Council advances incentive package for Lakeshore expansion, readies new franchise for cable and internet

Mayor Grayson Vandegrift talks with Helen Rentch, a major supporter of The Homeplace at Midway, in front of the van that the city helped the nursing home and assisted-living facility buy. The rear of the van has donors' logos. The Homeplace brought the van to the City Council meeting. (Photo by Kennedy Sabharwal, University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media)

By Kennedy Sabharwal

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

The Midway City Council approved some incentives for Lakeshore Learning Materials’ expansion, and held first reading on others, at its meeting Monday evening. It also approved a franchise for a new telecommunications company to serve the city.

Lakeshore: One reason Lakeshore chose Midway to house its Eastern U.S. distribution center in 2016 was the incentives offered by the city, Woodford County and the state. Now that the company has decided to build a warehouse and add 100 jobs, the same incentives are at work, plus a new one.

One incentive was that the occupational tax on the company payroll would be decreased from 2% to 1.5% for 10 years once the company had reached its promise to employ 262 people. The city will grant a similar decrease once the warehouse has reached 100 employees, and make a similar reduction in the occupational tax on the company’s additional net profits for five years.

“I thought it was a fair but reasonable offer to make,” as the city competed with Beaumont, Texas, for the facility, Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said. He said Midway collected only $5,000 a year in net-profits tax until Lakeshore arrived, and the company pays “about six times that.”

The net-profits incentive is in an ordinance, which will require a second reading before passage. The other incentives were in resolutions that the council passed unanimously and without debate.

Another incentive is industrial revenue bonds, which the city will issue to give Lakeshore a lower interest rate for financing construction of the warehouse. “The city’s not pledging its credit,” said Timothy Eifler of Louisville, an attorney for Lakeshore.

Since the city will own the land and lease it back to Lakeshore, it will not be taxed, but part of the agreement is that Lakeshore will pay Woodford County Schools the same amount that it would pay in taxes if it owned the property.

              

TV and internet service: Though the city of Midway already has a cable television and internet provider, Spectrum, many residents have voiced discontent with it. A proposed ordinance hat got first reading Monday would grant a non-exclusive franchise to MetroNet so it can use city streets and property to build its service.

Vandegrift said second reading and likely passage of the proposed ordinances will be on Oct. 7. In June, when a MetroNet representative spoke to the council, the mayor said "I've been very impressed" with the company and agreed with the representative's statements that the firm has "the best technology available in the world" for internet, television and telephone."

The representative said the company is coming to Midway because it recently got a contract to serve the county schools, and would be seeking a similar non-exclusive franchise from the Woodford County Fiscal Court.

Softball shenanigans: Kim Wilson of Elkton Place, a short street at the south end of the city, asked to buy a small piece of land between her home and the Midway softball field, which is used by Midway University.

“No offense to the Midway softball team, but they’re just outrageously slobs,” by littering and urinating on the wooded tract, Wilson said, adding that she has voiced her concerns to the university, but the issues persist.

University spokeswoman Ellen Gregory told the Messenger in an email, “The comment on those urinating on property was in reference to umpires. . . . When we were first notified of this issue by the property owner, our head of security spoke directly to an umpire, who was an offender. And our softball coach has also spoken to the umpires to correct the improper behavior and will communicate this again to the conference assignor. The university pays for two Portalets at the field during the school year; those were delivered again Aug. 29 for this year. We also have trash cans onsite; our grounds crew mows the area and our security monitors the field daily.”

The presumption at the meeting was that the city owns the land, but Vandegrift said in an email after the meeting that “the bulk of the property” belongs to the owner of an adjacent farm, whom the city will send “a letter notifying her that she will need to maintain the property from here on out.”

Flooding: James and Sandy Reynolds asked for help with the flooding of the basement of a church in the Loft Apartments building they own on Dudley Street, next to the sloped parking lot for The Brown Barrel & Blind Harry’s.

Vandegrift said the issue needs to be fixed but it is on private property, and “I’m not going to spend taxpayers’ money on what is not a taxpayers’ problem.” Reynolds said he didn’t want that, just advice and approval to take the problem into his own hands.

Tuesday, Vandegrift emailed the council and news media saying a consulting engineer from the city “looked at the area today and determined the problems they are experiencing are not due to city issues. I encourage the property owners to hire their own engineers to alleviate their flooding issues.”

Other business: Last fall, a wagon selling pumpkins was forced to relocate because it lacked a temporary encroachment permit for the parking space it occupied. Farmers Michael Greathouse and Carissa Arnold asked for a permit to set up at 112 S. Gratz St., saying they would set up the wagon immediately after the Fall Festival until Nov. 1. The council granted the permit.

The city recently aided The Homeplace at Midway by donating $5,000 a 12-passenger van that cost $25,000. The van made an appearance at the meeting, and smiles were shared between council members and Homeplace employees and supporters.

Council hears plan for 'entertainment destination center' with relaxed drink-carrying rules; donates to Homeplace

Midway could have an "entertainment destination center" with relaxed rules for consumption of alcoholic beverages in a limited area, under a proposal offered to the City Council Monday evening.

The council deferred action on the idea, but took action on other matters, giving The Homeplace at Midway $5,000 to help buy a bus for residents and adopting a resolution supporting communication about land-use planning among local governments in the Bluegrass region.

Alcohol: About a year ago, the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board enacted a regulation allowing cities to buy a license for an entertainment destination center, in which customers of private licensees can go in and out of their licensed premises with alcoholic beverages as long as they stay within the center's boundaries.

The licenses had previously been available only to businesses, but are slowly being bought by cities for a fee of $2,800. Versailles recently passed the necessary ordinance for one, and Frankfort is working on one, Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said.

The rationale for the license is to reduce the enforcement load on police and ABC agents, and help localities promote tourism and economic growth, said ABC Agent Ian Thurman, the husband of City Council Member Stacy Thurman. She asked him what the city's obligations would be as licensee.

He said the city would be liable for anything in the common area, inside the boundary and outside the privately licensed premises, that was not directly tied to a business, including someone with a beverage from that business.

Council Member Logan Nance asked about the possibility of drinkers being "overserved." Thurman said that has not been a problem in the two cities that have entertainment destination center licenses, Maysville and Owensboro. He said police and licensees say "It's one thing off the plate, about people walking in and out, that they don't have to worry about, and thus can focus more on over-service.

Cortney Neikirk of the Midway Business Association said allowing customers to go in and out of restaurants with alcoholic beverages "is a huge deal for all the restaurants." She said they work together to spot drunks who should be denied service.

