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EVERYTHING I NEEDED TO DO, AND, I GUESS, STUART SAW IT.
ADAM WENT THROUGH THE PREAPPRENTICE PROGRAM, HE GAVE US HIS RESUME.
THAT'S HOW I SECURED THE JOB, AND THAT ALL JUST WORKED OUT TOGETHER NICELY.
I THINK IT'S A HUGE ADVANTAGE FOR THE COMMUNITY, FOR THE INDUSTRY, FOR THE TRADE, AND FOR THESE STUDENTS.
I THINK IT'S, I THINK IT'S A HUGE, A VERY GOOD PROGRAM.
I THINK IT'S A VERY GOOD PATHWAY TO A GOOD CAREER.
THE DEDICATION OF THE NEW FLAG AT LYMAN T.
JOHNSON MIDDLE SCHOOL MARKS A NEW BEGINNING IN THE HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL, AS WELL AS THE NEWLY FORMED JCPS POLICE DEPARTMENT HONOR GUARD.
WE'RE AT LYMAN T. JOHNSON TRADITIONAL MIDDLE SCHOOL, AND TODAY WAS OUR FLAG INSTALLMENT CEREMONY.
I WAS EXCITED, AND I FEEL LIKE THIS WAS A GOOD THING FOR OUR COMMUNITIES.
IT IS A JOY TO SEE OUR COMMUNITY GATHERED HERE TODAY.
I COULDN'T BELIEVE HOW EXCITED I WAS FOR THIS.
IT STARTED OUT SMALL, BUT AS WE, AS MISS DOUGLAS, WHO WAS MY ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL, BEGAN TO PUT IT TOGETHER.
IT JUST GREW AND GREW, AND I'M SUPER EXCITED.
HONOR GUARD PRESENT WE GET TO LEARN ABOUT OUR HISTORY, AND APPLY IT TO THE FUTURE, AND THE PRESENT.
OH, SAY, CAN YOU SEE BY THE DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT OUR MAJOR, UH, MAJOR JIMMY HARPER, HE GOT WITH THE MAINTENANCE AND FACILITIES, AND THEY INQUIRED, THE FLAG FOR THE SCHOOL BECAUSE THEY WERE IN NEED OF ONE, AND THEY WANTED TO HAVE THIS CEREMONY.
AT LJTMS. OUR VISION IS TO SEE OUR STUDENTS EMERGE AS CULTURAL, COMPETENT CITIZENS, AND AGENTS OF POSITIVE CHANGE.
I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
WE WANT THE STUDENTS TO ALWAYS BE ABLE TO BE MINDFUL OF OUR COUNTRY TO CELEBRATE THE INSTALLATION OF THE FLAG, AND THE IMPORTANCE OF IT, AND THE MEANING OF IT, AND IT'S SYMBOLIC, BUT IT ALSO MEANS A LOT TO THE STUDENTS, THE FACULTY, THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, AND THE STAFF OF THE JEFFERSON COUNTY SCHOOL SYSTEM.
I WANT MY NEIGHBORS AND THE COMMUNITY TO KNOW THAT JOHNSON IS A VERY SAFE PLACE TO LEARN NEW THINGS AND EXPERIENCE MIDDLE SCHOOL.
IT FELT LIKE EVERYBODY WAS TOGETHER, AND WE WERE COLLIDED.
WHEN WE SAY WE DO THINGS THE JAG WAY, WE MEAN, WE DO THEM WITH EXCELLENCE, EVERY DAY, AND IN EVERY WAY.
MAY THIS FLAG SERVE AS A DAILY REMINDER TO OUR STUDENTS THAT THEY HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BE THE THOUGHTFUL LEADERS OF OUR COMMUNITY AND WORLD NEEDS.
CORRESPONDENT ELIZABETH HAWKINS BRINGS US A STORY FROM CRUMS LANE ELEMENTARY ABOUT MULTILANGUAGE LEARNERS.
IMAGINE NAVIGATING A CLASSROOM WHERE YOU UNDERSTAND ITS CONTENT, BUT NOT ITS LANGUAGE.
FOR MULTILINGUAL STUDENTS, IT IS CRUCIAL.
THEY ARE GIVEN THE ENVIRONMENT TO LEARN.
HERE AT CRUMS LANE, TEACHERS DO JUST THAT BY CREATING A WELCOMING ENVIRONMENT FOR BEGINNING ENGLISH SPEAKERS.
THROUGH THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, MORE COMMONLY KNOWN AS ELD, THESE TEACHERS SUPPORT STUDENTS LEARNING ENGLISH THROUGH SPECIALIZED INSTRUCTION FOR THEIR ACADEMIC AND SOCIAL SUCCESS.
ANGELA HAWKINS IS ONE OF THE TEACHERS IN THE ELD ROOM AND EXPLAINS THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING AN ELD TEACHER.
SO, THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS THAT ARE IMPORTANT ABOUT THE ELD PROGRAM.
I THINK THE BIGGEST THING IS JUST TO MAKE SURE OUR MULTILINGUAL STUDENTS FEEL SUPPORTED AND THEIR FAMILIES FEEL SUPPORTED IN LEARNING AND ALSO IN BEING A PART OF THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY, THE COMMUNITY AROUND THIS SCHOOL.
MCKENNA MAIER SHARES WHAT A TYPICAL DAY IN THE CLASSROOM LOOKS LIKE.
GOING INTO OTHER PEOPLE'S CLASSES, AND SO I'M CO TEACHING WITH CLASSROOM TEACHERS, AND HELPING STUDENTS IN THEIR CLASSROOM ACCESS ALL THE MATERIALS AT DIFFERENT LEVELS OF LANGUAGE.
AND THEN SOMETIMES I'M TAKING STUDENTS OUT OF MY, OUT OF THEIR REGULAR ED CLASSROOMS AND BRINGING THEM TO MY CLASSROOM FOR SMALL, SPECIFIC INSTRUCTION ON AN ENGLISH SKILL.
BUT IT'S REALLY HARD TO SAY WHAT AN AVERAGE DAY LOOKS LIKE, BECAUSE THE WHOLE KEY IS FLEXIBILITY.
CRUMS LANE ELEMENTARY STUDENTS, THE ELD PROGRAM IS MORE THAN JUST A CLASS.
THANKS TO THE TEACHERS AND STAFF, IT IS A WELCOMING ENVIRONMENT WHERE EVERYONE LEARNS FROM EACH OTHER.
FOR OUR KIDS, I'M ATHERTON CORRESPONDENT, ELIZABETH HAWKINS.
WE'VE GOT MORE OF OUR FAVORITE JPS STORIES COMING UP.
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WELCOME BACK TO OUR KIDS.I'M BALLARD HIGH SCHOOL CORRESPONDENT GABRIEL SHEA.
FIRST GRADERS AT SEMPLE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL HEARD FROM THE BRAIN EXPERTS FROM U OF L HEALTH AND BRAIN INJURY ALLIANCE OF KENTUCKY ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF PROTECTING THEIR HEADS WHILE PLAYING.
I WANT YOU TO ALL PUT YOUR HANDS ON THE BACK OF YOUR HEAD, RIGHT HERE.
WELL, THAT PART DOES IS IT HELPS YOUR BODY MOVE TOGETHER.
YOU ARE AT SEMPLE ELEMENTARY, AND WE WERE HONORED AND LUCKY ENOUGH TO EXPERIENCE PEOPLE FROM LOUISVILLE HEALTH COMING TO SPEAK TO THE KIDS ABOUT TAKING CARE OF THEIR BRAINS, PROTECTING THEIR BRAINS WHEN THEY'RE OUTSIDE PLAYING, AND WHAT THE BRAIN DOES, AND HOW THEIR BRAIN WORKS.
A BRAIN IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PARTS OF A BODY.
AND IF YOU HURT YOUR BRAIN, YOU'LL LOSE PART OF YOUR MEMORY.
WHEN THEY GO THROUGH THE LINE, THEY GET TO GET SOME SMALL ITEMS, THEY GET TO GET A LITTLE SMALL BRAIN, TO TAKE HOME.
THEY ALL GET A LITTLE SLING BACKPACK, AND THEY ALSO ALL GET THEIR OWN HELMET.
BRAIN INJURIES ARE THE NUMBER ONE CAUSE OF YOUNG AMERICANS.
AND SO WE WANT THESE KIDS TO UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF PROTECTING THEIR BRAIN, BUT WE DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM IN THE HOSPITAL AND AT FRAZIER.
SO THIS IS A WAY OF PREVENTION THAT REALLY IS IMPORTANT TO US.
THEY ARE OUTSIDE PLAYING AND PLAYING A LITTLE ROUGH SOMETIMES AND DON'T KNOW THE EFFECTS THAT IT CAN CAUSE IF THEY RUN INTO SOMEBODY OR THEY FALL ON THE GROUND AND HIT THEIR HEAD.
SO I JUST LOVE THE FACT THAT THEY HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO HEAR THE INFORMATION AND HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO KEEP THEIR HEAD AND THEIR BRAINS SAFE.
FIRST GRADERS OF THESE DAYS ARE SO SMART.
THEY'RE ASKING VERY INTUITIVE QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT PARTS OF THE BRAIN DO WHAT THINGS, WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THEIR BRAINS GET HURT, HOW THEY HEAL.
SO IT WAS REALLY FUN TO BE ABLE TO ENGAGE WITH THEM AND TEACH THEM A FEW THINGS.
SO YES, YOUR BRAIN, IT WORKS, IT HELPS YOU TO SOLVE PROBLEMS. WEARING A HELMET CAN BE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH.
IT CAN ALSO BE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GETTING A BUMP ON YOUR HEAD AND HAVING MONTHS AND YEARS OF REHABILITATION.
SO IT'S IMPORTANT FOR THEM TO UNDERSTAND AND GET IN THE HABIT OF PROTECTING THEMSELVES BY WEARING A HELMET.
I'M GONNA SHOW IT TO MY MOM, AND NEXT SUMMER BREAK I'M GONNA RIDE MY BIKE.
WITH IT ON ANYTIME THAT WE CAN EXPOSE OUR STUDENTS TO NEW KNOWLEDGE.
THE NEW EXPERIENCES JUST OPENS THE DOOR FOR THEM TO LEARN MORE.
SO IT IS THE ACCESS THAT THEY ARE RECEIVING RIGHT NOW, TO BEING ABLE TO SPEAK TO NURSES AND DOCTORS, AND THAT IS SOMETHING ELSE THAT THEY CAN ASPIRE TO BE WHEN THEY GET OLDER.
STUDENTS MADE PRESENTATIONS ON THEIR HEALTH RESEARCH AT SENECA HIGH SCHOOL'S ANNUAL STUDENT HEALTH FAIR.
11, 12, 13, 14 WE ARE AT SENECA HIGH SCHOOL IN THE LARGE GYM.
THIS IS OUR ANNUAL HEALTH FAIR.
THIS IS THE 12TH YEAR, AND WE GOT STUDENTS PRESENTING, AS WELL AS OUTSIDE COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS HERE.
MY PRESENTATION IS ABOUT HOW DRUGS BADLY AFFECT OUR HEALTH.
HEALTH AND WELLNESS IS VERY IMPORTANT.
AND WE TRY REALLY HARD TO COVER AREAS OF HEALTH.
SO PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL, MENTAL, SOCIAL, AND EVEN FINANCIAL HEALTH.
I LEARNED ABOUT HOW MUCH SUGAR IS IN DRINKS AND STUFF LIKE THAT, WHICH I DIDN'T KNOW.
LIKE, I LEARNED HOW MUCH SUGAR WAS IN A DRINK.
I DRINK PRETTY MUCH EVERY SINGLE DAY, AND I LEARNED HOW UNHEALTHY IT IS.
AND NOW I LEARNED HOW I'M GONNA CUT BACK ON THAT.
I FEEL LIKE OTHER ADULTS THAT I'VE SPOKEN TO SAID THAT THEY NEVER REALLY HAD OPPORTUNITIES TO DO STUFF LIKE THIS.
AND I THINK THAT IT'S REALLY, UM, REALLY GOOD FOR US, THAT WE HAVE ALL THESE OPPORTUNITIES TO GET TO LEARN ABOUT DIFFERENT STUFF AND AND HOW THINGS AFFECT YOU BECAUSE A LOT OF THE TIMES YOU DON'T REALLY LEARN THIS LIKE ANYWHERE ELSE, YOU DON'T REALLY KNOW.
SO, BEING ABLE TO HAVE THIS OPPORTUNITY IS REALLY NICE.
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THIS SCHOOL IS VERY, LIKE, NOT THAT KNOWING ABOUT THEIR BODY PARTS AND EVERYTHING LIKE THAT.SO IT'S REALLY NICE TO TEACH THEM ABOUT SOMETHING THAT THEY DON'T KNOW.
YEAH, IT'S JUST NICE TO BE A PART OF IT.
AND IT'S ALSO GOOD FOR OUR STUDENTS TO GET THOSE, REAL LIFE WORKING SKILLS PRESENTING IN FRONT OF PEOPLE.
WE WANT OUR KIDS TO BE PSR ALREADY AND READY TO GO INTO THE REAL WORLD WHEN THEY GRADUATE HERE, AND THIS TYPE OF HANDS ON LEARNING HELPS THEM DO THAT, BECAUSE THEY HAVE MADE THESE PROJECTS IN CLASS, AND NOW THEY'RE PRESENTING IT TODAY.
I WANT THEM TO LEARN SOMETHING.
I WANT THEM TO HAVE SOME FUN, BUT MORE IMPORTANT, I WANT THEM TO SEE THE COLLABORATION THAT WE WERE ABLE TO PULL OFF HERE.
IT'S A MELTING POT FOR OUR SCHOOL AND FOR OUR COMMUNITY.
JCPS WAS PROUD TO KICK OFF ALL IN FOR AGRICULTURE EDUCATION WEEK AT TULLY ELEMENTARY.
OR CALCIUM CARBONATE? OR CALCIUM.
IF I HAD TO SAY THAT THERE IS ONE MISSION THAT WE HAVE WITH ALL IN FOR AG WEEK, IT IS THAT WE'RE CREATING LIFELONG LEARNERS AND CRITICAL THINKERS AROUND THE ISSUES THAT WE FACE IN AGRICULTURE, GIVING THEM THAT OPPORTUNITY AROUND AGRICULTURE TO BE CRITICAL THINKERS AND PROBLEM SOLVERS FOR THE FUTURE OF THE ISSUES THAT WE FACE THAT WE DON'T EVEN KNOW THAT WE'RE GONNA FACE IN THE FUTURE, IS THE WHOLE REASON WHY WE'RE DOING ALL IN FOR AG WEEK.
YOU THINKING IT'S BETTER FOR THE HORSES? WHEN WE SUPPORT AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.
WE ARE NOT JUST PLANTING SEEDS IN SOIL.
WE ARE PLANTING SEEDS OF OPPORTUNITY.
WE ARE PLANTING SEEDS OF CONFIDENCE.
WE ARE PLANTING CAREERS THAT ARE MUCH NEEDED.
BUT WE KNOW THAT RIGHT HERE IN JEFFERSON COUNTY, THE AGRICULTURE, INDUSTRY, AND COMMUNITY IS SO INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT.
WE DO IT IN OUR OWN WAY, THROUGH COMMUNITY GARDENS, THROUGH FARMERS MARKETS, WORKING TO BRING FRESH AND HEALTHY FOOD, TO FAMILIES ALL ACROSS OUR ENTIRE CITY.
ALL IN FOR AG REALLY EMBODIES OPPORTUNITY AND ACCESS FOR OUR KIDS.
THROUGH COLLABORATION, THROUGH CAREERS, AND ALSO THROUGH WHAT WE CALL VIBRANT LEARNING.
IT NEEDS TO BE HOT ALL AROUND SUMMER.
AND I'M SAYING, WHEN WE PLACE IT IN HERE, WE USE THE REAL GROUND, LIKE...
BEING IN JCPS, IT MAY NOT BE THE PLACE THAT YOU THINK OF, WHEN YOU THINK OF AG EDUCATION, BUT I'M HERE TO TELL YOU THEY HAVE BLOWN US AWAY.
EVERY CLASSROOM WE VISITED, THEY HAVE KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK.
AND IT JUST GOES TO SHOW THAT THIS IS TRULY A PROGRAM FOR EVERYBODY EVERYWHERE.
AND EVERYBODY GETS TO BE A PART OF GROWING, THE AG COMMUNITY IN KENTUCKY.
WHAT KIND OF SOIL IS THAT YOU SEE.
VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS EXPERIENCED THE BROWN CANCER CENTER MOBILE SCREENING UNIT.
SO THIS IS THE MAMMOGRAM MACHINE.
SO THIS IS WHERE WE POSITION PATIENTS FOR THEIR MAMMOGRAM.
THEN I WOULD STEP BACK THERE AND TAKE THEIR IMAGE.
WE ARE IN THE BACK PARKING LOT OF VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL, AND WE ARE SHOWING THE STUDENTS THE MOBILE BREAST CANCER, OUR MAMMOGRAM UNIT.
I HOPE THAT THEY TAKE AWAY THAT IT'S IMPORTANT FOR THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS TO GET BREAST EXAMS AND MAMMOGRAMS AFTER 40, AND THAT THIS IS THE OPPORTUNITY THAT THEY CAN EXPLORE IN THE FUTURE FOR THEIR HEALTH CHARACTER WORK.
LEARNING HOW TO MAKE A PATIENT COMFORTABLE WHILE DOING, LIKE, AN INTIMATE TYPE OF PROCEDURE SUCH AS A MAMMOGRAM, LIKE, WHERE YOU'RE SCANNING THEM, THEIR BODY IS EXPOSED.
I WANTED TO LEARN HOW TO MAKE THAT PERSON COMFORTABLE WHILE DOING THINGS LIKE THAT.
BACK HERE? WE HAVE TWO DRESSING ROOMS. SO WE CAN HAVE TWO PATIENTS AT A TIME GETTING DRESSED, AND BEING READY FOR THEIR MAMMOGRAM.
EACH DRESSING ROOM HAS A DOOR, THAT ACTUALLY COMES OUT INTO THE EXAM.
IT PROBABLY SOUNDS AND LOOKS WORSE THAN IT IS.
BUT I WOULD SAY IF YOU'VE BEEN TO THE DENTIST, I THINK, PERSONALLY, A DENTIST IS WORSE.
WHATEVER WE TAKE FROM HERE, WE CAN GO HOME AND RESEARCH MORE AND LEARN MORE ABOUT.
AND THEN WE COULD BE MORE EDUCATED IN THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT, FOR WHEN WE DO GET OLDER AND WE WANT TO EXPERIENCE THINGS LIKE THAT.
WE SEE THAT, AND WE'RE LIKE, HEY, I KNOW HOW THIS WORKS.
I KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN SHE GOES HERE AND GOES THERE.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A STUDENT'S CHILDHOOD PASSION MEETS A BUSINESS PARTNER'S COMMITMENT TO THE FUTURE WORKFORCE? MEET ATHERTON GRADUATE AVA COCHRAN.
MY GOAL IS TO SHOW STUDENTS THAT IF THEY'RE PASSIONATE ABOUT SOMETHING, THEY CAN ABSOLUTELY MAKE A CAREER OUT OF IT AND THEY DON'T HAVE TO WAIT.
I'VE ALWAYS LOVED EDITING ALSO, WHEN I WAS LITTLE, I WOULD MAKE LITTLE THINGS ON IMOVIE, LIKE TRAILERS JUST BY MYSELF ON MY MOM'S IPAD.
I'VE JUST ALWAYS HAD A LITTLE PASSION FOR IT.
WHEN I FOUND OUT ABOUT ATHERTON, I SAW THAT I COULD GO INTO A PROGRAM WITH IT, AND THAT JUST INCREASED MY LOVE FOR IT A LOT MORE.
I WAS LUCKY TO HAVE AVA AS A FRESHMAN IN INTRO TO MEDIA ARTS, AND SHE WAS A GREAT STUDENT FROM THE BEGINNING.
LIKE, SHE WAS WANTED TO SIT IN THE FRONT.
SHE WAS ALWAYS RAISING HER HAND.
[00:15:01]
I LEARNED, LIKE, STORYBOARDING, I LEARNED PRODUCTION.I LEARNED HOW TO WRITE PROFESSIONAL EMAILS, WHICH WAS REALLY GOOD.
AND THEN I LEARNED ALL THE ADOBES, AND THEY REALLY STRENGTHENED MY, LIKE, VIDEO EDITING SKILLS.
THERE IS A NEED FOR SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING.
THERE'S A NEED FOR PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO CREATE CONTENT THAT LOOKS GOOD AND SOUNDS GOOD, AND OUR STUDENTS KNOW HOW TO DO THAT ONCE THEY LEAVE ATHERTON.
I WAS LOOKING FOR A MARKETING INTERNSHIP, AND MR. ROSE TOLD ME TO REACH OUT TO JAY SMITH.
I DID A LITTLE INTERNSHIP WITH THEM FOR A FEW MONTHS WITH SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING, AND I ABSOLUTELY FELL IN LOVE.
BECAUSE I WORKED WITH HER IN THE SCHOOL PROGRAM, I KNEW HER, AND I KNEW THE QUALITY OF HER WORK ALREADY.
SO THAT NETWORKING WAS A MUCH STRONGER.
JUST BECAUSE I ALREADY KNEW THE QUALITY OF HER WORK.
WE CAN'T SAY ENOUGH GOOD THINGS ABOUT JAY.
IT'S NOT JUST ALL ABOUT THE TECHNICAL SIDE, LIKE, WHAT KIND OF CAMERA YOU'RE SHOOTING ON OR WHAT KIND OF PROGRAMS IT'S ABOUT BEING ABLE TO MARKET YOURSELF.
AND JAY HAS BEEN INSTRUMENTAL IN HELPING US WITH THAT.
I'VE SEEN OTHER BUSINESS OWNERS WHO HAVE BEEN ENGAGED FOR SEVERAL YEARS, AND IT HAS COMPLETELY CHANGED THEIR BUSINESS.
IT REALLY TAUGHT ME MY LOVE AND PASSION FOR MARKETING, SOMETHING THAT I WANT TO DO WHEN I WAS LITTLE, VIDEO EDITING CAN ACTUALLY BE A JOB THAT I CAN GO INTO.
THE IROQUOIS HIGH SCHOOL FAMILY HEALTH CENTER HAS BEEN SO SUCCESSFUL THAT THE MAYOR AND METRO COUNCIL HAVE PROVIDED FUNDING TO EXPAND THE SERVICE TO PLEASURE RIDGE PARK HIGH SCHOOL.
WELL, GOOD MORNING, EVERYONE, AND WELCOME TO IROQUOIS HIGH SCHOOL.
WE ARE HERE BECAUSE JUST DOWNSTAIRS FROM WHERE WE'RE STANDING IN THE LIBRARY TO IROQUOIS HIGH SCHOOL, IS FAMILY HEALTH CENTER CLINIC.
AND IT'S CURRENTLY THE ONLY CLINIC OF ITS KIND THROUGHOUT ALL OF JCPS, SINCE ITS OPENING IN JANUARY OF 2024.
THE FAMILY HEALTH CLINIC HERE AT IROQUOIS HIGH SCHOOL HAS CARED FOR MORE THAN 1,800 STUDENTS, STAFF, AND THEIR HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS, AND HAS HAD OVER 6,000 VISITS, WITH METRO COUNCIL SUPPORT.
I ALLOCATED FUNDING JUST A FEW MONTHS AGO IN OUR MID-YEAR BUDGET TO BUILD ANOTHER FAMILY HEALTH CENTER AT PRP HIGH SCHOOL.
AND WE ARE SO EXCITED TO HELP EXPAND THE HEALTH SERVICES THAT ARE GONNA BE PROVIDED TO JCPS FAMILIES NEXT STOP AT PRP HIGH SCHOOL.
OUR STUDENTS SOMETIMES NEED HELP, OR THEY DON'T FEEL GOOD.
THEY HAVE DISEASE, OR THEY HAVE SOMETHING, AND THEY COME DOWN TO OUR CLINIC TO GET, UM, CHECKED OUT.
IN A SCHOOL WHERE MORE THAN 80% OF OUR STUDENTS QUALIFIED FOR FREE REDUCE TIMES, IN A SCHOOL WHERE WE HAVE ABOUT 40% OR MORE OF MULTILINGUAL LEARNERS.
THIS CLINIC BREAKS THE BARRIERS OF STUDENTS WHO NEED IT MOST.
THE CENTER PROVIDES PRIMARY CARE, BEHAVIORAL HEALTH, DENTAL SERVICES, ON SITE, ALLOWING US TO KEEP ALL STUDENTS HEALTHY AND SUPPORTED, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, IN SEAT, SO THAT THEY TOO CAN SUCCEED AND THRIVE.
BECAUSE THEY NOW HAVE ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE WITHIN OUR SCHOOLS.
THANK YOU, FAMILY HEALTH CENTERS.
HISTORY CAME TO LIFE AT THE LIVING WAX MUSEUM AT NORTON COMMONS ELEMENTARY.
TO BRING ABOUT CHANGE, YOU MUST NOT BE AFRAID TO TAKE THE FIRST STEP.
HI, I'M FRIDA KAHLO LASADA ESPESO AGRE.
IT MEANS I PAINT MY OWN REALITY.
IT'S ONE OF MY MOST FAVORITE THINGS TO DO.
SO YOU'RE AT NORTON COMMONS ELEMENTARY IN OUR GYMNASIUM, AND WE ARE PROUDLY PRESENTING OUR THIRD GRADE WAX MUSEUM, WHERE OUR STUDENTS PICKED A HISTORICAL FIGURE, WHETHER IT WAS SOMEBODY LOCAL FROM LOUISVILLE, LIKE JOHNNY UNITIS OR MUHAMMAD ALI, AND THEY RESEARCHED THAT PERSON, WROTE A SPEECH, AND THEN TODAY, THEY BECAME THAT PERSON.
FATE, DEAR BRITISH, LIES NOT WITHIN THE STARS, BUT WITHIN OURSELVES.
I IMPACTED HISTORY BY WRITING ABOUT SPACE AND TIME.
I ALSO INSPIRED PEOPLE WITH MY SPEECH.
I'LL BE KNOWN FOR CHANGING HOW PEOPLE THOUGHT ABOUT THE UNIVERSE.
