Drone flight over Midway shows the town's old and new

By Dalton Stokes, University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media
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Council annexes 138 acres adjoining Midway Station and warehouse tract; rezoning process will resume

Mayor Grayson Vandegrift named Debra Shockley Midway's
Citizen of the Year for her many civic contributions. See below.

By Korrie Harris and Chadwick George
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

The Midway City Council voted Monday night to annex the 138-acre tract behind Midway Station, setting up its possible rezoning to industrial use.

The council also heard a proposal for new rules at the Midway Cemetery, saw the Citizen of the Year named, and received an offer for a small piece of land that could become a gateway to the city.

Annexation: City officials wanted to annex the property of Homer Michael Freeny Jr. before it was rezoned, to give the council final say in the rezoning. Otherwise, the Woodford County Fiscal Court would have had the say-so.

The council voted 5-1 to pass the annexation ordinance. Council Member Logan Nance said in an email that he voted no because "I often have members of the community tell me how much they value the agricultural land and natural beauty surrounding Midway, and fear that it will go away."

Logan Nance

Nance said he understands the perspectives of other members but "felt I would not be properly representing the people who elected me if I voted yes, since this annexation assures further industrial development beyond Midway Station."

Now the Planning Commission will hear the rezoning request by the Woodford County Economic Development Authority, which has an option on the property and owns Midway Station.

The commission was supposed to hear the request in November, but action was delayed at the request of the city so it could annex the property first.

If approved, the rezoning would create an industrial area reaching from Interstate 64 to the Brown-Forman whiskey warehouses along South Elkhorn Creek, the county line. (The concrete warehouses are being built under a conditional-use permit in an agricultural zone on the presumption that whiskey is an agricultural product.)

“It finishes off what’s already laying sandwiched between two users,” Vandegrift said. Referring to the annexation, he said, “I guarantee you if we don’t do this it’s gonna get developed and we’re gonna lose all that revenue.” The land is in Midway's urban services area in the comprehensive plan.

If the land available at Midway Station sells for its estimated value, the EDA could be short of paying Midway the $600,000 it owes on natural-gas and water lines built on the property.

“The only way they’re really gonna be able to pay us back is if they can sell land,” Vandegrift said. “There’s not gonna be enough in Midway Station to pay us back.”

The annexed area is effectively two tracts joined by a small strip. For a larger version of the plat, click on it.

Council Member Kaye Nita Gallagher noted that the city would soon resume paying interest on the Midway Station mortgage, now that a private developer has terminated his option on the land. Referring to Freeny and the EDA, she asked, “What kind of competition are they going to give us?”

Soper said that under the option agreement with Freeney, the EDA can’t exercise its option for any tract that is less than 40 acres. He said the largest tract he can put together in Midway Station with the existing lots together is around 25 acres.

“Fortunately, Mr. Freeney is very good to work with,” Soper said. “He understands what Midway’s goals are. He’ll work with us.” Vandegrift suggested that Freeney's lawyer come to the next meeting.

Freeny owns land next to the creek that is not being annexed. Council Member Sara Hicks asked if Freeny could “grant us some small acreage . . . where canoes and kayaks can get on the creek.”

EDA Chair John Soper said Freeny has agreed to grant a separate tract for access to the creek for canoeing and other recreational activities, with access through Midway Station or the tract being annexed. Soper said he and surveyor Tim Thompson are looking at two possible access points.

Cemetery changes: The council received a report from Council Member Sara Hicks, chair of the cemetery committee, proposing changes to the ordinances regarding fees and care of plots.

Hicks proposed that 100 years after burial, if the city can’t find family members to continue upkeep, then the city would take care of that grave.

Hicks also said a $200 to $300 refundable fee could be added to the price of grave plots to guarantee that graves will be marked. Hicks said the family would have a year to place a marker and get a refund of the fee. If no marker is put down, the city would use that money to buy a small brass marker.