Vandegrift asked the council to consider the proposal and put it on the agenda for the next meeting, on Aug. 5. He said he favored a provision in the Versailles ordinance, which requires beverages taken into the common area to be in a standard size and color plastic cup, for safety reasons. Neikirk said she was sure the restaurants would agree to that.

Other business: Business association coordinator Elisha Holt asked the council to pay half the cost of overtime for two police officers who would provide security and traffic help during the Midway Fall Festival. Vandegrift said "It makes perfect sense to help out with this," but the council deferred a decision to the next meeting.

The council adopted the regional planning resolution after a presentation from Rob Rumpke of Bluegrass Tomorrow, which he said is focused on protecting farmland and advocates growth along major transportation corridors. The resolution supports continuation and expansion of the Regional Land Use Partnership that has been meeting regularly since November 2017 to improve communication among governments and planners in the 18-county region.

"We're trying to build some consensus and partnership in the region" for better communication, Rumpke said. "It is in no way about creating a regional planning commission."

The resolution, supporting documents and other materials for the meeting, including a photo of the bus The Homeplace wants to buy, are downloadable as a PDF here.

The Homeplace bus would cost $25,000 and would hold 12 passengers and two wheelchairs. Representatives of the nursing and assisted-living facility said they had raised $8,000. Mary Lynn Spalding, president and CEO of Christian Care Communities, which operates the 48-bed facility, said the bus they want to buy is eight years old.

"I am 100 percent behind this idea," Vandegrift said. "I want to see a City of Midway sticker on that bus." He said the Homeplace generated more than $32,000 in occupational tax for the city last year, "and this is a one-time purchase." He noted that the newly adopted budget allocates $5,00 for donations. Council Member John Holloway moved to give that amount, and Council Member Bruce Southworth seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

The council also approved an encroachment permit for Tru Blue Hemp Co. to locate in Midway Station. "They're kind of the middlemen for the farmers and the oil processors," Vandegrift said.

Vandegrift reported that he and Southworth plant to meet with Frankfort Plant Board officials next week to discuss building a pipeline that would make FPB the city's primary water supplier, as the mayor announced recently that he wanted the city to do.

He also announced that the sidewalk project is scheduled to begin Wednesday, weather permitting, and take about two weeks. When it is done, he said, "eleven new sidewalks" will replace broken ones, "including the worst of all," which he didn't specify.

Health Dean Barbara Kitchen retires from Midway Univ.

Mayor Grayson Vandegrift proclaimed June 28 as Barbara Kitchen
Day in honor of her service. Dr. John Marsden, president, is at right.

Dr. Barbara Kitchen, longtime dean of health sciences at Midway University, has retired with honors.

The university Board of Trustees granted Kitchen the title of Faculty Emerita, which was presented to her at the May commencement ceremony. At a June 28 reception, a plaque honoring her was unveiled in the Anne Hart Raymond Building, where she worked.

Kitchen first came to Midway in 2001 as a faculty member in the nursing program. In 2004, she was appointed chair of the nursing programs, and in 2005, chair of the Nursing and Science Division. In 2014, when the college became a university, she was appointed dean of the School of Health Sciences.

Dr. John P. Marsden, university president, said Kitchen has run a highly respected program and been an ambassador for Midway University in the health-care industry. “She has had a tremendous impact on the education and preparation of numerous students,” Marsden said. “She has developed and fostered many community partnerships so that our nursing students could have clinical experiences as well as community service projects.”

Kitchen was highly involved with the task force that helped establish The Homeplace at Midway, a nursing home and assisted-living facility.

Civic leader Jean Sharon dies; service at noon Monday

Lillian "Jean" Sharon

Funeral services will be held at noon Monday at Midway Baptist Church for Jean Sharon, a longtime civic leader in Midway who died Thursday, June 20, at her home. She was 90.

Sharon served three terms on the City Council, where a daughter and grandson also served; was president of the Midway Women’s Club and Midway Parent-Teacher Organization, and was a member of the Woodford County Schools Hall of Fame. She was instrumental in building the veterans memorial at the Midway Cemetery and The Homeplace at Midway. 

She was the longest continually active member of the Midway Baptist Church, serving over 20 years as youth leader/director for various children's organizations; treasurer for many years; choir member; and various positions in the Women's Missionary Union. For more than two decades, she was The Woodford Sun's Midway correspondent.

She was born Lillian Clifton on Nov. 1, 1928 to Roy and Elizabeth Nave Clifton, and lived in Midway her entire life. She was the widow of Leslie Murphy Sharon, who died in 2016. She is survived by two daughters, Margaret “Peggy” Sharon and Cynthia Jean (Philip) Karrick; a son-in-law, David Warfield; six grandchildren, Wendy Warfield (Jonathan) Creech, Matthew Warfield (a former City Council member), Krissy Sharon (Scott) Fett, Mason (Heather) Karrick, Sharon Karrick and Spencer (Devon) Karrick; eight great-grandchildren; two sisters-in-law, Helen Clifton and Elizabeth Clifton; and numerous other nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by a daughter, Leslie Elizabeth “Libby” Warfield, who died in 2018 while serving on the City Council; four sisters, Dora Faust, Martha Clifton, Frances Clifton and Elizabeth Clifton; six brothers, William, Charles, Oscar, Roy, James and Finnis Clifton, and her brother-in-law, Jesse Faust.

The Rev. Jeffery Sames will officiate at the service. Burial will be in Midway Cemetery. The pallbearers will be Austin Creech, Mason Karrick, Spencer Karrick, Scott Fett, Jonathan Clifton and Jonathan Creech. Honorary pallbearers are Matt Warfield, David Warfield, Philip Karrick, Dr. Norman Fisher, Dr. James Roach, James Johnson and Charles Logan. Johnson Funeral Home, where visitation was held Sunday afternoon, is in charge of arrangements. The full obituary is here.

Midway University growing, looking for Aug. 20 service projects for students; council OKs firearms ordinance

A growing Midway University is looking for community service work that its students can perform from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Aug. 20, as part of their orientation, the City Council heard Monday night.

In other business, the council passed an ordinance banning discharge of firearms in the city unless needed to protect person or property, and heard some financial reports from Mayor Grayson Vandegrift.

The council heard from Tracy Small-Spotts, the university's director of student involvement and leadership, about the community service day, which she said is designed to correct "the slight disconnect between the university and Midway."

Small-Spotts said the school is looking for seven to 10 community-service sites, most of which could accommodate 20 to 25 students. She said the school is expecting "one of our biggest enrollments," including 150 new resident students. For the first time, some will be men, and the university has also accepted students from Saint Catharine College near Springfield, which has closed.

She said the students could clean up homes, yards, parks and so on. Council members and Vandegrift offered some suggestions for work sites and groups who might be asked to help set them up.

