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LANETT — Mayor Jamie Heard and members of the city council on Monday commended the city departments on having done great work during last week’s winter storm, where anywhere from one to three inches of snow fell throughout the middle portion of the Chattahoochee Valley and local temperatures fell to the middle teens.

“We lost a couple of transformers, but overall came through it pretty well,” Electrical Department head Allen Summers told the council. “Everybody knows how cold it has been. Don’t be surprised if your next utility bill is high. I know mine is going to be. We just need to understand that it happens when we have weather like we’ve had.”

Police Chief Denise McCain told the council that her department responded to over 40 weather-related calls on the day it snowed. “We had only three minor traffic accidents,” she said. “The Street Department did great work in making the roads passable. The public helped out, too, by not getting out on the streets when there was lots of snow and ice on the them. We want to thank the Fire Department for their assistance. They helped get some people home who were having trouble getting where they needed to go.”

Street Department head Rocky Bolt told the council he hopes the weather will be warming up so his department can do some needed road work in the city.

Matt Shiver of Lanett Fire & EMS thanked the citizens on having used good judgement in staying off the roads for the most part during the storm. “We didn’t have any injuries due to the wintry weather,” he said.

Shiver said that his department has a new firefighter in Jeremy Conway, who recently graduated from the fire academy. He’s the grandson of long-time local firefighter Kelly Meacham.

Shiver told the council that his department had lost two excellent leaders in Johnny Allen, who passed away in August, and its interim chief, Jamie Heard, who will be retiring on January 31st.

Shiver said the LFD averages around 250 calls each month. Lanett EMS has a large jurisdiction, covering Chambers County’s northeast quadrant all the way to the Randolph County line.

Mayor Heard commended the city’s firefighters and paramedics on having done good work despite the leadership changes.

Water Superintendent Richard Chapman told the council that his department will soon be rerouting a water line near South 8th Avenue. It presently goes through a small stream. They will relocate the line in a nearby wooded area, getting it out of the water.

Mayor Heard said he had been out at the Lanett airport on Saturday for a Young Eagles rally. Approximately three dozen youth had signed up for it. “I’m sure they all had a good time,” he said. “It was the first time many of them had been out to the airport.”

The mayor thanked city employees for the work they had done during the recent winter storm. “We are fortunate to have some fantastic employees,” he said. “I especially want to thank the Police, Fire & EMS, Street and Electrical Departments for what they did.”

Council Member Angelia Thomas said she was grateful for the job that was done and that if “something is not broken don’t try to fix it.”

She does see a need to revise some existing ordinances on having animals in the city. “I don’t think we should have chickens running around,” she said. “I have seen them in the mill village. We shouldn’t let people move in and do Lanett like the want to. There are yards that need to be cleaned up. It does look better where some old buildings have recently come down.”

Thomas said she’d like for the council to get with City Attorney Stanley Gray and Code Enforcement Officer Johnny Wood to see if some existing ordinances can be strengthened.

She congratulated Interim Chief Jamie Heard on the job he did in close to 20 years with the Lanett Fire Department. She and other members of the council wished him a good retirement.

A good contingent of Lanett firefighters were on hand to thank Chief Heard on the job he did with the department. “It’s good to see so many firefighters here tonight,” Thomas said.