Ashley Fowler's talk on horses wins Toastmasters award

Ashley Fowler with her contest master, Cynthia Lanham

Ashley Fowler of Midway placed first in Midway Toastmasters’ International Speech contest with her speech, "Straight From the Horse's Mouth,” and now she advances to the area contest in Lexington Feb. 22.

Fowler is a researcher at the University of Kentucky, where she earned her Ph.D. in equine nutrition. She is a post-doctoral scholar in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment.

In her speech, Fowler shared three lessons she has learned from working with horses since she was 10 years old.

First, horses respond more positively to someone who is confident. Second, different horses have different personalities, a communication style that works for one horse may not work for another.

Third, it's important to be empathetic and try to understand why a horse is pinning its ears back (a sore back?) or refusing to step in a puddle (fear that the puddle is too deep?). Fowler said she's found that these principles also apply to interactions with humans.

Council endorses $59-per-lot fee to fund 9-1-1; mayor says he will try 6 months without late fees on water bills

Jeremy Emerson, Doris Leigh, Sharon Turner and Jimmie Murphy received "certificates of excellence" from the city Monday night for their service on the Veterans Memorial Committee. Turner and Leigh are former members of the City Council.

To pay for Woodford County's 9-1-1 dispatch service, a $59 fee would be tacked onto the tax bill of each residential property in the county, under a plan endorsed by the Midway City Council tonight.

The council also approved a new contract with John Soper, chair of the Woodford County Economic Development Authority; honored members of the Veterans Memorial Committee, which is turning its functions over to the city; set terms for the new Code Enforcement Board; and approved appointment of a new city attorney. Before the meeting, Vandegrift announced a trial policy of doing away with late fees on water bills.

Dispatch funding: The nonbinding vote on funding the dispatch center came after police and other first responders said they preferred the tract-fee idea to the other finalist, a fee on water meters. Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said the water fee would have to be higher, perhaps $70, to cover the cost, due to the inefficiency of collecting the fee through the county's eight separate water suppliers.

He said commercial and industrial property owners would pay higher rates, yet to be determined, if the three local governments adopt the proposal. The Versailles City Council is scheduled to hear about the issue Tuesday night.

"We've gone through every possible way of funding this," Vandegrift said, adding later that the tract fee appeared to have unanimous support among first responders. "It's not something anybody wants to do, but it's something we have to do."

The dispatch service is now funded by a $3.50 monthly fee on telephone landlines, which are fading out. About 80 percent of the service's calls come from wireless phones, Assistant Versailles Police Chief Mike Murray told the council. He said eight or nine Kentucky counties have shifted to a tract fee to finance dispatch.

Vandegrift said Midway hasn't participated in the funding, but "With our rising standing in this county, we need to step up to the plate. If we want to be included at all tables, we've got to sit at every table."

Water policy: Over the weekend, Vandegrift told the council in an email that he would "try a six month trial run with no late fees on water/sewer bills." His decision follows a council discussion last month about water policies.

"If this becomes permanent, it will cost the water fund approximately $9,600 per year, but with the Higgins Street water line replacement debt retired, we’re still in a cost-saving situation compared to where we were a year ago when still paying the debt," he wrote. "Plus, $9,600 is a fraction of our overall water fund budget and even if we did rely on that income, it’s an unsavory thing to rely on."

Vandegrift said water bills will still be due on the 10th of each month, "but people who don’t pay on time won’t be penalized a fee. They will, however, still end up on the cut-off list if they continue to be late, and the cut-offs will remain on or around the 26th of each month. If too many customers are ending up on the cut off list, or unforeseen ramifications cause an administrative strain, I may end the trial run within the next six months. But, if after 6 months, things go as I hope and expect they will, this will become new permanent policy. After reviewing the council’s comments from our water policy meeting, speaking with city hall staff, and thinking through it over and over, I think this is a worthy effort to help lift some financial burden for those who struggle the most to afford the most basic of necessities."

EDA contract: Soper is both chairman of the EDA and an independent contractor for the three local governments. His new contract is for six months, and gives him a raise. He has been paid $5,720 per month, and will now get $6,002 a month for recruiting and retaining jobs and selling property in the Midway Station industrial and commercial park.

Midway has been the main beneficiary of Soper's recent work, and it will pay a greater share of his compensation: $1,333 per month, up from $858 a month. Vandegrift said that reflects performance, justified by the great increases in the city's occupational tax on wages and net profits, and is "still a good deal" for the city. Midway's share will be 22.2 percent, or two-ninths, of the total. The county will pay four-ninths and Versailles one-third. The contract is in the council meeting packet, here.

