# Council Work Session - May 12, 2026 > Auto-transcribed civic record · Council · May 12, 2026 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/6768 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/6768?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2026-05-12 - **Body**: Council - **Last revised**: May 12, 2026 - **Length**: 8,812 words - **Speakers**: Mayor, Council Member, Chair > ⚠️ **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 May 12, 2026, at 3:00 PM in the Council Chamber at 200 E. Main St, Lexington, KY 40507. The meeting included 3 agenda items, 9 motions and votes, 1 presentation, and 2 public comments. The Council approved two action items: the summary of the Council Work Session from May 5, 2026, and the Council Capital Projects for May 12, 2026. Members also received an informational presentation on the Lextran FY2027 Budget. ## Attendance All ten council members were present at the May 12, 2026 Council meeting. No members were absent or late. **Present:** - Council Member Ellinger - Vice Mayor Wu - Council Member Curtis - Council Member Baxter - Council Member Reynolds - Council Member Morton - Council Member Brown - Council Member Savigny - Council Member Hale - Council Member Eblen ## Votes and Decisions All nine motions brought before the Council on May 12, 2026 passed by voice vote. No roll call votes were recorded, and no individual aye, nay, or abstention counts are available for any of the items below. - **Approval of docket and rezoning** — Moved by Council Member Ellinger, seconded by Vice Mayor Wu. Passed by voice vote. [timestamp: 0:06:30] - **Approval of May 5th Council Work Session motions** — Moved by Council Member Curtis, seconded by Council Member Baxter. Passed by voice vote. [timestamp: 0:07:34] - **Approval of budget amendments** — Moved by Vice Mayor Wu, seconded by Council Member Reynolds. Passed by voice vote. [timestamp: 0:07:34] - **Approval of new business items** — Moved by Council Member Baxter, seconded by Council Member Reynolds. Passed by voice vote. [timestamp: 0:08:05] - **Approval of mayoral appointments** — Moved by Vice Mayor Wu, seconded by Council Member Baxter. Passed by voice vote. [timestamp: 0:19:39] - **Approval of mayoral donations** — Moved by Council Member Savigny, seconded by Council Member Sheehan. Passed by voice vote. [timestamp: 0:19:39] - **Approval of mayoral procurements** — Moved by Council Member Hale, seconded by Council Member Eblen. Passed by voice vote. [timestamp: 0:20:09] - **Approval of council capital projects** — Moved by Vice Mayor Wu, seconded by Council Member Sheehan. Passed by voice vote. [timestamp: 0:20:39] - **Schedule public hearing for Red Mile TIF project expansion** — Moved by Council Member Brown, seconded by Council Member Reynolds. Passed by voice vote. [timestamp: 0:45:12] ## Budget and Financial Actions The Council approved several financial agreements and purchases at the May 12, 2026 meeting, spanning public safety, infrastructure, and community programs. - **Fire Apparatus Purchase (L0336-26):** The Council authorized a purchase agreement with Atlantic Emergency Solutions, Inc. for a Custom Fire Apparatus Pierce Enforcer Pumper at a cost of **$1,343,000.00**. This represents the meeting's largest single expenditure. - **Cable TV Services (L0354-26):** A service order with Charter Communications Operating, LLC was approved for cable TV services valued at **$2,460**. - **Public Art Grant (L0356-26):** The Council approved a **$150,000** grant agreement with Gatton Park to support a public art project. - **Nasal Narcan Supply (L0358-26):** An agreement with Emergent was authorized for the purchase of nasal Narcan spray at a cost of **$98,175**, supporting the city's public health and emergency response efforts. - **Emergency Management Performance Grant (L0359-26):** The Council approved an agreement with the Kentucky Department of Military Affairs to receive an Emergency Management Performance Grant totaling **$84,935.40**. - **Police Training Academy (L0368-26):** A Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Kentucky was approved for the Police Training Academy project, valued at **$928,242**. In total, the Council authorized over **$2.6 million** in expenditures and grant agreements across these six items, with public safety commitments — including fire apparatus, Narcan procurement, emergency management, and police training — accounting for the majority of spending. ## Public Comment Two members of the public addressed the Council during the public comment period at the May 12, 2026 meeting. - **Trevor Davis** [timestamp: 50:06] spoke on the topic of the Opioid Abatement Fund Allocation. Davis raised concerns about a proposal to allocate $2 million to an interest-bearing account designated for opioid abatement efforts. He argued that placing the funds in such an account undermines the urgency of addressing the current opioid crisis, suggesting the approach delays meaningful action on an ongoing public health issue. - **Rick Day** [timestamp: 54:02] addressed the Council regarding a compensation study, making pointed accusations against the administration. Day alleged that the results of the compensation study had been manipulated or rigged, characterizing the conduct as financial fraud. He also directed criticism at the Council itself, taking issue with what he described as a failure to investigate the matter. ## Appointments The Council acted on several board and commission appointments during the May 12, 2026 meeting. The following individuals were appointed or reappointed to serve on various bodies: - **Amanda Secen** was reappointed to the **Bluegrass Crime Stoppers Board of Directors**. - **Scott Davidson** was appointed to the **Downtown Lexington Management District Board of Directors**. - **Debra Lawson**, **Cynthia Relford**, and **Tiana Wilson** were each appointed to the **Dunbar Neighborhood Center Board**. - **Allison Connelly** was reappointed to the **Police Disciplinary Review Board**. - **Wesley Whistle** was reappointed to the **Transit Authority Board**. In total, the Council confirmed seven appointments across five separate boards and bodies. Three of the actions were reappointments — Secen, Connelly, and Whistle returning to roles they had previously held — while the remaining four were new appointments. The Dunbar Neighborhood Center Board saw the largest single round of additions, with three individuals joining that body. ## Contested Items Two items drew public opposition during the May 12, 2026 Council meeting. - **Opioid Abatement Fund Allocation:** Trevor Davis spoke out against a proposal to allocate $2 million to an interest-bearing account from the Opioid Abatement Fund. Davis argued that placing the funds in an interest-bearing account undermines efforts to address the ongoing opioid crisis, suggesting the money should instead be directed toward immediate abatement efforts. No outcome for this item was recorded in the available meeting data. - **Compensation Study:** Rick Day accused the administration of manipulating the results of a compensation