By Scott White
Woodford Sun Staff
Report for American Corp Member
The Versailles City Council approved a five-year contract with Metronet for the installation and operation of free public Wi-Fi in downtown Versailles. This includes installation of all the necessary hardware and gadgetry at no cost to the city, which Metronet is donating.
The $400 monthly cost for the service will also be donated by Metronet for the first three years. The city will pay the monthly costs for the last two years of the contract, for a total outlay of $9,600. The city is under no further obligation, and can either renegotiate the deal or look to a new provider, though the system will remain in place.
The contractor is still waiting on a few parts, but the hope is the sound system and WiFi are up and running by the annual Twilight Festival on Sept. 26.
“As a destination community, this is a great addition to everything else we offer,” Councilmember Ann Miller said.
This opportunity grew out of discussions led by Versailles Mayor Laura Dake earlier in the year, in which Metronet and T-Mobile, who have a joint venture, in which T-Mobile agreed to donate the full cost of a sophisticated downtown sound system. This will “hook up” sections of Main Street with The District so events can be broadcast in different areas. Versailles Communications and Events Coordinator Amanda Wainscott, in an earlier presentation on the significant growth of the city’s social media presence and upcoming events, said the new sound system will be a game-changer for things like parades and downtown events.
As explained by Chris Smith, Metronet’s vice president of City Government Relations (and a Versailles resident), access works very simply. A user opens the internet on their device. A welcome page with Metronet appears and the user simply accepts the use with no cost, no entering of payment requirements or any other condition. As Smith said, “this allows us to brand and advertise on the opening welcome screen, and hopefully attract new customers.”
In an email following the meeting about the project, Dake said, “Effective partnerships have led to new events and more opportunities to build community, and, as a result, we’ve seen an explosion of residents and tourists visiting downtown Versailles. … We determined that downtown needed a high-quality, comprehensive and cohesive sound system to address its growing event needs and were thrilled that T-Mobile offered to pay for the entire system and Metronet agreed to donate three years of free public Wi-Fi. The collaboration between the city and these businesses has been seamless, and we couldn’t ask for better partners who share our goal for a connected downtown.”
Assistant Director of City Utilities
The City Council approved on a 5-1 vote, with Councilmember Fred Siegelman casting the nay vote, a municipal order to create the new position of assistant director of the Utilities Department (sewer and water).
Dake said the current director, Mitzi Delius, is too busy and overloaded and unable to adequately perform the long-term and strategic thinking and planning a director is required to do. So, Dake recommended the creation of the new position, which would be able to free up the director to perform those leadership and managerial functions without getting bogged down.
Siegelman began the discussion questioning whether a new assistant director position needed to be created, “I’m baffled why we need an extra position when we just made a fifth department head (the utilities department was created from the Public Works Department last year) with Ms. Delius to do that. Why do we need to hire another person and add more monies?”
Dake explained the workload and responsibilities of the Utilities Department needed an assistant director, and that it is the only city department without an assistant director, though it manages one of the largest annual budgets, $18 million.
Siegelman responded, saying, “Could we not hire (someone) within (the city) to do their job and this (new) job? We save those monies instead of another position.”
City Clerk Elizabeth Reynolds said the plan was to hire within, but once the new assistant director was trained in their new job, then they would no longer do their old job.
Councilmember Gary Jones, chair of the Sewer and Water Committee, echoed Councilmember Lisa Johnson, who said she supported the municipal order. “I’m on Water & Sewer, and I know there is a ton of stuff (the director) does and I support it.”
TKC Distilling litigation
As reported several months ago in the Sun, TKC Distilling, Inc. (TKC) was unable to move forward on the construction of the proposed new bourbon distillery in the Edgewood Farm development. This then triggered a $250,000 penalty TKC owed to the city for failing to begin construction on the distillery.
At the end of the meeting during the “Council Miscellaneous” portion, Siegelman requested an update from City Attorney Bill Moore and Dake on the status of the $250,000 penalty.
Moore said a demand letter had been sent to TKC, but a response has yet to be received by the city.
Siegelman then made a motion to direct the city to initiate a lawsuit against TKC for the unpaid penalty which was seconded by Councilmember Mary Bradley, thus putting the question on the floor.
This then led to a discussion in which Councilmembers Chantel Bingham and Miller, as well as Moore, discussed the various options of initiating litigation or attempting to start up negotiations.
As Miller, Jones and Bingham pointed out to Siegelman, these decisions require detailed discussions with the council’s attorney, Moore, in executive session instead of an open meeting.
Dake then said there was a motion on the table and called for a vote. Siegelman was the only “yes” vote, and before the “nays” could be called, he asked Moore if it would be better to just table the motion, to which Moore said the vote had already begun and it could not then be tabled. The “nays” were then called, and the other five councilmembers, including Bradley, voted “no.”
Following the meeting, Miller chided Siegelman for making the motion in an open meeting before discussing in depth the pros and cons of litigation with the city attorney in an executive session.
Data Centers
The council adopted text amendments to the Planning Commission’s ordinances which ban data centers from Woodford County.
The discussion also included clean-up amendments relating to the downtown historic zone. Siegelman raised issues concerning the impact of those amendments on possible plans the owner of the Marathon station at the corner of Locust and Lexington streets has with property he owns there.
Planning Director Steve Hunter described the process that applies to those properties, and if someone wanted to make changes to the use of one of those properties they would present to the Historic Property Committee and then likely a zone change request to the full Planning Commission.
These proposed text amendments passed 5-1, with Siegelman voting “nay.”
During the “Council Miscellaneous” portion, Miller said she wanted to make it clear on how existing buildings in the historic downtown district could change use, which reiterated what Hunter had said previously. Miller said this is how it is done, and should be no surprise to any property owner.
Street Trees
The City Council approved a motion from Miller, chair of the Downtown and Tourism Committee, for new trees along Main Street from Rose Hill to Greene streets. Miller explained that her committee had received a presentation from a group, which had been studying the Main Street tree issue, including Bart Miller, director of Public Works, Woodford County Master Gardeners Debbie Tichenor and Sue Van Patten, and UK-Woodford County Horticulture Extension Agent Delia Scott.
There are 31 “tree wells” in which trees are planted, and currently there are several empty spots. In addition, the trees, due to improper pruning and care, need to be replaced. The group recommended columnar trees, which are much better in urban settings, and said both hornbeam and purple beech are readily available. The group also recommended, due to the location, an Eastern Redbud to be planted at the intersection of Main Street and Tifford Alley (next to the American Legion building).
A Kentucky Utilities matching grant of $2,500 was awarded to help with the cost, but, according to Miller, must be spent by the end of August. Thus, the council approved Miller’s proposal. Miller will work with the Master Gardeners and Scott to purchase the trees, and they will be planted in early Spring.
Contracts
The council approved the following contracts: $22,693 for a vehicle exhaust system for Fire Station #2 from MagneGrip Exhaust Removal Systems; $13,330 for an HVAC replacement at Sewer Lift Station #1 from Ivey Mechanical Co.; and $526,897.80 to H.G. Mays Corporation for completion of the 2026 fiscal year municipal road projects.