Phyllis Hudson, a fixture at City Hall for 21 years, dies

Phyllis Hudson

Phyllis Hudson, who worked for the City of Midway for 21 years, about half that time as city clerk-treasurer, died with her family at her side Thursday. She was 55.

“She never let a nickel get past her,” Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said in a Facebook post Thursday. “She was a great custodian of the city’s money, a helpful servant to the people, and she was a comforting friend. Whenever I made a mistake that I thought would be problematic, she was there to tell me, ’Awww, it’ll be all right,’ and then she always helped me fix it.”

Hudson was born and raised in Woodford County and graduated from Woodford County High School in 1983. When she retired last May 31, Vandegrift said, “She leaves the city in the best financial shape it’s ever been in.”

Her survivors include her husband, Donnie Ray Hudson; a daughter, Sarah Wilson; two brothers, Stevie (Amber) Wilson and Lonnie Wilson; a brother-in-law, Ronnie Hudson; sisters-in-law Margaret Dunn, Lisa Thompson and Janice Hagan; and nieces Jenny Gill and Cindy Craig.

Private services will be held in the Midway Cemetery with Blackburn & Ward Funeral Home in charge. Pallbearers will be Vandegrift, Ronnie Hudson, Derek Hudson, Stevie Wilson, Andrew Wilson and Jimmie Pantina. Honorary pallbearers will include Cindy Craig, Peggy Irwin, Debbie Hudson, Jenny Gill, and Amber Wilson.

Family and friends are encouraged to share memories and leave messages of condolence on her online tribute wall.

Artificial flowers going from cemeteries to city garage

Starting Monday, June 1, city employees will begin removing artificial flowers from cemeteries in Midway, Mayor Grayson Vandegrift announced. "This coincides with cemetery rules, but all artificial flowers removed will be placed in the city’s storage shed next to our maintenance garage on Circle Drive," he said in an email. The shed is open Monday through Friday form 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Close call: City's 12-inch water main is hit, quickly fixed

Google image shows water tower and two businesses involved.

By Aaron Gershon
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

Midway residents nearly saw their water shut off on Thursday after an accident involving two businesses in Midway Station.

Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said AST Environmental hired its neighbor, Reed Utilities, to bore underground for an electric-service upgrade. During the process, a worker hit the 12-inch water main that comes from the nearby tower.

After sending an alert to City Council members, City Hall staff and the Messenger at 3:53 p.m., warning that the city's water supply might be shut off, Vandegrift sent another one at 5:31, saying the issue had been revolved.

The city's water and wastewater operator, Jack Blevins, saved the day, Vandegrift said.

"Because of the amount of water on the site . . . Jack was very concerned the break was bad," Vandegrift said in an email. "He was even more concerned because it was at the bottom of the pipe, the hardest spot to do a repair."

Luckily, Blevins was able to determine upon digging around the pipe that he could fix it without cutting it, and used a repair band around the pipe that sealed the break.   

Jack Blevins

Public Works Supervisor Terry Agee assisted Blevins with the repair in what Vandegrift called a team effort. The mayor praised Blevins, who worked without his usual co-worker, who is not working due to being at high risk for covid-19.

"I give Jack a ton of credit because he doesn't normally call me as worried as he did today, and given the current circumstances of dealing with covid-19, the timing would have been exceptionally bad,” Vandegrift said. "He pulled a rabbit out of his hat today."

The mayor added, "It's a great example of why I'm so proud of all our city employees. They're a skeleton crew, but they work together, and they've all absolutely stepped up even bigger during this pandemic."

AST and Reed Utilities also played an important role in helping resolve the problem, according to Vandegrift. "They hit the line by accident but were extremely helpful afterward, he said. "It's not every day the one who hits a line also helps you fix it."

The mayor says he does not fault either company. "Unless you have X-ray vision, it's a human thing to think you're further from a line than you are. It could have been a bad deal, but fortunately, it turned out well."

City council, mayor draft ‘bare bones budget’ in virus response, but delay final action; sidewalk projects cut

By Emmanuel Flemister
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

The Midway City Council and Mayor Grayson Vandergrift cut 10.6% of expenses from the mayor’s proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1, in a meeting held Monday in response to the coronavirus pandemic and its unforeseeable end.