Logan Nance, the only council member who voted against industrial zoning of 138 acres between Midway Station and the Brown-Forman whiskey warehouses (which have a conditional-use permit in an agricultural zone) told Soper that they differ on development, "but you're doing a good job at Midway Station." The property's debt is now being paid entirely by EDA, not the city and county.

Soper reported that EDA may be able to develop public access to South Elkhorn Creek through negotiations with AT&T, which needs a construction easement to replace a fiber-optic line that runs along Midway Station's fence with Interstate 64.

Veterans Committee: Vandegrift presented "certificates of excellence" to four members of the Midway Veterans Committee who were present. The committee was formed several years ago to build a memorial in the Midway Cemetery, raised $40,000 for the project, and worked for years to add names to the monument and hold an annual Memorial Day service. The committee's membership has evolved over the years, and it has turned its funds over to the city, which is assuming its functions.

"You can learn a lot about a town by the way it honors its veterans," said Nance, an Army vet who served in Afghanistan. "Those veterans gave so much to ensure that this country, the values that we value, freedom and democracy, are built in stone. And I think it's only fitting that because of your work, their names will forever be etched in granite. So, thank you all very much."

Code enforcement: The ordinance the council passed last month to create a new Code Enforcement Board, to hear appeals of citations for building-code violations, calls for the terms of the first appointees to be staggered so one appointment comes up each year hence. But when Vandegrift and the council filled the board, they didn't specify the terms. Tonight they decided that Jim Starks would serve three years, Jo Blease two years and Dan Roller one year.

Code violations will be cited by an enforcement officer, whom the city has yet to hire. Vandegrift said he is talking with a Scott County building inspector about doing the part-time work and hopes to have his appointment ready for the council's confirmation at its next meeting, Feb. 17.

In response to a question from Council Member John Holloway, the mayor said that the officer would respond to complaints, not cite violations on his own, but that the complaints can be anonymous.

Other business: Council Member Sara Hicks, chair of the cemetery committee, said the foundation for the pavilion at the cemetery is in place, and stakes have been placed for a road to it. She invited members to check it out. Vandegrift said an architect is doing blueprints for the pavilion, based on a design by Holloway.

The council approved three event permits for the Midway Business Association:a St. Patrick's Day celebration Saturday, March 14; a summer-kickoff block party from 5 to 10 p.m. May 23, the Saturday before Memorial Day; and the Fall Festival Sept. 18-20, with Friday needed for setup.

Also approved was Vandegrift's choice of Sharon Gold as the new attorney for the city. She was not present at the meeting. Neither was Council Member Kaye Nita Gallagher.

Vandegrift said after the meeting that Gold will be paid $283 per hour and her associates at the Lexington office of Wyatt, Tarrant and Combs will get $185 an hour. Her predecessor, Phil Moloney, got $225 and his associates $145. "Phil’s office hadn’t raised their rates in five years, so that was probably due," Vandegrift said in an email. He added that new City Clerk Cindy Foster's "ability to write ordinances (she’s written two of our most recent) will save us a lot on billable hours."

State and local officials celebrate new Weisenberger Mill bridge and recount the decade-long story that led to it

Transportation Secretary Jim Gray cut the ribbon, with other officials, the contractor and Weisenberger family members.

The Weisenberger Mill bridge, a Midway landmark that reopened last month after being closed for almost three and a half years, closed again for two hours today so state and local officials could celebrate a very unusual project: building a one-lane span nearly identical to the one built around 1935.

"It looks just like the old one," said Sally Weisenberger, a member of the family that owns the historic mill on South Elkhorn Creek, before the ribbon cutting. The mill and its dam create a favorite scenic spot for locals and visitors, but the area's history and distinctiveness created challenges to replacing the span: years of debate and reviews historical and environmental, and months of negotiating with property owners for construction easements.

The biggest debate was about how wide the bridge would be. Scott County Magistrate Chad Wallace told the crowd that people in the area, including the Zion Hill community at the county's southern tip, agreed at a 2013 meeting that it should be one lane, "at a time when one-lane bridges seemed foreign in the transportation world."

Neighbors feared a two-lane bridge would only attract more heavy trucks seeking a shortcut, and cause more speeding and more wrecks, especially in the sharp curve on the Woodford County side. State engineers resisted, but finally relented.

In October 2017, almost 16 months after it closed the bridge for safety reasons, the Transportation Cabinet agreed to a new, one-lane span, a pony truss modeled on the old one.

A one-lane bridge "makes us be patient," Wallace said, alluding to the scenic surroundings. "You get to soak it in while you're waiting for a car to pass."

