The latest response to the hundreds of victims from the March 14 flooding along the Kentucky River in Woodford County was unveiled at the April 21 meeting of the Midway City Council. 

As the Woodford County Emergency Management Agency, of which Midway city government is a funding member, began exploring sites for long-term, temporary housing on which camper-style trailers could be placed, Mayor Grayson Vandegrift saw an opportunity.

Vandegrift believed temporary housing could be placed on city-owned land between I-64 and McKinney Drive in the industrial park.

 “In Midway, we always want to be a good neighbor . . . particularly to our fellow Woodford Countians,” he said. 

The council agreed and unanimously approved the site for housing flood victims if needed.

Vandegrift said he would advise Woodford County Emergency Management Agency Director Drew Chandler of the resource.

Midway trains on the worldwide web

At its last meeting, the council was presented with a proposal from virtualrailfan.com to install, at no cost to the city, a camera that would run at all times that focused on the downtown railroad, which runs down the middle of Main Street. The company, both online and on its YouTube channel, offers train enthusiasts and hobbyists live feeds of active train tracks from around the world. According to the presentation on April 7, this includes the downtown tracks located in LaGrange, Kentucky.

After giving time for citizens and businesses to raise privacy concerns and time to think about it, the council approved the request and the camera will be installed on top of the Midway Museum building at the corner of Winter and Main streets. 

“We are a tourist town in a lot of ways,” said Vandegrift. “We promote our equine and bourbon industries. Why not trains? Midway was the first railroad town in Kentucky, so we think rail fans will love this.” 

Journey Ministries 

Last year, the council heard a presentation from Journey Ministries (unaffiliated with Versailles’ Journey Church) to open a large childcare facility at Midway Station. It is expected to generate significant jobs and provide a valuable service to working families in Scott, Woodford and Franklin counties. 

At this week’s meeting, the council learned that the project was experiencing some financing challenges given the current economic market. To that end, the council tentatively approved issuing industrial bonds to assist Journey Ministries. Vandegrift explained these are virtually risk-free to the city and is an economic tool it has used previously with success, pointing to the successful Lakeshore Learning project, which accessed Midway-issued bonds for both of its phases.