Mayor says 'rude subcontractors' broke gate locks, allowed animals to escape and painted willy-nilly

Image from MetroNet video shows temporary paint used to mark existing utility lines. Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said employees of a MetroNet subcontractor painted the lines on personal items in yards, broke gate locks and let animals escape.

By Aaron Gershon
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

Mayor Grayson Vandegrift says he has warned MetroNet, which is installing high-speed fiber optic cable to every home in Midway, that he will not tolerate what he called "rude subcontractors."

Vandegrift said residents reported that workers locating existing utility lines Tuesday broke padlocks off a few residents’ gates; left several gates open, allowing animals to escape; and spray-painted line markers over personal items in yards rather than leaving a small gap in the line.

"While these were not employees of MetroNet, but rather other utility companies, I still hold MetroNet responsible, as it is their project," Vandegrift told the Messenger. "If they want to follow up with the utility companies that didn't act in good faith, so be it, but we can't allow the blame game."

This is not the first time he has heard MetroNet has been called out for rude subcontractors, the mayor said.

"I've heard many rumblings of ham-handed subcontract work by residents in Lexington and Versailles," he said. "I want to avoid those stories here. I believe so many of these issues could be solved by communication, and I was disappointed I wasn't contacted by MetroNet before the locators began on Tuesday, as I could have warned residents to unlock padlocks and beware of locators needing to access their property.

Vandegrift said he had a productive conversation Thursday morning with MetroNet's executive regional vice president, government-affairs liaison and its project manager to help clear the air.

"I believe they understand that we are a city that prides itself in keeping our residents in the loop at all times,” he said, “and that we'll demand that employees and subcontractors be respectful and communicate with residents as well."

The mayor said he made it clear that during the current trying times, there's no room for disrespecting the properties of Midway residents.

"During a pandemic, when people are more stressed, and in some cases already feel overburdened by government right now, it is important that folks feel that people entering their property are respectful, as little intrusive as possible, and that bury utility lines with respect to people's gardens and personal property as best as possible while properly using the utility easements," he said.

He added later, "They were very receptive to the sensitive nature of the current circumstances, and I believe they will make sure this kind of thing doesn’t happen again."

The mayor acknowledged that there is little he can do but object. He said he could use his emergency powers under the pandemic to "exclude all nonessential, unauthorized, disruptive, or uncooperative personnel from the scene of the emergency," but that would only delay installation, "and I certainly don’t even want to have to go there. I did want to get their attention, and luckily I did."

Vandegrift said he remains confident that the project will end up being a boon to the town and bring much-needed improvement for telecommunication services in Midway, as early as August.

"I believe firmly that MetroNet will bring a much needed new competitor to our city for internet, phone, and television,” he said. "Their use of fiber optic line is a true 21st century technology that will be here for a long time."

Vandegrift said MetroNet is “very committed to restoration” and has promised these steps for better service going forward:

●  Use the “path that is least intrusive” within the easement, and two feet from existing utilities, to avoid disrupting service.

●  Do anything they can to go around trees, gardens, or other personal items.

●  Residents can call two different numbers with any concern. MetroNet will open a “ticket” with each call to track progress and fix any issues.

●  When a trench is dug to bury cable, they will seed and straw. If they don’t do it to your satisfaction, you can call 859-785-1107 or 1-877-386-3876 and they will do it to your liking.

●  If a planting of any kind is disrupted, they will replace it to your specification.

●  If a garden is in the easement and they can’t go around it, they will bore underneath, to avoid tearing it up.

●  Subcontractors will be briefed and reminded on a regular basis that in general, everyone is more stressed now than usual, so they need to be mindful of that.

●  A local man, Doug Haney, will be in charge of local engineers and overseeing the subcontractors, and will be someone who can assist you with any issues.

●  As any issues arise call either 859-785-1107 or 1-877-386-3876; both are customer service lines, and MetroNet is committed to making residents satisfied once this more intrusive phase is over.

Vandegrift said he urges anyone to contact him directly if any issues occur.

MetroNet has a short video describing the installation process at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca30L1RAMNI&feature=youtu.be&app=desktop. 

Message from the mayor: New internet, phone and TV provider will soon start running lines all over town

"Anyone with a small sign in their yard can expect subcontractors for MetroNet to be doing some form of construction through the utility easement that they also have access to," Midway Mayor Grayson Vandegrift says in his Message from the Mayor.

