City recognizes Wall's retirement, approves YMCA contract
On March 14, the Lexington City Council held their second meeting of the month. It opened with a recognition of Kathy Wall’s retirement from the Customer Service Department after over 30 years of service. Many members of the community and co-workers expressed their gratitude for Wall. Former city manager Alan Carson submitted a video taped message noting she was his first hire in 1989. After all comments were given, Wall took a moment to address the council and the City of Lexington as a whole. She spoke of her past experiences, the importance of resilience and made one final request: make the City Council a place of equal opportunities for Black people where full potentials can be reached. It was noted her positive energy and contributions to the Lexington City Council will be missed, and she was sent off with warm wishes for her retirement.
The only public address was a request from Tyrone Terry for donations to the Black History Memorial Plot. This money would be used for a plot for a rededication of those buried at the mass slave grave in the cemetary in Lexingtion. There have been two memorials since a year and a half ago when the presence of the slave grave was made widely known. To donate, go to the Wells Fargo on State St. In the meantime, the city is looking into helping to fund this campaign.
The regular business portion of the meeting was short. It began with the closing out of the NC Department of Commerce Community Development Block Grant from 2018, and was unanimously passed. The second item was the approval of a partnership with the J. Smith Young YMCA for the Lexington Aquatic Park during the summer. Changes to their previous agreement include an increase in overall contractual funding, an increase in funds for security, and an increase in the patron fund from $1 to $2 for children and $2 to $4 for adults. The aquatic park will also be open longer this summer since Lexington City Schools will end their school year earlier than previous years. The pool will be open from May 28-August 13. This agreement was approved unanimously.
The meeting closed with a closed session during which no action was taken.