Gray spoke after District Highway Engineer Kelly Baker, at left.

As the waters of the creek roared over the dam, Transportation Secretary Jim Gray told the crowd, "There's arguably not many projects in our state that convey a sense of history and culture as much as this project does. . . . It is picture-perfect, postcard-perfect."

The project required "minimizing impact to surrounding properties, making sure this bridge fit the context of the area and the nature of the original bridge," said Kelly Baker, the Highway Department's chief district engineer. "I think we met our goals ... to preserve that integrity. I see a structure we all can be proud of."

"It adds to the beauty we have around here," said state Rep. Phillip Pratt, a Republican from Georgetown.

Rep. Joe Graviss, D-Versailles, thanked God "for his divine intervention" in getting the bridge replaced and seeing that no one was injured during construction.

Kenny Roller of Louisville Paving and Construction Co., the contractor, said the new span was fabricated at a Big R Bridge plant in Abingdon, Virginia, and assembled in the Midway Station industrial park. The company completed the work well before the May 1 completion date in its contract; the new span opened to traffic Dec. 23.

Baker told the Midway Messenger that the bridge would have no posted weight limit, because it can support 80,000 pounds, the regular weight limit on state roads. The bridge connects county roads, but the state agreed to take responsibility for replacing it around 2010, when then-Rep. Carl Rollins, D-Midway, got the first state funds appropriated for it.

The event was a bit intriguing to Phil Weisenberger, in the sixth generation of the family that started the mill in 1865. "I figured it's such a sore subject they'd just keep quiet about it," he said. "But it's nice to have it back open." He attended with his grandmother, Bett Weisenberger, 93.

State and local officials to hold ceremonial ribbon-cutting at new Weisenberger Mill bridge at 12:30 p.m. Friday

Story on event: https://midwayky.blogspot.com/2020/01/state-and-local-officials-celebrate-new.html

The new bridge and its approaches, and the mill and its dam, shone in the late-afternoon sun on Jan. 6. (Photo by Al Cross)

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Secretary Jim Gray and officials from Woodford and Scott counties will celebrate last month's completion of the new Weisenberger Mill bridge with a ceremonial ribbon-cutting at 12:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 31.

Those joining Gray will include Judge-Executives James Kay of Woodford County and Joe Pat Covington of Scott County, and state Reps. Joe Graviss of Versailles and Phillip Pratt of Georgetown. Parking will be available at Weisenberger Mills, and cover will be available in case of rain.

Under a longstanding agreement with Scott County, Woodford County has responsibility for the bridge over South Elkhorn Creek at the historic Weisenberger Mill, but the state agreed to be responsible for its replacement several years ago. The state closed the old bridge for safety reasons July 1, 2016, removed it Aug. 30, 2019, and opened the new one Dec. 23.

Mayor picks Pisgah Pike resident as new city attorney

Sharon Leslie Gold

By Midway Messenger staff

Sharon L. Gold of Woodford County will be Midway's new city attorney if the City Council approves her appointment, which Mayor Grayson Vandegrift announced in an email on Monday.

Gold, 44, would replace Phil Moloney of Lexington, who is leaving the position on Jan. 31 after 13 years. She is a partner in the Lexington office of Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs, one of the state’s largest law firms. She lives on Pisgah Pike with her husband Ryan and daughters Roxie and Carlie.

“Ms. Gold is very active in the Midway community,” Vandegrift said. “She is co-leader of Midway Girl Scout Troop 2261.” He told the Messenger that she is a graduate of Woodford County High School.

Sharon Leslie Gold was born and raised in Versailles, graduated magna cum laude from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 2004, and clerked for a federal judge before joining the Wyatt firm, where she leads its employment litigation team.

Gold's biography says she has been "a frequent lecturer on employment law issues and has presented at several national employment law conferences." Vandegrift told the Messenger that Gold has done legal work for cities.

"I believe you will be as thoroughly impressed as I am with Ms. Gold’s resume as well as her reputation and record as an outstanding attorney," Vandegrift said in the email to the City Council and news media. He said his mother, Sarah Vandegrift, is a paralegal in a separate department of the Wyatt firm, and "My mother will never work on anything related to the City of Midway, and she will in no way benefit, financially or otherwise, from Ms. Gold’s appointment."

Vandegrift said he would ask the council to confirm Gold as city attorney at its next meeting, Feb. 3. he told the Messenger that he wasn't sure the appointment requires confirmation, but "I just wanted to be on the safe side since all other non-elected city officials are confirmed."

