobile market is really incredible. The new pharmacy markets are as well. And what I appreciate, and I don't know how you do it, is that all of the produce is very affordable and it's accessible. And so people can get fresh produce and not spend way more than they would if they went to a regular grocery store, if anything, it's less. And I don't know how you make that happen, but I know it's so appreciated by everybody in my community that goes. And so I would definitely be in favor of partnering with you all and expanding what we're doing as a city now. And thank you for sticking in there, even during the difficult times. So. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? All right. Miss Ashley Smith. Nice to see you. Thanks for the great presentation. Thank you. You'll have a great day. Be safe. Thank you. All right. At this time, we'll go back to council member Brown for the budget finance and economic development. Thank you, mayor. The budget finance economic development committee committee of the whole August 21st, 2025 report out in summary and motions. The meeting began at 1 0 2 PM. The first item on the agenda was the approval of the September 16th, 2025 committee summary. The committee unanimously approved the committee summary. The second item on the agenda was the quarter one financial update for September 20, 2025 commissioner Hensley and director hold broken. Look, Luker presented the FYI 26 quarter one financials. The review of the top 4 revenue sources showed stabilization. However, net profit revenues trail the FYI 26 budget and FYI 25 actual collections. There is a 1.6% variance in revenue between FYI, 26 actuals and budget totaling 1.8 million expenses have a 6.7 variance between the FYI, 26 budget and actuals to date insurance and capital expenditures are exceeding the budget. When comparing FYI, 25 expenses to FYI 26, there is a 6% variance totaling 7.4 million commissioner Hensley also presented on the revenue and expenses of the urban services, sanitary sewer, water quality and landfill. No action was taken on this item. The third item on the agenda was the FYI, 25 fund balance presentation commissioner Hensley presented the FYI, 25 fund balance. The commissioner explains that fund balances is a piece of the balance and what is generally unassigned at this point in the audit process after accounting for non spendable restrictions, commitments, historical assignments and obligation, the remaining unassigned fund balance for FYI, 25, uh, was 6. It was 6, 6, million, 296, um, thousand and $172. No action was taken on this item. And then the 4th item was FYI, 25 council fund balance discussion. Council members presented their proposed, their proposed uses for the unassigned fund balance. Um, council member Ellinger deferred the micro transit presentation to work session. Council allocated, uh, 2 million, $265,000 for proposed projects and, and left 4 million, um, 31,000, $172 and unassigned fund balance for future use. No other action was taken on this item and the committee adjourned at 2 47 PM. Thank you, Mary. Thank you. Are there any questions for council member Brown on his report? All right. Thank you very much for that. Uh, that brings us to council reports. Now, uh, we'll just take your hands as I see them. So who wants to step into this? Any council reports. I see council member Reynolds. Thank you, mayor. I just had 1 announcement, um, tomorrow evening. I was going to hold a, a community wide meeting for Cardinal Valley. Um, at the neighborhood center and Valley park, but we have rescheduled that to next Wednesday at the same time at 5 30 PM. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. Thank you. Thank you. Council member Beasley. Thank you mayor. I just have 1 quick announcement as well. Um, we were supposed to host a tenant and, um, landlord workshop at the taste community center tomorrow and we are postponing that and I'll update you about when we pick a new date. Thank you. Right. Anyone else? Council member Baxter. Thank you mayor. I just wanted to take a moment and thank all of our staff and crews who've been working. Around the clock for the last several days. Um, I know that everybody's been doing the best job that they can. And mayor, I just wanted to give you an opportunity to give us any updates that you felt were timely. All right. Um, I think everyone has probably seen that tomorrow at 8 AM, my state of emergency will expire and I'm not renewing it. Um, we will open government 2 hours late tomorrow. And the other thing is we have a, an ordinance that says that sidewalks have to be cleared within 24 hours of a snow event. And I've, uh, suspended that ordinance, um, since we don't have snow blocking them, but we sure do have ice and there will be no garbage or recycle pickup tomorrow. Recycle will not be picked up at all this week. We'll go kind of day by day on the garbage pickup and we'll make public announcements, all