[0:00] Let me just get a confirmation that
we're streaming correctly. Just want to
[0:03] make sure.
>> Facilities.
[0:06] » No, I just look for thumbs up. We got
it. Thank you. Thank you.
[0:09] » Um, okay. Just wanted to make sure. And,
uh, District One, uh, Commissioner Kman
[0:13] » is absent at the moment. Commissioner
Greg Young,
[0:16] » present.
>> Commissioner Thomas,
[0:17] » present.
>> Commissioner John Paul Young
[0:20] » here.
>> Commissioner Burrell.
[0:21] » Commissioner Jones is absent at the
moment. Uh, Commissioner Gage Watts is
[0:25] absent at the moment. Commissioner Blake
>> here.
[0:27] » Commissioner Atkins
>> here. Commissioner Catherine
[0:29] » here.
>> Commissioner Lazarus absent at the
[0:32] moment and Commissioner Eper
>> present.
[0:34] » Okay. You have eight of 12 commissioners
present. Uh that does constitute a
[0:39] quorum.
>> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Um at this
[0:42] time, uh we're going to have pledge of
allegiance provided for uh by
[0:48] Commissioner Eperson and our invocation
provided by Commissioner Thomas.
[0:53] Everyone, please stand.
Thank you. If you bow your heads,
[0:57] please. Uh dear heavenly father, thank
you for allowing us to gather here as we
[1:00] conduct the business of this cattle
parish. As we do so, dear um heavenly
[1:04] father, I pray that you please help us
all to be able to see the beauty and the
[1:07] majesty in this land and this community
that you've given us. I hope that we can
[1:11] all share in that and share in the works
in order to make it even greater and it
[1:14] can and it can be what you would have it
be until your will in your son Jesus
[1:18] name I pray. Amen.
>> Amen.
[1:21] » All face the flag. I would like to ask
that all veterans and military render
[1:25] the standard hand to brow salute. All
others right hand across your hearts.
[1:30] Let's remember our PS and our MIAs as we
recite the pledge of allegiance. And
[1:35] thankfully our USS Abraham has a port
call and they getting four days shore
[1:40] leave and having a good time in
Thailand.
[1:44] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
[1:49] republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[1:55] justice for all.
[2:03] » Okay. And at this point, uh, I'm not
aware of any agenda additions unless you
[2:08] had any, Mr. President.
>> No, I do not.
[2:11] » Okay. That brings us then to citizens
comments where citizens are asked to
[2:15] fill out a comment card and submit them
uh in the box to my left here. At this
[2:20] point, we have not received any citizens
uh comment requests. So
[2:25] uh if there are none materializing, we
uh can move forward to the next section
[2:31] on our agenda.
>> Okay. Okay. Okay, that brings us to
[2:34] visitors uh where we do have one
scheduled visit today. Uh and that is a
[2:39] visit from our PCC member Jake Brown,
Mr. Jake Brown, who I believe is in the
[2:43] office.
[3:41] Okay, my name is uh Jake Brown. I live
at 1243 Pine Island Road, Shripport,
[3:46] Louisiana. Um, so I know there's been a
lot of talk about possibly doing
[3:54] planning and zoning in the rural area
and I know a lot of that has to do with
[3:59] the uh Trojan horse data centers, you
know, cuz now people didn't want rules,
[4:06] but now with data centers coming in, it
almost seems like we need rules. And so
[4:12] I know some of it's been spoken about
that we need to do planning and zoning
[4:16] out there, but the main problem I see
with that is the people don't really
[4:21] want that. And I know that they want the
protection, but they don't want that.
[4:26] But even if we were to do a master plan
and do planning and zoning, we're
[4:32] talking like a year and a half, two
years plus to push that through just
[4:36] because of the rules that are set up by
the state. You have to have all these
[4:40] meetings. It's a big area. It it it
takes time. And then you've the master
[4:45] plan's just an outlook on what the code
should do. And then you've got to go and
[4:51] do another code like a rule development
code. And it's just not going to be
[4:56] quick. And by the time that happens,
it's going to be too late. You know, I
[5:02] mean, the data centers are here right
now. I mean, I'm hearing that they're
[5:06] also talking about doing a natural gas
plant to help power some of them, and
[5:10] that's new, you know, and
it's just not going to be good for those
[5:16] people that live out there. So, today,
you know, I kind of wanted to talk about
[5:21] kind of how we got here. You know, in
2020, Catalons for Freedom wasn't happy
[5:27] because they were getting tickets and
citations out in the five mile zone. And
[5:33] so they started filling up the chambers
and they wanted to, you know, change the
[5:38] codes. Well, we got kicked back to the
MPC and it was back and forth and we
[5:43] couldn't get anything done. And then we
got Mr. McCormack to to do House Bill
[5:48] 697, which passed. And the main reason
it passed wasn't because of the codes,
[5:53] but it was because we weren't
represented. You know, if you lived in
[5:56] the city, you got a city councilman to
appoint a member and also a
[6:02] commissioner. If you lived out in the
five mile zone, you only had a
[6:06] commissioner that had your back. So, you
were under reppresented. So, that's why
[6:10] it got passed. And we were hoping when
that happened and we got our own board
[6:14] and I got appointed to the board that we
were going to be able to fix the root
[6:18] cause of all that and that's the codes.
And that just didn't happen. I mean,
[6:23] it's been 6 years and nothing's happened
with it. We are still running with the
[6:28] 2030 great expectations master plan and
it doesn't represent us. we as a zoning
[6:36] board don't really follow it and we've
had to with the help of BPC and they've
[6:42] been a big help now is we've had to do
different things like puds and spuds and
[6:47] those are plan unit developments and
small plan unit developments and that's
[6:52] where you're doing something that
doesn't really fit the plan because the
[6:56] plan sucks and so we're having to work
around this plan on a daily basis and
[7:02] we're fixing it case by case. So, every
person that comes in, 99% of the time,
[7:09] they get to do what they want to on
their property, and it and it usually
[7:12] does not fit within the master plan
guidelines or the UDC. So,
[7:18] I hear that y'all want to do the zoning
and all of it, but then I've got the
[7:22] question of, well, y'all haven't done
anything with the five mile zone. I
[7:28] mean, why haven't we fixed that? And so
that's where I'm just really reluctant
[7:33] to turning over that power for the rural
area, which they're more crazy than the
[7:39] people in the five mile zone. So I mean,
and I can't trust that this board's
[7:45] going to do something to do a good plan
for them because the first plan it was
[7:50] not good and y'all paid a lot of money
for it. And so
[7:56] I kind of want to talk about data
centers now and health issues and stuff
[8:02] that come with them because and that's
the packets I gave y'all. Those are all
[8:06] peer-reviewed
scientific studies. There's multiple
[8:09] ones of them. And these are done by
scientists that know a lot more about it
[8:14] than I do. And there's a lot of
misconception with the old data centers.
[8:19] They were a lot smaller. the new ones.
These are going to be these huge
[8:24] monolithic mega, you know, something
that we've never seen before. And so,
[8:28] I'm kind of going to go kind of outline
some of these studies and I've given you
[8:32] guys the studies for you to do your own
due diligence, but it's like, let's take
[8:37] a look at what these massive footprints
actually do to a rural landscape. We
[8:42] aren't talking about a standard office
building. We are talking about colossal
[8:46] concrete mon monoliths that permanently
erase wildlife habitats and completely
[8:52] alter the local micro climate. There was
a groundbreaking breaking study done in
[8:57] March 2026.
The study published by researchers at
[9:02] the University of Cambridge titled the
data heat island effect quantifying the
[9:07] impact of AI data centers in a warming
world. The researchers tracked the
[9:12] thermal history over 11,000 data centers
locations globally and they were using
[9:17] NASA satellite data. What they
discovered should terrify everyone in
[9:21] this room. The study mathematically
proved that these hypers scale
[9:25] facilities dissipate so much
concentrated energy that they create
[9:30] what is now known as a data heat island.
According to the Cambridge data, these
[9:36] facilities can increase the ground temp
by up to 16 degrees Fahrenheit. That's
[9:41] that's a big change, especially when
we've been at 102 103 for the past month
[9:48] with measurable warming and climate
disruptions extending up to 10
[9:52] kilometers more than 6 miles outside the
facility's footprint. If you allow the
[9:58] Amazon staff to do these massive data
centers in our unincorporated spaces,
[10:02] you are effectively turning rural cattle
parish into a dangerous environmental
[10:06] experiment. This lo localized artificial
heat stress won't just dredge degrade
[10:12] local agricultural. It will directly
threaten the public health of our
[10:17] elderly elderly residents and our
children and the livestock our farmers
[10:21] depend on. It doesn't stop with the
heat. The continuous noise from these
[10:26] facilities is an invisible assault on
human health. Another comprehensive
[10:31] analysis published in the PMC journal of
global data center expansion in human
[10:36] health noted that the internal noise
levels from data centers HVAC systems
[10:42] reach up to 96A weighted decibb. The
study confirms that this persistent
[10:47] unrelenting low-frequency noise leads to
severe sleep deprivation, acute
[10:54] cognitive impairment, and heightened
cardiovascular stress for surrounding
[10:58] communities.
And then, you know, let's talk about the
[11:02] water. Our rural communities survive
survive on groundwater. Yet this
[11:08] yet this commission is turning a blind
eye to the chemical realities of data
[11:13] center infrastructure to avoid consuming
millions of gallons of municipal
[11:17] drinking water daily. Many modern hypers
scale facil facilities utilize closed
[11:23] loop or evaporating cooling cooling
systems. But these systems come with a
[11:27] dark secret. They have heavy chemical
maintenance. According to a June 2026
[11:33] report by the University of Georgia's
College of Agricultural and
[11:37] Environmental Science on how data
centers impact surface and ground
[11:40] waters, these industrial cooling loops
require constant treatment with
[11:45] corrosive scaling inhibitors, toxic
bioides, chlorine compounds, and glycols
[11:52] to prevent bacterial and allergy
outbreaks. Even more alarming, a compreh
[11:58] a comprehensive investigation report by
revealed that the next generation of
[12:03] data centers are going to use a liquid
emerging cooling that relies heavily on
[12:09] highly highly advanced florin florinated
fluids. And these are these are forever
[12:16] chemicals. So that's that's what they're
going to use. So, I know that they're
[12:20] saying, you know, you're not going to
need that much water cuz it's closed
[12:24] loop. They're going to have forever
chemicals in there. And so experts like
[12:30] Laura McKe, a 34-year veteran at the UN
univers at the US Environmental
[12:35] Protection Agencies, warned that the
primary threats are systematic leaks,
[12:41] accidental spills, and the toxic
discharge of mineral heavy blowown waste
[12:46] water into the local water table. If
these toxic biocides and glycols or
[12:52] forever chemicals leak from this Amazon
stack closed loop system into our
[12:57] unconfined rural aquifers, it will
permanently contaminate the drinking
[13:01] water wells of every human being and
animal within miles. We are already
[13:06] seing seeing this devastating
preliminary signs of this disrupt
[13:11] disruption. Local residents near
clearing sites are already reporting
[13:15] that their historic springfed ponds,
which have held water consistently since
[13:19] 1937,
are suddenly losing water. The ecosystem
[13:24] is starving.
And I mean, it's just not going to be
[13:28] good. We're going to be heating this
place up. We're going to have these
[13:32] chemicals. You've got a lot of residents
that moved out of the city area to live
[13:38] a rural lifestyle. And now this is going
to be next door.
[13:43] So let's talk about the human cost and
air pollution and premature mortal
[13:48] mortality. The most harrowing asset of
this unchecked expansion is the undeni
[13:54] undeniable scientifically modeled human
toll. Data centers do not just pull
[14:00] massive electricity from our grid. They
require massive grids of their own to
[14:05] guarantee 59's uptime, which that is a
system that is available 99.999%
[14:12] of the time,
allowing only about 5 minutes and 15
[14:17] seconds of downtime per year. These
facilities rely on arrays of dozens of
[14:22] industrialsiz diesel backup generators.
And so according to the American lug
[14:29] association state of air report,
it designated DA data center backup
[14:35] generators as a rapidly growing threat
to public health. These massive diesel
[14:40] engines emit a catastrophic cocktail of
nitrogen oxides, volatile organic h
[14:46] compounds, and fine particle matter
known as PM2.5.
