Council creates housing task force, starts to expand this year's street work, discusses sidewalks and trees

By Korrie Harris

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media 

       The Midway City Council created a task force Monday evening to help with the lack of affordable housing, and affordable land for housing, in Midway.

       The council also took the first step toward expanding this year’s street work, heard Mayor Grayson Vandegrift say he will keep taking applications for sidewalk-repair subsidies, and had a lively discussion about removing trees as part of fixing sidewalks. 

       Vandegrift said the affordable housing task force will make recommendations and suggestions to the full council on a “difficult topic.”

Midway Council Member Stacy Thurman, chair of the new
Affordable Housing Task Force, listened as Mayor Grayson
Vandegrift talked about the need for it and how it would work.

       With the council’s approval, Vandegrift appointed Council Member Stacy Thurman, who will serve as chair; Freeland Davis, who the mayor said has worked with Lexington on similar projects; Xon Hostetter, a public defender who lives in Midway; Rob Mills, the owner of Damselfly Gallery; and possibly Susan Cottingham, who works for Kentucky Housing Corp. and is waiting on her general counsel’s approval to serve, Vandegrift said.

       Asked after the meeting why the task force was needed, the mayor said he has heard many people say they wish they could find affordable housing in Midway. “A lot of people end up moving to Versailles because it’s cheaper,” he said. “It’s cheaper to buy, it’s cheaper to live.”

       One thing the task force will look into, Vandegrift said, is what affordable housing means in Midway. “Everybody seems to have a different definition for it. So, what do we need as Midway?”

       He had part of the answer, saying that affordable housing in Midway shouldn’t be defined as Section 8 housing, in which rent is subsidized by the federal government. “We don’t mean Section 8. Sometimes people think we mean that, and we don’t mean that,” he said. There are a few Section 8 apartments in the city.

       Also, Vandegrift said he isn’t looking for the development of new subdivisions. “Our focus is going to be on infill, to not expand the urban service boundary,” inside which housing can be built, he said. “We actually have quite a bit that’s even zoned residential, believe it or not, but whether it’s for sale or not is another question right now.”

       “We need to establish what kind of housing do we need, what do we mean by affordable housing,” to see if there are ways to “help facilitate people to build within an urban service boundary where they’re able to build right now,” he said.

       Vandegrift said he would stay out of the task force's work, and chose Thurman as chair because she “showed an interest and she has the leadership.”

       Thurman said her interest comes from the lack of moderately priced housing. “We’ve looked for something between North Ridge [Estates] and kind of a little step up, then you get to these $300,000 homes – there’s not a lot in between,” Thurman said.

       She also said that when Lakeshore Learning Materials located in Midway, several workers or prospective workers came by the local library, which she runs, to ask about housing.

       Thurman, who got the most votes in the last council election, said the task force will take “a lot of ground work . . . face-to-face, and having conversations.”

       Asked if the task force would take an inventory, she said, “That’s the first thing I’d like to see, is where all those lots are and who the property owners are.”

       Vandegrift said, “I think this task force work is gonna take some time.”

       Street project

       The council heard the first reading of an ordinance to increase the street-repair budget by $75,000 to include up to $200,000 worth of additional projects that Vandegrift proposed at a special meeting last week.

       The money will come from unanticipated revenue, unused snow-removal money, and the budget for building a pavilion in the cemetery, which was delayed by rainy weather.

       Vandegrift wants to add curb installations and storm sewer repair on Stephens Street, paving of Starks Alley and curb repairs on North Winter Street.

        Joseph Mosley, an engineer with HMB Professional Engineers, said all the planned street work could be completed by June 30, the end of this fiscal year, at a cost of no more than $200,000.

       “If for some reason we got into to the project and it took longer than June 30, we would just have to reflect that in our next fiscal year budget,” Vandegrift said. Mosley said the contract could include a completion date to “discourage them from going past that date.”

       In expanding this year’s street work, the city might get more value. Mosley told the council that he expected the work to attract “some people who haven’t bid here before,” and he told the Messenger that was because the overall project would be larger and more attractive to contractors.

       The mayor said he would like to have a second reading of the ordinance in a special meeting this week. UPDATE, April 3: The meeting has been set for 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 4.

       “I would hate to waste two weeks just waiting for the projects,” Vandegrift said.

       Sidewalks and trees

       The mayor said he plans to extend the application deadline for cooperative sidewalk repairs, which was March 31, for another week because people are still inquiring about it.

       “I think we’ve got about seven or eight applicants so far. We can do as many as 15, theoretically. So, we might as well add as many people into this as we can,” he said.

