EDA and developer want to return 37 acres of Midway Station to industrial zoning, from residential

By Kristen Sekinger and Al Cross
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

The Woodford County Economic Development Authority plans to rezone part of Midway Station back to its original industrial form.

The plans came to light at the EDA board meeting Friday, when Chairman John Soper said developer Dennis Anderson would file an application to rezone 37 acres on the back of the property east of the water tower. That tract, which adjoins an existing industrial zone, is a little less than half the land in Midway Station that is zoned for single-family housing.

Industrial zone is in purple; 37 acres that would be rezoned industrial is outlined in purple. (Click image to enlarge)

Soper and Midway Mayor Tom Bozarth said industrial prospects have already been on the property, and public reaction to the prospect of industrializing it has been positive. Bozarth said after the meeting that Toyota’s addition of a Lexus line at its Georgetown plant creates the possibility of supplier plants in the area.

The Midway City Council has authority over zone changes, after hearings by the county planning and zoning commission.

The council rezoned the property for residential and commercial development in 2008 after the idea of Midway Station as an industrial park failed and the EDA signed a deal to sell the property to Anderson Communities once it was rezoned and its initial construction plans were approved.

Anderson has not developed the property, citing the uncertain economy, but has paid the interest, approximately $10,000 a month, on the city and county’s $4.7 million in debt on the property. Selling part of it for industry would help pay down the debt and reduce the need for immediate residential and commercial development.

Bozarth expressed confidence that Midway Station will be developed because it is a “good piece of property.”

Reducing the amount of residential property in the development was an idea mentioned by Council Member Grayson Vandegrift in November when he said he was going to run for mayor.

Vandegrift said he would like to de-emphasize residential development at Midway Station and include more “light industries,” like distribution centers, to create more jobs, which would raise occupational tax revenues. “We need jobs, not homes,” he said.

Council Member Sharon Turner, who is running for mayor against Vandegrift in the November general election, said Wednesday that she thinks change in plans is a good thing partly because Anderson is developing a smaller tract across Interstate 64 from Midway Station. “Now that you have, for example, the Shell station and a fast-food restaurant [Subway] coming to the Weems property, businesses are looking at it as a more business-friendly area,” she said.

Turner said officials approved the residential and commercial development because the attempt to attract industry had failed. “I think we all wanted residential . . . because we didn’t see hopes for anything else,” she said. She said since the Shell station has opened, “the exit is a viable exit, it makes sense to go industrial,” because services are being developed near the site.

Turner said she has high hopes that business at Midway Station will start moving, “now that we have somebody that’s really stepped out. . . . Once you bring people that are actually physically working there, it changes the whole scheme of the whole park.”

The approved plan for the Weems property calls for a hotel, two restaurants and a small retail store. Last May, Anderson said he had talked to the representatives of hotel chains, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Dollar General and Family Dollar about coming to the property.

Free program on health-insurance reform to be held at Midway Christian Church at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 13

If you still don't know what federal health reform will mean for you as an individual health care consumer or small business owner, information will be available in a free program at Midway Christian Church at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 13.

Mary Volkerding, a community relations representative with the Kentucky Health Cooperative, a new, non-profit insurance company created under the reform law, will present an overview of the options individuals and businesses have to get quality, affordable health coverage.

In addition to discussion of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, she will also cover how to use Kynect, the state health-insurance marketplace. For more information contact DeeDee Roach at 846-4697.

Council accepts bid for handicapped ramp, discusses ways to get public to use emergency notification system

This crossing will be reconfigured to include a ramp.

A ramp on Main Street for the handicapped to cross the railroad should be completed by early May, the Midway City Council was told last night after accepting the lowest of six bids on the project.

The council approved the low bid of $26,989 from VanHook Enterprises of Somerset. It had already agreed to pay the contractor on the new Gratz Street wall $5,500 for stone work to make the ramp and related, reconstructed structures match the city's streetscape.

R.J. Corman Railroad Co. has agreed to pay $20,000 toward the work, so the city's cost will be $12,489. The ramp will be build on the north side of the western railroad crossing for pedestrians.

Chris Stewart of HMB Engineers, the city's consultant, said he had not worked with VanHook but "All the references we were able to get in touch with said very good things about them." Mayor Tom Bozarth said the company just finished building a new pharmacy in Versailles.

Once paperwork is completed and VanHook obtains performance bonds, Stewart said, the city should be ready to issue a notice to proceed on or about March 12. The contractor will have 10 days to start work, and then 30 calendar days to complete it. The stone finish work is to be done in 14 addiitonal days, Stewart said, and that would make the completion date around May 7, the middle of the week after the Kentucky Derby.

