Long-rumored Publix grocery store is confirmed by Mayor Reed

By John Chaney | The Winchester Sun

The Winchester City Commission held its reg­u­lar meet­ing this week, tack­ling a wide range of busi­ness from a new ordi­nance reg­u­lat­ing recov­ery res­i­dences to wel­com­ing two new police offi­cers to the force.

Commissioners gave first read­ing approval to an ordi­nance aimed at pro­mot­ing pub­lic health through the cer­ti­fi­ca­tion of recov­ery res­i­dences — homes pro­vid­ing hous­ing for indi­vid­u­als recov­er­ing from sub­stance use dis­or­ders. The mea­sure sparked debate around how for-prof­it oper­a­tions would be treat­ed com­pared to non­prof­its, and whether they should face the same scruti­ny as oth­er home-based busi­ness­es. City staff clar­i­fied that all recov­ery res­i­dences would be reviewed by the Board of Adjustments, though fed­er­al fair hous­ing law adds some com­plex­i­ty. A $1,000 annu­al licen­sure fee was dis­cussed, with com­mis­sion­ers learn­ing it would not be waived for non­prof­its, though non­prof­its would be exempt from the stan­dard busi­ness license fee. The ordi­nance will return for a sec­ond read­ing and final vote at a future meeting.

Commissioners also unan­i­mous­ly approved award­ing the 5^th Street Stream Restoration Project to Circle G Excavating LLC for $96,700.

A high­light of the evening came with the approval of two new police offi­cers, Kennon Martin and Michael Baker. Chief Thompson intro­duced the recruits per­son­al­ly, not­ing the depart­ment had fall­en to as few as 32 offi­cers in recent years.

“These are home­town boys. They live here. This is their com­mu­ni­ty,” Thompson said. “I’m just proud that you guys allow us to be a com­pet­i­tive police department.”

Both men rose to the top of the appli­cant pool and are expect­ed to attend the July Basic Training Academy at DOCJT.

The com­mis­sion also vot­ed to ter­mi­nate the employ­ment of Building Inspector Jennifer Meredith, with com­mis­sion­ers stress­ing the posi­tion must be filled quick­ly, giv­en the city’s ongo­ing devel­op­ment growth. Several per­son­nel actions were also approved, includ­ing edu­ca­tion­al cer­ti­fi­ca­tion and incen­tive salary increas­es for mul­ti­ple staff members.

During com­mis­sion­er com­ments, Commissioner Joe Chenault report­ed that the Main Street streetscape project is near­ing com­ple­tion, with Kentucky Utilities expect­ed to con­nect street light­ing along the cor­ri­dor by the end of the week. Commissioner Shannon Cox brought encour­ag­ing news about Winchester’s Work Camp, now set to host 298 kids from 12 states who will work on 55 homes from July 6^th through the 10^th.

Commissioner Hannah Toole chal­lenged fel­low com­mis­sion­ers to donate toward free Splash Pad admis­sions for chil­dren, pledg­ing $500 herself.

“A lit­tle love goes a long way,” she said.

City Manager Mike Flynn not­ed the city exceed­ed its month­ly fuel bud­get by rough­ly $11,000 in March and urged depart­ments to lim­it non-essen­tial vehi­cle use. He also announced the Splash Pad at Splice Park will open on May 23^rd. 

The may­or closed by shar­ing that a Publix gro­cery store on Colby Road is now offi­cial, with devel­op­ment expect­ed to begin soon.

“I think our com­mu­ni­ty is going to be very hap­py,” she said. 

Budget work ses­sions are set for May 7^th and 8^th.