HI, I'M RUBY BRIDGES AND I WAS THE FIRST BLACK AMERICAN TO ATTEND AN ALL WHITE SCHOOL.
MY NAME IS MARIE CURIE, AND I'M A FRENCH SCIENTIST.
I DISCOVERED RADIUM AND POLONIUM.
I'M STILL FAMOUS FOR MOVIES AND MUSIC.
LIKE, I STORE MY SPEECH IN MY HAT.
LIKE HOW ABRAHAM LINCOLN DID WITH HIS WITH HIS SPECIAL PAPERS.
AND, YEAH, I'M EXCITED FOR EVERYONE TO SEE IT.
STUDENTS FROM MEYZEEK MIDDLE SCHOOL WILL REPRESENT JCPS AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL.
MEYZEEK TOOK THE TOP SPOT IN KENTUCKY'S MATH COUNTS COMPETITION THIS YEAR, AND FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW, MEYZEEK WON THE GOVERNOR'S CUP.
YOU CAN FIND ENTIRE EPISODES IN OUR JCPS YOUTUBE CHANNEL.
UNTIL NEXT TIME, KEEP SUPPORTING OUR KIDS.
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TO THE SECOND BUDGET HEARING, OR I GUESS TECHNICALLY THIRD OR FOURTH, DEPENDING ON HOW YOU'RE COUNTING. SO BUT THE SECOND DAY OF BUDGET HEARINGS, I AM MARCUS WINKLER, THE VICE CHAIR OF THE BUDGET COMMITTEE, WILL BE JOINED SHORTLY BY CHAIR KEVIN CRAMER. TODAY IS MONDAY, MAY 11TH. THE TIME IS CURRENTLY 3:02 P.M. I AM JOINED IN CHAMBERS BY COUNCILMAN LINENGER, COUNCILMAN PIACENTINI, COUNCILMAN WEBBER, COUNCILMAN MULVEY ULRICH AND COUNCILMAN PARKER. AND I THINK WE'LL HAVE A COUPLE OTHER PEOPLE JOINING US HERE MOMENTARILY. SO AGAIN, WELCOME. I MENTIONED COUNCILMAN CRAMER WILL B JOININGS MOMENTARILY. SO LET ME GO. OUR FIRST HEARING TODAY, ACTUALLY, BEFORE I GET INTO THE HEARING, I WANT TO MAKE A COMMENT TO MY COLLEAGUES THAT THE ADMINISTRATION JUST ASKED ME TO REFERENCE. AND THAT IS, YOU KNOW, OUR STAFF IS KIND ENOUGH TO PREPARE A BUDGET DOCUMENT FOR US. EVERY MEETING CAN BE A LITTLE BIT CHALLENGING TO THE PRESENTERS. THEY DON'T GET A COPY OF THAT. THAT IS EXCLUSIVELY FOR US. OKAY. AND SO WHEN YOU'RE WORKING FROM THAT DOCUMENT AND YOU REFERENCE, HEY, ON PAGE FOUR, YOU'RE REFERENCING A DOCUMENT THAT THEY HAVE NEVER SEEN. SO JUST BE AWARE THAT'S AN INTERNAL DOCUMENT THAT STAFF PREPARES FOR US. IT'S NOT SHARED WITH THE IT'S NOT SECRET, BUT IT'S JUST NOT A DOCUMENT THAT THEY DON'T HAVE AVAILABLE. AND SO IF YOU COULD JUST BE AWARE THAT YOUR QUESTIONS, THEY WON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT. SO ANYWAY, OUR FIRST HEARING TODAY IS THE HUMAN RESOURCES BUDGET HEARING. AND I WOULD LIKE TO WELCOME ERNESTINE BOOTH HENRY, THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES, TO THE CHAMBERS. AS[00:25:01]
A REMINDER, DEPARTMENTS WILL NOT MAKE ANY OPENING COMMENTS, AND WE WILL BEGIN IMMEDIATELY WITH COUNCIL MEMBER QUESTIONS. COUNCIL MEMBERS, YOU ARE ALLOWED TO ASK THREE QUESTIONS AT A TIME, AND AFTER THAT YOU'LL NEED TO GO BACK INTO THE QUEUE. ALSO, I WILL CALL ON FIRST TIME QUESTIONS BEFORE I GO BACK TO YOU WHEN YOU'RE IN THE QUEUE A SECOND TIME. SO.THESE ARE BEST COMMENTS, BY THE WAY. SO. SO THE HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT FOR FY 27, THE PROPOSED OPERATING BUDGET IS 7.3 MILLION. AND YOU KNOW WHAT? I WILL START OFF WITH THE FIRST QUESTION AND ASK DIRECTOR BOOTH. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE DEPENDENT CARE FSA MATCH PILOT PROGRAM THAT WILL START FY 27? CAN YOU EXPLAIN TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE PROGRAM AND THEN THE EXPECTED EXPENSES ASSOCIATED WITH IT, PLEASE? SURE. GOOD AFTERNOON. ERNESTINE BOOTH HENRY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR HUMAN RESOURCES. THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR. AS FAR AS THE DEPENDENT CARE FSA, THAT PROGRAM IS DESIGNED TO ASSIST OUR EMPLOYEES WITH CHILD CARE SERVICES. THEY ARE ALLOWED TO PUT MONEY ASIDE IN OUR FSA PROGRAM AND THEN UTILIZE THAT MONEY FOR CHILD CARE EXPENSES. THE CURRENT AMOUNT, THE CAP FOR THE HOUSEHOLD IS 7500. AN EMPLOYEE CAN PUT ASIDE UP TO 5000. WE WILL MATCH 2500 HALF OF THEIR PORTION TO GET TO THE 7500 CAP. CURRENTLY WE HAVE 138 EMPLOYEES THAT HAVE ENROLLED IN THE DEPENDENT CARE FSA, AND 77 OF THOSE EMPLOYEES HAVE ENROLLED IN 2500 OR MORE. OKAY, FANTASTIC. I THINK, YOU KNOW, THAT'S A FANTASTIC BENEFIT THAT WE'RE OFFERING. AND I HOPE PEOPLE TAKE ADVANTAGE AND, YOU KNOW, CONTINUES TO MAKE US AN EMPLOYER OF CHOICE. SO, COUNCILMAN WEBER, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE. AS I SAID, I'M GOING TO ASK OF EVERYBODY, YOU KNOW, PLEASE SAVE FOR EVERYBODY. AND I SEE THIS PIECE IS IN YOUR PRE WORK. WHAT IS THE MISSION OF HR? AND THEN HOW WILL YOU KNOW THAT YOU ARE BEING SUCCESSFUL? I THINK THIS IS A FUNCTION THAT'S GOT A LOT OF PIECES TO IT. AND THERE'S A LOT OF BENCHMARKS. YEAH, WE OUR GOAL IS TO HIRE AND ATTRACT THE BEST QUALIFIED CANDIDATES TO FULFILL ALL OF OUR NEEDS ACROSS THE CITY. THAT IS OUR MISSION.
AND WE'RE DRIVING TOWARDS MAKING CERTAIN THAT OUR EMPLOYEES HAVE THE NECESSARY BENEFITS. THE WORK ENVIRONMENT, HEALTH AND SAFETY MEASURES ARE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION AND WANT TO ENSURE THAT OUR EMPLOYEES CAN RETURN HOME BETTER, IF NOT THE SAME, AS THEY COME INTO WORK. SO HOW WILL YOU KNOW THAT YOU'RE BEING SUCCESSFUL? I MEAN, I THINK, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF ATTRACTING, THERE'S PIECES OF WHAT'S OUR HIGHER TIME IN TERMS OF SERVING, THERE'S THREE, 60 REVIEWS, YOU KNOW, HOW WILL YOU KNOW WHETHER OR NOT YOU ARE, ARE PERFORMING AS A WORLD CLASS ORGANIZATION? WE HAVE AN HR REPORT CARD THAT OUTLINES ALL OF OUR METRICS, OUR TURNOVER DATA, VACANCY DATA, SAFETY DATA, THE CIVIL SERVICE METRICS WITH REGARDS TO HIRE. SO THAT'S HOW WE MEASURE OUR SUCCESS IS WHAT OUR NUMBERS LOOK LIKE THROUGH OUR REPORT CARD. IS THAT REPORT CARD AVAILABLE TO US? WE CAN WE CAN MAKE IT AVAILABLE TO YOU.
YES. THAT'D BE GREAT. SURE. I'M DONE. THANK YOU, COUNCILMEMBER WEBER. AND PLEASE LET THE RECORD REFLECT THAT. WE ARE JOINED SOME TIME AGO BY COUNCILWOMAN CHAPPELL.
COUNCILMAN PIACENTINI, YOU ARE NEXT. THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR. SO I WANT TO TALK HEALTH CARE.
WOULD THIS BE THIS IS THE VENUE FOR HEALTH CARE COSTS. THIS IS THE VENUE BECAUSE WE DIDN'T WANT TO SCREW UP THE BUDGET. THE GENERAL DISCUSSION THE OTHER DAY, AND I'LL GIVE A NOD TO VICE CHAIR KRAMER, WHO BROUGHT THIS IDEA UP. BUT WHAT? OH, SORRY. VICE CHAIR WINKLER.
YES. SORRY, I GOT EVERYBODY CONFUSED THERE FOR A MINUTE. WHICH IS IN ORDER TO HELP. I MEAN, WE GOT A HUGE INCREASE IN HEALTH CARE COSTS THIS YEAR. ONE OF THE IDEAS THAT VICE CHAIR WINKLER BROUGHT UP, I THINK WAS VERY GOOD, WHICH IS MOVING FORWARD, NOT THIS FISCAL, THIS FISCAL. THIS MEETING IS BEING TRANSCRIBED AND SUMMARIZED. OKAY. I ASSUME THAT WAS ON THE RECORD ALREADY, BUT HOW WOULD THE IDEA BROUGHT UP WAS MANY EMPLOYERS HAVE ALREADY MOVED TO A MODEL WHERE IF YOU IF IF IT'S DUAL INCOME HOUSEHOLD THAT THE OTHER PERSON.
IF THEY'RE NOT EMPLOYED BY METRO, IF THEY HAVE IF THEY'RE EMPLOYED BY AN ORGANIZATION THAT A COMPANY THAT PROVIDES HEALTH INSURANCE THAT THEY WOULD TAKE THE INDIVIDUAL PLAN FROM THERE. AND THEN YOU COULD STILL TAKE THE FAMILY, YOU KNOW, IN OTHER WORDS, YOU PLUS DEPENDENTS, RIGHT? IN OTHER WORDS, CHILDREN, WHICH, YOU KNOW, WITH THE AMOUNT OF EMPLOYEES WE HAVE, FACTORING IN HOW MANY ARE PROBABLY MARRIED, HOW MANY OF THEM ARE DUAL INCOME, IT'S GOT TO BE IN THE HUNDREDS, RIGHT, OF PEOPLE THAT WOULD COME OFF OF THE HEALTH
[00:30:02]
INSURANCE PROGRAM IF WE WERE TO DO THAT. THAT'S NOT THE ONLY IDEA. THERE ARE OTHER IDEAS TO CONTROL COSTS, BUT I RESPECT THE FACT THAT I LIKE THE FACT THAT WE HAVE CONTINUED TO TRY TO MAINTAIN PREMIUM COSTS AS LOW. WE HAVE A $0 PREMIUM PLAN. IT'S A HIGH DEDUCTIBLE PLAN. WE KEEP THESE, YOU KNOW, REALLY GREAT IDEAS GOING, BUT WE MUST ADDRESS THE LONG TERM FISCAL HERE. IN ADDITION TO THE IDEA I'VE JUST PUT FORWARD, ARE THERE OTHER IDEAS THAT HUMAN RESOURCES HAVE EXPLORED OR ARE GOING TO EXPLORE FOR THE FUTURE, RIGHT, FOR NEXT FISCAL YEAR FORWARD TO TRY TO REIN THIS IN, NOT ONLY FLATLINE IT, BUT HOPEFULLY EVEN REDUCE SOME OF OUR HEALTH CARE EXPOSURE, SOME OF THE CHALLENGES THAT WE EXPERIENCED ARE NOT WITHIN OUR CONTROL. SO THE THE HIGH DOLLAR COST OF OUR CLAIMS THIS LAST YEAR REALLY DROVE THE AMOUNT THAT WE'RE NEEDING TO ALLOCATE FOR, FOR THE HEALTH FUND THIS YEAR OR THIS UPCOMING PLAN YEAR.SO A LOT OF THAT IS OUT OF OUR CONTROL. WE HAD A $6 MILLION CLAIM THAT HIT OUR BUDGET, AND THEREFORE WE HAD TO ACCOUNT FOR THAT. AS FAR AS OTHER IDEAS TO TRY TO REDUCE COSTS, WE ARE LOOKING AT OUR STOP LOSS PROCESS AND WORKING WITH OUR BROKER TO IDENTIFY WAYS THAT WE CAN SAVE. WE DO HAVE FORMULARY MEETINGS. WE DO HAVE MEETINGS ON, YOU KNOW, EVERY QUARTER WITH OUR CARRIER. SO WE DO WANT TO ENSURE THAT WE'RE PAYING THE LEAST AMOUNT THAT WE CAN. BUT, YOU KNOW, THERE'S SOME THINGS THAT ARE OUT OF OUR CONTROL THAT IF YOU DON'T MIND GOING INTO MAYBE BY MID YEAR BEFORE WE START HITTING THE BUDGET CYCLE FOR NEXT YEAR, IF YOU COULD RUN BY THE BROKER AND HAVE THEM FINANCIALLY MODEL WHAT THIS IDEA AND YOU KNOW, I DON'T WANT TO SOUND LIKE I'M PAWNING IT OFF ON, ON MARCUS AS IF THIS IS A BAD IDEA. I LOVE THIS IDEA. SO I'M IN SUPPORT OF THIS AS WELL. CAN CAN YOU MAYBE BY MID YEAR, HAVE THE BROKER FINANCIALLY MODEL WHAT THAT WOULD DO TO THE FOLLOWING YEAR IF WE WERE TO IMPLEMENT IT, WE COULD. BUT I ALSO WANT TO MAKE YOU AWARE THAT WE DID HAVE A SPOUSAL SURCHARGE OR SPOUSAL CARVE OUT AT ONE POINT. AND I WAS LOOKING FOR THE SPECIFICS AROUND THAT, AND I'M STILL WORKING ON THAT. BUT WE HAD A GRIEVANCE. AND SO WE ENDED UP HAVING TO PULL THAT BACK. SO THAT WAS A PART OF ONE OF OUR UNION CHALLENGES. SO THAT JUST WANT TO PUT THAT OUT THERE. BUT YEAH, WE CAN, BUT WE COULD THEORETICALLY WOULD PHASE IT IN TOO, RIGHT? WE COULD PUT IT IN FOR NONUNION EMPLOYEES AND PHASE IT IN FOR UNION CONTRACTS AS THEY'RE RENEWED. RIGHT. SO YEAH, BUT I GET IT THAT SOME UNION CONTRACTS MAY PRECLUDE HOW WE IMPLEMENT IT OR WOULD HAVE TO SEGREGATE. SO BUT THANK YOU FOR POINTING THAT OUT. AND THEN ONE OTHER THING NOW AND THEN I'LL GO BACK IN THE QUEUE IF NECESSARY. SOME DEPARTMENTS AND THE MAYOR MADE A BIG DEAL ABOUT THIS, ABOUT FOCUSING ON THE USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN CERTAIN AREAS.
HE TALKED ABOUT PLANNING AND DESIGN AS ONE AREA THAT WE COULD USE IT, BUT OTHER AREAS ALSO BROAD BRUSHSTROKE, NOT JUST FOR THE HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT, BUT I'M TALKING ABOUT LIKE HOW HUMAN RESOURCES IMPACTS THESE OTHER DEPARTMENTS. DO WE SEE, AND I WANT TO BE CLEAR ABOUT THIS BECAUSE SOMEBODY ASKED THIS. I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT LIKE, WE IMPLEMENT AI AND CAN 500 PEOPLE, RIGHT? BUT DO WE SEE A STRATEGY OR DOES HUMAN RESOURCES HAVE A STRATEGY HERE WHERE WE CAN IMPLEMENT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN CERTAIN STRATEGIC AREAS TO REDUCE THE DEPENDENCY ON CERTAIN ADMINISTRATIVE POSITIONS, MAYBE IN HUMAN RESOURCES ITSELF, AS A MATTER OF FACT, SO THAT WE DON'T RENEW. RIGHT. SO IT'S AGAIN, NOT ABOUT JUST RIFFING A WHOLE BUNCH OF PEOPLE, BUT RATHER RIGHT SIZING THE SIZE OF OUR DEPARTMENTS SO THAT WE CAN HAVE PEOPLE DOING MORE VALUE ADDED WORK AND, AND AUTOMATE SOME OF THAT. LOW VALUE ACTIVITY. IS THAT SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE A STRATEGY ON CURRENTLY? WE WE DO. SO WE'RE LOOKING AT THE GAPS IN OUR POLICIES THAT'S GOING TO HELP WITH SOME OF OUR DISCIPLINARY CHALLENGES, OUR TRAINING CHALLENGES. SO THAT'S HOW WE'RE CURRENTLY IN INTEND TO USE IT IN THE NEAR FUTURE. OKAY. I AGAIN, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW BEFORE NEXT YEAR. NOW, THIS 1ST MAY NOT BE MID-YEAR, BUT ACTUALLY CLOSER TO THE BUDGET CYCLE, NOT JUST FOR HUMAN RESOURCES, BUT MORE BROADLY, HOW WE ARE USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO, TO BE MORE EFFICIENT SO THAT WE CAN BE LESS RELIANT ON HEADCOUNT TO GET THE JOB DONE. AND THAT'S NOT JUST I WANT TO BE CLEAR, IT'S NOT JUST THE COST CUTTING MEASURE. I HAD A DISCUSSION WITH A GROUP OF CONSTITUENTS ABOUT LMPD AND, YOU KNOW, WE'RE UNDER OUR USE OF FORCE, RIGHT. OR OUR AUTHORIZATION, OUR FORCE AUTHORIZATION, HOW MANY SWORN OFFICERS WE CAN HAVE. I SAID, THOSE PEOPLE AREN'T GOING TO BE MIRACLE TOMORROW. I THINK WE'RE GOING TO HAVE THIS PROBLEM ALL ACROSS METRO IN THE FUTURE. WE WILL NOT HAVE ENOUGH HUMAN BEINGS TO DO THE JOBS EVEN THAT, THAT CURRENTLY WE MIGHT WANT HUMAN BEINGS TO DO. SO WE BETTER GET GET COOL WITH AUTOMATION AND FIGURE OUT HOW TO USE IT SO THAT WITH A SMALLER WORKFORCE, WE CAN STILL SERVE THE COMMUNITY WELL. SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME. THANK YOU, MR. VICE CHAIR. THANK YOU. AND MADAM CLERK, IF YOU COULD LET THE RECORD
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REFLECT THAT WE WERE JOINED QUITE SOME TIME AGO BY COUNCILMAN JOSEPH IN CHAMBERS AND COUNCILMAN KRAMER ONLINE. NEXT UP IN THE QUEUE IS COUNCILWOMAN MOLLY WOOLRIDGE.THANK YOU. AND THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE. I'VE GOT A FEW QUESTIONS. ONE IS IN REGARDS TO THE EMPLOYEE ASSISTANT TUITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. SO IT LOOKS LIKE THE LAST FEW YEARS WE'VE BEEN PRETTY STABLE AROUND 6870 AND ANTICIPATING MAYBE NEXT YEAR BEING AROUND THE SAME. BUT I GUESS MY QUESTION AROUND THAT IS, ARE YOU LOOKING FOR THAT TO POSSIBLY INCREASE IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS? WE ANTICIPATE THAT IT WILL INCREASE, THAT THOSE NUMBERS ARE JUST THROUGH APRIL.
SO WE ARE INCLUDING CERTIFICATIONS NOW AS A PART OF OUR TUITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
AND WE ALREADY HAVE INDIVIDUALS THAT HAVE MADE THE REQUEST FOR THE CERTIFICATIONS, BUT THEY WILL NOT RECEIVE CREDIT OR PAYMENT UNTIL AFTER THAT CERTIFICATION IS COMPLETED. AND THEN LAST YEAR, THERE WAS SOME DISCUSSION ON SOME OPTIONS CHANGING ON THAT PROGRAM. HAS THAT GONE ANYWHERE? IT HAS. WELL, I THINK THAT OUR PARTICIPATION NUMBERS LOOK LIKE THEY'RE STEADY. THEY HAVEN'T GONE UP AT ALL. BUT THE OFFERING MORE INTUITION HAS ABSOLUTELY INCENTIVIZED EMPLOYEES TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PROGRAM. OKAY. ONE OTHER QUESTION. SO LAST YEAR, THE DEPENDENT FSA MATCH PILOT OR THIS YEAR YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE THAT PILOT PROGRAM, RIGHT? LAST YEAR IT LOOKS LIKE THAT $500,000 APPROPRIATION WAS NOT USED. SO THAT'S GOING TO ROLL OVER INTO THIS YEAR. IS THERE A REASON THAT WAS NOT USED? WE WANTED TO ENSURE THAT WE HAD THE FUNDING, BECAUSE WE HAD TO GO THROUGH THE OPEN ENROLLMENT PROCESS FOR EMPLOYEES TO SELECT OR ELECT TO GO INTO THE DEPENDENT FSA. SO WE WANTED TO ENSURE THAT THOSE FUNDS WERE AVAILABLE FOR US THIS UPCOMING FISCAL YEAR. OKAY. THANK YOU.
SURE. THANK YOU. ERNESTINE, COULD YOU DIRECTOR. I'M SORRY, COULD YOU SPEAK TO THE CONTRACTUAL SERVICES IN YOUR BUDGET? WHAT IS THE. IT'S ABOUT 1.4 MILLION. WHAT DOES THAT COVER? SO WE HAVE OUR LAB TESTING THROUGH QUANTUM THROUGH HEALTH AND SAFETY. WE HAVE ENVIRONMENTAL TESTING. WE HAVE OUR BROKERAGE COSTS. WE HAVE OUR CARRIERS THROUGH BENEFITS.