Council Member John Holloway said it would be simpler to raise the plot price, which at $600 is the same as in Versailles but much less than the $1,700 charged in Georgetown. He said the current fee does not cover the cost of labor for city workers who open and close graves.

Nance asked if there is a friends-of-the-cemetery organization that could take donations to help with the already unmarked graves. Hicks said the Midway Woman’s Club had such a fund, “but when they got into financial trouble, they had to use that fund to keep from shutting down.”

Vandegrift said he would ask Phil Moloney, the city attorney, to put the proposed amendments into ordinance form and send them to the committee.

Citizen of the Year: At the start of the meeting, Vandergrift gave Debra Shockley the Midway Citizen of the Year award for 2018. He read a proclamation noting her longtime civic involvement and recent contributions. “Debra took on many responsibilities in the community in 2018, including serving as president of Midway Renaissance,” he said. “Debra steered the highly successful Midsummer Nights in Midway series, and was the architect for its new street layout, which greatly improved the event."

Vandegrift also noted that Shockley “coordinated volunteers to staff Midway City Hall for each downtown event, to provide public restrooms and a visitors’ welcome center to the many attendees of Midway events.” He concluded, to applause from the audience, “Debra’s positive attitude, civic engagement, and efforts to bring people together is positively infectious to those around her.”

Gateway offered: Vandegrift gave the council a letter from Helen Rentch offering to donate a small tract at the intersection of Leestown Road and Midway Road (US 421 and 62), on the north side of a wet-weather stream, "to make the entrance to the city appealing."

The property has been mentioned as a possible site for a larger welcome sign for visitors, a trailhead for a planned trail from Lexington to Frankfort, and a permanent home for "Old Smoky," the steam engine that RJ Corman Railroad Co. has occasionally brought to Midway. "It is a logical option, since we are a railroad town," Rentch wrote. Vandegrift said the Cemetery and City Property Committee would consider the offer.

High-speed internet: Vandegrift said he met Monday with MetroNet, a company that provides high-speed internet service to homes and businesses via fiber-optic cable and thinks it can serve all or almost all of Midway. "Their lowest speed . . . is Spectrum's highest speed, basically," he said, adding that he will work on a franchise agreement with the company. He said it is in the process of doing such an agreement with Versailles and has signed a contract to serve Woodford County Schools.

March 16 event: The council approved making the St. Patrick’s Parade on March 16 a civic event. This will allow specially licensed vendors and restaurants in town to set up along the street and sell beer, wine and liquor, and allow customers to drink from open containers.

Bonds for Transy: The council approved a resolution to issue $10 million in municipal bonds for Transylvania University’s new recreation center.

Joe Lakofka, a representative of Kentucky Bond Development Corp., said in order for a bank to provide financing, the bonds need to be “bank qualified” and each Kentucky city is allowed to issue $10 million a year in bank-qualified bonds. Lexington nonprofits often use the allocations of smaller cities to get lower interest rates; there is no liability to the cites, Lakofka and Vandegrift said.

Nance asked what the city gets out of the deal. Vandegrift said, “I always looked at is as good will and kind of expanding Midway’s reach a little bit. And you never need to know when you’re going to need to call a favor in.”

Council rezones, starts to annex land for industry; discusses restaurant vestibule in Main Street sidewalk

By Austyn Gaffney

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

Midway’s City Council rezoned and began to annex more property for industry at Midway Station, and discussed the new, temporary vestibule outside Heirloom Restaurant, at a regular meeting Monday night. It also heard about safety trainings that will be available in the city.

The council approved a zoning map amendment and heard first reading of an annexation ordinance for 34 acres at Midway Station that Lakeshore Learning Materials intends to use for expansion of the distribution center it is building. Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said second reading and passage are set for the next meeting, Feb. 20.

The council also approved a reimbursement agreement with the Woodford County Economic Development Authority for Midway’s commitment of $450,000 for the $2.8 million gas line to Midway Station. The EDA plans to repay Midway most, if not all, of the financial commitment with net profits from land sales.

