Council OKs support for child-care effort, gets good news on money available for sewer repairs, rate cut

By Christie Netherton
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

The Midway City Council approved a $500 grant to the Midway Child Care Task Force and will act as a fiscal sponsor for the organization to help bring quality child care back to Midway.

Also at Monday evening’s meeting, Mayor Grayson Vandegrift discussed a plan to cut citizens’ sewer bills by 25 percent starting in December and to repair faulty sewer lines. Vandegrift also said he wants to pass code ordinances for building maintenance before the end of the year.

Child care: Members of the Midway Child Care Task Force, including Mary Beth Rouse and Helen Rentch, asked the council for the grant and for the city to be a fiscal partner to seek a grant from the Woodford County Community Foundation. The grant would be used to conduct a survey on the necessity of child care and to hire a consultant to help bring quality child care back to Midway, Rouse told the council.

The task force was created by the mayor last year. Because the task force is not an independent organization, Rouse said, it needs a fiscal sponsor to apply for the foundation grant.

The task force plans to ask for $6,000 and is one of two Midway organizations applying for grant funds; the other is the Midway Park Fund. The public will decide who gets $25,000 grant money with a public vote at Midway University Nov. 14.

“I’d rather see the money go to child care at this point rather than the park,” Council Member John McDaniel said.

The $500 grant from the council is contingent on the foundation grant and would be available to the task force in the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2019.

Stacy Thurman, the Midway branch manager at the Woodford County Library and candidate for city council, attended the meeting and said in an interview afterward, “People constantly come to us and ask if there’s a good child-care option when they move here. They are always looking for something, so I can tell you that there’s a need for it.”

Rose told the council, “In the years that Midway College had their program and our kids were there, people came from Frankfort, Lexington, Georgetown to use that because it was quality child care. As a parent, I know how important it was to have child care and I’m very hopeful we can do that again for all the families that need it.”

Sewer news: Now that the city has paid off the bond issue for its sewage-treatment plants, Vandegrift said he wants to cut citizens sewer fees 25 percent starting in December, fix faulty sewage lines and make other general repairs as needed.

Vandegrift said the debt retirement frees up Sewer Fund money of $63,000 plus an extra $88,000 in emergency funds. Also, he announced “wonderful news” that General Fund money is now available, and the city has had a running surplus of about half a million dollars. “We’re going to be able to cut sewer rates and invest in infrastructure.”

Vandegrift said he will meet with the city’s engineering consultant, HMB Engineers, on Sept. 24 to discuss plans for repairs. He said the Brand Street line, which serves the Midway University area, is likely to be the first major project.

Code enforcement: Vandegrift announced that he hopes to hold a code-enforcement workshop in early October for the council to deal with an ordinance he has been seeking for more than a year on building standards and maintenance.

“We want to make sure this thing is air-tight before we go forward with it,” he said. The council has been debating the issue for more than a year; one sticking point is whether the council or a new board appointed by it would be the main enforcement body. 

Vandegrift said after the meeting that he wants to enact a new code-enforcement ordinance by the end of the year, when the current council’s term ends. Four of the six council members are seeking new terms in the Nov. 6 election, and four non-incumbents are running.

Fire Department: Assistant Fire Chief Vincent Price has retired after 43 years of service. The council appointed Joe Campbell to replace Price. Campbell has 24 years of fire service and has worked as captain, fire safety inspector and recruit firefighter instructor. The council appointed Firefighter and EMT Allen Vann to replace Campbell as captain. Vann has worked 15 years in fire service.