WE ALSO FUND SOME OF THE LOUISVILLE LABOR MANAGEMENT. NOT MISSING ANYTHING. I THINK THAT'S ABOUT IT. THANK YOU, COUNCILMAN PARKER. YES. THANK YOU. MY QUESTION GOES BACK TO HEALTH INSURANCE AGAIN. SO THE QUESTION WAS POSED LAST WEEK IF METRO AND THE MAYOR'S OFFICE OR YOUR DEPARTMENT HAS EVER CHECKED INTO A COMPARISON, A COMPARISON OF BEING SELF-INSURED VERSUS PURCHASING ON THE PRIVATE MARKET. SO IS I WAS WONDERING IF ALL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES ARE SELF-INSURED, AND COULD YOU HAVE YOU EVER YOUR DEPARTMENT THOUGHT ABOUT DOING A COST COMPARISON? SO I'M NOT CERTAIN ABOUT ALL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES BEING SELF-INSURED, BUT I CAN SPEAK TO THE FACT THAT AS WE AS AN EMPLOYER, THE SIZE THAT WE ARE, THE PRIVATE MARKET WOULD NOT BE THE BEST SOLUTION FOR US. OKAY. AND SO GIVEN THE FACT THAT YOU JUST SAID THAT WE HAD A REALLY BAD YEAR LAST YEAR WITH AN EXTRA 6 MILLION OR JUST ONE PERSON, WE JUST ADDED NEW EMPLOYEES TO THAT. I DON'T THINK IT STARTS TILL 2028. SO WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT. THE EXTRA PAYOUT? I THINK IT WAS THE FISCAL IMPACT WAS OR PROJECTION WAS AN EXTRA MILLION DOLLARS. WHAT WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THAT? SO I AM CONCERNED ABOUT OUR ABILITY TO MAINTAIN THAT ZERO PREMIUM COVERAGE AT ALL TIER LEVELS. THAT'S CONCERNING FOR ME. SO AS WE ADD ADDITIONAL BENEFITS TO THE PROGRAM THAT COULD POTENTIALLY IMPACT OUR ABILITY TO OFFER THAT TO OUR STAFF AND THEIR FAMILIES. OKAY. SO YOU WOULD HAVE TO FIND CUTS SOMEPLACE ELSE, POTENTIALLY WITH PROJECTIONS. THAT'S LIKELY WHAT WOULD HAPPEN. YEAH. OKAY. I JUST HAVE ONE MORE QUESTION. IN CODES AND REGS, WE'RE -20 POSITIONS. THERE WAS EIGHT THROUGH ATTRITION AND 12 LAYOFFS. WILL THESE POSITIONS GO AWAY PERMANENTLY? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA? THAT IS MY UNDERSTANDING. THE INTENT IS TO ELIMINATE PERMANENT. OKAY. THANK YOU. DIRECTOR BOOTH, NOT TO BEAT A DEAD HORSE HERE ON THE HEALTH CARE COSTS. BUT, YOU KNOW, I KNOW COUNCILMAN PIACENTINI ASKED FOR SOME OF THIS STUFF BY THE MIDYEAR. I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ALIGNED ON TIMING, BECAUSE OPEN
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ENROLLMENT STARTS. WHEN? IN APRIL. IN APRIL. WHEN DO YOU FINALIZE THE PLAN FOR THE FOLLOWING YEAR? WE NORMALLY COMPLETE OUR PLAN REVIEW IN EARLY JANUARY. OKAY. SO WE MAY I MEAN, SO MIDYEAR WOULD BE REALLY, REALLY TIGHT. SO I MIGHT JUST ASK US THAT, YOU KNOW, THESE SORT OF THINGS THAT WE MAYBE EVEN LOOK AT THE FALL AS A POTENTIAL SORT OF LIKE END OF Q1 MIGHT BE A MORE APPROPRIATE TIME. BECAUSE IF WE DON'T GET IT TILL THE LAST MEETING OF THE YEAR, I MEAN, NOT THAT THIS WOULD NECESSARILY REQUIRE A LEGISLATIVE ACTION, BUT YOU'VE GOT TO FINALIZE THE PLAN IMMEDIATELY THEREAFTER. SO I JUST AM A LITTLE CONCERNED WITH WITH THE TIMELINE THERE. SO YEAH. AND WE WOULD NEED TO HAVE OUR OPEN ENROLLMENT BOOKLET COMPLETED BY. EXACTLY, EXACTLY. SO WE MAY AND WE MIGHT MAKE A NOTE. THIS MIGHT BE SOME LANGUAGE THAT WE ADD. SO MAYBE WE CAN TALK MORE ABOUT THAT. SO OF WHAT SPECIFICALLY WE'D LIKE TO SEE. BUT I DO THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT IF WE, YOU KNOW, ARE THINKING ABOUT THESE SORTS OF CHANGES THAT WE JUST ARE KEEPING IN MIND THE, THE LEAD TIME THAT YOU NEED TO IMPLEMENT THEM, RIGHT? BECAUSE IT DOESN'T DO YOU ANY GOOD FOR US, YOU KNOW, TO DECIDE SOMETHING IN, IN JANUARY THAT'S GOT TO BE IMPLEMENTED IMMEDIATELY. SO, COUNCILMAN, BACK TO YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. AND GOOD POINT. AND BY THE WAY, I AGREE. I'VE LOOKED UP SELF-INSURANCE VERSUS THE MARKET. AN EMPLOYER LIKE US IN 100 YEARS. WE'RE NOT GOING TO WE'LL LOSE MONEY IF WE GO TO THE MARKET. RIGHT. YEAH. WE WE SHOULD BE SELF-INSURED. IT JUST WE JUST HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THESE THE RISKS, RIGHT? WE WOULD WE WOULD PAY MORE IF WE WERE ON THE MARKET BECAUSE THAT INSURANCE COMPANY WOULD THEN TAKE THE RISK REALLY ONLY WORKS WITH SMALLER COMPANIES THAT THAT AN INSURANCE COMPANY WOULD TAKE THE RISK. SO PARENTAL LEAVE, CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE FISCAL IMPACT, BOTH THE FISCAL IMPACT OF PARENTAL LEAVE AND WHAT THAT'S DONE RELATED TO HIRING? RIGHT? AS YOU HEARD, AS PEOPLE ARE HIRING INTO METRO, THAT THIS HAS BEEN LIKE, OH, YOU GUYS HAVE LIKE, HEY, LIKE, YEAH, IT'S A TIPPING POINT, THINGS LIKE THAT. SO HOW HAS IT HELPED? AND, BUT WHAT'S IT COSTING ALSO? SO IT HAS ABSOLUTELY HELPED. WE'VE HEARD A LOT OF GREAT STORIES AROUND, YOU KNOW, INDIVIDUALS COMING IN AND HAVING THAT AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPEND TIME WITH THEIR BABIES. SO THAT WAS, YOU KNOW, IT'S BEEN VERY BENEFICIAL FOR OUR EMPLOYEES WITH REGARDS TO IT HURTING. WE DON'T CURRENTLY TRACK ANY OVERTIME SPECIFIC TO THE PAID PARENTAL LEAVE, BUT I WOULD SAY THAT AN INDIVIDUAL BEING OUT FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME COULD DEFINITELY CREATE HARDSHIP ON THE DEPARTMENT. YEAH, I, I THINK IN SOME CASES THERE MIGHT BE MORE DIRECT COSTS. I'LL GIVE AN EXAMPLE. RIGHT. IF AN LMPD OFFICER AND I JUST HAD ONE IN THE EIGHTH DIVISION WAS OUT ON, HAD A BABY AND WAS OUT ON LEAVE WITH HER CHILD, YOU KNOW HER, HER SHIFTS HAVE TO BE COVERED, RIGHT. PERIOD. RIGHT. SO SOMETIMES IT'S JUST THE MATHEMATICAL CERTAINTY. IN OTHER CASES, IT'S MORE, I THINK IN SOME SALARIED POSITIONS. IN OTHER AREAS IT'S LOSS OF PRODUCTIVITY, RIGHT? SO IT'S MAYBE NOT DIRECT COSTS. WE DON'T HAVE TO COVER EVERYTHING THEY'RE DOING, OR MAYBE JUST SOME OR OTHER PEOPLE OFF THE SIDE OF THEIR DESK COVER FOR THEM DURING THAT PERIOD. AND THEN SO THAT'S, THAT'S LESS OF A DIRECT COST, INDIRECT COST VERSUS IN THE CASE OF THAT LMPD OFFICER, WE MIGHT ACTUALLY HAVE TO PAY OVERTIME TO COVER IT. SO THERE'S DIRECT COSTS.ABSOLUTELY. BUT I'M GLAD WE'RE HEARING AT A MINIMUM ANECDOTALLY THAT THIS IS HELPING. AND LOOK, I'M YOU KNOW, I'M I'M VERY PRO-FAMILY, PRO-LIFE. I, I WANT PEOPLE TO HAVE MORE CHILDREN. SO IF WE'RE AN EMPLOYER THAT CAN ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO DO SO, I THINK IT'S A WONDERFUL THING. LAST QUESTION. I'M GOING TO ASK THIS OF EVERY DEPARTMENT ONLY BECAUSE I DO HAVE CONCERNS THAT I BROUGHT UP AT THE MORE GENERAL OMB HEARINGS ABOUT OUR FISCAL SUSTAINABILITY MOVING FORWARD. OKAY. SO IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT HUMAN RESOURCES. AGAIN, EVERY DEPARTMENT WILL GET THIS QUESTION FROM ME. IF WE WERE TO CUT YOUR BUDGET BY 1%. OKAY. SO I THINK IF I'M READING THE BUDGET DOCUMENT CORRECTLY, YOU'RE IN THE 7 MILLION SOMETHING RANGE. SO THIS IS NOT EVEN REMOTELY THE BIGGEST DEPARTMENT IN THE CITY, TO BE CLEAR. SO WE'RE TALKING $70,000 ISH. IF I WERE TO SAY LIKE, HEY, AND YOU'VE ONLY HAD ONE, IT LOOKS LIKE ONLY A 1% INCREASE YEAR OVER YEAR. SO AGAIN, YOUR DEPARTMENT IS NOT THE SOURCE OF MAJOR FISCAL SPEND HERE. BUT IF I WERE TO BE FAIR AND JUST SAY TO EVERY DEPARTMENT LIKE I CUT 1%, WHAT HAPPENS IF I SAID TO YOU CUT 1%? SO LET'S CALL IT $70,000. WHAT DECISIONS WOULD YOU MAKE AS AN OPERATOR TO TO LIVE WITHIN THAT BUDGET? IT WOULD BE A HUGE IMPACT ON THE ABILITY TO PROVIDE SERVICES FOR OUR ENTERPRISE. THAT'S A HUGE AMOUNT FOR US BEING A SMALL DEPARTMENT. THE AMOUNT OF, YOU KNOW, WORK THAT OUR EMPLOYEES CURRENTLY HAVE ON THEIR PLATES IS, IS MORE THAN THEY NEED. AND I THINK THAT WE'RE ALREADY STRETCHED FAIRLY THIN. SO THAT REQUEST WOULD CREATE, I BELIEVE, SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGES FOR, FOR THE DEPARTMENT. BUT TACTICALLY, WHAT MIGHT YOU DO? MIGHT YOU CUT A POSITION OR WOULD YOU CUT A CONTRACT WITH A, WITH A PIECE
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OF SOFTWARE? LIKE WHAT, WHAT WOULD YOU THINK YOU WOULD DO? WE WOULD MOST LIKELY HAVE TO NOT FILL A TRADED POSITIONS. WE DON'T HAVE THE MEANS OF CUTTING ANY SOFTWARE. WE'RE AS LEAN AS WE CAN GET IN THAT REGARD. SO IT WOULD BE THE LOSS OF PERSONNEL. OKAY. THANK YOU.THANK YOU, COUNCILMAN MULVEY. THANK YOU. COUNCILMAN PIACENTINI TOOK SOME OF MY QUESTIONS. I'LL FORGIVE HIM THIS TIME. MY QUESTION I HAVE IS, WHEN WE LOOK AT OUR AVERAGE AGE, I KNOW IT WAS KIND OF BROKEN DOWN OF PERSONNEL. WE HAVE. IF YOU'RE LOOKING OVER THE NEXT TEN YEARS, WHAT IS OUR PLAN FOR RETIREMENT AND RESTAFFING? AND DO WE HAVE A PLAN AHEAD OF TIME TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE NOT BEHIND THE CURVE? SO THE DEPARTMENTS WOULD BE BETTER SUITED TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION, BECAUSE THEY HAVE AN OPERATIONAL UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THEIR NEEDS ARE AND WHAT THEIR SUCCESSION PLANS LOOK LIKE. BUT FOR HR, I ACTUALLY AM GOING TO LIKELY HAVE SOME INDIVIDUALS THAT WILL RETIRE SOON IN THE NEXT TEN YEARS OR SO. SO FOR ME, IT LOOKS LIKE PLANNING THAT KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER AS SOON AS I'M AWARE SO THAT WE DON'T LOSE ALL OF THAT INFORMATION IN THAT HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE. THANK YOU.
SURE. COUNCILMAN LINENGER, THANK YOU. JUST FOR THOSE PLAYING ALONG AT HOME, WHAT ARE OUR TOTAL HEALTH CARE COSTS FOR BOTH THIS YEAR AND PROJECTED FOR NEXT YEAR? TOTAL HEALTH CARE COSTS. IT'S. 1616. OKAY, 69 MILLION. OKAY. AND THAT'S FOR BOTH. TOTAL. SO THAT IS TOTAL. YEAH. AND WHEN WE TALK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THAT YOU ARE NOT THE, THE DEPARTMENT WITH THE, YOU KNOW, GREATEST EXPENDITURE IN OUR BUDGET, WHAT DEPARTMENT IS THE GREATEST EXPENDITURE IN OUR BUDGET? THE LPD, LPD I'M SORRY. SAY THAT AGAIN LPD IT'S LMPD THANK YOU.
AND SO WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE NEED TO MAKE CUTS AND HARD CHOICES ABOUT WHAT WE'RE DOING TO TAKE CARE OF OUR WORKERS, TO LOOK OUT FOR OUR EMPLOYEES, BOTH UNION AND NONUNION, I DO HOPE THAT WE AS A BODY ARE CONSIDERING, YOU KNOW, WHERE THAT BURDEN SHOULD FALL THE HEAVIEST. SO, FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE THE DELTA ON OUR HEALTH CARE SPENDING AS THOSE GO UP, HOW DOES THAT COMPARE TO, FOR EXAMPLE, THE WAY THAT WE CALCULATE OVERTIME COSTS FOR LPD COMPARED TO OTHER DEPARTMENTS? IT'S IT'S ROUGHLY IT'S PRETTY EQUAL, ISN'T IT? I'M SORRY. I'M NOT SURE I FOLLOW THE QUESTION. WE CALCULATE OVERTIME FOR LPD MUCH DIFFERENTLY THAN WE DO FOR OUR OTHER UNION CONTRACTS THAT THEY THEY HAVE A A MUCH MORE GENEROUS CALCULATION OF OVERTIME. THERE ARE. AND I'M NOT AN EXPERT ON THE CONTRACT, BUT I DO KNOW THAT THERE ARE SOME. YOU KNOW, THE CONTRACTS HAVE SPECIFICS WITHIN THEM THAT WOULD OUTLINE WHAT MIGHT BE CONSIDERED OR, YOU KNOW, DEFINED AS OVERTIME. BUT I CAN'T SPEAK TO THE WAY THAT THE HOLIDAY HOURS AND THINGS LIKE THAT ARE CALCULATED. THERE ARE SOME VARIANCES. IT'S IT'S EXTREMELY DIFFERENT FROM ONE DEPARTMENT COMPARED TO ANY OTHER CONTRACT THAT WE HAVE. THAT IS CORRECT. YES. OKAY. I JUST WANTED TO CHECK WITH THAT. AS WE'RE DISCUSSING HARD CHOICES AND WHERE THOSE BURDENS ARE GOING TO FALL, I DO WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT APPLES TO APPLES, ORANGES TO ORANGES, AND WHICH OF OUR EMPLOYEES ARE GOING TO BE EXPECTED TO CARRY THAT BURDEN GOING FORWARD. THANK YOU, THANK YOU. I'M GOING TO TAKE US IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION FROM HEALTH CARE AND TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OVERTIME. THE COUNCILMAN TEED UP. ERNESTINE, CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT YOUR ROLE IS IN TERMS OF OVERTIME MANAGEMENT, BROADLY SPEAKING? RIGHT. AND DO YOU HAVE ANY OVERSIGHT? DO YOU PROVIDE ANY GUIDANCE TO DEPARTMENTS RELATED TO OVERTIME? AND THEN DO YOU OR SHOULD YOU MAKE SURE THAT THAT OVERTIME IS APPROPRIATELY ALLOCATED? WHAT I MEAN BY THAT IS, YOU KNOW, IS, IS ALL OF THE OVERTIME THAT IS CONSUMED ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, RIGHT. AND IN SPECIFICALLY IN PROVIDING FRONTLINE SERVICE. SO I WOULD HAVE ZERO CONTROL OVER OVERTIME. THAT'S GOING TO BE UNIQUE TO THE DEPARTMENT.
THEY'RE GOING TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR CONTROLLING IT, MONITORING IT, AND ENSURING THAT WE'RE NOT OVERSPENDING. WITH REGARDS TO OVERTIME, MY AREA HR WOULD BE A PART OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CBA, AND THAT WOULD BE THE EXTENT OF OUR OVERTIME INVOLVEMENT. SURE. SO MAYBE I'LL ASK THE QUESTION A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENTLY. SHOULD YOU HAVE SOME LEVEL OF INVOLVEMENT IN MANAGING NOT NOT NECESSARILY A SPECIFIC BECAUSE YOU CAN'T MAKE AN OPERATIONAL DECISION,
[00:50:04]
RIGHT? DO YOU NEED FOUR HOURS OF OVERTIME TODAY OR NOT? RIGHT. THAT'S NOT REALLY MY QUESTION.BUT THERE IS A BROADER STRATEGY AROUND MANAGING OVERTIME THAT I DO THINK HR WOULD PLAY A CRITICAL ROLE IN. AND HOW DO WE REDUCE THE DEPENDANCE ON OVERTIME, RIGHT? HOW DO WE MAKE DECISIONS ON WHETHER THIS OVERTIME IS ACTUALLY NEEDED OR NOT? BECAUSE ONCE IT'S IN THE BUDGET, I MEAN, THERE'S NOTHING THERE IS NO DISINCENTIVE FOR A DEPARTMENT TO SPEND TO THE BUDGET. RIGHT. THAT'S MY QUESTION. AND SO WHO HAS RESPONSIBILITY FOR AN INTERNAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR TRYING TO PUSH DEPARTMENTS TO ASK HARD QUESTIONS OF IS THIS OVERTIME ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY OR NOT? I BELIEVE IT WOULD. IT SHOULD BE A JOINT EFFORT BETWEEN OMB AND HR. I WOULD AGREE. ANGELA DUNN, CFO FOR LOUISVILLE METRO. WE DO HAVE QUARTERLY BUDGET MEETINGS WITH OUR DEPARTMENTS. ONE OF THE MEASUREMENTS THAT WE TALK ABOUT IN THOSE MEETINGS IS THE OVERTIME RATE. SO WE WILL LOOK AT, YOU KNOW, WHAT WAS YOUR BUDGET LAST YEAR? WHAT'S YOUR BUDGET THIS YEAR? WHAT'S YOUR SPEND BEEN? WHAT WAS YOUR SPEND LAST YEAR, MONTH TO MONTH COMPARISON? SO LAST MARCH YOU SPENT X AND THIS MARCH YOU'RE SPENDING Y. SO WE DO HAVE THOSE CONVERSATIONS WHEN WE SEE THAT OVER TIME IS RUNNING DANGEROUSLY OVER OR GETTING CLOSE TO BEING OVER, WE CERTAINLY HAVE THOSE CONVERSATIONS WITH THE DEPARTMENT. WE, YOU KNOW, CHALLENGE THEM TO BE MINDFUL OF THEIR BUDGET, TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THEIR BUDGET IS. YOU KNOW, A LOT OF TIMES WITH THE DEPARTMENTS THAT THAT DO SPEND A LOT IN OVERTIME, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF TIMES IT COMES DOWN TO JUST, YOU KNOW, THE OPERATIONAL NEED OF THE AGENCY. BUT, BUT IT ISN'T SOMETHING THAT WE JUST DON'T LOOK AT. WE DO HAVE THE CONVERSATIONS. WE DO POINT IT OUT. OMB DOESN'T HAVE ANY SORT OF AUTHORITY TO SAY OVERTIME CUT OFF AND YOU CAN'T DO ANY MORE OVERTIME. BUT BUT WE DO HAVE THE CONVERSATIONS. SURE.
BUT I THINK YOU CAN ALSO HAVE A CHALLENGE OF CREATING, YOU KNOW, NOT IDEAL INCENTIVES, RIGHT? BECAUSE IF I AM A SUPERVISOR AND I'VE GOT A VERY, VERY LARGE OVERTIME BUDGET, YEAH, MAYBE I CAN'T EXCEED THAT BUDGET, BUT NOBODY CARES AS LONG AS I STAY UNDER THAT BUDGET, RIGHT? I'VE GOT THAT WEIGHT AGAINST ME AS A MANAGER. THE WORK INVOLVED IN RECRUITING, HIRING, TRAINING A NEW PERSON. OKAY. AND SO IF I HAVE THIS NON-ACCOUNTABLE, I MEAN, WE'LL CALL IT A MORAL CHOICE. IT'S NOT REALLY A MORAL CHOICE, RIGHT? BUT AND PEOPLE DON'T NECESSARILY MAKE THIS DECISION CONSCIOUSLY, RIGHT? BUT LIKE, I CAN RELY ON THE CRUTCH OF OVERTIME BECAUSE I'VE GOT IN THE BUDGET. NO, AS LONG AS I'M UNDER MY TOTAL NUMBER, NOBODY REALLY CARES. VERSUS I'VE GOT TO PUT IN A LOT OF WORK TO GET INCREMENTAL PEOPLE. I MEAN, PEOPLE MAKE THESE SUBCONSCIOUS DECISIONS, RIGHT? AND AGAIN, I DON'T KNOW THAT PEOPLE ARE ACTIVELY THINKING ABOUT IT, BUT IF I GOT A FULL PLATE OF STUFF, RIGHT, AND, YOU KNOW, WATER FLOWS TO THE PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE, RIGHT? AND SO JUST SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT. AND I THINK PARTICULARLY AS WE STRUGGLE WITH INCREASING PRESSURE ON THE OVERTIME BUDGETS, BE IT LMPD, EMS, FIRE, YOU NAME IT, DEPARTMENT, RIGHT? I MEAN, THIS IS IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT THE DEPARTMENT. BUT IF A SUPERVISOR HAS NO PRESSURE TO REDUCE THEIR OVERTIME. RIGHT. I WORRY THAT WE'RE NOT INCENTIVIZING THE BEHAVIOR TO ACTUALLY GO OUT AND RECRUIT AND HIRE NEW PEOPLE AS ACTIVELY AS WE MIGHT. COUNCILMAN. I THOUGHT THERE WAS A QUESTION AT THE END OF THAT. SORRY. FIRST OF ALL, LOOKING FORWARD TO ASKING THAT QUESTION OF EVERY DEPARTMENT. LMPD THE DEPARTMENT, THEY'RE GOING TO GET THE QUESTION, BUT I WANT TO CLARIFY ONE THING. AND THEN I DO WANT TO CLARIFY THE HR OR THE HUMAN RESOURCES CONCERN THAT YOU HAD ABOUT POTENTIALLY, IF WE DID NOT SAYING WE'RE GOING TO JUST THEORETICAL HYPOTHETICAL CONVERSATION. SO FIRST FOR FIRST OF ALL, OTHER THAN LMPD, ARE THERE ANY DEPARTMENTS THAT YOU KNOW OF WHOSE UNIFORM INCLUDES A BULLETPROOF VEST BECAUSE PEOPLE TEND TO SHOOT AT THEM ON THE JOB? I WOULD SAY NOT THE UNIFORM OR THE JOB DESCRIPTION NECESSARILY SAYING IT OR THAT REQUIRES IT. BUT THERE ARE DEPARTMENTS THAT HAVE YEAH, I KNOW SOME ARE ISSUED, BUT THEY'RE NOT WEARING THEM AS PART OF UNIFORM. CORRECT. AND THEN JUST TO BE CLEAR, AVERAGE FILL POSITIONS I'M LOOKING AT FOR FOR HUMAN RESOURCES FOR FISCAL YEAR 26 REVISED HAS YOU AT 57. PROPOSAL IS 61 OKAY. AM I WRONG. I DON'T THINK I HAVE ANY I WANT, AM I WRONG TO NOT COUNT AS ONE OF MY THREE QUESTIONS? BECAUSE I'M JUST MAKING SURE I'M CLARIFYING THE VICE CHAIR IS IGNORING ME
[00:55:03]
COMPLETELY. OKAY, GOOD. I'M CONFIRMING I, I DID NOT REQUEST ANY ADDITIONAL POSITIONS SO THAT COUNT WAS OKAY. IT COULD BE WE'LL CONFIRM IT, BUT IT COULD BE JUST IN THE REPORT THAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT, THERE COULD HAVE BEEN SOME MOVEMENT OF POSITIONS AT THE TIME THAT IT WAS RAN, BUT HR HAS NOT REQUESTED ANY ADDITIONAL POSITIONS. OKAY. OKAY. YEAH. SO SO OKAY, SO LET ME CLARIFY WHAT THIS SAYS. AND THEN YOU CAN TELL ME IF THIS SOUNDS MORE CORRECT. OKAY. IT SAYS AS OF IT WAS 57 WAS THE REVISED FISCAL YEAR 26. AND THEN IT SAID 50 YEAR FISCAL YEAR 27 RECOMMENDS 61 OUT OF AS OF APRIL THE 1ST, 2026. SO IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU HAD 61 AS OF APRIL. SO IT SOUNDED LIKE YOU WERE BUDGETED AT 61, AND YOU'RE NOT ASKING FOR MORE.THAT'S WHAT IT MAY SOUND LIKE. IS THAT MORE ACCURATE? CORRECT. THAT'S THAT SOUND. OKAY, GOOD.
OKAY. THANK YOU. THAT CLARIFIES EVERYTHING. SO SO IN OTHER WORDS, YOUR YOUR BUDGET INCREASE ISN'T ADDING PEOPLE, RIGHT? AGAIN, THIS 1% IS NOT LIKE WE ADDED THREE PEOPLE OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. IT'S NOT. SO YOU WOULD ACTUALLY BE REDUCING THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE THAT YOU HAVE CURRENTLY TODAY THAT ARE SERVICING THE CITY TODAY. THAT'S CORRECT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I APPRECIATE THE CLARITY. OKAY. THANK YOU. WELL, THERE IS NOBODY ELSE IN QUEUE, SO WE WILL CONCLUDE THE HUMAN RESOURCES BUDGET HEARING. THE FOLKS FROM PUBLIC WORKS ARE NOT HERE YET. WE'RE GOING TO GIVE THEM. WE WILL RESUME AT 3:40 P.M. SO IN SIX MINUTES. BUT COLLEAGUES, I MIGHT ASK FOR YOUR FLEXIBILITY IF THEY DON'T QUITE GET HERE QUITE QUICK ENOUGH. IT MIGHT BE A COUPLE MINUTES LATER, BUT LET'S PLAN 340. THANK YOU. CAN I ASK A POINT OF PERSONAL PRIVILEGE? THANK YOU. QUESTION. IF WE'RE PUBLIC PUBLICLY PROVIDING BUDGET, HEARING SCHEDULE, WHY ARE WE NOT ADHERING TO THE TIMES THAT WE THESE ALWAYS RUN.
THESE ARE TENTATIVE TIMES. AND WE RUN ONE MEETING DIRECTLY INTO THE NEXT ONE. SO THAT'S HOW THEY'VE BEEN LAID OUT FOREVER. MAYBE WE SHOULD DO A BETTER JOB OF TELLING THE PUBLIC THAT. OKAY. SO WE ARE ADJOURNED TILL 340.
DO WE JUST GET OFF AND GET BACK ON?
[01:00:54]
HE'S DRIVING HERE, I THINK. SO HE'LL BE HERE. AND I DON'T HAVE TO RESTART THE MEETING RECORD. IT'S NOT A OKAY. I DID FORGET TO SAY THE MEETING BEING HELD PURSUANT TO. METRO TV. 30S TILL WE RESUME.CRECTN, MET TV, 'LL BE VE AND WE WILAR AT 3
[01:07:57]
ALL RIGHT. 30S METRO TV.WELL, WELCOME BACK TO THE SECOND HEARING OF THE DAY. I AM STILL MARKUS WINKLER, THE VICE CHAIR OF THE BUDGET COMMITTEE. COUNCILMAN KRAMER IS ON HIS WAY. WE ARE JOINED IN CHAMBERS BY COUNCILMAN LINENGER. SO, COUNCILMAN JOSEPH, WE'VE BEEN JOINED BY COUNCILMAN BASS.
