# Council Work Session - August 25, 2026 > Auto-transcribed civic record · Council · August 25, 2026 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/6862 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/6862?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2026-08-25 - **Body**: Council - **Last revised**: August 25, 2026 - **Length**: 8,657 words > ⚠️ **Auto-generated content.** The transcript on this page is the Granicus stenographer's live closed-captioning track, captured at the time of broadcast (typos and broken sentences common). Speaker labels come from the same track. Structured facts were extracted with GPT-4o; the narrative summary was written by Anthropic Claude Sonnet. Verbatim wording and speaker attribution 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 held a Council meeting on August 25, 2026, at 3:00 PM in the Council Chamber located at 200 E. Main St, Lexington, KY 40507. The meeting was presided over by the Vice Mayor. The Council addressed two agenda items during the session, including an informational presentation on an ADA Transition Plan and consideration of Neighborhood Development Funds, which was approved. The body took three motions to a vote and heard public comments from two speakers during the meeting. ## Votes and Decisions The council took three actions during the August 25, 2026 meeting, all of which passed by voice vote. **Resolution on Easement Deeds** [timestamp: 0:07:42] Councilmember Lynch moved to place on the docket for the August 2, 2026 council meeting a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute deeds of easement. The motion passed by voice vote. **Zoning Ordinance** [timestamp: 0:09:16] Councilmember Sevigny moved, seconded by Councilmember Reynolds, to place on the docket for the August 27, 2026 meeting an ordinance changing the zone from single-family residential to corridor business zone. The motion passed by voice vote. **Text Amendment Referral** [timestamp: 0:10:49] Councilmember Sheehan moved to remove an item under ordinances first reading related to a text amendment and refer it to a committee of the whole meeting. The motion passed by voice vote. ## Budget and Financial Actions The Council approved the following financial actions: **Stream Flow and Water Quality Monitoring** The Council entered into an agreement (L0622-26) with the United States Geological Survey for $127,000 to cover operation and maintenance of stream flow, water quality, and rain gauges. **Traffic Control System Maintenance** A contract renewal (L0648-26) with Q-Free America for $62,000 was approved to continue maintenance and support services for the traffic control system. **Animal Control Services** The Council awarded a Purchase of Service Agreement (L0694-26) to Lexington-Fayette Animal Care and Control, LLC for $2,512,545 to provide animal control services. **Waste Tire Disposal and Recycling** An award (L0696-26) of $4,000 was received from the Energy and Environment Cabinet to support waste tire disposal and recycling efforts. **Consultant Services** Change Order No. 3 (L0706-26) to the consultant services agreement with GRW Inc. was approved for $22,205. ## Public Comment The Council heard from two members of the public during the meeting on August 25, 2026. **ADA Transition Plan** Emily Elliott spoke in support of the Council's work on the ADA Transition Plan [timestamp: 0:03:26]. She expressed appreciation for the Council's support of the plan and emphasized the importance of its implementation for ensuring community accessibility. **Data Centers** Randy Boyar raised questions about a proposed data center project [timestamp: 0:06:08]. He questioned what benefits data centers would provide to the community and expressed concerns about nondisclosure agreements associated with the project. ## Contested Items **Data Centers** Community members raised concerns about data center development during the meeting, focusing on the benefits and transparency of such projects [timestamp: not provided in source material]. The primary disagreement centered on what the community gains from data centers. Residents questioned whether the proposed projects would deliver meaningful benefits to the local area and expressed concerns about the lack of transparency surrounding these developments. No outcome information was provided in the available meeting materials. ## Presentation: ADA Transition Plan The WT Group presented the ADA Transition Plan to the Council [timestamp: 0:23:06]. The presentation was delivered by John McGovern and Tatum Story. The presenters discussed the project history, outlining how the transition plan was developed and the context for its creation. They reviewed the process undertaken to develop the plan, detailing the methodology and stakeholder engagement involved in its formulation. Key deliverables of the ADA Transition Plan were presented, which outlined the specific outcomes and documents produced through the planning process. The presenters also discussed implementation strategies, explaining how the plan would be executed and the timeline for rollout. This agenda item was informational in nature, providing the Council with an overview of the ADA Transition Plan's scope, development, and next steps. No formal action was required on this item. ## Neighborhood Development Funds **Agenda Item:** 0733-26 The Council discussed an amendment to correct the allocation amount and recipient name for neighborhood development funds. [timestamp: 0:16:09] Councilmember Eblen led the discussion on this agenda item. The amendment addressed corrections needed in the neighborhood development funds distribution, specifically adjusting both the dollar amount allocated and the name of the intended recipient. The Council approved the amendment. --- ## Decisions - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Place on the docket for the August 2, 2026 council meeting a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute deeds of easement. - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Place on the docket for the August 27, 2026 meeting an ordinance changing the zone from single-family residential to corridor business zone. - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Remove item under ordinances first reading related to the text amendment and refer it to a committee of the whole meeting. --- ## Full transcript elect whether he can work session for AUGUST 25, 2026. We are going to start off with public comment for issues on the agenda. We have a few people signed up. When you come to the mic give your name again and your council district for the record and you will have three minutes. We'll start with emily elliott. >> hi good afternoon I apologize for my voice. I'm emily elliott I am a resident of the second district. I am here this afternoon on behalf of the access lexington commission. I want to express