LaFayette addresses sewer hazard, honors Jones for 50 years of service
BY SAM VISE
THE LAFAYETTE SUN
LAFAYETTE — The LaFayette City Council moved to address an urgent infrastructure concern behind LaFayette High School and honored a longtime pillar in the community for a half-century of service during Monday evening’s regular meeting.
Mayor Pro Tem Tammie Williams presided over the Oct. 12 meeting in the absence of Mayor Kenneth Vines.
Water and Sewer Superintendent Allen Garrett briefed the council on an immediate safety hazard involving a collapsing brick manhole along Alabama Avenue East, directly behind the high school.
“Right behind the high school, we’ve got a manhole that [was built] probably in the ‘40s or ‘50s. That’s brick, solid brick. It’s starting to collapse in on itself,” Garrett said. “I had to go over there and remove the bricks just to get the sewer back flowing again. Currently, I do not feel like it’s safe for the buses to be traveling across that. The road is currently closed. Buses have been rerouted around the school. It needs our attention immediately.”
Garrett reached out to multiple contractors to secure emergency repair quotes to stabilize the roadway and restore bus access, and the council voted to approve the emergency repair to remediate the failure.
Honoring Jeffrey Jones
The council also held a special presentation honoring Jeffrey Jones for 50 years of dedicated professional service, public leadership and funeral ministry in LaFayette and Chambers County.
A lifelong LaFayette native, Jones began his mortuary career at Johnson Sanders Funeral Home on Oct. 19, 1976, eventually purchasing the business in November 1998 and renaming it Jeff Jones Funeral Home. His public service includes 16 years on the LaFayette City Council (13 years as mayor pro tem), 20 years as Chambers County coroner, 10 years as a Chambers County deputy coroner and decades serving on local senior and library boards.
“I appreciate y’all, and it’s been a privilege to serve the citizens of Chambers County and LaFayette,” Jones said. “I’ve always loved LaFayette, and I’ve been here all my life.”
Council Member Emily Milford joined colleagues in expressing personal gratitude to Jones.
“You’ve done a lot for the city, the county [and] the area,” she said. “You’ve been there for a lot of families, and you’ve been there for my family through the years through some things. A proclamation is a small token of what we’re able to do for what you have provided back.”
In other business:
• Pamela Holloway, owner of Blessed Body & Fitness Gym, presented details for the fifth annual “Taking It Back to the Streets, All Cancers Dancing for a Cure Health Fair,” scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 1, at 3 p.m. in downtown LaFayette. The council adopted a proclamation declaring Nov. 1 as Dancing in the Streets Health Fair Day.
• The council voted to execute an updated intergovernmental agreement with the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office to house municipal inmates at the Chambers County Jail, matching standard agreements previously enacted in Valley and Lanett.
• City Clerk Louis Davidson announced the city officially submitted a $1 million grant application to the Appalachian Regional Commission targeting critical downtown water system improvements.
• The council approved a temporary road closure request on 1st Avenue North for a community Trunk or Treat hosted by Rampey’s Day & Night Child Care Center on Thursday, Oct. 29, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Council Member Charlene Story cast the lone dissenting vote, citing traffic flow concerns and requesting the matter be tabled for neighbor outreach.
• The council approved a request from Police Chief Christopher Trice to declare outdated and retired department uniforms as surplus so usable items can be repurposed or donated locally.
• Council Member Story raised inquiries regarding storm debris collection following recent weather, with council leadership confirming the city picks up downed branches caused by acts of nature, but property owners remain responsible when private contractors cut trees down.
• The council approved city accounts payable totaling $345,997.