COUNCILMAN MURRAY IS STILL HERE. WE'VE BEEN JOINED BY COUNCILMAN HUDSON. COUNCILMAN WEBBER HAS BEEN HERE. CHAPPELL, PIACENTINI AND PARKER. I WOULD LIKE TO WELCOME WEST SYDNOR, THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS AND ASSETS, TO THE CHAMBERS FOR HIS FIRST BUDGET HEARING. HE'S NO STRANGER TO CHAMBERS, BUT USUALLY WITH MSD. SO WELCOME. AS A REMINDER, PUBLIC WORKS AND ASSETS WILL NOT MAKE ANY OPENING COMMENTS AND WILL BEGIN IMMEDIATELY WITH COUNCIL MEMBER QUESTIONS. COUNCIL MEMBERS, YOU'RE ALLOWED TO ASK THREE QUESTIONS AT A TIME. AFTER THAT, YOU'LL NEED TO GO BACK INTO THE QUEUE AGAIN. WE JUST HAD TWO PEOPLE JOIN US, SO I WILL JUST. COUNCILMAN ALSO JOINED BY COUNCILMAN BACHON FOR THE THREE FOLKS THAT HAVE JOINED US, I WILL JUST GIVE A REMINDER THAT I DID AT THE OPENING OF THE HEARING, THE BUDGET PACKETS THAT YOU GET FROM STAFF, THOSE ARE THE ADMINISTRATION DOES NOT HAVE THOSE PACKETS. SO IF YOU WHEN YOU ASK QUESTIONS, IF YOU COULD NOT REFERENCE A PAGE IN THE
[01:10:02]
PACKET THAT'S BEEN PREPARED BY STAFF FOR YOU BECAUSE THE ADMINISTRATION DOESN'T HAVE IT.AND SO THEY WOULD HAVE NO WAY OF REFERENCING THAT SPECIFIC PAGE NUMBER. SO PLEASE REMEMBER TO ASK ONLY FINANCIAL RELATED QUESTIONS PERTAINING TO PUBLIC WORKS. YOU KNOW, NOT A TIME TO ASK. HEY, I'VE GOT A POTHOLE. WHEN CAN YOU COME FILL IT UP? AND NO OTHER DISTRICT SPECIFIC CONCERNS. PUBLIC WORKS AND ASSETS HAS A PROPOSED $68.5 MILLION OPERATING BUDGET AND $65.9 MILLION CAPITAL BUDGET. I WILL START BY ASKING HOW THE NEW DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION HAS MADE AN IMPACT ON HOW PUBLIC WORKS AND ASSETS OPERATES, AND THE RESULTING FISCAL IMPACT. WES. INTRODUCE YOURSELF. I'LL TURN IT EARLY. I'M WES, I'M THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS. AND TO MY RIGHT HERE IS THE DIRECTOR OF THE DOT BILL BELL. HEY, SO A QUESTION ABOUT THE DOT FORMATION. SO THIS STARTED BACK AT THE END OF 2024.
SO WE HAVE JUST AROUND A YEAR AND A HALF OF OF OPERATION AFTER ITS FORMATION. SO THE INTENT OF THE DOT AND WHAT WE HAVE SEEN SO FAR IS TO MAKE PROJECTS AND DELIVERABLES MORE EFFICIENT, GET PLANNING AND ENGINEERING AND PROJECT EXECUTION IN THE SAME STRUCTURE.
AND SO WE'VE ALREADY STARTED TO SEE SOME FRUIT COME TO PASS WITH OR COME TO BE WITH THE, THE FORMATION PROJECTS THAT HAVE BEEN IN SOME STATE OF PROGRESS OVER THE LAST, YOU KNOW, TEN PLUS YEARS HAVE FINALLY BROKEN GROUND AND REACHED COMPLETION. AND WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE NEXT WAVE OF OPPORTUNITIES IN THAT SPACE. SO YOU HAVE A LOT OF WORK THAT WE'RE DOING WITH KYTC ON STATE PROJECTS, AND WE'VE SEEN THAT IN THE ROAD BUDGET AND THEIR ROAD PLAN. AND SO WE'RE EXCITED TO. YOU KNOW, PARTNER WITH THEM ON THOSE PROJECTS AS WELL AS EXECUTE ON SOME OF THE, YOU KNOW, SOME SOME OF THE LONG STANDING PROJECTS THAT WE'VE HAD THAT ARE BOTH FEDERALLY FUNDED AND STATE FUNDED. AND SO WHAT THIS WHAT THIS HAS DONE IS HELPED US, AGAIN, BE MORE RESPONSIVE, BE MORE EFFICIENT, AND EXECUTE PROJECTS IN A MORE STREAMLINED WAY. AND SO I THINK IT'S BEEN A SUCCESS. YOU KNOW, WE'RE ALWAYS LOOKING AT WAYS TO IMPROVE AND THINGS TO, TO MOVE AROUND. SO IT'S NOT A STATIC STRUCTURE. SO LIKE I SAID, WE'RE CONTINUING TO LOOK AT THAT, BUT IT'S, IT'S BEEN A VERY, I THINK, A VERY SUCCESSFUL ROLLOUT, INCLUDING THE MAINTENANCE AND SNOW REMOVAL AND SO FORTH. SO.
COUNCILMAN PIACENTINI, THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR. I WANT TO TALK ABOUT THE ROAD PAVING BUDGET FOR A MINUTE. THE HISTORY OF THIS. AND NEITHER OF YOU HERE WHEN THIS ALL BEGAN, AND IT EVEN BECAME BEFORE MY TERM IN OFFICE. BUT IT BEGAN AS LIKE, OKAY, WE NEED TO CATCH UP ON ROAD PAVING. WE'RE GOING TO DO $20 MILLION A YEAR IN ROAD PAVING FOR THE NEXT TEN YEARS, AND WE WILL BE CAUGHT UP, AND THEN WE CAN BRING IT BACK TO WHAT A NORMAL MAINTENANCE DOLLAR AMOUNT, RIGHT. WE WE WORKED THE DATA A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, $30 MILLION A YEAR.
SO NOW WE'RE UP TO $30 MILLION A YEAR IN ROAD PAVING. AND WE'VE BEEN DOING THAT FOR, I THINK THIS IS THE THIRD YEAR ISH AT $30 MILLION. WHEN WILL WE BE AT THIS? IS THIS IS NOW REAL MONEY. OKAY. AND AND GIVEN THE STATE OF THE CAPITAL BUDGET AND ALL OF THIS STUFF, I MEAN, YOU KNOW, WE WOULD LOVE TO SEE A TIME WHERE THIS COMES INTO 15 MILLION AND WE COULD RECLAIM $15 MILLION TO OTHER OTHER CAPITAL PROJECTS. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT WHAT THIS TRAJECTORY LOOKS LIKE CONSERVATIVELY? RIGHT. I DON'T WANT TO OVER ESTIMATE, BUT WHEN COULD WE GET TO IT? AND WHAT WOULD THAT NUMBER LOOK LIKE ONCE WE GET TO A MORE MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE? SURE. SO ONE OF THE, I THINK ONE OF THE BIG THINGS THAT WE'VE TAKEN ON OVER THE LAST YEAR OR SO IS THAT WE'VE SWITCHED TO A, A SYSTEM THAT'S CALLED OPENGOV. AND SO WHAT THAT DOES IS IT ALLOWS US TO PUT IN ROADWAY CONDITIONS, PUT IN BASICALLY ASSUMPTIONS ON HOW FAST, DEPENDING ON THE USAGE, DIFFERENT ROAD TYPES ARE GOING TO DEGRADE OVER TIME. AND SO REALLY DATA DRIVEN. AND THAT'S WHAT WE'VE USED TO DEVELOP OUR, OUR THREE YEAR PLAN. SO WE DO HAVE ESTIMATES FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS THAT WILL BE AT 30 MILLION. THAT MAY OR MAY NOT CHANGE OR, YOU KNOW, BE THE CASE DEPENDING ON, YOU KNOW, FUTURE BUDGETS. BUT WHAT, WHAT
[01:15:07]
THAT TOOL ALLOWS US TO DO IS PRIORITIZE THOSE ROADS. OUR GOAL IS TO, YOU KNOW, PRIORITIZE THOSE GOALS, THOSE ROADS WITH THE MOST NEED. OUR GOAL IS TO GET OUT OF A SCALE FROM 1 TO 100, TO GET EVERY ROAD IN THE COUNTY. IN METRO ABOVE A 70. AND WE'RE GETTING VERY, VERY CLOSE TO THAT ON THE BIGGER ARTERIALS AND COLLECTORS, THE LOCAL ROADS HAVE SOME SOME CATCHING UP TO DO. BUT TO YOUR POINT, AT SOME POINT IN THAT IN THAT FUTURE AND WE CAN DO SOME MORE AND COME BACK WITH THAT WHEN THAT TIME PERIOD LOOKS LIKE. BUT AT SOME POINT TO YOUR POINT, YOU'RE GOING TO HIT DIMINISHING RETURNS IN TERMS OF, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE GOING TO GET TO A CERTAIN POINT AND YOU DON'T NEED TO REPAVE A ROAD THAT'S IN GOOD CONDITION, RIGHT? YEAH. I MEAN, AGAIN, I WANT TO DELIVER REALLY NICE ROADS FOR THE PUBLIC. THEY DON'T NEED TO BE PAVED IN GOLD. SO THEY'RE AT SOME POINT, YOU KNOW, AND IF 70 IS THE NUMBER AS FAR AS, YOU KNOW, AN AVERAGE RATING. WONDERFUL. AND SO IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE NUMBER TODAY, COULD YOU PLEASE FOLLOW UP? IT'D BE GREAT IF WE COULD GET IT BEFORE THE END OF THE BUDGET CYCLE.BUT IF THAT'S TOO MUCH, YOU KNOW, MAYBE THE NEXT QUARTER. BUT YEAH, THE TWO QUESTIONS WOULD BE WHEN WOULD WE WHEN DO WE THINK, GIVE OR TAKE A YEAR, WE WOULD BE AT THAT LEVEL. AND THEN NUMBER TWO, WHAT WOULD WE ACTUALLY NEED MOVING FORWARD TO MAINTAIN THAT LEVEL? RIGHT. IS THAT 20 MILLION, 15 MILLION, 12 MILLION, WHATEVER THAT IS? SURE. OKAY. THANK YOU. NEXT QUESTION.
GRANTS. SO ON PAGE THREE OF MY DOCUMENT, I'M JUST KIDDING. SO THE THE GRANTS, PARTICULARLY STATE GRANTS. SO THE BIGGEST CHANGE IS STATE GRANTS IN FISCAL YEAR 26 WENT FROM 6000 TO IN FISCAL YEAR 27. LET'S JUST CALL IT 7.8 MILLION, A LITTLE OVER 7.8 MILLION. I THINK THIS IS WONDERFUL. LOVE MORE STATE MONEY COMING INTO OUR WONDERFUL CITY THAT PAYS A BOAT TON OF TAXES TO THE STATE THAT WE DON'T SEE BACK. SO CAN YOU CLARIFY WHAT THIS CHANGE IS LIKE? WHAT HAPPENED HERE? AND IS THIS IS THIS SOMETHING WE COULD EXPECT TO SEE MOVING FORWARD? YEAH. SO. SEE, ARE YOU ARE YOU REFERENCING THE. I GUESS, KYTC GRANT OR WHICH THAT'S WHAT GRANT THAT MY REFERENCING. WHAT'S THAT? YEAH, THAT'S WHAT I HAVE THE STATE GRANTS, RIGHT? I MEAN, YEAH, IT'S THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT IT WAS. IT'S LIKE GENERAL STATE GRANTS. I DON'T I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S ONE PARTICULAR PROJECT. IT'S JUST THE LINE ITEM OF STATE GRANTS. CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG. HAS MOVED TO SET OVER 7.8 MILLION. BUT LAST YEAR WAS PRETTY TINY. IT WAS THOUSANDS. WE WENT FROM 1000 TO MILLIONAIRE. YEAH. OKAY.
BRINGING OUT THE BIG GUNS. YEP. ALREADY. I JUST I WANTED TO SAY IT'S MORE THAN LIKELY JUST IT'S PROBABLY SOME NEW STATE GRANTS, BUT IF YOU WOULD ALLOW, IT WOULD BE BETTER FOR US TO PROBABLY GET YOUR RECONCILIATION OF WHAT THAT EXACT CHANGE WAS. I THINK WE HAVE THE DETAIL OF IT IN FRONT OF US TODAY, SO IT MIGHT BE EASIER TO JUST GET BACK TO YOU ON THAT ONE. THAT'S FINE. OKAY. NO. NO PROBLEM. AND LAST THING AGAIN, MAYBE A QUESTION YOU HAVE TO FOLLOW UP ON BECAUSE THIS IS NOT IN THE BUDGET BOOK, BUT WE SPENT A LOT OF MONEY ON CONVERTING TO LED LIGHTING. YOU KNOW, IT'S BEEN A BIG FOCUS FOR THE CITY AND WE'VE ALL SUPPORTED IT, YOU KNOW, NOT AGAINST IT WHATSOEVER. WE'RE JUST TRYING TO MAYBE GET A SENSE OF WHAT THE COST SAVINGS HAVE BEEN. CAN YOU CAN YOU PROVIDE MAYBE SOME CONTEXT TODAY? AND THEN IF YOU WANT TO FOLLOW UP WITH A SPECIFIC NUMBER, BUT I'M CURIOUS AS TO LIKE WHERE, HOW MUCH AND WHERE WE'RE SEEING THAT SAVINGS. SURE. YEAH, WE CAN DEFINITELY FOLLOW UP ON THAT. OKAY. YEAH. THERE ARE TWO DIFFERENT POTS OF MONEY THAT WE USE FOR LIGHTING OR DIFFERENT APPLICATIONS. AND SO WE CAN GET BOTH THE, BASICALLY THE ELECTRICAL MAINTENANCE NUMBER, AS WELL AS LIKE ANY SAVINGS FROM LG ON THOSE LIGHTS. THAT'S PERFECT. THANK YOU.
THANK YOU, MR. CHAIRMAN. COUNCILMAN HUDSON. THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR. MY FIRST QUESTION IS GOING TO BE AN EASY ONE. I APPRECIATE THE COOPERATION AND ENTHUSIASM THAT PUBLIC WORKS AND THE MAYOR'S OFFICE HAS GIVEN TO US. AND I WAS JUST WONDERING IF THAT IS INCLUDED IN THIS YEAR'S BUDGET. WHAT'S THE. SPEED? IT'S NOT. IT IS NOT. FOR EVERYONE SHAKING THEIR HEAD,
[01:20:20]
I TYRUS IS A TRAFFIC TRACKING SOFTWARE THAT WE'VE MET WITH. THE COMPANY MET THEM AT THE NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES IN SALT LAKE CITY. WE'VE HAD THEM COME IN AND DO SOME PRODUCT DEMONSTRATIONS. THERE'S A LOT OF POTENTIAL FOR SAVINGS ACROSS THE BOARD AND UTILITY, IF THAT THAT THAT SOFTWARE. EVERYONE'S BEEN IN SUPPORT OF IT. THAT HAS SEEN IT. I WAS JUST WONDERING IF IT'S YEAH, WE USED ONE AT THIS ON THE STATE LEVEL AND I, I AGREE THERE, IT'S, IT'S A GREAT SERVICE TO HAVE WE BORROW SOME OF THAT TECHNOLOGY FROM KYTC AND KIPTOO WHEN WE NEED IT.BUT, YOU KNOW, IT'S, WE WE HAVE TO WE HAVE TO ASK. IT WOULD BE GOOD TO HAVE IT AT OUR FINGERTIPS. BUT BUT YEAH, I'VE SEEN THAT PRESENTATION AND IT IS IT'S GREAT. BUT IS IT IN THE BUDGET? IT IS NOT. I DON'T THINK IT IS. YEAH. THAT'S THAT'S DISAPPOINTING.
COUNCILMAN, WOULD YOU LIKE TO ASK A FOLLOW UP. SURE. LIKE IF IT'S NOT CONTEMPLATED IN THE BUDGET, DO WE HAVE ANY SENSE OF WHAT IT WOULD COST TO CONSIDER THIS? AND IF WE WERE TO CONSIDER IT, LIKE HOW QUICKLY WOULD WE BE ABLE TO RAMP THAT UP IF WE HAD THE FUNDS TO DO IT? IT PROBABLY DEPENDS ON THE SCOPE. AND YEAH, SOME OF THE PRESENTATIONS THEY GAVE US, I'M SORRY TO INTERRUPT, YOU KNOW, BETWEEN 75 AND $90,000 A YEAR. HOPEFULLY WE CAN SCRAPE THAT UP FROM SOMEWHERE BECAUSE, YEAH. SECOND QUESTION, HAS THIS BUDGET BEEN STRESS TESTED TO ACCOUNT FOR FLUCTUATING FUEL COSTS WITH FUEL COSTS GOING UP, THIS PUBLIC WORKS IN PARTICULAR WOULD BE IMPACTED BY THAT. OKAY. YEAH. WELL, I'LL SPEAK TO THE. YEAH. SOME OF OUR LIKE OUR BIGGEST, YOU KNOW, BIGGEST PROJECT OR ONE OF THE BIGGER PROJECTS THAT WE HAVE ANNUALLY IS PAVING. SO THAT'S VERY, VERY DEPENDENT ON FUEL, YOU KNOW, PETROLEUM COSTS, IT'S PETROLEUM BASED PRODUCT. AND SO ONE OF THE ADVANTAGES THAT WE HAVE OF THE, THE SOFTWARE THAT WE'RE USING OPENGOV IS THAT WE CAN RUN DIFFERENT SCENARIOS, DIFFERENT COST POINTS TO BE TO HAVE SOME FLEXIBILITY WITH THAT, YOU KNOW, FROM A JUST OVERALL. YOU KNOW, FUEL USAGE PERSPECTIVE. YOU KNOW, NOT BEING ABLE TO SEE WHAT, YOU KNOW, WHAT THOSE FLUCTUATIONS ARE GOING TO BE. I'M SURE THERE WILL BE SOME ADJUSTMENTS THAT WE WILL HAVE TO DO. I HAVEN'T RUN THE ANALYSIS ON THIS BUDGET. YEAH. WE HAVEN'T SEEN ANY FLUCTUATIONS YET. YES. RIGHT, RIGHT. BUT BUT MY QUESTION IS, HAVE YOU DONE THE MONTE CARLO ANALYSIS THAT SAYS WHAT THE TIPPING POINT WOULD BE OF A BARREL OF OIL BEFORE YOU HAVE TO START LAYING PEOPLE OFF OR CANCELING PROJECTS OR DOING DRASTIC MEASURES? HOW MUCH OF A INCREASE IN PRICE OF OIL COULD YOU ABSORB BEFORE YOU'D HAVE TO START DOING DRACONIAN ACTIONS? YEAH, WE HAVE NOT DONE THAT ANALYSIS, BUT WE CAN DEFINITELY DO THAT WITH OPENGOV. WE CAN DEFINITELY DO THAT ANALYSIS.
AND AND ON OUR OPERATIONAL SIDE TO. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. AND LAST QUESTION, COULD YOU EXPLAIN HOW WE'RE DOING SIDEWALKS NOW, THE WAY I UNDERSTAND IT, WE ONLY FIX FOURS AND FIVES AND WE BEVEL THOSE AND THEN A YEAR LATER GO BACK AND REPLACE THEM. SEEMS LIKE WASTE THAT COULD BE TAKEN OUT OF THE SYSTEM IF WE JUST. SO WE. YEAH, THERE'S SOME CLARIFICATION THAT WE, WE GOT ON THIS BECAUSE IT, IT CAME UP IN ONE OF OUR PAVING MEETINGS.
SO WHAT WE WILL DO IS WE WILL LOOK AT A SEGMENT. WE HAVE PRIORITIES IDENTIFIED THAT THAT GET LAID OUT IN THE SIDEWALK PLAN. AND WHAT WE WILL DO IS URINE ON THOSE THOSE FOURS AND FIVES. THOSE ARE THE MOST DRASTIC, YOU KNOW, HAZARDS AND, AND NEEDS FOR CORRECTION. SO THOSE CAN'T BE BEVELED JUST BECAUSE OF THE, THE SHEER, YOU KNOW, SIZE OF THEM. SO WHAT WE
[01:25:03]
WILL DO ON THOSE LESSER, YOU KNOW, TWOS AND THREES, THOSE TYPES OF HAZARDS WILL GO THROUGH IN BEVEL AND THEN FOLLOW UP. AND THERE'S, I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S ANY MAGIC IN WHICH ORDER THESE GO IN, BUT THE THOUGHT WOULD BE WE'D BEVEL THOSE AND THEN WE'D FOLLOW UP AND DO THE FULL REPLACEMENT, WHICH IS MORE COSTLY OF THOSE FOURS AND FIVES. AND SO YOU WOULD HAVE A SEGMENT OF SIDEWALK THAT WOULD BE SOMEWHAT HAZARD FREE, BUT YOU WOULDN'T BE REPEATING LIKE IF YOU BEVELED A SECTION, YOU WOULDN'T BE COMING BACK AND REPEAT REPAVING OR REBUILDING THAT SECTION. THE NEXT YEAR, YOU WOULD BE DOING THE ONES AROUND IT. YEAH. AND SOME OF THOSE BEVELED ONES THAT LAST 3 TO 5 YEARS, IT CAN YEAH. THAT, THAT, THAT WAS MY, MY RUB WITH THE CONVERSATION WE HAD BEFORE WAS IF WE'RE BEVELING THIS YEAR AND THEN REPLACING NEXT YEAR, WHY DON'T WE JUST WAIT OR GO AHEAD AND REPLACE THIS YEAR? YEAH, WE SHOULDN'T HAVE TO REPLACE THAT SOON ON A BEVEL. SO CAN WE PUT THAT IN A POLICY STATEMENT SOMEWHERE. SURE. THANK YOU. ABSOLUTELY. THANK YOU. THAT'S MY THREE. THANK YOU SIR. THANK YOU, COUNCILMAN LEHNINGER. THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR. THANK YOU GUYS FOR BEING HERE. SWITCHING GEARS A LITTLE BIT TO SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT, AS SEVERAL OF YOU HERE IN THE AUDIENCE KNOW, OUR OFFICE RECEIVES A LOT OF COMMUNICATION FROM OUR CONSTITUENTS ABOUT SOLID WASTE.AND ONE OF THE MOST FREQUENT THINGS THAT WE GET IS A COMPLAINT STILL, THAT LOUISVILLE HAS MOVED TO EVERY OTHER WEEK FOR RECYCLING PICKUP. THIS IS REALLY EXACERBATED AS A CONCERN WHEN WE HAVE EVENTS THAT LEAD US TO HAVING TO CANCEL RECYCLING COLLECTION.
YOU KNOW, WHEN WE HAD OUR WINTER WEATHER PROBLEMS LAST YEAR, THIS YEAR, YOU KNOW, IT'S LEADING TO SOME SERIOUS PROBLEMS IN THE ALLEYS. I, I WILL TELL YOU PERSONALLY, IN FOURTH STREET, I'VE, I'VE SEEN RATS IN THE ALLEY AND I'VE NEVER SEEN LIKE RATS RUNNING, YOU KNOW, IN THE ALLEY WHERE I WAS GOING TO SEE THEM IN DAYLIGHT. EVER LIVING IN OLD LOUISVILLE. AND I'VE LIVED IN OLD LOUISVILLE FOR A VERY LONG TIME. WHAT WOULD BE THE COST FOR US TO GO BACK TO WEEKLY RECYCLING? I DON'T HAVE THAT NUMBER ON THE TOP OF MY HEAD, BUT I CAN WE CAN CERTAINLY GO BACK AND, AND FIGURE OUT, I MEAN, YEAH, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT ADDITIONAL PROBABLY ADDITIONAL STAFF AND, AND TIME AND POTENTIALLY OVERTIME AND.
YEAH, BUT WE CAN FIND THAT OUT. SURE. I JUST FEEL LIKE, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT ONLY A PRETTY SERIOUS CONSTITUENT CONCERN. IT'S A PUBLIC HEALTH CONCERN. YOU KNOW, THIS GOES BEYOND, YOU KNOW, ONE DEPARTMENT ISSUE. I THINK THIS IS SOMETHING THAT IMPACTS A LOT OF DEPARTMENTS IN THE CITY. WHEN WE START HAVING SERIOUS PROBLEMS LIKE THAT. AND, AND ALSO, I JUST WANT TO BE ABLE TO TELL MY CONSTITUENTS, HEY, YOU KNOW, THAT THIS IS WHAT IT WOULD COST. WE HAVE TO THINK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE MAKE THESE BUDGETS, WHAT THE TRADE OFFS WOULD BE IF WE'RE GOING TO HAVE THIS, WHAT AREN'T WE GOING TO HAVE? SO IT'D BE GREAT TO GET THAT INFORMATION CONTINUING WITH SOLID WASTE. ANOTHER PROGRAM THAT HAS SEEN SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN THE LAST FEW YEARS IS LARGE PICKUP. WE'RE NO LONGER ON A SCHEDULE NOW. IT'S, YOU KNOW, BY APPOINTMENT. HAS THAT BEEN A POSITIVE CHANGE IN OUR ALLEYS IN THE USD? ARE WE SEEING LESS ILLEGAL DUMPING? ARE WE SEEING FEWER ACCUMULATION OF MATTRESSES AND DRESSERS AND WHATNOT? I DON'T KNOW IF YOU CAN POINT TO THAT SINGLE SINGLE CHANGE AS, AS BEING THE CAUSE OF THOSE DIFFERENT OUTCOMES. YOU KNOW, I, I DO THINK THE, THE FLEXIBILITY OF BEING ABLE TO CALL IN AND HAVE MULTIPLE APPOINTMENTS A WEEK VERSUS JUST THAT ONE TIME A QUARTER OR HAS SOME ADVANTAGES AND OBVIOUSLY SOME DISADVANTAGES, I THINK. YEAH, JUST SOME OF THE OTHER EFFORTS, THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF FOCUS AROUND DUMPING MITIGATION, YOU KNOW, ALLEY CLEANUPS. AND, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A WHOLE GROUP CALLED ALL IN ON CLEAN THAT IS A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT BETWEEN AGENCIES TO TRY TO ADDRESS SOME OF THESE SYSTEMIC CAUSES AND, AND RESULTS OF DUMPING AND LITTER AND THINGS LIKE THAT. SO I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF WORK TO DO, BUT THERE'S A LOT OF REALLY GOOD ENERGY BEHIND THESE DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS TO, TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE. AND SORRY IF THIS WAS ME, BUT IN THERE DO IS, IS DUMPING DOWN IS ILLEGAL DUMPING DOWN? IS THAT THE TREND WE'RE SEEING RIGHT NOW? I, I, I'LL GET BACK TO YOU ON THE ACTUAL NUMBER. I THINK IT IS GOING DOWN, BUT I'LL I'LL CONFIRM THAT. ALL RIGHT. AND THEN MY LAST QUESTION, ANOTHER
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FREQUENT CALL WE GET IS ON OUR BINS IN THE ALLEYS, BOTH FOR RECYCLING AND FOR GARBAGE. YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES THEY'RE BROKEN, SOMETIMES THEY'RE JUST GONE. AND WE'RE GETTING A LOT OF QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW LONG IT'S GOING TO TAKE TO GET ONE. WHAT IS GENERALLY THE TIMELINE FOR REPLACEMENT OF THESE ITEMS? AND YOU KNOW WHAT? WHAT COULD BE DONE TO IMPROVE IN THE BUDGET, GETTING THESE BACK TO PEOPLE? BECAUSE AGAIN, I THINK IT'S A HEALTH CONCERN, NOT, YOU KNOW, GARBAGE ENDS UP ON THE GROUND IN BAGS AND A LOT OF PARTS OF MY DISTRICT. YEAH. SO THIS HAS BEEN A A TOPIC I'VE BEEN VERY FOCUSED ON LAST, LAST FEW MONTHS IN THAT THERE WAS A, A TRANSITION IN, IN VENDORS. WE BROUGHT SOME THINGS IN-HOUSE AROUND THE BEGINNING OF THE CALENDAR YEAR. AND SO THERE WAS SOME CATCH UP THAT HAD TO BE DONE. THERE IS STILL A BACKLOG.I THINK WE'RE DEPLOYING CARTS AT ABOUT, I WANT TO SAY, 75 A DAY. AND SO WE ARE GETTING CAUGHT UP THAT THAT TIMELINE IS GOING DOWN. MY MY INTENT IS TO GET THAT DOWN FROM, YOU KNOW, SEVERAL WEEKS TO A HANDFUL OF WEEKS TO, YOU KNOW, IT'S ALMOST ALMOST A ON DEMAND. BUT, BUT CLOSER TO THAT. SO I CAN GET YOU ALL THE METRICS ON WHERE WE'RE AT IN TERMS OF BACKLOG AND THE TIME TO REPLACE, BUT IT IS IMPROVING PRETTY EXPONENTIALLY RIGHT NOW. I WOULD SAY. GODSPEED ON THAT. YES. AND AGAIN, JUST TO REITERATE, YOU AND EVERYONE ON DOWN THROUGH SOLID WASTE ARE A PLEASURE TO WORK WITH ON ALL OF THESE ISSUES. I JUST WANT TO SEE WHAT WE CAN DO IN THE BUDGET TO HELP IMPROVE IT. THANK YOU EVERYBODY. THANK YOU.