our appreciation for council's support on the development the funding and soon the implementation of the ada transition plan and the updates that have been made. Access lexington's admission can is about promotion of inclusion, empowerment for people with disabilities. And the commission's purview is to bring these issues to you as our leaders and our representatives and how the lexington community is impacted. This transition plan is a meaningful example of how all of these things come together, right? And most importantly, it is all of us working together to improve accessibility in our community. We recognize that you guys are already made a commitment there is a commitment of funding and commitments made to this update. And we're so grateful to for it to go from planning to implementation. Because as we all know plans are very important. But the real difference in people's lines come when the plans become action when they become investment that is how we improve people's lives. For people with disabilities meaningful accommodations and public spaces are not an improvement, they are not a they determine whether someone can navigate their community, whether someone accesses public services whether they can get to work and if they participate with you in this room and live a full life. Things that many of us fake for granted everyday. Now, we whrs know at that time this has been longstanding work the work is not done. A commitment to accessibility in our community is big. But this is such a huge step in the right direction. And we want to commend you for demonstrating that inclusion and accessibility our priorities in this community and every mental health in our community deserves the opportunity to participate fully. Again thank you for recognizing the importance of this work for putting resources behind it and we look forward to continuing more progress more accessibility and a better lexington for everyone in our community. Thank you. >> next up is tony barrett. >> I'm here for pore matter that chris ford is helping me with. >> thank you. Next up is randy boyar. >> I'm here to talk about data centers. Randy boyar council 10. I guess what I want to know more than anything is what is in it for us? These things present themselves in the county and somebody says yes? What is in it for us? I have not seen anything anywhere what we would gain from a data center. A lot of people myself included cannot imagine what we would lose from a data center but when I research into it it looks like the state locked us up. You will not get the property taxes we want. Called industrial adjustment revenue pond I can throw away all the property taxes. I guess I just want to know what is in it for us? One other item on data centers is all this nondisclosure stuff we hear about councilmembers hush, hush and nobody can say a word about it until it's on the street. Not in our community thank you very much, I appreciate that. You got ahead of it and a moratorium for a period of time. I'm glad you did that. But I think we need to address the issue of nondisclosure agreements as a side bar for data centers. I think by and large you probably know how the community feels about data centers what is in it for us? When we build anything we build that is industrious that we think is going to question our resources we need to know up front what is in it for us. Thank you. >> thank you. Up next is requested rezonings and docket approval. Councilmembers if you have walk ons please sign in. Councilmember lynch. >> thank you, vice mayor I have a walk on. I move to place on the docket for the AUGUST 2 sub, 2026 council meeting a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute deeds of easement with kentucky utilities company and wind stream communications llc granting easements across a portion of the property located at 1785 for temporary electric and telly communications and authorize the mayor to transfer the easements. >> do I have a second. Any discussion on the motion? All those if favor please say aye. Any opposed? All right that motion passes thank you. Councilmember sevigny. >> thank you, vice mayor. I move to place on the docket for the AUGUST 27, 2026 meeting an ordinance changing the zone from a single-family residential r-ic to corridor business zone b-3 for 4.192 acres for property at 1770 and 1800 harrodsburg a plumber and at the same time fitters local 442 building corporation on the docket with no hearing. So moved. >> we have a motion and a second from councilmember reynolds. Any discussion on this motion? All those in favor please say aye. Any opposed? All right that motion passes. Thank you councilmember sheehan. >> mine is an amendment to the docket. Councilmembers, as you know, today we formally received the recommended language for the zoning ordinance text amendment on data centers from the planning commission and as a part of our work copy docket, I have a motion to remove that item and move it to the special peting that we have called on OCTOBER 6th I will read the motion. I move to remove item under ordinances first reading number 16, 0711-26 on the work copy docket related to the text amendment and refer it to a committee of the whole meeting scheduled to be held on tuesday, OCTOBER 6, 2026 at 5:30 pm. And that we suspend our rules to provide for public comment at this meeting. >> all right beef a motion and a second. Any questions or discussion on this motion? All -- councilmember ellinger? >> thank you, vice mayor. I think in the e-mail that you sent out we will have something back in committee is that going to be part of this? >> in the discussions when I was checking in with my colleagues, and hearing from the public we've done two things and of we have scheduled this OCTOBER 6 meeting on the committee of the whole meeting where we can have public input and discussion but there is a sense that some councilmembers want a little bit more information and education on data centers before we get to that meeting. We are also scheduled an informational presentation on SEPTEMBER 8th at the general government and planning committee meeting. >> thank you. >> thank you. Any other discussion on the motion? All those in favor please say aye. Any opposed? All right that motion passes. I guess I need a motion on docket approval. >> move to approve. >> we have a motion and a second. All those in favor please say aye. Any opposed? That motion passes. Moving on to approval of summary table motions. Count work session AUGUST 18th, 2026 can I get a motion? >> move to approve. >> we have a motion and a second. Any discussion on the motion? All those in favor please say aye. Any opposed? That motion passes. Next up is budget amendments. Can I get a motion? >> councilmember sheehan and councilmember sevigny any discussion or questions on budget amendments? All those in favor please say aye. Any