[14:51] The Environmental Energy Study Institute
notes that these industrial diesel
[14:55] generators emit 200 to 600 times more
toxic nitrous oxides than a standard
[15:01] natural gas plant. What does that mean
for the human body? PM2.5 bypasses the
[15:08] lungs and enters the bloodstream
directly. A joint public health model
[15:12] developed by researchers at Caltech and
the University of California, Riverside
[15:16] calculated the exact national burden of
this expansion. Their peer-reviewed
[15:21] model estimated that data centers air
pollution will contribute directly
[15:25] to,300 premature deaths every single
year in the US by 2030. Furthermore, a
[15:32] specific regional air input analysis
conducted by Virginia Commonwealth
[15:37] University and the University of
Washington looked at clusters of data
[15:41] centers which is kind of identical to
what we're having happen. We've got one
[15:45] on Latex, one in South Shreport, one
over in Benton right now.
[15:50] They discovered that merely testing
these generators for less than an hour a
[15:55] week creates a public health burden
equivalent equivalent to operating five
[16:00] gas powered gas fired power stations
simultaneously causing a localized spike
[16:05] in chronic respiratory diseases,
strokes, heart attacks, and a definitive
[16:10] baseline of annual premature deaths in
the immediate area. So the study said
[16:17] for every data center, we're looking at
3 to six people that live around that
[16:22] area dying every year. So I know they've
been hanging the carrot and they're
[16:29] talking about all the jobs they're going
to create and they're talking about all
[16:33] the good that these data centers are
going to do, but you've also got to look
[16:37] at what it's going to do to those people
in y'all's areas that are going to be
[16:42] forced to live close to these things. I
mean three to six people per data
[16:46] center. It's a lot of people that are
dying because of the data center.
[16:53] Okay. Another good study is health
implications of the rapid rise of data
[16:57] centers in Virginia. An exploratory
assessment by George Mason University.
[17:02] This was done in Virginia and it pretty
much outlined all this stuff and I gave
[17:09] y'all that that's at the back because I
know some commissioners might have gone
[17:13] to Virginia possibly to look at them and
I know some people said that the people
[17:19] around there really liked them, but this
study seems to show that they don't like
[17:24] them. So, I I just want you guys to do
your homework on this. And I know that
[17:33] there's a huge push to do planning and
zoning. I don't think that's going to
[17:36] fix the problem. But there are things
that y'all can do with your police
[17:41] powers through ordinances that don't I
know it gets kind of technical if you
[17:46] don't have planning and zoning. It's
real hard for you to use the police
[17:50] powers if you're doing anything with
planning and zoning, saying they can't
[17:54] go here or over here or this far from
this place. I know there's a lot of case
[17:58] precedent that says that won't work, but
you could establish environmental
[18:03] committees right now to slow down these
data centers rollouts while while they
[18:09] conduct footprint and quiet studies.
Doing these environmental committees,
[18:13] it'll slow them down. You can halt all
financial and tax incentive pilot
[18:18] programs. Like we we shouldn't be giving
them money. Like that's that's
[18:24] ridiculous. And then your your best one
is probably your nuisance ordinances.
[18:29] Chapter 30. You can define nuisance to
include excessive heat, noise, the
[18:36] 24hour 24/7 low frequency hum of cooling
fans
[18:41] or you and you can also do emissions.
So, I mean, y'all can use y'all got
[18:47] tools that you're
that y'all can use to try to combat
[18:51] this, but I don't really think you're
going to be able to do it with planning
[18:57] and zoning. I just don't think it's
going to be quick enough.
[18:59] » All right. Thank you. Thank you very
much, uh, Mr. Brown. Uh, your 15 minutes
[19:03] up. Uh, we you don't have to leave now.
There may be commissioners that have a
[19:07] question, uh, for you. Uh, Commissioner
Victor Thomas is on the board.
[19:11] » Thank you, Mr. President. Um, thank you,
Mr. for coming and visiting with us
[19:15] today and thank you for your service
thus far on the PCC. So, um really want
[19:19] to applaud you guys for that.
>> Um I I really like you I thank you for
[19:24] your presentation.
>> Yes, sir.
[19:25] » Um I wanted to um hit on a few points
that you mentioned. Um I know you kind
[19:30] of talked about the conversation around
planning and zoning um kind of around
[19:35] how you know our desire is to um settle
this. Um you also mentioned um that we
[19:41] haven't really done much with that for
six years now. Um I think it is
[19:46] important that we address um the f the
file mau zone. Um you know thank you all
[19:51] to the cattle alliance for your efforts
in crafting that. Um representation is
[19:56] important. Um what I heard you say
though to me still seems like there's
[20:01] still no representation in real zones.
>> Well, there is.
[20:04] » I didn't I'm talking I didn't interrupt
you.
[20:07] » Yes, sir. um uh there's still no
representation in rural zones. So to me
[20:13] to come to us as this body and to say
that you don't trust us to do it when we
[20:19] haven't entrusted you and others to to
serve on the PCC. We don't need an
[20:24] environmental committee. We have a
parish zone and a planning commission.
[20:27] Um so to say that you don't trust us to
do this when that's literally what you
[20:33] guys serve on that planning zoning
commission for. um you have stood before
[20:37] this body and your word said that y'all
are spot zoning and just throwing stuff
[20:42] up and coming off the wind case by case.
Why would we not endure to have a model
[20:48] um a model plan in place? Um not only
that, um as it comes to House Bill 9697,
[20:55] you guys successfully lobbyed and got
that passed. That's where the ball
[20:59] dropped after that and we it's now time
for us to get that in in in in place.
[21:04] You said that it will take about a year
and a half. My question is when are we
[21:07] going to get started? Um your your role
on the PCC is not to compile this. I
[21:13] would love to see one of these on how we
can get planning and zoning done. Um I
[21:17] hopefully we can get something compiled
before January. Um because that doesn't
[21:22] make sense to invest the time in this
and data centers. We didn't appoint you
[21:26] guys to the health and and um and and
public aware awareness zone. You're
[21:31] there for planning and zoning. research
that and please do some homework on that
[21:35] so we can get this done. Um, six years
behind is something that I don't think
[21:39] is appropriate. I don't think it's I
don't think that any 12 of us can go and
[21:43] ask voters to go and reelect them if we
do not get this done. That's how
[21:48] important it is for me and it should be
important to you all as well on the
[21:52] planning zone um on the planning and
zoning commission. Um, we have
[21:55] committees for these. I wish that this
could have been a conversation that we
[21:58] could have had in our rural planning
zoning commission or we have an upcoming
[22:02] special projects meeting for that where
we can have that discussion. Um, I I
[22:07] think that's a thing that we need and we
entrust you all to be able to help us to
[22:12] go and speak to those people in the
rural communities so that they can be a
[22:15] part of how we dis how we discuss it,
how we plan, and how we implement it
[22:19] because they're going to be the ones to
let us know when we cross the line
[22:23] between protections and when we cross
the line between persecution and and
[22:27] what they feel is lording over them and
things like that. we shouldn't have to
[22:31] twist um police law and law law powers
to try to do what we can effectively do
[22:37] through the planning and zoning
commission. Um, I think it was kind of
[22:41] this is a prime example of why we didn't
need to send a resolution to the PTC
[22:46] because to me that's the equivalent of
sending a text message to y'all to text
[22:50] us back some some recommendations so we
can text you back an approval to do it
[22:54] when we can literally just all do our
jobs and sit here and plan and get this
[22:58] taken care of and get this done. Um I
I'm it's sad that you don't trust this
[23:03] board because we have given trust to you
all to be able to help carry out this
[23:06] mission and I hope that we can restore
that trust and that we can try to get
[23:09] this done hopefully once again like I
said before January. Um these are some
[23:13] things that I I don't like but this
shouldn't be our focus right here. We
[23:18] should be focused on putting protections
in so that if um these studies, these
[23:22] observations, these exploratory uh this
exploratory information comes true,
[23:27] we'll we'll be able to protect our
citizens in the future. Thank you, Mr.
[23:30] President, and thank you, Mr. Brown.
>> Thank you for your remarks,
[23:33] Commissioner. Um, the chair recognizes
Commissioner John Paul Young.
[23:37] » Thank you, Mr. President. Thanks for
being here, Jake. I appreciate your
[23:40] research.
uh the one one very very superficial
[23:45] fact that you shared with us was that
this groundbre breaking study about I
[23:49] think it's the heat island effect came
out in March of this year just like
[23:54] » you know a long time after we got sped
through a vote about data centers in the
[23:59] first place. So uh information seems to
be coming fast and uh very little of it
[24:05] was you know uh available to our
awareness um when we voted about data
[24:11] centers in the first place. Um I also
want to thank you for all your work on
[24:15] the PCC. I know that you have done a lot
of work uh for identifying things that
[24:20] needed to be changed in the code and I
know that we have not made any changes
[24:23] to the code
>> according to that. Yeah. Well, we y'all
[24:26] y'all control the purse. So, right.
>> I mean, at the end of the day, the MPC
[24:30] is only funded to do the cases. So,
until we get that ironed out, and I have
[24:36] come in
>> prior to this meeting, like multiple
[24:40] times
>> to try to get funding for master plan to
[24:45] fix the five mile zone. This isn't
something I mean when I was president
[24:50] for the last two years
we had a committee and we actually went
[24:55] through and fixed all the codes. I can
give that to you right now. But the
[24:58] problem is it doesn't fit with the
master plan. So we can't really fix the
[25:04] codes until we fix the master plan.
We're just putting a mandate on it.
[25:09] Well, it's the UDC that there's a plan.
The master That's what I think there's
[25:13] confusion. The master plan says how
we're going to do stuff for the next 30
[25:18] years or 20 years. And then out of that
master plan becomes a UDC. Those are the
[25:23] codes that govern our private property.
And and that's the problem. We keep just
[25:30] barely fixing the codes. And Mr. Jean,
the director, now we've got one that
[25:34] where we fix the parking. It's coming up
soon. You know, y'all are going to get
[25:37] to see it and and possibly vote on it,
you know, if it goes through. But we're
[25:42] trying to at least give us what
Shreport's got. Shreport fixed their
[25:45] codes. We We haven't We haven't done the
master plan. And the MPC doesn't have
[25:51] the funding to do that unless y'all give
the funding to them. And that's the
[25:56] problem. Like we're kind of at a
stalemate. I can only fix it on a case-
[26:00] by case basis because that's what
they're paid to do. Could you um could
[26:05] you tell us what you think um would be
the characteristics of a master plan
[26:09] that would be um acceptable and uh
welcomed by people who are both in the
[26:16] five mile and in the unzoneed parts of
the parish?
[26:19] » I mean I think it would be like we have
like at the time we had like 30
[26:24] different zones. We luckily took out a
whole bunch of them. We had city zones
[26:28] like zones for Shreveport and that our
master plan for the five mile zone to
[26:34] where we have no city. So I mean that's
the thing there's so many different
[26:39] there's R1, there's R3, there's R5,
there's R seven, there's R12, you know,
[26:45] there's RA, we have the residential
broken up, there's RE. It's broken up
[26:50] into like 15 segments. And that's the
problem. Like it just needs to be
[26:54] simple. just needs to be a few, you
know, and that's what we were doing, but
[26:59] they don't the MPC can't do it without
the funding. There's only so much we can
[27:04] do as appointed board members without
them having the funding to do it, you
[27:09] know, or getting and it takes a lot of
time to do I mean, you're going to see
[27:13] when you look over the parking space
just to trade, just to change that
[27:18] parking spaces aren't required for
business, which we've had things fail
[27:24] like there was that grocery store that
was over there by Northwood High School
[27:28] that Blanchard didn't annexed it, you
know, to because the parking space
[27:33] issue, you know, and we're fixing that,
but like Stephen Gene and them have to
[27:37] go through that code and change it
everywhere. I mean, it's a ton of stuff
[27:40] to do. I mean, because it's mentioned
everywhere. So, I mean, that's kind of
[27:44] where we're at right now is
we need funding for them so that we can
[27:48] fix it. And I think we can do it
internally, but like they need more
[27:52] funding so that they can have people
that are just doing that. You know, you
[27:54] got to change the whole map. All those
zones have to be changed. I mean, it's
[27:58] just it's a ton of stuff and it just
needs to be shrunk. Like, you need to
[28:03] have an RA zone. you maybe you just need
to have like an R1 that's residential
[28:08] single family that doesn't allow
multiple structures but the majority of
[28:12] people are going to be RA unless there's
a subdivision.
