Economic developers and developer Anderson now see eye to eye on industrial zoning at Midway Station

Midway Station developer Dennis Anderson, who has done only residential and commercial projects in Lexington, is getting more comfortable with the idea of selling industrial lots in Midway, now that he has a prospective buyer.

The Woodford County Economic Development Authority voted Friday to seek industrial zoning, with Anderson, of about 75 acres in the southeast section of Midway Station. EDA Chair John Soper said the request was prompted by Anderson's pending sale of a relatively small lot to a plumbing supply company.

Dennis Anderson (2014 photo)

The deal breaks an impasse between Anderson, who didn't want to seek rezoning until he had a prospective buyer, and EDA, which wanted to change most of the residential zoning in Midway Station to industrial because it sees residential zoning as a disincentive to industrial buyers.

"With Lakeshore [Learning Materials] and AHK there, we just don't see the prospect of successful housing there," Soper told the other EDA board members. Planning Director Pattie Wilson added, "He would have to redo all the infrastructure" to create a residential development. Anderson had hoped to do that with tax-increment financing, in which new tax revenue pays for redevelopment of blighted property, but state officials said the property did not fit the official definition of blight.

Midway Station started out as an industrial park about 30 years ago. In 2008, when there had been few industrial sales and the city and county were saddled with debt service on the property, they and EDA redesigned it as a commercial and residential development. The Great Recession hit quickly, and Anderson did not develop the property but kept paying the interest to maintain his option on it.

In recent years, the property became attractive to industrial buyers, and EDA sold part of it for Lakeshore and bought and sold an adjoining tract for AHK, an auto-parts manufacturer.

The rezoning would leave about 11 acres zoned for apartments as the only residential zoning in Midway Station. The area near Georgetown Road is zoned commercial; between it and the residential zone is an area zoned for professional offices. The area at the far eastern tip of the property is not suitable for development, Soper said, but 35 to 40 acres are.

Wilson suggested that a tract of no more than 3 acres at 630 McKinney Ave., corner to Fisher Street, be added to the parcel to be rezoned because it would not be suitable for residential if the rest was rezoned. The board agreed.

Among other business, Soper said the county needs a housing-needs analysis to help address the lack of affordable local housing for industrial workers, perhaps leading to local government subsidies like those Fayette County gives to make rents affordable.

Employers have been having difficulty finding employees, and housing is part of that issue. Soper said employers "eventually ask" about housing for employees, and "I anticipate that conversation coming in Midway."

The latest report on industrial employment in the county, distributed at the meeting, shows AHK with 82 employees and Lakeshore with 243, on its way to 262, at which point state and local incentives that were offered to attract the distribution center will kick in. The new Woodford Reserve warehouses, north of Midway Station, were listed as having 25 employees. Two warehouses have been built; 12 are planned as a conditional use in an agricultural zone because bourbon is made from grain.

Soper said the Castle and Key Distillery in Millville now expects to employ 100 when it is in full production. "As I talk to people about getting a hotel in Midway, this is a success story to tell," he said, because Midway is an attractive base for traveling the Bourbon Trail. It is also near horse farms that offer tours, and six miles from the Old Friends horse retirement farm near Georgetown.

Midsummer Nights in Midway #2, Friday evening

Photos by Sarah Ladd, University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

City renews trash-collection contract with Rumpke; rates will rise 15.4% for residents, 29.6% for businesses

Rumpke containers on Main Street (Photo by Sarah Ladd)

By Sarah Ladd
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

The Midway City Council voted unanimously at a special meeting Friday to renew the city's contract with Rumpke Waste & Recycling.

The council recently extended its contract with Rumpke to seek another bidder for the city's garbage collection needs, an action that Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said at Friday's meeting was to make the bid competitive. "We weren't comfortable approving a new contract for four years without a second bidder," he said. "So, we accomplished what we set out to do by getting a second bidder."

The other bid came from Republic Services. Vandegrift said CKY was also interested in the contract, but could not make the route at this time. He told the council that they would be interested in the bid in the future.

Rumpke offered rates of $14.95 monthly for residential users, who get one pickup per week; and $35 monthly for two commercial pickups a week. The current rates are $12.95 and $27.

"Rumpke’s bid improved after we extended the contract to get a second bidder," Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said after the meeting. "Their original offer was $16 residential and $40 commercial."

The rates the council accepted will be increases of 15.4 percent for residential and 29.6 percent for commercial. Vandegrift said the rates are "easy to swallow" because they will be locked in for four years; China is reluctant to accept as much recycled material as it once did, increasing prices here; and trade conflicts have caused uncertainty in the steel and aluminum markets. "The garbage rate increase will be far outweighed by our forthcoming lowering of property taxes and sewer rates," the mayor said.
Council Member Steve Simoff said before the vote, "With the service that Rumpke puts out, it's hard to turn them down."

Vandegrift said after the vote that the council will hear ordinances at the next two council meetings to see how the city needs to update its billing to accommodate the new contract. But, he said, "This worked out very well for us."

Council to open bids for garbage collection Friday

The Midway City Council will hold a special meeting at 3:30 p.m. Friday, July 27, at City Hall to open and act on bids for garbage collection. The council recently extended its contract with Rumpke Waste & Recycling so it could seek another bidder. All council meetings are open to the public.

Message from the mayor: What a week, what a city

By Grayson Vandegrift

Mayor, City of Midway

What a week.

