The Midway City Council got its first look at the mayor's proposed budget and heard complaints about the work that has expanded Walter Bradley Park at its regular meeting Monday evening.
Mayor Grayson Vandegrift's budget plan for the fiscal year that starts July 1 put numbers to a promise he made last summer, to cut property taxes because increased employment is bringing the city much more occupational tax.
The proposed budget calls for $82,000 in property-tax revenue, 25 percent less than the $110,000 budgeted this year. That will more than be made up by occupational-tax revenue, which is budgeted to rise to $550,000 in the next fiscal year from $500,000 this year.
Vandegrift said the property tax in Midway is twice that in Versailles.
On the spending side, Vandegrift budgeted $50,000 for paving, up from $32,000 this year; $20,000 for storm drains, up from $10,000; and an extra $15,000 for the cemetery building fund, to erect a pavilion to provide shelter in inclement weather.
He said he "proudly" renewed the $17,000 annual appropriation for improvements at the park.
Earlier, the council heard the first public complaints about work at the park, from a neighbor who lives at the foot of Gratz Street, near the new entrance to the area where brush has been cleared and paths have been created.
"I'd like to know what the plans are for the park that surrounds my house," Vicki Olivo said. "I have some concerns about what's going on down there."
Olivo said the work at the park has removed cover for birds and small mammals. "The owls have gone," she said. "We don't see rabbits anymore. It's just run the wildlife out."
She said the humming, solar-powered lights at the park make it "like I'm living next door to a car lot on North New Circle Road" in Lexington, "and that's not the ambience anyone wants in Midway."
She asked why the lights are needed, since signs say the park is open from dawn to dusk. Vandegrift said the lights are designed to encourage traffic between Northside Drive and downtown, but said they might not be needed as late as midnight.
Vandegrift suggested that Olivo take her concerns to the park board, which meets Tuesday evening.
In other business, the council heard first reading of a zoning-ordinance amendment that would allow bed-and-breakfasts of no more than three sleeping rooms in agricultural zones, on lots of at least five acres, with no events allowed. The proposal is countywide.
County Clerk Sandy Jones explained the process through which she found that there were enough signatures on a petition to force a referendum on a proposed property tax to build a new Woodford County High School.
The school board has appealed Jones' decision to circuit court, but she said the vacancy in one judgeship has left uncertain what judge will handle the case.
Jones said the board wanted to have the special election a week before the May 22 primary, which "was not humanly possible." She said a special election would cost nearly $50,000. Holding the referendum at the Nov. 6 general election would save extra election expenses but force preparation and mailing of a second set of tax bills, the cost of which she said she didn't know.
Mayor Grayson Vandegrift's budget plan for the fiscal year that starts July 1 put numbers to a promise he made last summer, to cut property taxes because increased employment is bringing the city much more occupational tax.
The proposed budget calls for $82,000 in property-tax revenue, 25 percent less than the $110,000 budgeted this year. That will more than be made up by occupational-tax revenue, which is budgeted to rise to $550,000 in the next fiscal year from $500,000 this year.
Vandegrift said the property tax in Midway is twice that in Versailles.
On the spending side, Vandegrift budgeted $50,000 for paving, up from $32,000 this year; $20,000 for storm drains, up from $10,000; and an extra $15,000 for the cemetery building fund, to erect a pavilion to provide shelter in inclement weather.
He said he "proudly" renewed the $17,000 annual appropriation for improvements at the park.
Earlier, the council heard the first public complaints about work at the park, from a neighbor who lives at the foot of Gratz Street, near the new entrance to the area where brush has been cleared and paths have been created.
"I'd like to know what the plans are for the park that surrounds my house," Vicki Olivo said. "I have some concerns about what's going on down there."
Olivo said the work at the park has removed cover for birds and small mammals. "The owls have gone," she said. "We don't see rabbits anymore. It's just run the wildlife out."
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| Solar-powered lights illuminate paths leading to the new bridge over Lee Branch in Walter Bradley Park. |
She asked why the lights are needed, since signs say the park is open from dawn to dusk. Vandegrift said the lights are designed to encourage traffic between Northside Drive and downtown, but said they might not be needed as late as midnight.
Vandegrift suggested that Olivo take her concerns to the park board, which meets Tuesday evening.
In other business, the council heard first reading of a zoning-ordinance amendment that would allow bed-and-breakfasts of no more than three sleeping rooms in agricultural zones, on lots of at least five acres, with no events allowed. The proposal is countywide.
County Clerk Sandy Jones explained the process through which she found that there were enough signatures on a petition to force a referendum on a proposed property tax to build a new Woodford County High School.
The school board has appealed Jones' decision to circuit court, but she said the vacancy in one judgeship has left uncertain what judge will handle the case.
Jones said the board wanted to have the special election a week before the May 22 primary, which "was not humanly possible." She said a special election would cost nearly $50,000. Holding the referendum at the Nov. 6 general election would save extra election expenses but force preparation and mailing of a second set of tax bills, the cost of which she said she didn't know.
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