Vandergrift called the special meeting to draft what he called a “bare bones budget” after the town’s largest employer and taxpayer, Lakeshore Learning Materials, furloughed 225 of its 300 employees.

 With a loss of occupational-tax revenue looming, the council and Vandegrift agreed on $195,500 in potential cuts from the $1.83 million in expenses he had proposed.

”Obviously, a lot of things have changed,” Vandegrift said at the start of the discussion. “I think we’re going to have to rethink the way we budget for next year. . . . I am very concerned about our revenues.”

The mayor’s original budget anticipated $825,000 in occupational-tax revenue, but he said that is no longer certain. “Originally I hoped we could bounce back in the new fiscal year,” he said, but now, “Even if things go better than expected, I just don’t think the economy is gonna be in full stride by July 1.”

Vandergrift and some council members were not too pleased with having to make these changes. “This is a painful exercise for me,” the mayor said. None of the budget cuts are final, since there are two budgets are in the works: the bare bones budget and the “status quo budget,” as coined by Council Member Logan Nance.

Before the meeting, Vandegrift had already subtracted $50,000, delaying the Stephens Street sidewalk project for a year.

The project would extend a walk to The Homeplace at Midway, and Vandegrift was hoping to make it part of a larger project to extend a walk to Walter Bradley Park, which would lead to Northside Elementary School, making the overall project eligible for a federal walk-to-school grant. He said City-Clerk Treasurer Cindy Foster said getting the grant would probably take a year anyway.

Vandegrift suggested, and the council agreed, to suspend the city's cost-sharing program for sidewalks, for which he had proposed $20,000.

Several other projects and expenses are on the list of proposed cuts:

• $30,000 for finishing the cemetery’s pavilion.

       At this, Hicks exulted, “My baby!” She has been on the forefront of the project.
       Vandergrift said, “You know Sara is serious about this when she talks about pulling out her biggest project.” He noted that the concrete base for the pavilion “isn’t going anywhere; it would not be a detriment to that project to be delayed a fiscal year.”
       He said $5,000 needs to remain for the cemetery’s fence: “It’s pretty bad in spots and doesn’t look too great.” This cut was the biggest made by the council.

• $25,000 of the $50,000 proposed for street paving. “You got to leave something there,” said Vandergrift, noting the possibility of small, unexpected paving projects.

• $18,000 from training and travel for city officials and staff, which was originally proposed to be $20,000, down from the current year’s $22,000. This will cut travel to Kentucky League of Cities conferences, for which the elected officials get incentive pay.

       “I think here’s where we really need to make a sacrifice,” Vandergrift said. “This is going to cost me, and it’s also going to cost the veteran council members $2,000, but you know this is a sacrifice we’re willing to make.” He said the remaining $2,000 might be needed to pay for webinars to receive training.

• $10,000 for donations, the same as the current year’s budget. Nance said, “Since we’re not bringing in money, we don’t need to be giving it out.”

• $10,000 from the proposed $20,000 for the coming year’s contingencies, which would have been the same as the current year. “These are the little things that come up that don’t necessarily fit in the ledger, but we decide we have the money to do them,” Vandegrift. We’re saying: less of that.”

• $5,000 from the $35,000 proposed for fire department salaries, which are budgeted for $28,500 this fiscal year. “This is a way to cut $5,000 without really hindering them,” Vandegrift said, adding that salaries were on track to hit $30,000 by June 30.

• $5,000 for the proposed public water fountain on East Main Street. “No one’s going to want to share a fountain anyway,” considering the pandemic, Nance said.

• $2,500 for park improvements, cutting that $5,000 budget in half. The council budgeted $12,500 on park improvements for the current fiscal year.

• $20,000 in City Hall maintenance. Brick tuckpointing was supposed to be done, perhaps with a grant; the proposed total budget for maintenance was $45,000.