Wednesday, two young Midway citizens decided to sell lemonade to raise money for the Homeplace because they wanted to help with the care of the wisest ones among us. Their proud parents posted about their good deed on Facebook, and before you knew it, fellow residents were pledging to match their contributions -- they wound up raising well over $200 in the end.

It’s almost as if these two young women were inspiring us to be ready for the days to come, when we’d all have to band together to help our fellow citizens. Although I’m not surprised at how the Midway community came together, I’m still remarkably impressed and inspired by the endless accounts of residents doing good deeds to help each other get through a surprisingly monstrous storm and its serious effects.

It would take a book to account for all the selfless acts that were performed by people this weekend, so I’ll just say that I am continually inspired by the immeasurable number of good deeds done by people who simply want to help their neighbor get through a difficult situation.

KU and LG&E called in help from other states and had as many as 180 technicians working 16-hour shifts to bring power back to our homes. As I write this, nearly all of Midway has power again. We owe a great debt of gratitude to every line worker and every person who helped clear debris and limbs, and to their families for sharing them with us. One line worker from Chicago said he hadn’t seen this kind of tree damage since he was deployed to assist with the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

Our first responders were brilliant as well, especially on Friday night, when things really could have devolved into chaos had they not held everything together.

What a week. What a city. What a county.

Mayor says KU is confident that 'the bulk of the county, including Midway, will have power' by midnight Monday

UPDATE: The mayor reported just before 8 p.m. that it appeared power had been restored to all of Midway, except "the North Gratz to East Higgins corridor and the Midway School Apartments."

Midway Mayor Grayson Vandegrift reported around noon today: "I have just left a meeting with KU representatives and county emergency workers. KU feels confident that the bulk of the county, including Midway, will have power back by midnight on Monday, July 23 (Monday going into Tuesday). This is certainly not the news we were hoping for, but at least we now know a firm timetable for how long we have to bear through this.  KU and LG&E have approximately 140 technicians working to restore power throughout the county, working shifts of 16 hours on and eight off. They remind anyone to stay away from any downed power line, as well as a few other very important safety tips:

• Check to make sure any electric stove is turned off - if you were cooking when the storm hit then it would be very easy to have forgotten to turn your burner off. Make sure you have not set anything on them which could cause fire when the power is restored. 
• If you have a generator, make sure it is not too close (within several feet) of an open garage door - this could cause deadly carbon monoxide to enter your home. 
• Although it is tempting to want to help push debris out of roadways, please do not move anything that is touching a downed power line. 
• Remember to discard perishable food items that are in your refrigerator or freezer. The Health Department warns that frozen food which has thawed cannot be refrozen and then eaten safely. 

"Going without power this long can make you irritable, anxious, furious, or all three, plus some. We are going to make it through this because we stick together. There are many, many good folks out right now working tirelessly to bring us back to a normal state of living. Let’s continue to encourage them, even feel free to bring them water bottles if you are so inclined and can safely do so."

Woodford County Emergency Management announced that the American Red Cross will be in Versailles' lower city parking lot behind the police station from 3 to 6 p.m. to hand out clean-up kits, water, tarps, trash bags, gloves etc.

Midway Baptist Church is setting up free portable showers from the Southern Baptist Convention, tentatively available from 4 to 8 p.m. "Bring towel and toiletries," Logan Nance advises on the Midway Musings Facebook page. "We will update once we are set up and let you know the exact time it is available for use."

Midway Christian Church announced that it will hold a community dinner at 6:30 p.m. and needs available helpers to report at 4 p.m.

UPDATE, 4:45 p.m.: Here is an enhanced screenshot of the latest KU-LGE outage map:

Storms knock out power, block roads, cause damage; meteorologist says winds may have reached 100 m.p.h.

The storm felled a large tree, blocking South Winter Street. (Photo from Midway Fire Department)

The Midway area suffered extensive damage Friday afternoon from a thunderstorm that brought high winds and heavy rain. Many people in Midway and the rest of Woodford County lost power, and stop lights were out. A flash flood warning was issued for the county at 10:40 p.m., until 1:15 a.m.

South Winter Street (US 62) was blocked by fallen trees, prompting the county ambulance service to move an ambulance from Versailles to the Midway Fire Department. Old Frankfort Pike was closed at fire gates 69 and 79, Woodford County Emergency Management reported.

Midway Mayor Grayson Vandegrift and the county government declared a state of emergency. "Crews will be working to clean up well into the night," the Midway Fire Department reported on Facebook.

At 11:17 p.m. Kentucky Utilities reported that 824 of its 2,061 customers in the Midway ZIP code were without power. Here's a screenshot, with the legend pasted in, of the Midway area on the LGE-KU electric outage map at 10:50 p.m. For a larger version of the map, click on it.

Lexington's airport reported three instances of winds reaching 70 miles per hour, WKYT-TV reported. Meteorologist Chris Bailey said the damage to large trees in Woodford County indicated that winds may have reached as high as 100 miles per hour in the county.

The old city dump is at fire gate 24 on Old Frankfort Pike.

Vandegrift announced that the former city dump site on Spring Station Road will be open to allow residents to dispose of fallen tree limbs. "The site is about a mile and a half past the Midway Cemetery, at fire gate 24," Vandegrift said. "We will leave it open for seven to 10 days."