The randomly-selected group of residents studied Councilmember pay and how Lexington's charter should be reviewed. It will share its recommendations at an upcoming Council meeting.
During its April 28th Work Session, Council took action to address a leaking sewage pump station behind Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, ultimately voting in a 10-5 decision to keep it at its current spot and make needed upgrades.
The city needs to deal with the troubled Mint Lane pump station by the end of 2030 to comply with an EPA Consent Decree, which it's currently under for failing to maintain its sanitary sewer and stormwater systems over the years.
Council weighs its options for Mint Lane pump station
Along with the Dunbar site, Council had been reviewing and considering other options. One included effectively moving the pump station to a portion of Mill Ridge Farm near Bowman Mill Road.
Because the site is downstream and aided by gravity, it would eliminate the need for the existing Mint Lane pump station at Dunbar High. The tradeoff: the project is more expensive. Keeping the pump station at Dunbar is estimated to cost $19.6 million, while the Bowman Mill project could range between $24.9 million to $29.3 million, according to meeting materials.
However, because the Bowman Mill site is outside the current Urban Service Area, that option has drawn criticism from some residents who want to preserve Lexington's farmland.
During more than an hour of public comment at the April 28th meeting, several residents said the move could pave the way for future development in the area, all while bypassing Lexington's current process for expanding the Urban Service Area.
Among them was Elizabeth Nieto, a resident of Bowman Mill Road, who said: "I do not want to one day mourn the beauty this road once had.”
Others were concerned moving the pump station downstream to the Bowman Mill site would effectively be granting a subsidy to developers. The area has been scored highly for its potential as developable land.
"This represents a private benefit at public expense," said John Phillips, a District 5 resident who works in District 12.
Previously, Mill Ridge Farm owner Price Bell has advocated for relocating the pump station to Bowman Mill in order to support a wetland restoration project. Subject to frequent flooding, Mill Ridge Farm is pursuing a conservation easement to help restore a creek in the area. Moving the pump station downstream would help make that happen, Bell has said.
"My greatest driver of being here today is the wetland restoration project," Bell said during an April 14th Council Work Session. "Relocating a pump station to Bowman Mill allows a state-funded wetland restoration project along Cave Creek to move forward," Bell said.
As Council weighed the Mint Lane decision at its April 28th Work Session, Bell outlined risks at the current Dunbar site and made a case for Bowman Mill.
Acting Commissioner of Environmental Quality and Public Works Charlie Martin has described the Dunbar site as a more constrained site, with karst features and potential floodplain impacts.
"The Dunbar site is all risk, no reward," Bell said. "The Dunbar site means more time, more cost, more risk."
A screen capture shows a slide from an April 14, 2026 Council Work Session presentation.
What's next?
District 12 Councilmember Hil Boone successfully moved to allow the city's Division of Water Quality to proceed with negotiations and other preliminary steps for the Mint Lane pump station sewer project at the Dunbar site.
The city will need to acquire land from Fayette County Public Schools for the project.
While some Councilmembers raised concerns about construction site risks, cost overruns, and the outcome of negotiations with FCPS, Boone's motion ultimately succeeded on a 10-5 margin.
Aaron covers the Lexington Fayette Urban County Council as a City Hall Reporter for CivicLex. His background is in Service Journalism, and he’s passionate about helping Lexington residents stay informed about happenings in local government.
