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Wlaf1450By Charlotte Underwood
LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF)- The LaFollette Utility Board met on Monday evening holding its workshop and meeting, approving a resolution to discontinue the field operations retirement retention plan, as well as the approval for a public entity partner’s property conservation grant and the continuation of retaining board attorney Reid Troutman as the board’s legal counsel.
TOP PHOTO: New utility Manager Dave Cross shared that he was not planning on recommending any rate increases this fall and that according to a TVA meeting he attended in August, TVA was not planning a rate increase either. Also pictured is board attorney Reid Troutman who was retained to continue as legal counsel for the next year.
The resolution to discontinue the field operations retention program, more commonly known as the (Homestead Funds) program, was approved upon the recommendation of newly hired LUB manager Dave Cross, who attended his first workshop and meeting on Monday.
“At this time, we have no one participating in the program and it is a good time to terminate that program and that would be my recommendation that we terminate that program,” Cross said during the workshop.
The grant resolution that was approved authorizes the utility to apply through its insurance company Public Entity Partners for a $6,700 matching grant that should the utility receive, it will be used for fencing for pump station #3. The grant is a 50-50 matching grant.
Utility board members also approved a third resolution to continue retaining the legal services agreement with board attorney Reid Troutman.
Troutman said he would “be glad to do it another year and that all the terms were kept the same, with no changes to the agreement.”
Board Chairman Laura Byrge “bragged” on Troutman and said that he had been there through some of the harder times during the past year at the Utility Board in standing up for the policies and procedures of the board and that he had been “invaluable in that capacity.”
Since this was Cross’s first board meeting on Monday, he said he was glad to be in the community and that he had a “warm welcome” from employees and city officials.
Cross had several manager’s comments for this first meeting.
“I am pleased to be here, and I have appreciated the welcome I have received and I have been really impressed by the employees,” Cross said. He also thanked the LaFollette City Mayor Scott Kitts and City Administrator Stan Foust.
He went over some of the things that he discussed with the city at its meeting right before LUB met.
The LaFollette City Council had previously authorized a special audit of the utility by Pugh and Company. According to Cross, while at the meeting on Monday, several items were discussed.
“Those were mainly that we have more policies we need to have written and in place,” Cross said, adding that would be something that he would be working on after “getting his management team together.”
The next utility board meeting is scheduled for Monday, October 5 with the workshop at 6pm and the meeting to follow immediately after. This change of date is due to a board scheduling conflict. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-09/02/2026-6AM)