City Council votes unanimously to crack down on blighted property, create Code Enforcement Board

The building at 116 W. Main St. seems likely to be
an early enforcement target, due to its prominence.

After years of off-and-on deliberations, the Midway City Council has passed ordinances to crack down on lack of property maintenance in the city.

The council voted unanimously Monday night for an updated nuisance ordinance and an ordinance creating a Code Enforcement Board, which will hear cases of property owners who don't correct violations. The board's rulings could be appealed to court.

Mayor Grayson Vandegrift, who has been trying to crack down on blighted properties since he took office five years ago, said he would have board appointments ready for approval at the next meeting, Jan. 21.

Afterward, Vandegrift said he enforcement actions could begin as early as next month, once he decides who to appoint as enforcement officer. He said he will also have that appointment ready for the next meeting.

During discussions of the ordinances, Vandegrift said he would probably appoint Building Inspector Joshua Stevens to enforce the ordinance, but he said Monday night that he is worried that Stevens has "a time crunch," so "I'm looking to get a commitment from someone here in the community." That would be more expensive, but he said, "We're not cash-strapped, so I think we can do it." He said another alternative could be a police officer, because the job is "not a time-consuming position."

Property owners would be given at least 10 days to correct violations. If they don't comply, the case would go to the board, which will have three members and two alternates, who must have been residents of the city for a year upon appointment.

After initially staggered appointments, they would serve three-year terms, be limited to two terms and could be removed by the mayor or a council majority plus one for "misconduct, inefficiency or willful neglect of duty." They could not hold any office with the city or any agency that enforces housing, plumbing, fire, maintenance or related codes.

Vandegrift has said the board is the key to enforcement that will stand up in court. The ordinances follow state laws passed in 2016 to give cities more power to crack down on blight.  The code-enforcement ordinance can be downloaded here, and the nuisance ordinance amendment is here.

Vandegrift said during the council meeting that the ordinances had been "a long time coming" and had "hit some roadblocks," including one he hadn't mentioned publicly, the February 2018 death of council member Libby Warfield.

The mayor said he and Warfield "didn't agree on a lot" but she was "a big proponent" of cracking down on blight. To replace her, the council chose Johnny Wilson, who Vandegrift said was more skeptical, as was then-member John McDaniel. So were members Bruce Southworth and Kaye Nita Gallagher, so the mayor's efforts stalled.

In the 2018 council election, Wilson didn't run (which was the understanding when he was appointed), and McDaniel was defeated. Steve Simoff also didn't seek re-election, so new members Stacy Thurman, John Holloway and Logan Nance joined Gallagher, Southworth and Sara Hicks on the council. Early in their term, Thurman, the top vote-getter, called for action, saying "People have been asking."

Vandegrift said after Monday's meeting, "The two years that went by really showed the demand in the community. I'd say that was the driving force."

Midway Station: The council authorized Vandegrift to sign a guarantee of interest payments on the long-term debt of the Midway Station industrial park, which is being converted to a 36-month, 3.25 percent loan from a 20-year bond that matured Dec. 31. The county will again make a similar guarantee, but the two governments seem unlikely to resume such payments because of land sales and development on and near the property.

"It's a performing loan now," said John Soper, chair of the Woodford County Economic Development Authority, which hold title to the land and is the borrower on the loan, which will be held by several local banks, led by Wesbanco. The bond was for more than $6 million and the loan balance is now $2,067,768, according to a cash-flow projection Soper gave the city. It estimated that EDA will have $150,000 available for debt service, which is about 26 months' worth of debt service on projected monthly interest payments of $5,678. The loan principal is being reduced by property sales, at $65,000 per acre for industrial land and more for commercial tracts.

Other business: The council held first reading of a previously discussed budget amendment and approved an event permit for John's Bluegrass Racing Co. to hold the 2020 Iron Horse Half Marathon on the morning of Sept. 20, the Sunday of the Midway Fall Festival. Until this year, the event had been held in October; the route has been adjusted to avoid some problems that arose during this year's race. The route is mapped in the council meeting packet, downloadable here. 

Vandegrift announced that he would call a special meeting for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 14 to discuss the city's water policies. Nance suggested in September that the city no longer cut off water service to customers who don't pay their bills. The next regular meeting will be Tuesday, Jan. 21, due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday that Monday. All council meetings are open to the public.