Girl fighting cancer puts Council in tears, plus resident muses about damage done by College becoming 'bland'
Also, one million in infrastructure improvements at regional airport, new hires for fire dept., and concern for family of man murdered on Baldwin Street Monday night
Council Briefs
BEREA — During Council’s first regularly scheduled meeting of the month, members learned about a pediatric cancer research fundraising event from a nine-year old, and approved the pass-through of over one million in funds for infrastructure improvements at the regional airport.
Pediatric cancer research advocate is also patient
Members were addressed by Abilene Prevett, a fourth grader at Silver Creek Elementary School who has been receiving treatment for kidney cancer. Abilene expressed her gratitude for living in a caring community, and for the kindness and comfort she has been shown by friends, neighbors, classmates, and also by members of the University of Kentucky’s Hematology/Oncology Clinic DanceBlue team whom Abilene said accompany her to treatment appointments to keep her company and ease her fears and pain.
Abilene also invited folks to join in on February 28 at 5 PM at Silver Creek Elementary School, when DanceBlue will be hosting a mini-dance marathon to raise funds for pediatric cancer research and to provide support for Abilene and her family.
Jennie Prevett, Abilene’s mother, also addressed the Council and encouraged citizens to join the event. Prevett also encouraged retailers and others to consider sponsoring it. She said their original goal of raising $5,000 has been far surpassed. (ed. note: to date, $6,355, has been raised according to the fundraising webpage) Here is a link to learn more. To donate without going online, checks can be made to the Silver Creek Elementary PTO, with “DanceBlue” on the memo line.
Councilmember Ronnie Terrill challenged his fellow members to donate $100 each to Abilene’s cause. Members Steve Caudill, Cora Jane Wilson, and Teresa Scenters were tearful during Abilene’s presentation.
New safety supplies merchant is Berea firefighter
Council unanimously awarded Adam Coomes, a member of the Berea Fire Department, and owner of Endeavor Fire Protection, a one-year contract to supply the City with fire extinguishers, medical cabinet supplies, and the like, after clearing the ethics code challenge of being both a city employee and a city vendor.
Coomes’ should have the contract because he was the only bidder, and because the City needs safety supplies, Mayor Bruce Fraley told Council.
The City put out a request for proposals after the previous safety supplies merchant, the Ohio-based Northwind Safety Corp., notified the City last fall of their plans to cease operating in Kentucky.
Coomes’ bid was $7,750.00 for one year. Interim City Administrator Shawn Sandlin told Council that the anticipated savings by hiring Endeavor will be around $7,000 compared with the Northwind contract.
Over one million authorized for airport expansion
Council unanimously agreed to an assistance agreement with the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority (KIA), that allows the City to pass through the loan of $1,173,800 to pay for water and sewer improvements at the Central Kentucky Regional Airport on Madison Airport Rd.
Fraley said the Madison Airport Board earlier voted to award the construction contract to Berea-based Chasteen Enterprises. The Airport Board will be the client.
Fraley said this loan will help supplement the $1,024,800 given to Berea by the Appalachian Regional Commission specifically for this project (also known as Project B21-001).
The KIA loan is to be repaid, Fraley said, by collecting hangar rental fees. Also backing this project, he said, are the Madison County Fiscal Court, the Richmond City Commission, and Eastern Kentucky University.
Last year, Congressman Andy Barr (R.) secured 3.5 million in federal dollars for the airport’s expansion.
Byebye Metronet TV
After discovering only 15 households wanted to watch multiple television networks via Metronet, the company asked to be released from its previous franchise agreement with the City to provide such services. City counsel, Jerry Gilbert, read out Resolution 02-2025 to dissolve the agreement. A second resolution, 01-2025, was then read out, alerting Council to Metronet’s new franchise agreement with the City to provide internet services only. Both ordinances were unanimously adopted.
In a sideline interview, Sandlin told The Edge that Metronet paid the City $10,000 to cover the legal fees incurred by the City to change Metronet’s service, and noted it was more than enough.
Fire Department year-end report
Assistant Fire Chief Charlie Russell updated Council on the department’s activities in 2024. Russell said in Berea last year there were 15 house fires, 65 medical assists, 61 vehicle accidents with injuries and 97 without, seven searches for missing people, 10 gas leaks, 15 downed power lines, 15 people locked out of their vehicle, 9 animal rescues, 24 assists to other police and governmental agencies, 24 unauthorized burns, 85 dispatches cancelled en route, 27 scares over smoke odors, 13 false alarms, three bomb threats, 26 smoke detector activations, and six mutual aid calls with other departments. In all, 679 calls came from within the Berea City Limits, and 220 calls for service in outside the city in Madison County.
Paid and volunteer staff in 2024 completed 6,034 total training hours. Department members participated in 41 public education events, with 81 hours and about 1,000 citizen interactions, Russell said.
On Monday, two new fire fighters started work.
Mayor and Council comments
Highlights from the mayor’s and councilmembers’ comments section include Fraley expressing concern for the family of the man shot to death at point blank range on Baldwin Street Monday evening.
Fraley commended Berea Police Capt. Jason Hays, present at the meeting, for his officers apprehending the suspect not long after the shooting (ed. note, the Berea Police Facebook page named Steven Gerlaugh, 75, as the shooter, and Thomas Rison, 42, the victim; both of Berea). Fraley said Berea’s police department is “world class”.
Terrill reported that Berea College students are not respecting crosswalk laws and wants someone to contact public safety at the College to address the issue before someone gets killed.
Councilmember Katie Startzman said she was pleased that the fire department staff is now at capacity.
All remaining councilmembers praised Abilene; Teresa Scenters who said she as too emotional to speak further.
Op-eds
Remembering a former Berea resident and College employee; remembering when the College was more involved in City affairs
Remembrance: Jack Marema, 1928-2024
My dad was reliable to a fault, but his life did not follow an entirely predictable path. You might call it the knuckleball effect. He called it something else.
My dad was an exceptionally reliable man, which made his knuckleball all the more surprising.
It was hard to believe that a man so dependable could throw a pitch as unpredictable as a knuckleball. But he could, and often did, in our nightly games of catch when I was growing up in rural Jackson County, Kentucky.
I could tell when a knuckler was coming because of the mischievous look on his face. But knowing a knuckleball is coming does not mean you know where it’s going. The erratic nature of a knuckleball would make me giggle as I tried to catch it…
When the College wasn't so 'boring' and disconnected from its true roots
Local resident remembers when Berea College traded on what she says is its uniqueness, to everyone's benefit
Administrator Beverly’s key advice to the City before she left was to “work together more” with Berea College (The Edge, January 10, 2025). If the College and the City are not presently fitting like kid gloves it wouldn’t take much to once again compliment each other with synchronicity and synergy. The college, city tourism, the Kentucky Guild of Artists & Craftsmen, and community artisans and craftspersons have an illustrious past of working together.
Berea College was known for the unique student labor program centered around Appalachian arts and crafts. Folk art. Primitive skills. Mountain music and traditional dance…