The firearms ordinance is needed, said Asst. Chief Mike Murray of the Versailles Police Department, which patrols all of Woodford County. The council set the penalty for violation of the ordinance at $100 to $250.

Vandegrift noted that the city ended the fiscal year with a $150,000 surplus in its general fund, with lesser surpluses in other funds. The primary reason was more than $394,000 in occupational taxes, which had been budgeted at $275,000. The main reason for that was The Homeplace at Midway, the new nursing home and assisted-living facility.

Vandegrift also reported that he had consolidated the city's information-technology services with a single contractor, which he said would be more efficient and save at least $2,000 a year.

Head of nonprofit that runs The Homeplace at Midway is third outstanding alum of UK College of Public Health

Keith Knapp

Keith Knapp, the chief executive officer of Christian Care Communities, which includes The Homeplace at Midway, received the third Outstanding Alumni Award from the University of Kentucky College of Public Health on Feb. 19.

The Homeplace at Midway, which opened last June 25, is home to 38 residents. The opening of the facility marked the end of a 16-year campaign for a nursing home in Midway. The development was the first facility built in Kentucky using The Green House model. The facility has four residential buildings with two dedicated to skilled nursing, one for assisted living and one for “memory care.”

Knapp has led the design and development of several other elder-care facilities in Kentucky. He has served as a member of the state Institute for Aging and as chief executive of the Episcopal Church Home of Kentucky.

Payroll tax, licenses and permits brought city 40% over estimates; clerk-treasurer cites new jobs, more business

By Andrea Richard

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

The City of Midway saw big increases in its two main revenue sources in the last fiscal year, according to an audit presented to the city council Monday night.

The audit for the year ended June 30 showed revenue from licenses and permits was 43 percent above budget, and occupational taxes were 42 percent over budget.

The audit shows $194,720 was budgeted for licenses and permits, and the city took in $277,596. City Clerk-Treasurer Phyllis Hudson told the Messenger that the increase reflects larger-than-expected revenue from alcohol licenses, business permits, insurance licenses and the Midway Fall Festival. 

Hudson said the even larger dollar increase in the 2 percent occupational tax reflects new jobs at The Homeplace at Midway, the new senior-living community across from Midway College, and the McDonald’s in the Green Gables development in the southeast quadrant of the Interstate 64 interchange. Each employs about 45 people.

The occupational tax generated $396,618 in fiscal 2015, compared to a budget expectation of $280,000, a boost of $116,918. The city ended the year with a $567,000 cash balance, an increase of $338,183.

CPA Debbie Smith of the Mountjoy Chilton Medley accounting firm presented the numbers to the council.

Council member Sara Hicks asked Smith if the city’s “nice numbers” meant Midway was financially strong, or if the city “[wasn’t] taking care of business.”   

Smith said most cities try to keep “three to four operating months of expenses as a rule of thumb.” Last year, the city’s expenses totaled about $788,000, but its revenues were about $1 million.

Smith told the council that they ended the year with $420,000 in CDs, giving them a strong cash and asset position. Even with adding a pension liability, required by federal law, the city still had a good, strong net position, Smith said.

Smith’s one recommendation to the council was to update the ratings of streets’ condition. “You’re supposed to every three years,” Smith said. “It’s been four or five.”

Speed limit sign: The council voted to spend $3,170 for a speed limit sign to collect data on the city’s traffic. The move grew out of concern over speeding on Stephens Street at the Brand Street intersection.

“We’re going to have to collect [the data] ourselves because no one else does it,” said Council Member Bruce Southworth, who lives near the intersection.

Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said the data will be used to show trouble spots to police and state highway officials. “Sometimes you have to take care of your own problems in your community,” he said. “We can use it to say this is what we have . . . verifiable data.”

Southworth said the sign not only flashes the speed of a vehicle, but also collects the number of cars traveling the street, and how much the cars are going above the speed limit. The city can set the sign to a specific limit, and it will flash red if drivers travel above the set speed.

After Southworth presented the council with the price tag, Hicks asked, “We hire the Versailles police to perform a job for us in Midway. Why are we not able for our employees to do this service for us?”

Vandegrift said he did not have an answer to Hicks’ question, but he’s learning “more and more that you don’t want to burn bridges with the state,” which has not been as responsive to city requests for help as city officials would like.

Other business: After the council approved the mayor’s appointment of Council Member Libby Warfield to the Veterans Committee, Warfield said she wanted to buy two wreaths for each of these holidays: Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Christmas and the Fourth of July. The council agreed to two each for the former pair, and one each for the latter pair.

The city’s older fire engine sustained damage after the driver backed into a rail. The truck was being used to clean the streets after the fall festival. Vandegrift said he’s “trying to figure out whether to pay out of pocket [for the damages] or to go through insurance,” which might result in a premium increase. The body-work estimate ranges from $12,000 to $14,000.

The Homeplace at Midway holds an open house

Christian Care Communities held an open house today for The Homeplace at Midway, the new senior-living community across from Midway College on East Stephens Street (or Weisenberger Mill Road). Above, a CCC employee waits to guide visitors to the cottages. Below, the dining area of a nursing cottage was a place to gather, eat, drink and admire the interior design and architecture.

Below, Frankie Fisher, 94, greeted visitors in her apartment at the assisted-living cottage. She said that she "cried the first two days" at The Homeplace because she missed her home on Gratz Street, but Homeplace staff members are "so nice" she has decided to stay.

Sandra Leach and her husband Louie, of Versailles, talked with Sharon Turner, right, about the availability of various types of housing. Turner, who was on the Midway City Council from 2007 through 2014, was one of the leaders of the Midway Nursing Home Task Force, which worked for 16 years to bring such a facility to Midway. Below, a living area in one of the cottages.

Below are the administrative cottage and the Lucy Simms Lloyd Gathering House for special events.

The Homeplace at Midway formally opens

By Kacie Kelly and Al Cross
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

The Homeplace at Midway was formally opened today, bringing to full fruition a 16-year campaign for a nursing home in Midway. It will host an open house from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday.

Construction this spring (Christian Care Communities photo)

The Homeplace, which has four residential buildings that look like single-family homes, is more than a nursing home. Two of the buildings are for skilled nursing, but one is for assisted living and the other is for "memory care" or personal care of patients with dementia and other cognitive impairments.

