By John Brice
Correspondent
The LaFayette City Council met on Monday, November 4th of 2024 at the Chambers County Farmers Federation Agricultural Center at the ALFA building in LaFayette. In attendance were Mayor Kenneth Vines, Councilman Terry G. Mangram, Councilman David Ennis, Councilman Toney B. Thomas, and Councilwoman Tammie B. Williams. City Clerk Louis T. Davidson, City Attorney Joseph M. Tucker, Fire Chief James Doody, Street, Sanitation and Cemetery Superintendent George Green, LaFayette Police Department Chief Christopher Trice, Code Enforcement Officer Kim Langley and Electric Superintendent Chris Sanders were also present. The meeting began with an invocation led by Mayor Vines and standard procedures such as roll call as well as approval of the minutes from the previous meeting.
First up on the agenda was a Handy Cemetery Discussion with Mr. Joe Hill who expressed his concerns over the placement of two burial plots which he had purchased from the city. Hill was under the impression that the plots were mistakenly placed so that they were not located next to each other which would run to his express wish that they would be adjacent to each other. Superintendent Green addressed Hill and the council to allay any concerns over the placement and an agreement was reached that they would visit the cemetery together to ensure that the plots were indeed located as intended.
Next up at the podium was local business owner Mr. Steve White on behalf of the Christmas Committee with a request for funding to decorate downtown for the holidays. Due to a number of details in need of clarification the motion was approved to table the discussion until all of the specifics related to financing the decorating were confirmed.
In anticipation of the upcoming downtown holiday Rockingfest on the Square event there was a brief announcement that it was scheduled for Saturday November 16th from 10:00 am until 3:00pm central standard time. After announcing that the next Historic Preservation Board Meeting Announcement is scheduled for November 6th at 5:30pm CST there was a New City Hall discussion where Kim Langley introduced Auburn based architect Richard Meinert or Meinert Architecture, LLC who briefed the council on the latest updates regarding the renovation. Reviewing a new plan for city hall, Meinert addressed a number of concerns which included ADA compliance, options for replacing the safe room door, a construction timeline and scheduling of a follow up meeting to finalize the project.
At that point the next topic moved on to a revisitation of the substation repair discussion. Clerk Davidson clarified that there were electrical utility materials known as bushings that were defective and in need of replacement. Additional details provided by Attorney Tucker prompted the council to approve the motion to proceed with paying a contractor to replace the faulty materials as soon as possible and to seek reimbursement from the manufacturer over the long term so as not to delay the substation from being brought back online.
Rounding out the meeting as a report from Councilman Thomas sharing his experience at the Alabama League of Municipalities Leadership Institute this past week on the gulf coast as well as a medical outreach event at the Chambers County Health and Wellness Center. Resolution No. 2024-11-04-01 for a fire hydrant assembly purchase was then approved with a roll call vote and the meeting was adjourned.
