College prez comes to Council, renews City's park leases
Plus, Mayor Fraley is a proclaimer
Council Briefs
In deciding where and how soon-to-be built pickle ball courts will be situated in the City, Mayor Bruce Fraley said it came to his attention that the City’s leases from Berea College for the land on which Memorial and Community parks are situated had expired. College president, Cheryl Nixon, PhD, came to the meeting to fix that, and along with the College’s counsel, Judge Wilson, offered 25-year lease extensions on both parks, which Nixon and Fraley signed with fanfare. The lease is rent-free.
“I do like the idea of a 25-year lease, a legacy that will live long beyond both of us, Mayor Fraley,” Nixon said. “I am honored to stand here tonight and to say how important it is to engage in moments like this, that are about continual renewal of the partnership with the City of Berea.”
The proclaimer
Fraley also handed out three proclamations at this week’s second regular Council meeting of the month, which was actually irregularly scheduled for the third Thursday instead of the third Tuesday.
The first proclamation retroactively noted that May 14 was Childhood Apraxia Day in Berea. Cassity McCool-Solis, mother of five-year-old Caiden, who has been diagnosed with apraxia, explained to Council that it is a condition in children causing them neurological difficulties coordinating their nerves and muscles to produce speech.
Next, Fraley marked National Emergency Medical Services Week by honoring Madison County’s EMS department with a proclamation. Andrew Kilgore, the Madison EMS assistant director, accepted the proclamation on behalf of the entire department. Kilgore’s family dog, Izzy, an American Kennel Club certified “good citizen” and emotional support dog, elicited fawning and cooing from Council, the public in attendance, and a reporter.
Third was a proclamation in honor of those who work with the City’s sewerage, among other duties. Fraley remarked it is National Public Works Week, with Berea’s public works director, Roy Curtis, accepting on behalf of his team in the City.
Ordinance to amend a ‘whoops’
City attorney Jerry Gilbert gave Ordinance 07-2025 its first reading to Council, alerting them to a clerical error in the City’s contract with Waste Connections, its solid waste contractor. The correction made was so that the contractor is now mandated to pay the City 8% not 38% (the error in the contract) of its gross revenues to the City for help maintaining public streets traveled by the waste removal vehicles.
Department head reports: Public Works
Curtis told the Mayor and Council that the police shooting range is still being completed, having had some delays in extending the 100 foot range. He also said that Spring means mowing and mowing is what is happening across City properties, unless it’s storming, in which case, then Curtis’ team is cleaning up the debris left by the storms. And, Curtis said, there has been a lot of debris, especially in the Stoney Creek neighborhood.
Also “a mess” said Curtis, has been the Boone Trace Trail at Brushy Fork, where storms brought down several large trees, including one that took out the foot bridge over the creek.
The trail will be cleaned up and ready for the hikers who will come through the trail on June 3, part of an event to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Daniel Boone wielding his axe through the wilderness on his way from Kingsport, TN to what is now Boonesborough, KY. Learn more about the commemorative axe handle and the hikers carrying it here.
Curtis said his team of mechanics and other staff are hard at work to maintain the streets and other public infrastructure, and that earlier this week, there was the completion of 16,653 feet of street repaving. A number of streets also have new curbs and gutters, although Johnson Road near the new bypass has been problematic and is washing away.
Lastly, the City currently has 600 tons of salt left over and will need to buy more before next Winter.
Fire Department
Fire Chief Charlie Russell next approached Council with news of Berea’s first graduating class from the Kentucky Fire Academy. Hayden Jakubowski, Cody Sparks, and Ryder Short, saying, “these guys have been put to the test” having completed 13 weeks of training.
Russell then commended the Department’s fire and rescue personnel who, upon hearing of the tornado that had hit Laurel County, arranged a squad to leave immediately in order to help before daybreak. Noting how Berea’s crew “is always ready to go above and beyond to help”, Russell thanked them for helping local authorities check for survivors and attend to victims of the tornado.
City administrator’s report
Shawn Sandlin, city administrator, and former fire chief, also thanked the Madison County EMS for their contributions to the recovery efforts post-tornado.
He then requested a line item overage in the budget of $5,284 for the shooting range, which Council gave him in an unanimous voice vote. Absent from the meeting were Councilmembers Ronnie Terrill, Steve Caudill, and Steve Davis.
Sandlin also said he wanted to “reassure citizens” of the City’s commitment to a “fast and aggressive” response to storm damage when it occurs and referenced the recent storm damage in Stoney Creek as having elicited multiple department’s cooperating to clean up the damage.
Construction on the Ellipse Street shared use path will get underway in mid-July now that the contractors have been engaged, Sandlin said. Also, the contract and payment for the installation of a Safe Haven “baby box” to be installed at Fire Station 2 is complete. The “baby box” is a program sponsored by the Pregnancy Help Center in Richmond for mothers who cannot keep their newborn to safely surrender it to the fire department who will work with PHC to find a home for the infant.
Sandlin also welcomed back Nancy Connelly who now is head of the Tourism department.
And, don’t forget the upcoming kick off meeting for the Comprehensive Plan, Sandlin said. It will be this coming Thursday, May 29, at the Berea Gallery (the Tolle Building) on Chestnut Street, from 5:30PM to 7PM. The Comprehensive Plan is the City’s roadmap for what the community as a whole wants to see happen in Berea.
Mayor and Council comments
Fraley invited the public to attend the Boone 250th Anniversary event at 10 AM, on Tuesday, June 3, at the public utilities building by the Tilley Dog Park on Harrison Rd. Was the hikers come through the trail, they will pass the building around 10:30 AM, and will be met with a celebration, including a performance by area high school choirs.
Fraley also thanked all who responded to our neighbors in Somerset and London where the tornado that went through on May 16 has now been classified as an E4, with sustained winds of 175 mph. The last time a tornado of that magnitude hit the state was in 1974, Fraley said.
The mayor noted that if citizens would like to donate, these are some Berea organizations that are accepting donations: the Berea Volunteer Fire Department, the Chamber of Commerce, Blevins law Office, and Hyster-Yale.
“This shows we have a caring community,” Fraley said.
Council roundly thanked all the first responders for their efforts both for Bereans and others affected by ill-fortune, Councilmember Jerry Little assured citizens that the Johnson Road situation is expensive but the City is doing its best to resolve it. Little also thanked Nixon and Wilson for coming.
You can watch the video of this meeting on the City’s YouTube Channel. The next regularly scheduled Council meeting will be on Tuesday, June 3, at 6:30PM in the City Annex building, 304 Chestnut Street. Council meets on the first and third Tuesdays of every month.
This story was updated on Friday, May 23, 2025 at 12:21PM, and at 12:14 PM on Friday, May 30, 2025.