COUNCILMAN CHAPPELL. HI. HEY, THANKS FOR BEING HERE. THANKS AND THANKS FOR ALL THE WORK YOU ALL DO. THANK YOU TO ECHO COUNCILMAN HENNINGER. YOU GUYS ARE GREAT TO WORK WITH. SO ASIDE FROM FISCAL YEAR 24, IN WHICH WE'RE ONLY CURRENTLY TWO POSITIONS UP, FULL TIME PERSONNEL IS AT A TEN YEAR LOW FOR PUBLIC WORKS. EVEN WITH THE ADMINISTRATION'S LOVE OF AI, PUBLIC WORKS POSITIONS ARE VERY LABOR INTENSIVE, AND YOU CAN'T REALLY REPLACE THEM WITH COMPUTING. SO MY QUESTION. IS KIND OF MEATY WHY DOESN'T PUBLIC WORKS HAVE AN INTENTION TO ADD TO THEIR WORKFORCE THIS YEAR? AND IF ANYTHING, THE SAME THAT WE HEAR FROM PARKS REPEATEDLY IS WE DON'T HAVE THE ENGINEERS. SO NOT ONLY THE PEOPLE TO DO THE WORK, BUT WE DON'T HAVE THE ENGINEERS. AND NOT ONLY THAT, BUT WE CANNOT COMPETITIVELY PAY WHAT THE PRIVATE MARKET IS PAYING FOR OUR FOR ENGINEERS. AND THEREFORE, EVEN IF WE BUDGETED FOR THEM, IT'S NOT ENOUGH. AND SO. WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE TO ADD MORE ENGINEERS TO YOUR, YOUR STAFF? AND THEN ALSO WHAT OTHER POSITIONS ARE NEEDED? I FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE THAT YOU GUYS ARE STAFFED SUFFICIENTLY TO DO THE WORK THAT YOU HAVE IN FRONT OF YOU.
YEAH. SO ONE OF YEAH, A COUPLE OF THINGS. SO I APPRECIATE THE QUESTION. I'M SURE MY ENGINEERS APPRECIATE THE COMMENTS. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE WANT TO DO AND ARE STARTING THE PROCESS OF DOING IS JUST ADMINISTRATIVELY LOOKING AT, I KNOW THAT, THAT WE'VE FILLED QUITE A FEW VACANCIES OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS. THE QUESTION THAT WE ARE TRYING TO WORK THROUGH AND ANSWER IS, OKAY, WE'RE JUST BALANCING ACROSS THE ENTERPRISE WITH, YOU KNOW, SOLID WASTE DOT ELECTRICAL MAINTENANCE AND THE, THE OTHER ENTITIES WITHIN PUBLIC WORKS, YOU KNOW, HOW MANY, HOW MANY PEOPLE DO WE NEED TO HAVE IN THESE DIFFERENT ROLES IN THESE DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS? AND SO WE'RE, WE'RE TAKING ON A, YOU KNOW, SORT OF A STUDY OF THAT RIGHT NOW TO TRY TO ASSESS, OKAY, WHICH WHAT KIND OF FLEXIBILITY DO WE NEED TO HAVE IN, IN THAT, IN THAT ORGANIZATION, YOU KNOW, FIRST OF ALL, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE DELIVERING THE SERVICES THAT WE ARE COMMITTED TO DELIVERING ON TIME AND BEING RESPONSIVE. AND SO, YOU KNOW, I LOOK FORWARD TO SHARING SOME OF THE RESULTS OF WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT THERE THAT MIGHT BE RECLASSIFYING POSITIONS, THAT MIGHT BE DOING SOME THINGS WITH WITH VACANCIES AS THEY BECOME AVAILABLE. BUT, YOU KNOW, THERE'S SOME WORK THAT WE'RE DOING ON THAT RIGHT NOW. AND SO
[01:35:06]
IT SOUNDS LIKE FISCAL YEAR 28, WE SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR POSSIBLY INCREASED PERSONNEL FOR PUBLIC WORKS, HOPEFULLY. OKAY. I'M GOING TO PIVOT TO SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT OR SWIMS, AS I'LL REFER TO IT. LAST YEAR, THERE WAS A HOPE TO ADD 32 POSITIONS TO SWIMS. IT WASN'T FUNDED. AND SO THOSE POSITIONS WERE NOT FILLED, BUT KIND OF GOING ON THE SAME KIND OF THREAD. ARE THOSE JUST NOT NEEDED ANYMORE? OR I'M STRUGGLING TO UNDERSTAND HOW WE NEEDED 32 LAST YEAR, BUT NOW WE DON'T NEED ANY. YEAH. SO THOSE, THOSE 32 WERE FOR THE ALL IN UNCLEAN EFFORT. AND SO. AS I WAS MENTIONING, IT'S THIS IS A BASICALLY AN EFFORT DRIVEN BY THE MAYOR AND THE MAYOR'S OFFICE. AND QUITE FRANKLY, THE, THE FOLKS IN THIS CHAMBER TO ADDRESS CLEANLINESS ACROSS METRO ALL YEAR, DEPENDING ON, YOU KNOW, REGARDLESS OF WHAT TIME OF YEAR. AND THAT COULD LOOK LIKE, YOU KNOW, COLLABORATION BETWEEN AGENCIES THAT COULD BE INCREASED FREQUENCY OF DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES. YOU KNOW, WE HAVE, I THINK, MORE THAN TEN DIFFERENT ENTITIES, AGENCIES THAT COME TOGETHER ON A RECURRING BASIS TO TALK ABOUT HOW CAN WE COLLABORATE BETTER, YOU KNOW, IS THERE A EFFICIENCY TO COMING THROUGH AND DOING A STREET SWEEPING AND THEN HAVING MSD DO CATCH BASIN CLEANING RIGHT AFTER THINGS LIKE THAT? AND THERE'S AN EDUCATION PIECE TO THAT TOO. AND SO. YOU KNOW, IN ADDITION TO THAT, THERE'S A LOT OF EDUCATION AND THERE ARE SOME IN SOME LEGISLATIVE CHANGES THAT HAVE BEEN TAKEN ON TO ADDRESS, YOU KNOW, DUMPING AND SOME OF THE HAULING ACTIVITIES. AND SO THOSE POSITIONS, THERE'S STILL A NEED. YOU KNOW, WE ARE DOING WHAT WE CAN WITH THOSE AGENCIES AND EXISTING STAFF TO DO AS MUCH AS WE CAN. AND, AND WE'VE SEEN SOME SOME REALLY GOOD RESULTS FROM THAT. SO AND WE'VE HAD SEVERAL ACTIVATIONS WHERE WE'LL GO OUT AND TRY TO ADDRESS A, YOU KNOW, A SEVERAL BLOCKS IN A SINGLE FEW DAYS TO GET THE MOST IMPACT. AND SO WHAT THAT PREVIOUS FUNDING WOULD DO IS JUST MORE EQUIPMENT, MORE PERSONNEL TO, TO BE ABLE TO EXPAND ON THAT. COUNCILMAN WINKLER HAS A DIRECT FOLLOW UP.YEAH, I THINK AND CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, BUT IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY FROM LAST YEAR, AND MAYBE THIS IS THE ANSWER TO COUNCILMAN CHAPPELL'S QUESTION, YOU ALL HAD PROPOSED THIS ALL IN ON CLEAN INITIATIVE, RIGHT? YOU IDEALLY 32 PEOPLE, THERE WAS A MINIMUM NUMBER BELOW WHICH IT WAS LIKE IF YOU DON'T FUND IT, AT LEAST AT THIS LEVEL, IT'S NOT REALLY WORTH DOING. WE CHOSE NOT TO FUND IT AT THAT MINIMUM LEVEL. AND SO YOU'VE PULLED THE PROGRAM OR YOU'RE NOT DOING IT THE WAY THAT IT WAS PROPOSED LAST YEAR. SO THE POSITIONS NEVER EXISTED. IT'S NOT LIKE THEY WERE UNFILLED. WE CHOSE NOT TO FUND IT. RIGHT. AND SO HAVING TELEGRAPHED THAT WE'RE NOT GOING TO AT LEAST THAT WE WEREN'T GOING TO FUND IT THIS YEAR, YOU'VE PURSUED SOME OTHER WAY OF DOING SOMETHING SIMILAR, PROBABLY TO A MUCH LESSER SCALE. IS THAT A FAIR WAY OF SAYING IT? THAT WAS A VERY MUCH MORE CONCISE WAY OF SAYING THANK YOU. AND COUNCILMAN CHAPPELL, BACK TO YOU. ONE MORE LEFT AND THEN I'M ALREADY QUEUED UP. SO YOU'LL TALK TO ME AGAIN IN A SECOND. BUT YOU KNOW, THE ALL IN ON CLEAN. I DO WANT TO SAY THAT THAT PILOT, I THINK THE VERY FIRST ONE WAS IN MY DISTRICT AND IT WAS A WONDERFUL PILOT.
AND SO I WOULD BE LOOKING FOR HOW WE CAN ADD ON TO THAT. AND SO WE CAN DO IT ON A MORE REGULAR BASIS BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, EVEN JUST THE LIKE YOU WERE SAYING, THE SEWER BASIN CLEANINGS, THAT IT MAKES SUCH A HUGE IMPACT IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS. SO I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THAT PROGRAM FULLY FUNDED IN OUR SOLID WASTE. FOLKS SUPPORTED STAYING WITHIN SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT. I WANT TO TALK ABOUT GARBAGE RECEPTACLES. AND COUNCILMAN LEININGER STARTED STARTED THAT CONVERSATION, BUT I WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT IN TWO WAYS. ONE RESIDENT AND THAT I AS I UNDERSTAND IT, THE BINS THAT WE HAVE PRINTED, WE CHANGED VENDORS. AND IN THAT CHANGE, AND CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, THERE WAS QUITE A BUILD UP OF PEOPLE THAT ARE ON A WAITING LIST. I THINK SOMEBODY IN MY OFFICE, AND I THINK SOMEBODY ELSE IN CITY HALL, THEY GOT ON THAT LIST AND THEY WERE TOLD BY SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT, YOUR NUMBER 371 ON OUR LIST WILL GET TO YOU, WHICH IS IS KIND OF PROBLEMATIC. AND SO DOES THIS BUDGET ADDRESS THAT. AND THEN ON THE OTHER SIDE OF IT, OUR PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAY TRASH BINS,
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WE'VE NEVER HAD A AN INVENTORY OF THOSE. WE WERE TOLD THAT IT WOULD COST $500,000 TO TAKE AN INVENTORY MAP, ALL OF THOSE, AND THEN ALSO ASSESS THEIR CONDITION. SO, YOU KNOW, MOVING TOWARDS A UNIFIED, YOU KNOW, BLACK FLUTED BIN ACROSS ALL OF LOUISVILLE METRO. SO IT'S EASY TO CHANGE A LINER IF IT GOES MISSING, BUT WE DON'T REALLY KNOW WHERE THOSE ARE PLACED, HOW OFTEN THEY'RE GETTING CHANGED, WHAT KIND OF TRASH CANS THEY ARE. AND SO I'M JUST WONDERING HOW IS THAT ADDRESSED IN THIS BUDGET. SO AGAIN, TRASH RECEPTACLES, RESIDENTIAL TRASH RECEPTACLES, RIGHT OF WAY. YEAH. SO. I'LL JUST SPEAK TO NOT NECESSARILY IN THE IN THE UPCOMING BUDGET OTHER THAN, YOU KNOW, THE MAINTENANCE NUMBERS THAT, THAT ARE IN THERE. BUT I THINK WITH BOTH OF THOSE EFFORT, WELL, I'LL SPEAK TO THE FIRST ONE FIRST. SO THE THERE IS A BACK. THERE WAS A BACKLOG. THERE IS CONTINUE TO BE A BACKLOG. WHAT WE ARE WORKING ON IS HOW DO WE. MOST EFFICIENTLY GET THROUGH THAT BACKLOG? SO PEOPLE AREN'T WAITING, YOU KNOW, IN SOMETIMES MONTHS BEFORE THEY GET A RECYCLE BIN OR A GARBAGE BIN. SO THAT'S SOME WORK THAT'S THAT'S ONGOING. A LOT OF THAT IS. YOU KNOW, LOOKING AT THE INTAKE ON 311 OR HOWEVER THOSE REPORTS COME IN, HOW ARE WE PRIORITIZING THOSE? AND, YOU KNOW, IS THERE A WAY TO MAKE MORE EFFICIENTLY WITH ROUTING, GET BIGGER GROUPS OF THOSE TAKEN OFF SOONER? SO THAT'S, THAT'S SOMETHING WE'RE WORKING ON IN TERMS OF THE RIGHT OF WAY BEFORE YOU GET TO THE RIGHT OF WAY. ARE YOU SAYING THAT WITH THE RESIDENTIAL YOU HAVE THE INVENTORY? IT'S JUST GETTING IT OUT TO THE COMMUNITY THAT'S THE ISSUE. OR DO WE HAVE THOSE BINS PRINTED AND STAMPED AND SITTING THERE WAITING TO GO OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY? I'M TRYING TO IDENTIFY IF THERE'S A FUNDING GAP HERE, BECAUSE IF YOU'RE ON A WAITLIST, I MEAN, LIKE, IF YOU NEED ME TO THROW SOMETHING IN THE BACK OF MY, YOU KNOW, I'LL GET MY DAD'S TRUCK, WE'LL TAKE THEM TO THE NEIGHBORS THAT NEED THEM, YOU KNOW, JUST GIVE ME A LIST. BUT I MEAN, DO WE HAVE THE TRASH CANS TO EVEN DO THAT? YEAH. SO I THINK I'LL CONFIRM THIS, BUT YEAH, I THINK WE HAVE THE CAN. I DON'T THINK IT'S A FUNDING ISSUE. I THINK WE HAVE THE CANS. IT'S JUST GETTING THROUGH THAT BACKLOG THAT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE BEHIND WITH THE VENDOR CHANGE. SO IT'S MORE OF A LIKE DELIVERY, GETTING THEM, YOU KNOW, PHYSICALLY ASSEMBLED AND OUT. ON THE THE RIGHT OF WAY. YEAH, THIS IS, THIS HAS BEEN AN ONGOING DISCUSSION SINCE I'VE BEEN HERE TOO, IS LIKE, HOW DO WE INVENTORY WHERE OUR CANS ARE? YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS I'D LIKE TO DO TOO, IS LOOK AT AT LEAST ON A ROUTE BY ROUTE BASIS, TRYING TO SEE IF THERE'S A WAY TO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE CONSISTENCY IN THE TYPE OF CAN ON A, ON A ROUTE SO THAT YOU'RE NOT NEEDING TWO, BASICALLY TWO DIFFERENT CREWS TO, TO SERVICE THE SAME ROUTE. SO THAT'S, YOU KNOW, THAT THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE ARE LOOKING AT. BECAUSE TO YOUR POINT, IT MAKES THINGS MUCH MORE EFFICIENT. IF YOU HAVE ONE TYPE OF THING AND THERE'S DIFFERENT EQUIPMENT, YOU KNOW, THE MUSHROOM TOP TYPE CANS TAKE A DIFFERENT PIECE OF EQUIPMENT THAN JUST YOUR STANDARD LIKE LINERS AND OTHER CANS. SO HAVING CONSISTENCY THERE, I THINK IS GOING TO BRING SOME EFFICIENCY. BUT YOU KNOW, ANOTHER THING THAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT IS HOW DO WE, HOW DO WE GET AN INVENTORY AND A GOOD FEELING ABOUT WHERE EXACTLY EVERY TYPE OF CAN IS IN, IN THESE ROUTES. AND SO IF A COUNCIL MEMBER WANTED TO ADVOCATE FOR THAT INVENTORY WITH $500,000, STILL BE AN ACCURATE NUMBER. YES. OKAY. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, COUNCILWOMAN WOOLRIDGE. THANK YOU. AND THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE. THANKS. I'M GOING TO KIND OF FOCUS ON SOME CAPITAL FUNDING HERE. SO AS FAR AS THE LONG TERM CAPITAL NEEDS, DO YOU HAVE A LIST OF THE TOP INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS BASED ON KIND OF HOW OUR CITY IS GROWING AND AREAS WE'RE GROWING IN? YEAH. SO. YEAH, THERE, THERE ARE THE PROJECTS THAT WE'VE IDENTIFIED. I GUESS THERE ARE A COUPLE DIFFERENT THINGS THAT WE LOOK AT. ONE IS THE PAVING PLAN. SO THAT'S INFRASTRUCTURE REINVESTMENT. AND THERE'S ALSO THE OTHER ITEMS THAT ARE SORT OF, I WOULD SAY PERIPHERAL TO THAT. BUT WHETHER SIDEWALKS, GUARDRAILS, YOU KNOW, BRIDGE CULVERT STRUCTURES, YOU KNOW,[01:45:08]
SO THAT THAT IS ALL DATA DRIVEN IN TERMS OF WHERE'S THE BIGGEST NEED? WHERE DO WE NEED TO BE ADDRESSING THOSE? AND THEN WE'VE ALSO IDENTIFIED IN, IN WORKING WITH THE STATE, YOU KNOW, WHERE SOME OF THE LIKE STATE ROAD WHERE SOME OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS FOR THE SOME OF THOSE. AND WE'VE SEEN SOME SOME REALLY BIG SUCCESSES IN TERMS OF WHAT ACTUALLY SHOWS UP IN THE IN THE ROAD PLAN THIS YEAR. AND THEN THE, THE OTHER BUCKET IS, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THE FEDERAL FUNDING THAT WE HAVE, WE DON'T WANT TO, YOU KNOW, THESE ARE FOR SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS OR ACCESSIBILITY IMPROVEMENTS, TRAFFIC, TRAFFIC IMPROVEMENTS. AND SO WE DON'T WE DON'T WANT TO LOSE THAT FUNDING THERE. THERE'S A PROCESS TO GET THAT, THAT MONEY.BUT, YOU KNOW, AND A LOT OF TIMES WE HAVE TO MATCH AND THEN ALSO GO THROUGH AND THE DIFFERENT CRITICAL REVIEWS THAT HAVE TO HAPPEN ON A FEDERAL FUNDED PROJECT. BUT, YOU KNOW, THOSE NEEDS ARE WHAT'S BASICALLY REFLECTED IN OUR, OUR CAPITAL ASK FOR THIS YEAR, YOU KNOW, IN DIRECT RESPONSE TO THE BIGGEST, YOU KNOW, BIGGEST PIECE OF INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WE HAVE, LIKE I SAID, IS OUR, OUR PAVEMENT, OUR ROADWAYS. AND SO THOSE, AGAIN, VERY DATA DRIVEN.
THAT'S THE, YOU KNOW, SORT OF THE ALGORITHM AND PROCESS THAT WE USE TO IDENTIFY THOSE, THOSE SEGMENTS AND THOSE, THOSE PROJECTS IS WHAT'S IN THE WORST CONDITION. AND SO THAT'S WHAT YOU'LL SEE REFLECTED THERE WHEN WE GET TO THAT 70% OR 70 RATING NUMBER ON ALL THESE. AND COUNCILMAN ARGENTINA'S POINT, YOU KNOW, CAN WE FOCUS ON OTHER THINGS? AND AND I'D LIKE TO SEE US FOCUS ON SIDEWALKS AT THAT POINT, BECAUSE OUR OUR BACKLOG ON SIDEWALKS IS PRETTY DEEP.
AND SO WE ALSO HAVE CULVERTS. WE HAVE A SPECIAL STRUCTURES TEAM AND INFRASTRUCTURE RENEWAL TEAM THAT DEALS WITH ALL THOSE ISSUES. SO AND THEN CURBS AS WELL. WE WANT TO INVENTORY AND, AND ALSO FIX CURBS IN ALL ACROSS THE CITY. SO BUT YEAH, AND THEN ALSO THE, I THINK THE BIGGEST THING AS FAR AS CHANGING THE ROADS, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT TRAFFIC CALMING.
