LANETT — The Lanett City Council has approved two resolutions to seek state funds for its ongoing airport improvement project.

The city is in the final stages of building a new 4,400-foot runway to replace one that was approximately 3,300 feet in length.

That project will likely be finished not long after the rainy weather clears.

The new funding request is to have a new terminal at the airport. Matching funds are available for such projects.

One resolution seeks $150,000 to clear a site for the new building and $250,000 is being sought for the building itself.

The action took place at Monday’s council meeting.

The request is being made to the Alabama Department of Transportation for a project to be taken on in FY 2019.

In other business, Valerie Gray, executive director of the Chambers County Development Authority, was present to discuss the CCDA’s annual report.

Highlights include a report on the CCDA’s award-winning “Strength Woven In” branding campaign, the late 2017 announcement of John Soules Foods locating a plant in the county and creating more than 500 new jobs and WestRock building a new distribution center in Valley Industrial Park.

The annual report lists workforce data such as the county having a 2018 unemployment rate of 3.3 percent, 3,484 jobs being announced for the county since 2006, 1,740 announced in the last five years, 28 industry expansions over the last five years, the county being in the top 5 of the state in terms of job creation since 2017, over 1,300 acres available locally in five industrial parks and the area having 10 GB high speed broadband.

Representing Team WHIP (Working to Help those In Pink), Narfunda Ross invited members of the council to attend the organization’s annual luncheon to be held at 2 p.m. EST this Sunday at the Jane Farrar Event Center in downtown Lanett. This will be the third annual event hosted by Team WHIP.

“We were packed last year with 60 attendees,” Ross said. “Thirty of them were breast cancer survivors.

“Our guest speaker this year will be a breast cancer survivor who will be talking about her story and her wanting to ‘reach the next (stage of life) to teach the next (generation).’ It’s a free event.”

“Team WHIP is a worthwhile organization, and we thank you for telling us about your upcoming luncheon,” McCoy said. “We thank you for the awareness you are bringing about breast cancer.”

Council Member Charles Looser congratulated the Lanett High boys and girls basketball teams on having had good seasons this year.

“We won’t win a state championship this year,” he said, “but they did have winning seasons and represented our community well.”