LG Council Meetings Packed With Citizens’ Comments – Part One

Last Monday’s La Grange City Council meeting included quite a few public comments from citizens during the public participation portion of the meeting.

First up was Glenn Altwein, representing the Fayette County American Semiquincentennial Committee, who spoke about the committee’s Liberty Tree project. The committee hopes to plant 250 trees around the County to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary. Altwein asked the City to participate in the project.

Following that, La Grange Veterans of Foreign Wars Post Commander Richard Gray spoke about continuing problems at the La Grange VFW Hall, which the City purchased from the VFW several years ago. Gray said City Manager Jack Thompson recently informed him that in order for local veterans groups to get a new meeting place, they would need to contribute funds to the cost.

“This is in direct violation of the terms and provisions and spirit of our lease agreement with the City of La Grange,” Gray said. “The lease states that the City of La Grange is responsible for rebuilding of the VFW Hall.”

Gray said that if the City has condemned the building, then it should be able to obtain an insurance settlement.

“Our lease contract states … the landlord agrees to absolve the VFW and its third party beneficiaries of all expenses related to the maintenance, use, operation and insurance of the VFW Hall and land,” Gray said. “So why does the City’s budget continue to show $0 for maintenance for the VFW Hall and why should we be asked to help pay for a new building? The City of La Grange through Mr. Thompson has been significantly unresponsive to the needed upkeep of the building, land, and other terms of the lease.” Gray urged the Council members to look into the matter.

Sondra Cooper spoke in support of a new swim facility for La Grange. Cooper said two recent surveys of La Grange citizens identified public support for a new swim facility.

“I believe that a public swim facility is possible,” Cooper said. “It’ll be a huge project, but with the cooperation of several entities, not just one, it is possible. I’m interested in the public fundraising aspect of this project.”

Cooper mentioned the community fundraising effort that assisted La Grange ISD with building the new football stadium.

“Every child needs a chance to learn how to swim,” she said. “We could use this for our (Fayette Area Swim Team). We could use it for therapy for elderly or just plain old fun in the pool. So I have spoken to the mayor and six of the city council members. All responses were positive. So think about it, search your heart, and let’s get this done.”

Lambert Heintschel spoke about the City’s recent interest in improvements at the Fayette County Fairgrounds, especially the proposal to attract a hotel and convention center to the site.

“And I don’t know if anybody took the time or not to do a survey on the hotels that we have in this town, but I took the time to do it and called around to see,” Heintschel said.

According to Heintschel, Best Western has an occupancy of 53 rooms. On average, he said, they rent out between 17 to 20 of these rooms during their best times. Heintschel said Hampton Inn has 51 rooms, and they only rent out 23 at their best times.

“The only time they really fill up is when we have the two antique fairs and the county fair,” he said.

He went on to say that Executive Inn has 45 rooms and average occupancy is 10 rooms a night. River Valley has 114 rooms, and their average is 32 to 35 rooms a day, Heintschel said. He said Cottonwood Inn averages about five to 10 rooms a night out of their 49.

“So why do we want to build a hotel that you’re not going to be able to fill?” Heintschel asked. “Because we’re going to end up like the hospital. You’re going to put a bunch of money into a big fancy building, and then it’s going to sit there and not be run right.”

Heintschel said the City should instead invest tax dollars into infrastructure, especially roads.

“I live on East Lafayette street, and that stretch of street from Jackson to Horton is about 10 blocks,” he said. “You cannot drive one block without hitting a chuck hole from a water leak that’s been dug up or some other reason, and it’s nonsense.

“How many times are we repairing water leaks?” he added. “We need to start looking at our water lines and stuff. And I don’t know how the council members feel, but a lot of citizens in this town feel that we’re wasting a lot of our tax dollars on these surveys that some city manager decides he wants to have done.”

More comments to come in the next edition.