study, characterizing the conduct as financial fraud. Day also criticized the Council directly, arguing that members had failed in their oversight responsibility by not launching an investigation into the matter. No outcome for this item was recorded in the available meeting data. ## Approval of Summary: Council Work Session, May 5, 2026 [timestamp: 07:34] The Council took up Resolution 0386-26, the approval of the summary of motions from the May 5, 2026 Council Work Session. Council Member Curtis and Council Member Baxter were the key speakers on this item. The Council considered the summary of motions as recorded from the prior work session and moved forward with its approval without noted controversy or significant debate. - **Resolution:** 0386-26 - **Outcome:** Approved ## Council Capital Projects, May 12, 2026 [timestamp: 20:39] The council took up agenda item 0384-26, a presentation on ongoing and future capital projects covering budget allocations and project timelines. Vice Mayor Wu and Council Member Sheehan were the key speakers during this agenda item. The discussion centered on the status of current capital projects as well as planning for future initiatives, with attention to how funds are allocated and when projects are expected to move forward. The item was approved by the council. *Note: The available data for this agenda item does not include specifics on individual project names, dollar amounts, timeline details, or particular concerns raised during debate. Readers seeking the full discussion are encouraged to consult the meeting video beginning at the 20:39 mark or review the complete meeting record for agenda item 0384-26.* ## Presentation: Lextran FY2027 Budget **Agenda Item 0388-26** | [timestamp: 22:51] Fred Combs presented the Lextran FY2027 budget to the Council, describing a balanced operating budget and capital plan. The presentation covered service improvements and pilot programs under consideration for the upcoming fiscal year. Key speakers during this agenda item included Fred Combs, Council Member Ellinger, and Vice Mayor Wu. The item was informational in nature, and no vote or formal action was taken by the Council. *Note: Detailed figures, specific program descriptions, and the substance of questions raised by Council Member Ellinger and Vice Mayor Wu are not available in the provided summary data.* --- ## Decisions - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve the May 14, 2026 Council Meeting Docket - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve the May 5, 2026 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, May 12, 2026 - **Motion** — passed (0-0): place on the docket for the May 14, 2026, Council Meeting a Resolution approving the FY 2027 Budget of the Transit Authority of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government (LexTran) pursuant to KRS 96A.360 and requesting that the Commissioner of Finance authorize the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office to disburse the funds to LexTran collected from the Ad Valorem Tax approved by voters on November 9, 2004 - **Motion** — passed (0-0): schedule a public hearing regarding the proposed expansion of the Red Mile TIF project on June 4, 2026 at 6 p.m - **Motion** — passed (0-0): adjourn at 3:51 p.m --- ## Full transcript The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out The competition's getting younger, tougher brums, you know I can't recall a worn-out So I'd like to go ahead and call to order the Lexington-Fayette-Urban County Council Work Session. Today is May the 12th, 2026 and the first item is public comment for issues on the agenda and we do not have anyone signed up for issues on the agenda. So that brings us to the docket and rezoning. Could I have a motion? Motion approved. Thank you, Council Member Ellinger. Vice Mayor Wu seconded. Are there questions about the docket? Any additions to the docket? Motions about zone changes, anything like that? All right. All those in favor of approval, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes, thank you. The next thing is the May the 5th Council Work Session motions. I have a motion to approve. Council Member Curtis seconded by Council Member Baxter. Are there corrections or additions? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes, thank you. We do have budget amendments, so I'll entertain a motion. Second. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Seconded by Council Member Reynolds. Please log in if you have questions. All right, all those in favor, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. There are budget adjustments for your information only, and that brings us to new business. Is there a motion? Second. Council Member Baxter, is there? Second. All right, Council Member Reynolds. Now, please log in if you have questions. Vice Mayor Wu. Thank you, Mayor. My question is about item B. I think Chief of Staff Scott. So this item is to abolish the Opioid Abatement Commission after having completed its recommendations and fulfilled its purpose. So my question is the opioid payments are still going to be coming to us for the next 12 years or so. How do you envision, for example, like right now, obviously, we're going through the current recommendations for the $9 or $10 million that we have now. Say three, four years down the road, we have another $3, $4 million, $5 million. What is the approach there? Are we still basing it off of the recommendations that we got last year as our sort of guideline to the rest of the money for the rest of the time? Right. We do still have the original set of recommendations that have been brought before you. This group, as it is being abolished, has also been working, worked into the Mayor's Substance Use Advisory Committee as well. So that is continuing a lot of the similar work. I think it's going to be an ongoing conversation with the Council as you all take up the recommendations beyond what you've already accepted, you want to move forward with. We didn't envision this being a volunteer commission that would last forever. It's just, it's not a fair ask of their time. So there was always going to be a clean separation where they hand over their recommendations and the Council and the Administration decide how they want to proceed from there. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Ellinger. Thank you, Mayor. And as in Nancy, Commissioner Ford, could you kind of go over our Police Training Academy project at Coldstream? And I do have a question on the 6% commission. I'm just kind of curious about that too. Yes, sir. Thank you, Council Member. We're excited to bring this project forward. This is in regards to the future home of the Police Training Academy. We have identified a track of land out in the Coldstream Research Campus of 4.17 acres that's going to serve for that purpose. This is in agreement with the University of Kentucky. Kevin Atkins and his team in Economic Development are of course working with the folks at UK for the Coldstream and also the Legacy Park projects. We feel real confident. We've been looking for quite a long time working with our leadership at police. We found it very difficult to find a site that could accommodate the 40,000 plus facility and the 260 parking spaces. But we're looking forward to working with the police and moving forward with that. This allows us to move forward with having full site control of those four plus acres. And then our intent will be to quickly move into the design phase over the next 12 months. So at the end of this activity, we'll have a project that's shovel ready to pursue construction funding if and when available. Could you go through the price and how it's halved by the 50% and once again, I'm trying to figure out the 6% why we have to pay a commission on that. I can. I'll kind of give the full budgetary summary. Back in fiscal year 25, we budgeted $4.5 million for site acquisition. We had a property in mind, but that kind of fell through, which happens from time to time in real estate deals. But we budgeted $4.5 million just to identify a property out in the local market. And so we have retained those and that will be the source of funding that's going to support this activity. Those of the acreage out there is valued at $210,000. That is the going rate that Kevin and Economic Development in UK have offered for other properties out in that area. And we agreed to that and we were pretty insistent to pay our fair share at that $210,000 an acre. And so the traditional deal between the city and UK is 50% of proceeds, once you sell a track of land, goes to UK for their reinvestment in Cold Stream Proper. The remaining 50% goes, we keep at LFUCG for our work around the corner at the Legacy Business Park. And per the memo, that equates to $437,850 each, equal to UK and equal to us at LFUCG. And then our team at Economic Development have engaged a brokerage firm to assist in selling off and assist for marketing and selling properties out there. And so that's 6% of that land cost. And so we would honor that as well. And so that total activity is $928,242, which we're really excited from a financial standpoint, not only that we've identified a site, but it's well within budget to allow us to move this project forward. Thank you. I appreciate the information. I just know that, and I'm not a realtor, but I know they changed the law here in the last year or so, so realtors will probably have more information about the commissions and how you go about negotiating that. But it used to be the three and three, and six just seems high compared to how things are now. Yeah. In this case, as part of the award for marketing and real estate sales, it is a contract that they receive 6%. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Morton. Thank you. I guess a question for item number, excuse me, letter F. I'm starting off, and that's just the Gatton Park public art installation. And I just know throughout just the past year or years, there's just been some concerns raised to just recent public art install, and I just kind of want to know just a little bit more about this project, and being that it's tied to a private park, or at least in the vicinity of a private park, kind of how we got to where we are, we're bringing this forward. Hi. This is, turned out to be a little bit of a public and private partnership with Gatton. The city will retain the ownership of the piece of art, and the Public Art Commission did approve it and fund it. Okay. And is that something that, like, is it already installed, like, can you just tell me a little bit more about it? And is there a plan, that they plan to bring this piece to Gatton Park? Can you just talk a little bit more about it? The piece exists in Gatton Park. It is by Blessing Hancock, and it's in the tunnel. And it also achieved a sort of lighting component to it. So it was public art, and it has a functional with the lighting in it, too. Okay. So the $150,000, what is that allocation for? What is it going to be used for? That was one of the, that is an allocation from the Public Art Commission to Gatton Park for that piece. I mean, and to the artist. Okay. So basically, the art has already been purchased by Gatton Park, it's already been installed, so this is somewhat of a reimbursement? Yes. Okay. This was a final payment, and that's what we are paying to Gatton Park. Okay. Thank you. Council Member Brown. Thank you, Mayor. And my question is for, it might be Tyler Scott or somebody with, maybe Celeste as well. It's about item E, and it's the agreement with DLP, with Thursday Night Live and some of the other events they have downtown. In this agreement, are there any carve outs in this agreement if there needed to be a community engagement opportunity based off of some of the, off of these events that they're holding? I know Thursday Night Live draws a pretty good crowd, and I know we had an event last week in Phoenix Park for the downtown master plan, but it seemed like it would have been a good partnership or an opportunity to have it at Thursday Night Live, but I think there might have been a, we would have had to pay a fee, a vendor fee to be present, so I just wonder if we're allowing them to use our space for free to host events, if we're carving out any opportunity to do public engagement at the same opportunity. They worked with us before, and if you recall, the 250 launch we did down there last year, that was a set-aside arrangement. We'd worked out with them. We asked them to push back their start time a little bit to accommodate our space, so they've been very flexible in accommodating where necessary. They pushed their time back a little bit for the launch of the LexTran trolleys a few weeks ago, so there's certainly opportunity to have those conversations. Yeah, no, I think they're doing good things, and I think they're good partners. I just want to make sure that if we, if an opportunity presents itself for us to engage the community and they're having an event, since they do draw a nice crowd, it'd be a good opportunity for us to do that. No, I think they'd be perfectly happy to do that. Low barriers. Okay. All right, thank you. Thank you. Council Member Morton. Yes, I just had one more quick follow-up, and it's just for my understanding. Regarding FSO, what was the city's total amount given to that art project in totality? One-fifty is the total for this project. Okay, cool. And then this is just for my information as well. What is the annual budget for the Public Arts Commission? So it is, it's not a yearly budget per se. It was based on the 1% for art passed by ordinance many years ago. We've suspended some years, but typically it's based on 1% of the bond issued in the fiscal year. So it fluctuates based on that. So what was that last year then? Last year? Or what is it projected to be this next year then? One or the other? Budget question. You mean annual allocations? Yes. It really does vary from year to year. I think depending on what the capital funding is, I think this year is $300,000. So I don't, and I'm sorry I didn't bring notes with me. It's a hard question. Ashley has it, I think. Oh, Ashley has it. Oh, fantastic. To the rest of you. Council, I apologize, I don't have the exact number with me today, but I'm glad to follow up in an email. It is 1% of the total bond issued and it's added on. Just in your budget amendments, as we go through the bonding process, for your information each time. And I can follow up in an email following the meeting with how much that was for the past year. I appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions about new business? All right. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? Aye. All right. That motion passes. We do have communications from the mayor. The first is appointments. Could I have a motion? So moved. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Second. Council Member Baxter seconded. Are there questions? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right. That passes. The second, communications from the mayor's donations. We do have some. Is there a motion? So moved. Second. Council Member Savigny, seconded by Council Member Sheehan. Are there questions? All right. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? Aye. That motion passes. And the final communications is procurements. Is there a motion? So moved. Council Member Hale and then Council Member Eblen. Any questions about the procurements? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? Aye. All right. That motion passes. And that brings us to continuing business presentations. First, I'll need a motion to approve the council capital projects. So moved. Second. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Second by Council Member Sheehan. Are there questions? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? That passes. And at this time, it's time for environmental quality and public works. Council Member and Chair Savigny. Thank you, Mayor. The May 3rd, 2026 Environmental Quality and Public Works Committee meeting was called to order at 1 o'clock. The committee unanimously approved the February 3rd, 26th meeting summary after receiving two major presentations. The committee received an update on a smelly topic of the sewer odor control program, highlighting a dual strategy of infrastructure upgrades and chemical treatment to reduce impacts on surrounding neighborhoods. Major improvements are underway at both the town branch and West Hickman treatment plants, with additional projects nearing construction and pilot testing of alternative chemical treatments planned. No action was required. An update on energy initiatives noted rising municipal utility costs from approximately $20.5 million in fiscal year 2022 to $22.3 million in fiscal year 2025, driven largely by increases in water and electricity costs. Ongoing projects include HVAC upgrades, installation improvements, and planned solar installations at multiple city facilities. While individual projects show long-term cost recovery, staff noted a $329,000 loss in anticipated federal funding and the absence of formal energy or solar targets, which may affect long-term planning. The $150,000 fiscal year 2027 budget request has been submitted. No action was taken. The committee also received a report on the engineering manuals update, which was reported out at the work session on March 3rd, 2026. Meeting adjourned at 2.15, and that concludes my report. Thank you, Mayor. All right, thank you very much. Council members, do you have any questions for Council Member Savigny? All right, thank you. Next up is the LexTran Fiscal Year 27 budget presentation, and I'll welcome Mr. Fred Combs, the general manager. Welcome. Mayor, members of council, thank you for having me this afternoon. I'm very excited to present our fiscal year 2027 budget. There we go. We'll start with our mission statement. We serve people in our community with mobility solutions. That is behind everything that we do at LexTran, including some of the services that I'm going to talk about this afternoon, including our fixed route outlook, our paratransit outlook. Those are the services that we are known most for. I just want to give an update on our LexRide and our microtransit program. We'll get into a little more detail on our FY 2027 budget and capital plan, and then some items that we're looking ahead to in 2027. But to not bury the lead, I'm very pleased to present a balanced operating budget of $39.3 million and a capital plan of $9.3 million for fiscal year 2027. I wish I could say that included in this budget was an expansion of our fixed route services that we were adding frequency to many arterials in the city. However, that is not the case. Our budget is to maintain our existing service levels, with the exception of our microtransit and our LexRide pilots, because those are one-time funding allocations that are included in here. Our main service, our main fixed route service, is unadjusted from what we're providing today. We do know that the community is asking for more fixed route service, asking for more mobility options, and it's just not fiscally appropriate at this time to be able to present those. We are continuing to look for partnerships and other sources of funding to bring those to life, much of like we've done with our microtransit and LexRide pilots. However, with our fixed route outlook, we have a competitive grant award funding this year for seven CNG vehicles. And that really is a continuation of the efforts that LexTran has made to convert our fleet over from diesel to CNG. We completed a pretty significant fueling station improvement last year, and that's really allowed us to continue to increase the number of CNGs in our fleet. Fuel cost is one of the real unknowns this year, but because we've transitioned more to CNG, we're using more CNG than diesel proportionally. That has resulted in some savings in fuel costs. Our ridership year to date is over 2.7 million with an on-time performance of 86%. Two KPIs that we look to continue to improve upon. On that on-time performance, we are planning some service improvements that we do periodically, small routing adjustments or scheduled timing adjustments that will help us improve the efficiency of the system as a whole and bring that on-time performance up. Our paratransit service for this year, we're happy that we're welcoming a new general manager in April for our wheels program. We're at a point that we've talked about our on-time performance issues in wheels over the past few years. We have seen some real improvements in our on-time performance in wheels in the past few years, and much of that is because of our focus on our average vehicle capacity. That was a key performance indicator that we determined that was very important to get our on-time performance up. What that essentially means is our vehicles, each vehicle can hold more people. That allows us logistically to be able to take more folks with the resources that we have. So with that KPI, we're up to 8.6 from 6.2 last year. And with the grant award that we have, we're going to be able to bring in 10 to 14 more cutaways. So the larger vehicles, larger than the van that you see on your screen, that will help continue to