By Grayson Vandegrift
Mayor, City of Midway

MetroNet will soon begin the construction phase of installing high speed fiber optic cable to every home in Midway. When this is done, each citizen will have a new option for cable, internet, and phone access.

However, I want to make each of you aware that I expect this phase to have a few bumps, and I think the better prepared we are the smoother we can make it. Where utility poles exist, MetroNet will be running their cable along those poles, but each property in town will also have a fiber optic line running into their yard, and that will still require a small ditch in many yards. Neighborhoods with buried utilities will have everything run underground, and many yards, if not most, will have a ditch as well. All ditches will be patched with seed and straw and will eventually be good as new, but I do expect that not everyone will be in love with the process.

But, in the end, this will provide more options, and competition means better services for our citizens. Anyone with a small sign in their yard can expect subcontractors for MetroNet to be doing some form of construction through the utility easement that they also have access to. This means that employees will be legally allowed to enter premises so long as they’re on that easement, in order to complete their work. As jarring as it sounds, employees can enter a back yard with a privacy fence, but again, only to bury their cable along the easement.

I’ve been in close contact with Kris Smith, the governmental affairs liaison with MetroNet, and with their construction team, and they’ve committed to us that they’ll do their utmost to make this construction phase as smooth as possible.

This can be a difficult process, and it’s possible that other lines could be inadvertently hit, temporarily disrupting service. Although we hope that doesn’t happen, it’s something everyone should be prepared for. MetroNet has repeatedly assured that they will do everything to solve any situation as quickly as possible. The small yard signs in resident’s yards give a phone number they can call anytime to address concerns.

I’m confident that once the fiber optic is in place, this will be a great improvement for the city and for our citizens. Recent studies have shown that having fiber optic cable directly to one’s home, even if the current occupant doesn’t use it, can raise the home’s value as much as 3%. Anecdotally, in a world where streaming is becoming the norm, I believe these studies to be very plausible in their findings.

The direct number for MetroNet, posted on their yard signs, is 877-386-3876. Folks can also visit MetroNetInc.com/construction for more information.

Half of council likes idea of helping form neighborhood associations, half does not; mayor says to watch video

If more neighborhood associations are formed in Midway, it won't be with the help of the city government, with the possible exception of some individual City Council members.

That was the upshot of the main discussion at Monday night's council meeting, when neighborhood-association advocates asked the city for help in planning boundaries and identifying initial leaders.

Council Members Stacy Thurman, John Holloway and Sara Hicks, who sit on one side of the council table, were supportive; Council Members Logan Nance, Bruce Southworth and Kaye Nita Gallagher, who sit on the other side, said the city shouldn't be involved.

Thurman said neighborhood associations would give a greater voice to "parts of Midway that don't really have a voice or use their voice as much other parts," but Gallagher said, "I kind of think it's segregation, to a certain degree."

Mike Adams of Versailles, president of the countywide Council of Neighborhood Associations, said "The idea is to give people a voice, not segregate." Joyce Evans of Midway, a CONA board member, said "We don't feel like anyone has to belong to one association or another."

Southworth said, "I don't see anything on here that we need to do." Nance said, "If people want more governance, let them have more governance."

Evans distinguished between homeowners associations, which can be "about restricting what you can do with your property," and neighborhood associations, which are voluntary. Northridge Estates, with about 125 homes, has a homeowners' association that also functions as a neighborhood association; Campusgate has a neighborhood association that is inactive, Evans said.

Dottie Cordray of the Gayland subdivision in southwest Midway said it doesn't have a neighborhood association, contrary to a written report to the council, "but might be interested" in forming one. The subdivision has about 24 homes.

Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said, "I've never seen the table so evenly divided" between the council members. He suggested that the council defer the matter until constituents could watch the discussion on Facebook, in a video created by a new recording device that produces a higher quality video than those on the Midway Streaming Government Meetings page. That page will still be used for the recordings, but the meetings won't be live-streamed, at least until more internet bandwidth becomes available.

