Several local agencies have come forward to help residents of the Lafayette Towers apartments as they are being forced to move from the downtown Clinton building.
Clinton City officials arranged a meeting Tuesday afternoon to help coordinate that assistance. Clinton Mayor Mark Vulich said the city was not directly involved and the closure was due to the electric bill not being paid since February of this year. Roger Pavey of Eastern Iowa Community Action said Alliant Energy would not turn off the power on Thursday as residents had been notified. Pavey said the company would work with them on the situation.
He told the residents that they are not in this alone and he says while it may be easy to blame the power company — they have a very large unpaid bill — and are still giving residents more time. There are an estimated 25 to 35 units in the building that are occupied.
“They’re going to give us time. They are giving all of you time and they are giving us time to do what we can to help you,” Pavey says. Pavey said the Community Action Agency has some aid to help people re-locate. Other agencies also spoke about some of the services they can offer-but said residents should work with Community Action first.
(By Dave Vickers, KROS, Clinton)