Council hears about plans for ambulance station, lets RV dealer stay longer to make sales

Midway and county officials have begun talks toward establishing a county ambulance station in the town, perhaps in the old library building. After a meeting yesterday that included Mayor Tom Bozarth and County Judge-Executive John Coyle, Bozarth and Magistrate Larry Craig of Midway discussed the idea with the City Council this evening.

"It was a very encouraging meeting," Bozarth said, noting that county ambulances made 121 runs from Versailles to Midway last year, not including those near the town. "This is not only about Midway," he said,. "but about the northern part of the county." He said after the meeting that the station is "probably a year or more away," because of the time needed for planning, budgeting and construction.

Craig said the county would pay for the equipment and three employees for the station. He said Coyle will appoint three Fiscal Court members to begin discussions with the council's Finance and City Property Committee. He said that of the four sites considered, the old library seemed to be best, and "hopefully the least expensive."

RV park now a sales lot: The council voted to give Nashville recreational-vehicle dealer Raymond Brody another month at Midway Station to help him sell some of the RVs he has at the site after renting them for visitors to the World Equestrian Games. He said there are about 180 campers on the site, none of them hooked up for rental. Bozarth said 55 were brought from the Kentucky Horse Park, the WEG site, where Brody also operated. He said Brody would pay the city an additional $50 per camper, under his agreement with the city.

Brody's lease will now run through Nov. 25, pending approval from the Woodford County Economic Development Authority, which owns the failed industrial park. The council also required him have round-the-clock security, pay his fees and the $20,000 he owes the EDA by Nov. 1. Bozarth complimented Brody, saying "Your people did a very good job of trying to make everybody comfortable." Brody said there would be no on-site advertising for the RV sales.

Sidetrack construction: The council authorized HMB Engineers to advertise bids for removal and reconstruction of stone walls and concrete facilities to make room for the sidetrack to accommodate RJ Corman Railroad's dinner or excursion train. Joe Grider of HMB said he would like to open bids Nov. 10 and recommend contractors by Nov. 15, but construction would not start until after Jan. 1. He said it would take six weeks to two months and would be completed by April 1. For a PDF of a construction diagram, click here.