In other business, the council:

• Heard first reading, without comment, of the ordinances it has worked out to crack down on blighted property. Vandegrift has said he wants second reading and passage at the council's next meeting, on Jan. 6.
• Voted to let Vandegrift proceed with drafting a budget amendment that would delay the sewer cleanout and repair project on the east side of town, buy a $72,000 backhoe (through a state-government price contract) to replace one that has broken down, and get some of the needed money from the streets and cemetery budget lines. Vandegrift said he expected to have first reading of the amendment Jan. 6.
• Approved an encroachment permit for White Dog Trading and Storage, which is building whiskey warehouses along Georgetown Road. Vandegrift said the company's retention basin would be a permanent water feature that "would literally beautify Midway Station."
• Heard Marcie Christensen, chair of the Greenspace Commitee of Midway Renaissance, report that the committee was being revived hopes to deal with a range of environmental and sustainability issues, and is "just a kind of think tank" that is interested in knowing what residents would like it to do.
• Approved an event permit for the Frozen Rails 5K/10K Run/Walk from 1 to 3:30 p.m. on New Year's Day. Organizers said they are expecting 300 to 400 runners, who will use West Bruen, South Turner and East Stephens streets (continuing out Spring Station Road for the 10K). The fourth annual event will raise money for the Midway Ministerial Association.
• Heard that the Iron Horse Half Marathon wants to stick to its new schedule of the Sunday morning of the Midway Fall Festival, about three weeks earlier than the old schedule, but no longer use Gratz Street, which could interfere with the festival and traffic to churches.

Tourist commission formally hires Emily Kay Downey as executive director at $2,500 for 100 hours per month

From left: Samantha Aiken of Brainbox, Executive Director Emily Downey, member Neil Vasilakes (hidden), member Lee Howard, chair Maria Bohanan (wearing a birthday tiara), unofficial member Elisha Holt, Midway member Cortney Neikirk

By Dalton Stokes

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

The Woodford County Tourist Commission unanimously approved the appointment of Emily Kay Downey as its first executive director at its monthly meeting Friday morning. The commission tentatively agreed to approve a contract calling for Downey to work 100 hours per month, for $2,500 a month, as an independent contractor.

In other business, a representative from Brainbox, the Lexington digital marketing company, updated the commission on the progress of their marketing campaign, and there was a brief discussion on including Midway more heavily in next year’s Bourbon Chase.

Friday's meeting was the commission’s first in the City Council chamber at the Versailles Municipal Building, signifying its move from the Chamber of Commerce, which had provided staff and facilities. With the recent increase in bed-tax revenue from the new hotel in Versailles, the commission has money to hire its own staff, something Commission Chair Maria Bohanon said it should have done long ago if it had the funds.

Downey was chosen a week earlier by the five members of the commission who interviewed six of the 11 people who applied for the job. Because a quorum of the commission met to discuss and act on the personnel matter, that constituted a meeting under the Kentucky Open Meetings Act. The law allows public agencies to discuss hiring in private, but requires them to do it in a closed session called during an open meeting. It prohibits taking any final action in private.

Bohanon said at Friday’s meeting said she issued a press release announcing the choice soon after the decision Friday because she “thought it would be nice for people to know ahead of time.” She added, “We had six high caliber people that we interviewed. We have some real talent in Woodford County.”

Downey will remain North American marketing manager for Alltech, a agricultural-products firm in Nicholasville, and will take the second job with the company’s support, Bohanan said.

“Emily, I’m thrilled,” Bohanon said. “I cannot wait for you to bring your skills, and your contacts, and your love for this place to this board.” She said one of the most important things that the commission was looking for in a candidate was passion, and “You have passion for this.”

Downey said, “I really look forward to telling the story of Woodford County to the world.”

Downey is married to William Downey, a magistrate on the Fiscal Court, and is the sister of James Kay, the county judge-executive. Bohanon said earlier this week that those ties may cause “perception issues.” The judge-executive appoints some commission members.

Bohanon noted at the meeting that Downey was chosen with a scoring system in which each candidate is given a certain number of points in different categories, and “Emily had the highest score.”

The one commission member who didn’t participate in interviews was Neil Vasilakes, who said at the meeting that he was busy with the grape harvest at his vineyard and his absence “wasn’t making a statement.” He expressed his support for Downey and the commission’s process.

At the last commission meeting, Vasilakes said, “There are some rumors going around that we’re not following a process and we have a shoo-in person.” He said of the Messenger’s story about that meeting, “I felt like that article maybe insinuated that I was not for the process, but I am, totally.”

