The Urban County Council gave first reading to several notable measures at Thursday night's council meeting.
The first is a measure that would increase the city’s sewage disposal fee. Introduced in Tuesday’s work session, the move is meant to raise funds to prevent the system from leaking waste into local streams. Under the terms of a 2011 decree by the Environmental Protection Agency, Lexington is required to fix the sewer system or face stiff fines. Vice Mayor Steve Kay said while painful, the increase is necessary.
“I think that most people in the community understand that this is something we need to do and so, everybody in council already said that nobody likes to increase the fee but it’s what we have to do,” he said.
The measure would increase the average consumer bill from $24.36 to $27. 29, with an identical 12% increase in the following year.
Second is a provision that would amend the city’s taxicab rules. The ordinance would make it easier for traditional taxi companies to compete against ride sharing companies such as Uber and Lyft, which have recently been permitted to operate in Lexington. Vice Mayor Steve Kay says the changes will help put taxi drivers on a more even playing field.
“It’s a tweak, it encourages competition. I think people were comfortable with it,” he said.
Specific measures include lowering the minimum amount of taxis required for a fleet from 25 to 10, allows taxi drivers to use a mobile app in place of a meter, and drops the need to be available for service at all times.
The final notable first reading is an ordinance that would allow limited operation of food trucks around certain businesses. Specifically, it would allow them to operate in professional office parks, zoned P1, while 500 feet away from any residential property. Vice Mayor Steve Kay says there was almost no objection to the measure.
"The food trucks we’ve been working on quite a while and this just basically says the pilot work, we want to make it full time, part of the regulations, so I think it was not controversial at all," he said.
The ordinance builds upon pilot programs that would allow trucks to operate around Lexington.
All of these first readings are likely to face a final vote in the next council meeting, which takes place next week.