opposed? That motion passes. You have budget adjustments in your packet for information only and we're on to new business. Please sign in if you have questions. We'll take a motion and a second. All right. Now, questions. Please sign in. Councilmember lynch. >> thank you, vice mayor. I have a question about letter e regarding the change order number 3. Regarding the division of water quality headquarters and operations building. >> richard from the environmental public works what is your question? >> I was curious it stated in the materials there were unforeseen circumstances which is why we are at this next change order can you give more details about the unforeseen circumstances. >> we were renovating a building built in 1964 we have come across a lot of unforeseen. The sanitary sewers were not in as good of shape as we thought. We found water damage. We found just a whole host of things in the building. This is actually just for the design so this would be the engineers that are helping us detail those corrections. And there was a change order with the general contractor that corrected those items. >> thank you so much. Thank you, vice mayor. Councilmember ellinger. >> thank you, vice mayor. G please. As in government center. Actually this is seniors center. >> christy or commissioner? I was confused on the wording when I read this because we received a grant but the way it says this for operations of lexington center. So I'm trying to -- >> it goes into the general fund for our general operations of the center. >> just we're receiving a grant. >> right we get money from bluegrass ad every year and they are almost constantly giving more money throughout the year. >> that's good. >> yeah, it's a great thing. >> and we have a small match that we have to provide. >> correct. >> and we do that every time they ask? >> if you would like we'd appreciate it, thank you. >> thank you, chair. >> thank you. Any other questions on new business? All those in favor please say aye. Any opposed? All right that motion passes. Next up is communications from the mayor appointments, can I get a motion? And a second. >> councilmember baxter and councilmember brown. Any discussion on appointments? All those in favor say aye. Any opposed? That motion passes. Next up is communications from the mayor donations. Can I have a motion, please? Councilmember baxter and councilmember sevigny any questions or discussion on donations? All those in favor please say aye. Any opposed? That motion passes. Next up is procurements can I get a motion please. Councilmember sheehan and councilmember baxter any discussion on procurements? All those in favor please say aye. Any opposed? lrtd that motion passes. Moving on to continuing business first up is neighborhood development funds I believe we have an amendment. Councilmember eblen is that right? well. >> make a motion to approve. Second. >> give us one second. All right councilmember eblen. >> sorry I forget I move amend the neighborhood fund list to correct the amount of the allocation to what costa cultural his panna lexington corp to 2550 and to correct the name of the recipient from transylvania park neighborhood association to transylvania park committee inc., so moved. >> a motion and a second. Any questions on the amendment motion from councilmember eblen? All those in favor please say aye. Any opposed? That motion passes. Colleagues remind me did I take a motion on ndf's before I took councilmember eblen's? Okay. My apologies. I move a little fast sometimes. Let's back up. We have a motion to approve ndf's from councilmember ellinger seconded by councilmember morton. Any other questions or discussions on neighborhood development funds? All right. So we're going to aprauf as amendment. All those in favor please say aye. Any opposed? that motion passes. Thank you all. Next up is council capital projects can I get a motion councilmember baxter and councilmember hale any discussion or changes on council capital? All those in favor please say aye. Any opposed? That motion passes. Next up is the summary of the budget finance and economic development committee of JUNE I will hand it over to chair brown. >> thank you, vice mayor. Thank you. The budget and finance and economic development committee JUNE 23, 2026 summary of motions. The meeting began at 1:01pm. The first item was the approval of the MARCH 24, 2026 committee summary. The committee unanimously approved that summary. The second item was a monthly financial update from MAY 2026. Revenues for fy26 continue to exceed expectations and expenses remain below budget. Position of the city for projected 21.1 million surplus through MAY revenues reached positioning the city for projected I'm sorry. Positioned the city for projected 21.1 million surplus through MAY. Revenues reached 491.85 million dollars about 5 million before budget. Expenses totaling 464.58 million dollars coming in 29 million dollars under budget. And driven in part by personnel costs running 3.6% below budget. 5 million dollars in personnel savings has been reallocated in the JUNE 9th budget amendment. The third item was the infrastructure funding plan update. Lexington presented its infrastructure funding plan outlining how the city will manage the cost of growth in new urban growth areas while developers will cover many on-site improvements. The city must still fund major regional needs such as parks, public safety facilities and transportation connections. To support long-term financial stability, the city is proposing privilege fees which ensure properties benefiting from shared infrastructure pay their 235eur share when they choose to development adoption of the ordinance steps are underway helping lexington grow responsibly while protecting the general fund and maintaining high quality services. On behalf of the committee I move to approve and advance the full to the full count the draft infrastructure fund ordinance presented at the economic development committee. So moved. >> any questions or discussion on the motion? All those in favor please say aye. Any opposed? That motion passes. >> the next item on the agenda was the technology ecosystem development lexington's launching a tech intership pilot program to strengthen the talent pipeline and connect local students with growing career opportunities. The program will support 30-40 interns placed with lexington employers in tech and roles offering wage reimbursement to participating companies internships must be in-person at least 120 hours and open to the full-time students nearing graduation. Applications open in JULY and the city will also host networking events to help students build professional connections and deepen engagement within the tech community. The next item was the e911 fund revenue sources. Lexington's e911 systems is currently funded mostly through land line fees but as land