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| Late-winter photo shows that the concrete base, casket platform and walkway for the pavilion have been completed. |
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media
The Midway City Council voted Tuesday to put $30,000 back into the city's draft budget to finish building a pavilion at the Midway Cemetery.
The decision came after Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said Public Works Supervisor Terry Agee saw an elderly woman roaming the cemetery alone, with funeral crowds limited due to the covid-19 pandemic. It was "heartbreaking to see," Vandegrift said.
The concrete base and casket platform of the pavilion have been completed, and Vandegrift had the rest of it in his proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. When the pandemic hit, threatening payroll-tax revenue, he and the council drafted a “bare bones” budget without the pavilion.
The Midway City Council voted Tuesday to put $30,000 back into the city's draft budget to finish building a pavilion at the Midway Cemetery.
The decision came after Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said Public Works Supervisor Terry Agee saw an elderly woman roaming the cemetery alone, with funeral crowds limited due to the covid-19 pandemic. It was "heartbreaking to see," Vandegrift said.
The concrete base and casket platform of the pavilion have been completed, and Vandegrift had the rest of it in his proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. When the pandemic hit, threatening payroll-tax revenue, he and the council drafted a “bare bones” budget without the pavilion.
When Lakeshore Learning Materials, the city’s largest employer, said it would call most or all of its workers back soon, the officials drafted a “middle ground budget” with the pavilion as the main unanswered question, which Vandegrift put to the council.
Council Member John Holloway said he visited several cemeteries and said pavilions are "something other cities are doing now,” And "It's something that should we should go ahead and get done."
He also said, "Something that's this close and to being finished, it seems to me to be a waste of money that went into before if we don't go in and finish the deal."
Council Member Bruce Southworth agreed. "It really needs to be done," he said. "It needs to be finished. We already started it; let's go finish it."
The vote was 4-0. Council Members Kaye Nita Gallagher and Stacy Thurman were absent. The meeting was held online, as meetings have been since the covid-19 pandemic hit.
Holloway said Agee wants to ensure that services at the cemetery are of low stress and that the pavilion will help accomplish that, especially in wet weather.
“He's not just blowing smoke,” Holloway said. ”They can handle things so much better and it'll be a better service,” because graveside services with tents require “being so super careful about where the dirt is” placed.
He also said completing the pavilion might even save some money, because f less manpower used in setting up tents.
Council Member John Holloway said he visited several cemeteries and said pavilions are "something other cities are doing now,” And "It's something that should we should go ahead and get done."
He also said, "Something that's this close and to being finished, it seems to me to be a waste of money that went into before if we don't go in and finish the deal."
Council Member Bruce Southworth agreed. "It really needs to be done," he said. "It needs to be finished. We already started it; let's go finish it."
The vote was 4-0. Council Members Kaye Nita Gallagher and Stacy Thurman were absent. The meeting was held online, as meetings have been since the covid-19 pandemic hit.
Holloway said Agee wants to ensure that services at the cemetery are of low stress and that the pavilion will help accomplish that, especially in wet weather.
“He's not just blowing smoke,” Holloway said. ”They can handle things so much better and it'll be a better service,” because graveside services with tents require “being so super careful about where the dirt is” placed.
He also said completing the pavilion might even save some money, because f less manpower used in setting up tents.
The only real question was whether to take the $30,000 from the city’s large surplus or, as Vandegrift first suggested, eliminating cost sharing for repair of sidewalks. After some discussion, the council voted to use the surplus, which Vandegrift said is almost $1 million when certificates of deposit are included.
"I think it's the right thing to do, I think it's the proper thing to do," the mayor said after the vote. "I think we're still very fiscally cautious."
Concern remains about a significant loss of payroll-tax revenue amid the pandemic, so Vandegrift reduced that revenue estimate to $737,500 from his original $825,000.
The mayor said Lakeshore has been "on top of the outbreak" since it began in Wuhan, China, because it has a manufacturing center there. Thus, the company believes it will still have a profitable year, which will help Midway's revenue.
Vandegrift said Midway University may still "produce big" payroll-tax revenue regardless of whether or not classes are online or in person.
Vandegrift said Midway University may still "produce big" payroll-tax revenue regardless of whether or not classes are online or in person.
While much of the budget remained the same from last Monday's discussion of the "middle ground budget," Vandegrift proposed a handful of mostly minor changes that brought no objections from the council. They included:
● Police expense increased from $160,000 to $175,000, based on Midway’s agreement to pay 4.2 percent of the budget of the Versailles Police Department;
● Brick repair work on the Rau Building, which houses City Hall, down to $17,000 from $45,000, with expectation that a grant will pay part of the cost;
● Parks maintenance reduced from $10,000 to $7,000;
● Christmas decorations down to $3,500 from $5,500.
● Christmas decorations down to $3,500 from $5,500.
Vandegrift said Wednesday afternoon that he expects the budget to be in ordinance form and ready for first reading at the council's next regular meeting on Monday. Ordinances require two readings before passage.
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