that. And just thank you for this opportunity. People have been wonderful at staying in, staying off the roads, trying to do what they can to stay safe. Oh, thank you again. And all of our staff are working so hard, um, and for keeping us all in the loop of what's going on. So thank you. Thank you. Council member Sheehan. Thank you mayor. Um, I just wanted to make the announcement that the annual Lex count, um, that we do through our continuum of care, um, that is the annual required count of the individuals in our community that are unhoused, um, is being postponed due to weather. So we do not have the new date for that yet, but it won't be occurring, um, tomorrow evening. Thank you, ma'am. All right. Thank you. Are there any other announcements? Right. Um, I do have one other thing I forgot to announce our. Emergency operations center will remain open, but only during daytime hours, about eight to five. And, um, as opposed to the 24 hour schedule they've been on. And, um, so. We'll keep everybody up to date on changes. That brings us to public comment for issues, not on the agenda. And we have one person signed up and, uh, I'll welcome him to the room. Amelia. I believe your last name is McKee. Welcome. Yes, correct. And if you'll state your name and your council district for the record, and you'll have three minutes. Thank you. I am Amelia McKee, uh, living in district 11. Um, so thanks for letting me speak again. Um, I'm here now to speak about ice and whether the city of Lexington has a plan for. When not, if federal immigration enforcement expands here. The federal government's behavior is increasingly dangerous, erratic and dishonest. Local governments must prepare before federal agents arrive, not after. So we're not reacting in fear, chaos or confusion. Uh, because we can't pretend to think that it won't happen here. It's a repeated pattern of behavior. That's been going on for far too long, but appears to be escalating lately. They shot someone again this morning in Arizona, just when I was preparing to write this. So, uh, this past weekend, the city of Lexington, the city of Lexington, saw a video. Of Alex pretty being beaten and then executed in the streets of Minneapolis by feds. We saw it clearly with multiple angles and full resolution. Yet the perpetrator remains anonymous. Then we watched federal officials failed attempts to rewrite what happened. The president asked the public to believe that the victim was the aggressor and the violence was justified. And that lie is now part of public record. So, the city of Lexington has not yet seen a major surge in ice. And that is precisely why now is the moment to prepare before feds are embedded here. And before the city is forced to react under pressure. Preparation means that this council must decide. Uh, clearly what Lexington will not do. Uh, what city resources will not be shared. What local law enforcement will not assist with and what data facilities and cooperation will be off the table. The city of Lexington is already preparing for the next wave of federal law enforcement. By setting enforceable standards. By refusing to allow mass federal agents to operate in our city. And encouraging the state to adopt the same policy. And by preparing local law enforcement to intervene, if federal agents break the law. Up to and including arresting them if necessary. Other cities are already drawing these lines. Just yesterday, Buffalo, New York's mayor, And the city of Lexington has not yet seen a major surge in ice. And that is precisely why now is the moment to prepare before feds are embedded here. And before the city is forced to react under pressure. By federal agents are here and once operations are underway, it's too late. To negotiate our terms. Um, this council's responsibility is to ensure that when that moment comes. Lexington is not improvising or panicking or quietly surrendering to the federal government. It is a city that has been in the midst of a pandemic. And is facing harm. And refusing unnecessary cooperation with federal agencies that have demonstrated a pattern of violence followed by dishonesty. Do not give up the power interested to you. Lexington is not an extension of the federal government. And when the federal government lies after someone has killed, the only responsible action from a city is resistance. Thank you. Thank you. We don't have anyone else signed up. Okay. So with that, I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. Uh, I know we, a lot of you have said, thank yous. I especially want to thank Haley Salyers and the GTV team. Who have worked diligently on this as well as our public safety, public works. Waste management council administrator. Council clerk. Uh, so with that, I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved. Thank you. Is there a second? Second. Thank you. All those in favor say, aye. Aye. We are. We are adjourned. Thank you very much. Thank you.