Ky. Horse Council seeks applicants by Nov. 15 for scholarship for college students in equine studies

The Kentucky Horse Council says it will award a $1,500 scholarship for the spring semester to a Kentucky college student who has demonstrated academic success, community service and involvement in the equine industry. The scholarship will be awarded to a student enrolled in an equine-related major or a horse-related program with a university or college in Kentucky. Applications will be accepted until Nov. 15, and the scholarship will be awarded Dec. 1. The student is required to be a member of the Kentucky Horse Council, but student memberships are free and interested students may sign up at www.kentuckyhorse.org.

Council gets a better price from Versailles for police, starts crackdown on owners of blighted property

By Katia Davis

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

Versailles has reduced its police budget proposal for Midway, according to Midway officials at Monday’s city council meeting.

Also at the meeting, the council started a crackdown on abandoned property owners with the first reading of a new ordinance that would punish them for not maintaining property.

The council also discussed a community service collaboration with Midway University, possible improvements to North Gratz Street and Warfield Street, and the trick-or-treat schedule; and denied a controversial permit request.

Police Contract: Council Member Bruce Southworth, chair of the Public Works and Services Committee, reported to the council that Versailles had lowered its proposed price for police services in Midway, to $165,325 a year, or 4.25 percent of Versailles’ current police budget.

On Sept. 21, Versailles Mayor Brian Traugott and Police Chief James Fugate proposed a price of $173,674 a year, a 73.7 percent increase from this year.

That figure was 4.5 percent of the budget of the Versailles police, which patrol all of Woodford County.

Midway has 7 percent of the county’s population, but Midway residents also pay county taxes, and that should be taken into account, Midway Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said after the meeting. He said county officials have not explained what Midway will get for its county taxes.

“We see less and less services all the time and the county asking us for more and more money,” Vandegrift said.

As for the new proposal, Vandegrift said, “I think that we can agree, I think, something close to that, but we’re gonna have to have some increase in services to come with it, because we were paying $16,000 four years ago, now we’re paying $100,000. I don’t know how we can justify to our citizens that they’ve got this type of increase without some kind of increase in services.”

Vandegrift noted that there is plenty of time to conclude negotiations. The new contract would be for four years and start July 1, 2018. 

Crackdown on blight: The council heard first reading Monday of ordinances to establish a Code Enforcement Board and amend an ordinance requiring owners to maintain their property.

The board would be made up of Midway residents and will work to keep city properties maintained.

“If a property is not being maintained properly, we can go and make those changes and place a lien on the property with an 8 percent interest rate, so it’s not just a lien for our cost, there’s also an interest rate,” Vandegrift said. “Another thing is at some point you can look at eminent domain,” condemnation to take ownership the property.

The ordinance would give property owners notice to remedy the situation, give them seven days to respond, and allow for the police department or a code enforcement officer to initiate removal of abandoned vehicles, among other things. For a copy of the council meeting packet that includes the ordinances, click here.

“The main thing is that we are no longer going to allow the people to take advantage of their neighbors in the sense that they keep the property that has become blighted and deteriorated and abandoned and they’re not fixing it up and they’re just letting it sit there,” Vandegrift said.

Vandegrift said it’s unfair to residents who take care of their property. “We’re going to uphold that to the highest extent of the law and we’re gonna surprise some people, because a lot of people think that it cant be done.”

The mayor warned in May that he had asked for new ordinances to crack down on property maintenance. Under the previous mayor, Tom Bozarth, the city put pressure on owners of dilapidated property and had some success, but Vandegrift called that "a caretaker administration." He added, "That's not a bad thing."

Vandegrift said he would schedule second reading of the ordinances for Oct. 16, but the council might not vote on them until November because of possible changes.

Aerial photo provided by Nick Bentley shows North Gratz Street
and its extension, Warfield Street, with addresses and property
lines. The Brown Barrel and Blind Harry's, a restaurant and bar,
recently opened at 224 N. Gratz. (For a larger photo, click on it.)

Businesses seek improvements:  Nick Bentley and Bryan Lynch, residents and landowners in Midway, proposed integrating North Gratz Street and Warfield Street into downtown now that businesses have opened in the block and they plan to open more businesses.

Bentley suggested putting in streetlights, adding sidewalks, repaving the streets and adding a cul-de-sac on Warfield Street to facilitate turnarounds.

“We get a tremendous amount of traffic that comes down kind of looking and then they run into that dead-end and end up turning around in Bryan’s parking lot,” Bentley said.

Vandegrift said, “I love the idea, it just comes down to what it’s going to cost.”

