Civic Lex Chat: New gun violence task force, more changes to public input process

Read all about it in this week's CivicLex newsletter:

Here’s a look at the week ahead in city hall:

• Changes to Public Input policies are son to go into effect!
• The Social Services & Public Safety Committee discusses enforcement of the Noise Ordinance.
• The Urban Growth Management Master Plan Advisory Committee continues work on planning the Urban Service Boundary expansion.
• Weigh in on the Metropolitan Transportation Plan and the Imagine Lexington 2045: Comprehensive Plan.
• Save the Date for an exciting event at the Kentucky Theatre!
• Read about the first meeting of the Gun Violence Task Force

Lastly, celebrate CivicLex Day with us!

This week's CivicLex Weekly is a long read. It was written by Jillian Riseman.

🏢 Big Topic: Public Comment Changes & New Public Input Resources

Last week, the Public Input Subcommittee reported on their work to the General Government & Planning Committee.

Over the past 6 months, the Public Input Subcommittee has worked to reimagine how members of our community interact and engage with local government and its processes. CivicLex has also been at the table providing feedback and data from our Public Input Report, which contained a series of recommendations based on survey data to improve public input.

The Public Input Subcommittee’s recommended several changes to public input, including:

• Creating a digital sign-in process for giving public comment.
• Changing how many speakers can yield their time to a single person from four to two, reducing the total possible time one can speak from 15 minutes to 9 minutes.
• Implementing new security measures such as no longer accepting USB drives from the public

There is also a brand new webpage on the LFUCG website dedicated to helping people better understand how to provide input on issues they care about. The webpage includes links to find your Councilmember, track and follow legislation, and watch recordings of past meetings.

There are also educational resources like information on all the standing committees and subcommittees, boards and commissions, and the legislative process overall.

Response from the other Councilmembers was overall favorable, though some concerns remain about how best to define and enforce rules of decorum. Ultimately, the Committee voted to adopt these new rules as section 3.106 in the overall Council Rules & Procedures. The Public Input changes will be voted on by the full Council in early September.

After this report out, the Public Input Subcommittee met again last Thursday morning to debrief and discuss further changes to the public comment process - mainly, debating whether or not to add public comment to Council Committee meetings. LFUCG Chief Information Officer Liz Rogers provided guidance on adopting and implementing new technology policies, such as how to safely accept digital files from members of the public during public comment, and alternatives to USB drives.

Discussion will continue at the next Public Input Subcommittee meeting, which will be held on October 12, 2023 at 10am in the 5th floor conference room at City Hall. You can attend this meeting in-person.

🚜 Big Topic: Urban Service Boundary Expansion Planning Continues

Last week, the Urban Growth Management Plan Committee met for the second time. At this meeting, they heard presentations about Lexington’s Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) Program, and information on how sewerability affects development.

Beth Macy, Director of the PDR Program, highlighted the areas of rural land that are permanently protected from development and shared the qualifications and criteria for participating in the program. The PDR program currently has roughly 31,000 acres of farmland preserved outside the USB; the program’s goal is to reach 50,000 acres.

Charlie Martin, Water Quality Division Director, presented on how sewerability affects how land can be developed. For successful urban development to occur, a strong sewer infrastructure must be built. It is difficult and expensive to build sewers in Lexington, due to the hilly terrain and because there is no major waterway running through the city. An updated Sewerability Study, assessing how easy it is to build sewer systems in rural Fayette County, is being conducted and will be reported to the Council when it is finished.

The next Urban Growth Management Plan Advisory Committee Meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 22, 2023 at 10:00 am in the 3rd floor conference room of the Phoenix Building at 101 Vine St. You can attend in person or watch live on LexTV.

🏢 This week in City Hall

Re-examining Lexington’s Noise Ordinance

The Social Services & Public Safety meeting will hear a presentation from 3rd District Legislative Aide Hannah Eiden on Lexington’s current Noise Ordinance and its enforcement.

• Generally speaking, Lexington’s noise ordinance prohibits loud disturbances across the city between 11pm and 7am.
• Last year, almost 6,000 noise disturbance calls were made to LPD. Over 3,000 were investigated and only 33 citations were given.