“The Homeplace at Midway represents a new beginning for older adults in Kentucky and for communities across the commonwealth to embrace them as living treasures, not a burden or a challenge,” Dr. Keith Knapp, president and chief executive officer of Christian Care Communities, which built the Homeplace and will operate it, said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Assisted living cottage (Photo by Kacie Kelly)

“We are extremely grateful to the City of Midway, the Midway Nursing Home Task Force, Midway College, state and local government agencies, our capital campaign’s Leadership Council and all our friends and supporters who championed this new direction and envisioned with us a new day when older adults would receive the highest quality care and support, without feeling their lives are being disrupted or overtaken,” Knapp said. “We trust that it will inspire other senior living providers to move in a similar direction.”

The Homeplace is the first facility in Kentucky built with The Green House model, which includes home-like environments and strong relationships with caregivers, with the goal of meaningful lives for residents. Dr. William Thomas, creator of the model, told the crowd at the event, “The Homeplace, with its emphasis on home, shows how care can be made more loving, community centered and effective.”

One of the two skilled-care cottages (Photo by Kacie Kelly)

Patients have been moving in all month. The staff at The Homeplace is trained to use the “best friend approach,” Laurie Dorough, the facility's community-relations manager, said in an interview. Staff and volunteers are to treat residents as they would treat a best friend.

Knapp said at the ribbon-cutting, “Each resident will have a private bedroom and bath and share, just as people do in any home, the kitchen, living room, den and porch areas. It’s all designed to give residents the freedom to set their own daily routines and to live life to its fullest, while receiving the individual care they need – within each cottage.

The assisted-living cottage is larger than the others, to provide room for more activities and “the potential for spouses to live there,” said Laurie Dorough. “It’s kind of the first step out of independent living,” she said. The cottage has an open kitchen where residents can get involved with meal preparation or “come out and see what’s cooking.”

Skilled-care cottage bathroom lift system (Photo by Kacie Kelly)

The skilled-nursing cottages have bedrooms with medicine cupboards rather than medical carts, and a bathroom lift system (photo at right) that takes the resident straight to their own bathroom. The bedrooms are relatively small, an incentive for residents to spend more time in the communal living space.

The Homeplace campus, across Stephens Street from Midway College, also includes an administrative cottage and the Lucy Simms Lloyd Gathering House for special gatherings, worship services and activities.

Between the cottages is the courtyard, with lighted walking paths from building to building, a gazebo, and space for outdoor activities. “Our hope is to maybe start a community garden,” said Dorough.

The long campaign for a nursing home, led by the Midway Nursing Home Task Force, began to see success in 2010 when Louisville-based Christian Care agreed to be the developer. Christian Care has facilities in 11 Kentucky cities, and a church-outreach program with more than 230 churches as partners.

The Homeplace will have a partnership with Midway College. They will be “life long learning partners.” With this partnership both parties will benefit from the relationship in an environment that fosters learning for all ages.

“We are excited to work with Midway College to not only provide learning opportunities for students but also for the residents of The Homeplace,” said Tonya Cox, the facility's executive director. The Homeplace will be offering internships and other learning opportunities for the students. This partnership will also benefit residents, Cox said: “Our residents will also have the opportunity to attend events and classes to foster their lifelong learning.”

Cox said The Homeplace aims to provide “unique long-term care in a way that honors their preferences and desires to be home.” More information is on the facility's website.

Quilt show raises money for needy residents of The Homeplace at Midway, and provides bus tours of facility

Story and photos by Sarah Brookbank

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

Old and new came together this weekend at The Homeplace at Midway Quilt Show, which showcased quilts from Woodford County to benefit The Homeplace at Midway Benevolent Fund.

The show at Midway College featured vendors, music and quilt exhibits from local community members and historical societies to add to the fund set up to help Midway residents who face financial struggles while they live at the long-awaited elder-care facility. Bus tours of the construction site of the Homeplace, across Stephens Street from the college, ran on Saturday.

The Homeplace has been a long time coming. The Midway Nursing Home Task Force has worked for almost 16 years to bring a care facility to Midway so that Midwegians can stay close to home while getting the help they need. The Homeplace is being built and operated by Christian Care Communities, the largest private, faith-based provider of elder care in Kentucky.

One of the draws of the show was the quilt registry, which is an online archive of quilts from Kentucky. The quilts are photographed and added to the archive that is hosted by the Folk Life Archives of the Kentucky Museum at Western Kentucky University. The Heritage Quilt Society registered quilts on Friday and Saturday.

The show was held at Anne Hart Raymond Building and featured more than 100 quilts. Members of the Nursing Home Task force worked until 8 p.m. setting up the display and working with The Kentucky Heritage Quilt Society, said Helen Rentch, who organized the show.

Rentch, a longtime leader of the task force, encouraged members of the community to take the tours of the Homeplace, asking them about their plans and if they would be interested in living there, calling to them as they looked at quilts.

Rentch explained the long process of trying to get the Homeplace off the ground and the work that went into funding the project.

“When we started doing it, we wanted a small, community-sized facility,” she said. "In the industry, the principle is that you have to have at least 60 beds in the building or it’s not going to be financially feasible. And we didn’t want a facility like that, we couldn’t get that many beds licensed anyway, and consequently, we couldn’t find anybody who would agree to help finance or take over management. 

Even though there are thousands of companies out there doing it, they want it to be profitable.”

After five years of struggling to find a way to make the project come to life, the task force decided to work with a non-profit organization. Rentch said that after that decision was made, finding a non-profit with enough experience and credibility was difficult. After a few more years they found Christian Care, which runs 30 to 40 facilities across the state.

“They still didn’t think that it was financially feasible,” Rentch said. “So it took a number of more years before they would agree to agree to build the small houses that we wanted. Now that idea has become popular.” 

The Homeplace is considered a Green House facility, a new style of elder care that provides help while allowing freedom. All cottages feature an open kitchen and living area that will allow residents to come and go and prepare their own meals.

“If it doesn’t go in my house, it doesn’t go in the Green House Model,” said Linda Cox of Christian Care Communities, who will help manage the facility and gave bus tours if it. “You will not see a med cart in this place. That does not mean that our nurses are not providing medication, or care, or treatment. It’s just not done in that institutional type setting. It’s all sort of hidden away so it feels like home.”

When the Homeplace opens in the spring, a few months later than planned, it will have five buildings. One is the Farm House, which will house administrative offices and provide a place for activities and meetings.

Work continued as the bus tours ran on Saturday.

There are four apartment-style cottages with 12 bedrooms in each cottage.  One of the four is an assisted-living cottage that does not have full-time nursing staff, a memory-care cottage that will house patients with Alzheimer’s and dementia, and two cottages that will be skilled nursing facilities. The skilled nursing facilities will be more like a standard nursing home.