drive that KPI in the right direction. We did hit 80% on-time performance for consecutive months this past year. However, we've also had increased ridership. So some of the ridership is starting to come back. As ridership increases, it puts more pressure on our capacity, which in turn drives down on-time performance. So we're sort of getting better on one hand, and then as ridership comes up, that makes on-time performance suffer. So this year and into next year, we need to think about how much of our resources that we need to supply to Wheels, to make sure that the capacity is there to hit 80% on-time and beyond every single month. With that comes straight back to the amount of vehicles that we can put into the system. So our two pilot programs, first is LexRide. We launched the LexRide service on April 2nd to really strong fanfare. We've gotten some great feedback from the community. This is one of those examples of a service that the community continually asked for, and we were able to put together a partnership to really bring it to life. One interesting point that we've noticed is our website. We've had more hits on the LexRide webpage than our own homepage at some points in time during the service, so that's really exciting. With the partners, we've been able to push out the message that this service is what we want all of our fixed route service to be, because it's so convenient and frequent. You don't have to plan your day around it. You can walk out to a stop, and a bus will be there within the next few minutes. That's really the gold standard of transit service that we want to work towards throughout the city. So our partners on this includes U of the City of Lexington, along with the Fund for Greater Lexington, Visit Lex, Lex Park, and the Downtown Lexington Partnership. Without those partners, this would not be possible, so we're very appreciative. And then micro transit, so right now our board of directors has approved us to begin negotiations on a $738,000 contract with a contractor to do this 12 month pilot program. That contract will be funded largely from the partnership that we have with LFUCG. We have to note for transparency, that doesn't include all of the expenses associated in this budget with micro transit. You'll see, once we get to the expenses and revenue slide, I'll show you where the micro transit funds are. But additional expenses that are incurred, one, we asked in the RFP process, what the difference would be if the contractor brought the vehicles or if they used LexTran vehicles. And it was about a $300,000 difference. So if the contractor were to bring their own vehicles, this would be a little over a million dollar contract for 12 months. We had the vehicles available, so we were able to use our own vehicles. So that cut about $300,000 off the total cost of this contract. We have also hired a mobility manager. So you'll see our wages and fringes, that's where that would go in our budget line items. And then fuel costs, that's something that's not included in the $737,000 contract, along with advertising. So those are items that we are doing at LexTran because we have the experience and knowledge to be able to do those in a transit environment and deliver the project using as much LFUCG dollars for operations as possible. So that's the thought behind why we are setting things up this way. We feel like that is the best and most effective use of taxpayer dollars. And that sets us up for our service launch that we are planning for fall of this year. So we're still on target for that. Once the contract is finalized with our contractor, then we'll have a much more solid targeted launch date. The service itself is based on what we found in the feasibility study, with the northwest zone being our first step in microtransit in the city. So into our budget, this is our revenue, 70% of our revenue comes from the taxpayers of Fayette County. And we are eternally thankful for the taxpayers of Fayette County. Without them, we would be a shell of the service that we have today. We've budgeted a 3.5 increase on those revenues. Our federal assistance, we're projecting about a million dollar loss next fiscal year. That speaks to the uncertainty in federal funding. I'm sure you all have had the same conversations in your federal funding sources as well. Our other lines are reasonably flat with the exception of the other revenue line item. That's where the microtransit partnership dollars are. And then in FY 26 is where the extra dollars are because that program started in this current fiscal year. So that's why those are a little bit different, but they're both included on this slide. And on the expenses side, the vast majority of our expenses are wages and fringe and our paratransit service that accounts for nearly 80% of our total expenses. This year, we have a focus on safety and security. So there's two additional FTEs in this budget that's going to help our safety and security position. We're also feeling the same pinch that not only the government, but many households in Fayette County and beyond are feeling with the rise in fuel costs, the rise in insurance costs, other materials and supplies that we need. We're feeling those same pressures as everyone else. And then again, as we talked about on the microtransit slide, those other expenses for the microtransit pilot are here. But you only see the $725,000 line item included. And when this budget was put together, we didn't even have the results of the RFP back, so that's why it's $725,000 and not the $737,000. But everything is included to make sure that our pilot project for the next year is funded and ready to go. So our capital plan is a $9.3 million capital plan. Many of these dollars come from the federal government that is really funding our capital maintenance. We are a very capital intense operation with our fleets and our bus shelters and other facilities. Also included in this is some of the capital cost of contracting. That is the way the federal government helps us offset the cost of paratransit. And our technology is also included in this as well. This year we launched a bus operator barrier project that's going to continue in FY 27. We're going to continue to replace our aging revenue and non-revenue fleet. And in our capital plan, we also have our planning activities. I have a little bit more on that on my next slide, but a long range transit plan is included in this year's budget. Really, the intent of our capital plan is to make sure that we maintain that state of good repair for all of our facilities and all of our fleet. So looking ahead to next fiscal year, we want to continue the planning cycle that we've been on, and that cycle starts with a strategic plan. We're wrapping that up now, and we'll be releasing that shortly. The next step would be that long range transit plan, and following the long range transit plan in a couple years would be another comprehensive operations analysis. So the way that those three things work together is the strategic plan asks, is the house okay? Is the agency ready to take on more, to do