lines use declines the most emergency calls now come from wireless and voip phones that generate little revenue. The e 911 fund shrunk and the gap requires subsidies to maintain this essential service. Other kentucky communities have already shifted to a modern fee structure. Such as property based water meter fees to distribute costs more fairly. Lexington is exploring similar on honests to create a funding model that ensures reliable emergency response for all residents and the meeting adjourned at 2:51pm. That concludes my report. >> thank you. Any questions about the committee summary? All right. Thank you very much. Next up we have a presentation about our ada transition plan. Colleagues as you will recall in the last couple years council has funded the completion of the full ada transition plan and we just provided $1.5 million in this year's budget to support next steps in implementation. Presenting will be the wt group's tatum story and john mcgovern. Welcome. >> thank you for your time on the agenda I'm john mcgovern and I lead the accessibility practice. I'm tatum story the principal of operations and have been the project manager for the last three years for the lexington fayette urban county government ada transition plan project. >> we appreciate your time today. We will briefly just talk about the project's history. Our process, the deliverables, some of the ada requirements we'll spend a bit more time on those in particular as they relate to atreat existing facilities versus new construction. We'll talk about the confusing concept of program access. Then we'll talk about the transition plan, implementation strategies, funding strategies and we'll conclude with remarks and thank you to your staff who have been excellent to work with. We invite questions throughout this as well. `my bbd includes long time in local government. We formed the accessibility practice in 2008 and we have helped more than 750 cities and counties across the country meet the not always so crystal clear requirements of the americans with disabilities act and tatum's background is... >> I am msw and certified ada coordinator, I used to do title one consulting related to employment and hr practices. So my entire career has been on ada compliance and accessibility initiatives. Who is lexington? You all know your residents very well but you are a growing and aging community where one in seven have a disability. Are you a hub and a community built around the public resources that you offer. You have a large vast list of sites and facilities parks, trails, golf courses and more. Your structured and the sense of your public facing government. And your councilmembers have a high degree of diversity n2025 it was one of the highest or the most diverse agencies or entities in history and then you are committed to equity, of course. We talk about demographics in the sense of today. You look at that disability prevalence here it's one in seven have a disability or 14%. The census predicts by 2030 there will be more individuals over he age of 65 than under the age of 18 for the first time in history and why that matters is the incident for disbit over the age of 65 is 44-45%. >> which is roughly three times as high as it is for the general population. So the ada is important for today and important for 2026 and 2027 but it's more important as you look forward to 2028 and certainly 2030. >> a little bit about the project history. In 2023 lexington fayette urban county government put out an rfp for an evaluation and partial transition plan project you all were seeking a firm to look at your high use facilities 40 facilities facilities in total. We responded and began the work And concluded that first phase of the project in 2024. As part of that first phase of the project we did community engagement we did five different groups where we had meetings. We also conducted a survey. In 2025 we began a complete transition plan project where we evaluated all remains facilities and parks. We conducted a staff training in 2025 as well. We did more community engagement totaling in seven community engagement meetings and two surveys throughout the entirety of the project and today we are doing our final findings. So our process in terms of the access evaluations we audit every sickle site and we look at every single component we start with parking. We look at ared widths of the stalls the right high are there slopes in the stalls. After the parking we move to the route and make sure the route can get from the parking to assets or the arrival points to the assets within a park or a facility. We use a door pressure gauge to measure the pounds of force to open a door. A tape measure, a two foot digital level and a smartphone we use to write the reports. we have embedded in our smartphones checklists for every single asset so we have a economic and balance system for ourselves. And this works to write a site report to give you all the information how to make your parks and facilities accessible and identifies the citations corresponding with the findings that are created. Some project deliverables. We conducted audits of every site and that totals in 188 access evaluation site reports. Each report has images of the deficits identified. We developed a transition plan so you have cost references for planning purposes a task tracker for internal implementation and planning. A final report that you all have that lists a full summary of the project from start to finish. A community engagement report that identifies all of the community engagement efforts we took. A program and policy report we did some interviews with public facing staff to see how they invite, analyze and fulfill questionses for requests for modifications and provided policies for lexington to review and use as a template for creating final policies for residents and staff. >> a little bit about title 2. Some of the basic requirements within title 2 and that is the regulation issued by the department of justice if applies to all 89004 state and local government. We ada101 issues. First is the notice requirement which is referred to by many as welcoming language. So in its form something like lexington invites and welcomes people of all abilities to use parks and facilities for further information reach john mcgovern at whatever my phone number and e-mail is. But it is one of the requirements that the department of justice also insists today still on calling the interaction between residents who might have a concern about access to a facility or a program, a complaint. We don't view it that way. From my term in local government I know many times a family member would come forward and it would be more of a discussion with us trying to find a common ground so we refer to this as a solutions process. In our deliverables we provided examples how that can work. One of the