Another large Chili Cookoff turnout crowns Alex Woodruff as three-time consecutive champion

Woodruff has nearly become a pro.

By Madison Dyment
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

The Midway Christian Church bustled Monday night with the smell of chili — and community — in the air.

Woodruff wasn't present Monday night;
this photo is from her first win, in 2018.

The 13th annual Chili Cookoff boasted more than a dozen entries, with Alex Woodruff’s “Super Fantastic, World Famous ‘Meat Me in Midway’” entry being crowned champion for the third consecutive year.

Second place was a tie between Ray Papka’s “World’s Best Chili,” a moderately spicy beef entry, and a mild turkey chili by Gloria Batts.

Despite the chance to win prizes, the main draw for attendees seemed to be the chance to connect with their fellow community members.

“Aside from the great food, it’s a wonderful chance to really meet your neighbors. You can talk and find out what’s going on in your community,” said Midway resident Scott Holmes.

Sisters Ouita Michel and Paige Walker mugged for the camera and their
 father, Ray Papka, whose chili tied for second. (Madison Dyment photo)

Church member, Papka daughter and Holly Hill Inn restaurant owner and chef, Ouita Michel, further substantiated the powerful community-building the event facilitates.

“It’s such a wonderful way to bring the community together,” Michel said. “You see so many members and people from town, and I think we all need to build some togetherness right now.”

That sentiment was echoed by many, including the Rev. Heather McColl, Midway Christian Church pastor for 13 years.

“The part about this event is really the people,” McColl said. “I was just remarking how you see people who have just moved here, who have been here forever, or people you’ve never seen. It’s fun to get to know and see different people and connect with them.”

The cookoff is popular with children. (Photo by Madison Dyment)

McColl began the Chili Cookoff as an in-house event for church members before incorporating it with the church’s monthly free community dinners, which began a few years later.

The cookoff allows participants to submit their best chili recipe for public tasting and judging. Attendees sample the chili and vote for their favorite. Each year there are numerous variations of the classic dish, sure to satisfy even the most uncommon taste buds.

“We know there’s controversy about putting spaghetti in chili, but we welcome all here,” McColl said while opening the event.

Aurora and Lyndon Frances
(Photo by Madison Dyment)

The event brings together first-timers and those who have frequented for years. Margie Steadman said she's been attending the cookoff for seven years, while young Aurora and Lyndon Frances have had less experience, making up for it with their enthusiasm.

“I’m really excited to eat all the chili,” said an animated Aurora, adding that her favorite included peppers. Lyndon said he prefers less-spicy chili options, with lots of cheese.

This long-going event succeeds each year in providing an avenue for friendly competition, community bonding, and excellent chili. What more could you ask for?

More than a dozen varieties of chili were up for tasting and judging. (Photo by Madison Dyment)

Council approves mayor's appointments to new board that will enforce revised rules for property maintenance

At the City Council meeting Monday evening, former mayor Tom Bozarth and Mayor Grayson Vandegrift honored city attorney Phil Moloney, who will leave the position Jan. 31 after 13 years, (Midway Messenger photo by Hayley Burris)

By Madison Dyment, Anna McAndrew and Hayley Burris
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

After passing ordinances Jan. 6 to crack down on lack of property maintenance in the city, the Midway City Council approved members of its new Code Enforcement Board Tuesday night.

The council also heard about the loss of a project to build a stage in the city park, and honored outgoing city attorney Phil Moloney, in a celebration that included a surprise visit by former mayor Tom Bozarth.

Code enforcement: Mayor Grayson Vandegrift nominated Jo Blease, Dan Roller and Jim Starks as the three members of the new Code Enforcement Board and Janet Hall as the alternate, saying all are willing to serve and are knowledgeable in the field. He gave brief biographies of each:

Blease and her husband, Ray, moved to Midway just under 10 years ago, fixing up a home at the corner of Winter and Stephens streets, giving Blease first-hand experience in property maintenance. The mayor noted that Blease is a retired school administrator accustomed to following "the letter of the law," recently served as president of Midway Renaissance, and is eager to serve on the board.

Dan Roller

Roller is a familiar face, having served as a council member in 2011-16. He was integral to the council's update of property maintenance codes and served on the old Vacant Property Review Board, which was "basically made obsolete" by a 2016 state law that paved the way for a new approach, Vandegrift said, adding, “Dan has one of the best eyes for detail of anyone I have ever known.”

Starks, a lifelong resident of Midway, brings personal experience as a landlord to the board. “He’s a great example of a landlord who owns multiple properties in Midway, who does it the right way and makes sure his tenants are living in proper conditions," the mayor said. "He invests in his properties, and he understands how expensive that gets.”

