Winchester City Commission Meeting – March 3, 2026
Winchester City Commission Meeting – March 3, 2026
The Winchester City Commission convened on March 3, 2026, to discuss and vote on several items including school pickup lane improvements, appeals for beer cheese relief fund applications, resolutions supporting state legislation and local development projects, an ordinance for city safety officers, and various administrative orders. All motions passed unanimously unless noted.
Frontier Way School Pickup Lanes (Old Business B)
- The commission approved a plan to install striping and signage for designated school pickup lanes at Frontier Way, at a cost of less than $1,000. The school police department will handle enforcement and towing. The initiative aims to improve safety and traffic flow during drop-off and pickup times. A motion by Commissioner Strode, seconded by Commissioner Cox, passed unanimously.
Appeal of Denied Beer Cheese Relief Fund – Shannon Tipton (Crystal Coven Mystic Cottage) (Old Business A)
- After prior discussion, the commission voted to reverse the denial and issue a check for $6,600.16 to Shannon Tipton. The mayor noted that the original application met the program’s intent but lacked proper documentation; the vote rectified the error. Motion by the mayor, second by Commissioner Strode, passed unanimously.
Appeals of Denied Beer Cheese Relief Fund – Charlena Harman (The Hall) and Catherine Pate / Cynthia Markham (Harlow’s Lux Living) (New Business A and B)
- These two appeals were tabled to the next meeting (March 17, 2026) to allow applicants to provide additional financial information from their opening dates through December 2025, following the model used for Ms. Tipton. The city clerk and staff will assist applicants in strengthening their applications. The commission also discussed the broader Beer Cheese Relief Fund program, including a planned pause for reevaluation. The motion to table was made by Commissioner Cox, seconded by Commissioner Strode, and passed.
Resolution Supporting Senate Bill 7 (Item 4A)
- The commission passed a resolution urging the Kentucky Senate to return basic driver licensing services (renewals, duplicate licenses) to the local level, citing long waits and travel burdens. The resolution was approved unanimously after discussion of the bill’s uncertain prospects.
Resolution – Lease Amendment with Catalin Pharma Solutions (Item 4B)
- The commission approved an amendment to the lease agreement to allow Catalin Pharma Solutions to sell approximately 10 acres on Venable Road originally intended for office space. The city is not liable under the bonds. The resolution passed unanimously.
Resolution – GRANT Program Application (Item 4C)
- The commission authorized the filing of an application for up to $549,312 in GRANT program funds from the Cabinet for Economic Development. The resolution passed unanimously.
Ordinance – Duties of City Safety Officers (Item 5, First Reading)
- An ordinance establishing the duties of city safety officers was approved. Police Chief Travis Thompson clarified that the position is non-sworn, does not replace the constable, and is limited to traffic collision response and code enforcement. The officer, Leon, will not write citations. The ordinance passed unanimously with a motion by Commissioner Cox and second by Commissioner Chenault.
General Orders (Item 6 A-D)
- 6A: Declared certain city property obsolete and surplus. Approved.
- 6B: Approved a contract with Bluegrass Area Development District for professional services. Approved.
- 6C: Accepted an agreement for supplemental funding ($200,000) from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet for the Fulton Road project. Approved.
- 6D: Approved funding of $7,108 from the Beer Cheese Relief Fund for Strength Fix at 5 South Main Street. Commissioner Schwartz recused herself as an employee of a business within Strength Fix. The motion passed unanimously.
Personnel Orders (Item 7 A-B)
- 7A: Amended the position description for assistant code enforcement/traffic safety officer to correct reporting lines and remove backup duties to the building inspector. Approved with amendments proposed by Commissioner Schwartz.
- 7B: Accepted the promotion of Jacob Jones to Street Foreman, recognizing his nine years of service. Approved unanimously.
Adjournment
- The meeting adjourned with a motion by Commissioner Cox, second by Commissioner Chenault.
Meeting Transcript
Uh-huh. Yeah, but we should see it. That's another two hundred cultures. Allegiance. I'm gonna ask uh Commissioner Chenalt if he would lead us in the place. Sorry, can we share God? If you please remain standing, I'd like to ask our police chief, Travis Thompson, to lead us in our invitation. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the opportunity to go here tonight. We thank the police commissioners who come and do the business of the city. We thank the public who's here for their input. We just pray for all our citizens, our staff, our first responders and our commissioners as they make those decisions tonight. And Lord just be with us in a world of conflict tonight. Please be seated. Okay. It should be okay. I'm going to uh take the privilege on item two, old business and take B before A. Um, so I want to ask uh the clerk uh on B, I'm just switching those around, okay, madam Clerk. Okay, so let's review uh the frontier way uh school pickup lanes. Jesse, do you or Mike either one wanna address that you should have a map in your uh packet? And uh I understand that all the residents were notified by letter. But that's gonna be by letter. Okay. Um we met with the school board last week and discuss it with him, as you can see from the last map, that's a little bit smaller area. Um and that's what they turn would be beneficial for. Um so after meeting with him, we've been working Brian worked up some pricing where less than a thousand dollars to be able to strike that, put signage up. And we're gonna uh as you can see in the letter what the time frames are gonna be. The school PD system is gonna be handling any towing any of that, and we we don't hope that doesn't happen. We just know it's a possibility. Um then so once we do that and once we get the approval and everything, then we'll start working on getting that strike. And uh they they they love the idea after we met with him. So uh and we think we also discussed that they're they're technically not at full capacity with preschool right now, but they plan to be next year. So depending on how that goes, they don't have as much drop-off pickup traffic for that. So depending on how this goes, if everything works good, we're hoping then we'll move forward with that. So it was a great solution you came up with. And if anybody in this room has ever dropped off kids at the school or picked them up, packed your lunch and take them taken out. Not a fun trip out here over there. So it's takes a lot. I've taught it strode, and it's um it got very difficult getting in and out. So this is a great solution. Anyone on the commission have a comment for or a question for Jesse. The other map actually shows from uh Barkley Court to uh to just the entrance of the school. I think that's all I have to think. Oh yeah, this this is. You all should have a yeah, that's all I got. They have the right one there, it's just them from our term of reason. Yeah, so but yeah, we'll we'll strike that off and then uh like I said school PD system is gonna handle that since they're there early and they actually have somebody set up for that. Uh I spoke with one of the crossing guards last time. He kind of liked the idea and he gave us a few pointers to talk about when we talked for the school system about some stuff. So we think everybody's on board, and I think that'll be much safer for everybody overall, especially with like I say the the growth going on back there. Right.
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