Of Noah, the Ark and Hotel Tax Receipts: A Night With the La Grange City Council

The first La Grange city council meeting in the post-Shawn Raborn ere (Raborn, the former city manager of 30 years retired earlier this month and the council is still working with a search firm to find his replacement) lasted just 25 minutes.

But that doesn’t mean Monday’s event was without highlights.

Most notable was a line from Teresa von Rosenberg, a citizen who makes regular use of her chance to speak at meetings during the public comment portion.

She said, “I know it’s not raining but it wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark. What are y’all doing about drainage?”

Von Rosenberg’s house was one of several in La Grange that suffered during some of the big storms of 2021 here. Interim city Manager Frank Menefee assured von Rosenberg that drainage improvements are “an ongoing project” for the city.

• The city council also gave out $33,235 in tourism grant funds from hotel/motel tax receipts. They gave $10,000 to the Fayette County Fair, $2,235 to the Faison Preservation Society, $6,000 to the Czech Heritage and Cultural Center and $5,000 each to the Polka Lovers Club, Fayette County Tourism Association, and Friends of Monument Hill. All this money is intended to help advertise/promote each group’s events so as to motivate more people to visit La Grange.

• The council also reappointed Daniel Cernoch, John Eilert, Jan Dockery and Janetta Morris to the La Grange Economic Development Board. Council member Dusty Littrell said that in the future he would like to see the city better advertise when there are openings on the board, so new people might be added to the board.