By Grayson Vandegrift
Mayor, City of Midway
This Friday will mark eight weeks since we started social distancing and then soon after started staying healthy at home, all while washing our hands often and practicing good personal hygiene. You likely see or hear all kinds of numbers and projection models about the virus, and frankly, it can be dizzying – and confusing. So here’s something we know: the measures we took have worked. We have not overwhelmed our hospitals, and that has likely saved hundreds if not thousands of lives across the commonwealth.
To your credit, and with great blessings, we have yet to confirm a case of covid-19 in Midway, and we’ve seen only 17 in the whole county. That is a testament to how well you have adapted to these nearly unprecedented circumstances. I do urge us all, though, to remember that just because we haven’t confirmed any cases in Midway, that doesn’t mean it isn’t here.
The unusually long incubation period of this virus means an outbreak could happen today, but we wouldn’t know about it for a week or two. That’s why, even as we begin to see parts of our economy open back up we have to remain vigilant to giving the virus as little chance as we can. Words can’t describe how incredible you’ve been. It’s been two long months, and we’ve got a ways to go still, but what you’ve accomplished is not only impressive, it’s inspirational. So let’s dig in and keep getting through this together.
With staggered openings coming to our economy, we can’t be surprised if we see some spikes in cases, so let’s remember to keep using our good common sense and stay healthy at home as much as possible, and even with some return to a new normal, keep using the social distancing and hand-washing practices that have gotten us here. Midway, and even all of Woodford County, have been a model for how to get through a crisis with the best face possible, and that’s because of you.
I was extremely happy that the City Council supported a plan to use $40,000 of unused economic-development funds to become the first and only city in Kentucky to create a stimulus to help both our citizens and our local businesses get through this time. With your next water bill, which will be mailed out around the 28th, you will receive five $10 vouchers to be used at any participating local business. You can use these as cash, though you cannot make change with them, and those businesses will be reimbursed for the purchase amount. It’s a way to help everyone – businesses who are struggling to meet overhead, citizens who are squeezed to pay bills, and those who are in need of the most basic of necessities. It’s your money – a dividend created by our surplus – and you get to decide personally how you reinvest it in our local economy. And we all know that money spent at home stays at home.
There are frequently asked questions and answers about the vouchers that we will post on the door at city hall and in the post office and other places around town, as well as on our website, and on my Facebook page. If you live in an apartment or you aren’t the one who directly receives your water bill, we’re already planning for how we’ll make sure you get your vouchers. Each home, apartment, or other abode in Midway will receive them. I’d also like to add that this program won’t cut into important infrastructure plans like our sewer rehabilitation project, which is still included in the upcoming budget for this fiscal year, with work to begin in the first half of it.
Masks are still available if you need one; just call City Hall at 859-846-4413 to arrange a pick-up. On May 18, if there are still masks left, we will open that program up to anyone in the area or county who needs one. No one is going to force you to wear a mask, and while I admit it feels weird at first, you get used to it quickly, and it’s an act of love, not of fear. As we transition to a healthy at work environment, masks are going to be a very important part of how we keep cases from spiking.
I truly believe we’re feeding off of each other right now. Even though we can’t be together, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. And if the healthy at work initiative goes well and we’re able to begin gathering in small groups in the coming weeks or month, we will still need to use these skills we’ve clearly shown we can adapt to exceptionally well. So keep your heads up and looking forward, you’ve clearly got many, many reasons to be extremely proud of yourselves and of our home – of Midway. Thank you, and God Bless.
This Friday will mark eight weeks since we started social distancing and then soon after started staying healthy at home, all while washing our hands often and practicing good personal hygiene. You likely see or hear all kinds of numbers and projection models about the virus, and frankly, it can be dizzying – and confusing. So here’s something we know: the measures we took have worked. We have not overwhelmed our hospitals, and that has likely saved hundreds if not thousands of lives across the commonwealth.
To your credit, and with great blessings, we have yet to confirm a case of covid-19 in Midway, and we’ve seen only 17 in the whole county. That is a testament to how well you have adapted to these nearly unprecedented circumstances. I do urge us all, though, to remember that just because we haven’t confirmed any cases in Midway, that doesn’t mean it isn’t here.
The unusually long incubation period of this virus means an outbreak could happen today, but we wouldn’t know about it for a week or two. That’s why, even as we begin to see parts of our economy open back up we have to remain vigilant to giving the virus as little chance as we can. Words can’t describe how incredible you’ve been. It’s been two long months, and we’ve got a ways to go still, but what you’ve accomplished is not only impressive, it’s inspirational. So let’s dig in and keep getting through this together.
With staggered openings coming to our economy, we can’t be surprised if we see some spikes in cases, so let’s remember to keep using our good common sense and stay healthy at home as much as possible, and even with some return to a new normal, keep using the social distancing and hand-washing practices that have gotten us here. Midway, and even all of Woodford County, have been a model for how to get through a crisis with the best face possible, and that’s because of you.
I was extremely happy that the City Council supported a plan to use $40,000 of unused economic-development funds to become the first and only city in Kentucky to create a stimulus to help both our citizens and our local businesses get through this time. With your next water bill, which will be mailed out around the 28th, you will receive five $10 vouchers to be used at any participating local business. You can use these as cash, though you cannot make change with them, and those businesses will be reimbursed for the purchase amount. It’s a way to help everyone – businesses who are struggling to meet overhead, citizens who are squeezed to pay bills, and those who are in need of the most basic of necessities. It’s your money – a dividend created by our surplus – and you get to decide personally how you reinvest it in our local economy. And we all know that money spent at home stays at home.
There are frequently asked questions and answers about the vouchers that we will post on the door at city hall and in the post office and other places around town, as well as on our website, and on my Facebook page. If you live in an apartment or you aren’t the one who directly receives your water bill, we’re already planning for how we’ll make sure you get your vouchers. Each home, apartment, or other abode in Midway will receive them. I’d also like to add that this program won’t cut into important infrastructure plans like our sewer rehabilitation project, which is still included in the upcoming budget for this fiscal year, with work to begin in the first half of it.
Masks are still available if you need one; just call City Hall at 859-846-4413 to arrange a pick-up. On May 18, if there are still masks left, we will open that program up to anyone in the area or county who needs one. No one is going to force you to wear a mask, and while I admit it feels weird at first, you get used to it quickly, and it’s an act of love, not of fear. As we transition to a healthy at work environment, masks are going to be a very important part of how we keep cases from spiking.
I truly believe we’re feeding off of each other right now. Even though we can’t be together, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. And if the healthy at work initiative goes well and we’re able to begin gathering in small groups in the coming weeks or month, we will still need to use these skills we’ve clearly shown we can adapt to exceptionally well. So keep your heads up and looking forward, you’ve clearly got many, many reasons to be extremely proud of yourselves and of our home – of Midway. Thank you, and God Bless.
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