The council also heard from Woodford County Emergency Management Director Drew Chandler. He invited the community to a monthly, one-hour CPR training for bystanders at the Woodford County Courthouse, and a Community Emergency Response Training session Saturday, Feb. 25 and Saturday, March 11, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with lunch provided, at The Homeplace at Midway.

The council approved Chandler’s proposal to apply for a grant from Kentucky’s Homeland Security Department to buy a new computer for the fire department.

Proposals by council members at the end of the meeting included Sara Hicks’ request to move the city’s cemetery database to a user-friendly site like www.findagrave.com or www.billiongraves.com, to which members of the Veterans Committee have posted the graves of military personnel. Libby Warfield praised those efforts, led by committee member Jimmie Murphy.

John McDaniel suggested the downtown Christmas tree be moved to another location replaced by a smaller tree less likely to damage surrounding infrastructure. Mayor Grayson Vandegrift agreed. Warfield complained about speeding near the lower end of Cottage Grove, and she requested that Vandegrift consider adding a three-way stop there.

The recently installed vestibule at Heirloom

Warfield’s complaint wasn’t the only one discussed Monday evening. Vandegrift said county Planning Director Pattie Wilson told him she has received two or three complaints about the vestibule recently placed outside Heirloom restaurant.

Vandegrift said the main issues were the obstruction of the sidewalk, which he said he wouldn’t press for now because the city leases the restaurant sidewalk space for tables and chairs in the summer, and a potential fire hazard. He said the fire department is aware of the vestibule, and the fire inspector will make a report about the safety of the structure before the city moves forward with any other action.

Wilson said in an interview, “I have received several complaints anonymously, and the concerns are that it sets a precedent for all businesses along the railroad. The concerns are a safety hazard and an aesthetic issue for the street. It’s both a visual, but most importantly, a health-and-safety issue.”

Hannah Smith, a server at Heirloom, told the Midway Messenger that the vestibule is a temporary structure added to retain heat during the winter.

“It’s exactly what Grey Goose puts up every winter in front of their restaurant,” Smith said. “It’s so our customers don’t get blasted with cold air through the front door.”

Vandegrift noted that the Grey Goose’s vestibule doesn’t obstruct a public passway, and said he is worried about setting a precedent.

“Can you imagine if every business had one of those things outside?” Vandegrift asked the council. He said he brought up the matter at the meeting so council members could explain it to their constituents if they inquired.

Mayor touts Jan. 30 chili cook-off, Renaissance meeting and 'Midwayan' over 'Midwegian'

By Grayson Vandegrift
Mayor, City of Midway

One of my favorite events, the Chili Cook-Off, will be this Monday, Jan. 30 at 6:30 p.m. at Midway Christian Church. It’s a great opportunity to break bread with your neighbors and try some secret family recipes, or, to share your own.

I’ve been a judge for some past cook-offs, and it’s really hard to pick a winner, because in addition to there being a lot of great entries, there are also some pretty serious competitors. I’ve had an easier time breaking bad news to an upset constituent than I have telling someone their chili didn’t win!

Immediately after the chili, you can pop an antacid and attend Midway Renaissance’s annual meeting. This is a great organization and a terrific way for you to contribute to our community, or, as is the case with most every Midwayan, contribute a little more.

If you noticed that I just used the term “Midwayan”, I’m busted, I’ve committed a political flip-flop. You see, I used to use the term “Midwegian” in describing one who dwells in our city, but a bit of a controversy arose over the past year or so. It seems that there are many people who not only prefer “Midwayan,” but they downright don’t care for the term “Midwegian.”

My pollsters, also known as Beatrice the hound, Napoleon the mutt, and Facebook, indicate that the majority prefer “Midwayan.” Some other important polling however, also known as my wife, Katie, shows a preference for “Midwegian”, so there may be some more political wishy-washy on my part in the near future. And besides, I’ve heard of polls not being accurate in the past.

