Mayor, EDA chair check out firm that bales horse-stall muck and decide to welcome it to Midway Station

By Aaron Gershon

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

Midway Mayor Grayson Vandegrift and Woodford County Economic Development Authority Chair Michael Michalisin of Midway are ready to sell Midway Station lots to a company that bales muck from horse stalls and ships it to Tennessee mushroom farms.

Vandegrift told the Messenger that he and Michalisin met last week with Tom Creech of Creech Services Inc. at his Fayette County facility, and “We agreed that what Mr. Creech wants to bring to Midway Station is not composting and is in actuality simply a transfer point. He takes muck and straw from horse farms, Lane's End being one of them, and bales it via a processor, and then ships it off.”

Composting of animal waste has been prohibited at Midway Station since Bluegrass Stockyards tried to relocate there in 2007, prompting objections and a lawsuit.

In May, then-EDA Chair John Soper that a sale of Midway Station property to Creech would require a petition for a declaratory judgment to determine "if it could exist under a settlement of the lawsuit regarding the stockyards.”

Vandegrift said Wednesday night that he doesn't see that as necessary since Creech is not planning to do any composting in Midway.

“I think that would only come into play if someone were to challenge the sale in court, based on the deed restrictions,” he said. “Obviously, anyone can sue for anything at any time, but after looking at the operation Creech wants to bring to Midway, I'd be surprised if that happened.”

One of Vandegrift's original concerns about the purchase was the potential for odors wafting across Interstate 64 to residential areas, a major concern 13 years ago. “We don't want to stir up the ghosts of the past,” he said in May. Now that he has a clear understanding of Creech’s operations, he says there would be no odor.

Creech said in May that he would like to have a baling facility in Woodford County because he serves so many farms in the county.

Vandegrift said, “Michael and I have both agreed this is a good agricultural business that supports the horse industry and does not produce any discernible odor except for when right up in the building.”

He said the facility would likely add 10 or possibly more jobs to the city.

Vandegrift said he and Michalisin have asked EDA attorney Bill Moore to draw up a purchase contract. It could be approved at the EDA’s next meeting on July 24.

“Once they are approved, the lots sold will be under option for about 90 days,” Vandegrift said. “That allows the buyer to do some due diligence like geotechnical to see what they'll be digging into.”