By Bob Vlach
Woodford Sun Staff
As the City of Versailles and Woodford County Fiscal Court move closer to finalizing a contract to purchase the former Yokohama industrial property for $8.5 million, Woodford County Judge-Executive James Kay and Versailles Mayor Laura Dake addressed misinformation circulating on social media about the Yokohama purchase during a Woodford County Economic Development Authority (EDA) meeting Feb. 27.
“I’m getting hammered on Facebook,” said Dake, who noted there is “lots and lots of misinformation out there.” So she called it important for people to understand “what we’re trying to do is aboveboard and a good thing – an excellent thing for this community to bring jobs and economic development here; and to get those jobs back that were lost when Yokohama pulled out.”
“… The public policy rationale behind the city and the county and EDA partnering for (acquiring) this property,” said Kay, “is to bring jobs to our community. That is the main public purpose, and that’s what we’re out to do.” With no industrial land available in such a prime location of Woodford County as the Yokohama industrial facility, he called it “an extremely advantageous deal” for the county and city.
According to Kay, the Fiscal Court received about $250,000 in occupational tax revenues from Yokohama in 2022, $270,000 in 2023, $250,000 in 2024 and $128,000 in 2025 when Yokohama started cutting jobs as they began the moving out process. Those tax revenues (similar to what the city received, according to Dake) – from what had been one of the county’s largest employers – do not include revenues generated from property or net profit taxes, Kay said.
In order to make up for the occupational tax revenue lost with Yokohama’s closing and grow jobs in this community, Kay described redeveloping the Yokohama property as an opportunity to bring good-paying jobs to the county and also protect prime farmland from development.
Describing the Yokohama property as highly-attractive and in a wonderful location, EDA Executive Director/consultant Lucas Witt said, “… Without the Yokohama building, we don’t really to have anything (available industrial property) to show right now.”
He said the cost of construction has gone up drastically, so the 150,000 square-foot Yokohama facility would cost $20-plus million today – far less than the $6.5 million that the City of Versailles and Woodford Fiscal Court will spend to acquire the Yokohama property.
Earlier in the meeting, Witt reported the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development formally approved $2 million in KPDI (Kentucky Product Development Initiative) funding toward purchasing the Yokohama building for $8.5 million. He also pointed out that project was awarded the maximum KPDI grant amount. Also, he said a $100,000 Opportunity Grant awarded by Kentucky Utilities paid for due diligence work related to vetting the Yokohama property, including an environmental survey and infrastructure investigations.
For those who question the city and county governments getting into the “real estate business,” and acknowledging acquiring Yokohama is not without any risks, Witt said, “This is economic development.” He said cities, counties and EDAs in Kentucky and across the country pursue economic development opportunities with existing assets similar to Yokohama.
CDBG projects
Witt informed the EDA that the Bluegrass Distillers project has entered the closeout stage. Following a review by the Kentucky Department for Local Government, revenue collected by the EDA from that Community Development Block Grant project will be available for other economic development purposes, he said.
Projects in pipeline;
housing study
Planning Director Steve Hunter said his planning office is working on several projects that are in the pipeline, which were not at a point where he could discuss them at a public meeting.
Hunter also updated the EDA on a housing study being undertaken by the Planning Commission to facilitate the Comprehensive Plan update. It will take a deep dive into housing choices in Woodford County and why people can’t afford to live here, he said.
Going back 10 years on building permits, over 1,000 homes have been built in Woodford County, with about 640 homes inside the urban service boundaries (only 12 in Midway) and 350 outside the urban services boundaries, Hunter said.
Financial report
The EDA unanimously approved a financial report as of Feb. 26, which showed $1,000 in expenses for rent and an ending balance of $148,254.76.
The payment of bills – $500 for rent and $810 for the EDA’s University of Midway intern, Caleb Miller – were approved. Miller has been working on research related to Yokohama and studying data on workforce housing, Witt said. This is the fifth year that the EDA has had an intern from Midway U, EDA Chair Michael Michalisin said.
Treasurer Maria Bohanan was absent, so Witt presented the financial report and bills to the EDA.
Closed session
The EDA went into closed/executive session to discuss potential land purchases and sales. No action was taken afterward.