The Tallulah City Council voted to allow Sustainability Partners out of Baton Rouge to do a free assessment of the city's water plant by a 4-0-1 margin.
The vote came during a special meeting at the Tallulah Madison Community Center on Wednesday night where the next steps in solving issues at the city's water plant were discussed.
District 5 Council Member Toriano Wells, District 2 Council Member Lisa Houston, District 1 Council Member Joe Scott and District 3 Council Member Carla Turner-Harris voted in favor of having the free assessment done. District 4 Council Member Marjorie Day abstained.
Options discussed during Wednesday's meeting were going into a joint receivership where the state sends someone to take over the operations, tying in Tallulah's water system with the Walnut Bayou Water Association, allowing Sustainability Partners to put together a package that would provide as much as $8 million for the water plant or continuing the water plant rehabilitation project as originally planned.
The board only committed to having Sustainability Partners do a free assessment of the water plant. The board has not voted on whether to approve the rest of Sustainability Partners' proposal.
The next steps in solving the City of Tallulah's water issues are expected to be discussed at the next council meeting set for 5:30 p.m. May 23 at Tallulah City Hall.