[28:14] » Mr. Brown, I appreciate your additional
comments but you know in the interest of
[28:18] time I think Commissioner Kman was on
the board that I see you came back down.
[28:22] Do you
>> still wish to Okay, so
[28:25] » Oh, may I finish up Mr. President?
>> Right. But kind of keep it because it's
[28:31] it's getting into it short. So, it looks
like my clock is still running. So, I
[28:37] have two minutes left on the floor. I'll
try to be brief.
[28:39] » No, I'm not I'm not trying to restrict
you.
[28:40] » I understand.
>> Okay.
[28:42] » Um, so I just want to again thank you
for your comments.
[28:45] » Yes, sir.
>> Um, I want to thank you for uh your
[28:48] input about uh having a committee to
study this for our benefit in particular
[28:53] and that's something we can talk about
more in the future. And um I especially
[28:57] want to thank you for this uh really
thorough scientific information which
[29:02] looks uh you know like better better
information than I've seen. I I don't
[29:08] want to speak for other commissioners
but I would wager uh most of us have
[29:11] seen about uh data centers and um thank
you so much for sharing your time with
[29:16] us today.
>> Thank you Commissioner. Thank you Mr.
[29:18] President.
>> Thank you. Thank you uh Commissioner. Uh
[29:20] let's see. Uh let's go to to
Commissioner Bere because you've been up
[29:25] before. The chair recognizes
Commissioner Ber.
[29:30] » Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. Brown,
glad to see you here. I guess I don't
[29:34] know it's the first time meeting you,
but you took on quite a responsibility
[29:40] for this PCZ.
Uh
[29:45] I've been around uh government for quite
a while and I've uh at different levels
[29:50] and and I know that certain legislation
affect certain projects. My question to
[29:56] you and and uh this may be uh for my own
edification and education is that uh
[30:04] most of these data center projects
are more controlled and affected by
[30:12] state and federal laws
more so than local laws is is the way I
[30:18] understand it.
And uh these studies are good because I
[30:23] am a study person.
I I like to read studies,
[30:28] but shouldn't these studies be directed
toward our state and national figures,
[30:36] officials who are basically stuffing
down our throats a lot of the
[30:43] legislation that says that you cannot
stop these things um that this this
[30:48] private sector development uh for
whatever reason. And when it gets to us
[30:54] as local officials, then we have to
figure out how we can circumvent the
[30:59] laws and the legislation that they've
put in place,
[31:02] » right?
>> Uh that really hamstring us.
[31:06] » And let me tell you, it does hamstring
us. It bring me back to to an issue that
[31:12] I dealt with 12 years when I was in the
legislature and that's having to do with
[31:16] council Alli and the
environmental effect that it had on
[31:22] people and still having on people down
there who are still getting uh getting
[31:28] cancer generations after generation. But
yet
[31:34] there are those studies that are there
but nothing is done because the local
[31:38] folks either cannot do anything about it
or they don't do anything about it.
[31:43] » I see that same scenario right here. So
I'm I'm saying that to say this. Maybe
[31:51] we should take these studies
and talk to our state and federal
[31:57] officials. Yeah, I do agree with you on
>> before they get to us. And I like to see
[32:03] people protesting around their
doorsteps,
[32:06] » right,
>> first and to to to get some some some
[32:10] push back and see where they are on it
because again, a lot of this stuff is
[32:14] stuffed down our throats to the to the
to the extent that
[32:23] our hands sometimes are almost tied to
do certain things. and the citizens
[32:28] think that we can work miracles on a
local level when we're already tied up
[32:32] at the state and and national level. So,
I would like to see um uh more
[32:38] discussion and more fight
levels. I I do not agree with the way
[32:45] Baton Rouge has been handling all this
and I think it's not good what they're
[32:49] doing, but like
>> if you can do something to help your
[32:55] people, like shouldn't you like that?
That's all I'm saying. You know, you
[32:59] know what I mean? I mean, and I know
they're putting roadblocks up and it's
[33:02] » all politics is local.
>> Yeah. Exactly.
[33:04] » The same people that vote for us vote
for them.
[33:07] » Yeah.
>> And maybe we should be on their
[33:09] doorsteps. Maybe we should have signs in
their faces.
[33:12] » Yeah.
>> Maybe we should be waving our flags with
[33:16] these studies and say, "Look, it's
killing us."
[33:18] » Yeah.
>> And can you do something so they can
[33:22] help local people, local
>> Yes, sir.
[33:25] » legislators to try to help you at this
level.
[33:29] » Thank you, Mr. President.
>> Thank you for your remarks, Commissioner
[33:32] Burrell. Uh, the chair recognizes for a
second time, Commissioner, Victor
[33:35] Thomas.
>> Thank you, Mr. President. Um and I I
[33:38] apologize earlier in my comments because
um I do want to make sure I recognize
[33:41] the fact that you did come before us. I
remember my first time meeting you um in
[33:46] a committee in which we spoke with you
and Miss Laura Newbert and you did
[33:50] present some um you guys did a great job
of going through and presenting some um
[33:54] changes that you thought would be
beneficial um just even on a you know an
[33:58] immediate level at that time. Um and I
remember the momentum behind that and I
[34:02] you know want to let remind you that the
why that momentum stalled. Um when we
[34:07] initiated trying to split the cost of
the of the master plan with the city of
[34:11] Shreport um we had colleagues who um
instead of trying to figure that out
[34:16] they much rather us defund MPC and break
away from MPC alto together. So that's
[34:21] why that stalled and why once again we
have kicked the can and not done a
[34:26] master plan. Um, like you stated
earlier, master plan, it it puts into
[34:30] place how we'll do this for the next 20,
30 years. And I think that's important.
[34:34] And I I hope that you can recognize
that. I say this because this body has
[34:39] the desire to get this this problem
fixed, not just put a band-aid on it. In
[34:43] 20, 30 years, we can't say who or what a
commission body will have the desire to
[34:48] do. But while we have a chance to do
something, we can do so. Um, you say
[34:53] it's going to take time, we've wasted
six years. like we we need to get this
[34:58] process started. We need to get this
process on the on the on the ball and we
[35:02] need a thorough update what you did in
2023. Let's let's have it thorough.
[35:06] Let's expand it so that you can do the
research on how we can get a master plan
[35:10] done. That's what's important to me. Um
it's important for me for us to protect
[35:14] the people. Um like you said, um there
are some people just as many people that
[35:18] don't like data centers. There are
people that are welcoming this this new
[35:22] change in our economic landscape right
now. And um even while they are like it,
[35:27] while they want to do it, we still have
a duty to protect them. Um even if it's
[35:31] something as simple as us just putting
in a permitting process for industrial
[35:34] permits, that at least gives us a voice
because like Commissioner Burrell said,
[35:39] these things are happening well above
local and sometimes even state level. So
[35:44] let's do what we can do. Let's do what
we are charged to do. Let's do what we
[35:48] all took oaths to do and let's work on
what we can work on here. We don't have
[35:52] to manipulate and twist law powers. We
can actually put a plan in place so that
[35:57] for the next 20 to 30 years, people are
protected. People have something to
[36:00] follow. You as a PCC has a document that
you can refer to so that you all can
[36:05] make decisions that are equitable and
that are not just on a case-byase basis
[36:09] where we're doing it for her, but we're
not doing it for him because enough
[36:13] people came and said they didn't like
it. So, we're going to take that
[36:15] pressure. No, we'll put that in place
and so the next 20, 30 years, cattle
[36:19] pair citizens can be protected.
Thank you.
[36:22] » Thank you.
>> Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner
[36:24] Kraken,
[36:28] » what's up, Jake?
>> Hey, Mr. Krakman. Appreciate you coming
[36:31] down and I appreciate the study. Uh,
especially peer-reviewed study. Uh, that
[36:36] means it wasn't just put together by Tik
Tok conspiracy theorist. So, uh,
[36:41] definitely be reading that.
So, uh, more or less what what we're
[36:47] saying is is that we would appreciate
mitigations in the rural areas, uh,
[36:54] sound, light, things such as that as far
as our nuisance codes go, and we could
[36:59] follow and abide by that. And that would
be a great compromise to the people not
[37:04] wanting zoning because you have the
citizens that that don't want zoning,
[37:07] but they do want protection from
industries, you know, no different than
[37:11] a frack unit or a pump jack or something
like that. U which protections have been
[37:17] provided. Now, I I don't disagree uh
with my other colleagues saying that
[37:24] this should be taken to a state national
level. That that's for certain. And um
[37:29] and I certainly don't want to make it,
you know, a political thing where, you
[37:33] know, I think everybody assumes that we
should go the same route as our
[37:38] president and governor and all of this
and and the truth is is most of us are
[37:42] just trying to look at it from a common
sense perspective and and protect our
[37:46] citizens, albeit few.
Um but the five mile boundary issues
[37:54] um have been around for six years. they
do need to be whittleled down and and I
[37:59] do think that that needs to be fixed and
I I believe what was proposed and I
[38:04] can't remember if it was myself or uh
Commissioner John Paul Young
[38:10] uh that wanted to take funding from the
MPC to fund the master plan, a new
[38:16] master plan, not completely defund them,
but to help afford us the opportunity to
[38:20] jump on board with either the Shreport
initiative of or our own. And what we
[38:26] all had kind of agreed to at that point
was kind of a gentleman's agreement to
[38:31] see if
u now director Jean would be willing to
[38:37] put in the work or if he would you know
rather have us u sublet it to a
[38:44] different company. So that's a question
that we haven't asked yet. Of course,
[38:47] you know, we still got plenty of time
this year for budgeting, but we need to
[38:52] fix the five mile radius, the buffer
zone, and we need to talk about
[38:57] mitigations
around new industries. And uh like you,
[39:02] my understanding is is that there's 300
acres on 169 and latex that has been
[39:10] consumed by Invery to build a natural
gas power plant. Uh I learned that today
[39:16] right before walking in here. And so
that's going to be a big deal. Uh that
[39:20] that's a that would be a power plant
twice the size of the one off of uh what
[39:25] is that? North common.
>> Mhm.
[39:27] » And so
presumably to power the data centers and
[39:32] return some energy to a know that they
have a statewide deal for I think it was
[39:36] like $4 billion or something like that
working with one another. And so we
[39:41] have, you know, yet another big industry
that's going to go up adjacent to that
[39:44] one. And we don't have very many
mitigations aside from what the EPA and
[39:48] the DEEQ have.
>> And so I appreciate you separating the
[39:52] two issues for us and uh and giving us a
lot of experienced fact-based
[39:57] information. Looks like I'm the last one
on the board. So if you have I got three
[40:02] minutes if if you want to close out with
anything. Yeah, I'll yield to you.
[40:07] Yeah, I would just I know there's been
some division on the board, but I I just
[40:12] want to see y'all come together on this
so that and yes, we are we do need to
[40:16] talk to Baton Rouge also, but come
together to try to
[40:22] » Yes. in Congress to try to fix this, you
know, and even if it's just some chapter
[40:29] 30 nuisance and some environmental
committees to just slow it down, you
[40:36] know, I mean, it could buy you time if
you're planning on trying to do a master
[40:41] plan in the rural area, you know, but I
mean, you've got to get something on the
[40:45] board because they're coming and they're
coming fast and I just we're not in a
[40:51] spot
to stop it right now. We don't have
[40:54] anything to. And that's why I just want
to see y'all work together as a group to
[41:00] try to see if we can get this fixed, you
know, cuz I feel sorry for the people
[41:04] that are going to live next to these
things. So, it's just not going to be
[41:07] good.
And thank y'all.
[41:09] » All right. Thank you. Hold on just one
second. Yes, sir.
[41:12] » It's been brought to my attention that I
were very learned attorney. I would like
[41:15] to
>> not not
[41:20] Okay. Uh I would just like to say that
um
[41:26] just to kind of clarify something.
>> Yes sir.
[41:28] » As as a researcher myself um
[41:35] I think it's important um that we
understand what the concept of peer
[41:38] review really means.