       Nance asked if there are some property owners who need to be “targeted” to apply because of the “dangerous nature” of their sidewalks. Vandegrift said he wrote a letter to the owner of property across from the post office and told them that “it was in their best interest to apply because it can save them money.”

       “Otherwise, it would be up to the council and the council has the right for ordinance to force the work to be done and we can basically put a lien on their property for it,” he said.

        The mayor brought up the need to cut down some trees, which have caused sidewalk damage, in order to make repairs and that would be controversial.

       Council Member John Holloway expressed his concern about “cutting down a lot of trees on Winter Street” and suggested a new sidewalk could “bump into the trees and “then go around.” Vandegrift said that would be difficult in most cases, unless the property owner is willing to move a fence back.

       Council Member Logan Nance said the sidewalk on Winter in front of Midway Baptist Church has become a hazard for parents attending Midway events with children in strollers. “I see families doing it,” he said. ”"It’s dangerous and embarrassing,” he said.

       Holloway told Vandegrift, “I’m just asking you to be sensitive to the fact that, I mean, some of those trees are hundreds of years old. So, there’s no one in this room that’s gonna be alive when a new tree would be as big as that.”

       Vandegrift quipped, “I know if we cut down a tree in Midway, my phone’s gonna start blowing up because I cut down a tree. I know it. I’ve seen it happen before.”

       He said the city would replant “street trees,” but Council Member Sara Hicks said they didn’t have to be ornamentals such as dogwoods, and could include slightly larger trees.

       Mowing for others
       The mayor said Midway has worked out an agreement with the Woodford County Economic Development Authority to do one or two rounds of mowing at Midway Station while the EDA bids out the work. The city will be reimbursed for its labor and fuel, he said.

       He said the interest in Midway Station is “remarkable right now” and there are three contracts of property sales about to be signed, with many others looking at the industrial and commercial park.

       However, two businesses that expressed an interest have expressed concern about how the property hasn’t looked so good in the last five years, Vandegrift said. “Why would you want to buy a property knowing that the property next to you looks terrible?” he asked.

       The mayor said he planned to continue mowing at the recently opened ambulance station this summer on the city’s dime. At the end of last year, when the station opened, Midway mowed as a “courtesy,” Vandegrift said. 

       “I think it’s a reasonable request,” he said. 

       Council Member Bruce Southworth said he didn’t have a problem with the mowing but preferred to have a written contract.  The mayor said Midway and the Woodford EMS will work up a contract and bring it to the council.

       Upcoming events
       The council agreed to a request by Elisha Holt and Jon Maybriar, with Francisco’s Farm Arts Fair, for city employees to help them set up the event, which has been done in the past.

       The event will take place on May 18-19. Holt said it will include Kentucky Proud food vendors, artists from several states, music and a student art display. For more information on the event, see www.franciscosfarm.org.

       Vandegrift went over arrangements for the public forum on the proposed resolution endorsing refugee resettlement in Kentucky, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 9 at Northside Elementary School.

       The mayor said he will give a brief welcome, then someone from Amnesty International will give a five-to-10-minute explanation of the resolution, and a moderator from Kentucky League of Cities will continue the remainder of the forum.

       “It’s intended for it to be a listening session for all of us,” Vandegrift said. “We will sit together but separate from the audience.”

       The mayor said the tentative plan calls for citizens to speaks no more than three to four minutes each.

Garbage rates to rise 8%; council expands sidewalk debate to include trees and which areas to give priority

By Anyssa Roberts and Katherine Stach

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

Garbage rates will increase 8 percent for Midway customers under a contract the city council extended Monday night. And with sidewalk repairs on the horizon, the council also discussed how to deal with trees and set priorities for sidewalk work.

The city will extend its four-year contract with Rumpke Waste and Recycling Services by two years.

The residential rate for trash pickup will rise 96 cents to $12.91 per unit per month, said Rumpke representative Stacey Chambers.

Weekly trash pickup will remain the same with one bulk item pickup for unit. The rate will be effective beginning in July and extend until June 2018.

Sidewalks and trees

For months, the council has been discussing a new sidewalk policy, and Mayor Grayson Vandegrift has proposed spending $27,000 on sidewalks in the annual budget that begins July 1.

Council Member Sara Hicks brought up a new concern. “I don’t think that we can really effectively address this policy without also addressing our policy on the trees,” she said.

Hicks said one problem is that roots of old trees overgrow and damage the concrete. Some of the trees are planted by the city, but homeowners are held responsible if something happens to them, she said.