On a motion by Midway member Cortney Neikirk, the commission unanimously approved Downey’s contract, pending legal advice from County Attorney Alan George, and gave Bohanan the authority to make any necessary changes.

Bohanan said Kay had suggested that George be consulted because the commission’s attorney, Bill Moore, won’t be available until after Nov. 1, the day Downey is supposed to start work. George said Friday afternoon that he told Bohanan after the meeting to have a private attorney do the work.

Bohanan said the contract was modeled after the one used to employ John Soper as paid chairman of the Woodford County Economic Development Authority, of which she is a board member. It calls for Downey to "develop and supervise plans to promote Woodford County as a regional visitors destination" and lists 18 specific duties, including supervision of "day-to-day activities in the visitors center(s)" and "ensure that all visitors' inquiries from are answered promptly and courteously."

The contract refers to working in Versailles and providing services to the city, but Bohanan said in an email that she copied that language from the city's agreement with Soper and it will be changed to say Woodford County. The contract is to be for a one-year term beginning Nov. 1, extendable by mutual agreement of the parties. It can be terminated by either party for any reason on 30 days' notice.

Other business: The director of digital marketing at Brainbox, Samantha Aiken, updated the commission on the progress of the commission’s geotargeting marketing campaign. The firm’s website says, “Brainbox Intelligent Marketing is an experiential and digital marketing company based in Lexington” that handles marketing campaigns for three branches of the U.S. military, Valvoline and John Deere.

The commission contracts Brainbox to advertise Woodford County online and handle its social media marketing. Bohanon said the commission has a six-month contract with Brainbox and was paid $3,818 this month for its services.

Aiken reported that their campaign is “going really well,” according to Google and Facebook analytics. According to her handout the cost per click is $1.53, which is “on par with CPC rates of travel and tourism companies.”

She also talked about the newsletter the commission is putting out with the help of Brainbox, which has 85 subscribers.

Bohanon asked Aiken for a beginning-to-end report when the six-month contract is over so the commission can “see how to spend our money” amid the transition to a higher budget organization. “We’ve got to have as many performance indicators as we can,” Bohanon said.

Bohanon requested reimbursement from the commission for doughnuts she bought for the Bourbon Chase, a running relay of around 200 miles that goes through Kentucky’s historic Bourbon Trail. “We had gobs of people come into town,” she said. The commission voted to reimburse her $182 for the doughnuts.

 “Next year, hopefully, the Weisenberger Mill Bridge will be back up and running and I would like us to really make a presence not only in Versailles but also Midway,” Bohanon said after the vote. “It’s a great way to … show people our community.”

Contractor strings fiber-optic cable for a major section of statewide high-speed internet network through Midway

Traffic on Leestown Road in Woodford, Scott and Fayette counties was occasionally blocked this week as crews from Hutchins Telecom installed one of the first major sections of the Kentucky Wired high-speed internet network that will eventually reach every county seat and some other sites. In bucket, Scott Hume handles a fiber-optic cable as Dawson Claypool works on the ground; both are from Louisville. The cable is being extended from Frankfort to the University of Kentucky.

City Council discusses ways to get better broadband

Midway city officials will explore options for improving internet service in the town, they appeared to agree at a special City Council meeting today.

After hearing a presentation from Solarity Group, a broadband consultancy that started in Midway, Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said the city would probably create "some kind of task force" with council members, interested citizens and possible partners.

He said private investment will be needed to improve the system, but the city might be a partner. He said one primary possibility is Midway University, and another might be Lakeshore Learning Materials.

The conversation will also involve the local internet service providers: Windstream Communications, primarily a telephone company, and Spectrum, the cable-television company.

Noting reports of poor customer service by both companies, Vandegrift said, "At some point we need to send a friendly notice to Windstream and Spectrum that they need to step up their game in Midway."

Later, he said, "We need to start some kind of task force . . . because we need to put Windstream and Spectrum on notice. They don't seem to really care that much about us." He said internet service in parts of town is "just pitiful."

Terry Barnes of Solarity told the group, "One of your strategic goals may be to increase competition, which usually improves affordability."

Windstream received federal economic-stimulus grants of $60 million to extend high-speed broadband to rural areas of Kentucky and other states. It was the largest recipient of such grants. Windstream leased the former city dump on Spring Station Road for an installation related to the project and paid a one-time fee of $15,000, three times what it originally offered.