SO YEAH. AND THAT'S ALSO BIG. YEAH. THANK YOU. AND I KNOW ONE THING THAT COUNCILWOMAN CHAPEL, I THINK YOU ANSWERED HER QUESTION EARLIER. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT STAFFING PLANS. RIGHT. I KNOW THAT AND APPRECIATE YOU ALL LOOKING AT THAT AS, AS WHAT'S NEEDED. AND DO YOU HAVE THE STAFFING TO DO THE WORK THAT YOU HAVE IN THIS BUDGET? AND I THINK THAT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE CONTINUE TO LOOK AT THAT. MY LAST QUESTION IS, I BELIEVE, WITHIN THIS BUDGET AND THE PROPOSED EXECUTIVE BUDGET, THERE'S A REDUCTION IN VEHICLES AND EQUIPMENT. SO DO YOU HAVE WHAT YOU NEED TO DO, THE WORK THAT IS PROPOSED, AND HOW IS THAT REDUCTION FROM 5 MILLION TO 3.5 MILLION IMPACTING YOUR OPERATIONS? YEAH. SO WE HAVE SPENT A LOT OF TIME OVER THE LAST FEW DAYS LOOKING AT EQUIPMENT. AND SO YOU WILL SEE OF THAT 3.5 MILLION, IT'S IT'S ALMOST EVENLY SPLIT BETWEEN SOLID WASTE EQUIPMENT, WHETHER IT'S GARBAGE TRUCKS OR THAT TYPE OF EQUIPMENT OR ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROADSIDE, YOU HAVE SNOW REMOVAL. YOU HAVE THOSE TYPES OF VEHICLES. AND APPURTENANCES THAT ARE NEEDED FOR FILLING POTHOLES AND PAVING.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, WE'RE IT'S ONE OF THOSE SITUATIONS WHERE. YOU KNOW, WE WILL MAKE WHAT WE'RE WHAT WE'RE GETTING WORK. THERE'S ALSO AN ELECTRICAL MAINTENANCE, I THINK A BOOM TRUCK IN THERE, AERIAL TRUCK IN THERE AS WELL. SO YEAH, WE'VE, WE'VE GONE THROUGH AND, AND TRIED TO TRIM AS MUCH OFF OF THAT ORIGINAL LIST AS, AS WE NEEDED TO, TO GET TO THIS NUMBER. AND, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE WILL, YEAH, DO WHAT WE HAVE TO DO TO MAKE IT WORK. I THINK WE REMOVED A LOT OF THE PICKUP TRUCKS AND, AND PASSENGER VEHICLES AND CONCENTRATING ON THE BIGGER ITEMS. AND SOME OF THOSE ITEMS THAT WES MENTIONED CAN ALSO BE USED FOR SNOW REMOVAL. SO SOME OF THOSE HAVE A DUAL PURPOSE. OKAY. YEAH. BECAUSE I KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW, ALL OF US AND THOSE LISTENING, THE PUBLIC, YOU SAY SNOW REMOVAL AND THAT'S GOING TO BE A CONCERN, RIGHT? BECAUSE OF BACKLOG THAT HAPPENS. AND YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT THAT THE WINTER
[01:50:05]
IS GOING TO BRING. BUT THAT'S ALWAYS CONCERNING. BUT APPRECIATE IT. YEAH. THANK YOU, COUNCILWOMAN BASS. THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING HERE AND FOR EVERYTHING YOU ALL DO FOR THE ENTIRE CITY AND THE COLLABORATION THAT YOU ALL BRING TO THE TABLE CONSTANTLY.JUST HAD A SHE ACTUALLY ASKED ONE OF MY QUESTIONS I WAS CURIOUS ABOUT. SO I'LL MOVE OVER TO THE. THERE'S A COST DIFFERENCE. ONE STREET SWEEPING INSIDE THE. THE US VERSUS ONE OUTSIDE OF THE URBAN SERVICE DISTRICT. HOW MUCH IS ANTICIPATED TO RECEIVE FROM KYTC FOR THE REIMBURSEMENT OF THE STREET SWEEPING AND THE STATE ROADS? YEAH, THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION. WE HAVE JUST TALKED ABOUT THIS TODAY ABOUT GETTING A AN ESTIMATE TOGETHER BECAUSE A MAJORITY OF THOSE ROADS OUTSIDE THE USD OR STATE STATE HIGHWAYS. SO, YEAH, THEY THEY HAVE NOT COME UP WITH THEIR FORMULA OR THEIR, THEIR MAINTENANCE AGREEMENTS YET. I TRY TO GET THAT INFORMATION OUT OF THEM TODAY. AND THEY, THEY, THEY STILL DON'T HAVE IT, BUT TRY TO GET SOMETHING BACK BEFORE THE BUDGET. SO WE DON'T REALLY KNOW IF THERE'S A COST DIFFERENCE BETWEEN INSIDE OR OUTSIDE. OH NO, I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE THE DIFFERENT. WELL WE'LL FIND OUT. YEAH. OKAY. YEAH. ALL RIGHT. MOWING CYCLES WAS THE COST FOR USING A CONTRACTOR TO PERFORM THIS WORK. DO YOU KNOW IS THAT SUFFICIENT OR ARE YOU ALL LOOKING AT OTHER WAYS OTHER THAN CONTRACTING THAT OUT THAT MAY BE CHEAPER? OR IS DOES THAT SEEM LIKE THAT'S THE BEST ROUTE? I THINK? WELL, SOME OF IT DEPENDS ON WHICH LOCATION YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT. YOU KNOW, I THINK JUST. PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY IS IF IF WE HAVE THE EQUIPMENT AND CAN DO IT IN HOUSE, HAVE THE PERSONNEL, THEN THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GOING TO WANT TO DO, BUT OBVIOUSLY NEED CONTRACTING SUPPORT TO AUGMENT AND, AND SUPPORT OUR STAFF. YEAH, I'LL, I'LL GET BACK TO YOU ON THE LIKE, SORT OF THE BALANCE BETWEEN WHAT WE'RE SPENDING OR WHAT WE'RE USING INTERNAL VERSUS EXTERNAL. OKAY. SO THAT WOULD KIND OF NARROW DOWN LIKE WHAT THE COST IS FOR OUTSOURCING IT. OKAY. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, COUNCILMAN PARKER. YES. THANK YOU. I'M GOING TO GO BACK TO THE $7 MILLION IN GRANTS THAT WE GOT FROM THE STATE. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT FUNDING SOURCE CAME FROM? FROM THE STATE? WAS IT FROM THE REVAMPING OF THE FORMULA FIS FROM THE GAS TAX, OR WAS IT JUST BECAUSE THEY HAD A BUDGET SURPLUS? AND THE REASON I ASK IS BECAUSE I JUST WONDERED IF WE COULD NOW EXPECT THAT MUCH OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT FIGURE FROM YEAR TO YEAR. YEAH, YEAH. THAT'S I THINK I THINK YOU'RE PROBABLY RIGHT ON TARGET AND SOME OF THAT WAS FROM SURPLUS. BUT, YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S GOING TO BE YEAR TO YEAR. THAT'S SOMETHING THAT AS SOON AS WE FIND OUT, WE'LL HAVE TO PASS THAT ON. OKAY. AND THEN. WITH THE 65 MILLION IN PROPOSED PROJECTS FOR 27, DO YOU FEEL LIKE PUBLIC WORKS HAS THE CONTRACTORS, THE STAFF, THE EQUIPMENT TO COMPLETE THOSE PROJECTS TIMELY? AND THE REASON I ASK THAT IS BECAUSE IN PAST BUDGETS WITH PARKS, WE'VE ACTUALLY TRIED TO GIVE THEM MORE MONEY AND THEY SAID, WELL, YOU CAN GIVE US MORE MONEY, BUT WE CAN'T SPEND IT BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE THE RESOURCES TO DO THE WORK. SO YES, WE HAVE A HARD TIME TURNING DOWN MONEY. YEAH. TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, YEAH. IF I FEEL VERY COMFORTABLE THAT WE ARE GOING TO BE ABLE TO, TO SPEND WHAT WE HAVE, WHETHER IT'S INTERNAL STAFF, PROJECT MANAGEMENT, OR IF WE HAVE TO AUGMENT WITH CONSULTING SUPPORT, WE'LL FIND A WAY TO, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT A LOT OF THESE PROJECTS HAVE, YOU KNOW, FEDERAL FUNDING OR STATE FUNDING, THEN, YOU KNOW, WE WANT TO FULFILL OUR OBLIGATIONS SO THAT WE'RE NOT LOSING A HUGE OPPORTUNITY THERE. SO YEAH, I'M VERY COMFORTABLE THAT. IS THERE ANY PLAN TO ADD ANY MORE PAVING CONTRACTORS OR OR IS THERE ANY EVEN AVAILABLE? SO. IMMEDIATELY,
[01:55:04]
NOT IMMEDIATELY. I'LL HAVE TO CHECK ON WHEN THAT WHEN THOSE EXISTING CONTRACTS EXPIRE OR RENEW. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT WITH PROCUREMENT ARE WHAT ARE SOME DIFFERENT OPTIONS IN TERMS OF EXPANDING OUR CONTRACTOR POOL JUST IN GENERAL, AND SO CONTINUE TO WORK THROUGH WHAT ARE SOME PATHWAYS THAT WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO TAKE TO? I THINK YOU HAVE MORE CONTRACTORS AVAILABLE THAT'S GOING TO LEAD TO A BETTER PRODUCT AND BETTER TIMELINES, AND IT MIGHT ACTUALLY LOWER COST A LITTLE BIT WITH A LITTLE BIT MORE COMPETITION. GOOD. SO WE'RE EXCITED TO, TO CONTINUE TO WORK WITH THEM TO FIND, YOU KNOW, THOSE OPPORTUNITIES WHILE STILL, YOU KNOW, WORKING WITHIN OUR MODEL PROCUREMENT CODE. OKAY.THANK YOU. YEP. COUNCILMAN COUNCILMAN WINKLER, THANK YOU. OKAY. I'VE GOT A COUPLE QUESTION. ACTUALLY, I'M GOING TO ASK SORT OF THE INVERSE FROM COUNCILWOMAN PARKER'S QUESTION.
SO I THOUGHT WITH THE INFLUX OF FEDERAL DOLLARS THAT WE GOT OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS, YOU KNOW, WE HAD A CAPACITY. I THOUGHT WE ADDED SOME PROJECT MANAGEMENT RESOURCES. WE DID.
WERE THOSE ALL CONTRACTUAL SERVICES OR DO WE HAVE EMPLOYEES? AND IF WE ADDED EMPLOYEES NOW THAT, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THAT FEDERAL FUNDING HAS GONE OUT THE WINDOW, WILL WE ATTRIT THOSE POSITIONS BACK DOWN OR KIND OF TALK ABOUT THAT STAFFING PLAN? YEAH. SO. YEAH, OBVIOUSLY, WE'LL NEED TO, TO FOLLOW UP WITH THE, THE RESULTS OF THAT, THAT STAFFING PLAN ONCE WE GET THROUGH IT. BUT, YOU KNOW, RIGHT NOW THERE'S, THERE'S SORT OF THE, THE BAD AND THE GOOD OF FEDERAL PROJECTS AND FEDERAL MONIES IS THAT IT WILL SPAN MULTIPLE YEARS. AND SO JUST HAVING AN INFLUX, UNFORTUNATELY, DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE'RE GOING TO HAVE GET THROUGH THAT INFLUX IN A SINGLE YEAR. AND SO, YOU KNOW, I THINK THERE'S SEVERAL WAYS TO ADDRESS THAT. AGAIN, WOULD SORT OF FALL BACK ON THE THAT STAFFING PLAN TO, TO GIVE SOME OF THOSE ANSWERS. BUT YEAH, I THINK THAT'S, THAT'S SOMETHING WE'LL DEFINITELY HAVE TO CONSIDER AS PART OF A MAYBE, BUT DOWN THE ROAD, MAYBE. OKAY, SO I WAS LOOKING THROUGH YOUR DETAILED BUDGET AND I DON'T NEED YOU TO GO THROUGH THESE LINE BY LINE, BUT I'M CURIOUS BECAUSE THERE'S QUITE A FEW LINES THAT CHANGE PRETTY DRAMATICALLY. SO LIKE YOUR CONSTRUCTION SERVICES CONTRACT WENT FROM 0 TO 400 K, YOUR NEW CONTRACT, WHICH I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT IS, WENT FROM 1 MILLION TO 0. YOUR UNIFORM RENTALS WENT, I THINK FROM 250 K TO ZERO. GROUNDS MAINTENANCE WENT FROM 0 TO 471. IS THAT JUST STUFF MOVING BETWEEN LIKE IT'S ALL THE SAME STUFF AND IT'S JUST CLASSIFIED DIFFERENTLY? OR IS THAT AARON SHAKING HIS HEAD? SO IT'S ALL ESSENTIALLY THE SAME STUFF. THEY'RE JUST IN DIFFERENT BUCKETS. DIFFERENT CLASS. YES. PERFECT. THANK YOU. SO. THE I NOTICED THERE WAS ALMOST NO INCREASE IN SALT. AND YOU KNOW, I KNOW YOU CAN'T PREDICT THE WINNER, BUT I'M SURPRISED GIVEN THIS PAST YEAR. AND THEN THE COMMENTARY ABOUT SALT, I AM SURPRISED THAT THERE'S NOT AN INCREASE IN THE SALT BUDGET FOR THIS YEAR. AND I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'RE COMFORTABLE WITH THAT.
YEAH. SO JUST SPEAKING GENERALLY ABOUT ABOUT SALT. WE HAVE IN THE LAST FEW WEEKS, WE'RE AT THE POINT WHERE BOTH THE. THE ABOVE GROUND STORAGE WAS AROUND 16000 TONS AT DIFFERENT LOCATIONS IN THE DOMES. AND THE UNDERGROUND STORAGE, WHICH IS IN THE CAVE IS AROUND 2000 TONS. SO WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF BASICALLY OFFLOADING SALT AND REFILLING THE THE UNDERGROUND RIGHT NOW. SO WE'RE ALMOST TO THE POINT WHERE WE'RE BACK AT FULL ACROSS THE BOARD, WHICH IS A GOOD, GOOD PLACE TO BE. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THAT WE LOOKED AT IN THIS PAST YEAR, WE DO GET REIMBURSED FROM THE STATE FOR OUR SALT USAGE AND, AND SOME OF THOSE PURCHASES, THEY DID IN FACT, RAISE THAT CAP BY 400,000 OR SO, WHICH IS A GOOD THING JUST BECAUSE OF THE EVENT WE HAD. YOU KNOW, THE THINKING IS THAT WITH SALT GOING UP AS MUCH AS IT IS, THAT WILL MAINTAIN THESE LEVELS. YOU KNOW, IF IF A SITUATION WHERE WE HAVE ANOTHER, GOD FORBID, WE HAVE ANOTHER EVENT LIKE THIS PAST WINTER, THEN YEAH, WE'LL HAVE TO, TO
[02:00:05]
MAKE ARRANGEMENTS TO HOPEFULLY GET ANOTHER CAP CAP RAISE FROM THE STATE. SO YEAH. OKAY. I HAVE AN IMMEDIATE FOLLOW UP FOR THE SALT, IF YOU DON'T MIND. I HEAR YOU SAYING THAT WE'RE GOOD AND THAT'S FINE. WHAT IS THE CURRENT HOW ARE WE DOING WITH SUBURBAN CITIES THAT HAVE THE CAPACITY TO, TO LAY SALT AND THEM BEING ABLE TO PURCHASE THROUGH OUR CONTRACT ENOUGH SALT FOR THEM AS WELL? BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY BECAUSE WE PURCHASED SO MUCH, WE'RE GETTING A MUCH BETTER RATE. RIGHT? AND I KNOW SOME OF OUR SUBURBAN CITIES HAVE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF THAT. I DON'T KNOW IF ALL OF THEM HAVE OR EVEN IF IT'S BEEN MADE AWARE TO THEM, LIKE PROSPECT. YES, FOR SURE. YES. MANY OF THEM HAVE. AND YES, SO WHAT, WHEN THAT HAPPENS, YOU KNOW, EVEN EVEN OTHER ENTITIES LIKE MSD PURCHASES SALT FROM US. AND SO WHAT WHAT HAPPENS IS WHEN THAT HAPPENS, THEY WILL THEY WILL BE INVOICED FOR THAT SALT THAT THEY USE. OKAY. AND WE'RE ALL IN THIS, YOU KNOW, TOGETHER. SO WE'RE WORKING TOGETHER ON IT. AND SO IT, IT WORKS. WELL, THAT WOULD BE MY HOPE. LIKE WE'RE NOT SEEKING A PROFIT. WE JUST WANT TO MAKE IT. WE WANT TO MAKE IT AS AVAILABLE AS WE CAN AT THE PRICE WE'RE PAYING. OKAY. I WANT TO SHIFT GEARS. WES, YOU GOT TWO OTHER QUESTIONS. THE FIRST IS, YOU KNOW, WE TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT TRASH RECEPTACLES AND THOSE SORTS OF THINGS. I WOULD LIKE TO SEE IF, IF YOU ALL, BEFORE WE VOTE ON THE BUDGET, IF WE COULD GET THE COST, IF WE AT LEAST RAN A ROUTE THAT PUT TRASH CANS AT ALL OF THE BUS STOPS. I MEAN, THIS IS A PERENNIAL PROBLEM THAT I THINK THOSE OF US OUTSIDE OF THE USD DEAL WITH. A LOT OF TIMES WE ASK NEIGHBORING BUSINESSES IF THEY'LL MAINTAIN THE TRASH CAN AT THE BUS STOP. IT'S NOT REALLY THEIR RESPONSIBILITY. I MEAN, SOME OF THEM DO IT, SOME OF THEM DON'T. AND I WOULD BE CURIOUS WHAT IT WOULD COST. PUT A TRASH CAN, PICK IT UP ONCE EVERY THREE DAYS. I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOUR USUAL TRASH RUN IS ONCE A WEEK, BUT IF WE COULD GET THAT COST WOULD BE GREAT. OKAY, OKAY. AND THEN THE LAST QUESTION I HAD PIGGYBACKING A LITTLE BIT OFF COUNCILWOMAN BASS QUESTION ABOUT STREET SWEEPING. SO THIS IS SORT OF A BROADER QUESTION JUST ABOUT BUDGETARY STRATEGY IN GENERAL. IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING IN PAST BUDGET CYCLES THAT WE HAVE HAD CONTRACTORS, AND I'LL USE THAT, WHETHER IT'S PAVING COMPANIES OR, IN THIS CASE, STREET SWEEPING COMPANIES THAT HAVE BEEN RETICENT TO MAKE INVESTMENTS IN CAPITAL EQUIPMENT. BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE A STREET SWEEPER, THERE'S PROBABLY NOT 80 CUSTOMERS YOU CAN CALL ON THAT NEED. STREET SWEEPING. THERE'S PROBABLY US AND SOME SUBURBAN CITIES THAT USE THE STREET SWEEPER. AND SO FOR ME AS A BUSINESS OWNER TO MAKE THE INVESTMENT OF BUYING A SECOND OR THIRD STREET SWEEPING TRUCK WITHOUT ANY KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT METRO IS GOING TO FUND STREET SWEEPING AT FOR FUTURE YEARS CAN BE VERY DIFFICULT TO MAKE THAT SORT OF CAPITAL INVESTMENT, BECAUSE THERE'S NO OTHER CUSTOMERS THAT I CAN CONCEIVABLY GET. I'M CURIOUS, NUMBER ONE, AND SIMILARLY WITH PAVING, I'VE HEARD OF PAVING COMPANIES THAT, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, NOT KNOWING, ARE WE GOING TO FUND BUDGET PAVING AT 20 MILLION OR 30 MILLION A YEAR? SO THE QUESTION THAT I HAVE IS, NUMBER ONE, DO YOU PERCEIVE THAT TO BE A PROBLEM? AND NUMBER TWO, IS THERE VALUE IN US IN IN THOSE SORTS OF POTENTIAL CASES, TELEGRAPHING IN A LONGER TERM WAY, LIKE, HEY, WE, YOU KNOW, WANT TO FUND STREET SWEEPING AT $150,000 FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS. I THINK WE'VE DONE A GOOD JOB OF THAT WITH THE PAVING BUDGET. I THINK, YOU KNOW, WE'VE VERY CLEARLY SAID PAVING. YOU KNOW, WE INTEND TO FUND IT 30 MILLION.AND HOPEFULLY THAT GIVES THE PRIVATE SECTOR, YOU KNOW, SOME LEVEL OF CERTAINTY OF WHAT CAN HAPPEN. I MEAN, OBVIOUSLY, WE DON'T OBLIGATE ANY FUTURE COUNCIL. I'M CURIOUS, WITH STREET SWEEPING, IF YOU SEE SOMETHING SIMILAR OR IF THERE'D BE ANY VALUE IN THAT, OR DO YOU THINK THERE'S SUFFICIENT CAPACITY AND WE JUST DON'T PAY FOR IT? WELL, I THINK ANYTIME THAT YOU CAN ADD CERTAINTY TO, YOU KNOW, CONTRACTORS. YOU KNOW, THINKING AND THEY'RE. YOU KNOW, THEIR THOUGHT PROCESS ON, ON BIDDING, I THINK THAT'S A GOOD THING. ON THE, ON THE FIRST, I MEAN, I THINK PART OF THE JOB THAT WE HAVE TO DO IS IF, IF THERE ARE CONTRACTORS THAT AREN'T PERFORMING OR IF THEY HAVE EQUIPMENT THAT IS NOT DOING THE JOB THAT WE'RE PAYING FOR THEM TO DO, THEN WE NEED TO HOLD THEM TO ACCOUNT ON THAT. AND, AND WE TALKED ABOUT IT A LITTLE EARLIER, THERE MIGHT BE SOME AVENUES TO EXPAND CONTRACTING POOLS AND, AND THAT
[02:05:02]
TYPE OF THING. BUT YEAH, ON, ON THE SECOND POINT, I, YEAH, I DON'T THINK IT'S, I DON'T THINK IT'S A TERRIBLE THING TO, TO HAVE THAT KIND OF CERTAINTY BUILT INTO THE EQUATION. YEAH.COUNCILMAN MARINO WEBER. SORRY, I GOT DISTRACTED BY THE BUDGET GURU. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR INCLUDING IN YOUR INITIAL PACKET, THE YOUR MISSION, WHICH I WILL JUST READ BECAUSE I THINK IT IS REALLY WELL ARTICULATED. SAFE STREETS, HEALTHY INFRASTRUCTURE, SOLID WASTE SERVICES, CUSTOMER SERVICE, SAFETY AND RESILIENCE. CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW YOU ARE CURRENTLY OR PLAN TO MEASURE OUR EFFECTIVENESS ON THOSE THINGS? YOU GUYS GAVE US A TON OF DATA, BUT I'D LOVE TO UNDERSTAND, OKAY, THIS IS WHAT BEST IN CLASS IS. THIS IS HOW WE KNOW WE ARE CRANKING OUT THE RIGHT NUMBER OF SIDEWALKS AND OR, YOU KNOW, 3 IN 1 REQUESTS OR ALL OF THAT. YEAH. SO I WON'T MAKE YOU COME UP HERE, BUT. ANGELA RICHARDSON, WHO'S SITTING BEHIND ME, WE'VE HAD SEVERAL TALKS ABOUT AND SHE STARTED THE PROCESS OF REVIVING STRATEGIC BUSINESS PLANS FOR PUBLIC WORKS. AND YEAH, SOME OF THE METRICS THAT WE WANT TO HIT ARE EXACTLY WHAT YOU TALKED ABOUT. HOW ARE WE ALIGNING WITH OUR MISSION ON THOSE DIFFERENT, DIFFERENT TOPICS? WHAT KIND OF DATA CAN WE COLLECT TO SEE HOW WE'RE DOING? HOW ARE WE BENCHMARKED AGAINST OURSELVES AND AGAINST OTHERS IN THESE RESPECTIVE RESPECTIVE FIELDS? AND SO IT'S A POINT OF EMPHASIS FOR ME. AND SO WHAT WHAT, YOU KNOW, WHAT I WANT EVENTUALLY TO HAPPEN IS TO HAVE THAT DOCUMENT AND BE ABLE TO ROLL THAT OUT TO PUBLIC WORKS EMPLOYEES TO SAY, OKAY, THIS IS, THIS IS HOW WE'RE JUDGING OURSELVES AND THIS IS HOW WE'RE GOING TO GET BETTER EVERY DAY. AND SO I'M, I'M PRETTY EXCITED ABOUT, YOU KNOW, SOME THINGS THAT WE CAN DO WITH THAT. IF I CAN ADD SOME, I MEAN, CRASH DATA THAT THAT'S IN MY BACKGROUND, THAT'S, THAT'S I RELY ON THAT QUITE A BIT. AND THAT'S WHERE WE GO THAT, THAT LEADS US TO CERTAIN PROJECTS LIKE YOUR TRAFFIC CALMING. WE HAVE THE SS FOR A PROJECTS THAT'LL BE OVER 12 CORRIDORS, CIP PROJECTS. WE RECEIVED A $15 MILLION BLOCK GRANT FROM KYTC. SO WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A LOT OF INPUT ON ANY METRO ROADS THAT AFFECTS THAT HSHSP. AND SO THAT'S, YOU KNOW, WE I THINK WE WERE DOWN ALMOST 20% FATALITIES IN 2025 COMPARED TO 2024. WE'RE DOWN SLIGHTLY THIS YEAR AS WELL. SO THAT THAT'S A HUGE METRIC FOR ME. AND IT SHOULD BE A HUGE METRIC FOR US DOT AS A WHOLE. SO THAT'S WE WANT TO KEEP WORKING TOWARDS THAT. AND THAT INCLUDES YOUR TWO WAY CONVERSIONS AND RIGHT SIZING AND SO FORTH. MUSIC TO MY EARS. AS A RECOVERING PROJECT MANAGER, WHAT WOULD BE A GOOD TIME FOR US TO CHECK BACK ON THE STATUS OF THOSE THAT METRICS PROCESS? YEAH, LET'S LET'S SHOOT FOR FALL. YEAH, LET'S SHOOT FOR THE FALL. MAYBE WE CAN COME TO A. IF THE CHAIR WOULD ALLOW IT TO. THE PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE, I DON'T KNOW IF I. WOW, I'M GLAD HIS MICROPHONE WASN'T ON THERE. I CERTAINLY WOULDN'T DESCRIBE HIM THAT WAY. BUT THAT SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT PLAN. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU, COUNCILMAN JOSEPH. YES, SIR. WES. BILL, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH. I LIKE I, I AM THRILLED BY THE LEADERSHIP OF PUBLIC WORKS AND ALL THAT YOU ALL HAVE DONE AND ALL THAT YOU ALL ARE DOING, AND THE COMMUNICATION HAS BEEN SO ON POINT AND JUST REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR ALL'S ACTIVE LEADERSHIP AND WHAT YOU MEAN TO OUR DISTRICT AND TO OUR OFFICE. SO THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH. I WAS GOING TO ASK ABOUT AN UPDATE ON THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, BUT I, I THINK COUNCILMAN WINKLER HAS ALREADY ADDRESSED THAT. SO MY OTHER BIG QUESTION WAS, ARE THERE ANY STATE OR FEDERAL FUNDING MATCHES RIGHT NOW THAT WE AS A CITY ARE QUALIFYING FOR OR COULD QUALIFY FOR? WELL, LIKE I MENTIONED, THE CIP THAT'S THAT'S GOING TO BE HUGE. AND SO IT'S IT'S GOING TO HIT A LOT OF STATE ROADS BECAUSE THEY'RE THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE THEY'VE ALREADY ACCEPTED BIDS FROM SEVERAL TEAMS. SO THEY HAVE A TEAM OF ENGINEERING FIRMS AND THEY'RE PAIRED WITH A CONSTRUCTION FIRM. AND SO I THINK IT'S, THEY'VE WHITTLED IT DOWN TO THREE TEAMS AND THEY'LL BE LOOKING AT THOSE THREE. I'LL BE INVOLVED AND I THINK WE'LL
[02:10:01]
HAVE SOMEBODY ELSE FROM MY TEAM INVOLVED IN, YOU KNOW, INTERVIEWING THEM, SO TO SPEAK.AND THEN SO THESE TEAMS WILL IT'LL BE A QUICK DESIGN BUILD TEAM. AND SO THESE PROJECTS CAN THEORETICALLY START IN THE FALL AND THEY CAN FINISH IN LATE FALL OR WINTER OR BEFORE WINTER BECAUSE IT'S, IT'S A LOT OF STRIPING, A LOT OF KIND OF RE FORMULATING THESE STREETS TO MAKE THEM SAFER. AND THAT'S, THAT'S THE WHOLE IDEA OF CIP. IT'S HIGHWAY SAFETY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM. YOU KNOW, ONE OF THOSE YOU MIGHT BE FAMILIAR WITH. SO AND SO WE'LL, WE'LL TALK, BUT WE DEFINITELY WE WANT TO SPREAD, YOU KNOW, IF THERE ARE ISSUES IN IN DISTRICT FOUR. DISTRICT 12, YOU KNOW, WE WE WANT TO MAKE SURE WE HIT AS MANY AS POSSIBLE. AND SO WE CAN SPREAD THAT AROUND QUITE A BIT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I HAD AN ABNORMALLY LARGE AMOUNT OF FACEBOOK NOTIFICATIONS TODAY AND I HAD TO LOOK AT IT. AND WE HAVE SOME NEW SPEED HUMPS PUT IN TODAY. AND SO IT'S A GOOD DAY IN DISTRICT 12 OF PUBLIC WORKS. SO THANK YOU, COUNCILMAN PIACENTINI. THANK YOU. AND I, I DO APPRECIATE ALL THE WORK YOU GUYS ARE DOING. THRILLED. YOU KNOW, COUNCILMAN JOSEPH GOES A STEP TOO FAR, I THINK. BUT NO, I DON'T KNOW. WE REALLY DO APPRECIATE IT. AND I DO WANT TO. AND AGAIN, I'M ASKING THIS TO EVERY DEPARTMENT I ASK FOR HUMAN RESOURCES, GOING TO ASK FOR EVERYBODY. DOESN'T MEAN I'M CONSIDERING IT NECESSARILY, BECAUSE I'LL SAY THAT HUMAN RESOURCES IS LOOKING AT THEIR STAFFING COMPARED TO OUR OVERALL STAFFING WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION. I THINK WE'RE, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE FAIRLY ON POINT WITHIN A REASONABLE RANGE. RIGHT. BUT AND, AND I'LL SAY FOR YOU ALL, YOU ACTUALLY HAVE A GENERAL FUND BUDGET OR GENERAL FUND ALLOCATION THAT IS GOING DOWN YEAR OVER YEAR, OVERALL BUDGETS UP BECAUSE OF STATE GRANTS AND EVERYTHING. BUT THE GENERAL FUND DOLLARS ARE ACTUALLY DOWN A BIT. SO I THINK YOU'VE ALREADY THE MAYOR'S ALREADY IN YOUR BUDGET, ACCOUNTED FOR SOME EFFICIENCY AND TRY TO BE VERY COGNIZANT OF THE BUDGET. BUT WITH THAT SAID, IF I WERE TO SAY, HEY, WE'RE GOING TO CUT YOUR BUDGET, ANOTHER ANOTHER 1%, RIGHT, WHICH IN YOUR CASE WOULD BE HALF $1 MILLION ISH TACTICALLY, LIKE IF YOU WERE FORCED TO DO IT, NOT THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO DO IT IF YOU WERE FORCED TO DO IT, WHAT? HOW WOULD YOU PULL IT OFF? LIKE WHAT WOULD YOU TACTICALLY PROBABLY HAVE TO DO TO DO IT? SO IS EVERYBODY BEEN ANSWERING AND SIDEWALKS IN DISTRICT 19 COULD NOT BE YOUR ANSWER ON IT. I WAS GOING TO SAY ALL THE ABOVE. I MEAN IN DISTRICT 19. YEAH. SO AGAIN YEAH, WE ON THE SPOT. WE WOULD HAVE TO LOOK AT ANYTHING WE'RE NOT. YEAH. I WOULD HAVE TO LOOK AT. YEAH. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE POSSIBLY SOME OF THE CAPITAL WORK. IS THERE A WAY TO. YOU KNOW, TALKED ABOUT SOME OF THE PROGRAMS THAT HAVE SMALL MATCHES? DO WE HAVE TO ARE THERE PROGRAMS WHERE THERE'S NO MATCH? YOU KNOW, ARE THERE THINGS THAT WE COULD DO WITH, YOU KNOW, WITH GRANTS AND ALTERNATIVE FUNDING THAT WE COULD LOOK AT TO PROBABLY DEFERRING CERTAIN THINGS OR CANCELING THE LOWEST IMPACT OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT? POSSIBLY. OKAY, LIKE THAT. THERE COULD BE TIMING AS WELL. IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT? YEAH. TIMING. TIMING. YEAH. AND THEN MAYBE JUST ONE FOLLOW UP THING ACTUALLY RELATED TO THIS IS WE TALKED ABOUT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, TALKED ABOUT HUMAN RESOURCES. I DON'T WANT TO SAY I TOTALLY DISAGREE BECAUSE THAT'S NOT TRUE. COUNCILMAN LINENGER BRINGS THE POINT OF THIS IS, YOU KNOW, WE'RE NOT AI ING PICKING UP THE TRASH AND SWINGS, RIGHT? BUT THERE ARE OTHER THINGS THAT THERE ARE OTHER AUTOMATIONS THAT CAN HAPPEN. SO AGAIN, OUT YEARS, NOT THIS BUDGET CYCLE, BUT IN THE FUTURE, DO YOU FEEL LIKE WE HAVE WAYS TO MAYBE OPTIMIZE WON'T BE A MASSIVE CUT, BUT USE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, OTHER TECHNOLOGY TO GET MORE EFFICIENCY OUT OF THIS 100%? YES. OKAY, GREAT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. YES. COUNCILMAN HUDSON, CHAIR, SEVERAL OF MY COLLEAGUES HAVE ASKED THIS IN VARIOUS WAYS, AND WE'VE HAD THE CONVERSATIONS IN IN HALLWAYS AND OFFICES REGARDING THE THE MANPOWER WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT. CAN YOU ADD SOME COLOR TO WHERE YOU'RE AT WITH THE ENGINEERING INTERNSHIP PROGRAM? YES. WELL, I MEAN, I THINK FROM THE U OF L STANDPOINT, THEY'RE THEY'RE READY TO GO. OBVIOUSLY, WE WOULD LIKE TO, TO DO THAT BECAUSE WE WE WOULD LIKE THAT PIPELINE OF ENGINEERS COMING FROM U OF L SPEED SCHOOL TO
[02:15:07]
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION. WE HAVE TWO EMPLOYEES THAT THEY WERE IN THE PROGRAM 20 YEARS AGO, ACTUALLY, PROBABLY 24 YEARS AGO. AND SO ONE OF THOSE EMPLOYEES IS GETTING READY TO RETIRE LATER THIS YEAR. SO AND SHE SPEAKS VOLUMES ABOUT THAT PROGRAM. AND SO I THINK IT'S VERY AFFORDABLE AS WELL. SO YEAH, SOONER WE CAN GET THEM IN THE BETTER. SECOND QUESTION WAS, CAN YOU TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE DOING WITH REGARD TO ASPHALT TECHNOLOGY? LAST YEAR, WHEN WE WERE HAVING THESE CONVERSATIONS, WE WERE TALKING ABOUT KEVLAR FIBER AND INFUSED ASPHALT. I UNDERSTAND FROM TALKING WITH THE ASPHALT EXPERT IN THE INDUSTRY HERE RECENTLY THAT THAT'S OLD TECHNOLOGY. NOW THERE'S MUCH BETTER STUFF. AND HAS AN ANALYSIS BEEN DONE THAT SHOWS THE CLOSED LOOP COST BENEFITS OF, YEP. IT'S MORE EXPENSIVE TO USE THIS ASPHALT, BUT THE ROAD LASTS TEN YEARS LONGER IN THE LONG TERM. DOES IT? DOES IT PAY OFF? HOW MUCH DOES IT PAY OFF? THAT KIND OF THING? YEAH, I'M SURE THERE IS THAT ANALYSIS. WE'D HAVE TO.YEAH. AND ONE THING THAT WE CAN LOOK AT, I'VE MENTIONED IT A COUPLE TIMES. WE HAVE THE OPEN GOV THAT WILL RUN SCENARIOS ON ON PAVING. AND IT HAS DIFFERENT BASICALLY CURVES THAT SHOW DETERIORATION OVER TIME. AND I'M SURE THESE DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGIES HAVE DIFFERENT CURVES BASED ON WHAT THEY ARE. AND SO THAT'S SOMETHING WE COULD LOOK AT TOO IS JUST TO GET A FEEL FOR, YOU KNOW, IF WE CHANGED THE, I MEAN, IT'S ON A MODELING BASIS, BUT IF WE CHANGE THAT TYPE OF APPLICATION, WHAT DOES THAT, WHAT DOES THAT SCENARIO LOOK LIKE? AND HOW, HOW SOON DO WE HAVE TO COME BACK TO THAT ROADWAY THAT THAT'S THE KIND OF ANALYSIS I'D BE INTERESTED IN LOOKING AT. THANK YOU. THIRD QUESTION, ALSO PAVING RELATED WHEN WHEN WE GO THROUGH THE DISTRICT BY DISTRICT PAVING PLANS, SOME DISTRICTS HAVE CLUSTERED THE.