“The main tenets of the Green House are to fight the plagues of loneliness, helplessness, and boredom for our elders and our seniors,” said Cox, adding that one of its slogans will be “Seniors rule.” The phrase will be used to remind the residents of the Homeplace that they are in control and will not be forced into scheduled living and eating like many nursing homes.

The Homeplace also hopes to add more patio-style homes around the facility for elders who need no assistance, in order to grow the community; as they age, they will move into different homes on the property.

The $13.5 million project sits on 31 acres across from the college, which will play a large role in the facility. Cox said internships and rotations will be available for college nursing students, and they are looking to expand that opportunity to hospitality students as well.

The show at the college was full of quilts and people. It has grown since last year, not only with the registry but with music by the Hills of Kentucky Dulcimer Society and a children’s activity table. On Friday night the Heritage Society registered 29 quilts. By lunchtime on Saturday it had registered 16 more. It tried to limit each family to two quilts because the process is time-consuming, and quilts must be at least 50 years old.

“We had a man come last night at 8 p.m. to register his quilts, because he had to wait to hire somebody to drive him,” Rentch recalled. “He’s elderly and has his grandmama’s quilts but he can’t drive.”

Rentch said the task force hopes to donate a few thousand dollars to the benevolent fund, which will benefit Midway residents who meet financial struggles while they live at the Homeplace. She said the fund needs to grow a great deal and that they will continue to raise money, even after the Homeplace opens. Residents who run out of money or cannot make ends meet on Medicaid benefits will be able to access the fund.

Rentch said, “The real object is to engage the community, which we have done successfully.”

As winter breaks, Midway Merchants hear plans for new, revived and revised events for the rest of the year

By Brian Bouhl and Dylan Russell
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

The temperature is rising, the snow is melting, and as the Bluegrass began to break out of its winter hibernation, the Midway Merchants Association discussed some of the year’s many upcoming events at its monthly meeting last Wednesday.

The members discussed events in every season, near and far from this week’s awakening -- including summer’s Uniquely Woodford Weekend featuring the popular Francisco’s Farm art festival and Art in the Park; spring’s Beaten Biscuit Workshop; and a fall quilt show at Midway College.

May promises to be of one of the biggest weekends of the year in Midway and Woodford County, as the area’s two biggest art fairs will take place side-by-side May 17 and 18. Francisco’s Farm usually takes place in late June, but artists and patrons have said the weather is too hot then.

The schedule originally worried some who thought that the events might hurt each other’s attendance, but they agreed to co-promote under the county's new Uniquely Woodford brand, hoping to get visitors to attend and enjoy both events. The events will share a Uniquely Woodford Art Weekend promotional brochure, suggested by Midway City Council Member Sara Hicks, president of Midway Renaissance, the main sponsor of Francisco's Farm.

Hicks said in an email interview that Council Member Dan Roller, a member of the planning committee, searched online for schedule conflicts and had been unaware of Art in the Park's schedule. When the conflict became known, "I suggested creating a Uniquely Woodford Art Weekend event. I contacted Margie and Julie Buchanon of Art in the Park to suggest our joining as a single Woodford County promotion entity," she wrote. "We met and agreed to share with our boards and committees our idea to partner. They approved and we are now in the thick of creating posters, bookmarks and signage to promote ourselves under the Uniquely Woodford logo."

Francisco's Farm was last held at Midway College in 2010

Helen Rentch, head of the Midway Nursing Home Task Force, said at the merchants' meeting, “That was challenging, but it’s been turned into a positive. It should be a good time for people to be coming through Midway as well as the whole county.”

Merchants are looking forward to the return of Francisco’s Farm to the college campus after three years at Equus Run Vineyards, three and a half miles east of town.

Association member and Midway City Council Member Grayson Vandegrift was also pleased with the collaborative promotion effort. “I thought they did a good job with digging that out,” he said. “I think it could be a real positive in the long run.”

The merchants discussed how they can draw people to the festival, including using signage and having specials and samples at some of the Midway restaurants. The festival features many different artists and food vendors, who will be announced soon, according to the festival website. Admission woill be $10 per carload.

Spring will see the renaissance of an old treasure in Midway, with the Beaten Biscuit Workshop April 5 at Midway Christian Church. The workshop, put on by the Midway Nursing Home Task Force and sponsored by Holly Hill Inn and the Weisenberger Mill, will tell the unique story of beaten biscuits and feature demonstrations on how to make them.

“They are traditional Southern food, especially traditional to Kentucky,” Rentch said. “They’ve truly died out. This is an effort to have a resurgence. It is a tradition and there seemed to be an epicenter here in Midway; everyone here knew and made them.” Midway “master beaten biscuit maker” Charles Logan will show attendees how to make the biscuits with his collection of hand and electric machines.

The event will be free of charge, but donations will be accepted for The Homeplace at Midway, the senior-living community being built across from the college.

The biggest annual event in Midway is the Fall Festival, which is set for Sept. 20-21 this year, but this year’s fall calendar will have another one that organizers hope will be big.

Rentch announced that she is reviving, revising and moving her annual quilt show, which wasn't held last year. It will be held at Midway College Nov.14-15, instead of the Old Depot restaurant building at the start of the Christmas season, and will have two segments: a quilt registry where older quilts will be photographed, documented and archived, and the actual show.

In the past, the event was called Homeplace Day because it was a fund-raiser for The Homeplace at Midway, and it will continue to benefit the senior-living community being built across Stephens Street from the college. Rentch said organizers decided on an earlier date and a larger venue to increase participation, and got a rental discount from the college, "a wonderful venue."

They hope the show will become a regional attraction and bring business to downtown Midway, with restaurants providing traditional Kentucky menus and local businesses displaying quilts to unify the theme throughout the city.

The changes should “make it more of an event” and encourage participation, Rentch said but getting people involved is the key to success: “The main thing is to go find quilts and find people we can engage in the process. That’s the most fun.”

A couple of merchants volunteered to participate, including Peggy Angel, whose Steppin’ Out Boutique in the old Thoroughbred Theater on Main Street has an in-store balcony that offers a unique space to display quilts. Vandegrift also volunteered space to display quilts in the windows of his 815 Prime restaurant, also on East Main.

Don Vizi, executive director of the Woodford County Chamber of Commerce, announced that Leadership of Central Kentucky will visit Midway as part of its Woodford County Day on March 19. The Lexington-based group visits a Central Kentucky county each month to check out local points of interest. It will be in Midway in the morning before moving on to the Castle Post and Versailles, finishing at Woodford Reserve in the afternoon.

Vizi also brought Chamber of Commerce membership applications and encouraged Midway businesses to join. He mentioned the chamber luncheon to be hosted by the Cooperative Extension Service on March 13.

