Once again, parking was a significant topic of discussion for the Fayette city council during its regular meeting on Tuesday, September 26. 

The board also moved forward with plans to place a memorial stone to recognize unmarked graves near the Fayette City Cemetery.

The ongoing parking saga on Spring Street has probably come to a conclusion. The council took up the topic in early August when Gary and Kelly Beeler, residents of Spring Street, asked the council to allow for at least some parking along the street. Since then, the council has bandied about several options and even voted at its previous meeting to allow parking on the north side of the street between Church and Vine streets. At last week’s meeting, it was revealed that the only existing ordinance regarding parking along Spring Street restricts parking between 1 and 6 a.m. But current signs say either “No Parking Any Time” or “No Parking This Side,” depending on the block.

“The current ordinance doesn’t have anything that pertains to that. So, what I’m suggesting is remove those signs that are there,” said Mayor Jeremy Dawson. “I think it’s great to keep overnight parking from happening there. It would also allow parking during the rest of the day.”

The council voted 5-1 to change the signs to indicate that parking is allowed except from 1 to 6 a.m. The lone dissenting vote came from East Ward Alderwoman Ronda Gerlt.

Also with regard to parking, the council heard from former alderman Grafton Cook, who now serves on the board of the Historic Downtown Fayette Commercial Community Improvement District (CID). He handed council members the first draft of a parking study that was funded by the CID.

The study, conducted by OWN, Inc., has evaluated the traffic and parking patterns around the courthouse square with the goal of increasing the number of parking spaces while having minimal impact on the existing traffic flows.

This draft suggests changing the traffic pattern to one-way around the square and some adjacent streets. This will allow the parking angle to increase from 30 degrees to 60 degrees, which will allow for more parking spaces. The city changed the parking angles in September 2019 to allow traffic to pass through the narrow streets more easily. That change opened up driving lanes by around 10 feet but reduced the number of parking spaces around the square by 41%, from 217 to 127. 

Cook said he wants to hold an open meeting with the study engineer at the council’s next meeting on October 10. 

“Our thoughts were for you to get it out into your constituencies, have a look at it, and come up with as many questions as you possibly can,” Cook said. “This is our first draft, and we welcome any and all thoughts and considerations.”

While the CID is paying for the study, it will ultimately be up to the city to implement any changes.

In other business, the council voted to move forward with the placement of a memorial stone to recognize unmarked graves buried between the south fence of the Fayette City Cemetery and Highway 240. The macabre discovery of the unmarked graves was made in October 2021 when crews were digging in the area to replace sewer pipes. 

Workers were laying new sewers from the city’s wastewater plant that run parallel to the north side of the highway. The grave was found in an area between the road and the fence at the edge of the cemetery. 

Work immediately ceased, and the city was notified. The decayed wooden coffin was located approximately eight feet below ground level and within a few feet of the highway. Two more coffins are suspected to lie within inches of the exposed coffin but were left unearthed. 

Police Chief David Ford spoke with the city’s attorney, Nathan Nickolaus, who in turn contacted an archeologist with the state. It was determined that they could rebury the remains since no graves had been exhumed.

Later observations with ground penetrating radar suggested other coffins could be buried nearby. 

The city council voted to place a memorial stone to recognize the unknown people buried there.

An anonymous donor has paid for the memorial stone, which will be inscribed and installed by Audsley Monument of Glasgow. The public is invited to a dedication ceremony at 1 p.m. on Friday, November 3.

The city council meets regularly at 6 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month in City Hall. Meetings are open, agendas are published in advance, and the public is invited.