Winchester City Commission Meeting - June 2, 2026
Winchester City Commission Meeting - June 2, 2026
The Winchester City Commission met on June 2, 2026, at 8:28 PM. Commissioner Cox was excused. The meeting featured a presentation on a strategic plan for opioid abatement funding, approval of routine items, informational updates, and comments from commissioners and the city manager. The meeting concluded with a motion to enter closed session for litigation.
Consent Calendar
- Unanimously approved the minutes of the May 5, 2026 special meeting (4:30 PM), May 5, 2026 regular meeting (5:30 PM), May 7, 2026 special meeting (9:00 AM), and May 8, 2026 special meeting (9:00 AM). Motion by Commissioner Toole, second by Commissioner Chenault.
- Unanimously approved departmental agency reports (items A through K). Motion by Commissioner Strode, second by Commissioner Chenault.
Presentation: Caico Opioid Solutions Network Strategic Plan
- Jennifer Miles, a Clark County resident and former project director for the Healing Community Study, presented a proposal to develop a strategic plan for the use of opioid abatement settlement funds. The initiative is free and supported by the Caico Opioid Solutions Network with technical assistance from the University of Kentucky. Clark County was one of 20 counties selected statewide. The strategic plan will complement existing recovery-ready community efforts and help identify gaps for future funding. Commissioner Strode and Commissioner Toole serve on the city's opioid committee. The city manager noted the plan would not impact the local opioid abatement committee. The commission voted unanimously to support the strategic plan. Miles will collaborate with the ASAC committee and hold public meetings to gather input. The process is expected to take about a year.
Informational Items
- Mayor reported sending a letter to the governor requesting continuation of the freeze on the state gas tax (10 cents per gallon). However, a KLC update received on June 2 indicated that the reduction could cost cities $1.9 million per month in municipal road aid. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet testified that the reduction would decrease road fund revenues by $26.8 million every 30 days. The mayor noted that the city already supplements its paving program from the general fund.
- A thank-you letter from Larry Long was received, praising firefighters Tyler Tay, Dallas Gross, and Michael Whiley for their professionalism. The mayor requested the letter be placed in their personnel files.
- Mayor attended a Bluegrass ADD meeting that included training on Alzheimer's and dementia. She shared the information with the commission, noting the personal impact of dementia.
Commissioner and City Manager Comments
- Commissioner Strode announced the upcoming Beer Cheese Festival and thanked police, fire, and public works. She also noted she would replant flowers in planters that did not survive heavy rain.
- Commissioner Toole had no additional comments.
- City Manager reported that a sinkhole developed in the Carroll Road parking lot on May 29, 2026. It was determined to be an emergency repair due to a scouring issue around a 72-inch concrete culvert. Local contractors excavated and repaired the void, using concrete to stabilize the structure. The repair will be finalized after settling. Funding will come from the special projects account. The city manager also noted that the budget amendment first reading will be on the June 16, 2026 agenda, with second reading in July.
Key Outcomes
- Motion to support the strategic plan for opioid abatement funding (passed unanimously).
- Approval of minutes and departmental reports.
- Motion to enter closed session for litigation under KRS 61.810(1)(c) (passed unanimously). The meeting adjourned after closed session.
Meeting Transcript
Please remain standing. What's this meeting and the commissioners make a difficult decision? And then please be seated. And we'll officially call the meeting to order. I will excuse Commissioner Cox from the four thirty meeting. Apparently he has a work commitment and will not be with us. Um he said maybe later. Don't know. So let's go to the item number two presentation. Caico Opioid Solutions Network and Miss Jennifer Miles is with us this evening to make a presentation. And do you want us to interrupt you with questions or do you want us to wait till the end? Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Um I was honored to be selected by the Clark County Judge Executive to represent Clark County in the Cato Open Solutions Network. And as part of that, we were asked as a to uh develop or to determine which project we wanted to take part in. They gave us the choice of three projects. One was become a recovery ready community. The second one was to uh develop uh abate a good funding review committee. And the third was to develop a strategic plan for the opioid abatement funding. So since Clark County is already a recovery ready community, and since we already have both Clark County and Winchester have set up their own opioid funding committees, we chose to develop a strategic plan for the use of those that funding in the future. And this is a free uh initiative. It's it's supported by CACO. There is um a rapid implementation technical assistance hub at the University of Kentucky that will assist us in the strategic planning process. And uh just to tell you a little bit about me. Um I'm a lifelong resident of Clark County. I have worked at the University of Kentucky for 32 years. I'm a CPA by training, and uh I was assistant controller at the University of Kentucky for a while, so I have some fiscal background, and for the last seven years, I was the project director for the healing community study, of which Clark County was one of the 16 communities that we worked in. So that's my background and why I think I'm uniquely qualified to help Winchester Clark County with developing a strategic plan for the opiate abatement funding in the future uh we hope that this would benefit all of Clark County's. It will take the infrastructure we already have in place, provide support for that. We would use the recovery ready community application as a stepping starting point since they identified some gaps in our community. We would use that as a starting point, and then see what other wraparound services that we need in Clark County and use that as a guidepost for future funding. So I'm asking if you all would like to be part of this process, and but Jennifer, that does not dictate where the dollars go. It does not. The only thing that dictates where the dollars go would be the settlement agreements themselves and the KRS statute. Okay, um Commissioner Strode and Commissioner Tool represent us on the opioid, so I'll know if either one of them have any comments, and then I would like to ask the city manager his opinion on what we think we should do. So Mr. Joel, anything or commissioner strode could hurt to you, Hannah? No, especially um if it's a free initiative. Um I do not mean to sign this any second way, but free is usually hard to come by. So with CACO, are you related to any of the other organizations that like work with opioid abatements or qualifying organizations or like can you give me a little insight as to why because you're saying you're with CACO, right? No, no, oh forgive me, I'm sorry. Okay, no, citizen of Clark County in this respect. Okay, and just as an individual, okay, individual. Have you worked in recovery or the healing community study was focused on testing implementation strategies, the ones in 16 counties in Kentucky and across four states? Okay, just so yeah, I've worked in not really in recovery myself, sure, but I have helped support a very large project. You're passionate about it. Yes, I'm very passionate about it because it's it's affected by family. Understood. And maybe for sharing that detail.
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