Intense talks about vagrants and phone charging station

Librarian Nancy Green told of a grant received for a solar phone charging station at library

LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF)- On Monday afternoon, the LaFollette City Council met for the monthly workshop.

City Administrator Stan Foust announced that Seargeant’s Park in the Dark will be held Tue., Oct. 28, from 6 to 8 pm, and the Friday Frenzy Flashback will be held Fri., Oct. 3.

The council previously discussed the concrete area in front of the fire and police department bays about the possibility of the project costing $20,000. Monday afternoon, Public Works Director Casey Boshears told the council the project will cost about $25,000 including demolition. The majority of the work will be completed with in-house labor while finish work will be outsourced.

Two bids were recently received for a town clock on East Central Avenue at Freeman Corner and an asphalt hot box for the public works department. Bids for both items will be opened Tuesday and be on the agenda for approval at the upcoming monthly meeting next week.

A wine permit for United Grocery Outlet will be on the agenda for approval at next Tuesday’s at the regular monthly meeting of the mayor and council.

There is a vacancy on the LaFollette Utility Board. The council will vote on who will fill the position at October’s monthly meeting.

Librarian Nancy Green discussed a grant she recently received for a solar phone charging station at the library. Concerns were raised about attracting “vagrants” to the area. After a few minutes of intense discussion, the council moved onto the next topic for discussion.

Foust updated the council on where the city is in obtaining a new city attorney. He stated that so far he had received two requests for qualifications.

Deborah Pemberton with Spay Campbell County was present to discuss donations for the organization. Council members agreed to donate $500 from their discretionary fund to Spay Campbell County.

The fire department had three items on the agenda. The first two items were promotions to a full time firefighter effective Oct. 18 for Austin Sands and Isiah Heid. The final item was solicitation of bids for a heart monitor; the fire department received a grant for $51,000 from the LaFollette Medical Foundation to purchase the monitor. All of these items will be on the agenda to vote on at the next monthly meeting on Tuesday.

The police department discussed declaring seized vehicles as surplus, so they can be sold on Govdeal.com. Two promotions to full time officers will be on the agenda for approval at Tuesday’s regular meeting. The officers are Claude Wilson and Clinton Hutchinson. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-09/30/2025-6AM)