City Council to hold special meeting on broadband

The Midway City Council will hold a special meeting at 9 a.m. Monday, April 16 to discuss improvement of high-speed internet (broadband) access in the city. The Solarity Group, a Lexington consultancy, will make a presentation and take questions. The meeting notice issued by City Hall says no action will be taken. All council and committee meetings are open to the public.

Windstream says high-speed rural Internet, with feds paying 75% of construction cost, will be available in Oct.

By Kristen Sekinger

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

Windstream Communications is extending high-speed Internet service to Midway and many other rural areas in Kentucky with the help of $60 million in economic stimulus grants from the federal government.

The fiber-optic service will include places where the company currently has no customers for its copper-wire Digital Subscriber Line service, said Scott Morris, senior adviser for corporate affairs and spokesman for Windstream.

That is good news for horse farms like Airdrie Stud on Old Frankfort Pike, which needs two separate lines in order for everyone who needs to watch online video of horse races to do so at the same time, adminisrator Laura Sullivan said.

“They watch horses on a daily basis,” she said. They’re on it all the time watching our horses. It is very important.” She said the Gainsborough, Three Chimneys and Darby Dan farms, all along Old Frankfort Pike, are in similar situations dealing with slow service.

Sullivan said Windstream is the the farm’s only choice because Time Warner Cable, which offers Internet with TV and phone service in Midway, doesn’t reach Airdrie. “There is no other option at this point other than Windstream,” she said.

Morris said Windstream is mainly a rural provider and wants to expand broadband services to as many places in Midway that they can fit within the budget. The grants from the 2009 economic stimulus legislation will enable much faster Internet connections as well as expand future selection of communication and entertainment services, he said in an interview.

The idea behind the stimulus grants, he said, is to provide high-speed Internet services in areas where it wasn’t previously possible for financial reasons. “In the country, if you live really far out, you probably can’t get broadband speeds, you can probably only get dialup,” he said.

Broadband speeds are often not as fast as expected. Sullivan said Airdrie gets up to 3.5 mpbs, but the speed varies, getting even as low as “one and a half [mpbs], depending on the day.”

The grants cover 75 percent of the project costs throughout the country, leaving Windstream with the other 25 percent, roughly $16.4 million in Kentucky.

“Windstream was the largest recipient of these grants,” Morris said. “What we’re doing is we’re filling in gaps in our network where there is dialup service but not broadband service. Each one of these projects are relatively small because they’re just filling in pockets under the rules set by the agricultural program … which determines how much money would be awarded per location.”

The grants came through the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service. RUS spokeswoman Anne Mayberry said in an email, “When complete, Windstream estimates the network will offer broadband service to approximately 225,000 households, 10,000 businesses and 1,000 anchor institutions, such as schools, libraries, hospitals and municipal facilities in 80 communities.”

Mayberry said Congress passed the stimulus package ‘‘to help lift our nation from the greatest economic crisis in our lifetimes and lay the foundation for future growth.’’  She said the package provided RUS with $2.5 billion to expand access to broadband services in areas that are at least 75 percent rural and ‘‘without sufficient access to high speed broadband service to facilitate rural economic development.’’

Morris said after the project is complete, which is to be in late October, Windstream will notify prospective broadband customers that the service is available in their area. The customers decide whether or not they want to sign up for it.

“When we deploy the fiber optic cable and electronic hardware that is necessary to deliver broadband to unserved areas, we frequently pass by existing customer locations. In some cases, these current customers may then qualify for faster speeds,” he said. “It would be up to the customer to decide whether he or she wanted the faster speed. There are no automatic price increases.”

For example, Morris said customers who previously qualified for service with a speed of up to 6 megabits per second might qualify for up to 12 mbps after the project is finished.

Windstream has leased the former city dump on Spring Station Road from the city for an installation related to the project and is paying the city a one-time fee of $15,000, three times what it originally offered.

It's an Internet night at the council: Plans for faster rural service, problems with website are among agenda items

By Rachel Aretakis and Erin Grigson
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

The Midway City Council met Monday evening with discussions centering on plans to bring faster Internet service to rural Midway, problems with the city website and a brief review of snow removal.

Windstream Communications has approached the council about obtaining an easement for city property off Spring Station Road near Gate 24. “It’s trying to get customers faster service in areas outside the city,” Mayor Tom Bozarth told the council.