Donna Hecker, general manager of the Holly Hill Inn, announced that the restaurant will be included in this year’s Lexington Restaurant Week, July 24 through Aug. 2. It is the first representative from Midway, and the only one this year, but the merchants discussed using it to their advantage. Vandegrift said other restaurants and Midway businesses should expect some overflow business from the crowds that week. “It’s a good way to draw people in,” said Merchants Association President Edwin Rye.

Council moves to put big water tower into service, OKs moving farmers market, discusses park issues

By Nini Edwards and Al Cross

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

The City Council voted Monday night to spend $16,425 to start putting the Midway Station water tower, built 11 years ago, into service.

“We are going to take the Tin Man out of service,” Mayor Tom Bozarth said. The older water tower built in the 1940’s is known as the Tin Man due to its gable roof, which resembles the hat of the Tin Man in the 1939 movie, “The Wizard of Oz.”

The towers loom on the horizon on US 62 just south of Midway.

The tower, located just outside downtown on Dudley Street, will no longer hold water, but will not be torn down, Bozarth said after the meeting.

The newer, bigger tower at Midway Station has never been in service because the industrial park never attracted significant development.

The tower is now needed to serve development on the former Weems property across Interstate 64, now owned by Dennis Anderson of Lexington, who has an option to buy Midway Station and turn it into a commercial and residential development.

The initial cost to put the tower in service is for an updated telemetry system, which is used to measure the amount of water in the tower and control the water level.

Council Member Bruce Southworth obtained two proposals from potential vendors and recommended using Rawdon Myers Inc. of Milford, Ohio. Southworth, former public works director and city administrator in Versailles, said the tank would also need to be disinfected, at additional cost. 

"The Tin Man"

Council Member Grayson Vandegrift appeared hesitant to vote on the issue, saying he had not heard about it until Bozarth and Southworth brought it up.

Bozarth said he asked Southworth to handle the matter. “This is something we have to do,” he said. “It’s something we’ve been working on for 10 months, really.”

Vandegrift joined the other members (Aaron Hamilton was absent) in voting for the expense. City Clerk Phyllis Hudson said it will come out of the $32,000 line item in the water-sewer budget for capital improvements.

The council authorized Southworth to see if the circular tank at the old sewage-treatment plant on Leestown Road can be stopped from leaking, so it the plant can be an aquaculture demonstration center for Kentucky State University. 

The council gave second reading and final passage to an ordinance allowing guns in the city park, to conform with a recent state law and federal court rulings.

The ordinance amended the existing park ordinance. Council Member Sara Hicks, reading the full ordinance, asked why it prohibits horses in the park.

“We’re the horse capital of the world,” said Hicks, who has lived in Midway since 2004. “Why would we disallow horses in our park? . . . They’re on a leash, usually.” Because it is next to the Midway College horse area, she said, it would be “a logical place to go during parades and things like that.”

Others at the meeting said it would be too risky to let people ride horses in the park. If a rider fell off, the horse could endanger people, Bozarth said. City attorney Phil Moloney said, “That creates a lot of liability issues and responsibility for the city in terms of overseeing it.” Bozarth said if there a group with a specific reason for bringing a horse into the park it can ask the council for permission.

Council Member Dan Roller said that if guns are going to be allowed in the park, the ordinance should prohibit them from being fired. Moloney said another ordinance bans the discharge of firearms in the entire city.

Continuing talk about park business, the mayor said someone is allowing dogs to jump up and knock down tree branches near the pavilions.

“It is damaging the property and it needs to stop,” Bozarth said. “We need to find who is doing this so we can put it to rest.”

At the request of the Woodford County Farmers Market, the council voted to move the market back to its previous location on Main Street. Last year it was on the Darlin’ Jean’s Apple Cobbler Café parking lot at the east end of downtown.

At the end of last year’s season a market survey showed that “most of our customers’ preferred the wholesomeness of downtown Midway,” market representative Julie Morgan told the council.

This year, the market will be in front of downtown stores from The Fashion Filly to the Heirloom restaurant. Each Monday, parking will be marked off in front of these locations except for handicapped parking.

“In previous years we put the cones around 2:30,” Morgan said. “There was never really a concern.” The market will open May 6 and will be open on Mondays from 3 to 6 p.m.

The council approved a resolution authorizing Community & Economic Development Associates Inc. to be paid for preparing the application for the $500,000 grant that will be used for infrastructure to serve The Homeplace at Midway. At the last council meeting CEDA President Bryan Kirby said he could not find that the council had ever formally authorized the application and the payment, which is called for in the grant.

The council authorized the Veterans Memorial Committee to withdraw $2,500 from the trust fund for the memorial to add 42 names of Midway-area veterans whose names have surfaced through research, according to Sgt. Jeremy Emerson of the committee.

Bozarth issued a proclamation, which the council approved, making April 26 Arbor Day. It cited trees’ beauty and their ability to provide clean air and water.

Council Member Sharon Turner announced that former state Auditor Crit Luallen, a prospective candidate for governor in 2015, will speak at the Memorial Day observance.

Ceremonial groundbreaking of Homeplace celebrates collaboration of community and others to fulfill dream

By Courtney Kincaid
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

Christian Care Communities, public officials and community and business leaders broke ground Tuesday for The Homeplace at Midway, which will be a unique senior living residence in Kentucky.

The ceremonial groundbreaking marked $13.5 million investment and a celebration of collaboration involving about 50 locals and other leaders who worked for 15 years to make the project possible.

Construction is expected to begin in summer 2013, with an anticipated opening in late 2014.

Dr. Keith Knapp, president and CEO of Christian Care Communities, addressed the crowd.

Christian Care Communities Chairman Allan Parsons told the crowd, “This dream could not have been realized without the persistence, vision and the tenacity of the Midway Nursing Home Task Force and the guiding leadership of Helen Rentch. And this would not have been realized without the financial support from the community.”

The project plan called for $2 million to be raised locally. Pledges from several local community members and organizations were key contributors in helping to push this project forward, including Helen Roach Rentch, Hargus Sexton, Betty Ann Voigt, the Mary K. Oxley Foundation, the Woodford Health Foundation, Midway Presbyterian Church, The Keeneland Foundation, the William Stamps Farish Foundation and former Gov. Brereton Jones and his wife, Libby Jones.

In addition to the donations, the project is being financed by an $11.4 million, low-interest loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and a $500,000 grant of federal community-development funds from the state, for infrastructure to serve the facility.

"What a great, beautiful community this is," Tom Fern, head of USDA Rural Development for Kentucky, told the crowd. "Perseverance does pay off."