Peer review simply means that it's been
[41:43] reviewed by the peers of the researcher.
other researchers in that particular
[41:49] field have also uh reviewed it. It
doesn't mean that simply because
[41:54] something is peer-reviewed that the
peers agree with it. I I think that's
[41:59] important to point out. Now I haven't
read uh the study so I'm not here to say
[42:04] whether or not uh the peers agree with
uh the analysis or the conclusions in
[42:09] the study but I think that needs to be
made very very clear. peer review does
[42:14] not mean peer approved.
Um, also I think it's important
[42:21] at least from my point of view that when
I decided to uh run for this office, I
[42:26] had three priorities and three
priorities alone. Public safety,
[42:30] economic development, and quality of
life. These particular areas of concern
[42:35] are not mutually exclusive.
They should complement one another. And
[42:40] as I talked about several weeks ago, um
you know, as a very young man, 21, 22
[42:48] years old, I lived uh in the one park
area and Came was right next door to me
[42:54] and my first child was born and I recall
very vividly explosions going off in the
[43:01] middle of the night, knocking us out of
the bed. And we have literally thousands
[43:05] of people who live in relative proximity
of calimit in this community. And of
[43:11] course we have hundreds of thousands of
people in this area that are impacted
[43:15] um by the very very hazardous
carcinogens that are put out every day
[43:20] by calimett. If anybody ever heard of
benzene, they know what I'm talking
[43:24] about. It's one of the most dangerous or
cancercausing elements in the world. I
[43:29] just think we ought to be careful. But I
do I do think that as we approach
[43:33] economic development
and and it is very important economic
[43:38] development.
I think it's the reason why most people
[43:41] are leaving our community is because of
a lack of economic development. But at
[43:44] the same time we do have to uh
responsibly
[43:50] assess
economic development in terms of safety,
[43:54] public safety. I think that's very
important and I think that's what
[43:58] everybody's trying to speak to. as to
how safe this is.
[44:03] I just think that it's rather precarious
and irresponsible to only focus on one
[44:08] industry. The reason why we put up with
all this fracking, with all this
[44:14] drilling these holes in the earth, I
mean, have we ever had earthquakes in
[44:18] this area before? Mm-m. I just think
that
[44:23] the reason why we put up with all that,
all this with fracking and all this
[44:27] explor oil exploration, it's because of
the economic impact. There are a myriad
[44:33] of jobs. Um I think one of my peers who
sit up here has a job that probably
[44:40] wouldn't exist if it were not for
Calumet.
[44:43] And so the economic impact of the
prochemical industry is widely known. I
[44:49] mean it produces trillions of dollars
every year to the global economy. We see
[44:54] what's happening to the global economy
just just by the slowing down of um of
[45:00] oil exploration and oil transportation
through the port of Humus. And so even
[45:07] though this is dangerous, I think that
we need to weigh its dangers
[45:14] in comparison to the economic impact.
And I'll just close with this and I
[45:18] would invite anybody to to Google this
and Google anything that I say. Just
[45:24] don't misrepresent what I say.
The richest county in the United States
[45:29] of America.
I want to make sure I don't tear the
[45:33] name up.
[45:37] Is a county by the name of Lden County.
It's in Virginia. Let me just read you
[45:42] something real quick.
In Laden County, there are 250
[45:46] operational developing data centers.
It's affectionately known as data center
[45:53] alley. It has the largest concentration
of data centers on the planet. On the
[45:59] planet, richest county in America. This
is the income.
[46:06] Excuse me.
The medium income there
[46:11] is between $150
to $175,000 a year.
[46:20] When we were in Virginia, we were
informed that the minimum wage because
[46:25] of the cost of living there is $100,000.
That's what they start them out with at
[46:28] data centers. And so I can really
appreciate the concern because I know
[46:34] the concern is real that people have for
data centers.
[46:38] But what you have to also understand,
it's not that I'm not listening to them
[46:44] to their complaints about the prospects
of the data center. But you have to
[46:48] understand why I'm here. I'm here
because when the power goes out in the
[46:55] dead of summer, that little baby is in
that bedroom crying because they're hot
[47:00] and sweating in that house because their
mama or their daddy can't buy a backup
[47:05] generator.
I'm here because this lady is having to
[47:11] live with her family in a roachinfested
house in dilapidated housing and there
[47:17] are no jobs there. that's no way that
she can enjoy social mobility. I'm here
[47:22] for people who really want a high
standard of living. And so that's what I
[47:27] have to that's what I have to consider
when I think about data centers versus
[47:31] the public hazards that may accompany
it. And for me, as someone who's been
[47:36] researching this, ever since I was first
introduced to it back in November of
[47:40] last year, the jury is still out. The
jury is still out. One thing we do know
[47:46] and most of most reasonable people can
agree to and that is the prochemical
[47:51] industry is very very dangerous and very
very hazardous to all of us. Why do we
[47:56] put up with it? Because we're not
willing to park our cars. We're not
[47:59] willing to do away with our air
conditioners. And and the only thing I
[48:03] and I never said anybody should throw
away their cell phones or staff for
[48:06] their cell phones. What I'm saying is
that data centers are a reality in our
[48:10] lives because there is a demand for data
centers. I think it's ironic that the
[48:16] very same people who do all the
protesting and that is within their
[48:20] right to protest. I'm all for protest.
I'm all for expressing disagreement with
[48:26] government. Anybody who follow me, they
know that I'm not I'm not ashamed and
[48:30] I'm not constrained in terms of my
criticism about government. But my
[48:34] problem is be consistent.
Be consistent. You can't stay off of
[48:39] social media
barking at data centers. That's just too
[48:44] ironic to me. If you stay off of social
media, maybe there wouldn't be such a
[48:48] demand for data centers. But I digress.
I really appreciate you coming forward.
[48:53] Um I I I didn't think that this would
continue to be a discussion or debate
[48:57] almost a year after this idea was first
introduced to this community, but uh I'm
[49:02] I imagine that it it's not going to end
today. But I do appreciate you coming uh
[49:06] before uh here. I know that on occasion
you sit behind here with the PCC and I
[49:11] do appreciate the work you've been
doing. Thank you very much for coming,
[49:14] Mr.
>> Thank you, Mr. Brown.
[49:16] » All right. Uh let's see. Before we move
to our next guest, uh I just want to
[49:20] take this opportunity uh to bring a
little bit more levity to um our uh
[49:25] meeting. Uh that beautiful young lady uh
with the blue jean jacket and with the
[49:29] yellow shirt on is arguably inarguably
one of my favorite people on the whole
[49:35] wide world. And if you guess she kind of
look like me. Uh that is my middle
[49:40] daughter. Um, I love her. I would I
would die for her. Uh, give her a
[49:45] kidney. Uh, she's someone that I I tell
you, I I would paint the sky if I could
[49:49] for her. And I'm just so happy uh that
she's here today in the audience. Will
[49:53] you please stand?
[49:59] » Just just give her more money. She'll be
happy.
[50:02] » Well, thank you so much, Torculin. And
also, she's the mother of my grand my
[50:05] grandchild. So, hey, y'all y'all y'all
let me out of this moment. Okay. Uh now
[50:11] at this time I want to invite um one of
my um very very uh distinguished uh
[50:16] constituents uh who would like to come
up and make a presentation. Mr. Irma
[50:20] Rogers
[50:43] Good afternoon.
>> Afternoon,
[50:45] » President Young, Vice President Thomas,
other commissioners, Mrs. Erica Bryant,
[50:51] and staff. Thank you for this time.
The folders that you're receiving right
[50:57] now
will have a copy of the bellshaped curve
[51:04] in its simplicity,
not in its standard form for statistics
[51:10] for what I attempt to present to you
today. And also a copy of school
[51:15] closures, a condensed version of what
happens to black and brown communities
[51:22] from school closures.
[51:26] Does everybody have a folder?
[51:31] Thank you.
If you look at the bellshaped curve in
[51:36] your folder
and you'll notice
[51:41] at the very far left
you see excellent performance above
[51:46] expectations in the middle meets
expectations and on the right side below
[51:52] expectations serious underperformance.
This curve has been the standard for
[51:57] over a hundred years.
concerning education
[52:02] and looking at what our children are
being asked to do. Now, I bring this up
[52:07] because in 2021, the MLKCDC instituted
summer basics program and we do receive
[52:14] funds from this body to help us with our
tutors and summer basics and other
[52:20] programs that we run in terms of
education.
[52:23] So now
none of our schools were like F
[52:29] with the last reading. Now there are
some new scores going to be coming out,
[52:33] but all of our schools came up at least
to a D status. Uh, one high school,
[52:39] Green Oaks, is B. Not only are they B,
they scored in the top 50 of high
[52:46] schools in the United States for CLIP,
the college level entry program test.
[52:52] they scored at that level last year.
This was reported in November.
[52:59] So, I wanted to bring that up to just
let you know how hard we try to work
[53:03] with our schools after instituting
summer basics where we put in place and
[53:10] we had a full month at that time in
2021. Since that time, we've not had
[53:15] that because the school board takes the
first couple of weeks of June to run
[53:19] summer programming. So we have to take
the last couple of weeks. So we only
[53:23] have about nine to 10 days to run it
now. Okay.
[53:27] But the state superintendent Dr. Kate
Bramley reported 2023 when he came to
[53:31] St. Mary College here and I was in
attendance that Louisiana has come up
[53:36] from the bottom from 49. We were up to
42 and I think we up to like 38 now or
[53:41] 32. I don't know the most current but we
came up to like 42 in a couple of years.
[53:47] He said this was based on going back to
the basics, teaching phonics, not the
[53:52] phonics of the 40s and the 50s, but what
we did in the 80s and the 90s that
[53:57] helped to gradually bring these up. My
question to him at that time, February
[54:02] 2023, was are you going to mandate this
for all of our parishes? His answer is
[54:10] no, they cannot. Each local school board
governs what goes on in that parish. And
[54:18] the same about mathematics. Going back
to the old 100 fact
[54:25] pages that we use for students, 100
problems and teaching the basic facts,
[54:31] those kinds of things. But just just to
put into focus what's happened within
[54:38] our communities, let me name for you the
schools that have closed in the past 20
[54:44] plus years. Jack P. Timmons, Ingresol,
Union Street, Pier Avenue, also known as
[54:51] George P. Hendricks, Laurel Street,
Central Elementary, West Shreport
[54:55] Elementary, Newton Smith, Stona Hill,
Hillsdale, Queensboro, Sunset Acres,
[55:02] Warner Park, Fair Park, 81st Street, and
Blanchard. Repurposed Laneir North Side.
[55:10] North Side is now inside of Lenir
School, Bthoon Oak Park, and Morttown
[55:18] really is at an impass right now. that's
supposed to be turned over for another
[55:22] housing project. At any rate, all of
these schools total up 19 schools and
[55:28] these are primarily within the black and
brown communities.
[55:32] This sheet will tell you what happens
when you close the schools in our black
[55:38] and brown communities. It means getting
up so early.
[55:43] It means not being able to stay for
tutoring because your bus is going to be
[55:47] so late. you might not get home until
after 6:00 in the evening and then you
[55:51] have to get food and rest and get up the
next day and do it all over again. So I
[55:56] wanted to call that to your attention
and just to make you aware that with
[56:02] them moving we reached the targets got
all the schools up at least out of F
[56:07] category some to B Category etc. And
then now students are being able being
[56:14] asked to do mastery and advance. It's as
if the center of this curve where you
[56:22] see most of the students even if you
think back when you were in school how
[56:26] many children were in your class of say
25 or 30 students that were all A and B.
[56:31] Were they all A and B students? I don't
think so. Even in college, you can
[56:38] graduate with a college degree with a C
average.
[56:43] So, think about what Bessie and the
State Department is asking us to do.
[56:51] My reason for bringing it to this this
commission is if possible,
[56:58] please call this to the attention of the
Bessie board and any of our state
[57:02] education department persons that you
might know or our state legislators
[57:07] because where will it end? You want
everybody to be an A student.
[57:13] This whole world is not designed like
that. By and large, if you look at it,
[57:21] most people fall within the C or average
range.
[57:26] You have a few people who are
exceptional. You have a few people who
[57:31] really need special needs services, but
everyone is not A and B.