other requirements is an ada coordinator. You have always had an ada coordinator that seems to be in the process of changing which is a change that we recommend and support. Design and construction of new sites this is something we see in every jurisdiction all new sites have to comply with either the federal standard or the state standard whichever is more favorable from an access perspective to people who have a disability. It is not unusual for us to find municipal staff in a jurisdiction that believe they need to follow the state code and that is not quite the case you have to follow the federal and state code. There is a requirement to audit and retrofit all sites from time to time we will hear from jurisdictions that say well there is no need to audit the sites built in the last five years. And that is not the way we look We believe that access is a combination of three things. Did the designer get it right? Was it constructed right? And is it maintained right by staff? So all three of those are key to making the site accessible. I mentioned the kentucky building code referred to the state code so we did use that. We also used the federal 2010 standards and smart practices there are many efforts undertaken by local governments that fill in the gaps in the standards. And so we've included those and recommended those be applied as a smart practice. The transition plan is the key to implementing the retrofits. I will talk a bit more about that and the requirement also exists that your residents have the opportunity to participate and tell you what they think the order of retrofit what they think the most important sites are. Existing sites, a checklist for you here. All of your sites and facilities have been evaluated against the code. You do have a transition plan to mull over and implement. And the community engagement that we conducted included a survey as well as in-person visits. Which drew robust participation. new construction I mentioned this there is no waiver process. I will highlight that in the third bullet point. The requirement is, of course, that all state and local standards have to be met as well as the federal standard. Program access. If I were the department of justice I wouldn't have called this this idea of program access but program access applies to facilities. So what we're doing right now, today, is a program. Your public meeting the councilmember meeting is open to the public and the opportunity to make public feedback is a program. So it's somewhat of a misleading term. Anything that you provide to the public is considered something that is addressed by the ada. And the third bullet point not necessarily every existing site or every asset must be retrofitted for access we apply a minimum of one of three recurring assets that is not a department of justice requirement in our work we have worked with enforcement agencies and it has been adopted by the department of justice in our projects. The transition plan has to identify every deficit we saw at every site. A solution or leave as is because of the program access test. Then a schedule for retrofit. Then a responsible official. And not required by the department of justice, but you can't make a plan like this without knowing an proximate cost. So we've included a cost reference for planning purposes. Your fiscal notes were, I think, not a surprise based on your besides. Where we see jurisdictions with older infrastructure it's fairly common to see the older infrastructure does not comply. So phase one tends to be low hanging fruit thanks that you can do with current resources but it also includes new construction that was not designed right or not constructed right. So we think that those are important to address early on in the process. Phase two includes amounts that assets that are new to the design standards. That tended to be park assets, recreation facilities and so forth. And then phase three is older or more complex or costly retrofits. And phase one, two and three are what we believe are the keys for you to address at just a shade under $75 million. We stretched that out over 20 years. I will make it really clear that is our advice. This is like any other plan though that you have. You MAY slow the process or extend the number of years or if opportunities present themselves, increase the process. I mentioned smart practices. Option sites as well are listed there. So these are sites that we saw deficit at but we think because of the program access test that you do not need to make those retrofits until you later alter that site or replace it like a playground replacement at a later date. Some implementation strategies. You already have a good relationship with a lot of the community groups. So continue to build and maintain that relationship with advocacy groups and residents with disabilities. I think it's really important to continue your work, too, on the accessibility advancement committee. And the establish clear rules for committeemembers that looks like a great tool for you internally. Train something a key here. In the last three years that we have worked with you we've seen a lot of training opportunities occur. So continuing to develop ongoing ada training is really important. And last but not least on this slide, every year, be certain to budget and expend funds towards the transition plan don't take an ada holiday here. Our parents told us not to brag about our work but this is an exception. Brag about what you are doing. You have a very engaged public information officer. The taf that weigh meet with this morning all had a story to tell. So make sure that your residents understand that this is a priority for you and you are continuing to implement tasks that lead to a better level of access and inclusion. Maintenance schedules are really important I talked about that. I think one of the keys is also developing a process to make certain that all new construction is designed so that it complies and then the contractor understands that they will be held to task for compliance. And last but not least exceed the minimum requirements. You are not a minimum requirement kind of community as Funding strategies include state grant programs, congressionally directed spending, recreational trails program, land and water conservation fund there is no other source that is solely related to ada compliance. What is next? Staff continues implementation. Annually budget and expend for this and you were on the right path. >> all right. Barely made it. Thank you all for the presentation. Councilmembers, if you have questions or comments please sign in. Councilmember brown? >> thank you, vice mayor and thank you all for your work and your presentation. And this maybe a question for you or it might be a question for our folks when we are talking about the ada coordinator how does that fit into