By John Brice
Correspondent
The LaFayette City Council met on Monday, June 26th of 2023 at the Chambers County Farmers Federation Agricultural Center in the ALFA building in LaFayette. In attendance were Mayor Kenneth Vines, Councilman Terry G. Mangram, Councilman David Ennis, Councilman Toney B. Thomas and Councilman Michael C. Ellis. City Clerk Louis T. Davidson, City Attorney Joseph M. Tucker, Police Chief George Rampey, Fire & EMS Chief Jim Doody and Code Enforcement Officer Kim Langley were also present. The meeting began with an invocation led by Chief Rampey and standard procedures such as roll call as well as approval of the minutes from the previous meeting.
First up for discussion was an announcement that city departments would be operating on a normal weekday schedule on the day of Monday, July 3rd without any adjustment for the July 4th holiday and the city council would meet on that day as well.
Next on the agenda was a Recreation Board member appointment discussion where Councilman Mangram asked an open question as to how to best proceed with recruiting new members, whether the city should solicit specific names of individuals or to make a public announcement seeking qualified candidates. Councilman Ellis clarified that names of residents who had previously been mentioned as potential members had expressed interest to which Mayor Vines interjected that there was no set limit for the amount of positions on the board if there were a larger number of applicants than what had been designated in the past.
Mangram inquired as to the status of current board members to which Ellis replied that only one member was currently actively participating. Councilman Thomas described the nature of varying term time lengths and Ellis expressed his appreciation for volunteers who have been doing a great job making the recreation department a success even though they are not necessarily board members. Mangram suggested addressing the matter further in a work session to which Ellis agreed.
Adrian Holloway, acting in her role as a community liaison for the Equitable Neighborhoods Initiative, came to the podium next to share updates on the public service initiatives of her organization that is funded by a COVID grant. ENI is a partnership between the University of Alabama, the Alabama Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control which had recently conducted a health survey of LaFayette residents.
Based on the results of that questionnaire it was determined that the top concerns were diabetes, hypertension and mental health. Under the guidance of Dr. Arturo Menefee, projector director at the ENI, initial inquiries are being made into the establishment of a community center that would serve as a “healing zone” for residents. Ms. Holloway requested that the city ask the Chambers County School District for usage options available at the shuttered property of what had formerly been J.P. Powell Middle School.
Instead of that building sitting empty or being used as a storage facility by the CCSD, Holloway implored the council to join her in exploring the opportunities that could be possible through utilizing the vacant school for parks and recreation activities, senior citizen programs, youth groups, adult education and athletic events. Financial support could be procured through a wide selection of public grants, community partners or fundraising.
Boding well for this prospective venture is the fact that CCSD Board of Education Member Jeffrey Finch has indicated that he is receptive to J.P. Powell being utilized for other purposes going forward. Holloway stated that Dr. Menefee is fully prepared to meet with the council to begin the process of once again making the property an asset for the city as a revenue generating endeavor that could allow residents to stay locally and patronize area businesses instead of traveling to other towns for community events.
Councilman Thomas clarified that during the February 28th, 2023 City of LaFayette Council meeting the future usage of J.P. Powell by the city had been discussed in extensive detail after which numerous attempts were made by the city to contact Superintendent Chambley and the CCSD regarding that request, however, those inquiries were never responded to by anyone at the district. Expressing a shared sense of exasperation throughout the community, Thomas assured Holloway that diligent efforts would be made going forward to work with the ENI and further petition the CCSD despite their track record of having failed to properly communicate with the city during the selection process for the location of the newly consolidated Chambers County High School.
Ms. Holloway also reported on $60,000 in grant funding for the ENI that has been allocated for renovations at the site of the original city park where walking trails, picnic tables, benches, playground equipment as well as other amenities that will be put in place in the near future.
Ennis declared that he was in favor of purchasing the property from the CCSD, citing the example of the City of Eutaw in Greene County where an old school building had been repurposed with business classroom rentals and an event space which had revitalized that area and would be much more cost effective for the city than building new facilities and at the same time would preserve the sacred ground of J.P. Powell that is so rich with historical significance. Mayor Vines emphasized the importance of the council addressing this issue in further meetings to which Thomas concurred, stating that it is imperative to open a line of communication with Superintendent Chambley.
Councilman Mangram made a motion to approve the allocation of funds for the recreation department to purchase $14,000 of athletic equipment. Noting that two previous discussions on the matter had been tabled in past meetings, Mangram reported that he had inspected the current inventory of equipment and determined that it was out of date, dry rotted and in need of replacement.
Thomas reiterated the critical need to ensure that new equipment is stored properly in the future to which Ellis concurred, adding that recreation department employees must ensure that it is returned after usage and accounted for as well as the need to increase the $50 fee for participants that he described as being insufficient due to the fact that LaFayette does more and charges less than other cities in the area after which the motion was approved.
Clerk Davidson announced two upcoming Main Street LaFayette events occurring in the coming week and the meeting was adjourned.