Derby Week brings many visitors to Midway, so city officials had hoped to get the work done by then, or even in time for the spring Keeneland meet April 4-25. Stewart said the city could delay the work until after the Derby, but Bozarth siad, "I don't think that's a big issue."

With Woodford County Emergency Services Director Keith Slugantz, the council discussed ways to get more citizens to sign up for the high-tech emergency notification system being paid for by the county, Midway and Versailles. Slugantz said only 400 of 25,000 potential users have created accounts on the system, which he called disappointing.

The system, Everbridge, allows citizens to sign up for emergency alerts via text messages, social media, telephone calls and other methods, and to exclude certain alerts (except tornado warnings) and certain time periods. If the system does not sense that an alert has been received, it will try alternate methods until it receives an acknowedgement, Slugantz said.

Operators of the system can target alerts to specific areas or even one building. "We came up with a Cadillac system," Sligantz said. "It will save your life. It has the ability to reach everybody, and I've never been able to do that." Citizens can sign up at www.woodfordalerts.com.

Signup requires an email address. Council Member Sara Hicks said her 89-year-old mother and many other people don't use email or computers, but Slugantz said Hicks could use her account to direct calls to her mother. Hicks suggested training workshops to educate people about the system.

After considerable discussion, the council tentatively agreed to include information about the system in a water-bill mailing. Bozarth said the town is small enough for city officials to make door-to-door visits to explain the system and encourage people to use it, and Council Member Grayson Vandegrift said that could be done if the mailing isn't effective.

Slugantz said Richmond "put a lot of money into an ad campaign" but only 10 percent of potential users signed up. "A lot of people are resistant to giving up their information," he noted, but said the system is "secure and password-protected."

Among other business, the council gave first reading to an ordinance that would replace the current one limiting business operations after midnight, gave formal approval to the lease of city property to Windstream Communications, and approved events permits for two 5K races. Details are available in the council meeting packet, posted here as a PDF.

Boutique is named 'Best Place to Shop in Midway' in Woodford County Community Business Awards

Photo by Dylan Russell

By Dylan Russell
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

Midway Boutique was the local winner as the 2014 Woodford County Community Business Awards were handed out at Midway College Tuesday evening, Feb. 25.

Midway Boutique was named best place to shop in Midway, in an online "best of" survey of 277 people by the Woodford County Chamber of Commerce in January and February.

Located at 100 East Main Street, at the corner of the railroad and Winter Street, this quaint little boutique offers upscale clothing and accessory brands geared towards women.

Jeanette Keaton, owner of the store, was very pleased about winning and seeing her hard work pay off. “It’s quite an honor. It’s unexpected,” Keaton said soon after accepting the award from Chamber Chairman Adam Probst in the Duthie Auditorium at the Anne Hart Raymond Center. “It’s uplifting.” (Photo by Erin Grigson)

As you enter Midway Boutique, it’s impossible to ignore the array of colorful clothing that lines the walls like a rainbow. Displays of purses, shoes and other accessories are spread out neatly around the store. Keaton’s experience and professionalism are evident. (Photo by Dylan Russell)

“We’ve been here over eight years,” Keaton said, “but I’ve been in the wholesale retail business for over 30 years.”

Keaton said she strives to have a little bit of something for everyone at Midway Boutique. That’s part of what makes her store special.

“Our store is unique,” she said, “because of all of the different brands and lines for all different ages.” (Photo by Dylan Russell)

Keaton’s award was one of 16 handed out at the event, ranging from best veterinary clinic (Woodford Veterinary Clinic) to best bank (Citizens Commerce).

WinStar Farm receptionist
Diana Elam (Grigson photo)

Other winners with Midway connections included WinStar Farm, best horse farm; and ERA Show Place Realty, best real estate agency. Brenda Rollins of Midway is an ERA agent.

The Woodford Community Service award was won by Woodford Tomorrow and Uniquely Woodford, the community brand that Woodford Tomorrow took the lead in developing.

The award is given to an organization that helps make Woodford County a better place to live, work and visit, said Probst, the county extension agent for agriculture and natural resources.

From left: Ken Kerkhoff, Sandi Bromagen and Joe Graviss accepted
for Woodford Tomorrow and Uniquely Woodford. (Grigson photo)

Woodford Tomorrow is an organization striving to bring the community together and to help preserve Woodford County while developing it economically. It coordinated production of an eight-minute video and a two-hour documentary about the county, as well as worked with Midway College to develop the Uniquely Woodford logo.

Ken Kerkhoff, a Versailles City Council member who spearheaded the Uniquely Woodford project, won the Eureath White Spirit Award.