more? Are we on the same page? Are we all swimming in the same direction? The long range transit plan is going to ask, what does Lexington want transit to look like in the next 20 years, up to 20 years? And how can we chart a course to get us there? The comprehensive operations analysis, that's the last step, would say, okay, this is the resources that you have. This is where you're spending your resources. How do we tailor that to what Lexington is today? And then after that's done, we'll start back over with the strategic plan, and every couple of years, produce some of these plans in cycle. We're going to work on our fixed route service improvements, including on time performance. We're going to launch that micro transit pilot program later this year. We're going to deploy new vehicles, including seven fixed route buses and potentially up to 14 paratransit cutaways. And then we've started a conversation with our board of directors about our fare collection strategy. Our fare boxes and the way that we collect fares is quite dated. There's been so many technology advances over the past few years in fare collection. We want to make sure that this opportunity, we have to do something anyway, because our fare boxes are just old and really can't be used very much longer. So we take the opportunity to see, is there anything new in the market that can make everyone's life a little bit easier? So we started the conversations around that. And with that, that concludes my presentation. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have. Thank you very much for that presentation. Council members, log in if you have questions. Council Member Ellinger. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Combs. I've enjoyed working with your team here the last couple years to get this micro transit to the point where we're at now. So congratulations. I guess Tidal Water Transit was the recipient of the five people that did the proposals, and that's who we're going to be going with. So I'm looking forward to that. A couple things. What has our, I couldn't on the grass, what's our ridership been with LexRide? What have we been averaging people wise in? It's been a few hundred people a week, but again, it's a very short service span. Sure, sure. But we've been a few hundred people a week. And then when we did the fund balance request, we were going to provide some money, and then you all are going to match that, and you did the 300,000 plus, then you've added the other stuff with the fuel. And one of the big things, I think, on everything on the LexRide, and also with the micro transit pilot project, is going to be the marketing, just because it's a new project to let people know that it's, and that's going to be something that LexTran's taking on, how are you all going to go about doing the advertising? Because I'm happy to go walking door to door and let people know, because- That's actually the first bullet in our advertising plan, is to have you go door to door. All right, good. I wanted to make sure I was on there. We finalized an advertising contract. This is an agency wide advertising contract, not specifically to micro transit with C2 Communications. And they're going to help us on our marketing side, and then we're going to bring in the expertise of Tidewater Transit, known as the marketing folks that they have, blend those together, and that's really how we're going to structure our campaign. And I think, if I read it right, the times are going to be from six to eight every day. Is that not correct? That's where we're going to start, and if, say, Sunday nights, nobody's using it, that's where we'll have the ability to adjust those hours and shift those somewhere where they might be needed. Again, this is a pilot, so we're going to go into it with an open mind, and we've built the flexibility in that if we try it and we see something's working well, we've got it. If something needs to be adjusted, just like with LexRide, we can make those adjustments as we go. And with this, we have two different options. You can stay within where the northwest zone is, or they can take it to catch a fixed route, and they can then take the fixed route, and they can do that exchange on that. Absolutely. So all trips, the origin and destination on the service itself will need to stay within that zone. If you need to travel outside of that zone, we take you and you transfer for free onto a LexRand fixed route, and you can go across the city from there. Thank you. Right now on your budget and expenses, I was just curious, I saw your materials and supplies for fiscal year 26 was 2.47, and then the projection was 1.5, and then it was, that was kind of a big discrepancy. Where is that coming from? So last year, there was even more uncertainty around parts. So we bumped it way up last year to protect ourselves against runaway parts costs. With all the additional, the new fleet that we've been able to put in, some of those parts costs, we've not had to outlay that. So it's a bit of a, both we were a little too high last year, and because of all the new fleet, we don't need quite as many parts as what we had thought. So there's a double whammy there. So with the new, how many new vehicles do you have coming on board? We just put six into service, and then we'll have seven more coming here. What do you do with the older ones then? They're decommissioned, it depends on some of the grants. They have to be physically rendered, you have to shoot pretty much a hole through the engine block on some of them. But on some of the others, we can put them up and sell them, essentially. You scrap them out. If we could resell them or not. You don't get a whole lot of money. I didn't think so. And then, same thing we're doing, and everybody in their own home, is utility costs look like they've, that's been a big issue too that's affect you all. There's one wrinkle in that. With the completion of the transit center project, we are now taking on the utility expenses from the operation of the transit center. It wasn't like that before. Lex Park was actually supporting us in those utility costs. But now we have our own electrical meter at the transit center. So we're taking those on. That's why that's a little bit more. And that gets me to my last question. With the new transit center, how's that working out? Wonderful, wonderful. We love the space. The community loves the space. It's been great. Well, thank you, and thank you for all what you do. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Vice Mayor Wu. