WEST POINT – The West Point City Council met for the first time in 2019 on Thursday night for a work session to preempt the impending city council meeting taking place on Monday, Jan. 14. 

Jeisson Duran spoke on behalf of Joe’s Tex Mex during the public comment portion of the meeting, asking the council to consider allowing businesses to serve alcohol 30 minutes later into the evening than is currently allowed, moving the deadline from 11:30 p.m. to midnight. 

“A lot of our crowd at night comes from Kia,” Duran said. “If we close at 11, they come in five minutes ‘til and we can’t serve them because we do last call 30 minutes prior. If we had that extra 30 minutes, we could serve those people, which would help us out a lot.”

Mayor Steve Tramell informed Duran the council would revisit the issue and take his comments under advisement. 

In other news, the council discussed the 2018 year-end finance report and resolution for the 2018 budget amendment. Per West Point City Manager Ed Moon, the city brought in approximately $1,092,000 more than it spent in 2018, though those numbers are unaudited at this point. 

The council also previewed board and committee appointments that will need to be made during the council meeting on Monday, including positions with the West Point Historic Preservation Committee, the Troup County Parks & Recreation Board as well as the West Point Development Authority. 

In addition to these appointments, the board will need to appoint 2019 city officers, including the positions of mayor pro-tem, city attorney and municipal court staff. During the work session, the board made it known it intends to nominate City Councilman Joseph Downs to fill the role of mayor pro-tem in 2019, after City Councilwoman Sandra Thornton filled the position in 2018. 

Other items which will be up for discussion during Monday’s city council meeting include:

4A recognition of Judge Kenneth Reardon, who has served as the municipal court judge pro-tem for 20 years and resigned his position as of the end of December.

4The swearing-in of a new West Point police officer.

4A resolution to establish qualifying fees for 2019 municipal elections. 

4The acquisition of city property by the Georgia Department of Transportation. GDOT plans to implement a roundabout project near Exit 2 on I-85 and the intersection of U.S. 18 and 103. This will require a land acquisition by the state of 0.029 acres, or 1,200 square feet, of city land for the purposes of completed this roundabout.