[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6667470,"mediaKeyId","2259827-3e258d579cd14d725042bdfacb4bc999","parentId",2259827,"title","Committee updates referrals and advances several agenda items to other committees","audioSeconds",4026,"startMs",350000,"endMs",4376000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2259827-3e258d579cd14d725042bdfacb4bc999&start=350&end=4376","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2259827-3e258d579cd14d725042bdfacb4bc999/thumbnail_350000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6667470/Lexington-City/Fayette-County/Kentucky/Committee-updates-referrals-and-advances-several-agenda-items-to-other-committees","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6667470-23f1df824d6d6fbf7099f973134068e1/orig.mp4?Expires=1771152284&Signature=FOtJfzhArvFjQhq57NxrFFu1FdvZgEKk~bByhB5Z6G2gisWGolULY1ZXGqnlvvHMHDA-DFL-MIUTtDdvfzIt~hTVwo3T3EDEawJGLFjO01KNrpnZZ-OEZ8EaA6xcyTCMMu0fkl0KyNG3yHjTnZ5VsOlwD5VausKs0U9tFKMlCRUCZktXNz8LxHXM0vhIJ6MnlCzLJ3J05t7YmbJAbjSG3YUbd~OthWmjCH7Z2Yp357IjxcPFwnKjSqikwoBsTEagQ3-FAxWds5pIpBCxjZIe~coMxOlNEAMgn5qCPPHvi9QkTPWCJQq-tGtldhnAC5ed6IOLAanpTlTjiELi4gd85g__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Lexington","date","2025-02-11T00:00:00Z","article","At the Feb. 11 meeting the Environmental Quality and Public Works Committee handled several routine motions to manage its committee referral list and approved its most recent committee summary.

Early in the meeting members voted to approve the committee summary for Dec. 3, 2024. Councilmember Savigny moved to approve the summary and Councilmember Gray seconded; the chair called the vote and the motion passed.

On referral-list business, Councilmember Savigny moved — with a second from Councilmember Gray — to send the micro transit item to the Budget, Finance & Economic Development (BFED) committee; after brief discussion the committee approved the motion. Councilmember Brown asked for the rationale; Savigny said the item's sponsor felt BFED was the appropriate committee because the project could involve finance requests.

Savigny also moved, seconded by Gray, to remove a recycling/composting-related item tied to the former waste-digester task force from the committee list on grounds of redundancy; that motion passed. Later, Savigny moved and Gray seconded to remove \"division and program reviews\" from the referral list; that motion also passed.

Several other items on the referral list remained in committee at members' request, including the Neighborhood Traffic Management Program update, coordination of maintenance for city planting and infrastructure projects, Live Green Lexington updates, urban forestry and the annual MS4 and consent-decree remedial measures updates. The committee concluded by adopting the motions to adjourn.

Motions recorded in the meeting transcript and their outcomes are summarized below.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Lexington - Environmental Quality and Public Works Committee - Feb 11, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","The Environmental Quality and Public Works Committee approved its Dec. 3, 2024 summary and moved or removed several items from its referral list, including sending micro transit to Budget, Finance & Economic Development and removing certain recycling/division-review items.","taxTitle","Lexington City, Fayette County, Kentucky","taxId",5707,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6667474,"Officials outline multi-pronged odor-control work at Town Branch and West Hickman wastewater plants",939,2715000,3654000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2259827-3e258d579cd14d725042bdfacb4bc999&start=2715&end=3654","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2259827-3e258d579cd14d725042bdfacb4bc999/thumbnail_2715000.jpg","/articles/6667474/Lexington-City/Fayette-County/Kentucky/Officials-outline-multi-pronged-odor-control-work-at-Town-Branch-and-West-Hickman-wastewater-plants","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6667474-05cb4b98942a3214e4540e01cda33f49/orig.mp4?Expires=1771152284&Signature=J7-PzBtDJleSj0XItXYJtutZ2oPhlWUmlyeGQYE0KExBym7N3tkLrvTy28fe-wwvywDBTuQ1utDPAs6PFtV9gtZpXA1FE~r3KzitZ0C4E9b0~Fube8HKIFQn1rSfo0QrzgFszWX-hv8gdjA8Demj9E-3a~BYMUjr2xNBax0Ze7PSRcYEVQq5CjukbjN0Bmp3GqOLrB3ZM914E2LInjMqJu0kFwhaUE-t8~aVOoZ4WsbZFP0WtkBN4xFhQiv9nAktz~407~lzksOYUDqDcUF2cPZpelzK03F4j04KQsjOJ~w5PUbsjtEuKx7T8VsLQ0ebQ-3PJXHmIgDIuQt-OcnyvA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Environmental Quality and Public Works Committee on Feb. 11 received an update on the city's odor-control work at Town Branch and West Hickman wastewater treatment plants and on steps to reduce foul odors in surrounding neighborhoods.