[57:37] So, you're asking teachers to teach and
to do things with not one hand, now with
[57:42] two hands tied behind their backs. And
then the resources, many of the
[57:47] resources that were needed within our
schools, our community would help to
[57:53] provide
because they're not presently there. We
[57:58] found this out with the pandemic in
2020.
[58:02] when we saw the digital divide
firsthand. When we had children in my
[58:07] neighborhood sitting in front of the
library just for internet access and not
[58:12] through any fault of their own, one of
the apartment complexes had some kind of
[58:17] a beam that ran up in it that would not
allow
[58:20] the service to come through. So,
children had to learn however best they
[58:26] could learn. So resources are a big
determining factor in what happens in
[58:33] those classrooms. I think I've taken up
enough of your time. Please let me know
[58:37] if you have any questions. You can have
all the information and
[58:43] we are proud of what our teachers have
been doing with the funds that you give
[58:48] us and we give them because they have
made changes. But we're asking them now
[58:55] to make every child an A and B student.
That's why I bought the curve.
[59:00] » Question.
>> Let's see. The chair recognizes
[59:03] Commissioner Ken Eperson.
>> M. Rogers. Have you made this
[59:07] presentation to the school board?
>> No, sir. I I have not. I felt like
[59:12] coming here first because basically my
understanding cat the schools really are
[59:18] part of the parish and you are the
parish commission.
[59:23] Am I correct?
>> Oh, but are you going to make the
[59:26] presentation to the school board? I
think you should.
[59:29] » I can make the presentation, but I
wanted to come here first.
[59:34] » Thank you.
>> Thank Thank you for your question,
[59:36] Commissioner Ken Epson. Um, is there
anyone else has a question? This
[59:42] recognizes Commissioner Robert. Just a
followup uh statement that uh
[59:47] Commissioner Eper said and and your
statement about the school being in the
[59:52] parish. You're right about that, but we
has we have no jurisdiction to
[59:56] understand
over the school board. Now, we we can
[1:00:00] advocate or complain and protest just as
you. But I don't think we have any
[1:00:06] direct authority. I know we don't fund
them. Commission does. Am I correct, Mr.
[1:00:10] President?
>> Yes, sir.
[1:00:11] » So, I just wanted to make that
observation.
[1:00:14] » I understand a lot of their funding
comes from our very tax dollars.
[1:00:18] » Yeah.
[1:00:21] » Yeah. Just one continuation on this.
It's interesting that you would bring
[1:00:26] this because um I had an experience when
I was in the legislature
[1:00:32] uh when we started applying grades to
schools A B C D so forth. So, I thought
[1:00:40] I was uh be smart enough to go and get a
fourth grade and an eighth grade LEAP
[1:00:46] test and take a portion of it from the
fourth grade LEAP test and the eighth
[1:00:52] grade leap test
uh and introduce it to my colleagues
[1:00:59] uh there in the educational on the
educational committee uh to let them
[1:01:03] know that I didn't think that the the
grades that they were applying to school
[1:01:09] really was applicable. So I gave I
decided to
[1:01:15] take a portion of the fourth grade and
the eighth grade LEAP test and give it
[1:01:18] to my colleagues in the legislature.
Don't you know they asked me to leave as
[1:01:24] a legisl as the legislator because when
they looked at it they realized that
[1:01:29] they couldn't fill it out. They could
not u answer the questions. So it it it
[1:01:34] really
to me brought to the forefront that
[1:01:40] sometimes we as public officials
make these rules
[1:01:46] that we have no idea of what's in them.
And and uh I think that was a perfect
[1:01:52] example. I politely got up and walked
out
[1:01:56] uh uh of the committee, but I proved my
point. So again, I I you know, this kind
[1:02:04] of br that back to life for me. Thank
you, Mr. President.
[1:02:08] » Thank you. Thank you for your
observations. Commissioner, uh the chair
[1:02:11] recognizes Commissioner John Atkins.
>> Thank you, Mr. President. Miss Rogers,
[1:02:15] thanks for coming down to visit with us.
Thank you for choosing Cattle Parish
[1:02:19] Commission First to meet with. You're
always welcome to visit with us and we
[1:02:23] were glad to see you today. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[1:02:25] » Thank you. Thank you for that
observation and and that uh that mention
[1:02:29] commissioner. Um I I I too I think it's
important that you came to us today. Oh,
[1:02:34] I apologize. The chair recognizes
Commissioner Ron Cotton.
[1:02:37] » Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. Rogers,
thank you very much for this information
[1:02:41] because as a citizen of Cattle Parish, I
think we've all heard about school
[1:02:47] closures and we've heard different
things about it. But, you know, the
[1:02:50] presentation that you made today uh kind
of solidifies some things that I have
[1:02:54] always thought uh as a former educator.
I have never seen as many schools close
[1:03:02] in a parish county as I have till I came
back home. And the thing about it going
[1:03:10] forward, it's not just Carol Parish
schools. it's elected officials and
[1:03:17] parents must acknowledge what is or
could be going on as well. Uh because
[1:03:24] again every child learns at his or her
own pace. That's the first thing and a
[1:03:28] lot of people forget that uh the kids
you might not be excelling in the first
[1:03:32] grade but you know by the time you get
fifth sixth grade you just take off and
[1:03:35] it happens a whole bunch. So going
forward, I think the most important
[1:03:39] thing is that we just must share this
information throughout our community so
[1:03:43] everybody's on the same sheet of music
or have a opportunity to understand it
[1:03:47] if they choose to. Thank you very much.
>> Thank you.
[1:03:51] » Thank you. And and again, Mr. Rogers, um
your passion for public education is uh
[1:03:56] very well known and really do appreciate
you coming to us today. Look forward to
[1:04:01] uh future presentations that you come to
make to this body. Thank you very much.
[1:04:05] » Thank you for allowing me the time.
Right,
[1:04:09] Mr. Click, where are we?
>> Okay, that uh so just uh for the record,
[1:04:14] I think that was um maybe like kind of a
a president's report item that that we
[1:04:20] took up under visitors. Um so that
brings us back to adopting regular
[1:04:24] session minutes
um where you do have both the regular
[1:04:29] session minutes and the um special
session uh meeting from August 28th.
[1:04:35] » All right. The chair rec well the mo
there's been a motion by commissioner
[1:04:39] Victor Thomas and a second by
commissioner Ron Cland.
[1:04:42] » Thank you Mr. President. I'd like to
make a motion to adopt the minutes of
[1:04:46] the August 20th regular session. The
minutes of the August 28th cattle
[1:04:49] commission special session meeting um
the special resolution section and I'll
[1:04:55] stop right there.
[1:04:59] the whole special
>> the whole special resolution section
[1:05:04] » to include any presentations or any
comments by any commissioners.
[1:05:07] » Okay. So that goes all the way down to
communication.
[1:05:13] » Right. Okay. All right. Um let's see.
Commissioner uh Cochman, would you like
[1:05:19] to speak on that? Are you good?
>> Thank you, Mr. President. I'm good
[1:05:24] because uh yeah, I'm good. Thank you.
>> Uh let's see. The chair recognizes
[1:05:28] Commissioner Ken Eperson.
>> Uh, Mr. President, I'd like for the uh
[1:05:33] special resolution for the Miles family
reunion to be read in the record and
[1:05:37] I'll present it to them in October at
the family reunion which be held in
[1:05:41] Cattle Parish.
>> Okay. Well, just to be clear, you want
[1:05:43] the clerk to read into the record today?
>> Yes. Yes, sir.
[1:05:46] » Okay. Um, would it be appropriate to
read into the record prior to voting on
[1:05:50] it, Mr. Clerk, or should we do the vote
on all of it then? I think it might be
[1:05:54] most appropriate to do the vote first
and then we can read it into the record
[1:05:57] and then do any other presentations at
that point.
[1:06:00] » Okay. Well, thank you. All right. Let's
vote.
[1:06:06] » Thank you all. And that motion carries
unanimously with uh nine in support,
[1:06:10] none in opposition, and three absent. Uh
and at this point, I can um read that uh
[1:06:18] resolution into the record. And I have
it right here.
[1:06:25] Um, as well as, uh, I believe the only
other special resolution that we have,
[1:06:30] uh, is going to be for, uh, some of our
staff members who, uh, may be making
[1:06:35] their way up shortly. Um, but this is
the special resolution for the Miles
[1:06:40] family. Uh and it reads uh whereas the
Cat Parish Commission is pleased to
[1:06:44] recognize the Miles family reunion and
celebrate a family whose enduring bonds,
[1:06:49] cherished traditions, and shared history
have united generations for more than a
[1:06:53] century and where the foundation of this
remarkable family legacy was uh
[1:06:57] strengthened through a loving marriage
established on December 12th, 1912. a
[1:07:02] union characterized by devotion,
perseverance, faith, and unwavering
[1:07:07] determination to build a family rooted
in pride and purpose. Whereas from that
[1:07:11] union came 12 children, seven sons and
five daughters who became anchors,
[1:07:16] teachers, protectors, and sources of
inspiration within the family, carrying
[1:07:21] forward the principles instilled in them
and helping to create a living history
[1:07:25] that continues through their
descendants. Whereas the family
[1:07:29] established a home upon 11.5 acres along
Mount Mount Olive Church Road uh and the
[1:07:35] treasured property has remained within
the family for more than 113 years with
[1:07:40] members of the family continuing to
reside upon the land today. Whereas the
[1:07:44] ancestral homestead stands as a lasting
bridge between past and present, a place
[1:07:50] of comfort, belonging, and remembrance
that continues to welcome family members
[1:07:54] home. Even succeeding generations have
established lives in their communities
[1:07:59] miles away, many miles away. Whereas
through changing times and across
[1:08:04] generations, the Miles family ancestors
and elders have served as mentors, quiet
[1:08:09] supporters, and faithful guardians of
the family, offering boundless love,
[1:08:13] courageous leadership, and unwavering
guidance that have held the family
[1:08:17] together through hardship and triumph.
Whereas the devotion to prayer, service,
[1:08:22] generosity, and mutual care has enriched
not only the lives of their descendants,
[1:08:26] but also the communities in which
members of the Miles family have lived,
[1:08:30] worked, worshiped, and served. Whereas
by passing down invaluable traditions,
[1:08:34] cultural heritage, family stories,
spiritual values, and essential life
[1:08:39] lessons, the elders of the Miles family
created a legacy that continues to
[1:08:43] sustain and inspire each new generation.
And whereas the Miles family reunion
[1:08:47] provides a meaningful opportunity for
relatives to return to their roots,
[1:08:51] honor those who came before them,
strengthen existing relationships,
[1:08:55] welcome younger generations into the
family's living history, and renew the
[1:08:59] commitment to preserving the legacy
entrusted to their care. And whereas the
[1:09:03] Kaparish Commission recognizes that
strong families are essential to strong
[1:09:06] communities and commen commends the
Miles family for preserving the love,
[1:09:10] faith, resilience, and unity that have
remained hallmarks of their family for
[1:09:14] generation. Now therefore, be it
resolved that the Cat Parish Commission
[1:09:18] does hereby recognize and congratulate
the Miles family upon the celebration of
[1:09:22] its family reunion in Kado Parish from
October 9th to October 11th, 2026 and
[1:09:28] extends its sincere wishes for a joyous
and memorable gathering filled with
[1:09:32] fellowship, reflection, gratitude, and
renewed family bonds. Be it for the
[1:09:36] resolve that the cutter commission
honors the memory and sacrifices of the
[1:09:39] Miles family ancestors, celebrates the
generations who continue their legacy,
[1:09:43] and encourages the family to remain
steadfast in preserving its traditions,
[1:09:47] strengthening its connections, and
sharing its remarkable history with
[1:09:51] generations to come.
>> Okay.
[1:09:58] Commissioner um Ken Epson,
>> Mr. President, I wanted to have that
[1:10:02] read in the record today. uh plan to
have uh family members present today.
[1:10:08] However, one of the members uh passed
upon last week and they're going to be
[1:10:12] funeralizing him this Saturday.
>> Uh so they won't be able to attend. So
[1:10:16] that's why I wanted to do that.
>> All right. Thank you.
[1:10:18] » Thank you.
>> Thank you very much. Great job, sir.