Bentley also expressed concern over parking. “We have enough parking,” he said. “The biggest issue is how do we fit sidewalks in and not hurt parking.”

Bentley said he might put a full-time farmers' market near the doctor’s office on North Gratz. Lynch, who owns several businesses downtown, said he plans to put in a café on North Gratz with volleyball courts behind it, and a banquet facility will occupy a part of the building.

“I own the building,” Lynch said in an interview. “I’d be leasing it out to a business from Lexington that would open a new restaurant here in town, that will be the banquet facilities as well.” Lynch owns the Eat Drink Breathe bistro and Damselfly Gallery on Main Street.

Permit denied for street entrance: A permit that would have allowed access to East Cross Street from a backyard at 120 S. Winter Street was denied at Monday’s meeting after much discussion on the issue.

The council first discussed the permit Sept. 4, and tabled the issue for 30 days to gather more information.

The property owner had spread gravel, built a fence and gate, and connected the lot to the street, encroaching on the street, before requesting a permit.

While the denial of the permit will force the property owner to remove all gravel from the city’s right of way, she will still be able to keep a gravel lot in the backyard.

Charles Logan of East Higgins Street, a neighbor to the property, expressed concern over the runoff from the gravel at earlier meetings and Monday’s meeting. Vandegrift said the property owner can have the gravel in her backyard, but cannot have the fence or gravel interfering with the city’s right of way. He said he still thinks the fence is in the right of way.

“There’s nothing that stops somebody from going into their yard and putting gravel down,” Vandegrift said. 

According to Vandegrift, if Logan has an issue with the gravel creating runoff on his property, the matter may have to be addressed as a civil matter.

“Had she followed the rules, then it wouldn’t be no civil matter, I wouldn’t have to hire an attorney and so forth,” Logan said.

Midway University athletes' service: Midway University Athletic Director Rusty Kennedy and Women’s Softball Coach Tripp Swisher spoke with the council about collaborating with the city on a service project for student athletes.

“Part of our mandate within the organization we are governed by,” the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, “is an emphasis on character development, something our very school values,” Tripp said. “We try to get each of our student athletes 15 hours a year, at least, in community service, that’s what we strive for.”

The service project would consist of different tasks such as painting, cleaning and junk removal and would be at least one day each semester.

Vandegrift suggested soliciting requests from community members for projects.

“We are thinking more of people who struggle to complete those tasks, either by health or age issues,” he said. “If we get the word out that the university is going to offer this service in conjunction with us, we can get the word and people can basically, sort of, apply.”

According to Tripp, the service project, if permitted, would be considered for sometime between the end of October and mid-November.

There are roughly 340 student athletes at Midway University, according to Kennedy.

Halloween: The council set trick-or-treat hours for Oct. 31 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. 

Versailles asks Midway to pay $173,674 a year for police, up from $100K; committee meets 2:30 Wed.

UPDATE: The committee will meet at 2:30 Wednesday at City Hall for further discussion of the issue.

By Tre Lyerly

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

Versailles wants Midway to pay 73.7 percent more for police services next year.

Versailles Mayor Brian Traugott and Police Chief James Fugate proposed a revision of the cities’ police contract to the Midway City Council’s Public Works and Services Committee at a meeting Thursday. If approved, the new contract would bring Midway’s $100,000 payment up by another $73,674.

The number came as a surprise to the committee, who expected the revised costs to be in the $150,000 range. Council Member Bruce Southworth, chair of the committee, called the proposal “a hard sell,” saying that he liked the idea of paying $150,000 “a lot better.”

Council Member John McDaniel listened as committee chair Bruce
Southworth, center, talked with Versailles Mayor Brian Traugott.

Traugott told the committee that Midway could not form an independent police force for less than their presented cost, and that relying on the state police “would be a big disappointment” due to the possibility of increased response times.

Southworth agreed, but still felt that the proposed cost would be “a lot for Midway.” He and City Clerk Phyllis Hudson said the city should receive improved service from the police department in return for the higher costs.

“I can’t promise you they’ll be 73 percent better,” Traugott said.

Hudson said after the Versailles officials left, “I could see it if it was a gradual increase per year.” The new contract would go into effect July 1, 2018. It could be for four years or longer.

Versailles’ police budget for the 2017-18 fiscal year is $3.86 million, not including state incentives for salaries. Traugott multiplied this by 4.5 percent to get the $173,674 figure presented to the committee.

