The Midway City Council approved an extension of a contract with Rumpke for commercial and residential trash and garbage removal at its June 4 meeting. 

Under the existing contract with Rumpke, Midway has the right to negotiate the extension of the contract for an additional three years without going through a bidding process. Rumpke presented a modest increase each of the next three years (all monthly charges). For residential pick up, this means a 4.3 percent increase in year one from $22.14 to $22.75, a 3.2 percent increase in year two, an increase to $23.50 and a 3.3 percent increase in year three, which is well below the average change over time in the prices paid for this service, with a consumer price index (CPI) of 7%.

Juneteenth resolution

In 2020, then-Mayor Grayson Vandegrift issued an executive order designating June 19 or Juneteenth, as a city holiday with all city businesses and the museum closed and city workers paid. Midway became the first municipality in Kentucky to take this historic step.

Councilmember Mary Raglin proposed a resolution to make June 19 a part of the ordinances to make the city holiday more secure, which the council passed.

Juneteenth, a national holiday, recognizes the final day of slavery in the United States occurring on June 19, 1865, when United States soldiers took Galveston Bay in Texas and freed 250,000 African-Americans from enslavement as a matter of law. 

In a related move, the council approved a permit for the Juneteenth celebration organizers to set up the tent on the Friday before the official event and play music from 6 to 10 p.m., and to shut down traffic on Standish Street at 5 p.m. when the stage is set up.

Mayor reports

The new EMS station under construction at Midway Station is ahead of schedule and if weather cooperates will open in September. Vandegrift said due to inflation, there will possibly be a shortfall between the bonded amount of $2.75 million and the final cost, projected to be $3.1 million. Vandegrift said if this occurs, the budget he is proposing factors this in. 

“We have good reserves and solid tax revenues, so this will not be a problem,” he said. Vandegrift also pointed out that during the recent major weather event over Memorial Day weekend, every road into Midway was closed due to fallen trees and debris, and this was more evidence for the wisdom of establishing a state-of-the-art EMS station in Midway.

Vandegrift said he and the city engineer recently met with representatives of the Frankfort Plant Board on the progress of the construction planning for switching to the Board as Midway’s water supplier from Kentucky American Water. Vandegrift said he is anticipating significant savings on water costs and he suspects other Kentucky communities will look to the Midway experience as a possible example. He added that Kentucky American Water is not being as cooperative in the switchover as it should be, and that he is hopeful the switchover can be made earlier than the projected date of May 2025.

Park savings

Councilmember Patrick Hall, council’s representative on the Midway Park Board, reported A.W. Hicks, a local plumbing contractor, donated all of his work in installing new water taps in Walter Bradley Park, which had been a part of the proposed new Park’s budget. This donation of services saves the city $4,000.

Fall Festival – Sept 21-22

Midway Merchants Association President Courtney Neikirk updated the council on vendor check-in, parking and shuttle service for the Fall Festival, which marks its 50th anniversary this year. Neikirk said they will be employing a larger number of off-duty or retired law enforcement officers who will work with the Versailles Police Department in traffic enforcement. The new plan will significantly reduce the amount of traffic in Midway proper with separate parking areas for folks coming from the directions of Lexington, Georgetown and Frankfort. The shuttles will also include school buses.

Midway crime report

For the month of May, the Versailles Police Department told the council that there were 155 business and door checks, one non-injury and one injury accident,15 traffic stops, six disturbance complaints, one domestic violence call, and nine suspicious cars or persons reported. No citations or arrests were made. In addition, there were 121 extra patrols made in Midway in May.