Regular monthly meeting starts Tuesday at 5:30pm, at City Hall

LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF)- On Monday afternoon, LaFollette City leaders met in the monthly workshop with a lengthy agenda.

City Administrator Stan Foust told the council he was having an issue with council members and the mayor contacting employees, department heads and vendors giving conflicting information. Foust reported that this was creating a problem within the city, and he wanted to make everyone aware of what was happening. He expressed his concern that it if this continued the state comptroller could get involved.

First up on the agenda were administrative matters beginning with the announcement of the Dogwood Trail opening on Thu., April 10 at 10am, and then the announcement of the City Easter Egg Hunt on Thu., April 17 at 5 pm. City Judge Kathy Parrott resigned Dec. 31, 2024, and the city council voted in January to advertise for a city judge. The city received four applicants, Kristie Anderson, Adam Bullock, Frank J. Handler Jr. and Amanda Sammons. This afternoon, the council will vote on who the next city judge will be.

The council discussed purchasing a maintenance truck for $46,000 through state contract for the city’s maintenance man to use. Up next in the discussion were fees/contract set by the county commission on trash collections. City Administrator Stan Foust reported to the council that he had spoken with Campbell County Mayor Jack Lynch on Monday who told him trash fees were not going up at this time, however, there will be a fee for disposing of mattresses and box springs. Due to the county fees, the city will need to amend the ordinance pertaining to picking up mattresses and box springs. LaFollette Mayor Scott Kitts wants to rent a billboard on the interstate for the city flea market, and Foust reported to the council that MTAS stated city money could not be used for this purpose. However, Kitts is willing to pay for the billboard for a few months to promote the flea market and LaFollette. He will need to present a design of the billboard to the council before he can rent the billboard. The east end Welcome to the City of LaFollette and the RV park signs need to be replaced as well as the sign in front of city hall. The cost to replace the signs is $11,500.

Three event permits for the Campbell County District Attorney’s Office National Crime Victims Walk at Seargeant’s Park on Wed., April 9, Postmark LaFollette Spring Fling on Sat., April 12, and the LaFollette Methodist Church wants to do a cross walk symbolizing Jesus final walk on Fri., April 18, from LaFollette Middle School to the church will be on Tuesday afternoon’s agenda to be voted on.

The ATV festival has been absent from the city since 2021. In July 2024, former Mayor Cliff Jennings discussed the possibility of having the festival again. At that time, he stated he felt like all of the municipalities should be involved. The council is again discussing bringing it back to the city. Mayor Kitts would like to form a committee that involves someone from each municipality as well as citizens. He would like to have the festival come back in Fall 2025.

On June 25, 2024, LaFollette Fire Chief Jimmy Pack spoke with the council about what it would take to get an ambulance service up and running. He reported that they would need four ambulances, a building and additional staff for the ambulances. The cost of each ambulance would be approximately $300,000 and it would take 9-12 months to get everything up and running.

Yesterday afternoon, the council discussed this topic again. Pack told the council the cost of the ambulance is now $600,000. Pack reported to the council Senate Bill 160 is getting some traction and could create a problem for the city. The bill states that if a municipality does not provide ambulance service within the municipality, then they would have to reimburse the county for ambulance service provided in proportion to the municipality’s population. This could cost the city approximately $500,000 yearly, if not more. He told the council he just wanted to present the information to them.

Nine promotions will be voted on Tuesday afternoon beginning with Jefferson Davis to a full-time entry-level fire fighter, Landon Dunlap to a full-time entry-level fire fighter, Brad Young to a full time fire captain, promoting Anthony Mahar to a full time police sergeant, promoting Tyler Seiber to a full time operator in the public works department, Anthony Walden to a full time sanitation laborer. Ashlie Jordan to a full-time recreation department administrative assistant, Matthew Murray to a full-time laborer and Jeremy Morris to a full-time athletic coordinator are also up for a vote.  All promotions will be effective April 5 if passed.

Ordinance 2025-01-Amending Title 8 of the City of LaFollette Municipal Code by establishing Liquor Regulations and Amending Beer Regulation will have a final reading this afternoon. Four resolutions will be on the agenda for approval as well beginning with Resolution 2025-06 amending the 2024-25 budget, next will be Resolution 2025-07 selecting Community Development Partners, LLC to provide assistance in the preparation and administration of the city’s 2025 CDBG grant application, Resolution 2025-08 selecting Ardurra Group INC. to assist in the engineering design and implementation of the city’s 2025 CDBG grant application and Resolution 2025-09 adopting the City of LaFollette 2025 Parks and Recreational master plan.

(WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-04/01/2025-6AM)

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