The Nursing Home Task Force, formed by a group of community members, overcame many obstacles and challenges.  Christian Care Communities President Keith Knapp explained a few of the hurdles the development has had to maneuver around, including its design, financing and location.

The project's complexity was illustrated by the number of shovelers: too many to fit into the photo!

The Homeplace at Midway will be Kentucky’s first Green House senior living community, much different than a traditional nursing home.  The Green House model is intended to deinstitutionalize long-term care by eliminating large nursing facilities and creating habilitative, social settings, according to the Green House Project. The concept emphasizes freedom and flexibility for elders and allows elderly residents to live in small subdivided houses, with nursing and health-care providers proving on-site care.

Audrey Haynes, secretary of the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services, emphasized the flexibility and freedom the Green House model will give residents, such as the freedom to choose when they eat. Hanes said such things truly make a difference in the type of independence residents will have, and led to administrative actions by her cabinet to clear the way for the project.

Haynes said she told Knapp in their first visit, “This is the most exciting thing I’ve heard about in a long time,” and “We’re going to break rules, but we have to move forward with this.” She told the crowd, “This project will be a catalyst for similar ones in Kentucky.”

Mayor Tom Bozarth said the Homeplace will mean more to Midway than 42 jobs and an annual payroll of $1.7 million. “We now have a facility where our loved ones can continue to live in Midway with the appropriate level of care that they may need for the rest of their lives without leaving Midway,” he said. “Dreams do come true.”

Woodford Sun photo by John McDaniel

Rentch, left, considered by many to be the backbone behind the project, was full of excitement and tears of joy.

“I know I’m one of the happiest people here,” she told the crowd. “It was this time of year in the spring of 1999 when several members of the Midway community met to talk about how to keep our seniors at home. People were having to go as far away as Pike County to get care.  The circumstances were a frightening burden on friends and family and heartbreaking as some would be spending their last days among complete strangers.”

 

Rentch said a key hurdle was convincing potential lenders that a small facility would be financially viable. She said that was accomplished by an accounting firm’s market survey, financed largely by several $1,000 gifts, started by the Joneses and followed by a number from people who “had never given a  thousand dollars to anything,” she said, her voice cracking with emotion.

Brereton Jones, the only other major donor to speak, told the crowd, “This shows what can happen when people decide they’re going to work with each other.”

Bozarth said, “This was a dream by a small group of Midway residents that saw a need for a second nursing home in Woodford County.  They seized the opportunity.  This is an epitome of a real grassroots effort put forth by the Nursing Home Task Force, who after 12-plus years continued to be focused on their dreams. This group has always been the little engine that could, and today they became the little engine that did.”

The Homeplace will have five buildings, including two skilled nursing cottages for 23 residents in need of short-term rehabilitation or long-term care; a 12-bed memory/personal-care cottage for individuals with Alzheimer’s or dementia; and a 12-bed assisted living cottage for residents who need periodic assistance with daily living activities. Future plans include the addition of an adult day-care program and independent living duplexes to complement the initial resident cottages.

The elder community will be built on 31 acres across Stephens Street from the campus of Midway College. This location gives students in the nursing program the opportunity to learn and utilize the Green House model of care.

Midway College President John Marsden said, “We welcome this partnership because it provides a great opportunity for our students to learn about a Green House project through their clinical experiences and their servant leadership projects. It also provides a great opportunity for our students and faculty to collaborate on research and to look at ways to improve the care of older adults.”

Council debates charitable donations, OKs quarry work, and hears about job prospects and a grant hiccup

By Megan Smiddie

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

Midway Station, missing grant paperwork, requests for charitable donations and fixing up the old quarry at the city park were among topics the Midway’s City Council discussed Monday night.

Brad McLean, the chairman of the Woodford County Economic Development Authority, reported that there have been “four or five inquiries” recently on the three available industrial lots in Midway Station.

“I wish I could say more,” said McLean. “There is progress, I promise you.” He said any resulting development on the lots would be small, totaling only five to 10 employees.

Midway Station is a failed industrial park north of Interstate 64 that currently hosts a couple of small businesses, with all other lots empty. It left Midway and the county with a $6 million debt, so they optioned the property to Dennis Anderson of Lexington, whose plans for a residential and commercial development on the site have been stopped by the recession. McLean said EDA is trying to work with Anderson and the banks that hold the debt, since Anderson has an option on the entire property.

Mayor Tom Bozarth said that he would like to see a progress report from EDA on recruitment of “small, little, green jobs” and an agreement for funding of the agency, especially since it has employed a recruiter. “There needs to be an inter-local agreement between Midway, Versailles and the fiscal court about funding for this project,” he said.

The council spent several minutes debating whether it should make a $250 donation to the American Cancer Society as part of the annual Relay for Life fundraiser. The larger question being raised was: Should people who are handling taxpayers' dollars be donating them to charities?

“I think we can all agree that cancer has affected every single one of us,” said Council Member Grayson Vandegrift, who made the motion for the donation, noting (as Bozarth did) that the City of Versailles had given likewise. “I think it is one of those causes that we can make an exception.”

Council Member Daniel Roller countered, “Where do we draw the line?” He added, “Cancer has affected a lot of people, heart disease has affected a lot of people, Alzheimer’s affects a lot of people. . . . I don’t know how we determine which ones we give to.”

Roller moved to table the request until a policy has been put in place on such donations, but his motion lost 4-2, with only Council Member Sara Hicks joining him. The motion for the donation passed 4-1, with Roller opposed and Hicks abstaining.

A citizen at the meeting later emailed Bozarth, the council and the Midway Messenger expressing concern. “This is, I am sure, a worthy cause for donation, by each individual,” Michael Ashton of Midway wrote. “I do not believe it is proper for the city to decide to spend these funds.”

Ashton, who ran for a council seat last year, pointed out that there was “no set aside for donations of this type in the budget.” He added, “It sets a bad precedent; how do you say ‘No’ to the next and other worthy requests?” Ashton requested that the council rethink its decision and that at the next budget meeting set aside a separate allocation for donations.

Near the end of its session, the council agreed to hold a special meeting at 8 a.m. Monday to start discussing the budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. “It’s just going to be a preliminary walk-through,” Bozarth said. That meeting will be followed by a meeting of the council’s Cemetery, Ordinance and Policy Committee, which has begun looking at noise ordinances in other cites as it considers whether to enact one in Midway.

Bryan Kirby, president of Community & Economic Development Associates Inc., asked the council to pass a resolution approving preparation of the application for the $500,000 grant given to the city in 2007 for the nursing home soon to be built as The Homeplace at Midway.