[1:10:23] » Okay. Then we have h we have resolution
and appreciation for
[1:10:28] » at this point we have a yeah we are uh
have a resolution of recognition
[1:10:32] honoring Tom Fannon and Charles
Mccclure. If uh Tom and Chucky could
[1:10:36] make their way up that would be great. I
believe they'll be joined by
[1:10:43] Jacobs Paulo and maybe other members of
uh facilities crew might be uh coming as
[1:10:48] well. I'll begin by reading it into the
record. It reads, "Whereas the Cat
[1:10:52] Parish Commission takes great pride in
recognizing those public servants whose
[1:10:57] faithful work, professional expertise,
and personal commitment have contributed
[1:11:01] immeasurably to the effective operations
of parish government. And whereas Tom
[1:11:06] Fannon and Charles Mccclure are retiring
from the Cat Parish facilities and
[1:11:09] maintenance department following
distinguished careers as audiovisisual
[1:11:13] engineers during which they provided
decades of exceptional service to the
[1:11:17] parish of Kado and most especially to
the Kato Parish Commission. Throughout
[1:11:21] their career, Tom and Charles have
worked diligently behind the scenes to
[1:11:24] ensure that the proceedings of the
commission could be her could be clearly
[1:11:28] heard, accurately recorded, reliably
preserved, and made accessible to the
[1:11:33] citizens of Katau Parish. And whereas
their years of service have spanned an
[1:11:37] extraordinary period of technological
transformation in which public meetings
[1:11:42] progressed from traditional microphones,
analog recordings, and limited
[1:11:45] broadcasts to digital audio and video,
internet streaming, video on demand,
[1:11:50] teleconferencing, mobile devices, and
immediate public access across multiple
[1:11:54] platforms. And whereas each advancement
brought new equipment, new expectations,
[1:11:59] and new challenges, requiring Tom and
Charles to continually adapt their
[1:12:03] knowledge, develop innovative solutions,
and respond promptly to the rapidly
[1:12:07] evolving needs of commissioners, parish
employees, and members of the media and
[1:12:11] public. And whereas citizens
increasingly came to expect convenient
[1:12:15] and immediate access to their
government, Tom and Charles played an
[1:12:19] essential role in helping the commission
expand transparency, public
[1:12:22] participation, and accessibility by
ensuring that meetings could reach
[1:12:26] constituents both inside and beyond the
walls of Government Plaza. And whereas
[1:12:30] through countless commission meetings,
committee sessions, public hearings,
[1:12:34] special events, presentations, and
teleconferences, they could be relied
[1:12:38] upon to make certain that microphones
were working, presentations were
[1:12:41] visible, broadcasts were available,
recordings were preserved, and
[1:12:45] unexpected technical difficulties were
resolved. Whereas the success of their
[1:12:50] work was often measured by how
seamlessly each meeting proceeded, yet
[1:12:53] beyond the apparent ease where years of
experience, careful preparation,
[1:12:57] technical skill, patience, and abiding
commitment to getting the job done.
[1:13:03] Whereas Tom and Charles met with the
pressure of live public meetings and
[1:13:06] constant technological challenges with
dependability, good humor, calm
[1:13:10] professionalism, and a willingness to
assist whenever and wherever they were
[1:13:14] needed. And whereas their service
extended far beyond equipment and
[1:13:18] technology, for they became trusted
colleagues and valued members of the
[1:13:22] parish family, whose personalities,
friendship, institutional knowledge, and
[1:13:26] reassuring presence will be deeply
missed. Whereas Tom Fannon and Charles
[1:13:30] Mccclure prepare to begin their
well-earned retirements, the Kat Parish
[1:13:34] Commission desires that they know how
greatly their service has been valued
[1:13:37] and how sincerely their many
contributions are appreciated. Now
[1:13:41] therefore be it resolved that by the
Katy Parish Commission does hereby
[1:13:45] recognize and commend Tom Fannon and
Charles Mccclure for their decades of
[1:13:49] dedicated service as uh with the Cat
Parish facilities and maintenance
[1:13:53] department and for their indispensable
support of the commission and the
[1:13:57] citizens of Kado Parish.
[1:14:09] Click
[1:14:53] Well, as calm and soft spoken as I am,
some of you all get that they still
[1:14:59] decided to let me speak.
You know, it's hard to believe it's been
[1:15:02] this many years. It really is. But as I
look around, there's like three faces,
[1:15:08] maybe four faces I see that were here
when both of us started, which lets me
[1:15:12] know how far we have. I mean, how much
things have changed.
[1:15:16] It's just hard to believe it's been that
many years. It It doesn't seem like it.
[1:15:22] I mean, it's weird. We started in the
courthouse on the fourth floor, which is
[1:15:26] where the commission meeting started
before we moved into here. And this was
[1:15:30] all hightech when we got here. And if
you look at what it was then and what it
[1:15:34] is now, it's two completely different.
But the neat thing is the team has
[1:15:39] stayed pretty well cohesive. I mean,
everybody, it's amazing to me we can
[1:15:44] attract the caliber of people that we do
and hang on to them for as long as we do
[1:15:49] because a normal job, you know, you go,
you don't go somewhere for 25 years
[1:15:53] anymore. You may go two or three and
then you jump somewhere else and, you
[1:15:56] know, it's just unusual that that
happens. And it's
[1:16:02] I don't know. It started after like 15
years, it started feeling like home.
[1:16:06] » And it's which is scary, but that's
just No, I'm out of stuff to say. And I
[1:16:14] said I'd keep it clean.
And I know all the deputies, so they're
[1:16:19] not going to throw me out of here.
>> Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
[1:16:24] » All right. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[1:16:28] It's a bit surreal for us to be on this
side of the cameras, so bear with us.
[1:16:33] But like Tom said, uh, we I started
filming the meetings back in 1997, and I
[1:16:39] know Commissioner Eper remembers. It was
on video cassette tape, fourth floor of
[1:16:43] the courthouse. It's now a courtroom.
Uh, and then Tom and I was talking the
[1:16:48] other day. We calculated that we have
filmed over 1,500 commission meetings in
[1:16:53] our career. episode,
and this is the last one for us. So, we
[1:16:57] thank y'all.
>> All right. Thank you very much.
[1:17:00] Look,
you know, you know what I'm thinking?
[1:17:04] Um,
you know, we we just really start
[1:17:07] getting it uh the the technology right
and now y'all leaving.
[1:17:13] Well, thank you all so much. Um, they
said we're going to kind of go, I guess,
[1:17:17] in a little bit in reverse. um uh your
your CEO uh even though she's not first
[1:17:22] on the board. I know it's only because
she didn't hit on it first, but I I
[1:17:27] think um u my colleagues wouldn't mind
if she went first. Um Madam
[1:17:32] Administrator,
>> yes, thank you. I just wanted to say to
[1:17:36] um Tom and Charles um on behalf of
administration, thank you. Um, you all
[1:17:43] have, I mean, the commissioners may not
know the level of effort and level of
[1:17:46] time you all put into your work, not
just only for commission meetings, but
[1:17:50] what you're doing every day in day in
and day out. I know I've had to speak to
[1:17:54] both of you all at some point and
sometimes during the hours, after hours,
[1:17:58] and you're always available. You are
those unsung heroes that are working
[1:18:02] behind the scenes and people may not
know um the level of work that you're
[1:18:07] doing on behalf of Cattle Parish and
behalf of Cattle Parish citizens. And
[1:18:10] for that I want to um thank you. I want
to wish you the best in your retirement
[1:18:14] and know that we will miss you and
anytime Kettle Parish can be of
[1:18:19] assistance to you, we're right here
ready for so enjoy your retirement.
[1:18:23] Thank you.
[1:18:27] that chair recognizes Commissioner Ken
Everson.
[1:18:31] » U my partner Charles, we go way back to
Brookers on West 85th and Lynwood Avenue
[1:18:40] even before uh you got hired here. Uh I
was starting my community activism out
[1:18:46] there and we worked uh with Brookers as
far as community meetings and
[1:18:52] always had a respect for you. you could
always see your personality
[1:18:58] uh from working there at Brooks. And as
I went on down the road and got hired on
[1:19:03] the commission, uh you came aboard. And
uh Brother Tom, there I didn't realize
[1:19:10] you were so articulate with words. You
quiet, but you you did you did pretty
[1:19:15] good. I'm I'm going to put you on the
public speaking circuit now time. And uh
[1:19:20] I call them the dynamic duo. you know, I
I did things a little different. Uh
[1:19:26] started the community meetings uh out in
the community, brought the entire parish
[1:19:31] government to the communities, and those
two gentlemen was out there to record
[1:19:35] video um community ebony center, Cedar
Grove. Some of you may not know what
[1:19:41] that is. That's the O&P store that Miss
Gloria Harrison bought. And that's where
[1:19:45] we start our first community meetings
out in out in Cedar Grove uh with
[1:19:51] Greenwood, Bethany, everywhere. And you
all were there, the Rose Center always
[1:19:57] with your technology. And we appreciate
you uh so very much. And uh your
[1:20:02] attitudes have been uh you know just
just phenomenal. And if if more
[1:20:07] employees were like you too, gentlemen,
uh we will be even better than we are
[1:20:11] today. And uh once again, if there's
anything I can do, you know, we always
[1:20:17] ask, "How's your wives doing? How's your
families doing?" We know each other like
[1:20:21] that. So feel free to call on me at any
any time. And thank you very much.
[1:20:28] » Thank you, Commissioner. The chair
recognizes Commissioner John.
[1:20:32] » Thank you, Mr. President. Um, Charles
and Tom, I really can't say anything
[1:20:37] different or in addition to what Miss
Bryant said and what Commissioner
[1:20:40] Jefferson said, but we sure have enjoyed
having you all all these years. We hate
[1:20:45] to see you go, but everybody, you
certainly have earned the right to uh to
[1:20:49] explore other avenues and new
adventures. But I'll miss seeing you
[1:20:52] guys as I leave at the end of a meeting
and uh and getting feedback and
[1:20:57] commentary. And that was all part of my
routine. So, I'm going to have to find
[1:21:00] some new some are y'all going to be
y'all going to hang out after meetings.
[1:21:06] But thank you all for all you've done
and uh I I wish you all all the
[1:21:09] happiness and success in your in your
retirements.
[1:21:12] » Thank you, Mr. President.
>> Thank you, Commissioner Atkins. Uh the
[1:21:14] chair recognizes Commissioner Ron Cth.
>> Thank you, Mr. President. I would just
[1:21:19] like to say congratulations to the both
of you all. Even though I wasn't here
[1:21:23] when you started, it's really uh gives
me a very happy feeling seeing the
[1:21:30] amount of time, the amount of effort,
and particularly for those that can go
[1:21:33] back with you all because I'm sure
you've seen a lot of people come and go
[1:21:37] during your particular times. And the
most important thing is that you're able
[1:21:40] to walk out of here and be able to do
some of the things that you've been
[1:21:44] putting off for years. And again, I
thank you for this opportunity. I thank
[1:21:48] for the handshakes, the hells, and the
goodbyes and things of this nature.
[1:21:51] Please don't stop coming by every now
and then. Thank you very much. It's my
[1:21:55] pleasure meeting you both.
>> All right. Thank you, Commissioner.
[1:21:59] Appreciate those remarks. Uh,
Commissioner John Paul Young, the chair
[1:22:02] recognizes you, sir.
>> Thank you, Mr. President.
[1:22:05] Congratulations to both of you. Uh, I'll
miss you. I'll miss the cheerful
[1:22:09] greeting that you always give me when I
sneak in that back door with sometimes
[1:22:14] with butterflies in my stomach about the
meeting or sometimes just, you know,
[1:22:18] walking in and I'll I'll miss saying
goodbye to you when I sneak out early or
[1:22:22] when I leave on time. And uh
>> I know you never you never tell him, but
[1:22:27] you record it all. And the thing that I
always think of when I when I pass by
[1:22:31] you guys is and uh it's like from the
Wizard of Oz when when they say pay no
[1:22:36] attention to the man behind the curtain
because it feels like you know sometimes
[1:22:41] you're in total control of the whole
room. It's like we can't even have a
[1:22:44] meeting if you're not there. So I really
appreciate all the work you've done.
