and I have on my phone right now that it is three o'clock. And since we have a quorum, I can call the meeting to order. Beth, you will turn on your, and I see that Lena is here too. So if you all turn on your recorders, so it'll be easy to do the minutes. Okay. And I can see that we do have, we do have a quorum. I'll just go across the top. I'll call the meeting to order. It's three o'clock. So it's Margaret and then Phil Mayer and Jim Coleman, Phil Hager, Jonathan Disney, Robert James, Hannah. I think I see Hannah. And my faces are small. There's Will Mayer and there's Christine and Sean Denny from the mayor's office. And who else is here? Lena. and Council Member Morton is here and Hillary Boone. You said Phil Mayer, but not Phil Meyer. Phil Meyer and Phil Hager. And Tracy Jones. And Tracy. And I suspect that we have also our request for a swimming pool person. Yes. I don't see a name, but I see a new face. Yes. And then I'm here and Beth is here and we have Brian Jones as well. OK, so we're all here. And I want to thank you all because we do have a closed session because we do have some things for you all to vote on and move forward. We're doing really well with our applications and our closings and our offers. And I'm delighted that you all are here again. And thank you all for letting Beth know if you're not going to be here right now. I think Joanna is the only person who has said she won't be here today. Is that correct, Beth? Yes, and Mary Quinn is joining right now. Okay. So I've not heard from anyone else. So that's it for attendance. Did everyone, I hope, receive the minutes in the packet from Beth with all your minutes and the information for what we're going to be discussing today? There's Mary Quinn. Did everyone kind of a nod if you've gotten your minutes to make sure? Thank you again, Beth, Lena, so much for doing these minutes. They are very detailed and that's great for the future when we have to go back because actually, we've had to go back and look at some things. And here's Stephen Howard. He just appeared too. So we have definitely a full house. So if everyone has gotten their minutes, I'll need a motion to approve unless you see any corrections, additions or changes, anybody? If not. So moved, Madam Chair. All right. Jim Coleman's made the motion to approve as sent to you all. Stephen Howard's hand went up for a second. All in favor? Just a vote? Show of hands? Great. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I don't really want to be on the call. We can hear you, Hillary, but we can't see you, council member. Beth, old business, large-scale solar. We did have good attendance. Phil Mayer attended. Mayer. Mayer attended. Margaret was there Robert was there, Beth was there and I was there and it was a long day. We got there at 1 or 1.30 and it was 6.30 or 7 by the time we got away from there that night Yes so the Planning Commission on July 9th met and voted to adopt alternative language and that was in your all's packets and I think Margaret did speak is that correct Margaret Gloria and Phil Meyer and then I think Robert was also there and Tracy it is my understanding from planning staff that this will go before or will be on the work session agenda on August 25th at first it was going to be 11th and then I've also heard the 18th but Tracy Jones I you saw the email from Tracy Wade It mentioned August 25th. Have you heard anything else about that? No, the last thing I heard, which, you know, they when they sent it to the planning commission, they wanted it to come. I mean, it's it's already gone back to them because the planning commission had to send something back in 60 days. But they're not here. They're on break. So it was originally supposed to go back at their first work session, which was August 11th. Then they asked us and we did do a motion at their last work session before they left to have it come back to them on August the 18th instead of the 11th. And they voted to do that. Now, then they left on break. So whether or not somebody's had a conversation with Tracy Wade about now they want to do it the 25th, they'll have to address that when they get back. The last thing they voted on was the 18th of August. And that's the last that we, you know, because they'd already docketed it. So they had to change it before they went on break. Otherwise, it was going to show up on the 11th. So I haven't heard the 25th, but I've been a little bit out of the loop at this point. So if they've asked somebody to work on that or prepare that, then that could be the case. but they'll have to do that when they get back because right now as it stands, they docketed it at their last work session for the 18th. Okay. Also, I want to point out to the board members that in your packets, Robert James had submitted a letter on behalf of the Farm Bureau to the Planning Commission. He read that into the record. It's an excellent letter, Robert. Thank you. So make sure you board members did see it and do read it. And that's kind of where we are. Yes. And as soon as we find out if it's the 18th or 25th for sure, we will notify you all so that if you want to go for public comment or if there's going to be a portion for public comment. Usually they do have public comment for issues on the agenda at the beginning of the meeting. So we'll keep you all posted on that. And I see that Councilmember Boone and maybe Councilmember Morton are here, and I don't know if they either of them have any update, but they are welcome to share. So. Yeah, so we did make a motion to move it to the 18th, I believe, and I haven't heard