The city has recently received a bill from the animal shelter for $13,000

LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF)- The February monthly workshop for the City of LaFollette was held yesterday afternoon at City Hall.

First up on the agenda was the presentation of the audit from Pugh CPA’s for year end 6/30/2024.

Bart McFadden with the Boys and Girls Club, John Snodderly vice chairman of the advisory committee and Bill Jones chairman of the advisory committee were present to discuss the Boys and Girls Club to be located at the Dewey Hunter Center. The advisory board is currently fundraising for the club. McFadden told the council the club has four goals, help families with childcare, promote academic success, address youth mental health and participate in workforce development. Jones told the council “We want this to be a long term benefit for our children”. The club anticipates serving 60-75 kids daily kindergarten to eighth grade. Snodderly would like to see the club be a yearly line item with the city.

Businessman Hank Hamblin was present to speak with the council about the property at 201 West Central Avenue (the former Agee & Walters building). Hamblin has been before the council previously to discuss the ingress and egress situation at the location. Yesterday afternoon Hamblin told the council he would pay for the work that needed to be completed to the ingress and egress, he also told the city he wanted to put in a sidewalk as well. Hamblin stated that he needed the city to help block a lane of traffic while the work was being completed. City Administrator Stan Foust told Hamblin to contact Public Works Director Casey Boshears when he was ready to have the work done.

The next item for discussion was the Dossett Bridge bid (Bert Loupe Bridge). Foust told the council three bids were received with the best at $800,000 over budget which came from Twin K Construction. The council needs to vote on whether they wanted to accept the bid or not at the monthly meeting next week. The cost of the project is to be split 50/50 with the county.

The council then moved to the topic of animal control. The city has been having issues with the animal shelter refusing to take trapped cats from the City of LaFollette Animal Control Officer. However they have allegedly taken trapped cats from The Town of Jacksboro. The city has recently received a bill from the shelter for $13,000. The city reports they are being charged $220 for each animal surrender. The city alleges they are the only city being billed. City Attorney Reid Troutman reminded the council that the city paid for a large chunk of the shelter building when it was being constructed. Councilman Chuck Queener told the council that he wants to get this issue settled. Queener reminded the council that had sent out emails about a year ago to the county mayor, deputy mayor and Campbell County Commissioners. Queener stated that he only received one response and it was from the deputy mayor. He then told Mayor Scott Kitts who was a county commissioner at the time, that he didn’t respond to the email. Kitts responded by asking when Queener sent the email and Queener told him he would look and get back to him. Councilman Mark Hoskins suggested that the council meet with the county mayor, chairman of the county commission and the shelter director. Foust told the council he would work on getting a meeting scheduled.

In the November 2024 election, the citizens of LaFollette voted to permit liquor stores in the city. The city has been working toward an ordinance which they hope to vote on at next week’s monthly meeting. The ordinance will need two readings before the city can move forward. 

In police department business, there were two items on the agenda beginning with the hiring of Robert Cobb as a full-time patrolman effective March 8, 2025, and then grant funded overtime for traffic highway safety officers (THSO).

The recreation department had one item on the agenda, the hiring of Danny Benge as a full-time laborer effective March 8, 2025.

Resolution 2025-05 was the final item of the night. The resolution is for a grant with Tennessee Department of Economic Development Office of Outdoor Recreation application for the 2025 Public Parks and Recreation Grant cycle. The city has previously completed a pre-application which was approved and now they can move forward with the application. The grant will be used for development at the 18.5 acres of property the city owns next to Bojangles.

All of the items will be voted on at next Tuesday’s regular monthly meeting at 5:30pm. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-02/25/2025-6AM)

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