LaGrange City Council rundown

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, October 28, 2015

By Tyler H. Jones

tjones@civitasmedia.com

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LaGRANGE — City Council met Tuesday for its regularly scheduled meeting at council chambers on Ridley Avenue.

(Click here for an audio recording)

All members of the council and Mayor Jim Thornton were present, and roughly 40 people sat in the chamber gallery.

Council addressed the following:

• The city approved a motion to bury power lines along Vernon Road between Park and College streets for a planned LaGrange College project. City Manager Tom Hall estimated the project would cost $120,000 and could be covered by special-purpose, local-option sales tax — commonly called SPLOST — funds.

• Council passed a resolution to extend the Commercial Gateway District tax allocation district through December 2017; the TAD was set to expire at the end of the year, but with anticipated commercial development along Whitesville Road, a developer asked the city to extend the TAD.

• The city’s Comprehensive Plan for 2015-2035 was approved unanimously by City Council following several comments from residents, particularly members of the LaGrange Housing Authority, which sought assurances that the city would work to adopt the plan’s policies regarding affordable housing. (Click here for more on this story.)

• Parcels of land at 705 and 709 Vernon Road, owned by LaGrange College, were rezoned from R-2 to R-3 designation.

• Council also amended the city’s employee retirement plan to require that five years of service must be 60 consecutive months.

• Lastly, Council unanimously approved an Eagle Scout project request from Devin Jackson, 17, of LaGrange, to build benches at Unity Park at the corner of Fannin Street and Hamilton Road.

Tyler H. Jones is a reporter at LaGrange Daily News. He may be reached at 706-884-7311, ext. 2155.