any conversations about moving it to another date. So right now, my understanding is it's at the 18th. But if I do hear anything, I can let you guys know. OK, thank you. And Council Member Morton, we did think that what you had interjected into that, the idea for community support and how that helped the community. We were supportive of that idea and that is in the final draft. So thank you for doing that. Thank you. Any other comments? You all? I would just encourage everyone, if they haven't, to look on the FAAD Alliance's website about the solar issue. They've got a really good video of what a solar field would look like visually from, you know, which is very powerful. And I would encourage you to look at it. it's not what you imagine the bluegrass to look like. So I think it really resonated with some planning commission members just to see an aerial of field after field after field of solar panels. And the other comment that I would have is apparently Charlie Farmer spoke before the planning commission's work group and did a really good job explaining the importance of the soils and why even a ground-mounted solar arrays would be detrimental to soil quality. So I think there's going to be an effort to have him come and speak to the council as well, just so that they really understand just how unique and special our soils are. Beth, will you make sure that Charlie gets that message? Okay. We would wish and hope that he can do that again. And I do need to add that I don't think I said Sean Denny was here earlier. I see his face from our commissioner's office. New business. We do have, as you all know from your packet, a request for someone. And I think their contractor is here. Beth, can you run us through and we'll introduce you. Okay. Yes. So I'll go ahead and screen share and John Massey is here to represent the landowners. Welcome. OK, let's see. All right. So this is this box. This is farm number 25 2006 B. It has a B on the end because it was subdivided from Farm 25 2006. The address is 4068 North Cleveland Road. It's 40 acres used for general ag. The owners are Lauren and Bruce Kostelnik. The date of the easement was December 7th, 2007. The owners at the time of the easement were Thomas and Ann Asbury. It is a federal easement. There are no protected structures. It has one primary residence. They are not requesting any demolition. The new structures requested are a swimming pool of 576 square feet, a spa and concrete surround of 2,459 square feet, or a total of 3,035 square feet. They are not requesting any road paving at this time. The impervious surface limit is 2%, and our GIS staff created a map of showing us that in the packets. So let me get this down a little bit. The drawings and aerial maps submitted by the landowners are attached, as well as additional documentation submitted to the Division of Building Inspection. And that was from the some of that from the health department and other things that are required. Building inspection does not require landowners to show the surrounding patio or the spa and hot tub. So there's no architectural drawings of those items. But John Massey went out to the to the house and provided us that drawing that is included in your package that shows the square footage, just like the architectural version for the pool. And we use that for the impervious surface. This is a permitted use per Section 5B, provides the landowner the right to have swimming pools, tennis courts, things like that, that are accessory uses to the primary residence. Additional information, this farm originally consisted of 236.79 acres, but the Asbury retained their right to subdivide and did so in July 2010, creating this 40-acre tract. The Costal next purchased the tract in July 2020 and obtained permission from the Board in June 2021 to construct a primary residence and have done so. They are returning to obtain permission to construct a swimming pool and spa with the surrounding patio. The GIS staff created the attached map of the existing impervious surfaces. This track share of the original 2% for the entire property is 0.8 acres and the existing surfaces equal 0.44. The additional 3,035 square feet will bring them to approximately 0.51 acres. The Division of Building Inspection has approved the request contingent on our board's approval. The staff recommendation is approval based on the following. The swimming pool will be an appurtenance to the primary resident as permitted in the easement. The farm is within its impervious service limit per the GIS staff and will remain so with the proposed construction. And the Division of Building Inspection has approved the request and the documentation they require has been provided by the landowners. Not sure why this is out of whack, but there we go. So there's the full language. And then this is the map that GIS created. And so this yellow is paving and they actually have gravel roads up to the house and things. And then this is where their house is and their barn. And so you can see right now just 0.44 acres are covered right now with it being 1.1%. And then here is the drawing John provided to us. So this is their existing house. And then this is how they will have the patio surrounding it, the pool, the spa, and a ledge here. And then this is the drawing of the pool. And then their health department authorization that they turned into building inspection. and then this is a requirement that building inspection has them signed about receiving proper making sure they receive permitting such um and then this is the recorded plat so this is their track