Lewisburg work session recalls former state senator Jim Tracy and advances bridge-naming discussion for Willie J. Mitchell

Speaker 2 opened the Lewisburg mayor-and-council work session by announcing the death of former state senator Jim Tracy and outlining his ties to the city, saying Tracy helped secure federal support for local projects including replacement of the bridge next to City Hall.

"Jim Tracy passed away... he helped with that," Speaker 2 said, recounting that federal bridge projects required a 20% municipal match and citing the example "20% of $3,000,000" as an affordability concern.

The council then considered Item 1: an ordinance to name a bridge on East Church Street as the "Willie J Mitchell Bridge." Speaker 5 said two naming requests were submitted and noted Mitchell already has a park and plaques at municipal facilities.

Speaker 1 raised procedural concerns about consistency in the city's naming process and whether the city could decline an application that met all requirements. "My only issue with this is if a person finds an unnamed bridge and goes through the proper channels of our application process, I'm not sure that we can turn that down," Speaker 1 said, urging review of the application process to preserve discretion.

Other council members noted prior expenditures to rename the park and the presence of plaques at the rec center. No final vote occurred during the work session; council members agreed to place the ordinance on the regular Tuesday agenda for formal consideration.

The Tuesday agenda will include the naming ordinance so the council can consider the application, public input and a vote during its regular meeting.