Council OKs $75,000 in federal relief money for grants to businesses; mayor exploring options to fight speeding

Green lines show sewers involved in cleaning and renovation project; red outlines big main targeted for replacement.

By Aaron Gershon
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

The Midway City Council voted 4-0 Monday evening for a grant program to provide federal covid-19 relief funding to local businesses. 

This program will “keep them afloat, make up for lost revenue, pay their employees, purchase their goods, pay their bills, or keep their lights and water on,” Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said.

The council voted to appropriate $75,000 from the city’s $129,000 relief allocation to fuel the grant program. Vandegrift said the city has another $53,000 in pandemic-related expenses that the allocation will cover.

The $75,000 will be split evenly between businesses approved by a three-member council committee. “If 30 businesses apply and were granted this money, you divide it evenly, which would mean each business would get $2,500,” the mayor said.

Vandegrift and Council Members John Holloway and Stacy Thurman, members of an ad hoc committee, debated and worked out most of the details at a meeting last week.

“I think that we simplified it and mainstreamed it enough where we’re still showing some guidelines and that this is a serious application,” Thurman said. “But we give them enough credit that they’re going to be honest . . . with the money in the best way that they can to stay open.”

The application asks what costs or losses were suffered due to closure related to the pandemic. Vandegrift said city attorney Sharon Gold added a final section in which applicants agree to cooperate with any audit, certify that the information they give is correct to the best of their knowledge, and acknowledge that a false statement may require them to return the money.

Grantees must have a physical location in Midway, have been forced to limit activities due to the pandemic, and must not owe taxes to the city. No grant can exceed the amount of the funds business lost. The application asks what the money will be used for, and requires recipients to report by Dec. 30 how they used it.

The application also asks, “Is it your intention to continue operating your business in the City of Midway for the next six months?” Vandegrift said Versailles is requiring its recipients to stay open for a year; he asked, “How can you guarantee that?”

Council Member Sara Hicks said, “We’re just asking them to act in good faith.” For more details of the program and the application form, see the council meeting packet, downloadable here.

The plan is for the applications to be posted as soon as Tuesday and have the program launch on July 8, “time is of the essence,” Vandegrift said. All applications must be turned in by July 17 and can be picked up and turned in either online or at city hall.

As soon as the committee of Holloway, Thurman and Hicks reviews and approves applications, the mayor said, he will instruct Foster to begin writing checks. 

The three voted for the program along with Council Member Logan Nance. Vandegrift said Council Member Kaye Nita Gallagher was ill, and Council Member Bruce Southworth was absent because his mother, Ann Southworth of Georgetown, died unexpectedly; services are Tuesday in Georgetown.

Last month, Nance, Gallagher and Southworth made the 3-2 majority (Thurman had left for a work obligation) that voted informally for a second and third round of a voucher program that allowed residents to use $50 in “Midway Bucks” at local businesses, which the businesses turned in for cash.

The program was popular, but the state Department for Local Government said the federal relief bill didn't allow the city to be reimbursed for it, and 19 business people signed an open letter warning that some of them could close without help, so the council chose the grant program, which is specifically authorized by the relief bill.

Vandegrift noted that the council funded the program with $40,000 in unspent economic-development funds before the relief bill passed. He said only $27,000 in vouchers were redeemed by the end of the program on June 30, but he and the council praised the program.

Nance said, "I think a lot of people felt kind of helpless and wanted to help but didn't really did not know how, and I think the voucher program gave them a way to say, you know, I have this little bit of money that I can use to invest and I can support a business I appreciate. With everything going on right now that separates us, I feel like this was a really good way to connect us to come together and do something."

Vandegrift added the voucher program was one of his proudest accomplishments as mayor but feels the grant program will help give businesses a much needed “shot in the arm.” In originally proposing the grant program, he said retailers didn’t benefit from it as much as restaurants.

Nance said, “I definitely think this is going to be a great way to help our businesses.”

In other business Monday, the council:

● Heard Vandegrift say he wants to try rumble strips or speed tables (slightly elevated sections of a street) “on a bunch of streets” to reduce speeding, which he said is the main complaint he gets from residents. “I feel like we have to change the tactics here or lose the game,” he said, adding that he would check cost, probably refer the issue to a committee, and “I’m not saying we’ll vote on anything anytime soon.”
● Heard the mayor say that the next step in the city’s sewer work should be replacement of a 10-inch main leading to the treatment plant with a 15-inch main. He said sediment in the line in causing problems upstream, but cleaning of those lines has stopped manholes from overflowing during heavy rains.
● Heard Vandegrift say he would swear in and update the city’s new Code Enforcement Board on Thursday, even though the city still hasn’t named a code enforcement officer. He said that has been delayed by the pandemic.
● Appointed Michael Hunter to the county board overseeing the 911 dispatch system and its funding. Hunter, a Midway native and resident, is a former Woodford County EMT and 911 dispatcher who knows the system, Vandegrift said.
● Debated returning one block of Johnson Street to one-way. Holloway, who lives off the street, said one way or the other would make it difficult for residents to get into their driveways. The council agreed that residents need to be consulted.

● Approved encroachment permit for a new entrance for White Dog Trading Co. in Midway Station to separate the bourbon-warehousing firm’s office and truck traffic. “We just feel it’s a safety issue,” White Dog consulting engineer Matt Carter said.
● Approved an encroachment permit for Tom and Mur Greathouse to park their pumpkin-sales wagon in a space at 112 S. Gratz St. this fall, as they did last fall.
● Agreed to waive the sewer tap-on fee for 230 S. Gratz, the former home of the Midway Woman’s Club. Vandegrift reported that the new property owners discovered their sewer had never been hooked to a city main though the Woman’s Club had paid sewer charges for decades.