WEST POINT — It was a busy night of appointments and swearing-in ceremonies at the West Point city council meeting Monday.

The council read a proclamation that designated January 2020 as Human Trafficking Awareness month in West Point.

Ledbetter, Sandra Thornton and Deedee Williams were all sworn in as councilmembers. The three incumbents on the council were each re-elected this past December in a field that also included Wiky Gladden and Kesha Edwards-Coniglio.

Mayor Steve Trammel was also sworn in by City Attorney Jeffery Todd. Tramell ran unopposed in the November election.

Wesley Leonard was appointed and sworn-in as Municipal Court Judge and Ben Wilcox as municipal court pro-tempore. Mark Carlton was appointed as the municipal court prosecuting attorney and Jeffery Todd as assistant municipal court prosecuting attorney and Luther Jones, public defender.

Monday’s appointments included Henry Hutchinson who was appointed West Points mayor pro-tempore, Larry Duncan and Joe Thompson to serve a three-year term on the West Point Historic Preservation Commission, Henry Hutchinson to serve a three-year term on the Troup County Parks and Recreation Commission and Josh Moon to serve a five-year term on the West Point Development Authority.

Other items of note Monday was the passing of an agreement for Jack Robinson to receive and land apply bio solids on his property located in Alabama. According to city documents, the city experienced a 130 percent increase in landfill costs for disposing of items. Documents also state the city could see at least a 50 percent reduction in costs by entering into this agreement.

At West Point’s work session this past Thursday, it discussed hiring a consultant to examine services delivered by Troup County. 

“We need a consultant on this,” West Point City Manager Ed Moon said. “We don’t have the expertise to do this.”

The issue here is that Troup County’s service delivery strategy will be renegotiated in 2020. Moon said that it’s important to understand all the complexities of public services being offered, taxes being paid and the agreements the city and county are operating under. Basically, what it comes down to is whether or not the city is getting its fair share.

“We are proposing to hire a consultant to come and look over everything here and tell us what we should expect and what we should be getting,” Mayor Steve Tramell said before the city’s work session this past week. 

He said services such as countywide court services and a taxpayer-supported library will be looked at.

The Hogansville Public Library and the LaGrange Public Library are both supported partially by Troup County property taxes. Tramell said West Point does not have a tax-supported library. 

Tramell said Hogansville has plans to hire the same consultant to examine services delivered there as well.

“We need a professional to make sure we are getting what we should be getting,” he said.

Tramell said the agreement only requires the county and two cities to sign off to make the agreement official. However, he said West Point and Hogansville would be working together.

“We are both doing this because we are the small players in town,” Tramell said.

West Point has an estimated population of 3,500 people, and Hogansville has a slightly smaller estimated number of 3,060. LaGrange has an estimated population of 29,588.