The presentation will compare our Noise Ordinance to 5 other similar cities, and will propose steps for Council and LFUCG to review and potentially revise the ordinance.

You can view the presentation here. The Social Services & Public Safety Committee will meet on Tuesday, August 22, 2023 at 1:00 pm in Council Chambers. You can attend in person or watch live on LexTV.

Progress report on the American Rescue Plan Act Spending

In Work Session, ARPA Project Manager Jenifer Wuorenmaa will give the annual update on the American Rescue Plan Act Funding. As of June 30th of this year, 28 of the 80 proposed ARPA projects have been completed, and only 4 have yet to be started at all. You can view the entire presentation here.

Council Work Session will be held on Tuesday, August 22nd at 3pm in Council Chambers. You can attend in person or watch live on LexTV.

These meetings will also be going on this week:

• Access Lexington Commission
• Transportation Policy Committee
• Rural Land Management Board
• Parks & Recreation Advisory Board Meeting
• Planning Commission Zoning Public Hearing

Check out the City Calendar for other meetings and community events!

👋 Get Engaged

Share your thoughts on Lexington’s transportation planning process

The City’s Division of Planning and the Lexington Area MPO is updating their long-term Metropolitan Transportation Plan! The Metropolitan Transportation Plan sets goals for transportation improvements in Fayette and Jessamine Counties. Have ideas on how transportation could be better in Lexington? Take this survey to give your feedback!

Join the Division of Planning for a Comprehensive Plan Open Forum

The City of Lexington wants to hear from you! Attend this open house public input session for the Imagine Lexington 2045: Comprehensive Plan, from 3:00-7:00 pm at the Lexington Senior Center to give feedback on how you would like to see Lexington grow! If you can’t make it, you can read the themes and then complete this online form with your thoughts. The form will be available through Aug. 30, 2023.

Do you or your organization have a way for the public to be more civically engaged? Let us know!

Updates from last week

Discussion begins on changes Council Rules & Procedures

After the Public Input report out at GG&P last Tuesday, the Subcommittee on Council Rules and Procedures gave a report out of their work as well. This group has been meeting to update and modernize Council rules and best practices to account for changes to processes over time. Some of the changes recommended include:

• Tracking Government Resource Utilization
• Office Space Policies
• Social Media Policies
• Neighborhood Development Fund Approvals
• Council Chambers Seating Arrangement

Councilmembers expressed concern about a seating arrangement due to accessibility concerns and public image, where the left side of the dais (Districts 1-6, and 1 At-Large) would be majorly representative of marginalized identities, and the right side (Districts 7-12, and 1 At-Large) and would be mostly white representatives. The discussion over changes to Council Rules and Procedures will continue at the next GG&P Committee meeting on September 12, 2023.

First meeting for new Gun Violence Task Force

Last Thursday, the LFUCG Subcommittee Gun Violence Task Force met for the first time. This subgroup of the larger Gun Violence Task Force is made up of LFUCG staff and representatives from the city’s first responders and public safety programs. This task force was created by District 11 Councilmember Jennifer Reynolds as an item of the Social Services & Public Safety Committee. This first meeting was focused on introductions and setting the goals and priorities of this group.

Members expressed interest in creating educational and public service programming and exploring rehabilitation and re-entry support options, with the goal of making policy recommendations to Council. No action was taken at this meeting. This group will meet again on Thursday, September 14th at 2:30pm at the Central Branch of the Lexington Public Library.

Didn't get a chance to attend these meetings? Check out LexTV's video archives and YouTube Page for a recording you can watch at your convenience!

💼 From the CivicLex Desk

Happy CivicLex Day!

On Thursday, August 17, 2023, CivicLex received a great honor: A proclamation from Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton herself!

Though we were nominated by District 9 Council Member Jennifer Reynolds, CivicLex is proud to have this recognition and support from LFUCG Councilmembers and City Staff. It was a wonderful acknowledgement of our 5th anniversary, and now we can look forward to celebrating the anniversary CivicLex Day every year!