Hall, as an alternate, would fill in for a board member in the case of an absence. "She's a retired attorney who used to work for the City of Louisville on this exact same stuff: blighted and deteriorated properties," Vandegrift said.

The ordinance says initial appointments are to be staggered so one seat becomes vacant each year. Vandegrift didn't specify terms; asked about it afterward, he said Roller will take the one-year term but wasn't sure about the others because Blease has been away "and we haven’t had a great chance to discuss it. All are eligible to be reappointed to full three-year terms." There is a two-term limit.

Vandegrift said the matter would be resolved at the next council meeting, at which he also hopes to have the appointment of a code enforcement officer ready for council approval.

The Code Enforcement Board will hear cases of property owners who don’t correct violations in the time allowed by the code enforcement officer, at least 10 days. It can levy fines of $25 to $1,000 and its rulings can be appealed to circuit court.

Vandergrift, who has been trying to create the board for several years, said he would meet with the four after giving them two weeks to study the ordinances: “We took a long time on this, so to digest it, they can start writing up the questions that they may have and then I’ll get together with them, possibly with representatives of the Kentucky League of Cities if necessary, and kind of go through a little workshop or little training session with them.”

The mayor said he would like to see the board start taking complaints early next month, “but you know, it’s been two years or more; what’s the rush? We’re not going to rush this thing through them if they feel like they’re not quite ready to be taking possible appeals.”

Park stage canceled: In a more sobering moment, Vandergrift reported the failure of efforts to build a stage in the park. The initiative was funded by a $10,000 grant from the Bluegrass Community Fund, but the mayor said the Parks Board told him in a November letter that it “no longer felt that they had the resources to complete the project, given the new constraints placed upon it,” such as architectural and utility costs.

After the meeting, Council Member and Park Manager John Holloway said running electricity to the stage would cost $8,000 and some local merchants didn’t like the project because it would create an alternative entertainment venue to Main Street, which the city recently designated an "entertainment destination center" where alcoholic beverages with vendor labels can be carried openly.

The board recommended that the city return the grant. Vandegrift said he did that, but not before trying "a Hail Mary" to save the project, getting an architect to agree to design the stage for free, a savings of $5,000 to $10,000. But in the end, he said, there were still questions about electricity, parking, "who would run it, what kinds of cost would be associated with in, and what-not."

He added, "It's a disappointment. I'll be honest; there are those who, through their fingertips, made the thing more difficult, and I regret that's a thing we have to deal with, but those people are not solely at fault. Sometimes things just don't come together. I do hope that in the future, it may be able to come together."

Also, "There's simply too many things we need to fund this year," he said. "I can't sit here with a straight face and say we don't have the money. We have the money to do the things we need to do; we just don't have all the money we'd like to have to do everything we want to do. Building that stage might have meant we can't build a sidewalk to The Homeplace from Mill Road, and I just think that would just be unacceptable. It might mean we can't finish the cemetery pavilion, or finish our big sewer renovation, and that's just not something we can accept, or I can accept, right now."

Bozarth emerges from his old office.

Saying goodbye and welcome back: Lightening the mood, the council used the latter part of the 25-minute meeting to honor Phil Moloney of Lexington, who has been city attorney for 13 years, for two mayors, seven councils and 19 council members. Jan. 31 will be his final day in the position; the council passed a resolution making next week Phil Moloney Week.

“He is one of the finest attorneys one may find anywhere and his steady hand, rock-solid legal advice and great attention to detail has meant that he has left the city better than he found it,” Vandergrift said, telling Moloney later, "You often pulled me back from my worst impulses."

In a surprise, former mayor Tom Bozarth, who hired Moloney, emerged from a back office to congratulate him and assist in giving him a key-to-the-city clock.

He told Moloney, “You were the rudder of the ship that kept us all in line down the straight and narrow and kept us out of harm’s way, and I can’t thank you enough for that.”

Moloney, who told Vandegrift in a Jan. 15 letter that he is "edging closer to retirement age" and has other things to pursue, voiced gratitude and admiration for his employers.

“One of the amazing things is that every council member and mayor I have worked with all have interests of their citizens first in mind and led with their heart,” he said. “I wish Washington, D.C., could send down some representatives and see how governments are supposed to work.”

Other business: The council gave final reading and passage to a long-pending budget amendment and granted a street-encroachment permit to Tobacco Rose, a company that installs silt fences for construction projects and has bought a lot in Midway Station. Vandegrift said about seven people would work there.

UK Community Journalism students Lauren McCally and Jo'Tessa Townes contributed to this story.