THE ROADS, FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU HAVE A CLUSTER HERE THAT ARE GOING TO BE PAVED THIS YEAR AND ONE RIGHT NEXT TO IT GOING TO BE PAVED NEXT YEAR, YOU'VE GOT THE EQUIPMENT THERE ALREADY? YEP. WHY NOT JUST DO THEM ALL AT THE SAME TIME AND SAVE THAT DEPLOYMENT COST OF THE EQUIPMENT AND THE CONTRACTORS GET IT. THEY UNDERSTAND THIS COST SAVINGS OF NOT HAVING TO DEPLOY EQUIPMENT TIME AND TIME AGAIN, BUT I DON'T THINK WE GET IT. WE METRO GOVERNMENT GET IT IN THAT WE PAY THE SAME REGARDLESS OF THE CONTRACT OF THE CONTRACT. YEAH, I THINK THAT'S WHY WE HAD THE MEETINGS OVER THE PAST, WHAT, THREE WEEKS OR SO? WE MADE A LOT OF CHANGES BASED ON YOUR INPUT. AND WE APPRECIATE THAT BECAUSE I, I AGREE, IF YOU'RE IF YOU HAVE A ROAD THAT IS LOW RATED JUST A BLOCK OVER, YOU MIGHT AS WELL HIT THAT AS WELL AND THEN PUT ANOTHER ONE ON THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR AND SO FORTH. BUT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE DEFINITELY TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HIT ALL THE DISTRICTS BASED ON THE PERCENT, BASED ON CERTAIN PERCENTAGES OF WHERE THE RATINGS WERE FOR EACH DISTRICT. SO, AND DO THOSE GROUPINGS AND.
AND I MIGHT. BE UNDERSTANDING YOUR QUESTION A DIFFERENT WAY TOO, IS IN, IN A LOT OF THESE, WE DON'T HAVE MOBILIZATION BUILT IN. AND THAT WOULD. MAYBE YOU DON'T, BUT THE CONTRACTOR DOES. YEAH, EXACTLY. EXACTLY. YEAH. THAT'S THAT'S THAT'S EXACTLY RIGHT. SO MAYBE SOMETHING THAT WE CAN AND WE TALKED ABOUT IT, BUT MAYBE SOMETHING WE CAN LOOK AT IS BUILDING THAT AS A LINE ITEM. AND THAT WAY IT'S NOT BEING ABSORBED ACROSS THE ENTIRE CONTRACT, IF THAT MAKES SENSE. SO THAT'S A GREAT THAT'S LET'S TALK ABOUT THAT. THAT'S MY THREE. THANK YOU SIR. ALL RIGHT. GREAT. THANK YOU. COUNCILMAN HAS NOT BEEN IN THE QUEUE YET.
SO COUNCILMAN BATON, THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR. I'VE GOT A WEST BILL. THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING HERE, EVERYBODY FOR PUTTING THIS ALL TOGETHER. I'VE KIND OF GOT A FOLLOW UP QUESTION, KIND OF PIGGYBACKING OFF OF COUNCILMAN WINKLER'S QUESTION A FEW MOMENTS AGO IN REGARDS TO THE LONG TERM INVESTMENT ON LIKE, STREET SWEEPING AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE. SO IT'S KIND OF A
[02:20:02]
TWO PRONGED QUESTION. HOW IS THE PROCUREMENT PROCESS BEING HANDLED IN PUBLIC WORKS? AND FOR CONTRACTORS CURRENTLY AS AS THAT BEING SAID, ADDING LANGUAGE IN MAYBE THOSE RFPS TO, TO SHOW WHAT THOSE LONG TERM INVESTMENTS ARE LOOKING LIKE, WHETHER IT'S PAVING, WHETHER IT'S STREET SWEEPING, ETC. IS THAT SOMETHING THAT WE WE SHOULD ENTERTAIN AS A LONG TERM MSA FOR THESE FOLKS TO, TO REALLY KIND OF DIVE IN TO GETTING THE EQUIPMENT THAT THEY NEED AND MOVING US FORWARD. YEAH. SO YEAH, I'LL JUST ANSWER THIS WAY. I MEAN, YOU KNOW, I THINK ANY, ANYTHING THAT WE CAN DO TO MAKE THE A, TO EXPAND THE CONTRACTING POOL TO PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR THOSE TO, TO HAVE ACCESS TO THE PROCESS. AND, YOU KNOW, AT THE END OF THE DAY, TO, TO GET A QUALITY PRODUCT AT THE MOST COST EFFECTIVE WAY POSSIBLE. I THINK THOSE ARE CONVERSATIONS WE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE WITH, WITH YOU ALL AND WITH PROCUREMENT ON, YOU KNOW, IS THERE, IS THERE LANGUAGE IN CONTRAST OR IS THERE, ARE THERE PROGRAMMATIC THINGS THAT WE CAN DO TO, YOU KNOW, TO PARTNER AND, AND HELP LIFT UP SMALL BUSINESSES AND GET THEM UP, GET THEM ACCESS TO THE PROCESS? SO WE'D LOVE TO CONTINUE THAT WITH YOU. OKAY. THANK YOU. MR. CHAIR.CAN I HAVE ONE MORE QUESTION? IN YOUR CAPITAL BGET FOR FY 27, IT SAYS $300,000 IN RRS FO GUARDRAILS IS. I GUESS MY QUESTION AT THAT POINT IS,S THAT ENOUG A A WE? BL, I' T STENE YOU OFRTEROM AFTER THE INSURANCE COMPANIES OF THE VEHICLES THAT HAVE HIT DAMAGED THESE GUARDRAILS AS WELL? YEAH, WE WE NEED TO BE ON EVERY CRASH OR AS MANY AS POSSIBLE. YOU KNOW, I, I JUST LOOKED AT WE JUST FILED A REPORT ON A CRASH LAST WEEK. AND SO, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S NOT GOING TO COME OUT OF THE, THE DRIVER'S POCKET, OF COURSE, UNLESS THEY DON'T HAVE INSURANCE. I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENS THEN, BUT IT'LL IT'LL COME FROM THEIR INSURANCE COMPANY. THE STATE IS PRETTY AGGRESSIVE ON THAT. AND I THINK WE SHOULD BE AS WELL. ANYBODY TEARS UP OUR ASSETS, WE NEED TO RECOUP THOSE FUNDS. THANK YOU. I APPRECIATE THAT. BUT IS IS 300 000 ENOUGH FOR THAT. ARE WE ARE WE PUTTING A YOU KNOW, EVEN A SCRATCHING THE SURFACE ON THOSE REPAIRS AND REPLACEMENTS OF GUARDRAILS WHERE THEY NEED TO BE? I'D HAVE TO SEE THE LINE ITEM THIS YEAR. I THINK THE ANSWER IS IT DEPENDS. BUT, YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT IS SUFFICIENT OR NOT. I'D HAVE TO SEE WHERE WE ARE AND WHAT WE'VE DONE THE LAST 3 TO 5 YEARS. THANK YOU. I DON'T WANT TO DRAW CONCLUSIONS FOR YOU, BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE WHAT THEY'RE SAYING IS IT'S GOING TO DEPEND ON HOW AGGRESSIVELY WE GO AFTER THE PEOPLE WHO DAMAGED OUR GUARDRAILS. SO I'D RATHER SEE US KEEP A NUMBER AT 300,000 AND SAY, PLEASE DO AS GOOD A JOB AS POSSIBLE SO WE DON'T HAVE TO PAY FOR THAT. COUNCILMAN CHAPPELL, THANK YOU. BEFORE I GET INTO MY QUESTIONS, I DO JUST WANT TO SAY I WOULD LOVE, AS COUNCILWOMAN BASS HAD REQUESTED, MORE INFORMATION ON THIS YEAR'S PROJECTED STREET SWEEPING. LAST YEAR IT WAS INTERESTING. BOTH THE USD AND THE SUBURBAN AREAS HAVE ABOUT A LITTLE OVER 2600 MILES EACH, SO THEY'RE PRETTY EQUALLY SIZED, BUT THE USD COSTS US $177,000 A YEAR, WHEREAS THE COUNTY OR SUBURBAN AREAS IS ONLY 38,000.
AND SO THAT COMES OUT TO ABOUT $216,000 A YEAR IN STREET SWEEPING IS WHAT. I'VE BEEN ABLE TO CALCULATE. SO I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW HOW MUCH THE STATE IS GOING TO BE PICKING UP ON THAT TAB. NOT TO MY QUESTIONS. LAST YEAR THERE WERE 31 SHOVEL READY PROJECTS IDENTIFIED IN THE COUNCIL DIRECTED TRAFFIC CALMING PROJECTS. THOSE TOTALED $2.1 MILLION. IN THE MAYOR'S PROPOSED BUDGET, THERE WAS $500,000 LAST YEAR, AND COUNCIL ACTUALLY ONLY FUNDED $284,000 IN PROJECTS. I'VE HEARD YOU TALKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, TRAFFIC CALMING, BUT CAN YOU ADDRESS WHAT TRAFFIC CALMING LOOKS LIKE IN THIS BUDGET, HOW WE COULD GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE? AND ARE THOSE PROJECTS THAT NEVER GOT FUNDED JUST, YOU KNOW, LIKE ON THE SHELF FOREVER AND EVER, AND THAT'S WHERE THEY'RE GOING TO DIE. I'M JUST WONDERING HOW WE CAN PUSH FORWARD TRAFFIC CALMING, BECAUSE THERE'S ALSO NO MONEY IN HERE FOR SPEED HUMPS. AND, YOU KNOW, MY, MY OFFICE IS SITTING ON $100,000 IN SPEED HUMPS THAT I CANNOT PAY FOR. AND MY RESIDENTS ARE ASKING WHY. SO TRAFFIC CALMING
[02:25:06]
SPEED HUMPS. WHAT'S THE DEAL? WELL, IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING THAT, YOU KNOW, IF IT WAS IN THE BUDGET, LAST YEAR'S THE TRAFFIC CALMING THAT THAT DOES CARRY OVER. OKAY. YES. SO THAT THAT WILL CARRY OVER TO THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR IF IT'S NOT COMPLETE BY JUNE 30TH. RIGHT. I GUESS THOSE PROJECTS AND I CAN GIVE YOU THE LIST OF THOSE PROJECTS, BUT THERE ARE 31 AND EACH OF ROJECT, BUT ONLY A HANDFUL OF THEM WERE FUNDED. AND SO THAT LEFT A MAJORITY OF THEM UNFUNDED. AND THAT WAS ALL ACROSS JEFFERSON COUNTY. AND SO I'M JUST WONDERING. GENERALLY WHAT IS IN THIS BUDGET FOR TRAFFIC CALMING? IS THERE ANY MONEY FOR THOSE? IS THERE ANY MONEY FOR SPEED HUMPS? I MEAN, IT LOOKS LIKE WE'RE TRYING TO TAKE CARE OF A LOT OF PAVING AND SIDEWALKS, BUT WHAT ABOUT PROACTIVE APPROACHES TO ROADWAYS? WE HAVE SEVERAL PROJECTS WHERE THERE THERE'S TRAFFIC CALMING WITHIN THE PROJECT. IT MIGHT BE A STATE PROJECT. IT COULD BE A FEDERAL PROJECT. AND I KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW, I MENTIONED SS4AHSIP. THEN YOU HAVE I THINK THE MAYOR HAS WHAT, 2 MILLION FOR THE THE TWO WAY CONVERSIONS.AND THAT'S THAT IS TRAFFIC CALMING AS WELL. RIGHT NOW WE HAVE AN RFP ON THE STREET FOR TRAFFIC. VERTICAL DEVICES, VERTICAL DEFLECTION DEVICES LIKE SPEED HUMPS, SPEED TABLES, SPEED CUSHIONS. I'M MISSING 1 OR 2. BUT BUT YEAH, WE'RE WAITING FOR ALL THOSE BIDS TO COME BACK. WE HAD TO REBID THAT BECAUSE WE HAD THAT BID OUT EARLIER. AND SO THEY SOMEBODY CAME BACK WITH AN EXTREMELY LOW BID. THAT WAS NOT, IT WASN'T POSSIBLE. SO WE HAD TO REBID THAT. BUT SO THAT WE'RE WAITING ON THOSE TO COME BACK. BUT AND I FORGET WHAT THE QUESTION WAS.
I GUESS WE'LL WRAP THAT QUESTION UP AND SAY, IS THERE MONEY SPECIFICALLY IN THIS BUDGET FOR SPEED HUMPS? I DON'T BELIEVE THERE IS, BECAUSE THAT'S THAT'S TYPICALLY FUNDED BY. OTHER PARTIES OR, OR THE COUNCIL MEMBERS. I REALLY WANT TO TAKE THAT QUESTION BECAUSE THE DECISION ABOUT SPEED HUMPS, THAT POLICY CHANGED PRIOR TO THIS, TO THE CURRENT FOLKS SITTING BEFORE US. THERE WAS A POLICY IN PLACE THAT WAS DIRECTED THROUGH THE COUNCIL AND THROUGH NEIGHBORHOODS TO DETERMINE WHAT THE NEED FOR SPEED HUMPS WAS, AND THEN THOSE SPEED HUMPS WERE GENERALLY PAID FOR BY THE COUNCIL DISTRICT, WHO REQUESTED THEM. QUITE OFTEN, MANY OF US WOULD NOT PAY FOR THE FULL EXPENSE OF A SPEED HUMP. WE WOULD ASK THOSE NEIGHBORHOODS THAT DECIDED IT WAS IMPORTANT TO HAVE SOME SKIN IN THE GAME. SO WE DIDN'T JUST PUT SPEED HUMPS WHEREVER. WE ONLY PUT THEM WHERE PEOPLE REALLY WANTED THEM, AND THERE WAS NO MONEY IN THE BUDGET. THERE WAS NO LINE ITEM FOR SPEED HUMPS. IT JUST WASN'T THERE. THE AS I SAY, THE PREVIOUS PUBLIC WORKS ADMINISTRATION JUST DECIDED THAT THEY WEREN'T GOING TO USE THE POLICY THAT HAD BEEN IN PLACE, AND THEY ESTABLISHED THEIR OWN POLICY. AND THEN AFTER ESTABLISHING THEIR OWN POLICY, THEY LEFT IT AGAIN TO COUNCIL MEMBERS TO PAY THE EXPENSE. SO BASICALLY, INSTEAD OF FOLKS IN OUR DISTRICTS REQUESTING A SPEED HUMP AND THEN GOING THROUGH A PROCESS WHERE WE DETERMINED WHAT THE, WHAT THE ATTITUDE OR WHAT THE, THE FEELING IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD WAS, PUBLIC WORKS WENT IN AND DECIDED THIS WOULD BE A GOOD PLACE FOR A SPEED HUMP, TOLD PEOPLE THIS WOULD BE A GOOD PLACE FOR SPEED HUMP AND THEN EXPECTED COUNCIL MEMBERS TO PAY FOR IT. THAT'S, THAT'S THE BIGGEST. AND I'M ASSUMING THAT EXPLANATION WAS FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC, BECAUSE I'M VERY WELL VERSED ON WHAT OUR SPEED HUMP. YOUR QUESTION IS, BUT YOUR QUESTION ABOUT SPEED HUMPS IS THERE IS THERE HAS NOT BEEN HISTORICALLY MONEY IN THE BUDGET FOR SPEED HUMPS. IF I COULD COUNTER TO YOU, WE DO HAVE A NEW PROCESS FOR SPEED HUMPS, WHICH MAKES IT A LITTLE BIT EASIER FOR PEOPLE TO REQUEST SPEED HUMPS OR AT LEAST AN APPROVAL. MY OFFICE IS SITTING ON QUITE A FEW BECAUSE ONE SPEED HUMP PROJECT, YOU HAVE TO HAVE A MINIMUM OF TWO SPEED HUMPS, WHICH COST ROUGHLY $5,000 EACH, AND THAT'S A PROJECT OF OVER $10,000 THAT MY CONSTITUENTS ARE SAYING, WELL, WHY AREN'T YOU FUNDING THIS AGAIN? YOU HAVE NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT FUNDS. YOU HAVE CAPITAL INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDS. IF THAT'S SOMETHING THAT YOUR COUNCIL OFFICE BELIEVES IS IS OF VALUE, THEN YOU HAVE EVERY OPPORTUNITY THROUGH THE BUDGET TO FUND THAT. BUT THERE HAS NOT HISTORICALLY BEEN. AND I JUST HEARD THEM SAY AGAIN, IN THIS PARTICULAR BUDGET, THERE IS NO MONEY IN THE BUDGET. THERE'S NO LINE ITEM IN THE PUBLIC WORKS
[02:30:02]
BUDGET FOR SPEED HUMPS. IT'S LEFT UP TO COUNCIL DISTRICTS TO DETERMINE IF THAT'S A GOOD USE OF THEIR CIF AND NDF FUNDS. AND AS WE CONTINUE THE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT SPEED HUMPS, I WOULD DEFINITELY LIKE TO SEE THAT CHANGE BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE HISTORICALLY NOT DONE THAT, IT WOULD BE WONDERFUL TO SEE A LINE ITEM IN THE BUDGET FOR SPEED HUMPS. NOW, MY NEXT QUESTION, A FOLLOW UP. YEAH, IT'S A FOLLOW UP TO THAT QUESTION. I'M SORRY. YES, JENNIFER, I'M ASKING YOU IF I CAN FOLLOW UP. GO AHEAD PLEASE. WE'LL TAKE 20S. THERE'S THERE'S A NEW KIND OF SPEED HUMP THAT I'D LIKE FOR YOU TO LOOK INTO. IT'S MUCH CHEAPER. IT COULD BE DEPLOYED. PORTABLE. PORTABLE. IT'S A STEEL PLATE WITH A RUBBER SHEET ON TOP OF IT. YOU JUST PICK IT UP AND PLACE IT ONTO THE ROAD. AND WHEN IT BECOMES INEFFECTIVE, YOU CAN PICK IT UP AND PUT IT SOMEWHERE ELSE. I'D LIKE YOU TO LOOK INTO THAT, PLEASE. THANK YOU, COUNCILWOMAN CHAPMAN. OF COURSE. SO MY NEXT QUESTION HAS TO DO WITH SIGNS AND MARKINGS. SO WE HAVE 83,500 SIGNS IN LOUISVILLE METRO IN FISCAL YEAR 25. WE WERE TOLD THAT THERE WAS A BACKLOG OF $4 MILLION FOR SIGNS AND $5.5 MILLION FOR PAVEMENTS. AND CONSIDERING THIS BACKLOG ADDS TO $9.5 MILLION. AND AFTER THIS YEAR, I BELIEVE WE'RE GOING TO HAVE OVER SINCE TWO FISCAL YEAR 24, NEARLY $9 MILLION WORTH OF WORK TOWARD WHAT I'M ASSUMING IS THAT BACKLOG NUMBER. AND SO WITH $2 MILLION THIS YEAR GOING INTO SIGNS AND MARKINGS, THAT WOULD LEAD ME TO ASSUME THAT OUR BACKLOG WOULD BE COMPLETED BY THE END OF THIS FISCAL YEAR OR FISCAL YEAR 27. AND WE WOULD BE ABLE TO BE PROACTIVE IN OUR SIGNS AND MARKINGS. IS THAT HOW I SHOULD BE INTERPRETING OUR BUDGET? WE CAN WE CAN CERTAINLY CONFIRM THAT. AND FOLLOW UP.AND MY LAST QUESTION, THE D 26 SIDEWALK MARKINGS THAT ARE IN THE CAPITAL PROJECT, HOW IS IT DECIDED THAT THOSE WERE PUT IN? BECAUSE I DON'T THINK THAT THERE WERE OTHER COUNCIL DISTRICTS THAT HAD THAT MONEY OR WAS HAS A SPECIFIC CAPITAL PROJECTS. AND, YOU KNOW, I THINK IT'S JUST WORTH NOTING THAT DISTRICT 26 HAS 87 LINEAR MILES OF SIDEWALK, WHICH IS QUITE A BIT, BUT IT PUTS THEM NOT NECESSARILY IN THE TOP FIVE, BUT, YOU KNOW, JUST WONDERING WHY THEY WERE WHY THAT DISTRICT WAS PRIORITIZED AND THE REST OF US WEREN'T. YEAH. OKAY. THEY WERE IN. THEY WERE ADDED BY THE MAYOR. GREAT. HE HAS A FAVORITE DISTRICT. THANK YOU. I FAILED TO NOTE THAT WE WERE JOINED BY COUNCILMAN SAM A BIT AGO ONLINE AND ALSO JOINED BY COUNCILMAN SHAMEKA PARRISH WRIGHT A BIT AGO. MISS WRIGHT HAS NOT HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE IN THE QUEUE YET. SO, MISS WRIGHT OR I'M SORRY, COUNCILWOMAN WRIGHT. SORRY. THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR. IF I COULD GET OFF MUTE CORRECTLY, I. FIRST, I APOLOGIZE FOR THE COMMITTEE AND TO HR AND PUBLIC WORKS FOR HAVING TO BE LATE, BUT I WANTED TO JUST ASK THESE FEW QUESTIONS. I WILL EMAIL MY QUESTIONS TO HR SO THAT THOSE WILL GET ANSWERED. AND THANK YOU ALL. I HEARD THAT THE SCHEDULE WAS MOVING REALLY FAST, SO I TRIED TO PULL OVER ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD SO I CAN JOIN YOU ALL, BUT MY QUESTIONS ARE AROUND, AROUND I, I, I HAVE NOT SEEN A BREAKDOWN OF WHO GETS WHAT FLEET VEHICLES AND MY, MY REASONING FOR ASKING FOR THAT IS BECAUSE I'D BE INTERESTED TO KNOW IF WE CAN GET A BREAKDOWN OF THE FLEET AND THEN MAYBE ONE OUT THERE, I MIGHT HAVE MISSED IT. APART FROM THE SALT AND THE TRASH TRUCKS. SO LIKE WHO ALL GETS METRO VEHICLES? AND IS THERE A EFFORT FOR NON-INDUSTRIAL VEHICLES TO TRANSITION INTO EITHER PERSONAL CAR MILEAGE OR REIMBURSEMENT, OR MORE FUEL EFFICIENT CARS? AND THAT THAT'S BASICALLY WHAT MY QUESTIONS WERE ABOUT. OKAY, OKAY. THEN WE CAN SEND THEM RIGHT DOWN. WE CAN SEND OUR BREAKDOWN. BUT THAT THAT MIGHT BE A MORE APPROPRIATE QUESTION FOR FLEET AND FACILITIES FOR METRO WIDE WITH THOSE ASSIGNMENTS. OKAY. THANK YOU. AND THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR. IF I CAN JUST SAY PLEASE SEND OVER THE ONES THAT PUBLIC WORKS, YOU KNOW HOW YOU ALL ADDRESS THAT
[02:35:01]
AND WHO GETS CARS. IF YOU CAN DO THAT FOR YOUR DEPARTMENT, THEN I'LL HOLD MY QUESTIONS FOR FLEET AND FACILITIES ON THAT. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, COUNCILMAN WINKLER. THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR. I'VE GOT JUST TWO QUESTIONS. AND ONE WAS YOU MIGHT END UP POINTING ME TO THE OFFICE OF PLANNING. THIS IS, I WOULD SAY, TANGENTIAL TO THE BUDGET, BUT HAS A BUDGET IMPACT.I'VE HAD TWO INSTANCES IN MY DISTRICT RECENTLY WHERE SOMEBODY, YOU KNOW, BUILT A SUBDIVISION NEIGHBORHOOD, WHATEVER, AND WE RELEASED THE BOND BEFORE THE ROAD WAS PAVED.