Traugott didn’t say why he used that percentage, calling it “semi-arbitrary,” but noted that it was more favorable to Midway than using the city’s share of Woodford County’s population, 7 percent, which would be “overkill;” or 9.5 percent, the share of service calls made to the Midway area between Jan. 1 and Aug. 30.

Later in the meeting, Southworth noted that County Judge-Executive John “Bear” Coyle wanted to require Midway to pay a lot more in the three-way deal among the governments, to help reduce the county’s costs.

“It’s a heck of a lot better than $400,000 … four and a half percent is not bad,” he said.

The other committee member present, Council Member John McDaniel, said, “It’s going to be hard to sell that amount of money, but proportionally . . .” He didn’t finish the thought, but said he thought the percentage would be a bit higher. McDaniel is a former Midway and Versailles police officer.

Beyond the financial part of the contract, the committee considered a renegotiation of the shifts officers would work while providing service to Midway, a possibility Traugott and Fugate were open to.

The current contract calls for the police department to provide “daily, around-the-clock” service to Midway, which it currently fulfills by using two eight-hour shifts and having officers on call for the remaining eight hours.

Council Member Kaye Nita Gallagher, who also serves on the committee, didn’t arrive in time for the committee’s discussions with Traugott and Fugate, but supported the revision of the shift terms if it would result in more comprehensive service for the city.

A view of the lot from above its side fence on Cross Street

Land-use dispute: The committee also discussed a land-use issue at 120 S. Winter Street, continuing a conversation opened during the full council meeting on Sept. 4 about a gravel parking area laid from the lot’s backyard to Cross Street without the city’s permission.

The owner of the lot, Emmajo Pulley Gray, applied for an encroachment permit to allow access to and from Cross Street, but only after the work was completed and she got a letter from the city attorney asking her to.

Gray has not appeared before the council to explain the rationale for the work, but her neighbor Charles Logan speculated at the previous meeting that installation of blacktop on the lot could result in damage to his property from water runoff.

Council Member Steve Simoff, who was present at Thursday’s meeting but does not serve on the committee, passed along heard additional concerns from Gray’s neighbors, and expressed a need on the council’s part to identify what her plans for the lot were before taking further action.

“Are [they] going to have a business operating out of there, or is it just going to be a place for storage?” Simoff asked.

The committee agreed to recommend that the council deny Gray’s encroachment request.

Lights on North Gratz: Southworth and McDaniel briefly discussed the committee’s plans to contact Kentucky Utilities about the cost of installing new streetlights on North Gratz Street.

The lights would be placed to help navigation to and from Walter Bradley Park, which saw a host of improvements last year, as well as the businesses in the area, including the new Brown Barrel restaurant and Darlin Jean’s Apple Cobbler Café.

Southworth asked Deputy Clark Sonya Conner to check with Kentucky Utilities about the cost of lights.

Searchers find evidence of Second Christian Church's first building, a log structure ransacked by a racist mob

Brenda Jackson of Midway, left, and Barbara Holcomb of We're Digging It Metal Detectors search for evidence of the original log building occupied by Midway's Second Christian Church from the early 1830s until after it was ransacked by a racist mob in 1868. The site is now on the campus of Midway University across the road from the present church building. They found foundation stones and some handmade nails.

Read more here: https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/tom-eblen/article175528976.html?fbclid=IwAR0U9Affq7l1EHveJtEmzowJM4ewxeQ9_WjiTpbWlhl8l9SFMeG6OOQEJw0#storylink=cpy

By Tom Eblen

Originally published in the Lexington Herald-Leader

After a racist mob destroyed Second Christian Church the night of July 31, 1868, the congregation moved across the street. Its original log home was abandoned and all but forgotten.

Now, church members and history buffs in this Woodford County town are trying to find remnants of the log structure as part of the church’s 185th anniversary celebration. Second Christian is thought to be the oldest black congregation in the Disciples of Christ denomination.

“I’m a descendant of slaves who started this church,” Brenda Jackson said as she watched Barbara Holcomb of We’re Digging It Metal Detectors in Midway scan the ground for clues to the log building’s exact location.

By that afternoon, they had found what appeared to be several foundation stones and a few handmade nails that may have been part of the log building, which predated the church’s founding in 1832.

The property is now part of the campus of Midway University, so Jackson doesn’t know what the next step will be in this history project. But she said it was exciting to find that much.

The mob attack was described in the book “Racial Violence in Kentucky: 1865-1940,” by the noted black historian George C. Wright: The mob “proceeded to wreck the church, destroying the pews and shooting out the windows. Several people were injured by the many rounds of ammunition fired by the irate whites.”