out of this whole thing here that is pdr so this is the original 230 acres that goes through here and then they had this track created. And that is it. So I will stop sharing and introduce you all to, so this is John Massey. And John, do you have anything to add that we need to know? Turn your phone on, Mr. Massey. Punch the button so we can hear you. You're on mute right now. You're on mute, I think. And while he's looking for the mute button, I will tell him thank you so much for sending all the information and the good plans. That's certainly a big help. He's working at it. Yeah. And if you don't, John, you can just shake your head and they probably are ready. They probably feel unless they have questions for you. They're probably OK. It's almost like he's frozen. Oops. I think we lost him. There he is. Now. Sorry about that. Now everything. We got you. Technology. Everything she said is right on. There's nothing I need to add. Everything looks good. And did you hear that we were thanking you very much for sending the plans and the detailed information? That's a big help, and that speeds things along immensely, because that will all stay in the record forever. So that's great, and that's a big help. No problem, very much. Any questions for Mr. Massey? Anybody? no then i'll need a motion to approve per the discussions and the information that we've been given in the packet so moved all right motion's been made by phil mayor and seconded by robert james there's no further discussion or questions all in favor signify by show of hands okay unanimous Beth and you can go back and tell them dig the hole get ready thank you all very much and we'll all be coming for a swim yeah absolutely thank you so much thank you John I'll go ahead and send something after our meeting to building inspection to tell them thank you very much all right thank you we do have a closed session We do have some properties to run through, and I'm going to call for a motion to enter closed session pursuant to KRS 61810-1B to discuss the potential acquisition of a real property interest, the public discussion of which is likely to affect the value. So moved. All right. Margaret's made the motion. Is there a second? Christine Secondon and Mary Quinn at the same time. We have twin seconds. All in favor, signify, please, with a show of hands. All right. Great. Thank you. LexTV, can you take us off the air for a few minutes? Okay. We're ready, Gloria. Thank you, everybody. It's now 3.34 is the time. we're coming out of closed session and I'd like for a motion to go into open session again please so move and is there a second Margaret's made the motion and Hannah and somebody else I heard seconded it all in favor signify with a show of hands alright per our discussion in closed session I would like for the board to make an offer make a motion for an offer on Farm 3-20-25. So move. All right, that's been made by Margaret, seconded by Jim Coleman. Signify of hands if there are no questions. Okay. I think that was the majority. and I would like for the board to make a motion to make an offer on farm 4-20-25. All moved. Let's see. Who's the so move, Phil? And the second, I think I saw Jonathan's hand go up and Christine's. So we have lots of seconds. All in favor, show of hands, please. Okay. that passes and I'd like for the board to make a motion to authorize an offer for farm 6-20-25 I move Margaret made the motion and Stephen made a second and no questions all in favor signify a show of hands great that's it we've taken care of some significant business and I want to thank you all for making the effort to come and do this for us to always have a quorum. Just like the fellow who just came asking for the swimming pool, it's a time of year that they want to break ground. So it would be really hard for some of these farmers if they were put on delay for another month for us to approve these things. So it's really important that we have a quorum. The same thing is true about this. If we are moving along and trying to spend our funds as we've been directed to do. It's really good to get these appraisals done so that the next month we can talk about them and move along and see if they've accepted the offers. Hopefully they all will. So thank you all for coming. It is really important. And I think that's it. Treasurer's report. Phil? I have no report this month, Madam Chair. Chair's report's next. A belated birthday. Happy birthday to Beth. She had a birthday the first week. And we've already talked about the fact that some of us did attend the Planning Commission meeting for the solar. We hope that that will turn out well for the rural area and the farmers. We certainly want to keep this, our farming community active and a big part of our economic development. And certainly, Mary Quinn can testify to the fact that it's a big part of our tourism industry. And it's very important that we protect our assets. And I have gone through all of these appraisals. They are available for you all to see. I will tell you that each one is in excess of 100 pages, so it takes a while to go through them and look at everything. I appreciate Brian Jones doing that. Phil Mayer has done some, Meyer, we've got too many Mayers and Myers here, has done that in the past. So it is time consuming, and I really appreciate everybody putting their eyes to do that. I have signed some papers, and we're getting ready to have some more closings next week. So I'm going in on Friday to sign some more papers. So we're in good shape. And thanks to you all for everybody attending and doing their part. Thank