The company has offered $5,000 for the easement, but Bozarth and Council Member Bruce Southworth said Windstream should pay more.

Bozarth referred the matter to a committee comprising Southworth, Aaron Hamilton and Sara Hicks and asked them to “bring back an appropriate number.” The three plan to meet at the site Wednesday with Raymond Tinson, assistant to the resident engineer for EA Technical Services, the engineering company for Windstream, who spoke to the council about securing the easement.

“Anything you all have a concern about, we can discuss the amendments” to the proposed agreement, Tinson told the council after answering questions. He said the company has received a state grant to improve Internet access in rural areas.

The project could bring high-speed Digital Subscriber Line service to as many as 485 households, Tinson said, though there are not nearly that many people living in the area. He estimated the facility would serve about 150 homes and businesses. The project is working on a six-month deadline, he said.

Bozarth said the property is an old landfill that is no longer in use. The land is near Middlebrook and Nuckols farms, according to the water-line easement provided to council members. Windstream has been unable to obtain property rights from local owners, Tinson said.

The property “would provide pull-off access and room to place equipment,” the company told the council in a letter.

Windstream is requesting the rights to a 25-foot-square piece of the property. It cannot install the fiber optic line needed for the project without such facilities along the routes. Tinson said the area could be fenced in, to be only accessible to Windstream employees, but the details could be worked out in the agreement.

Tinson said the company would maintain the gate and access road. In response to a question from Hicks, he said the facility would cause no harm to animals.

Example of Windstream facilities provided by company in document given to Midway City Council

Among other business Monday, the council passed an ordinance to conform with the latest Kentucky building code, reappointed Helen Rentch as the city’s representative on the county Human Rights Commission, and discussed the city’s website and snow removal.

The website host, WordPress, recently updated its format, which caused the city’s page to have minor problems, said Council Member Grayson Vandegrift.  The site and the events calendar still work, he said, but minor improvements need to be made. “The website still functions; it just doesn’t function great,” he said. “We’re very limited right now with what we can do with the website.”

He said the city will likely have to build a new site, and recommended that the council not put more money into the current one and begin thinking about building a new one.  Southworth suggested that estimates be obtained for consideration in drafting the city budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

Vandegrift said the site is seven years old and the council might get three more years out of it. “I think the best option is to just keep going forward and keep trying to make steady improvements to it without reinventing the wheel,” Vandegrift said. “It’s not on its last leg or anything, but some day it’s just not going to work anymore.”

Vandegrift said he thought the contractor the city hired for snow removal has been doing a very good job. “I haven’t heard any complaints,” he said.

This is the first winter that the city has had to pay for plowing of streets after snow, because the county fiscal court dropped the service after Midway became a city of the fourth class.

Bozarth originally budgeted for $30,000 for snow removal in the annual budget that ends June 30, but the council lowered it to $20,000. The city has spent roughly $11,700 so far, but that did not include Monday’s large snowfall, Vandegrift said after the meeting. “We’ve had a lot more snow this year. We hardly had any last year. It’s one of those things that, it’s got to be done,” he said. “Even though we’re a little over what we budgeted right now, in the end, it looks like we’re going to be under.”

Council discusses local business's flyers on windshields, sets trick or treat for 6-8 p.m. Oct. 31

By Holly Brucken
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

Midway residents have complained about flyers from a local business on their car windshields, leading to a Midway City Council discussion about a possible new city ordinance if the situation creates a greater problem. 

Council Member Grayson Vandegrift, who operates a West Main Street restaurant, brought the issue to the council’s attention at its meeting Monday evening. “It’s unattractive to a lot of visitors,” he said. “It’s unattractive to a lot of residents.” He said no merchants had complained to him.

West Main Street on a busy day (file photo)

Helen Ringus, the owner of EquiTreasures, placed the flyers on the windshields of cars parked on West Main Street. She recently moved her store from West Main, where most of Midway’s shops are located, to behind Darlin’ Jean’s Apple Cobbler Café, invisible from Main, and said in an interview after the meeting that using flyers “is the only way I can get business.”

The issue was discussed by the council as a possible violation of the ordinance that requires business solicitors to be licensed, but Vandegrift said Ringus was unlikely to fall under this description. City Attorney Phil Moloney said the activity falls into “a gray area.” He said “It’s going to need to be tightened up somewhere,” particularly if residents are complaining.