The council tentatively decided to keep Vandegrift’s proposed 2 percent pay raise for city employees, and to not shop around for health insurance instead of accepting a 9 percent increase. “I don’t like the idea of messing around with the health insurance, especially at a time of uncertainty, so I think we’re gonna have to bite the bullet on that one,” Vandegrift said.

The council discussed cuts in the water and sewer budgets but decided against it since those are enterprise funds, generating their own revenue. “Believe it or not,” Vandegrift said. “we’ve already cut out a lot from water and sewer in the past.”

The council and Vandegrift agreed they need to be conservative with funds during the pandemic because it is uncertain how long it will last, and there may be a resurgence after the initial wave passes. 

Vandergrift voiced fears of what could happen if the state allows too many businesses to reopen too soon. “There’s a lot of political pressure to just go ahead and push through, but I think that would be a disaster,” he said. “I think it would be a disaster economically. It might end up hurting the economy more in the long run.”

He elaborated, “If you look at every other pandemic in history, it’s like humans keep making the same mistakes over and over again, they come out too quickly.” He even fretted, “If we aren’t careful, we’re going to eat all our surplus on covid-19.”

Midway is sitting on $1.2 million in unbudgeted surplus, and Vandegrift said he is “confident that Midway, pound for pound, has the healthiest city coffers of any city in Kentucky.” It’s important to note the bare bones budget isn’t final.

Council members and the mayor noted that they can amend the budget anytime. “We don’t want to get rid of this stuff, just put it on hold,” Hicks said. “Things are unsure at this time, and we should just make sure the city remains stable . . . and have money for emergencies.”

Council Member Bruce Southworth said, “Everyone’s got to make sacrifices.”He suggested that the council wait a few weeks to finalize the budget, to see “how this is going to last.” Vandegrift said the budget must be approved by June 22 to have it advertised in The Woodford Sun, thus taking effect, before July 1.

Leaf pickup will end the week of Jan. 6, mayor says

Leaf pickup in Midway will continue through the first week of January because not all leaves have fallen, Mayor Grayson Vandegrift announced today.

"We are still collecting leaves weekly, but will stop collecting the week of Jan. 6, so please have all leaf piles you want collected out by then," Vandegrift said.

The city asks that leaves be places in the utility strips between sidewalks and streets, not in the street where they can complicate drainage, and that branches not be included in the leaf piles.

Message from the Mayor: Thankful for many things

By Grayson Vandegrift
Mayor, City of Midway

As we come to another Thanksgiving I find I’m more thankful than ever. As always, I’m thankful for my friends and family and this wonderful community, but this year I’m also thankful for a few things specific to 2019:

I’m thankful, for example, that the sidewalk cost-sharing program was a smooth success (pun intended), that the street project came in under budget, and that we’re now a debt-free city. I’m also thankful that the council was agreeable to funding these initiatives, although they were not without their tough questions and discerning eyes, as they should be.

I’m thankful we were able to cut property taxes a little bit more, as we restructure our tax revenue stream for the future. I’m also thankful the blighted property and code enforcement ordinances are moving along smoothly and are hopefully headed for passage. And while I’m thankful for much more, I also know I’ve only got your attention for so long, but I’m very thankful we have a plan to give our city what it deserves – options – when its current 40-year contract with Kentucky American Water expires in 2025 and we’re free to go to the Frankfort Plant Board or another competing wholesaler so we can pay lower rates – much lower rates.

I’m also very thankful for our incredible city employees who keep the town running like a finely tuned machine. They deserve the long weekend they have coming up – and then some.

I hope you’re feeling as thankful as I am this Thanksgiving, and I hope you can keep those divisive topics off the table where the food belongs, topics like: “Are we Midwegians or Midwayans?” Some topics are just better left at the front door.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope to see you at the Tree Lighting this Friday night at 6:30.

Leaf pickup resumes after machine is repaired; put leaves between sidewalk and street, without branches

Leaf pickup in Midway has been delayed because the necessary equipment has been out of commission, but it has resumed, Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said in an email today.

