Council Talks Clean Up

La Grange resident Theresa Von Rosenberg asked the La Grange City Council Monday night for an update on the cleanup at the old Encore Cabinet factory.

“Encore Cabinets is a work in progress,” said interim City Manager Frank Menefee.

The building has sat mostly vacant for more than a decade. In recent years, the massive arched roof has fallen in on itself. Von Rosenberg, who lives near the dilapidated structure, began petitioning the Council more than a year ago to clean up the property. The City started legal proceedings in May of last year to force the owner to remove the structure. Cleanup work began last year but then slowed to halt by the end of the year.

At Monday’s City Council meeting, Von Rosenberg also asked when cleanup would begin on the old La Grange Plastics warehouse, which burned in a fire on Jan. 22.

“We’re going to start the condemnation process here shortly,” Menefee said. “It’ll take a while to do it. If they don’t voluntarily remove it, we may have to help them remove it.”

In other business at the meeting, Council approved a resolution authorizing staff to submit an application for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to pay for a water line extension on East Lafayette St. from North Jackson to Horton St. If awarded, the grant will pay $500,000 to replace that section of water line. Menefee said the line is currently made of four- and six-inch cast iron pipe. It would be replaced with eight-inch PVC pipe. The City would have to pay five percent of the award amount, which amounts to $25,000.

Council also voted to permanently extend the City’s summer employee work schedule. In 2021, former City Manager Shawn Raborn launched the pilot program to close city offices on Friday afternoons during the summer, giving most employees a halfday head start to the weekend. The Council authorized the City to extend the summer hours through the rest of the year last September.

“There have been no apparent issues associated with the new schedule,” Menefee said.

Council unanimously approved the permanent extension.