you very much. Staff report, Beth. Yes, we, as Gloria said, we do have one PDR closing coming up and one small farm. And so that's great. The PDR farm is one in conjunction with NRCS. and then I will follow up on clarifying the exact date for the solar meeting when the solar issue goes before council and let you all know and then we have requested lists from GIS for both PDR eligible people and the small farms to go ahead and notify them about an application cycles this fall. So, and I'm also going to talk to Brian about when NRCS's deadline will be, and then we will send that information out to you all. And I think we may try something new this year. Pre-COVID, we used to have in-person meetings, and it had gotten to where, except one that we had actually, Gloria helped put together on Old Richmond Road that was more of a community-based. That one had a great turnout, but when we were just having the standard ones, we were not getting a lot of turnout. So someone suggested to me recently that we do webinars, that we have some Zoom options for people to log on and ask their questions. So I think we will try that this year and we'll include that information. So as soon as we have all this finalized, we'll send that out to you all. But I think that's it for my report. I have one request, Beth, and I think one of the things that would help to keep us from being just overwhelmed with our small farm applications, I have been talking with Council Member Boone and his legislative aide about making a list of things you can do that make your small farm eligible. And so I think it would be a big help When the application goes online, rather than just parroting what the ordinance says, to make a list of things you can do on the small farms that we already have. We have people who are growing these for a farmer's market. We have winery. We have people who are doing the sport horse industry. We have some people who are doing bees. We have a whole list of things that these small farms, those 37 people who applied last year were doing, that we can encourage them to do those things. And I think Jim Coleman, who's worked with the small farm folks, would be a great one to help encourage that, as would Joanna. but I think it would be good to put that online, a paragraph in front of the application so that it saves people time and they also know what is required. It's different from the regular PDR program and because of that, I don't want us to just get overwhelmed with a lot of applications of people spending the time to fill them out or do the things if they are not doing anything of a farming nature that would help them qualify. I think that would be a good idea. And I had talked to the Council Member Boone and Olivia, and they had talked about putting that in his newsletter and putting that out in his 12th district to also help with that. Does anybody else have some suggestions on that line? Because Beth knows that we have 1,000 small farms, But we also know, and those of you who drive around the county know, that a lot of those thousand are not going to qualify. They could. They could start a number of these things and be able to qualify. But right now they don't. And I think it would save a lot of time for everyone involved. Are there any comments about that? Yeah. Okay. Madam Chair, I would suggest also maybe some type of 30 to one minute video kind of explaining the program and celebrating the existing small farms that have received PDRs and why they were successful in receiving the PDRs, what made them so special and how they qualified. Okay. And I think we probably could do some of that on LexTV, Beth. Right. But some of those. Okay. Are there any other comments? And then we could all post it on our own social media. So once that's done, then you could send it over and then each of us on our own social media could help to get the word out. Okay. Okay. Good idea. Okay. And Stephen. um isn't there a list of farms uh 10 acre tracks that are doing that maybe i don't know the fsa office or something that knows that they are already qualified to um to be able to participate in the program and notify them that they do qualify that they can qualify if they file? Okay. I think if you had a water quality plan, they would know that. If you don't, they may not. That's a requirement that they have. Okay. It would be great to let people know they actually do qualify. That's what I'm saying. Yeah. Okay. I can check with the conservation district about that. Yes. That's okay. And the other thing we didn't comment on, but the change we suggested for allowing AB, that has passed. Correct, Tracy? So this next time we can include those people who applied before that were in the AB area, we can include them this time, correct? She's shaking her head, yes. Yes. And it's my understanding from Tracy, they need to complete a new application. Is that right, Tracy, under the new guidelines? OK. OK. Now, let's just quickly for board members. Margaret, you have anything? I just want to thank Tracy Jones for her longtime service to the board. This is her last meeting, and she has served this program for 27 years, basically since before its existence, and helped draft the original ordinance that passed in 1999 to make the program possible. So we all owe Tracy a huge debt of gratitude for all of her wise counsel over the many, many years. So, yes, thank you. I want to give Tracy a hand, everybody. Thank you, Tracy. Thank you. Phil. I have nothing further to add. Thank you. Jonathan. I have nothing to add. Thank you. All right. Phil, too. Phil, too, has nothing