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Combs, for the presentation. Looking at this slide, when you all are increasing the number of fixed route buses, increasing your capacity, do you all put an emphasis on increasing frequency or creating more routes? If we had the ability to do so, we would focus on frequency. These buses will take older fleet out, so this is essentially a one to one replacement. We're not able to expand at this time. However, we know the community is asking for expansion and asking for more frequency. The two things that I hear over and over again, we want more frequent service, we want more direct connections. And I wish that we could be having that celebration today. However, these would be taking older vehicles out and replacing them with new. Yeah, and hopefully the new sort of pilot programs we're working on will at least solve some of that connection question. If you go back to the slide on paratransit on wheels, we definitely see there's some great improvements happening. Are you all setting particular goals for all these kind of different metrics? Are you all looking, we want to hit whatever numbers for these measures? Yes, I can't tell you what the specific goal for the capacity is. It's in our capital program, but essentially we're trying to take all the vehicles with lower capacity out and from now moving forward, I'll have the larger cutaway vehicles as our standard. And not to get too deep in the weeds, but coming out of the pandemic, the supply chains were a little bit messed up trying to get vehicles. You couldn't find cutaways, and so we had to get whatever we could find. And some of those vans were small, that's all we could get in the moment. And that's what we're trying to work out of the system now. Yeah, you can always get in the weeds with us. This is where we live, is in the weeds. Okay, well I appreciate that. That might be an interesting thing for us to know as well, because I think we obviously like seeing improvements. But we also want to know, are you hitting benchmarks that you're shooting for? Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. All right, Council Member Ellinger, did you have a motion? I do, Mayor, thank you. I move to place on the docket for the May 14th, 2026 council meeting a resolution approving the fiscal year 2027 budget of the Transit Authority of Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, pursuant to KRS 96A.360, and requesting that the Commissioner of Finance authorize the Fayette County Sheriff's Office to disperse the funds to LexTran collected from the ad valorem tax approved by voters on May 9th, 2004. So moved. Second. Council Member Reynolds seconds. Are there any questions? All right, all those in favor, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that passes. Thank you very much. All right, okay, it's time for council reports. Council Member Reynolds. Thank you, Mayor. I just have a few here. Wanted to note that tomorrow is Gallery Hop from 5 to 8 PM, LexArts Gallery Hop. And my legislative aide, Isabel Ballard, is also an artist, a very talented artist. And she will have a show at the Levy Collective, so everybody should go out and see that. On Friday, I don't know what day I said, but it's Friday, from 5 to 8. And then on Saturday is Founders Day at McConnell Springs, and I always enjoy participating in that. It starts at 11 AM, and they're going to have all kinds of family activities. It's always a good time, so come on out for that. And then it is also National Police Week, and I wanted to thank our police department for all that they do. I know that their job often goes unnoticed, and it can be very challenging at times. So I just want to thank our police department. I know I wasn't able to be there at the presentation yesterday, so thank you very much. Thank you, Vice Mayor Wu. Thank you, Mayor. Those of you in the building yesterday around noon probably heard a couple of loud bangs just outside. And I, and I'm sure other folks, witnessed a pretty bad car crash outside right on Main and MLK. Two cars were involved, and probably a couple of pedestrians as well. Within just a few minutes, we had first responders on the scene, tending to the injuries of pedestrians and motorists. And we also, there were multiple bystanders, and also ambassadors from our downtown management district who came quickly to help. As somebody, and I know a lot of my colleagues have as well, as somebody who's gone through the Citizen's Fire Academy and the Citizen's Community Police Academy, I've gained a deeper understanding of all the training and the dedication that our public safety team go through. And an even greater appreciation of everything that they do to keep us safe. They are literally the people that show up on the worst day of your life. So I just wanted to express a deep appreciation to our E911 police, fire, and traffic safety teams. Not just for their quick response yesterday, but for the work that they do every day. So thank you. Thank you, Council Member Brown. Thank you, Mayor. And on behalf of the administration, I move to schedule a public hearing regarding the proposed expansion of the Red Mile TIF project on June 4th, 2026 at 6 PM. So moved. Second. Council Member Reynolds. Reynolds seconds. Is there any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? Thank you very much. That passes. Okay, okay. Council Member Lynch. Thank you, Mayor. I have a few announcements for my district two neighbors. Don't forget, tomorrow there is a free wreath making workshop at Black and Williams Neighborhood Center from 6 PM to 7 30. All are invited to attend. Should be a great time. Also coming up on Saturday, May 16th, is the Queen and Prince Dance. It is completely free. So come out and celebrate your favorite queens and young princes dressed to the nines. I know you'll have a great time. Also happening at Black and Williams Neighborhood Center. This weekend is yard sales, yard sales, yard sales in the second council district. So McConnell's Trace and Madison Station will be hosting their yard sales this weekend. So all yard sales shoppers come on out to the second district and have a great time. Teen talk is happening on Monday, May 18th at 5 30 PM to 7 PM at the Black and Williams Neighborhood Center. Teens please come out and usually they have snacks provided to all those who attend. And then to my neighbors that utilize the Legacy Trail, please keep in mind the detour due to construction on Newtown Pike. So if you're coming from the North Y, and I've run the detour, so it's safe. But you have to be cautious because traffic is on a road and traffic is going regularly. So if you're coming from the North Y, you're going to turn right by the Kroger, and then turn left by the hotel, and then turn left by the gas station. That'll reconnect you to the Legacy Trail, and if you're coming from the opposite direction, just reverse that. So please keep in mind the construction is ongoing, and please be cautious as you're on the Legacy Trail. And then neighbors, don't forget, if you have a street or road that you would like to report, please visit my link tree, my website, and report that there, and I will add it to my list of priorities. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Ellinger. Thank you, Mayor. Today in our council link meeting, before we got into our link discussion, one of our own council member that is on the link, Council Member Higgins-Horde, just got back from Dallas because her daughter just was the major league volleyball champion of the pro league. And it was a really big deal. She's going to be providing some video for us on Thursday, but I just wanted to recognize her. For one thing, their team won a million dollars, which is a pretty big deal in and of itself. But no, she might be playing for our USA team in 2028, so we're really proud of you and her family. So congratulations. