By Brady Extin | The Times-Post
LAPEL — Lapel Town Council OK’d a new type of community event at its most recent meeting, while also giving initial support for a more spirited look to the local water tower.
During the Thursday, Aug. 18, meeting at the Eagles building, Lapel resident Ray Tincher proposed to the council that the town start holding golf cart parades for holidays and other community events.
Tincher (a Times-Post columnist) said the town has issued stickers for over 217 carts just this year.
The golf cart parades would be sponsored with the help of the American Legion and Lions Club in Lapel, Tincher said.
The first parade is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 23 and would be Halloween-themed. Best decorated golf carts would be voted on by a panel of three judges, including Tincher, with prizes being awarded for the top 12 carts.
The parade would be free to enter, and all carts would need to follow the town’s golf cart ordinances.
The council did not vote on the matter but gave its approval.
“It’s a small town,” Vice President Chad Blake said. “People love a good parade.”
The preliminary parade route begins at the elementary school parking lot, but the final route and details are to be presented at the Sept. 15 council meeting.
In other news, Tom McMillan, assistant football coach at Lapel High School, asked the board’s permission to change the “L” on the town water tower to the Lapel school logo.
On the north side of the water tower, the word “Lapel” faces the high school football field, he said.
McMillan said the school would like to make the change in the near future, through the use of paint or a decal. The school would pay for the project.
Board members said they thought just redoing the “L” would look bad and would instead prefer a standalone logo on that side.
“I think it wouldn’t look good with the current font,” Blake said. “If we just had the ‘L’ with the bulldog in the center it would look awesome. Personally I think it would look great.”
Council members expressed support for the change, but had some questions and issues of logistics. They said they would have to look into when the tower is supposed to be painted next, how they would contract the work out and who would be liable for any issues that may arise.
“As far as permission goes, we have no issue,” Blake said. “This is one of those things that we need to do a little digging into. I’m all for the water tower looking fancier though.”
“It’s a great idea, but it’s not a wham-bam thing that’s going to get done immediately,” board member Jason Kleinbub said.
Additionally, the board gave updates on the water project going on throughout town.
Pipework being done at the water plant is expected to be done within the next 30 days.
Main pipelines have been installed along Pendleton Avenue, and hydrants are beginning to be installed.
The next step is to start laying the main pipeline throughout other streets in town.