Councilmember Reynolds, sponsor of the item, said complaints surged in 2023 around the Town Branch plant and prompted an emergency mayoral order and an outside technical review. \"The neighborhoods surrounding that area are the ones that started calling in, and saying that the odor was extremely foul, that they cannot go outside,\" Reynolds said. The city hired Webster & Associates (with Tetra Tech as a subconsultant) to sample and recommend remedies.

Director Martin of the Division of Water Quality told the committee that Webster's late-2023 sampling showed roughly two-thirds of measured odorous emissions at each plant came from a few concentrated sources: at Town Branch, two primary clarifier banks and the headworks; at West Hickman, an ash-tank-and-scrubber complex. \"We focused on the elements Webster identified as roughly 66% of the problem,\" Martin said.

Work completed or under way includes replacing exhausted activated-carbon units at the identified Town Branch locations and awarding a contract, which the council approved in late 2024, to install a bio-scrubber to treat and then polish air from primary sources. Martin said the bio-scrubber award was intended as a \"belt-and-suspenders\" approach: a bio-scrubber to treat the air followed by activated carbon polishing.

At West Hickman, Martin described a combination of process- and equipment-focused fixes. New plant management has changed how ash tanks are loaded and is adding air to reduce odor formation in the collection process. The division replaced or rehabilitated an existing chemical scrubber and awarded a contract to upgrade activated-carbon units serving the ash tank complex.

Martin emphasized the collection system and chemical dosing as critical parts of longer-term control. He described complex sampling results showing seasonal variation: hydrogen sulfide (H2S) levels typically rose in summer and fell in winter, and in some cases increasing chemical feed produced only limited or inconsistent reductions in measured H2S. \"We spent a lot of money a lot of money for what I would generously call mediocre results,\" Martin said, and he identified improving chemical-dosing choices and evaluating remote dosing pilot studies as a priority for 2025.

Financial and timing details given to the committee included the mayor's emergency allocation of nearly $6 million in response to the 2023 spike. Martin said the low bid for the Town Branch improvements was about $1.9 million and the West Hickman package about $1.3 million; he said supply-chain delays have affected equipment delivery schedules. South Elkhorn and Lower Cane Run were chosen for remote dosing pilot studies because each has a practical mid-point feed location to test dosing closer to odor formation points.

Martin also announced the city hired an odor-control manager, Rick Bowman, to focus full time on odors and customer response. \"Rick's only job is odor control,\" Martin said; Martin described Bowman as a long-time city employee with experience in sewer maintenance and treatment-plant engineering.

Committee members asked several procedural questions. Councilmember Curtis reminded residents to report odor complaints via LexCall/311 so the city can dispatch staff and collect time-sensitive information. Councilmember Morton asked about 2025 funding; Martin said the administration initially allocated nearly $6 million under the emergency action and that he would provide exact project numbers on request. Several members praised the hiring of a dedicated manager and urged continued emphasis on remote monitoring and maintenance contracts to avoid future equipment failures.

No new ordinance or binding action was proposed at the meeting; Martin said staff will continue equipment installations, pilot chemical-dosing studies and longer-term monitoring to reduce odors and inform future capital requests.","City staff described equipment upgrades, chemical trials and a newly hired odor-control manager as part of an ongoing effort that began after a late-2023 spike in neighborhood complaints. Major contracts and an emergency allocation were discussed.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6667479,"Committee reviews neighborhood traffic management program; city plans online portal and cost-share rules reiterated",994,385000,1379000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2259827-3e258d579cd14d725042bdfacb4bc999&start=385&end=1379","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2259827-3e258d579cd14d725042bdfacb4bc999/thumbnail_385000.jpg","/articles/6667479/Lexington-City/Fayette-County/Kentucky/Committee-reviews-neighborhood-traffic-management-program-city-plans-online-portal-and-cost-share-rules-reiterated","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6667479-95e59e0d790e6982548221fc825ac830/orig.mp4?Expires=1771152284&Signature=Lp7PB2ko58rkZpzP2-oPKbVD9HIJ57zYywvveWOjajIYCZ6R7gEJeGWs4pLbO4Q-iIXNMo5zY-TlmSpc8fuzzSXGq6JyRse~yooMoFGZQ2td8e2xzsv5htMM7nvmn6QpsuQrzwAS3cB1RjPVsNDOIkvyBqGnC~v7P59IKLrxfO14BhFvOt3Q4JoOLQelCai-e0bmhhTilkkZH2XwnZejcxAEf4TEAEG-Po9L03U93hsjwX~Lhbew~P5-K72cVKl9xX94ymp8hJONfSzKboaeBPSvdVAPFv9XC2ZGAty4WVKKJnbrxzVqig7WhxliyL3yqKx-H7wqwHlmkV~vz3eksA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Environmental Quality and Public Works Committee on Feb. 11 heard an overview of the Neighborhood Traffic Management Program (NTMP) from Roger Mulvaney, section manager in the Division of Traffic Engineering, detailing how residents can request traffic calming and what tools the city uses.