Our next city council meeting is Monday, Feb. 6 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall. Among the agenda items is first reading of an ordinance annexing and rezoning 31 acres adjacent to Midway Station to allow for expansion related to Lakeshore Learning Materials. As always, all are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Mayor, EDA chairman clash over proposal to have Midway pay more and expand chairman's contract

UPDATE: EDA Chairman John Soper withdrew his proposal from the agenda for tonight's Fiscal Court meeting.
UPDATE, Nov. 23: Versailles Mayor Brian Traugott offered a new proposal that would have Midway pay 15 percent of EDA expenses, up from 10 percent, and 24 percent of planning and zoning expenses, up from 11 percent, with an additional appointee form Midway to both the EDA board and the planning commission, and a prohibition on EDA advocating "anything even remotely similar to" the northwest Versailles bypass. For a copy of the proposal, click here.
By Alexandria Kerns

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

    The Midway City Council meeting Monday evening ended in frustration after discussion of modifying the contract with the Woodford County Economic Development Authority.

    The tension rose after Mayor Grayson Vandegrift gave an update concerning the revision proposed by Versailles and the EDA. 

    The proposal would have Midway, Versailles and Woodford County each pay $26,884 a year for EDA operations. Midway now pays $5,000 and the other two $22,500 each.

    The extra money would cover an expanded contract for EDA Chairman John Soper, whom Versailles now pays $63,000 a year for job recruitment. Craig McAnelly, part-time executive director of the EDA, would be phased out of his position. 

    Vandegrift said at the council meeting that he would like to see the city receive another seat on the EDA board and another seat on the planning and zoning commission in return for the new agreement. Last week, he suggested two new seats on the EDA, but he said Monday night, “I don’t think we can agree to this deal without getting more representation on EDA and planning and zoning.”

    Currently, Midway only has one representative of seven on the EDA board and one of nine on the planning commission.

    Vandergrift said Versailles Mayor Brian Traugott and County Judge-Executive John Coyle did not seem open to his suggestions in his meeting with them Monday. The proposal is on the agenda for the Fiscal Court meeting Tuesday at 7 p.m.

    “I think we can be open to other possibilities,” Vandegrift said. “I don’t think anyone has a problem with giving us two more EDA appointments, but I think in reality this is a big step up for us and it’s the first time we’ve been asked to be an equal partner in it, and I thought what’s really more important was . . . give us one more planning and zoning appointment, because those two things do go hand in hand, and I think, honestly, the planning and zoning appointment would be extremely important.”

    The Midway council indicated agreement with the mayor’s stance.

     “If I’m going to go down to the Grey Goose, and order a steak, and two other people order a steak, and we’re all paying $27, they’re better damn be all the same size steak,” Council Member Dan Roller said.

    Vandegrift said, “I appreciate John Soper’s work, I appreciate Craig McAnelly’s work, but I’ve never seen a deal like this where you already have the person in mind ahead of time. I think in all fairness – this is nothing against John, because he’s a wizard – but there probably should be some kind of open hiring process to this.”         

    Soper said, “If you want to start the process and look at somebody else, that’s certainly an option.”

    Vandegrift replied, “It’s not personal, John, it’s just that I’ve never done this . . . and had a person picked out ahead of time. Generally it’s not done that way.”

    Soper responded, What we have now, I think, is working.” He said Midway Station was developed by a volunteer board and “was poorly designed and was a failure,” costing the city and county $750,000 in extra interest costs until developer Dennis Anderson agreed to pay the interest in return for an option on the property.

    Soper argued that someone who is familiar with the development should be in charge of its future.

“I’ve uncovered most of the issues in Midway Station, and let me tell you there’s a lot of issues,” he said. “From you all not knowing that you didn’t own the water tank, to there not being proper easements into it, to the roads you got that you can’t get a car turned around in. . . . If you go out and you try to bring someone else in, they’re gonna have that learning curve. It’s a tough piece of property. It’s a snake pit and it always has been.”

