LaFayette plans future projects

Published 4:16 pm Wednesday, August 28, 2019

LaFAYETTE — The LaFayette City Council has put itself in position to receive funds from Gov. Kay Ivey’s Rebuild Alabama Infrastructure Plan.

This past Monday the council passed two resolutions to allow the city to receive its expected $20,000 to repair roads, bridges and for transportation projects.

City Attorney Joseph Tucker said the funds will come from the 10-cent gas tax that will go into effect Sunday. The first wave of the tax will be six cents, followed by a two-cent increase Oct. 1, 2020 and another two cents in October 2021.

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“We have a lot of that that needs doing,” Tucker said.

He said the funds can be used as matching funds for transportation grants as well. However, the council needed to pass a new resolution saying it will draft and post a plan for how to use the money on the city hall doors and its website. Tucker said the law says all cities much do this so the process is transparent.

“It doesn’t say that plan can’t be amended,” Tucker said. “There is nothing that says it is written in stone and you can’t change it.”

He said it doesn’t say the funds from the tax are contingent on drafting and posting the plan for the public, but there’s no reason to take a chance on not doing it.

The plan for LaFayette includes resurfacing several streets.

Included in that plan are 1st Avenue NW, Court Way, Court Drive, 1st Street SW, 1st Place NE, 2nd Street SE and 3rd Place NW.

Additionally, the law requires municipalities to open a separate bank account for the funds from the gas tax. Tucker said the law reads that the funds generated from the tax cannot be used with anything else, nor can the fund be combined with other funds.

The council passed a separate resolution approving the opening of a new account.

Also during Monday’s meeting, Lafayette Police Chief George Rampey recommended that the council accept a bid from Unique Solutions of Smiths Station in the amount of $31,492.03 to outfit new police vehicles with the latest emergency equipment.