Council Work Session

Summary

Meeting Overview

The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council met on May 6, 2025, at 3:00 PM in the Council Chamber in Lexington, KY, with Mayor Linda Gorton presiding. The meeting included 3 agenda items spanning a ceremonial proclamation, a budget presentation, and a zoning matter. Over the course of the meeting, the Council took 3 votes, received 1 formal presentation, and heard 3 public comments.

Among the items addressed, the Council approved a Building Safety Month Proclamation and received an informational presentation on the Lextran FY2026 Budget. A Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment (ZOTA) was also on the agenda but was tabled without final resolution at this meeting.

Attendance

The following 14 members were present at the May 6, 2025 Council meeting:

• Wu
• Brown
• Ellinger II
• Morton
• Lynch
• LeGris
• Curtis
• Sheehan
• Hale
• Beasley
• Baxter
• Sevigny
• Reynolds
• Boone

Absent: Denise Gray

No members were recorded as late.

Votes and Decisions

Three motions came before the Council during the May 6, 2025 meeting, all of which passed by voice vote. Because voice votes were used in each case, individual member tallies were not recorded.

• Agenda Reordering 0:02: Councilmember Baxter moved, with a second from Councilmember Reynolds, to move items C and D under Continuing Business Presentations to the top of the agenda. The motion passed by voice vote.

• Lextran FY2026 Budget Scheduling 36:33: Councilmember Ellinger moved, with a second from Councilmember Morton, to place the Lextran FY2026 Budget on the docket for the May 29, 2025 meeting. The motion passed by voice vote.

• Removal of Ordinance First Reading Item Seven 2:03:12: Councilmember Reynolds moved, with a second from Councilmember Curtis, to remove item number seven under Ordinances First Reading from the docket and instead take up the matter at the May 13, 2025 work session. The motion passed by voice vote.

Budget and Financial Actions

The Council approved three financial agreements during the May 6, 2025 meeting, covering a range of professional and technical services.

• Love to Ride (L0382-25): The Council authorized a professional services agreement with Love to Ride in the amount of $26,162 to support efforts aimed at increasing bicycling activity in the community.

• Crosslin, PLLC (L0386-25): A contract valued at $9,500 was approved with Crosslin, PLLC for the preparation of the Sheriff's Compilation, providing accounting or financial compilation services for the Sheriff's office.

• US Geological Survey (L0417-25): The largest of the three agreements, totaling $125,000, was approved with the US Geological Survey for services related to stream flow and rain gauges, supporting local water monitoring infrastructure.

Combined, the three agreements represent a total expenditure of $160,662 across transportation, public safety financial reporting, and environmental monitoring services.

Public Comment

Three residents addressed the Council during the public comment period. 38:43

• Richard Gaines opened public comment by raising concerns about the lack of community input in development projects. He urged the Council to establish a process that would allow residents to meaningfully participate in development decisions affecting their communities. 38:43

• Gail Swanson spoke about transportation challenges in Lexington and their direct impact on residents' ability to access mental health care. She emphasized the need for microtransit solutions as a way to address these gaps in service. 40:49

• Adam Jones also focused on the topic of microtransit, specifically advocating for the inclusion of a microtransit pilot program in the 2027 budget. Like Swanson, he highlighted the potential for such a program to improve access to mental health care for Lexington residents. 44:07

Notable themes across the comment period included a call for greater resident involvement in local development decisions and a shared concern — raised by two separate speakers — about the relationship between transportation access and mental health care availability. Both Swanson and Jones pointed to microtransit as a concrete policy solution worth pursuing.

Contested Items

• Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment (ZOTA) — House Bill 443 Implications: The Council engaged in a heated discussion regarding a Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment connected to House Bill 443. The debate centered on the bill's implications for public input processes and development standards, with particular concern raised about its potential impact on infill and redevelopment activity. No additional participant names, vote tallies, or final outcome details are available in the source data for this item.

Building Safety Month Proclamation

4:38

Mayor Linda Gorton formally declared May 2025 as Building Safety Month in Lexington. The proclamation highlighted the importance of building safety and recognized the contributions of the city's building inspection team.

Bob Carpenter was also a key speaker during this portion of the meeting. The proclamation was approved.

Lextran FY2026 Budget Presentation

9:31

Fred Combs presented the Lextran FY2026 budget to the Council. The presentation covered the agency's budget challenges, upcoming capital projects, and the need for microtransit solutions.

The item was informational in nature, with no vote or formal action taken by the Council.

Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment (ZOTA)

2:03:12

The Council took up a Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment (ZOTA) related to House Bill 443, with discussion centering on public input processes and the establishment of objective standards for development plans.

Planning Staff presented the item, and Council Members engaged in debate over the proposed amendment's provisions. The discussion focused on two primary areas: how and to what extent the public would be able to participate in the review of development plans affected by the amendment, and what objective standards should govern those plans under the requirements introduced by House Bill 443.

The item was ultimately tabled, meaning no final action was taken at this meeting and the matter will return for further consideration at a future session.

*Note: The available data for this agenda item is limited. A more detailed summary — including specific arguments made, individual Council Member positions, and the precise nature of any concerns raised — could not be produced from the provided source material.*