"remove the 10K, the CNTRL and the switch and replace the IC with an open collector inverter."
After that, it's this:
|||-----LED-----resistor1.2K------oc inverter-------\\\\\I-O\\pin\\\\\
But then, you started to talk about the tri-state buffer, which you told me to get rid of.
Please, be really patient with me, and don't abandon me! I'm trying to do my best with my feeble mind. I know what you're going through... I develop software (hence my name) and in my programming forum, it's pretty annoying if somebody doesn't understand something when I had explained it as simple as it would get.
I think it'd rather be quicker if you could draw something up quickly in Paint or something. If I have it in my face, it'd be easier to understand.
Thank you so much for all the help so far.