    Anderson recently decided against building housing in Midway Station, a decision that local leaders endorsed, but he has never developed industrial property and wants EDA’s help. “I think he’ll stay on board if we help him,” Soper said.

    “I’m not sure, you know, if we don’t have a good presence trying to help him convert that, that he’ll continue to pay $10,000 a month in interest for the learning experience of knowing how to do an industrial development. I think he’ll walk. I think he’ll sell three or four more lots and I think he’ll walk.”

    Soper said he disagrees with those who think Anderson is already too heavily invested in the property to walk away from it. “If we’re going to convert it to industrial, which I do think is what needs to happen, then we need to keep the press on like we’ve got and let’s get it converted and get the debt paid for. . . . As long as the principal is out there, you all are still on the hook for the interest.”

    Soper said some members of the Fiscal Court have said the ultimate solution would be a foreclosure sale, but he said that might not produce enough money to pay the debt, and without the property as collateral, “You’d have to pay off the debt or you’d have to pay interest forever.”

    After a brief discussion with council members, Vandegrift said, “I just don’t think it’s the best tactic in the world to say, pay up this money or it’s all going to fall apart, and that’s what I am hearing tonight.”

    Soper replied, “Grayson, I am a realist. You do not pay me to be a politician. I tell you what my opinion is, and my opinion is you all got a lot at risk here. It’s as simple as that.”

    When Vandegrift replied, “Thank you,” and Soper kept talking, Vandegrift cut him off,  saying, “That’s enough. That’s enough. Thank you. That’s enough.”

    Soper then left the meeting. McAnelly, who stands on the losing end of the proposal, stayed for the rest of the meeting. Afterward, Soper sent the Midway Messenger a summary of new tax revenue generated by EDA-coordinated projects.

    Midway’s relations with the rest of the county also figured in the council’s 3-1 vote to approve the revised goals and objectives for planning and zoning.  One change would allow more flexibility in the urban services area. 

    Council Member Sara Hicks voted no, saying the new language “makes the urban service boundary fluid in a way that does not protect agricultural lands.”

    Vandegrift said he believed accepting the language would be a good compromise with Versailles and the county, since a committee of representatives agreed to remove from the proposed goals and objectives a specific reference to the proposed northwest Versailles bypass, which Midway opposes.

    Vandegrift said, “Removing that bypass language was extremely important, and I think we have to show the rest of the county that we are willing to compromise, we are willing to find common ground, even when they are not.”

    In other planning and zoning business, the council approved Vandegrift’s reappointments of Phil Kepler to the Architectural Review Board and Al Schooler to the Board of Adjustment.

    Earlier, the council passed on second reading an ordinance of intent to annex 33.485 acres next to Midway Station, which Lakeshore Learning Materials is eyeing for expansion and a possible supplier.

    After more than two months of discussion and debate, the council passed an ordinance that would make the killing of domestic animals through kill traps illegal. This stemmed from the death of the pet cat of Sarah Gilbert and Stewart Surgener, who wanted to prohibit kill traps altogether.

    “I do not feel as if the ordinance addresses the heart of the problem,” Gilbert told the council.

    Council Member Libby Warfield said a kill-trap ban would be difficult to enforce, and said she hoped that people who set traps for groundhogs or other pest animals will let their neighbors know so pets can be protected.

    The vote on the ordinance was 4-0. Council Members Kaye Nita Gallagher and Steven Craig did not attend the meeting.

    Craig ran seventh in the recent election for the six council seats. This council will have one more meeting next month before the new council including newcomers John McDaniel and Steve Simoff, begin their terms. Roller did not seek re-election.

Council agenda: annexation, animal traps, Midway Station, sidewalk deals and more

The Midway City Council has a long agenda for its regular meeting Monday evening at 5:30 at City Hall.