AND SO NOW IT'S ON THE TAXPAYER TO DO THE FINAL COAT, WHICH SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON THE DEVELOPER DOES IT DOES PUBLIC WORKS HAVE RESPONSIBILITY THERE BEFORE BONDS ARE RELEASED, OR IS THAT THE OFFICE OF PLANNING AND DESIGN SERVICES? AND IF SO, IF IT'S PUBLIC WORKS, DO WE HAVE THE PROPER POLICIES IN PLACE TO MAKE SURE THAT DOESN'T HAPPEN AGAIN? BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, I MEAN, THESE ARE SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE BY WHOEVER DEVELOPED THE NEIGHBORHOOD. YEAH. SO.
YEAH, THERE ARE MULTIPLE ENTITIES INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS. CERTAINLY PUBLIC WORKS.
AND WE HAVE A, A ROLE IN THAT. AND SO ACTUALLY, WE WERE JUST HAVING A CONVERSATION EARLIER TODAY ABOUT HOW TO MAKE SURE THAT THESE TYPES OF SITUATIONS DON'T FALL THROUGH THE CRACKS THAT WE DON'T, YOU KNOW, MISS SOMETHING THAT ENDS UP THAT SHOULD BE ON PUNCH LIST AND THEN END UP BEING HELD UP IN THE BOND. SO I'M, I'M GOING TO INTERRUPT YOU AND STOP YOU ONLY BECAUSE BECAUSE I WANT TO ADHERE TO THE COMMITTEE'S OWN RULES. IT SEEMS WE'RE WE'RE VENTURING INTO MORE POLICY AND NOT BUDGET QUESTIONS. SO I WILL FOLLOW UP WITH YOU ON THAT QUESTION SPECIFICALLY. OKAY. I DO WANT TO HEAR THE ANSWER, BUT OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE COMMITTEE, I THINK IT'S NO LONGER A BUDGET QUESTION. IT'S A POLICY QUESTION. SO I DO HAVE A BUDGET QUESTION. OKAY. OKAY. WHICH IS, YOU KNOW, YOU'VE GOT IN THE PROPOSED BUDGET OVER $2 MILLION OF ā NONSCHEDULED OVERTIME. CAN YOU SPEAK TO AS THE DIRECTOR, AS YOU KNOW, YOUR INDIVIDUAL SUPERVISOR WITHIN THE IN THE DEPARTMENT? WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MANAGE THAT NUMBER DOWN AND TO ENSURE THAT EVERY DOLLAR OF OVERTIME IS ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL AND THAT YOU ARE DOING THINGS TO FILL POSITIONS, RATHER THAN RELYING ON THE CRUTCH OF OVERTIME? BECAUSE WE KNOW IF ONCE WE ALLOCATE THE MONEY TO YOU, YOU'VE GOT NO DISINCENTIVE FOR UTILIZING IT. I'D LIKE TO DISINCENTIVIZE YOU FROM USING THE OVERTIME AND INSTEAD FILL THE POSITION AND USE REGULAR SCHEDULED TIME IF AT ALL POSSIBLE. I MEAN, OBVIOUSLY WE GOT TO DO THE WORK WE GOT TO DO, BUT IF WE CAN DO IT AT REGULAR RATES VERSUS OVERTIME RATES, THAT WOULD CERTAINLY BE PREFERENTIAL. YEAH. SO THIS WAS A POINT OF EMPHASIS WHEN. YEAH.
WHEN I STARTED HERE AND CONTINUES TO BE. SO SEVERAL OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT, ONE IS JUST WE HAVE A, A MEETING AT LEAST ONCE A MONTH WHERE WE LOOK AT OVERTIME ACROSS PUBLIC WORKS BY DEPARTMENT, WHICH ENTITIES AND INDIVIDUALS ARE, YOU KNOW, AT THE TOP OF THE LIST AND HAVE A DISCUSSION ABOUT WHY, YOU KNOW, SO THERE'S SOME ACCOUNTABILITY, ACCOUNTABILITY PIECES TO THAT AS WELL AS WE'RE LOOKING AT, I MENTIONED IT EARLIER, YOU KNOW, LOOKING AT SOME OF THE, THE SCHEDULING THINGS THAT WE CAN POSSIBLY DO WITH, WITH, ESPECIALLY ON THE SOLID WASTE SIDE, ARE THERE OPPORTUNITIES TO, TO RIGHTSIZE ROUTES AND SCHEDULES SO THAT WE'RE MINIMIZING THE AMOUNT OF OVERTIME THAT THAT HAPPENS AS PART OF THAT? SO WE'VE SEEN SOME REAL PROGRESS OVER THE LAST, YOU KNOW, SIX, FIVE, SIX MONTHS OVER THOSE OVERTIME NUMBERS. AND, YOU KNOW, LOOK, TO CONTINUE THAT THAT TRAJECTORY ON THAT. SO IT'S IT'S A POINT OF EMPHASIS FOR US FOR SURE. THANK YOU. AND IS ALL OF THE OVERTIME THAT IS UTILIZED PROVIDING DIRECT FRONT END SERVICE, OR IS THERE OVERTIME IN SUPERVISORY POSITIONS AS WELL? THERE, THERE? YES, THERE'S DEFINITELY SOME SUPERVISOR OVERTIME THAT'S PART OF THAT. AND SO THAT'S ANOTHER THING WE'RE TRYING TO, YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE TO HAVE OVERSIGHT. YOU HAVE TO HAVE, YOU KNOW, DEPLOYMENT AND, AND DISPATCH OF,
[02:40:01]
OF STAFF AND TEAMS. BUT, YOU KNOW, HOW DO WE, HOW DO WE MANAGE THAT BETTER AND MORE TIGHT TIGHTLY TO, TO REDUCE THAT NUMBER? THANK YOU FOR SURE. THANK YOU, COUNCILMAN WEBBER. I WOULD JUST LOVE TO RETWEET OR X SQUARED OR WHATEVER WE DO NOW. COUNCILMAN JONES, INQUIRIES AROUND THE PROCUREMENT PROCESS. AND I KNOW WE'VE HAD SEVERAL CONVERSATIONS AROUND THIS ALSO WITH MY RECOVERING PROJECT MANAGER'S HAT ON, WHEN SHOULD WE CIRCLE BACK WITH YOU TO UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE YOU'RE WORKING ON WITH THAT? YOU KNOW, PART OF THIS IS MIGHT HAVE TO GET BACK TO YOU BECAUSE PART OF IT, THE, THE OTHER HALF OF THAT EQUATION IS PROCUREMENT. SO I DON'T WANT TO SPEAK FOR THEM, BUT I WILL GET YOU A TIMELINE AS SOON AS I. I KNOW ONE BRILLIANT. THANK YOU. YEAH. AND I WOULD ALSO, I CERTAINLY APPRECIATE THE, THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT IN WHICH WE HAVE OPERATED WITH SPEED HUMPS IN OUR COMMUNITY PREVIOUSLY. I WOULD LOVE TO ECHO THE IDEA THAT, YES, I WANT TO DO THIS BASED ON OUR FUNDS AND RECOGNIZING THAT IF WE HAVE A PROCESS THAT WORKS IN WHICH WE CAN IDENTIFY AND PRIORITIZE THOSE THINGS POTENTIALLY BASED ON DATA, LIKE THE TRAFFIC DATA THAT WE ARE INCREASINGLY ABLE TO COLLECT IN WAYS THAT WERE PREVIOUSLY IMPOSSIBLE. AND NOW WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO, YOU KNOW, HAVE SOME REALLY TARGETED IN THIS AREA WITH THIS IN THIS COMMUNITY. WE NOW SEE TRAFFIC, YOU KNOW, ACCIDENTS ARE AT THIS. AND AS A COMMUNITY, WE WANT TO PRIORITIZE IN THE SAME WAY THAT WE PRIORITIZE SIDEWALKS THAT I WOULD JUST LOVE TO. I RECOGNIZE IT'S NOT IN THIS BUDGET, BUT LOOKING FORWARD, YOU KNOW, IF THAT'S AN AREA, WHETHER IT'S JUST TRAFFIC BUMPS OR, YOU KNOW, OTHER TRAFFIC CALMING ACTIVITIES, IF THERE WERE A DEDICATED FUND, I KNOW THAT WOULD BE MEANINGFUL TO A LOT OF PEOPLE, NOT JUST SIMILAR TO TO COUNCILWOMAN CHAPEL. THE REQUESTS DRASTICALLY EXCEED OUR CAPACITY TO FULFILL THEM. AND IF THERE'S NEW TECHNOLOGIES THAT WE'RE ABLE TO DO, AS COUNCILMAN HUDSON SAID, THAT MAKE THIS CHEAPER, ALL THE BETTER. SO THAT'S ALL. THANK YOU SO MUCH AGAIN FOR ALL YOUR WORK. THANK YOU. GREAT. I HAD JUST A FEW QUESTIONS MYSELF. I'M LOOKING AT PAGE 173 OF THE PROPOSED EXECUTIVE BUDGET, SPECIFICALLY IT EXPENDITURES BY CATEGORY. THE CONTRACTUAL SERVICES LAND IN 2425. IT WAS 17,088,000. THE ORIGINAL BUDGET FOR 2526 WAS IN THAT SAME BALLPARK, 17,000,659. BUT THE AMENDED BUDGET FOR THAT YEAR WENT UP $4 MILLION. SO IT WENT UP TO 21,000,789. AND THEN WE'RE BACK DOWN IN THE IN THE MAYOR'S PROPOSED BUDGET THIS YEAR, BACK DOWN TO 17. SO THERE WAS A $4 MILLION BUMP IN THERE. I WAS HOPING SOMEBODY COULD SPEAK TO THAT. AND AGAIN, IT'S ON PAGE 173 UNDER THE EXPENDITURES BY CATEGORY. I'M LOOKING SPECIFICALLY AT CONTRACTUAL SERVICES. I'M CURIOUS ABOUT THAT $4 MILLION BUMP. AND WHY DO WE WHY ARE WE PROJECTING TO GO BACK TO WHAT WE WERE IF. THAT WAS NECESSARY? THAT WAS. LAST YEAR. WE DON'T HAVE THIS YEAR, BUT WE'LL COME. WE BELIEVE IT'S TIED TO CARRYFORWARDS, BUT WE WILL FROM LAST YEAR THAT WE DON'T HAVE THIS YEAR. BUT WE WILL CONFIRM THAT. OKAY, THANKS, I APPRECIATE IT. I ALSO WANT TO COMPLIMENT YOU GUYS ON WELL, EVERYBODY'S COMPLIMENTED YOU SO FAR, SO REITERATE EVERYTHING THEY SAID. BUT I ALSO WANT TO COMPLIMENT YOU ON YOUR TURNOVER RATE. IF YOU LOOK BACK. NOW, GRANTED, THIS IS JUST FROM 422. IT'S JUST FROM APRIL OF THIS YEAR. BUT YEAR OVER YEAR, THIS IS THE BEST TURNOVER RATE YOU GUYS HAVE HAD SINCE 2021 OR BEFORE. SO CLEARLY SOMETHING'S WORKING. I WAS HOPING YOU COULD SPEAK A LITTLE BIT TO LIKE HOW WE GOT THERE. BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, IF YOU COULD JUST COMMENT A LITTLE BIT ON THE IMPACT IT'S GOING TO HAVE ON THE BUDGET GOING FORWARD. YEAH. SO I THINK THERE'D BE A SAVINGS.I WOULD THINK THERE WOULD BE A SAVINGS IN OVERTIME, QUICKER RETURN. ANYWAY. I WAS HOPING YOU COULD SPEAK TO THAT. I MEAN YOU WOULD HAVE TO EXPECT THAT. YEAH. THE MORE FULLY STAFFED THAT YOU ARE THOSE THOSE OVERTIME NUMBERS WOULD REFLECT THAT AS WELL AS OTHER THINGS, YOU KNOW, FROM A SAFETY PERSPECTIVE AND, AND THAT TYPE OF OUTCOME, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF. YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT LED TO THIS, THIS TURNOVER RATE, I MEAN. YOU KNOW, JUST LOOKING BACK OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS, I THINK THAT SOME THINGS IN STRUCTURE, YOU KNOW, THE
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CREATION OF THE DOT AND SOME OF THAT ALIGNMENT PROBABLY HELPS. I THINK THAT JUST GENERALLY THINGS I'M HEARING WHEN I GO AROUND IS THAT PEOPLE REALLY CARE ABOUT THE JOB THAT THEY DO.IT'S, YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES A LOT OF TIMES IT'S NOT AN EASY JOB, BUT THEY DO IT BECAUSE THEY CARE ABOUT THE PEOPLE AROUND THEM AND THE CITY. AND SO, YOU KNOW, WE ALWAYS TRY TO PROMOTE ONE A. YOU KNOW, AN ENVIRONMENT OF SAFETY. WE CARE ABOUT YOU. WE WANT YOU TO LEAVE AT THE END OF THE DAY, THE SAME WAY YOU CAME UP. AND JUST TRY TO EMPOWER THEM TO AND, AND GIVE THEM TOOLS TO BE ABLE TO, TO DO THEIR JOBS MORE EFFECTIVELY. AND I THINK THAT'S, THAT'S HELPED MORALE AND HOPEFULLY HAS LED TO SOME OF THIS TURNOVER RATE. SO YEAH, I THINK THE INTANGIBLES ARE, ARE PRETTY BIG COMING FROM EITHER US AND DEPUTY MAYOR, MAYOR'S OFFICE AND METRO COUNCIL. AND I, I THINK THAT'S A GREATLY INCREASED OVER THE PAST YEAR.
AND WE APPRECIATE THAT FROM THIS BODY. AND WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO TO SHOW OUR EMPLOYEES THAT THAT WE APPRECIATE WHAT THEY DO EVERY DAY. SO. AND I THINK THAT THAT MATTERS. GREAT. THANK YOU. SO IN YOUR BUDGET, YOU'VE ELIMINATED THREE POSITIONS. HOW LONG WERE THOSE POSITIONS LEFT UNFILLED? AND WHAT IMPACT IS THAT GOING TO HAVE? I MEAN, YEAH, I'VE BEEN THERE AND LET YOU DECIDE. I CAN GET AN EXACT DATE, BUT THEY'VE BEEN UNFILLED FOR SEVERAL, SEVERAL MONTHS. SO I DON'T SEE A DIRECT. DIRECT IMPACT TO THAT. SO IT'S SITUATION WHERE WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO. YOU KNOW, WITH, WITH THOSE TEAMS FIGURE OUT HOW TO BEST BALANCE WORKLOADS AND THINGS LIKE THAT. SO. YEAH, DON'T, DON'T EXPECT AN IMMEDIATE NEGATIVE IMPACT WITH THAT. THANK YOU. COUNCILMEMBER WEBER, YOU WERE IN THEN YOU'RE OUT. OKAY, I JUST A COUPLE MORE THEN, IF THAT'S OKAY. I'M LOOKING AT A SUPPLIER CONTRACT.
THAT'S CONTRACT NUMBER. SC 00002646. THIS IS WITH MICHAEL MICHAEL BAKER INTERNATIONAL.
THEY'RE UNDER CONTRACT FOR INSPECTION AND COST ESTIMATING SERVICES. HOW ARE THE HOW ARE THEIR EXPENSES ACCOUNTED FOR. WORKDAY SHOWS AN APPROXIMATE USAGE AT 400 000. HOW IS MICHAEL MICHAEL BAKER INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTED. IT LISTS THEM. BUT WE DON'T HAVE A SENSE OF HOW MUCH. THAT'S FOR THE CONSTRUCTION INSPECTION. WE'LL WE'LL WE'LL FOLLOW UP.
OKAY. AND MICHAEL BAKER IS JUST TO CLARIFY, AS A IT'S A CONSULTING FIRM, SO NOT AN INDIVIDUAL. IT'S AN ENGINEERING ACCOUNTING FIRM. YEAH. SO IT'S EITHER CONSTRUCTION INSPECTION OR COULD BE PAVING PROGRAM. OKAY. GOOD. THANKS. I'M GOING TO FOLLOW THAT THEN IF IT'S A ENGINEERING, HOW ARE WE DOING IN TERMS OF COST SAVINGS WITH EXTERNAL ENGINEERING VERSUS WHAT WE USED TO BE DOING INTERNALLY? IS THAT ACTUALLY SAVING US MONEY OR IS IT COSTING US MONEY? HOW ARE WE DOING? YEAH, YOU SEE A LOT OF ENGINEERING IN-HOUSE. WE'RE CONTRACTING SOME OF THAT OUT NOW. YEAH. AND YEAH, I DON'T KNOW IF HOW FAR BACK WE WE NEVER USE CONSULTING, BUT WITH YEAH, I'LL JUST SAY WITH THE, THE INFLUX AND IT'S A GOOD PROBLEM TO HAVE. BUT WITH THE INFLUX OF, OF PROJECTS AND, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THOSE, THOSE, THOSE EFFORTS, HAVING CONSULTANTS TO SUPPLEMENT STAFF THAT JUST MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE THE, THE BANDWIDTH ONE TO, TO TACKLE THAT IN THAT MOMENT IN TIME. THE OTHER BENEFIT OF. YOU KNOW, CONSULTING IN SITUATIONS LIKE THAT IS THAT IT'S FOR THE PROJECT. AND SO. YOU MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE THAT LONG TERM COMMITMENT TO AN ENGINEERING FIRM, WHEREAS, YOU KNOW, IF THE PROJECT ENDS, THEN. YOU KNOW, IF IT'S AN EMPLOYEE, YOU MIGHT HAVE TO, YOU WOULD HAVE TO FIND OTHER THINGS FOR THEM TO DO. OKAY, GREAT. THANKS. AND I'VE SAVED MY, MY LEAST IMPORTANT
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QUESTION FOR LAST BUT MY LEAST IMPORTANT QUESTION FOR LAST, I'VE GOT TWO MINUTES. SO I'M CURIOUS. WE HAVE HAD CONVERSATIONS YEAR OVER, YEAR OVER YEAR ABOUT MOWING AND CUTTING THE GRASS AND HOW MUCH MONEY THE STATE GIVES US TO CUT RIGHTS OF WAY AND HOW WE DO THAT. WE'VE INCREASED MOWING CYCLES FROM 3 TO 5. I THINK WE'RE WE'RE BETTER TODAY THAN WE WERE FOUR YEARS AGO. WE'LL HAVE, I'M SURE, MORE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT CUTTING THE GRASS IN MEDIANS AND RIGHTS OF WAY. BUT LAST YEAR IT CAME TO MY ATTENTION THAT WE ARE MOWING CERTAIN SECTIONS OF DIXIE HIGHWAY ALL THE TIME. I MEAN, IT FEELS LIKE WE'RE KEEPING THAT MOWED THE WAY THAT MY NEIGHBORS AND I KEEP OUR FRONT YARD MOWED. NO ONE ELSE IN THE CITY IS GETTING THAT KIND OF TREATMENT. I'M CURIOUS WHAT THE EXPENSE IS THERE. I KNOW IT'S SMALL SECTIONS, SO I ASKED THE QUESTION LAST YEAR. I KNOW IT'S SMALL SECTIONS, BUT THERE STILL HAS TO BE SOME EXPENSE. AND I WOULD THINK THAT THE SMALLER THE SECTION, THE MORE EXPENSIVE IT IS PER SECTION, RIGHT? I MEAN THAT JUST MAKES SENSE. IF I MOW 100 YARDS, THAT'S GOT TO BE CHEAPER THAN MOWING TEN YARDS AT TEN TIMES, RIGHT, TEN TIMES TEN YARDS. SO I'M CURIOUS IF YOU IF YOU CAN SPEAK TO THAT, LIKE WHAT'S GOING ON THERE? WHY ARE WE MOWING DIXIE HIGHWAY SO MUCH AND WHAT'S THE EXPENSE THERE? AND WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE IF WE TREATED DIXIE HIGHWAY LIKE WE TREAT EVERY OTHER ROAD IN JEFFERSON COUNTY? AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, IF WE MOWED EVERY MEDIAN 6 OR 7 TIMES INSTEAD OF THREE TIMES, AND THEN NOT MOW DIXIE HIGHWAY EVERY OTHER WEEK, RIGHT? SO YEAH, THIS CAME UP IN AN EARLIER AND WE'LL HAVE TO GET BACK TO YOU BECAUSE THERE'S A, THERE'S SOME DISCUSSION ABOUT HOW MANY TIMES DIXIE IS ACTUALLY GETTING, GETTING. SO WE'LL, WE'LL FOLLOW UP ON THAT NUMBER AND, AND THAT WILL GIVE US BETTER CLARITY ON THAT OTHER. THE SECOND QUESTION THAT YOU HAVE. THANK YOU. AND SOME NUMBERS, TOO, BUT NOT JUST HOW MANY, BUT WHAT'S THE EXPENSE? WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT IN TERMS OF COST HERE? COUNCILWOMAN BASS JUST WANTED TO FOLLOW UP ON THAT. I WAS KIND OF TOLD I'D BE CURIOUS TO, TO FIND OUT HOW MUCH MONEY AND HOW MANY TIMES, BUT I THINK IT HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE SIZE OF THE MEDIANS THAT THEY PUT ON DIXIE, AND THEY GROW UP AND THEY'RE BLOCKING VIEW BECAUSE OF WHERE THEY'RE AT AND HOW THEY'VE DONE THEM. I DON'T KNOW IF IT WOULD BE MORE COST EFFICIENT TO PULL SOME OF THAT GRASS OUT AND JUST DON'T LIKE SOME OF THE MEDIANS ON THE GREENBELT, POSSIBLY MAYBE EVERY OTHER ONE, AND POSSIBLY THAT COULD HELP OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT TO CUT THE COST. GREAT. THANKS. WE'LL LOOK FORWARD TO IT. YEAH, SOME FOLLOW UP. THAT WAS THE LAST PERSON. THANK YOU. AND WE ARE AT 531. SO I APPRECIATE YOU GUYS COMING IN EARLY. IT GAVE US AN EXTRA 15 MINUTES TO ASK QUESTIONS. I APOLOGIZE FOR NOT GETTING YOU OUT EARLY, BUT NO, THAT'S OKAY. WE ARE AT THE END OF OUR MEETING TODAY. WE ARE SCHEDULED TOMORROW AT THREE AGAIN, 315 AGAIN TOMORROW. SO WE WILL WE WILL ADJOURN FOR TODAY, FOR 15, FOUR, 15, 415 TOMORROW. SO WE ARE WE WILL ADJOURN TODAY AND RETURN TO COUNCIL CHAMBERS AT 415 WITHOUT OBJECTION. OUR ADJOURNED. THANKS. OKAY.* This transcript was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.