Monday night your City Council rejected a new budget, finding only one member (Andy Arnold) willing to vote for it without resolving some unanswered questions. City Manager Etheridge was pushing to get it done now, council will have to meet again before Oct. 1 and get something approved. Council also held off on approving drive-up beer sales, but changed boundaries for alcohol selling businesses and approved rezoning of multiple properties in town.

WQCH Radio, 09/11/12: “LAFAYETTE’S CITY COUNCIL COULD NOT AGREE ON A NEW BUDGET AT MONDAY NIGHT’S MEETING, SO ANOTHER SESSION WILL BE CALLED LATER THIS MONTH. COUNCILMAN BEN BRADFORD SAID HE HAD ‘MORE QUESTIONS TO ASK’ BEFORE HE COULD VOTE ON THE BUDGET. WHEN COUNCILMAN ANDY ARNOLD MADE A MOTION TO PASS THE 23.7-MILLION DOLLAR SPENDING PLAN THE MOTION DIED FOR LACK OF A SECOND.

“THE PROPOSED BUDGET INCLUDED SEVERAL INCREASES, INCLUDING A HIKE IN THE BASE-FEE FOR NATURAL GAS, AN INCREASE IN SEWER RATES, A 5-PERCENT INCREASE IN EMPLOYEE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THEIR HEALTH COVERAGE, AND INCREASES IN FEES AT THE LAFAYETTE GOLF COURSE. A ONE-PERCENT ACROSS-THE-BOARD INCREASE IN PAY FOR CITY EMPLOYEES WAS ALSO INCLUDED.

“CITY MANAGER FRANK ETHERIDGE SAID THAT THE BUDGET PROPOSAL WAS BALANCED AND WAS 1.3-MILLION DOLLARS UNDER WHAT HAD BEEN REQUESTED BY CITY DEPARTMENT HEADS. A NEW BUDGET MUST BE PASSED BY THE END OF SEPTEMBER.”

That’s the most sensible report from a LaFayette council meeting in years. Almost like we have a few leaders with sense now, or at least some willing to disagree with each other when necessary instead of rubber stamping everything.

The council also blocked thru-traffic on Wardlaw Street to protect children at Joe Stock Park, took another step towards zoning changes to allow a drive-up window for beer sales (the changes will be approved in October), voted to allow bow hunting in city limits for anyone with 5 or more acres, and set October 31 as the city’s “official” Halloween and date for Scare on the Square. The county also changed boundary rules for establishments serving alcohol; establishments selling beer or wine still have to be 300 feet from a church, but now the distance is building to building, not property line to property line.

“Fiber Adding to Walker County Economy”

Another report about United Synthetics expanding. This one says the city took over their property, not the county – probably a mistake on the paper’s end.

More about the missing dogs in Rossville. Coordinated dog theft, or just coincidence? Seems like an awful lot of animals gone in a short amount of time to just be random.

A handful of school superintendents, including Melody Day of Chickamauga and leaders in Floyd, Rome, and Polk County, have decided to quit this year because of tax changes that could cost them $100 to $200 a month if they retire after December.

GBI raided the Muscogee County DFCS office last week, charging two employees with destroying records that would show ignored patterns of child abuse.

Bad news for current and future college students:

WQCH Radio, 09/10/12: ?”TUITION IS GOING UP FOR FULL TIME STUDENTS AT GEORGIA NORTHWESTERN TECHNICAL COLLEGE. A 15-HOUR SEMESTER WILL COST $1,275 NEXT SPRING, AN INCREASE OF $150. STUDENTS ON THE HOPE GRANT WILL PAY $364 OUT-OF-POCKET FOR TUITION, UP FROM THE CURRENT $214.

“GNTC PRESIDENT CRAIG MCDANIEL SAID ‘WITHOUT THIS TUITION INCREASE AND REVENUE FROM ADDITIONAL FEES, WE WOULD BE FORCED TO CLOSE MORE PROGRAMS AND LAY OFF ADDITIONAL EMPLOYEES’. HE CALLED THE TUITION INCREASE ‘THE ONLY OPTION WE HAD’.”

“Sahkanaga” – a fictional film loosely based on the incidents at Tri-State Crematory and filmed in and around Chickamauga – will be playing in Chattanooga next month. Some of the actors and extras are locals, and the director is from Chickamauga.

South American drug rings have been trying to flood the state with counterfeit cash. Most of it has been picked up in Athens, but it doesn’t take long to travel all over. Keep an eye out for any money that doesn’t look right.

A year ago yesterday on the LU Blog, discussion focused on the sudden termination of former Public Works director Richie White and accusations that he had been stealing money from the city. There are still a lot of questions about this that haven’t been sufficiently answered.

Two years ago the LU hot topic was conflicting plans to build half a new fence or a new terminal, or both, at LaFayette airport – and how silly both would be. Today the fence is done, we broke ground on the terminal a week ago, and both are still pretty silly.

That’s the article that prompted Mayor Florence to corner an LU notetaker before a council meeting and say “you’re doing a good job, too bad you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Still waiting on him to provide any facts or figures that show anything other than what was said here.

The state is considering changes to public school program funding methods, including special education, school nurses/counselors, and bussing, for the first time in a quarter century. None of the recommendations are being enacted; more studies will lead to more studies that lead to nothing, just like the last time this was looked at ten years ago.

Survey shows GA companies are in no rush to hire more people through the rest of 2012. Plans to hire slightly exceed plans to lay off, but it’s very slow growth overall.

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