She said the city should take responsibility for the city’s trees, and remove old trees that damage sidewalks and replace them with less destructive trees.

Council Member Dan Roller said another way to address the issue would be redesigning the ways trees and sidewalks are placed around each other. Strategically building sidewalks away from large trees is a way to avoid having only pint-size trees lining sidewalks, and to preserve some larger trees, he said.

Hicks said she sees tree removal as a gradual process that happens along with sidewalk repair. She said the results of tree maintenance could make the city “stunning.”

“If we put in appropriate trees and remove trees that are already being disruptive, in the long run we can make the trees and the sidewalks work together,” she said.

Council Member Libby Warfield asked about a previous policy that allowed the city to place restrictions on changes residents could make to the space between the sidewalk and the road.

She said she would feel more comfortable moving forward with these types of changes if something like it was in place to prevent residents from planting their own potentially destructive trees. Hicks agreed and said that it is in the ordinance but hasn’t been enforced.

Hicks also said the city should have a way to help low-income residents pay for sidewalk repairs over time. Vandergrift said that something could be done to accommodate those residents.

Council Member Libby Warfield also made a new argument, that the city should focus on building sidewalks for areas that don’t have them. She said the two subdivisions that don’t have sidewalks may be disadvantaged if they have to help pay for sidewalk repairs.

Roller said repairs should be done where needed most, but even those who don’t have sidewalks in their neighborhoods will probably use sidewalks in the city too. Vandergrift said that these areas may get sidewalks someday although it’s not an immediate priority.

Council Member Bruce Southworth said the first priority should be to put this money towards areas where sidewalks end abruptly. “There’s places in the city where the sidewalk just ends in the middle of the property,” such as Turner Street, he said.

Vandegrift said Winter Street, the city’s main north-south thoroughfare, should be the first concern. “The sidewalks on Winter Street are a death trap,” he said.

Vandegrift said one of the biggest issues is figuring out who owns the sidewalk. If a homeowner believes they own the sidewalk, and the city comes in and claims it’s theirs and begins repairs, it could potentially  cause legal issues.

“It puts us in a vague area of legal liability,” Council Member Steven Craig said.

Vandegrift disributed copies of the city's existing but unenforced policies on sidewalks.

For years, the city’s policy has been that the city can charge property owners $10 a day for damaged sidewalks, a policy that the city has had trouble strictly enforcing because they  can’t expect property owners who can’t afford repairs originally to pay a daily fine.

The city has also tried to work with property owners, covering up to $500 worth of repairs. On projects costing less than $500, the city would  help to cover a portion of the cost. If the property owner did not work with the city to repair the damaged sidewalk by an assigned date, the city would reserve the right to go in and complete the job, billing the property owner for the work completed.

Vandegrift said the city should repace the $10 daily fine with a rule that “a lien can be placed on the property if repairs are not done by a certain date.”

The sidewalk committee and the full council will continue discussing changes to sidewalk policy and possibly tree policy, Vandergrift said.

Other business

Vandegrift announced that the city is reopening bids for snow removal contracts. The city’s four-year contract with Wright’s Farm Service is expiring.

Vandergrift said that the city has not had any problems with Wright, and will consider it in the list of bids.

Cemetery bench: New benches will replace a broken concrete bench in Midway Cemetery.

The bench in the Veterans Memorial Garden of the cemetery has collapsed and a private bench was placed there, Hicks said.

A few years ago the council voted that only the city can provide benches in the cemetery, and any private benches will have to be removed.

Vandergrift said that there should be enough money in his proposed budget to put up new benches in the area.

Park improvements: The Citizens Action Committee for Walter Bradley Park will be planting redbud and dogwood trees from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 24, Hicks said. The committee has been working to improve the park with volunteers and local supporters.

Mayor Bozarth proposes spending accumulated city funds on several improvements

By Julia Myers and Nini Edwards

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

In a budget workshop Monday, Mayor Tom Bozarth presented to the city council his plans to spend some of the money the city has been accumulating. 

Bozarth wants to put the money toward community improvement projects – particularly making repairs to the wall on Gratz Street, left.  The project, according to his draft budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1, will cost around $75,000.

“Each year we put a lot of time and thought into the budget, and we’ve tried to include projects to improve and provide better services for the city of Midway,” Bozarth told the council at the start of the workshop, noting this is his sixth budget he has proposed as mayor. He previously served on the council.

Other projects on the list include sidewalk repairs and removal of hazardous trees.  A $20,000 handicapped ramp on Main Street is also expected to be completed this year, but the project will be funded by the R.J. Corman Railroad.