[1:22:47] It's been um it's been a pleasure to get
to know you a little bit and I hope you
[1:22:51] have a wonderful retirement. I hope
you'll stick around in Shreport and Cat
[1:22:56] Parish. But if you decide to, you know,
go somewhere else, I hope you have a
[1:23:00] wonderful journey and a great
retirement. Thank you.
[1:23:03] » Thank you, Commissioner Young. The chair
recognizes Commissioner Victor Thomas.
[1:23:08] » Thank you, um, Mr. President. Um, I'll
speak for the new faces, um, on the
[1:23:12] board. Um, thank you all for
congratulations on your retirement and
[1:23:15] thank you for the work that you guys
have done. um as a millennial I didn't
[1:23:19] know um I I see them all the times but I
wasn't as well verssed about the fact
[1:23:24] that we offer our meetings online and um
I don't think um like Commissioner John
[1:23:28] Paul Young said you know this doesn't
just happen by us it's like literally a
[1:23:32] whole team of individuals um that are
led by you all that produce these
[1:23:36] meetings um you guys did a great job
last Friday and you can produce these
[1:23:39] meetings here or everywhere anywhere um
in the land of Oz wherever we want to do
[1:23:44] them you guys make it happen so um
congratulations on that And um like I
[1:23:48] say um a lot of people and I try to um
bring a lot of attention to that that
[1:23:52] you guys um so dutifully post the
meetings um online that they're
[1:23:55] available for citizens to watch on
there. Um so and I I like to let people
[1:24:00] know that we are a digital, you know,
commission body and you can access us um
[1:24:04] on the website and on the things. So I
know that you guys had a heavy hand in
[1:24:07] making that happen and making it
continue to go. So congratulations. I
[1:24:11] hope the quality doesn't fail now that
y'all are leaving to Commissioner Eris's
[1:24:16] point, but um we know that you guys have
left, you know, blueprint so that
[1:24:19] whoever follows behind are going to be
able to follow and they have some big
[1:24:21] shoes to fill. So, congratulations.
>> Right. Thank you, Commissioner. Uh the
[1:24:26] chair recognizes Commissioner Rob Bell.
>> Thank you, Mr. President. Again, I want
[1:24:31] to congratulate Jaws and uh and Tom on
their retirement.
[1:24:36] I was around when we first came to this
building. We used to uh um I was on the
[1:24:40] city council. I was a part of uh of
helping set up the technology here
[1:24:46] because I was a telecommunication
engineer during that time and on Texas
[1:24:51] Street. We had no uh technology over
there. We just shouted out what we
[1:24:57] needed into the audience. But it but uh
when we set it up over here, it's it's
[1:25:02] it's a lot better than it was when we
started. So I I can contribute that to
[1:25:07] you guys. Um I I met you after I had had
uh come upon the uh the commission but
[1:25:15] um but you must be pretty brilliant to
get into technology and learn it on your
[1:25:20] own unless you actually went and studied
it somewhere. So I I admire you for
[1:25:25] that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
[1:25:34] I I had the benefit um the privilege um
of retiring from federal service for
[1:25:39] almost 34 years. And um it's difficult
sometimes for me to really comprehend
[1:25:44] the fact that I've been retired for 18
years. And so I kind of know what it's
[1:25:49] like to have a long career. Um but I can
assure you that there's a second act in
[1:25:54] store for you. It may not be determined
as yet what you're going to be doing,
[1:25:57] but I'm very confident based on your
contribution here that you're going to
[1:26:01] continue to be a major comm community uh
change maker uh uh for for this
[1:26:07] community. And uh thank you again. Thank
you all very much for all that you do
[1:26:10] for cattle. Appreciate it.
[1:26:16] » And just to set the record straight, the
streaming that y'all were talking about,
[1:26:19] that's Tracy in the IT department.
That's not us. I'm not taking somebody
[1:26:23] else's credit.
>> Well, if you're going to get the blame,
[1:26:26] you might as well get some credit.
>> Thank you again.
[1:26:30] » It takes a whole team of people to make
that many mistakes.
[1:26:35] » We all We all play a part in technical
glitches, but
[1:26:37] » That's right. Okay, Miss Clay, where are
we?
[1:26:39] » We are um at communicates and committee
reports where we start off with an
[1:26:44] administrative response to information
requests for uh from commissioners.
[1:26:49] » Good afternoon, commissioners. I have uh
nothing else to add and my report was uh
[1:26:54] related to Tom and Shaw. So
congratulations to them again. Thank
[1:26:58] you.
>> Thank you. Uh the chair recognizes
[1:27:03] Commissioner Ken Eperson.
>> I just wanted to uh chime in on uh
[1:27:09] Mr. Rogers's report. uh
very informative
[1:27:16] and should have been out here a long
time ago.
[1:27:20] Uh
as uh an individual that
[1:27:26] Let me see. I got to count them up. I
got I just had number eight great the
[1:27:30] other day on June 29th. got eight
grades, 16 grand and uh all of them were
[1:27:39] in Cattle Parish public school system,
including myself. And one correlation
[1:27:45] that I've always noted is that all these
places where these schools have closed,
[1:27:51] those neighborhoods
have denigrated.
[1:27:56] Those neighborhoods have denigrated.
And one thing that hangs in my crawl is
[1:28:03] the school that's down on Pier Avenue.
Uh what was the name of that one?
[1:28:09] » George.
>> George P. Hendricks. That was my seventh
[1:28:13] grade de debate teacher, an American
history teacher.
[1:28:20] And his name is still up on that
dilapidated raggedy building.
[1:28:26] If I wasn't at the age I am, I would get
my ladder and go down and pull it down.
[1:28:31] I think
I think it's just unconscionable and
[1:28:35] disrespectful
as to the things he provided to
[1:28:42] thousands of individuals at Union Junior
Senior High School.
[1:28:49] Thank you.
>> Thank you for your remarks,
[1:28:51] Commissioner. The chair recognizes
Commissioner John Paul Young.
[1:28:57] Thank you, Mr. President. Um, Attorney
Frasier, were you able to look up the
[1:29:01] question about whether we could um
change our meeting times to 5:30?
[1:29:10] » Commissioner, I was not, but I will get
you that information.
[1:29:13] » Okay. Thank you. And um if you when you
get it to me, could you share it with
[1:29:16] the other commissioners, too, please?
>> We'll do.
[1:29:18] » Thank you.
[1:29:25] Oh, thank you. Thank you, Commissioner.
Um, listen, Commissioner Robert.
[1:29:30] Uh, Mr. President, I just wanted to be
added to the special resolution.
[1:29:35] » Okay. Well, just to be clear, we we
we're no longer in administrative
[1:29:39] reports. We're in communications.
>> I know.
[1:29:42] » Okay. No, no, I'm just trying to clarify
that for everybody else.
[1:29:47] » Okay. Uh, Commissioner Thomas,
>> thank you so much. And I do um apologize
[1:29:52] in advance and I hope that you all will
um indulge me. Um so much has been going
[1:29:57] on in Shreport and so much to commun to
communicate about to you all. Um first I
[1:30:02] want to start by saying to the members
of the appropriations committee um and I
[1:30:05] also have permission from the chair of
economics um development. Um just a
[1:30:10] reminder that your scoring packets were
due today. Um if you have not turned
[1:30:13] them in, please do so soon. Um if not
tomorrow, let's try not to lapse past
[1:30:18] this weekend. and I will be here on
Monday trying to help sift through some
[1:30:21] of that with our administration and our
staff. So, um uh please try to get those
[1:30:25] in for me. Um I wanted to say that I was
inspired by a guest to our community, uh
[1:30:29] Mr. Scott Passfield. Um there's a post
going on on social media. I've shared it
[1:30:34] on my page where he um passes through
Cattle all the time on I 20 and um he
[1:30:39] just happened to stop. he was passing
through during a sunset and he was just
[1:30:42] compelled to pull over and take photos
of what he saw and he had some beautiful
[1:30:47] photos of our skyline. He had some
beautiful photos of um um just some
[1:30:51] images here in Cattle Parish and um what
he reminded I think has kind of
[1:30:55] reignited and I'm glad to see this in
our community. People um things that we
[1:30:59] take for granted, you know, um he really
highlighted that in a very beautiful way
[1:31:03] and I'm glad to see members of the
community that are sharing that
[1:31:05] information. Um, so I just wanted to
say, um, you know, thank you for that.
[1:31:10] He he really highlighted the treasures
that we have here. And, you know, I'm
[1:31:13] hoping that we can have, you know, some
new treasures. Um, I do want to say
[1:31:16] congratulations and a thank you, if I
had not said it already, to the staff
[1:31:20] for such a professional presentation
that they provided on last Friday. Um, I
[1:31:24] am still getting calls about that. Um,
they're very thank um, the citizens are
[1:31:28] very thankful for that information. So,
thank you for that. And I want to um,
[1:31:32] applaud you on the website. It's been
really useful um for me as I've been
[1:31:36] talking to people about these things. Um
so they've been very very receptive to
[1:31:40] that and um just want to remind
everybody to go to cattle sports cattle
[1:31:44] cattle.gov/cattleports.
[1:31:48] Let me get it right. Um because it's a
lot of great information there and I
[1:31:51] just want to applaud y'all on that
again. Um Miss um Miss Nations if you
[1:31:56] could um assist me real quick. Um thank
y'all for your indulgement.
[1:32:01] Um wanted to remind everybody that SWCO
has a program that's going on between
[1:32:04] October 30 um through October 31st. Um
it is offering temporary support for
[1:32:09] existing residential customers. Um a lot
of people are um do dealing with the
[1:32:14] extreme heat. Um I know I've been
running my air conditioner nonstop. I'm
[1:32:18] sure others have to try to combat the
extreme temperature. So, um they're
[1:32:22] pausing the required deposits, um waving
late payment fees for um customers who
[1:32:27] contact SwepCo for assistance and
they're also expanding eligibility for
[1:32:31] the average monthly payment program um
to provide more predictable monthly
[1:32:35] bills. So, um please if you are watching
um on YouTube from your phone,
[1:32:40] screenshot that information um so you
can um please utilize it. Um also this
[1:32:46] past um weekend I did get a chance to
participate with Sportran. Um they are
[1:32:51] leading the way um here in innovation um
in here in Shreport in Cattle Parish. We
[1:32:57] have the first in the state an
autonomous um public transit vehicle um
[1:33:02] assistant um the national assistant
secretary Seville Oz was in Treport to
[1:33:06] announce this autonomous bus. Um this
was done by some funding by um the US
[1:33:12] Department of Transportation smart
grant. So, um I did get a chance to
[1:33:15] share with some um other public
officials. We got a chance to go and
[1:33:19] ride the bus for the first time. We were
terrified, y'all. But I will tell you
[1:33:23] that the sensory system in this um
device is much better than in my car.
[1:33:28] And um I have a you know, so we a
citizen was flying and the bus saw and
[1:33:35] protected us from the citizen before the
citizen I guess saw this big old bus.
[1:33:39] But the um the technology is very very
advanced. Um I hope that there are more
[1:33:44] opportunities for you all to preview it,
get comfortable with it before it's
[1:33:47] implemented in the public transit. Um
but um I did just want to share some of
[1:33:51] the um information and some of our our
time there. If you'll go to the next
[1:33:56] photo, you can see the bus and its size
and how big it is. Um also um
[1:34:02] next um just to while we're talking
about Sportran, they are going to be um
[1:34:06] having a ribbon cutting for the Sportran
Gateway Hub. It's going to be at 4821
[1:34:11] Hollywood Avenue. Um I really really
like the innovation that um their
[1:34:16] director um and CEO, Mr. Dairo
Washington, is doing in public
[1:34:19] transportation. Um they're really coming
up with some innovative ideas and I hope
[1:34:23] this will help um support our um
citizens who rely on public
[1:34:26] transportation for work and to get, you
know, other things taken care of in
[1:34:30] their life. Um September is suicide
prevention month. Um the 988 lifeline is
[1:34:36] u more than just an easy to remember
number. Um it's a direct connection to
[1:34:40] compassionate, accessible care and
support for anyone experiencing mental
[1:34:43] health related issues and um distress.