MS. Legris' position, roger's position? How are you seeing that shake out and going forward? >> thank you, councilmember for the question. We are approaching this work in three prongs three phases and so one, hannah Legris our access and engagement officer is leading our policy process. She has done a great job getting us going all the information related to accessibility is on the webpage now. And ready to be accessed by our residents. Hannah is doing that role. And she is going to be designated as our ada coordinator. But this work and roger is our former ada coordinator he will continue to be engaged as well because parks has a large platform related to ada and accessibility. Second is human resources. Our human resources team, glen dan alicia and her office they will continue to manage supporting our employees. So there are reasonable accommodations that staff here MAY need to perform their duties that will be maintained by human resources. And last but not least the team at general services. Through facilities and fleet and parks and recreation will be responsible agency in government for the transition plan for the retrofits proper. And so as those three lead agents that will be helping us advance this work on accessibility councilmember. And councilmembers and we also have john reference to do earlier, the wt group met with our newly formed accessibility advancement committee. Which will have some of those folks I mentioned but it will have traffic engineering and streets and roads it will have public information. so this is a group effort for starting this new reengaging in this platform. But those are the key actors. And then as I close, councilmember, as we build this in years ahead, we want to be able to integrate throughout the fabric of our agencies across government. Training is going to be important. I said a lot. I hope I answered your question. >> you did and you created more questions. But I think -- so how do you see the management of capital improvements so to speak? Do you have enough project managers to help manage that or does it need to be one capital project manager? >> no, we'll utilize a team approach again. General services will be the responsible agency for the retrofits for managing the transition plan proper. We have personnell mitchell, if you can wave your hand. He is working in facilities and fleet management he will play a role focusing on ada work. Monica's team at parks and rec have several project managers through michael and myselfs, planning and project team. One of the first things that our advancement -- our accessibility advancement committee will focus on is how do we program the initial 1.5 million dollars that the count has allocated in the 27 budget. We have a few trustee agencies in government not just facilities and fleet that manage property. facilities and fleet. Parks and recreation. Our friends at the fire department. And last but not least our friends at corrections. All of our teammates are around the table and we will be working here in the fall to get really moving on how we activate that initial investment of 1.5. Be a lot of projects but we feel we're up to the task and can make a mark. >> and I probably have a few more questions some of them financial I MAY circle back. I do want to say I appreciate the comments about changing the culture from complaint to solution. I think that helps set the tone for a citywide and inside government if we know we are looking for solutions. Councilmember if I can add to commissioner ford's comment, too, that approach that three headed approach it has been very effective in other jurisdictions, comparable to your size. So we know it works elsewhere and we're confident it will work here. >> sounds good. Thank you. >> councilmember sevigny. >> thank you so much for the presentation. When you kind of shared the price I don't know if you can smrip back to the pricing page that was like the grand total. Yep if you keep going like on the second to the last slide. But because you started this project several years ago, my guess is your report might actually have the information about this building versus a new city hall. So I don't know how much this building represented of that number versus city hall. Like and I would imagine if we're doing a new city hall we would be like we would be doing smart things to make sure all that is in place. I don't know if someone has that. And then my second question is, it sounds like over 20 years, like we should probably be in the $6 million a year type of category for doing this type of work. Like if your numbers there are correct. My question is: does general services plan on submitting budget requests for this plan and like is part of this presentation do you have it pretty well laid out as to how things are phased I'm just curious? >> councilmember, in reference to our government center here at east main street, give me one second. 1.78 million dollars overall phases would be the improvements here at the government center. Related to the budget, our administration has already begun focus and also understands that we will need to bring forth budgetary recommendations to address this. Councilmember I can't give you a number right now. But we do foresee the importance and the value of making this a budgetary priority. So I think we're going to work towards that. >> okay. City hall that is not a grand number it is not a big number of this number. You said. >> 1.8 million is our facility here at 200 east main. >> so is a majority of it what is the lion's share of the phases? Is it parks mostly? Because those are public facing? >> it is a little bit of both. Phoenix battle is a good example there are not many accessible restroom. And there are multiple floors in that building as you know. Parking, lack of accessible routes. Phase one includes new construction that was done wrong new construction per the ada is anything designed, built or constructed after MARCH 15, So any construction of a new play area for example that wasn't done right, it's going to be in that phase because of that. The option phase-in doing the first phase of the work if we only did a partial transition plan for lexington we wouldn't be able to say leave certain things as is we only do that to recurring assets. >> I guess that goes to my next question more for parks because we are doing a parks master plan right now. I'm curious how parks would be integrating this because obviously there's things that you will end up switching out anyway in parks, correct? I don't know if you want to respond to that. Director? >> councilmember, I think we will be looking at our team has been digesting the entire plan. And all the lists and phasing and certainly we manage so much public space we anticipate working that into our master plan. Into our future budget considerations. So we're looking forward to working through this