09.12
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.
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