At the February meeting of the Lafayette City Council, Jacob Jordan was hired as the Lafayette Police Department's newest officer at the recommendation of Police Chief Jerry Dallas.

Chief Dallas stated that after the resignation of Officer Buddy Head, a patrol officer position needed to be filled. He recommended Jordan to fill the position with a starting pay of $10.93. He also recommended Linda McDonald as the alternate Terminal Agency Coordinator. Jordan will be required to attend the academy and McDonald will be required to attend school.

Chief Dallas also stated that the police department had revised and updated the policy and procedures manual. The manual was first adopted in 1987 and has only had small revisions since that time. He requested a complete overhaul of the manual. This was approved on first reading. The revised manual will have such updates as information concerning the SWAT team and animal control.

Resolution 2-1-05 was approved appointing two members of the board of directors of the Industrial Development Board of the City of Lafayette. Those appointed were Dennis Wolford and Linda Austin.

Steve Jones with 911 spoke to the council. He has devised a plan that would combine the 911 dispatch headquarters and the Lafayette Police Department headquarters when the LPD moves to the new location of the old post office building. Jones stated that he felt that the equipment would be more secure in the building occupied by the LPD and that they would have more room after the renovations were completed. Jones stated that 911 can repay the cost of the move and new equipment on a lease purchase. They are estimating the cost of the move to be between $80,000 and $100,000. He proposed that 911 pay the city back at an annual rate of $20,000. He also stated that some type of written agreement between the two dispatch centers would need to be drawn up. Jones stated that the move would not save the city any money it would just help the citizens have a better police dispatch center and a better 911 center. Chief Dallas also agreed to this plan and felt that both offices would benefit from the move. The motion was made and the council moved to do so. This move would not be complete until the renovations on the old post office building were complete and the 911 had time to move and update equipment.

The council also agreed to advertise for several bids for the year including a mowing bid, a bid for street paving, and a bid for a variable speed drive for the Spring Creek pumping Station. The bid on the variable speed drive would be two separate bids with one bid for the installation and one bid for the purchase.

Keith Scruggs, Loryn Atwell, and Steve Turner reported on the false alarm calls concerning Macon County High School.

Fire Chief Keith Scruggs stated that they had met with Director of Schools Mike Prock and the situation had been taken care of. The junior high reportedly has a new system and Macon County High is attempting to get their situation under control.

The next scheduled meeting of the Lafayette City Council will be Tuesday, March 1, at 7 p.m. at City Hall.