VALLEY GRANDE — The first Valley Grande City Council meeting with the newly elected mayor and council lasted a short eight minutes Monday evening.

Mayor Wayne Labbe said, however, the meeting was an organizational meeting, in which they needed to set up the council and the meetings before they could proceed further with business. There were unanimous votes to elect councilwoman Donna Downs as chairman pro tempore, to set the meetings on the first and third Mondays of each month and to assign each councilperson to a particular advisory group.

“Donna is really the only returning councilperson we have,” Labbe said about the new chairman pro tempore. “With her eight years of experience, all of us kind of felt like we are in a learning curve — including myself — and we are new to council meetings.”

The council appointed Tim White over the public safety and beatification advisory group, Ronald Sawyer parks and recreation advisory group, Donna Downs Business, community development and education advisory group, Jane Craig annexation and zoning advisory group and Kenneth Martin public relations and history advisory group. Labbe said the council people are encouraged to gather people from the community who are knowledgeable in these areas to serve in the group along side them.

“When you get the people in your town involved it’s much better,” he said. They get involved in the groups and they feel more like a community, just like a church community.”

Former Valley Grande mayor, Tom Lee is in the process of transitioning Labbe up until Monday’s meeting, to which Labbe said, “He is doing a great job, and is a big help.”

“He has shared many things with us about the city of Valley Grande and where we stand financially, and also the things that they had going on in the city.”

Projects such as the sewer project that will provide sewage along Alabama Highway 22 will continue from Lee to Labbe. Labbe explained the sewer project would promote business arriving along the roadside.

“And more business means more tax revenue for our city,” he said.