Black churches were sometimes targeted by nightriders and Klansmen in the years following the Civil War because they could be used for black political meetings. Also, as in Midway, they housed schools that educated black children.

The year after the attack, Second Christian’s congregation bought land across Stephens Street, along Smith Street. It also bought an old building from a Presbyterian congregation and, by 1872, had moved it there.

A separate school was built next door to the new church and operated until 1910. The second-hand building was replaced in 1906 by the brick structure the small congregation uses today.

As the Disciples of Christ denomination grew in early 1800s Kentucky, enslaved blacks worshiped with their masters. But as the number of black Christians grew, several churches in Woodford and Scott counties decided to start a separate black congregation on the grounds of what was then the Kentucky Female Orphan School in Midway.

Church leaders bought and educated an enslaved man to be the black congregation’s minister. He was purchased for $1,000, and his name was Alexander Campbell, the same name as the white evangelist who was one of the Disciples of Christ founders.

Under Campbell’s leadership, the congregation grew to more than 300 members. After the Civil War, the federal Freedmen’s Bureau helped establish the black school there. The only remnant of the log church the congregation has is the original altar table, which years ago was covered with new wood to make it sturdier.

R.E. Johnston, the Freedmen’s Bureau agent, tried to prosecute the white men who ransacked the church that night in 1868. But when the Woodford County attorney refused to help him, Johnston was unable to gather enough evidence to prosecute.

Read more here: https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/tom-eblen/article175528976.html?fbclid=IwAR0U9Affq7l1EHveJtEmzowJM4ewxeQ9_WjiTpbWlhl8l9SFMeG6OOQEJw0#storylink=cp    y

Read more here: https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/tom-eblen/article175528976.html?fbclid=IwAR0U9Affq7l1EHveJtEmzowJM4ewxeQ9_WjiTpbWlhl8l9SFMeG6OOQEJw0#storylink=cpy

Read more here: https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/tom-eblen/article175528976.html?fbclid=IwAR0U9Affq7l1EHveJtEmzowJM4ewxeQ9_WjiTpbWlhl8l9SFMeG6OOQEJw0#storylink=cpy

On 5-1 vote, council OKs big pay raises to start after next election; approves Child Care Task Force

By Destiny Butler
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

After months of discussion, the Midway City Council voted Monday to increase the pay of council members and the mayor elected next year. It also approved an effort to place a child-care center in Midway.

Effective January 1, 2019, the mayor’s pay will increase from $100 to $1,400 per month while council members’ pay will increase from $50 to $200 per month.

Libby Warfield (file photo)

The ordinance passed 5-1, with Libby Warfield opposing it.

Warfield said after the meeting that the raise is drastic. Comparing Midway to similar towns, she found that Midway officials make much less than their counterparts, but those elected next year will make more than average.

Council members in favor of the raises say Midway is growing and so will the responsibilities of the mayor and council, and the salaries have not been raised for 30 years.

Having discussed the issue several times, the council members had no discussion of it Monday, other than Kaye Nita Gallagher, who said, “I think we’ve already had a discussion.”

Child-care task force: The council approved Mayor Grayson Vandegrift’s proposal to create a task force to study the viability of a privately funded child-care center in Midway and try to attract one to the area. It would serve anyone who lives or works in the area, Vandegrift said.

“There’s been a baby explosion” in Midway, he said, “and with that there have been a lot of comments about how nice it would be to have child care, like there used to be.”

The council approved Vandegrift’s appointees: Amy Bowman, Brittany Ehrlich Jaimie Hogan, Mary Beth Rouse and Katie Vandegrift, the mayor’s wife, who will chair the task force. She and the mayor have an infant son.

The mayor said the Child Care Council of Kentucky will assist the task force: “They were very encouraging and very excited.”

Schools Hall of Fame: The council voted unanimously to keep giving the Woodford County Public Schools Hall of Fame $1,000 a year, after a presentation by Ken Tippett of the organization.

The Hall of Fame recognizes the most accomplished alumni and patrons, and the sixth class of hall-of-famers was inducted Aug. 27, Tippett said. “When we got into looking at this we found that there were a lot of schools that had hall of fame, but they were primarily athletic,” he said. “We wanted to be able to recognize every graduate in every area.”

In response to questions from the council, Tippett said annual expenses for the program are about $6,000. He said the City of Midway is one of the top sponsors, and has been since the inception of the organization six years ago.

Festival: The annual Midway Fall Festival Sept. 17 and 18 had the biggest turnout in its history, Vandegrift told the council. He said the crowd was estimated at 11,000 on Saturday and 6,000 on Sunday.

