LaFayette City Council approves new HVAC units, start of airport projects
The LaFayette City Council voted on Thursday to purchase two new heating and air conditioning units from Aire Serv to be installed in the Lowell Greene Center and the city’s utility building.
The Lowell Greene Center, which had some improvements done to the building last year, will be getting a 15-ton Lennox unit for its gym. The cost for the unit will be paid for with SPLOST funds.
The council also approved a new 3.5-ton Goodman unit for its utility building. City Manager David Hamilton stated that it would cost more to maintain the current unit, a 5-ton unit that was installed in 2008, than it would be to buy a replacement.
The cost for the units will also include installation.
The Council elected to use Aire Serv, which has a franchise in LaFayette, because of its local ties, its support of the city’s recreation teams and its outstanding reputation of service in the area.
Both motions passed by 5-0 counts. The council also set the ball in motion for improvements at BarwickLaFayette Airport by agreeing to a tentative allocation letter.
Among the projects will be the resurfacing and realignment of the runway. After discussions between the city and Georgia Department of Transportation engineers, the runway will be shifted approximately 15 feet toward the taxiway before the resurfacing takes place.
Hamilton said the total cost would be roughly $3 million for all the improvements with about $2.7 million coming from federal funds. The state would kick in another $150,000, leaving the city to come up with a little more than $133,000, some of which could be done in kind. That money will be included in next year’s budget.
The council also approved $4,738 to pay for an annual maintenance agreement for the airport’s weather station, very similar to the maintenance agreement the council approved last year.
Both motions concerning the airport passed unanimously.
The council also passed, by a 5-0 vote, a change order to have all the sidewalks on North Main Street completed using Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) funds, pending review and approval by the city manager and the city attorney.
“This is something that we certainly need to do,” Mayor Andy Arnold stated. “We have the TSPLOST funds, thanks to the citizens of Walker County and the city of LaFayette, in order to do that. We are to spend that money to better transportation and walking is a form of transportation.” In other new business:
♦ The city of LaFayette will pay $50,236.70 to the city of Summerville as part of a three-way agreement between LaFayette, Summerville and Trion for repairs to a natural gas line that supplies the gas to the city. The three cities are jointly sharing the cost, which is more than $150,000.
♦ The council approved $13,030 for a bioassessment for the waste water treatment plant. Hamilton explained that bioassessments must be done every four years to comply with the watershed protection plan. The motion was passed, pending some city recommended changes to the contract, by a 5-0 count.
♦ The council also discussed installing speed bumps on Dogwood Circle, which had been suggested by a citizen. The council agreed to look further into the matter upon getting more input and feedback from the Dogwood Circle community prior to the council’s next meeting, which was set for Tuesday, August 18 at 6:30 p.m.