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LANETT — In action taken at Lanett’s Monday council meeting. a zoning designation was given to the city-owned former Lanett Mill/Bleachery & Dye Works site, funding was approved for some needed repairs at the city’s wastewater treatment plant, and a resolution was tabled to create a job description for a new position at the Lanett Regional Airport.

The 25-acre mill and dye works site now has a zoning designation of B-3. The city owns the property and the Chambers County Development Authority (CCDA) is attempting to transition it into an area of new business. The ordinance to create the new zoning designation was approved unanimous vote following a second reading.

Several pumps need to be repaired at the wastewater treatment plant. Jim House & Associates will be doing the work. It will cost a little over $28,000 to get this done, and the cost can be covered by American Rescue Plan funds the city has.

A resolution to create a new job description was tabled due to some unclear language. It calls for an assistant to the manager at the Lanett Regional Airport but is unclear if the position if for a clerk of an assistant manager. The intention is to have an assistant manager.

The resolution will be rewritten to clarify this. The council will meet during the noon hour on Wednesday to approve a resolution that clarifies this.

Another resolution was approved to grant an easement on some city-owned property on North 17th Street. Darren Leva asked for the easement so he can have access to some property he owns.

Resolutions were approved to impose weed liens on nine sites in the city. This allows the city to recover costs they incurred in cleaning up these sites.

The liens include: $361.25 for a lot on South 7th Avenue owned by Jeremy Smith, $161.25 for property on North 6th Avenue owned by James Otis Roberts and $161.25 for a second lot on North 6th Avenue owned by James Otis Roberts, $161.25 for property owned by Mary Alice Darden (c/o Herbert J. Wells) on North 6th Avenue, $186.25 for a lot on South 1st Avenue owned by Lee In Gue, $186.25 for a lot on North 12th Avenue owned by Lula Welch (c/o Brenda Grant Davis), $211.25 for property owned by Ada Patton and Vonzeka Patton on the corner of North 12th Court and North 4th Street, $236.25 for property owned by Eugene Bailey on South 10th Avenue and $211.25 for property owned by Ronnie Lamar Kyles on North 4th Street.

Henry Jacobs, the deputy director for Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, spoke to the council about Riverkeeper’s continuing mission to protect the waters of the Chattahoochee from its source in the north Georgia mountains to where it joins the Flint River at the Florida line to form the Apalachicola River. “A lot of our work is to engage people to monitor water testing stations along the river,” he said. “We have over 200 of them.”

Jacobs said Riverkeeper had been working hard to keep the City of Atlanta accountable and responsible for its wastewater discharges into the river. He said Atlanta is doing a better job than they once did but the river needs to be constantly monitored to have safe, clean water downstream. “We want to make sure the water that’s flowing into West Point Lake is clean and safe,” he said.

Jacobs added that he really enjoyed taking part in Riverkeeper’s floating classroom program. Lots of local schoolchildren have taken rides aboard The Miss Sally and learned much about the lake. Jacobs lives just outside West Point and has been with Riverkeeper for 12 years.

Water monitoring on the river picked up a problem that may have originated in Lanett. Some raw sewage may have been getting into Tanyard Creek and then flowing into the river. Work is under way to address this. A new sewer line is being laid on the south side of the creek.

“Be careful if you are up around Sara Jay’s,” Water Superintendent Richard Chapman advised at the Monday meeting. “We have been repairing leaks in the system. We should be finished in a couple of weeks. Our department is in pretty good shape overall. I have a good crew.”

In a work session prior to the 6 p.m. meeting, Dantz Frazer of the Chattahoochee Humane Society Board of Directors talked about the planned expansion of kennels at the local animal shelter. A total of 17 new kennels are being constructed. This will increase the total amount of kennels to 48. The cities of Lanett, Valley and LaFayette have been asked to help out with the funding

The total cost is around $80,000. Splitting the cost three ways would come to about $26,000 per city. If it’s done by population, Valley would owe the most and LaFayette the least.

Frazer said funding need isn’t linked to the construction. “It’s not so much the construction cost,” he said. “It’s the day-to-day operations. I want to emphasize that we can give you what you need. We have the staff we need. We just need to find the sweet spot where that everything that’s being provided is being paid for.”

Frazer said the shelter had made some much-needed improvements. “We’ve come a long way in a short time,” he said. “We would love for you to c0me down and take a tour of the shelter. We’d love to show you what’s been done.”