By John Brice
Correspondent
The LaFayette City Council met on Monday, October 28th 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, Councilman Michael C. Ellis 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 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 at the podium was Blessed Body and Fitness Gym business owner Mrs. Pamela Whitlow Holloway with a reminder of the 3rd Annual All Cancer Dancing for a Cure Health Fair event that she is organizing. There was then a motion approved for a proclamation of this coming November 3rd as the “Taking it Back to the Streets All Cancer Dancing in the Streets Health Fair” day.
Next up at the podium was Chief Doody with a discussion of the Get Alarmed – Alabama smoke alarm installation program who stated “The first item is Get Alarmed Alabama. The state fire college, in the state we have fire prevention week, generally we carry it out throughout the whole month. The theme was smoke alarms and nobody talked about it in the past couple of council meetings but I wanted to bring it up again to talk about the smoke detector installation program with the city. All sixty-seven counties have participating fire departments in this program. With a little history, smoke alarm use in the United States, when working smoke alarms are present in your home the risk of dying in a home fire is cut to about 60%.”
Doody went on to explain that the Alabama Fire College has partnered with InTouch Inc. and fire departments across the state to outfit smoke detectors. Participating departments can assist a person with installing a smoke detector in their home and qualifying residents can request a free smoke alarm and installation online or in person at their local fire station.
Past concerns over liability that the city might take on by installing smoke alarms in private residences were addressed by Doody which prompted the council to support the program and employ Attorney Tucker’s assistance in ensuring that there would be minimal exposure to future lawsuits related to involvement with the program. At that point the motion was approved to participate in the smoke alarm program which led to Doody briefing the council with details on the upcoming Veteran’s Day activities in LaFayette which will include a parade on November 9th at 10:00am followed by a celebration at the Chambers County Community Health & Wellness Center from 11:00 am until 2:00pm.
Moving on to the next agenda item was a discussion of price quotes for guardrails on Hospital Street to improve pedestrian safety in that area. After finding agreement in support of the project, the motion was approved to proceed with that safety effort.
Clerk Davidson then took to the podium to discuss the Avenu Insights contract renewal which provides business license services to the city. After a roll call vote the motion was approved to renew the contract, Superintendent Sanders took to the podium for a discussion on a bucket truck purchase request to replace the city’s current utility vehicle that has gone well past its lifetime of service and has become a safety concern due to a lack of available spare parts going forward. Sanders recommended purchasing a 2012 model vehicle that would provide greater feasibility without incurring the considerable cost of a newer model.
Support for the purchase was a motion that was approved which then led to a discussion of the Leadership Chambers County request for the city to nominate an employee for the new program. Davidson recommended Amy Tucker to be enrolled in the program and Councilwoman Williams proposed that each department get to nominate an employee which was approved as a motion for both recommendations.
Further discussions included scheduling a budget meeting and a motion approved with a roll call vote for Councilman Ennis to be designated as a temporary bank account signer for city employee paychecks while the permanent signers from the council are out of town.
Councilman Mangram then raised the issue of the sale of the McClendon building which was determined to currently be at a standstill. Concerns over street maintenance, cemetery upkeep, the status of a water tank, an out of service electric substation and renovations of the new city hall as well as the old city hall were also raised by Mangram.
Councilman Thomas then shared a story of the successful Fish Fry event for Chambers County seniors in the senior center at the Valley Sportsplex which LaFayette participated in along with other facilities for the elderly in the area. Councilman Ellis then underscored the urgent need for the city to retain the services of a new grant writer so as to not miss out on opportunities to receive funds and the motion was then approved to adjourn.