Vandegrift said after the meeting that there haven’t been enough complaints to justify changing the ordinance or passing a new one. “If that starts happening, then the council will need a new ordinance,” he said. “What we can’t have happen is people doing it like crazy. . . .  It takes away from our quaintness and our charm a little bit.”

Ringus said in the interview that customers are grateful to be reminded of her store. “Women thank me for the cards,” she said. “Very few people complain.”

That will be the standard for future action, Vandegrift suggested: “If the vast majority of people are okay with it, then majority rules.”

Mayor Tom Bozarth commented on two races that brought traffic into Midway, the Iron Horse Half Marathon on Oct. 13 and the Bourbon Chase Oct. 18-19.

“This was the best event managed, as far as traffic, that we have had with the Bourbon Chase,” said Bozarth. “It looked to me like the restaurants were full.” He also said the Iron Horse Half Marathon, which had a record number of nearly 1,300 runners complete the race, went very well.

These events and the Midway Fall Festival in September may have led to a spike in visits to the meetmeinmidway.com website, on which Vandegrift reported.  The site had a 43 percent increase in total visits from August to September, and he said it was encouraging that the events calendar was the third most visited page on the site and real estate was the fifth most visited. Total page views were up 33 percent from August to September. According to Vandegrift’s report, more locals are using the site as well as visitors.

Among other items of business, the council designated the time for trick-or-treating as 6 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 31.

The council heard first reading of an amendment to the alcohol beverage license fees ordinance, drafted to be consistent with a reclassification of alcohol licenses by the Kentucky General Assembly. The city is “just having to mirror the changes,” said Council Member Sharon Turner.

The ordinance adds three classifications of liquor licenses: historical sites, sampling sites and hotels.

Council members said after the meeting that they are not aware of any plans for a winery, distillery, brewery or a hotel in Midway, but “We’re hoping for a hotel,” Turner said.

Presentation of the city’s annual audit report, originally part of the agenda, was delayed until the next meeting.

Council OKs Ky. American survey of water system

By Colin Walsh
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

The Midway City Council had a brief but eventful session before its special community meeting Monday, as the mayor took steps toward solving a problem that has been troubling the city for some time.

Tom Bozarth proposed that the council vote to allow Kentucky American Water Co. to conduct a survey of the water system with an eye to its improvement and possible sale. Council member Aaron Hamilton said it would be good to “get the ball rolling” on addressing Midway’s water issues, which include High rates and aged lines that have been causing citizens problems.

The motion passed but not without resistance from the council. Member Dan Roller, the only one to vote against the proposal, said he “doesn’t see the advantage to letting them study the system.” Kentucky American is the city’s water supplier.

“There has been very little discussion about alternative solutions, such as looking into a third party” other than the city or Kentucky American, to own or operate the system, Roller said. “More research needs to be done. We should retain our assets, I mean; we don’t give away our streets when we have someone pave them.”

Representatives from One Alliance Communications, the company that runs the Midway website, were invited to give a presentation to the council..

Lauren Baxter of One Alliance outlined the growth of the Internet and social media, citing the ability of a quality website to “build and improve the credibility” of a town like Midway, while attracting tourism.

Baxter also explained how Google Analytics, a free service offered by Google that generates statistics about website visitors, can help the town with marketing and demographic research.

Lisa Davis of One Alliance explained to the council the difference between a website and other forms of marketing.

“A website is organic,” Davis said. “A website must be fed in order for it to be a viable media entity; you have to constantly keep updating it. It is not something to be looked at as an expense either... It is an investment in Midway’s future. There are people coming to this site from all over the world, there is no way to reach them without it.”

Bozarth said he believes the city’s website is a “work in progress” that is “getting better on a daily, monthly and yearly basis.”

It was also noted that the Midway website was getting more traffic than the Woodford County website.

The council heard a request from Malcolm Endicott, chairman of the Woodford County Economic Development Authority, to help fund the countywide Planning and Zoning Commission, with which the EDA would like to share some expenses, at least temporarily. Endicott said P & Z has a $48,000 budget shortfall because it is funded by fees, which have slacked off during the recession.

Some council members wondered about possible conflicts of interest between the two agencies, and no action was taken. The council will hold a special meeting at 8:30 a.m. Monday to consider the 2011-12 city budget. The proposed budget calls for paying $24,194 to support P & Z, which is asking for an additional $5,291.