“We’ve received quite a few calls at city hall about leaf pickup,” he wrote, “so I want to let everyone know that the leaf machine has been under repair but is now back up and our employees are going to work on getting caught up all day today. I’ve also approved for them to work Saturday on leaf pickup as well.”

Vandegrift said in an interview that leaves need to be placed between the sidewalk and the street, not in the street, where they may be washed into the sewer system. He also warned against putting branches in with leaves, because branches can tear up the leaf machine.

EDA lines up 3 property sales, hires help to clean up Midway Station, seeks more highway-business zoning

A mapping projection showed the new, 4-acre lot to be created.

Midway Station, once a failure as an industrial park, appears to be turning into a success after all.

Directors of the Woodford County Economic Development Authority, which owns the tract north of Interstate 64, approved three tentative sales of property at their meeting Friday and took steps to make the property more attractive to prospects.

"We've only had ownership of this property for six weeks, and we've got three options," departing director William Downey remarked. The EDA has always owned the property, but until Feb. 7 the unsold parcels were optioned to Lexington developer Dennis Anderson in return for his payment of interest on the property's mortgages, giving him effective control of it.

Anderson had hoped to make a commercial and residential development of Midway Station, but the renewed interest of industries in the property and nearby tracts turned it back into an industrial park, and he terminated his option.

"Since he's left, the phone has been ringing off the hook with folks who want to come to Midway Station," Mayor Grayson Vandegrift told a homeowners' meeting in Northridge Estates tonight.

At Friday's EDA meeting, directors authorized Chair John Soper to grant options to:

• Dan Price, $208,000 for 3.33 acres for use as a marine sales and service facility facing the interstate, with 10 initial jobs and 15 by the second year, pending rezoning. Soper said Planning and Zoning Administrator Pattie Wilson "was as instrumental" in the sale as anyone. "She presents the way we can do business in Woodford County that is really user-friendly."
• Barnhill Chimney Co. of Lexington, which plans to pay $162,300 for 2.49 acres for a facility to manufacture chimney caps. Soper said only four other companies in the nation make the caps, and Barnhill plans to have seven to 10 employees at opening, 10 to 15 in a year and could have 30 in five years. Soper said EDA had another prospect for the lot but "We gotta go with someone who's willing to do a contract, especially with the possibility of jobs."
• Imperial Asphalt of Frankfort, $130,000 for 4 acres in a lot to be created at the sharp turn at the east end of McKinney Avenue, in an area not originally platted for development. Soper said the company has excavation equipment that it can use to reshape the area. Because the property does not have a price that has to be met in order to get a mortgage release for banks to which EDA is indebted, "This four acres would go into operating cash," Soper said, "which really gives us some breathing room." He said Imperial Asphalt owner Seth Christian will use the property for equipment storage, will have seven employees there, and will not manufacture asphalt at the location. "He said he'd been watching this development since he was in high school and wants to be part of it," Soper said.

None of the deals required any price negotiation, Soper said, but one buyer hesitated, saying the property looked "blighted" because of high grass, weeds, trash and broken concrete.

Soper said that once Vandegrift explained the history of Midway Station, the buyer agreed to take an option. (EDA is using the option route to make the sales dependent on zoning and other land-use approvals, and tests to show that the tracts are feasible for the planned developments.)

Soper said the "deferred maintenance" at the property needs action so it will "look like it's seriously somebody trying to sell property and standing behind what they sell." He said HMB Engineers, which designed the development, had lined up Buchanan Contracting of Mount Sterling to do the work.

"Ordinarily, I would like to bid this stuff, but quite honestly, I don't think we have the time," Soper said. "Time is of the essence." He said the City of Midway had agreed to to the initial mowing, and would be reimbursed. "I really appreciate what Midway's doing for us," he said. Buchanan's original quote included $3,500 for initial mowing and trimming and $2,500 for monthly mowing; those were deducted from the deal, leaving a price of $11,970.

Director Paul Schreffler asked if crews from the Woodford County Jail could do some of the work, and Soper said he would look into that. Then the directors approved a motion for Buchanan Contracting to do the work within 45 days.

