The Midway City Council voted unanimously Monday to adopt a newly designed flag to represent the city. Ira Langdon, chair of the Midway Flag Committee, presented the design to the council, along with the story of how the flag came to be. Langdon approached Mayor Grayson Vandegrift in January with the idea to establish a city flag. Vandegrift supported the idea, a gesture Langdon credited with a lot of the project’s success, and the city council created the Midway Flag Committee in June. The flag committee accepted design submissions from all over the country and beyond, then narrowed the pool of 139 submissions down to four finalists. The committee mailed rank choice voting ballots to Midway residents and received a total of 255 responses. The flag committee declared the design created by Tom McCoy of Nicholasville as the official winner of the flag design contest, receiving 67 percent of the final vote. McCoy’s gold, blue and green design is meant to resemble the railroad tracks and businesses along Midway’s Main Street, and features a compass rose to denote Midway’s location in relation to the four surrounding cities. McCoy spoke through tears at the meeting and said he hopes the flag design will represent the city by sharing the light that shines through the town. “(The design) not only nods to the past and the present, with the railway and the history of the town, but also the future and looking toward the future citizens’ shoes when creating housing policies in the future. “I encourage you to remember that you can kick the poor people out of town if you want to … many cities are doing it – some say Midway has done it for the last 80 years,” Vandegrift said. “One day, you will be the poor person in town – keep that in mind.” Vandegrift said the most pertinent issue facing the council is the approaching end of a 40-year supplier contract with Kentucky American Water. The contract will officially end in 2025. Two water companies have submitted informal offers to supply the city, each of which will cut the wholesale cost of water by 40 percent, he said. “I believe wholeheartedly the city should switch suppliers,” Vandegrift said. “No matter who you go to, it should not be Kentucky American again.” He also took time to highlight the successes of his eight years as mayor, including erasing $6 million in debt, lowering regressive taxes, keeping 95 percent of Midway businesses open through the pandemic, investing millions in water line upgrades and cutting property taxes by 43 percent. Despite the changes made while he held office, Vandegrift said the council has plenty of things to work on in the coming years and promised the city will be left in good hands. “It’s really hard for me to explain how much I love being mayor but, you know, there is a time for everything,” he said. “The right person for the city right now is Stacy Thurman, I can promise you that. You’re going to have a phenomenal mayor.” Councilmember and Mayor-elect Thurman will take office Jan. 1. Councilmember Steve Simoff Monday’s meeting also marked the last appearance of Councilmember Steve Simoff, who is ending his second nonconsecutive term on the council. Vandegrift said Simoff represented the views of the people in Midway during his time on the council and called him a true ambassador for the people of Midway. During his second term on the council, Simoff spearheaded the revitalization of Walter Bradley Jr. Park, privately raising nearly $30,000. Vandegrift issued what will likely be his last proclamation as mayor to declare Dec. 31, “Councilmember Steve Simoff Day.” Simoff said he will continue to support the city and appreciated the opportunity to come to know the other council members better through his time in office. “I can’t think of a place that I would rather live. … It’s a joy to be here, live here and have so many friends here,” he said.
Midway City Council adopts flag after citywide vote