to add. Jim Coleman. I'd like to thank Partners for Youth. They did an outstanding job this summer in having a great summer session. I had two really great summer interns, Latham Herzog, as well as his sister, Kaylin Herzog. And I took them over to meet with Dr. Stevenson on last Monday because they want to both go to the University of Kentucky to study agriculture. and tomorrow is going to be their last day so and lathan's been with me for three years and he's just been a dynamo and i'm very proud of them and anybody out there that's got a business or a farm please use that program it is fantastic i'm also going to be celebrating this weekend with about a hundred of my relatives coming from all over the country to my farm for our family reunion where we're going to dedicate 34 pawpaw trees in honor of 34 of my ancestors. So each of them will have a name, starting off with James Coleman and Lucy Coleman, my great-grandparents who purchased the farm in 1888. And special thanks to Kentucky State and Dr. Pomper for donating those 34 trees for a research project that we're working on with Kentucky State. That's great. And if you've got 100 relatives coming to your farm, May the force be with you. I'm telling you, I can't wait till the end of the day on Sunday. I can't wait to see them. Can't wait for them to go back home. It'll be great fun, though. Really great fun. It will be. Good thing. Hannah. No report. Robert. No report. Well, one of the things is I've noticed that somewhere I've been seeing the faces of your new scholarship. recipients. And that was delightful. It told who they were and what they're going to be doing. So your money has gone to good use. Yes, our scholarship fund is always making a difference in the lives of Fayette County students. And so we're proud to welcome our new group this year. And if anyone knows a high school student in Fayette County that will be graduating and attending a four-year or a two-year program starting next year. Our scholarship window or application window will be probably January through mid-March. Late March is usually when it is. And just keep an eye on the Fayette County Farm Bureau website, www.fayettecofarmbureau.com. Jim, that might be a great place for your two interns. I think you're right. Absolutely. Put those two together. Absolutely. And one of them is a female, so get some more women in ag. Yes. Steven. Nothing to add today. Thank you. Mary Quinn, how's tourism going? It's going really well. We hosted the Southern Legislative Conference last week, so we had about 2,000 folks in from all over the southeast. And we actually had a horse come through for the main event in the convention center. And I'm very pleased to say everyone survived. Even the horse. Even the horse. Yes, we are very fortunate that we have the Kentucky Horse Park because we were able to do a lot of great things by virtue of the partnership that they offer on so many of those activities. And I would just mention that probably before the end of this week, Visit Lex is going to be launching a fun little campaign that is speaking directly to how special the land is. So there is a huge trend of wellness, as you all may know. And within the larger wellness trend is a trend on grounding, which sounds exactly like what it is, just sitting on the ground and letting the earth do its good thing for you. And so you'll start to see that percolate. but we thought it was a perfect way to talk about how special the ground is, which feels like it's relevant to this group, since we spend a lot of time talking about how special our soil is. That's great. Well, feel free. I'm happy to donate a piece of ground where they can come sit. Good. And you might want to say that this also starts Lexington Restaurant Week today, and we'll run through August 2nd. Thank you for that reminder. It is. There's lots of great deals. So I encourage you to try some place that maybe you haven't been yet or certainly get out there. It is a tougher time of year for our restaurants because we are so fortunate that we have so much abundant produce. And so it's good to keep them busy in the summer so that we can have them around all year round. And I did my part. I signed up for three. Great. Thank you. Christine. Hi. Good to see you. It's so good to see you all. Anything in the historic preservation line we need to know? Well, you know, our courthouse is getting some new tenants, fingers crossed. So I sit on that board as well. And so we were after WIDA left, we were really looking for new tenants to take up that space. so we can get some rental income. Okay. Yeah. Well, it is a great spot. Yeah. Are there any other comments? Did I miss anyone? Okay. Our next meeting will be August the 26th. Please mark your calendars now because we're obviously going to have some offers back by then. And if we have nothing else, I will. And let's see, I need to tell you what time it is. It is 3.51, so not quite 4 o'clock. See, we moved these right along. It doesn't take you all long to do this important business, and it doesn't take you long to spend a lot of money. So it's good. So I will need a motion to adjourn if there are no more comments. I move. All right. Margaret's made the motion. Is there a second? Jim Coleman and Hannah at the same time. and thank you all again so much for coming and I'm glad that we are moving right along we had all those closing this last time and we're going to have that many more so it's great we're moving along all in favor great work Beth thank you thank you Gloria for all you do thank you all happy summer cooler today yes