The 16 awards were:

•             Best Place to Shop in Midway: Midway Boutique

•             Best Place to Shop in Versailles: Pretty in Pink

•             Best Veterinary Clinic: Woodford Veterinary Clinic

•             Best Breakfast: McDonald’s

•             Best Horse Farm: WinStar Farms

•             Best Bank: Citizens Commerce

•             Best Real Estate Agency: ERA Show Place Realty

•             Woodford All-Star Award: Brenda Craig, Sandi Bromagen

•             Leadership All-Star Award: Tommy Haggard

•             Eureath White Spirit Award: Ken Kerkhoff

•             Outstanding Farmer of the Year: Brad Carmickle

•             Woodford County Distinguished Farmer of the Year: Jesse Lane

•             Business Industry of the Year: Ruggles Sign Co.

•             Business of the Year: Life Adventure Center

•             Tourism Achievement Award: Woodford Reserve

•             Community Service Award: Uniquely Woodford, Woodford Tomorrow

'George Washington Carver and Friends' play, and one very busy actor, illustrate African American achievers

Antony Russell plays Jackie Robinson running the bases as he talks with Kate Rozycki, playing Dorothy.

Story and photos by Erin Grigson

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

Two actors portrayed 10 characters in “George Washington Carver and Friends,” performed at Midway College on Sunday afternoon. One actor played nine characters, all notable African Americans.

Antony Russell is a 25-year-old actor who has worked for Bright Star Touring Theatre, based in Asheville, N.C., since January. In Sunday’s play, his major role was agricultural chemist George Washington Carver. Carver was known for developing more than 300 uses for peanuts, and that passion was portrayed in Russell’s performance.

In a series of costume changes, he played baseball Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson, potato-chip inventor George Crum (left), egg-beater inventor Willis Johnson, self-made cosmetics millionaire Madame C.J. Walker, heart surgeon Daniel Hale Williams, Cascade detergent inventor Dennis Weatherby, educator Booker T. Washington, and Thurgood Marshall, the first black Supreme Court justice. Those roles are pictured below in that order, ending with Carver.

Throughout the play and during Russell’s costume changes, Kate Rozycki, 23, played a young student named Dorothy, who was researching famous African American inventors and ground-breakers. Using what she called her “magic book,” she met all these people, all played by Russell. The character of Carver kept recurring, as Dorothy’s essay topic always came back to him.

Rozycki said in an interview, “At one of the shows the other day, (some adults) were like, ‘You made learning about all these people really fun.’ So this show is deceptively educational because maybe people don’t realize how much they’re actually learning.”

About 80 people were in the audience for the performance, most of them children. During the play, to teach the kids about the three branches of government, Rozycki chose three from the audience and brought them on stage. She then gave each of them a hat or wig to put on their head to designate them as a specific branch. A boy with a top hat represented the executive branch, a girl with a Ben Franklin wig represented the legislative branch, and a boy in a powdered wig represented the judicial branch. Meanwhile, Thurgood Marshall talked about his time as a lawyer arguing the Brown v. Board of Education case that ended school segregation.

Rozycki said she has been with the company since November of last year. On her last tour, she was the one with all the costume changes. In “A Dickens Tale,” she played all the characters except Scrooge.

For this play, though, Russell was the actor with hands full. However, he had some tricks up his sleeve.

“Sometimes you have to put on a lot of different accents to help out with that,” he said in an interview.

He said he has learned how to speak in several accents, including Jamaican, Trinidadian, African, Bostonian, and New Yorker.

Still, that didn’t make his job much easier when it came to all the costume changes he had to do in the hour-long play. During the question-and-answer session with the audience after the show, Rozycki complimented him, saying, “He did a good job. I didn’t have to stall once.”

After about 60 performances, it seems the pair should have it down to a science. In a little less than two months, Russell and Rozycki have performed this show anywhere between 50 and 70 times. And they still have a month to go.

Along with the Carver play, they are also currently performing “Struggle for Freedom: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King.” While the Carver show is more upbeat and interactive with the audience, the King play is more serious. In both, the pair enjoys working and performing together.

“I love how fun it is,” Russell said of the King play. “I think it’s so awesome that we’re able to give that to people and let people feel what it may have been during that time.”

Rozycki agreed, saying of the Carver play, “This is a fun show. It’s kind of goofy.”

The play was brought to Midway College by the Woodford County Public Library’s Lottie M. White Children’s Program Series.

Dorothy (Kate Royzcki) listens to agricultural chemist George Washington Carver (Antony Russell).

City council starts changing policies and procedures regarding bill adjustments for water leaks

By Kayla Pickrell

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

Several landowners' recent water leaks spiked their bills, and that sparked debate on how to adjust the bill-adjustment ordinance at the Midway City Council’s special meeting Tuesday afternoon.