The directors also approved a motion to seek zone changes that would eliminate any property zones for professional offices, which had been seen as a buffer between industries and commercial businesses, zoned B-5 for highway business. "The inquiries we're getting are going to be B-5 or light industry," Soper said.

The changes would add more B-5 lots, which could help attract a hotel. Anderson has a lot on the other side of the interstate, in the Green Gables development, that has long been platted for a hotel, but Vandegrift said a year ago that Anderson had priced it too high to sell. Anderson disputed that.

After meeting for almost an hour and a half in the Fiscal Court room of the county courthouse, the directors went into a closed session to discuss property sales. They allowed Maria Bohanan, whom the City of Versailles had appointed to fill Downey's position when he departs, to attend.

Bridge over Lee Branch in park is nearing completion

L-R: City workers Timmy and Terry Agee, park manager-to-be John Holloway, city worker James Downs.

Lee Branch is bridged. The pedestrian span over the creek in Walter Bradley Park is nearing completion, following installation of the supporting steel beams on Friday. City workers and John Holloway, who is line to be park manager when the city's new Park Board gets organized, worked on installing the wood elements Monday. Holloway, a theatre professor at the University of Kentucky, has spearheaded the volunteer work that has transformed an overgrown section of the park into a great asset for the community. He said the grand opening for the bridge is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 14.

Bozarth would like to merge cities' street units into county road department, but Judge-Executive Coyle says no

By Miranda Sergent
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

One of the longest, roughest winters in many years reminded Kentuckians that roadway maintenance is a huge priority in small Kentucky communities. Midway has had some challenges and changes on that front lately, and outgoing Mayor Tom Bozarth has ideas for an even bigger change.

Bozarth has an emerging idea that he thinks will better the town of Midway. He wants to merge the city’s street department with Woodford County’s road department. He says he doesn’t understand why the county has three road departments and he thinks it would be logical to merge them into one.

“The Woodford County Road Department has the equipment and capabilities and it could save Midway and Versailles money for our taxpayers,” Bozarth says, adding that the quality and level of service would greatly improve for all three jurisdictions. The county has a road engineer.

Bozarth’s plan has several supporters, but not County Judge-Executive John Coyle. He says the City of Midway would benefit from the merging of road crews, but the county would not.

Bozarth says the Midway road crew has done a good job maintaining the city’s streets, but if merged with the county crews,  work could be more efficient and more resources could be available. He said no one in Midway should have to lose their job in a merger.

Midway mayoral candidates Sharon Turner and Grayson Vandegrift, both on the city council, say they are interested in looking further into the idea of merged road services if elected.

Vandergrift says, “I like the idea of looking into merged services in certain cases so that Midway can save the taxpayers money and avoid duplicating services.”

Turner said the idea is worth researching, and thinks the merger of the police departments into the Versailles force, and the emergency management agreement among the governments, both work well.

Midway-area Magistrate Larry Craig agrees that merged services could be a great idea. “Anytime you can do away with the duplication of services, it can be beneficial,” he says. “You might spend the same amount of money, but efficiency would go up. Merged services doesn’t mean you cut the budget necessarily, but you get more for your dollar.”

Craig said Woodford County road crews have better equipment than the City of Midway, and adding the cities’ equipment and workers would only improve the services. He said that if the county could develop a contracting system for the road crews like it has done for the police department; in the long run money will be saved.

Coyle, who is running for re-election without opposition in the May 20 Democratic primary, disagrees. He and Bozarth clashed over road matters when Midway became a fourth-class city, like Versailles, Coyle and the Fiscal Court stopped clearing snow in the city.

“The court and I felt we must treat both fourth class cities alike so we no longer need to clear the roads inside the Midway city limits,” he said. The city has hired a private contractor for show clearance at a cost of about $20,000.

Property tax rates on council agenda for Monday

Property tax rates for the coming year are on the agenda for the next meeting of the Midway City Council, to be held at 5:30 p.m. Monday at City Hall. The rates must be set by ordinance, which requires two readings; this will be the first reading.

The council will also consider changes in the city's personnel policy and employee handbook, and hear from John Soper of the Woodford County Economic Development Authority. All council meetings are open to the public.