Kirby said that in getting ready for the actual release of the money, he could not find that the council had ever formally authorized the application. He said paperwork may have been lost in the merger of CEDA and Will Linder and Associates, which actually prepared the application.

“An action by the council was never taken to formerly hire a firm to write the grant,” Kirby said. Bozarth said City Clerk Phyllis Hudson had been unable to find any evidence of such action. He suggested that the council simply amend its agreement with CEDA to include the authorization, and indicated that documents to that effect would be prepared.

In an update on the project, Kirby said the state Department for Local Government is giving Christian Care Communities a 90-day extension of time to award bids on the project. He said CCC technically met Monday’s deadline by hiring a construction manager instead of a using a traditional bid process, but to get the extension the city will need to submit a letter supporting it.

“It was more of a formality to the council,” Kirby explained afterward. “It grants a 90-day extension on provision of any final documentation needed to release the $500,000.”

The council unanimously to approve Bozarth’s request to spend $3,500 on cleaning up the old quarry at the park. “It will make it nice and make it something we can use in the community and enhance the park,” he said. The quarry site lies between the library on the north and the dog park on the south, and between Lee’s Branch on the west and Northside Elementary School on the east.

An ordinance revising rules for the park was given a first reading. It would remove a ban on firearms that has been invalidated by a state law passed last year. “The presence of firearms shall now be permitted,” substitute city attorney Josh Salsburey said.

Perhaps coincidentally, an unidentified man drew attention at the meeting by wearing an automatic pistol. He left before the meeting was over. Woodford Sun Correspondent John McDaniel, a former policeman, noted that the gun was not loaded: "My guess is that he was waiting for someone to challenge him after the mayor read the no-concealed weapon paragraph before the meeting began."

The council also passed a resolution designating April as Alcohol Awareness Month. “We can help provide hope for today and hope for tomorrow to people facing challenges with alcohol use and abuse,” Salsburey read from part of the resolution. “We can discourage underage drinking throughout our community by giving our young people better things to do than use.” 

Vandegrift presented recent statistics for the city’s Meet Me in Midway website. He is working with the creators of the site to redo it. “We are looking to make it more mobile friendly and add a calendar,” he said. The statistics showed that more than 70 percent of new visitors to the site viewed it on a mobile device, but the site has no special configuration for such devices.

Finally, Council Member Sharon Turner asked for help in reviving the city's monthly newsletter, Midway Matters, which has been produced mainly by volunteers.

Rollins sees bill to raise dropout age finally become law, looks toward hearing for his bill to abolish death penalty

By Megan Smiddie
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

In the legislative session that ended Tuesday night, Rep. Carl Rollins of Midway proposed a bill to abolish Kentucky’s death penalty, which went nowhere, but he passed or helped pass several other bills, including one to raise the school dropout age to 18.

Rollins, left, said it was his first time to sponsor the death-penalty measure, but “A bill like this is introduced every year.” The Democrat said he does not see it as politically risky.

“I don’t care,” he said in an interview. “It’s one of those things that I can defend on three different levels and most likely better than any of my opponents. . . . It’s not fair, it costs too much and it’s just not good law.”

According to Rollins, the death penalty costs $1 million to $2 million more than a life sentence, and people on death row are mostly poor and cannot afford good attorneys. “They make mistakes,” he said. “The University of Illinois recently found people on death row to be innocent, and prosecutors don’t make equitable decisions.”

Rollins, who attends Midway Christian Church, said his religion also played a role in his decision to take on the death penalty, but his motive was broader than that. “It goes against the basic moral beliefs of society,” he said.

The bill had seven co-sponsors: five liberal Democrats, mainly from Louisville, and Republicans Julie Adams of Louisville David Floyd of Bardstown. It was House Bill 48.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Tilley, D-Hopkinsville, never posted the bill for the committee to consider, but Rollins said Tilley told him that it would get a hearing during the interim between the 2013 and 2014 sessions. The interim committees’ primary purpose is to provide a discussion of issues relevant to the future of the state.

Rollins said no one approached him to propose the bill, but once he did, many people told him they wanted to support it. “I’ve had a few disturbing emails,” he said, “but most people I talk to want to support it.”

However, a poll taken for The Courier-Journal in January found that 67 percent of Kentucky adults support the death penalty and only 26 percent oppose it. This month, only 30 percent of people in a self-selecting survey by the newspaper said Kentucky will ever drop the death penalty. The other 69 percent said capital punishment will never be abolished because “support for the death penalty is too strong,” as the survey put it.

After five years of trying, Rollins saw another major bill he supported get passed into law. It will eventually keep Kentucky students enrolled in school until age 18.

Gov. Steve Beshear signs the dropout bill. From left are Rollins; Sen. David Givens, R-Greensburg; former Sen. David Karem, D-Louisville; Rep. Sannie Overly, D-Paris; Jane Beshear; Rep. Jeff Greer, D-Brandenburg; Sen. Mike Wilson, R-Bowling Green, chairman of the Senate Education Committee; Rep. Rocky Adkins, D-Sandy Hook, majority floor leader; House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg; Rep. Tommy Thompson, D-Owensboro; and House Speaker Pro Tem Larry Clark, D-Louisville.

Beginning with the 2014-2015 school year, school districts will be able to increase their dropout age to 18, and if it is raised in 55 percent of the districts, it will be required statewide. The current dropout age, 16 with parents’ consent, was established in 1920.

Rollins, chairman of the House Education Committee, said it is too important a decision for young students to make. “People need as much education as they can get,” he said.

Rep. Jeff Greer, D-Brandenburg, chief sponsor of the House version of the bill, agrees. “It is disappointing to see parents let our kids drop out so easily.” Greer said  the bill was personal to him because his father was a high-school dropout: “He was a fine man, but I think what he regretted most was not getting a high school diploma.”

Greer said statistics show that high school dropouts are more likely to turn to crime and end up in jail. Rollins said Kentucky’s dropout rate is better than it has been in the past, at 23 to 24 percent, but that it is still too high. He said that his goal for the bill is to continue to lower that rate.

Greer said the bill had many big supporters including the Kentucky Association of Manufacturers and the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. It was also a priority for Gov. Steve Beshear and his wife, Jane Beshear.

Rollins was the prime sponsor of several bills that easily passed the House but died in the Republican-controlled Senate. Among them were measures to require background checks and fingerprinting of employees of long-term care facilities, and encourage schools to use strategic placement of food in cafeterias to promote healthy food choices by students.

He was among 15 co-sponsors of a constitutional amendment that would automatically restore voting rights of felons (except those guilty of treason, intentional killing, sex crimes or bribery) after serving out their sentences, probation or parole. The bill passed the House 75-25 but went nowhere in the Senate.