Council Member Aaron Hamilton said one of the bills with a leak on the property was $1,500.

To catch leaks earlier and head off large adjustments, the council decided unanimously to read water meters twice a month, rather than the monthly readings already in effect. That won’t cost more, since meters are now read by radio.

“This is paying attention when there are high readings,” Council Member Sara Hicks said, “and helping people get them fixed as quickly as possible.”

Although nothing was set in stone, the council talked about doing weekly readings during cold weather to proactively catch leaks before they become a bigger problem. “It doesn’t need to be a policy, just a procedure,” Hamilton said.

Along with conducting readings twice a month, Council Member Dan Roller suggested training people to do the readings to make the process faster. Only one city employee now conducts the readings.

Mayor Tom Bozarth said, “We want to have a way where we can work with people the best we can.”

The council is looking to change the water and sewer ordinance of 2003, which allows bill adjustments only to those on the sewer system. Some farms are on city water but not sewer.

“What we’re talking about really is suggesting that we change the policy for those who don’t have sewer,” said Council Member Grayson Vandegrift.

The council appeared to agree that adjustments would be allowed once every 12 months if proper documentation was provided regarding information about the leak on the property. The adjustment would be based upon the average water bill from six months prior to the leak.

“At the very least, you’d want to determine the cause of the leak and the wear of the system,” City Attorney Phil Moloney said.

Roller suggested that the city put the cause of the leak at the top of the list, as long as the leak was fixed. “It would be a nightmare to try to determine why they are having water loss,” he said.

Shepard is looking over figures from the past water bills to bring to the next council meeting to help members make a decision on the ordinance, Bozarth said.

The council will meet again Monday, March 3 at 5:30 p.m.

Here's a video of most of the hour-long meeting, starting about 13 minutes in:

Graduates, faculty, city council member speak up for Midway College nursing program to accreditors

By Bridget Slone

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

More than 20 people gathered in Midway College’s Duthie Auditorium for the accreditation review of the college’s nursing program last Tuesday evening. The meeting was a forum for comment on the program to include in the accreditors’ report.

Attendees included Midway citizens, graduates of Midway College, and faculty and staff members. Eleven people shared comments. Some were graduates of the program and shared testimonies of their experiences as students. Others were citizens of Midway who spoke of important roles the program and the college play in the community.

Marshell Danielson, a graduate of the nursing program and a registered nurse, spoke to the accredtors and the Midway Messenger. She discussed the supportiveness of faculty members, expectations and the foundation the program provides for students.

“What it did was provide the foundation for us to continue with the expectation,” Danielson said in the interview. “We were going to continue on for further education.”

Danielson, who is working on a master’s degree, explained the importance of future nurses furthering their education and obtaining such degrees in nursing in order to help expand the profession: “What Midway does is [provide] a very good foundation so that you can go from one program to the next 

program with the writings, the research and the professional conduct.”

Danielson said she has worked with nurses and undergraduates from other programs and those from the Midway program are far more prepared: “They are more assured in what they’re doing.”

Danielson also agreed with other comments provided during the meeting, saying “I don’t think there’s enough good things that we could say about Midway College. I think it’s a phenomenal program.”

Midway City Council Member Grayson Vandergrift told the accreditors about Midway College’s importance to the community, saying the presence of an institution of higher learning in a town the size of Midway is “incredibly important.”

Vandergrift explained that Midway College is the city’s largest provider of jobs and how the nursing program plays a big part in that, with the addition of the nursing home. Christian Care Communities plans to open a senior living residence, The Homeplace at Midway, across Stephens Street from the college, late this year.

Faculty members of the nursing program also attended. Nancy Barnum, associate professor of nursing, said that what sets Midway’s nursing program apart from others are the relationships established between the faculty and students, advising and high expectations. Barnum explained in an interview that being a smaller school allows faculty and advisers to “build really strong relationships with students.

She said faculty have “high expectations that our students can achieve and they usually do.”

Barnum said afterward that she was “very pleased” with the comments during the meeting. “They’re things that we hear a lot from the community, so it was nice that they were here to say it to the accreditors.”

The accreditors' report will go to the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, whose board of commissioners would meet in July. The school will receive their reports six weeks later, toward the end of August, the accreditors said.

Midway College began a two-year nursing program in 1965, when it was still Midway Junior College. The registered nurse - bachelor of science degree in nursing began in 1989. Since 1991, the program has had 1,991 graduates. Of those, 1,486 obtained an associate degree and 179 received a bachelor's degree, according to Ellen Gregory, the college's vice president for marketing and communications. Over the past three years, the program has an average of 100 graduates a year, Gregory said.