In the street department of the budget, Bozarth plans to spend almost $14,000 widening Starks Alley and Dudley Street, and adding parking on West Main Street.

After reminding council members that the drafted budget was just a proposal, Bozarth reviewed each line item of the city’s income and expenses, highlighting the areas that he wants to increase or decreasd significantly.

There would be an $11,000 increase in the professional and technical area of the budget, due in part to contracting with HMB, an engineering firm, an auditor to replace the one who will be leaving, and fees to a consultant who helps identify businesses operating in Midway vendors without a city license.

The fire department would get more money for equipment.  Bozarth would grant its request for $5,000 for a thermal imaging camera.  Also on the list a rescue saw kit, six traffic-control flashlights and a gas-leak detector, which the mayor said is needed because of the large gas station that will be built at the Interstate 64 interchange.

“We’ve tried our best to get the fire department everything they need,” Bozarth said of the volunteers.  “Over the past six years, we’ve really upgraded the fire department.”

The cemetery would get more money for maintenance.  The house on the property needs $15,000 in repairs because the cemetery caretaker left it in poor condition, Bozarth said.   

Salaries in all departments except city hall would decrease .  City Clerk Phyllis Hudsonsaid salaries are down due to most overtime costs being eliminated from the budget, as well as retiring employees being replaced with a younger group earning lower salaries.  

From left: Dan Roller, Bruce Southworth, Aaron Hamilton (Julia Myers photo)

New Council Member Bruce Southworth said he would like overtime listed as a line item in the budget, and also wanted employees’ salary ranges listed. Council Member Sharon Turner said the council should only be concerned with staying in the budget, “and if you go over the line you have to give back.”

As the discussion grew more animated, Bozarth smiled and asked Southworth if this was “the way they do it in Versailles,” referring to the new member’s previous position as director of public works in Versailles. He said Southworth could get a salary list from Hudson.

“I think there needs to be more transparency here,” Southworth said in an interview following the meeting.  “I want to come in here and be able to pick up the budget, and see what’s going on.”

Another area of the budget creating lots of discussion among council members was the issue of donations to chairtable causes.  Bozarth listed two requests, $2,000 from the Woodford County Chamber of Commerce and $500 for Repair Affair, a Rotary Club project in which volunteers fix up homes of elderly, disabled and poor people.

Council Member Dan Roller recommended that they create a way for non-profit organizations to ask for donations.  “My desire is that we have a policy in place for donation requests,” said Roller.

But Roller indicated that he wasn’t incluned to favor such requests. “I don’t see how we can take taxes and them give them away,” he said. “I think the best way for council members to help out non-profit is to get out their checkbooks and write a check.”

Bozarth said, “We don’t need to make a decision today. We can get a policy in place the next few months.”

Bozarth passed out a state attorney general’s opinion saying that a city can make donations, but they must be for a public purpose. He said those receiving donations should be party to an agreement “spelling out what they are going to do with the money.”

The chamber’s requested $2,000 “would go straight to the payroll,” Council Member Sharon Turner said.  Council Member Grayson Vandegrift said, “I hate to say this, but I think that $2,000 is going to a huge hole [the Chamber of Commerce] is trying to fill.” He added, “This is one particular donation that is not a good idea.”

Vandegrift heads a committee that has decided not to pursue the idea of a separate chamber for Midway, but is interested in a city tourism commission that would be separate from the county’s. Most of the commission’s limited funds are given to the chamber for tourist promotion, and Midway interests feel they are often slighted in chamber promotions.

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.

Council OKs helping pay for video and brand logo, if funders' representatives constitute advisory group

With a little more grumbling, the Midway City Council voted this evening to contribute $1,500 to a project that will produce a four- to six-minute promotional video for Woodford County and a logo for its newly adopted "Uniquely Woodford" brand.

The council voted to pay the money as long as the funding sources -- Midway, Versailles, the county government and the Woodford Tomorrow organization -- each have a representative in a group of four people "who will be providing input" to executive producer Sam Kolintsky of Marvo Entertainment, as phrased in his agreement with the county, which controls the brand.

The agreement requires Kolintsky to "use his best efforts to ensure a cooperative working relationship  among the producers and the four designated individuals," who by Friday, Oct. 5, are to give him a list of up to seven people who could be interviewed on camera for the video, and could agree to extend his deadlines: the logo by April 28 and the video by June 29.