Mulvaney told the committee the NTMP is a citizen-driven program that begins with a petition to demonstrate neighborhood support and then uses traffic data to determine whether Type 1, Type 2 or Type 3 interventions are appropriate. \"The NTMP is a program targeted at traffic calming efforts on our locals and collector residential streets,\" Mulvaney said. \"Petitions are an important part of this process to demonstrate the majority of the neighbors support our efforts.\"

The program uses three intervention tiers. Type 1 measures are educational or enforcement actions and basic signage; Type 2 includes vertical measures such as speed tables and horizontal measures like curb extensions; and Type 3 covers roadway diversions or closures, which Mulvaney said are rarely recommended. He said the cost-sharing policy applies only to Type 2 and Type 3 installations and is graduated based on a neighborhood's average property value.

Mulvaney provided operational details: the signs-and-NTMP group has eight employees split between the Phoenix building (two engineers, one associate engineer, one senior engineering technician) and a four-person sign shop and installation crew. The division maintains an inventory of roughly 60,000 traffic signs. He described the program's historical basis, saying the NTMP was established about 25 years ago and revised in 2012 and 2015.

Councilmembers pressed staff for more specifics and for improved communication to district offices and residents. Councilmember Gray asked for periodic status updates for council offices, saying, \"a periodic update, like, maybe once monthly or every other month\" would help track projects. Councilmember Savigny said he has used capital funds to cover local projects and supported regular district-level reports. Several members, including Morton and Curtis, asked for clarity on speed-table criteria and on what the program labels as \"basic interventions.\" Mulvaney said the common threshold for recommending a speed table is roughly 1,000 vehicles per day and an 85th-percentile speed about 5 mph above the posted limit; he characterized basic interventions as Type 1 actions such as installing a sign or requesting police enforcement.

On technology and customer service, Mulvaney described a planned Citizen Connect portal intended to centralize traffic-calming requests and provide mapping and project-status tracking. \"The portal is intended to be a uniform traffic calming inquiry tool ... We anticipate that this will be online later this year,\" he said, adding an optimistic timeline of summer for initial availability. The portal will integrate GIS and LFUCG software and include public-facing maps showing active and past projects.

Councilmembers suggested features they want in the portal, including filters by council district and a reporting view accessible to council offices to reduce back-and-forth email traffic. Members also raised practical concerns: Curtis asked whether speed tables can be plowed; Mulvaney replied that properly designed speed tables can be plowed by city snow trucks, while shorter speed humps can cause problems with plows.

Mulvaney said the NTMP currently has more than 100 active projects across stages from petition collection to analysis to installation and that 2024 produced unusually high request volumes (about 1,400 LexCall/NTMP-related contacts handled by the section, with 257 traffic-calming requests in 2024). He told the committee that typical projects can take several months and, in complex cases, up to two years from inception to completion, and that the Citizen Connect portal is intended in part to reduce staff project-management burden.

The committee offered several process suggestions — periodic district-level reporting, an accessible filter for council offices in the portal, and assistance or alternatives for petitioning when residents face mobility or other barriers. Mulvaney said staff will continue to copy council offices on petitions and completed studies and that individual council offices may set up recurring meetings with NTMP staff to review outstanding items.

The discussion closed without formal policy changes; members and staff agreed to continue working on the portal design and on communications about petitioning and cost-share rules for neighborhoods.","The Environmental Quality and Public Works Committee heard an overview of Lexington's Neighborhood Traffic Management Program, including petition-driven project rules, cost-sharing for physical traffic-calming measures, criteria for speed tables and upcoming Citizen Connect portal to track requests.","actionData","errors"]

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Committee updates referrals and advances several agenda items to other committees

Officials outline multi-pronged odor-control work at Town Branch and West Hickman wastewater plants

Committee reviews neighborhood traffic management program; city plans online portal and cost-share rules reiterated