Mayor Brian Traugott announced that Trick or Treat will be on Oct. 31 from 6 to 8 p.m. in Versailles. There will also be a “Boo Bash” downtown on Oct. 27, with downtown businesses open for trick-or- treating from 6 to 7 p.m. followed by a “Thriller Parade” that will kick off on Court Street at 7 p.m. and a showing of “Hocus Pocus,” also on Court Street.
Park project funding
Versailles City Council unanimously approved a Municipal Order at last night’s packed council meeting, committing the city to financial participation along with the Woodford County Fiscal Court in funding a major park and recreation project. The project is scheduled to start in 2024 with the first phase at Big Spring Park. The funding commitments will be 50-50 on the Big Spring Park work and 55-45 on the other parts of the project. The total cost of the project is projected to be $6 million.
The order requires the Woodford County Parks and Recreation Department to provide written reporting, consulting and updates on the project on a formal quarterly basis, along with regular informal reporting. Richard Pictor, executive director of the department, said he was pleased to comply with any reporting requests and that he expected to be at City Hall weekly to keep the administration and council up to date. He also said that no funds would be expended without proper documentation and invoicing in hand prior to any disbursement.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, Vernon Azevedo, who has served as a citizen representative on various council committees, strongly supported the proposed plan and the city’s financial commitment. He said a municipal government exists to “protect the health, safety and welfare of Versailles and this (plan) meets all of those duties.” He went on to say that “social and livability issues are really important and the new parks proposal goes a long way to making our community a great place to live.”
Ken Taylor, treasurer of the Woodford Youth Soccer Association (WYSA), said while he generally supported the entirety of the park plan, he said the portion of it relating to the new turfing of fields was “essential for our programs, especially in the winter and spring.” He pointed out that given the use of the turfed fields by the middle and high schools in addition to WYSA and tournaments, “time is becoming limited for everyone to use the turf fields that need them.” He added, “If all our programs are to continue to flourish and compete (for tournaments) with neighboring communities, we need additional turf space.” He informed the council that WYSA currently has 554 players in youth recreational leagues and 495 players in competitive programs. He also pointed out that in tournaments held last spring, there were 99 teams with 1,400 players and said a tournament had 57 teams and 800 players in late August.
Ruby Fannin and Laura Caldwell, founders of the Free Forest School of Woodford County (FFS), also heartily supported the new park plan. The FFS provides programs for families and children to “connect to nature, culture and each other through outdoor play.” They said, “We have first-hand experience of all of Woodford County’s parks and recreation areas including going to neighboring counties for good, safe parks. Our parks are not as safe and usable as they can be. We have a lot of untapped potential and this new plan is important and we support it.” They also noted that having fun and safe playground equipment and play areas furthers FFS’s goal of promoting “equity by having our parks right here instead of making families challenged by time and finances to go out of county.”
Councilmember Ann Miller asked Pictor if the department would be doing the accounting and payables in-house or if it would be contracting with a third party. Pictor said he “will be working with the oversight project manager that will be selected in the bidding process and handling payments and accounting internally.” Councilmember Laura Dake confirmed with Pictor that the “rework of the back entrance of Big Spring Park would be in the regular Park budget instead of from project funds.”
Main Street Manager
The council discussed the creation of a new position for managing various aspects of the downtown and the Main Street revitalization project, including planning and executing events, promotions, social media and businesses. Ken Kerkhoff and Maria Bohanan of the Downtown Revitalization Task Force discussed the need for a dedicated city employee to oversee ad management and the various functions involved, referencing a similar position in Pineville, Kentucky. Kerkhoff said, “The main thing is to develop the duties of the position, post it and begin interviewing so we can get the position filled.”
Councilmember Lisa Johnson said she and other members had attended a Kentucky League of Cities event where the Pineville downtown manager presented and that duties could be grouped in distinct groups to ensure the city’s vision and desires said, “The outside party providing these kinds of services now expires in February and this will replace that budget item.” Miller asked where the position would fit into the current structure, and Traugott said, “It was up for discussion.” The council discussed issues such as salary, job duties and involvement with other city departments.
Traugott asked members to e-mail or call him with their ideas and said he would prepare a draft municipal order to create the position, with duties and how it would fit into the city’s administrative structure for the council to discuss and perhaps vote on at the next meeting.
Lexington Streetscape Project
Council unanimously approved the contract for engineering and planning services with Qk4, Inc. for $90,000.
Salt storage structure
Public Works Director Bart Miller recommended the council’s approval for two negotiated bids: Wayne Construction for $33,000 for a new hoop-style storage structure with an open front and closed rear with wooden walls and MAGO Construction for $11,500 for grading and putting down asphalt in the area where the building will be sited and in front of the structure. The council approved both contracts.
Fire hydrant painting
Director Miller updated the council on the repainting program of the 600 fire hydrants owned by the city. Various middle and high school groups are performing the work as community projects. Miller showed off pictures of the newly repainted hydrants in Cedar Ridge done by the boy’s and girl’s lacrosse teams. He said as long as the temperature remains over 50 degrees the work can be done.
Soul Food Feast
Councilmember Chantel Bingham announced that Simpson Chapel Church would hold its annual Soul Food Feast on Saturday, Oct. 28 at noon with proceeds going to the Huntertown Community Park.