By Jody Stewart
LaFayette City council met Monday at noon with a high priority meeting to address several issues on the city’s agenda. All council members were present and called to order by city clerk Louis Davidson.
Chris Busby addressed the City Council and updated them on the status of the city’s application for a main street designation. Busby informed the council that LaFayette was rewarded the designation last week. “I believe this is one of the most exciting things that has happen in LaFayette in a long time” stated Busby. He went on to explain that the MainStreet committee would be present in LaFayette in the next couple of weeks and a press conference would be held. Busby went on to explain to the council that the work was just beginning on what could be an incredible thing for LaFayette and we needed the City and the Council’s support in all the efforts. The council was appreciative of all the efforts by the Vision LaFayette group.
Next on the City’s agenda was Resolution number 2022-06-06-01 (Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Grant). Louis Campbell addressed the council on this issue and explained that she was working on the grant to bring in two high speed charging stations to the city. A location in the parking lot off highway 431 across from courthouse near the crosswalk was identified as a location. Campbell said this location would show up on AP’s used by electric car owners and would encourage them to stop on their way through town. The grant for the two-bay electric charge station is $119,000 with a $50,000 match to be provided by the AMEA. Campbell was asking for a resolution from the city to go along with the application which is due in by June 10th. The City Council voted to approve the resolution.
The meeting moved on to the next line of business, which was the issue of the BB&T building purchased by the City. Mayor Vines questioned George Green on what was needed to have the building ready for the city offices to be able to go ahead and move in. Green did not have a prepared answer. The Council discussed taking bids to expedite having the building finished and ready for use. Mayor Vines expressed he wanted the city in the new building by August 31st.
Last on the agenda was the issue of the open seat on the city council left by the resignation of Shannon Hunter. Louis Davidson opened the discussion by saying if the council appointed a person this would save the city approximately $25,000. Davidson felt it was important for the council to first agree on how they would go about selecting a council member before they discussed candidates. The council discussed taking resumes and setting a date that resumes were due by then conducting interviews.
Davidson went on to explain that any candidate would have had to have had residence in the district already for over 90 days to qualify. He also explained that the city council had 60 days to fill the seat. If they did not the Governor had an additional 30 days to fill the seat. If neither party was able to fill the seat an election would have to be held. While the majority of the council discussed taking resume’s, City Councilwoman Tammie Williams wanted to wait to consider the matter so the subject was tabled until the next city council meeting.