process. And incorporating it like we do other city's plans into our 2028 parks master plan. >> that would be great. I think that is the appropriate place and I think it would be wise to include all this. Thank you very much. That is all I have. >> councilmember sheehan. >> thank you, vice mayor. Thank you for the presentation. And for all the work that you have done all the time you have invested for our community. I greatly appreciate that. And I also want to look behind you to roger and christy to say thank you because I know you've been doing this work for so long many years before this transition plan started. So I know we are in a better place and we're able to spring board off of the work that you all have done and been a part And to the access lexington commission I am a part of that commission so is councilmember hale. And emily is our chair and I appreciate your remarks today from the commission. But we are here today and having this discussion because they brought us this idea during the american rescue plan act process. So some of you weren't on council yet but this came from a commission of ours. This idea to do this transition plan update. So this was generated by our community members and for our community members. I want to acknowledge that. Colleagues so you know I have been in conversation with commissioner ford. You MAY remember at the end of the budget process, I put this item in committee. We do certainly have a long list of capital projects and financial asks. So in my mind, I do expect this to be something that is handled by the administration. But that we have oversight over. So commissioner ford and I discussed having like a regular report to council as we're moving along in the process so we know what projects are being prioritized how money is being spent and allocated what additional needs we have as we go along during this long-term process. So expect that. And what we discussed was that the first of those reports would come early next year. As they are wading through the long report we have gotten and starting to put all of these things in place like the committee that commissioner ford discussed. I also I know we recently got an e-mail from MS. Legris but I do want to highlight all of the work that was done on making this accessible on the website for the public. So this full report is available on the website. If you go to our website, lexington ky.Gov you will get the website and not only is the process there for the community to raise concerns that they might have, but, the full report is there so the public can see that. And I would love it if you all would share that around because the website updates are really excellent. I don't have a question. I have lots of thank yous. That is all I have. I will stop there, thank you. >> thank you, councilmember. Councilmember lynch. >> thank you, vice mayor. And I just want to say thank you to wt group for this very detailed report. I did similar accessibility work for 20 years in the multifamily space I know how detailed that work is get your measuring tape out and make sure things are right this level of detail especially in the spread sheet where it does building by building site by site, is excellent with the recommendations and a dollar amount. And the priority level this is really, really good. Thank you for your work and for everyone that has been a part of this process to bring this to free ition. I'm excited we have this now and we can use it to make the changes and thank you councilmember sheehan for spearheading this and you answered my first question how we will be able to hear more about this. Thank you, vice mayor. >> thank you. Councilmember brown. >> thank you. I want to ask commissioner hensley her thoughts just about I know it's early and we still got planning to do but maybe some ideas that you are having about how we might pay for this going forward? And then while she is walking up I will say the same thing I appreciate councilmember lynch for bringing it up, thank you to councilmember sheehan for spearheading this we've had conversations and I think it was by her pushing it that we put the funding of the plan in the budget and then our late recommendation which courage supported that shows this is a priority for this council and our community. Commissioner what are your thoughts about how we might try to pay for some of this? Is bonding an option? These things that we don't want to consider bonding? What are your first thoughts about? >> obviously this is kind of challenging. Bonding would be an option for some of the things that would be replacement. And would create an asset for the government. Things we would be otherwise be doing. To the point of the parks plan and the parks fund, if there are things that are replacing and things that would fit into that funding strategy that would be an option an opportunity if that was already going to be a capital improvement. So it would lend itself to those things if they are in fact adding an asset. if they are a repair, that would be an expense item that would not be bondable something we need to incorporate in our operating budget. Obviously it is a big price tag. Over the course of that period of time, to incorporate that in our otherwise fully packed budget is going to be quite a challenge. Being able to assess that with our other challenges and our other priorities is going to be something that we're going to have to weigh every single year. Our bonding is made up of the need to do items like this is a need to do item and we carefully weigh those every year with our budgeted priorities when we look at how much we have that is available for really that additional capacity to spend money on debt service. So this is going to be something we need to really evaluate and weigh along with the decisions year by year. >> and I appreciate that answer. And I think in the funding strategy they have a lot of options. The only reason I went to bonding is because if there's retrofits and things we have to change, if weigh phase it out the longer that it takes to get to those phases the longer the things are that accessible to everyone. That is the only reason I was saying bonding maybe a way to drop a hammer on things we need to get done. >> the things about our bonding we do life our bonds so they look at the useful life of the item that we're purchasing. And so if it does not extend the useful life past a certain point, five years, seven years, 10 years we would not want to bond it longer than or repay it longer than it's going to have a useful life. We would want to make sure we are in alignment with our best case scenario of repaying it for the duration we're going to get out of the useful life of it. >> thank you. Thank you, vice mayor. >> thank you. Commissioner lensly, I might get you to stay I don't know if this is a question for you or the wt