“The festival was really well-run,” he said. “Elisha Ann Holt, in her first year as coordinator, did a fantastic job; it was promoted well, a great showcase for the city, and I’m so impressed with the clean-up crew.”

The students at Spark Versailles were one of the groups of students helping pick up trash around the area. The city gave them $1,000 for their projects.

Council committee to consider higher-cost police contract, encroachment issue, lights for North Gratz

The Public Works and Services Committee of the Midway City Council will meet at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 21, at City Hall to discuss changes in the city's police contract with the City of Versailles and other issues.

Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said after Monday evening's council meeting that Versailles wants Midway to pay $150,000 a year for police protection, up from $100,000.

The committee will also discuss an encroachment permit for the lot at 120 S. Winter St. to have rear access to East Cross Street, an issue discussed at the Sept. 5 council meeting; street lights on North Gratz Street, which leads to the improved section of Walter Bradley Park and where businesses recently opened; and damage to the roadway on North Winter Street.

All council and committee meetings are open to the public.

Mayor says Midway Fall Festival was the largest ever

Story and photos by Katia Davis, University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

The 43rd annual Midway Fall Festival may well have been the largest ever.

Festival-goers crowded Main Street on Saturday.

On Saturday the festival had about 10,000 guests, Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said in an email around midday Sunday. “Yesterday was far and away the largest single day crowd in festival history,” he wrote.

Monday morning, he said in an email, "I think it's safe to say this was the largest ever. The crowd Sunday remained robust most of the day, and I couldn't find anyone who didn't agree that Saturday was the largest crowd they'd ever seen. The festival itself was the largest ever as well, though, with 160 vendors and the bank parking lot almost completely full of vendors (and customers.)”

Vandegrift speculated Sunday that the large crowd could be because of the good weekend weather and good promotion by the festival committee, “especially on social media.”

The weekend high was 83 degrees, just in time for the festival after several days of cool and rainy weather. Last year’s festival had some rain, but the weather was sunny and clear for this year.

Vandegrift said something larger may be going on. “There's been a great buzz about Midway regionally and across the state it seems, even more so than usual,” he wrote. “Talking to some folks from all over the state this week I heard a lot of words like ‘exciting,’ ‘booming,’ and ‘energetic’ in describing the city, and I think that contributed.”

Lisa Cissell of Versailles resident agreed that the festival was larger than usual.

“Lots of people here today,” she said. “I think it might be one of the biggest crowds I’ve seen.” Cissell said she attends the festival every year.

Another hint of the large number of festival-goers was parking. Cars were parked on the sides of South Winter Street just before Walnut Street, a 10-minute walk from the festival.

A view heading north on South Winter Street shows the shoulder lined with cars of festival-goers.

Cissell said parking is “the only downfall. Because it’s so small and quaint, the parking is horrendous. It’s a little bit of a hike, but we are here because it is worth it.”

Cissell said she parked on West Stephens Street, an eight-minute walk from Main Street.

Vandegrift said in his email that he heard “cars were backed up on the I-64 on-ramps yesterday, trying to get into town.”

The Evans Orchard and Cider Mill train gave rides.

Paid parking was near the event for $5. The Sojourn City Church on Northside Drive, an eight-minute walk from Main Street, opened up its parking lot for free and offered festival guests water and restrooms.

Reece White of Versailles agreed that the event was well worth having to park a short distance away.

White said that between seeing old friends, the atmosphere, friendliness of Midway residents, and seeing what vendors are selling makes the event worthwhile. “It’s fun just to wander around and look,” he said.

Cissell said her favorite vendor was West Sixth Brewery. White said he enjoyed the food trucks and the Crank & Boom ice-cream booth.

“It’s just a lovely atmosphere and small enough that you feel like you can see everything within a day and have a good afternoon,” Cissell said. “We’ve had great weather.”

There were 160 vendors, the largest number ever.

The festival welcomed guests and vendors from surrounding counties and states. About 160 vendors lined the streets, up from 150 last year, also helping make the festival one of the largest yet.

Jim and Nancy Phillips of Jim and Nancy’s Handmade Baskets came from Jacksboro, Tennessee, about 30 miles from the Kentucky line, for what Nancy Phillips thought was the eighth consecutive year. 

“We used to do several shows in Kentucky, but since we’ve gotten older we’ve dropped a lot of our shows, but Midway is one of our favorites, so we keep coming back,” she said. “It’s a nice place and all of the people that put on the shows are always nice to you, that makes you wanna come back.”

Crowds enjoyed musical entertainment from the Southland Drive Bluegrass Band and other performers.