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Savigny. Thank you, Mayor. Well, the 10th District is back. Music is back in the 10th District, the music capital of Lexington. The music season begins tonight at the Moondance Amphitheater. Big band and jazz, the Metro Gnomes, big band at 7 PM. It's going to be 72 degrees, you guys, it's going to be sunny, it's going to be a perfect night to be out there. They're live until June 30th when they move to another district to be named. Hope to have you at Moondance for this free live music. Then after that, we have wood songs coming this Monday, the third Monday of the month. It's live music at the Scottish Rite Concert Hall on Rosemont Garden. Next Monday, you can hear the new generation of Outlaw Country with performances from Wade Jennings and Waylon Hannell. The doors open at 6 for that. And then, safety in the bike lanes. I am working with Council Member Amblin on a draft bike lane ordinance that will prohibit parking, standing, and stopping. With some exceptions for delivery and pickup, and we'll be reviewing that at SSPS in June. You can share your thoughts and feedback about that ordinance on our Engage page, and you can take the survey through the end of this week. So let us know what you think and stay tuned to see how the draft moves forward in June. That's it. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Amblin. That's a good setup. I was just going to mention that with this beautiful weather out, that May is bike walk month in Lexington. So there's a big list of bike events on the city's website. So check that out and get out and enjoy this great weather. Thank you. That brings us to public comment for issues not on the agenda. We have a couple of folks signed up to speak. And the way this works is that I'll call your name, and you'll need to come to the podium. And then you'll need to restate your name for the record and tell us your council district. And then you'll have three minutes to speak. So first on the list is Trevor Davis, followed by Rick Day. Welcome. My name's Trevor Davis, district council six, council district six. I've mixed that up. First, I want to say thank you to Council Member Brown for being at the Bryan Station neighborhood community meeting last night. Appreciate that and your answer to the questions. I'm mainly here to talk about the $2 million being allocated to the interest bearing account. I know that motion has moved over to the BFED and can be amended. If we look at the estimated amount we're expecting over the course of 18 years from 2022, that's $30 million. 10% of that, starting from when it was originally received, would end up being $3 million. At the interest rate of 4%, that would actually end up being, by the end of that, $6,077,449.55. And yearly, that 4% interest rate is $243,097.98 a year. So if we're allocating 2 million to that already, that is more than the 10% that was suggested and recommended by the Opioid Abatement Commission, which would come out to 10% of the current $9 million to $900,000. We rounded that to a million, sure, fine. But it undermines the idea that we have a crisis now, and instead is over planning for our future. And I feel like, too, that some of the arguments of putting more money into that interest bearing account are looking at it from the idea of we won't ever receive anything again, but we know that the first payment we received was $2 million, and we have received more since then. So looking at the court cases that these settlements are based around, there's no indication looking at those court cases that they'll just suddenly stop, and that we'll suddenly stop receiving that money. So it feels like an argument based around the idea of a poor scarcity that we're scared about planning for, when any time I've made any of my decisions based in fear, I have ruined the things I love most in my life. So I don't understand why we would do that as a community and as a legislative body, when instead we could use that for the crisis we have now, while allowing for that planning where by the time we've reached that point, there is more money in that interest bearing account, and then even more interest coming into it that can then continue to be used. So that all of that money can be more properly freed up and used for the recommendations that were put forward by the mayor and by the Opioid Abatement Commission. It just makes more sense based around that, and based on what was recommended to do so in that manner to me. And I feel like that's been the case when I've talked to other community partners that we have a focal, and that I've spoken to, to let them know about the upcoming availability of the, word, tiered community grant programs. And I think that's my time. Thank you. All right, thank you. Next is Rick Day. Rick Day? Welcome. My name is Rick Day and I live in the third district. Durban County Council knows by now that the results of our compensation study were rigged, creating a type of financial fraud. I'm not sure that it can be called corruption, but it's close. And all at a very high level in this administration. Apparently, Durban County Council is okay with that. Twice you have made motions to investigate, and twice you have ignored your own motions. That's okay. I've done it for you. First, I need to clear up a few things. The administration wants you to think that I have singled out Charlie Martin. That is not the case. My efforts are more about the other 1,500 employees who did not get the benefits of rigged results. I hope you recognize that Rick Day did not single out Charlie Martin, HR and the administration did. When trying to discredit me, the administration showed great concern that my comments were being unfair to HR employees. I hope the administration knows that there are many employees in HR that would have benefited greatly if their results had been rigged. If their reclassifications had been overlooked, just like Charlie Martin's reclassification was overlooked. So I don't think they were really that concerned about the HR employees. And now the unintended consequences of not investigating. When trying to watch the administration discredit me, I wondered why, knowing that the administration knew you had documents to prove that numbers had been manipulated, they looked you in the eye and told you it did not happen. You had proof they knew it and they told you it did not happen. At first, I thought it was just desperation. They had been caught red-handed. Then I thought just arrogance. It was neither. It was absolute confidence that Durham County Council would never question this administration. And based on what we have seen so far, that was a pretty good bet. Thank you. Council members, that brings us to adjournment. Do I hear a motion? All those in favor, say aye. Well, we are adjourned, thank you.