folks a few slides ago there was a list of some other potential funding possibilities. Looked like there were some there was a little bit of a list. I remember seeing. Can you all talk through a little bit about those possibilities beyond our own general fund and bonding? >> there we go. >> yes. >> all of these have been sources of funds that some of our jurisdictions have told us they've had success with. One is congressionally directed spending. Earmarks if you wish. But they are back in style to a certain extent. I said to a certain extent. But it remains a source of some of our cities and counties have been able to use. Community development block grant funds same answer. That is a federal program. We have seen jurisdictions use that to pay for some of I will say selected ada retrofits at certain sites. there are some state grant programs. And I'd say number five is an important one. You certainly have a capital improvement plan so blending the transition plan work with your cip might help reduce duplicated replacements or retrofits. There are some federal funds for other projects like land and water conservation fund. If you receive a grant for that that obviously requires that that asset be developed in a way that is accessible. So that might be a way to relieve some of the pressure in other areas. Same for safe streets to schools funding. And other federal programs like that. Recreational trails programs as well. Might be a source that again would include accessibility requirements from the federal level. >> I think whenever we are embarking on projects this size over that time scale, too, I want us to be as creative as possible to go beyond just our own pocketbooks as budgets potentially get tighter and you though, the economy is what it So I don't want to ever leave money on the table as it were and I think we have to be creative and aggressive in pursuing these. Thank you all for the presentation and all the work that everyone has done on this item. Thank you all. >> thank you all so much. >> next up is council reports. colleagues please sign in. Councilmember reynolds. >> thank you, so much vice mayor. Colleagues, I am going to be placing an item in the social services and public safety committee. This item is a local language access ordinance. I will be working on it with my time here and vice mayor wu has agreed to join me and to carry on that torch if needed after I'm gone. So I will be placing that in that committee. And just wanted to say that I hope everyone has a wonderful week and a good weekend. There is a lot of things going on like the diversity festival and quite a few neighborhood picnics and activities. So please watch out for one another and be safe. Thank you. >> councilmember baxter. >> thank you, vice mayor. I just wanted to take a moment to invite the public all of my colleagues, out to the 9th district on friday 9: 45am we will be opening our first affordable housing project for seniors. It is a fully accessible building which is wonderful. And you said 45 units it's called wellington park apartments and a-u associates is bringing that on-line for us. I would love to see as many people there as possible. The address is 3125 door chester place. Hope to see you there. >> councilmember lynch. >> thank you, vice mayor. I have a few announcements to share. With my district 2 neighbors and the community on wednesday there will be happy hour at cold stream dog park at 6:00 P.M. Neighbors please come out to cold stream dog park and bring your fur baby there's lots of fun activities. So please come out on wednesday for yappy hour. And to echo -- black soil farm to school market is happening this week at sandersville elementary school. They usually sellout really fast. Please get there very, very early to make sure you can get your shopping needs met. And shop and learn is happening at the florence avenue black soil market as well. Pharmacy market. Thursday AUGUST the 27th, 5-7:00 P.M. There will be a series there and that is free and open to the community. And I want to give a shout-out to councilmember reynolds did about the diversity festival. I have a special heart for this project because it came out of my leadership lexington class. And so I'm glad it is still driving and has been a great asset to our community. Please come out. It is saturday 12-7:00 P.M. On oliver lewis way. And then I think we have a video. >> it's your vice mayor dan wu and I'm with councilmember lynch and we with the boards and commissions subcommittee would like to invite you to the boards and commissions fair. >> many of our boards and commissions will be there to share their work. >> and we want you to join the board of commission so please join us. >> we will have food, games and lots of fun for the entire family. >> learn how you can get involved with boards and commissions. >> come join us on georgetown road on monday SEPTEMBER 14th, 4-6:00 P.M. For the boards and commissions fair. >> see you there. Thank you vice mayor. >> shout-out to the lex tv team for helping us produce that as well. Councilmember sheehan. >> thank you. Tomorrow evening at 7:00 P.M., the chef xi chase neighborhood is meeting I hope to see you there. And I am going to place an item in committee. Councilmembers, you MAY know that our planning staff is starting the corridor study for winchester road road and we will have a presentation on SEPTEMBER I would like to place that item into committee as chair. That's it. Thank you. >> councilmember hale. >> thank you, vice mayor. So I'm excited to announce that the ribbon cutting for the new renovated basketball court and parking lot at wood hill park is scheduled for thursday SEPTEMBER 10th at noon. I want to extend a special invitation to my colleagues and the community to join mayor gorton and myself as we celebrate this welcoming space at wood hill park. Also, I hope the community will come out so we can celebrate together on tuesday, SEPTEMBER 22 at 4:15 at wood hill park. There will be music, free ice cream and activities provided by on the move art studio as well as games on the new basketball court with our own pilot program. We want to welcome everyone to come out to that event on SEPTEMBER 22 as well. Thank you. >> thank you. Councilmember eblen. >> thank you, vice mayor. I wanted to thank the organizers of the kennewick porch fest last weekend it was a wonderful community opportunity that bridged the third and fifth districts and hundreds of people came out and dozens of bands and anyway it was a wonderful community event. And encourage more of those. >> thank you. I will second that as well. It was very fun to see our streets filled with kids on bikes and so many neighbors walking around and hearing music around every corner. It was quite nice. We don't have any public comment signed up for issues not on the agenda. With that we are adjourned. Thank you all.