LaFayette City Council hears from architect regarding New City Hall

BY KADIE TAYLOR

THE LAFAYETTE SUN

LAFAYETTE — At the April 7 LaFayette City Council meeting, the council approved regular business, heard from community members and council members shared their reports.

Beverly Price, director of the Queen’s Place, which is an auxiliary of the Queen’s Learning Collective, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that currently operates out of Dadeville and is looking to expand to Chambers County shared information about the organization with the council.

“This program is inspired by the legacy of Brandon, who is our founder and CEO, [and] his grandmother, Queen Esther Rowe, a devoted educator and compassionate community servant,” she said. “We provide holistic programs that blend academic support, life skills and empowerment tools, including K-12 tutoring, GED preparation, adult literacy, financial literacy and college and career readiness. Through grants and donations, all of our services are free. And again, this is just an introduction for you all to our program, because we would certainly like to expand into the Chambers County area, and we would love for LaFayette to be our first site.”

Superintendent of the Waste Treatment Plant Alan Gleaton asked the council about the possibility of purchasing a new generator for the Waste Treatment Plant due to a malfunction with the current one. City Attorney Mac Tucker said the quotes received to replace the generator were over the bid law amount, which means the city will have to properly bid out the generator. Gleaton also requested a zero-turn lawnmower to help him efficiently fulfill the responsibilities he took on at the request of a former council member. Gleaton explained that often it is time-consuming to track down one of the city’s lawn mowers, with additional time having to be spent repairing the mower before he can begin mowing. City Clerk Louis Davidson explained the quotes gathered by Gleaton will be passed to the financial committee for their consideration as the budget is being balanced. 

The council heard from Nick Vansyoc, director of the Auburn office of Seay, Seay and Litchfield P.C., on the New City Hall architect design discussion. 

“After looking at the existing space and seeing its deficiencies, it is definitely in need of some improved facilities,” he said. “There are a number of issues that will not get better in the current location, so you’re eventually going to need a new space. The space that we’re looking at does have plenty of room for growth, and the only deficiencies we know are code-related, ADA, fire alarm and egress components that, after reviewing with the city attorney, [are within] the limited scope of the renovations that would be in that space. I would not call this a significant renovation. But as you can imagine, construction prices are not getting cheaper anytime soon, so it is something that I would certainly recommend short-term, because it’s only going to be more expensive the longer we delay the process.”

Moving forward, Vansyoc said the firm would work on drawing a proposal based on the initial study information.

Council Member for District B Kim Langley addressed a conversation had at the previous council meeting during the time given for council member communication.

“At our last council meeting, Council Member Williams and I had a back-and-forth,” he said. “Let me say I don’t like having that kind of back and forth with a council member. I was unaware of what had gone on that week. I had nothing to do with it, I did not know anything about it and I didn’t appreciate it. From my perspective, I’m sorry, because the last thing I want to be is offensive. And you people see us up here having, perhaps, unkind words for each other, but that is not what we’re here for. We’re here to work together for the betterment of this city, and I think I speak for everybody up here: we love this city. We may not get along kumbaya all the time, but we love this city, and we’re going to find a way to work together.”

Multiple constituents approached the stand during the time for public comments, citing concerns over dilapidated houses, the desire not to change the ordinance to allow locals to shoot fireworks, trash disposal policies downtown, the desire to allot raises for city employees in the budget, along with other concerns.

In Other Business

• The council voted to approve the minutes from the March 23 Regular City Council Meeting.

• The council voted to proclaim April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

• The council voted to approve the Harmon Engineering Highway 431 Waterline Tie-In Project Discussion, according to the approval and review by Tucker. During the role call vote, every member voted “yes” except Langley, who voted “no.”

“We have completed the plans for the 431 Water Line Tie-In project and are coordinating with ALDOT, submitted plans to them, and we sent out a request for proposal to multiple qualified contractors in the area,” said Collin Sharpe. “We received one proposal for a lump sum amount of $86,400. We’ve also submitted the utility permit to ALDOT, and everything is completed.” 

• The council voted to table the rental license agreement for city facilities.

• The council voted to approve the audit accounts.

• The council voted to approve Resolution No. 2026-04-07-01 to establish rates for solid waste collection services.