Christian Peterson
reporter@riverbendnews.org
Words of gratitude opened the Lafayette County Board of County Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 12. Sheriff Brian Lamb began the cascade of appreciation with a shout-out to the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office for all their help. From here on, almost every person in the room took a moment to express their thanks, including representatives from the community, the Chamber of Commerce, Mayor Anne Murphy and even the commissioners to all who helped with the hurricane relief efforts.
“I just want to thank them from the bottom of my heart,” said Sheriff Lamb. “They've done a great job.”
“This community was taking care of this community,” Commissioner Lisa Walker commented.
Next was an update on Pioneer Day from Lynne Buchanan and Keisha Arnold with the Chamber. Buchanan stated that, due to the extensive amount of debris at Veterans Park, a great deal of cleanup would need to be done to make the park safe for attendees and vendors. “There is a lot of safety concerns as far as the park itself,” Buchanan said. If the cleanup could not be done by Wednesday, Sept. 20, Buchanan feared the festival would have to be cancelled in an effort to protect the public and the financial status of the vendors. “I'd like to see it happen, show the whole state that we're resilient,” Commissioner Earnest Jones said. However, as of Monday, Sept. 18, pioneer Day is still sceduled to take place in October.
Following a few updates from the department heads, the meeting concluded with the board extending the local state of emergency and approved Clerk of Court Steve Land to search for outside help, as this was covered by FEMA.
The next Lafayette County Board of County Commissioners meeting will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 26, at 5:30 p.m. It will be held on the second floor of the Lafayette County Courthouse, located at 120 W Main St., in Mayo.