Joy Arnold (file photo)

The county had revised the agreement to resolve concerns of Midway officials, who had tentatively agreed to contribute before seeing the written agreement. Council Member Joy Arnold, the chair of Woodford Tomorrow, said she was disappointed that the provisions for the advisory group were not more specific. Other members and Mayor Tom Bozarth agreed. "It should have been an agreement between all four bodies," Bozarth said.

"At some point we're just gonna have to trust 'em," said Council Member Aaron Hamilton, and Member Charlann Wombles agreed. "This is a really good thing for all of us," she added later.

Bozarth said he had made clear that Midway should have "its own appointment" on the group. "I just wish we would have been approached back in July," when the agreement was first drafted.

Aaron Hamilton (file photo)

Hamilton, as chair of the Streets Committee, reported that the panel is interested in the bid of Wright's Farm Services for snow removal in the city and would like to have the company at the next council meeting. "As I understand it, he would be able to do all the streets in Midway," Hamilton said.

Parts of some narrow streets have not been cleared by the county government, which began charging Midway for snow removal last winter on grounds that the city's classification had been raised to equal that of Versailles, which handles its own snow.

The council also approved a memorandum with the state Division of Forestry for management of trees in the city, primarily in the cemetery; an ordinance confirming that public fire hydrants in the city are to be painted; and a budget amendment, the major difference being money for a previously approved new van for the fire department.

Bozarth reported that three dilapadated homes had been demolished as part of the ongoing effort to reduce blight in the city. "I think we're making progress," he said, adding that he is scheduled to meet this week with county Building & Zoning Inspector Paul Noel to clear up some questions about procedures. Bozarth said he wants reports on each identified property each quarter, "not [every] six months or a year."

In budget talks, city plans to buy new van for fire department, give firefighters a small raise

By Alex Ruf
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

During last week’s initial discussions of next year’s budget, the Midway City Council heard plans to purchase a new van for the fire department and raise firefighters’ pay a bit. The council will continue discussions on the budget in a special meeting at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow.

The city plans to purchase the new van, and a new mower for the cemetery, before the new fiscal year begins July 1. The $37,000 for the van and the $1,000 $6,000 for the mower will come from the city’s contingency fund, which is not otherwise allocated to divisions of government and is projected to be $107,550 next year, out of a total general-fund budget of $995,150.

City Clerk-Treasurer Phyllis Hudson and Mayor Tom Bozarth suggested using this contingency money for the van and mower, and perhaps to pay off the fire truck obtained from the state and other leased equipment.

“I feel our fire department is deserving of this and does a great job for the citizens of Midway, and we need to do anything we can do to give the them the tools and the means to achieve that great responsibility.” Bozarth said. The fire department asked for the van this year to replace one that is 20 years old and in poor condition, he said.

Bozarth’s proposed budget for the new fiscal year includes the van, which would be mainly responsible for an increase the fire department budget to $113,926 from $70,950 this year, but not if the contingency money is used.

The fire department personnel budget would rise to $24,000 from $18,000 as firefighters’ pay for attending monthly training meetings would rise to $35 from $30. The pay raise is designed in part to help recruit more firefighters.

This year Midway has not received its usual state grant of $8,250 for the fire department bevause it is one firefighter short of the minimum needed. To get the grant, the department must have 13 fire fighters and a fire chief, and Midway only has 12 firefighters and a chief. Council members said they plan to advertise in the city newsletter and hope that or word of mouth brings in a new recruit.

Another state grant, $5,000 for a tree nursery has been awarded and will be matched by the city. This grant is designed for Midway to grow young trees that can be used in the cemetery, parks and other places around town. Larry Hanks, Midway’s arborist, applied for the grant and is overseeing it.

This grant will lead to some of the trees being cut down to make room for new ones. A few trees in the cemetery will have to be moved, and any Midway resident will be able to buy them at a discount.

The cemetery also was another topic of discussion at the April 25 council meeting. Though the proposed budget includes the new mower, the budget for the cemetery would go down from $162,553, to $156,601.

Another point of discussion was the house on the cemetery grounds. The house is in poor condition, and is vacant. The future of this house is up in the air. The city is accepting bids on contracts to renovate the house into a more livable condition. There are also talks about tearing down the house or turning it into a chapel.

Other proposed changes to the budget include:

• The addition of $3,000 $30,000 for snow removal, which is being done by the county at a charge rather than free now that Midway is a fourth-class city. One snow removal last winter cost only $1,233, but Bozarth said the city has no way of knowing how much snow will come.
• Police will cost an additional $5,000 this year, due to gas prices.
• Planning and zoning would get an additional $4,000 for salaries.