The council plans to hold first reading of two ordinances: one annexing more than 33 acres of farmland next to the Midway Station industrial zone, and one putting animal trappers on notice that they are expected to leave domestic animals unharmed. The farmland is in line for industrial development, and a citizen's requested a ban on trapping after her cat was killed by a trap set for a groundhog.

The agenda also includes an update on developments involving Midway Station, appointments to the new Park Board and Trail Town Committee, two event permits and a resolution declaring surplus the house at the cemetery, so it can be put up for bids for sale and removal.

Also on the agenda is an update on sidewalks. Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said this week that all three property owners who were offered a city subsidy of 50 percent, up to $1,000, for repair of their dangerous sidewalks, have accepted.

All meetings of the council and its committees are open to the public.

Midway part of proposed deal to build gas line to Midway Station, to ensure Lakeshore plant comes

The Midway City Council will be asked to put $450,000 toward a natural-gas line to Midway Station to keep Lakeshore Learning Materials from backing out of its plan to build a distribution center that would employ 262 full-time workers.

Columbia Gas estimates the line will cost $2.8 million and has promised to pay $700,000 toward it. The state will pay $1,350,000 and the Woodford County Economic Development Authority will pay $300,000, money that it was saving to bring gas to the industrial zone anyway.

Midway is expected to get about $200,000 more per year in payroll taxes from the plant and the American Howa auto-parts plant under construction, but in return for its gas-line contribution the EDA has agreed to give the city any profits from the sale of the remaining 22 acres of land it bought from Jim and Marilyn Roach.

"Midway has stepped up to the plate," EDA Chair John Soper said. Lakeshore would be the city's largest employer by far.

Midway apparently won't have to come up with the $450,000 all at once, because Lakeshore is expected to advance $2.1 million to Columbia Gas and be repaid by the state and Midway as long as it provides the promised jobs. Soper said the deal works because "The payroll taxes will always exceed what the expenditures are to bring the gas in."

Chair John Soper, left, and other EDA board members listened as EDA
attorney Bill Moore, right, explained the proposed deal Friday morning.

Soper spoke after meeting Friday morning at which the EDA approved several measures to accomplish a deal that it thought was done in August, when Lakeshore and the state announced the plant was coming.

Soper said Lakeshore's consultants were told that only a 2-inch gas line would be available, from the other side of Interstate 64, and that American Howa was meeting its gas needs with propane. But he said Lakeshore didn't express a need for gas until "after they had made the announcement." He added, "I guess . . . they realized it was critical for them to have it."

That prompted a flurry of activity, including a special and largely confidential City Council meeting, at which Mayor Grayson Vandegrift was authorized to take actions designed to bring Lakeshore to Midway.

"It's taken more than a few 180-degree turns, but they're a good company, and it's a good thing for the community," Soper said. "It's been a booger, but it's a $49 million project."

Now the council will be asked to approve the deal, which EDA attorney Bill Moore said is scheduled be closed on Tuesday. "Lakeshore is anxious to get an agreement signed," he told the EDA board.

Soper said Lakeshore has agreed to buy another 18 acres and take an option on 15 more acres owned by the Homer Michael Freeney Jr. Trust, which is selling Brown-Forman Corp. 117 acres for whiskey warehouses near South Elkhorn Creek. He said Brown-Forman will use the gas line, making construction of more warehouses more likely.

Soper said EDA has agreed to ask that the 33 acres now owned by Freeney be rezoned industrial, and that Midway's urban services boundary be expanded to include it. Plans also call for the city to annex the property.

Soper said the gas line will make the property more salable for industrial development. "We've got to get this burden of not having gas in Midway Station out of the way," he said.

Council to act Mon. on water rates, annexation

A special meeting of the Midway City Council has been called by the mayor for 11:30 a.m. Monday, Dec. 20, at City Hall to act on annexation maps for Heritage Homplace and the ordinance passing along the water-rate increase from Kentucky American Water Co.  All council and committee meetings are open to the public.