Um I um happen to have known a number of
[1:34:49] individuals who um unfortunately lost
their life um due to suicide. Um and um
[1:34:54] I just want people to um know that there
is help. Um please just dial 988 if you
[1:34:58] can remember that number um in your time
of despair. Um next I do want to talk
[1:35:04] about this event that I saw that's going
on free. Um, I always try to highlight
[1:35:08] our history in America. I mean, in Kado
Parish, especially our robust, um, film
[1:35:13] and entertainment history that we have.
And so, wanted to show you that the
[1:35:17] program is presented by Lieutenant
Governor Billy Nunger and the Louisiana
[1:35:21] Vision of the Arts in partnership with
the Louisiana Endowment for Humanities.
[1:35:25] Um, a lot of work has been put into
this. So, I hope that you guys can
[1:35:28] please come out and uh, participate.
that is on um
[1:35:33] September 18th um at the municipal
auditorium and it's from 6:00 to 8:00
[1:35:37] p.m. Um also for um its 50th anniversary
um Streetport Regional Arts Council, the
[1:35:44] Red River Rebel as well as the
Independence Bowl are celebrating 50
[1:35:47] years um they have opened up an exhibit
that is at Art Space downtown. Please,
[1:35:53] if you um really um have supported these
organizations over the years, please
[1:35:57] come down and um re and view that um
view this exhibit. Um this weekend,
[1:36:03] thank you, Commissioner Burrell. Um on
Wednesday, he did come out um I know
[1:36:07] there was some inclement weather, but I
wanted to remind you guys about the
[1:36:10] Streetport Green Urban Farm uh farm and
community market every Wednesday from
[1:36:14] 11:30 to 12:30. Once again, they have
fresh produce for a dollar a pound. Um,
[1:36:20] also, um, I had had some conversations
with, um, um, our natural resources
[1:36:25] chair, Miss, um, um, Graceand Blake. Um,
me and her are going to try to stop by
[1:36:29] and assist, um, Councilwoman Tabitha
Taylor and Lieutenant Governor Billy
[1:36:33] Nungster. He's doing a lot in our
community. I love to see it. Um, in
[1:36:37] their effort about um, for our love the
waterways cleanup. We'll be doing an
[1:36:41] effort at the um um, Cross Lake. That's
going to be Saturday, September the 12th
[1:36:46] from um 8 to 1 o'clock pm. Um the meetup
spot is the American Legion um Low
[1:36:51] McFarland Outpace Outpost um 51 5315
South Lakeshore Drive. Um I also wanted
[1:36:59] to share um something that's really
close to my heart. Whatever you do, work
[1:37:03] at it with all your heart. Ask for
working for the Lord and not for man.
[1:37:07] So, I'm really excited to announce um um
to join um Commissioner Ken Efferson um
[1:37:14] um in my appointments to the National
Association of Counties. I'm really
[1:37:17] excited to be appointed to the Community
Economic and Workforce Development
[1:37:21] Policy Steering Committee um as their
vice chair um the Arts and Culture
[1:37:25] Innovation Council and the International
Economic Development Innovation Council.
[1:37:29] So, I'm really excited to um be able to
take those um take our issues in cattle
[1:37:34] um on a national level and be able to
discuss those things and get um other
[1:37:38] information and other things we can
bring back here to shreport. So, I'm
[1:37:42] very thankful for that. Um as we talk
about representation, I wanted to also
[1:37:46] announce um some updates um from our um
Commissioner Storm Gage Watts. I know
[1:37:51] she's been present. I don't know if
y'all have missed her, but I've missed
[1:37:54] her here um in the commission meeting
with us this week. Um she is still on
[1:37:58] her um a series of meetings by the
police jury. Um she is our region for
[1:38:02] representative and what she has done um
they are um hard at work working on our
[1:38:07] legislative priorities. Um if you didn't
know Kat Parish is leading the way on
[1:38:11] these priorities um with our Louisiana u
police jury association and um um her
[1:38:16] representation has been a very very
integral part about getting a lot of
[1:38:19] things that we've had um and they
petition the state for and getting those
[1:38:23] passed. Um, so thank her for her work in
that. And I just want to let you guys
[1:38:28] know that um
it's September, the greatest month of
[1:38:32] the of the on the calendar. And on
tomorrow is one of the greatest days of
[1:38:38] the world, which happens to be my
birthday. And um I'll be celebrating my
[1:38:42] 39th birthday um this year. U I don't
want any gifts, anything like that. I
[1:38:47] love for people to support our efforts
in the cause for walking in Alzheimer's.
[1:38:51] Um, I'm going to relax and enjoy this
birthday for a good cause and I want to
[1:38:56] invite everybody out. If you want to
come, you want to talk politics or
[1:38:59] whatever and stuff, I'll give you my
email there and we'll talk about it
[1:39:01] Monday. But um, we'll be at the
Louisiana Dairy Cafe on September the
[1:39:06] 4th tomorrow night and on um September
the sec I mean September the 5th, we'll
[1:39:11] be um at Fatty Art Vocals from 1 to
5:00. So I want to invite you all to
[1:39:15] please come and join me, celebrate my
birthday, and we'll do it for a great
[1:39:19] cause. Um, so, um, this ends my
communication and I thank you all for
[1:39:23] indulging me all the time.
>> Hold up, my brother. Hold up.
[1:39:28] » Who is that dude on that picture?
>> This, that's me. You know, I can make
[1:39:32] sure you see the smile in person. U, you
know, that is me. 39 years old. I'm
[1:39:37] really excited um to go into my last
chapter of my 30s. Um, it's been a
[1:39:43] journey. uh when I look back over my
life, you know, I can go on and y'all
[1:39:47] know I'll get emotional, so I'mma stop.
But I just want to say um it's been a
[1:39:52] journey. Um thank y'all for being a part
of that journey. So no matter what part
[1:39:56] you play.
>> Yeah, that's that's the Ozil version.
[1:40:02] » I need to take some more. I'm trying to
get them a little smaller. So
[1:40:06] » all right, my brother. Happy birthday.
>> Thank you.
[1:40:08] » All right, let's see. Let's see who else
is on the board. Let's see. Commissioner
[1:40:11] Gracian
Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, first I
[1:40:17] would like to say um how much I
appreciated Scott Passfield for um
[1:40:21] driving through Shreport and taking
these beautiful pictures and thank you
[1:40:26] Commissioner Thomas for pointing that
out as well. It's always wonderful um to
[1:40:31] see other people that recognize your
most beautiful community. Um, one of the
[1:40:36] pictures that I think is so powerful are
the two children that are playing
[1:40:41] outside of the water park in downtown
Shreport.
[1:40:45] My husband and son fly out of the
downtown airport and we're there quite
[1:40:50] often and so we get to see the joy
that's being felt there. And when I
[1:40:56] travel outside of Shrefport, I love
going to downtown communities and seeing
[1:40:59] the different unique um things to see
and do. the bridge that's lit up is a
[1:41:05] wonderful joy um to see that
and um going through downtown I just
[1:41:13] it's absolutely beautiful and so that
was such a beautiful post to come
[1:41:16] across. I reposted it and it's wonderful
to see the people's comments about how
[1:41:21] much they love and appreciate our
community.
[1:41:25] I want to wish everyone a safe holiday
this weekend. It's Labor Day weekend
[1:41:29] that we're going to be celebrating and
um I think that for me I stand on my
[1:41:34] feet all day and for 35 years I feel the
the labor and um so it really means a
[1:41:41] lot to me this weekend and I didn't
start taking off Labor Day weekend until
[1:41:46] about 10 years ago to actually enjoy
that day because I was working um so I
[1:41:52] want everyone to have a safe holiday. I
would like to share that Broadmore
[1:41:56] Neighborhood Association is going to
have a forum this coming week on Tuesday
[1:42:01] or in two weeks. And um I want to make
sure that um Administrator Bryant, can
[1:42:08] you share with us the open house that is
going to be happening next week at LSUS
[1:42:13] to share the information um about the
sports complex, the date and time,
[1:42:20] location, and then also for the
Broadmore Neighbor Association.
[1:42:25] » Okay, Crystal.
>> Okay. Thank you so much.
[1:42:32] Good afternoon, commissioners. Um, so we
have three public meetings that will be
[1:42:36] happening next week. Um, sort of as a
continuation of the presentations that
[1:42:40] we've done, uh, on Friday from our
special meeting, we have three public
[1:42:45] sessions. For anyone that may have
missed the presentation, um, did not
[1:42:48] have a chance to get any of the
information or want, you know, to ask
[1:42:51] any questions about the project. Those
three meetings all are starting at 5:30.
[1:42:56] So, our first meeting is Tuesday,
September 8th, and that is at the LSUS
[1:43:01] Red River Room in the University Center,
but it's on the second floor, not the um
[1:43:06] actual theater. Um the one on September
9th is right here in Government
[1:43:10] Chambers, and the one on September 10th
is at the Greenwood Acres Family Life
[1:43:14] Center on Greenwood Road. Um and just uh
it's a little bit separate, if I'm
[1:43:19] right, Commissioner, down the street
from the actual church, the Family Life
[1:43:24] Center.
>> Oh, yes. They're together. just a road
[1:43:26] » just okay so just if there was any
confusion about that but all of those
[1:43:29] meetings start at 5:30 and citizens do
have the opportunity to see the
[1:43:33] presentation and ask any questions that
they may have
[1:43:37] » thank you
[1:43:40] » I'm sorry
>> um so that meeting is on the 15th um
[1:43:46] » Tuesday se Tuesday September 15th at
Broadmore Baptist Church and it begins
[1:43:51] at 6 o'clock
>> thank you Crystal
[1:43:55] Commissioners, we have um scheduled
meetings with other neighborhood
[1:43:58] associations. Um we have the Southern
Hills Neighborhood and Business
[1:44:03] Association. We're um Queensboro
Neighborhood Association. So, as we get
[1:44:08] them scheduled, we'll notify you.
[1:44:15] » Email.
>> All right. Thank you. Thank you very
[1:44:17] much. And uh especially for uh bringing
that up about when we're having those
[1:44:21] meetings. Very very important. Um, the
check recognizes Commissioner Rob Baro.
[1:44:27] » Thank you, Mr. President. I just wanted
to reiterate uh something that the uh
[1:44:32] our administrator just said. The
Queensburg Neighborhood Association
[1:44:36] uh will be having their uh meeting
September 10th. I believe it's 5:30 at
[1:44:43] Billsbury Park. And as I understand it,
they will they will be uh discussing
[1:44:49] also the sports complex. Uh I have a
couple other events at the same time,
[1:44:55] but I do plan to stick my head in uh
since it's over in the district
[1:45:00] um in my district. Uh the second thing
is the fifth annual main attraction bike
[1:45:07] and car show is coming up again on
September 9th at the state fairgrounds.
[1:45:14] Um
um that group came down last year and
[1:45:19] and showed you they filled up the
fairgrounds. Uh probably one of the
[1:45:23] largest event that we've had we had last
year uh here. um very successful uh
[1:45:32] program and a lot of cars and a lot of
noise, but at the same time um it's
[1:45:39] something very good for uh the
fairgrounds.
[1:45:44] And in addition to that, I I guess I've
gotten kind of hooked on these bikes. I
[1:45:50] don't I don't ride a bike, but uh we
we've been negotiating to get a national
[1:45:57] uh uh bike
con uh sort of like a convention here uh
[1:46:04] that was held in Little Rock uh this
past year. Matter of fact, it was just
[1:46:10] last month and it drew some 50 to 60,000
bikers from all over the nation. Um,
[1:46:18] that's a lot of noise at one time. So,
we're we're working on that, M. Mr.
[1:46:22] President. Thank you.
>> All right. Thank you, Commissioner
[1:46:24] Burrell. Let's see. One more time. Uh,
Commissioner Victor Thomas.
[1:46:28] » Thank you so much. And I'll be brief.
Um, I did I would be remiss and I
[1:46:32] probably will get beat up because he
bigger than me. Um, I did want to um
[1:46:36] tell Commissioner Stefon Jones happy
birthday. His birthday just passed as
[1:46:39] well um on last week, but um um I also
want y'all to please be in prayer for he
[1:46:44] and his family. his mother is not um in
the best of health right now and that's
[1:46:48] what what his absence is for today. Um
so please keep them in your in you guys
[1:46:52] prayers as well. Um and thank you for
bringing it up again. Um Miss Blake, um
[1:46:56] I did hear you say that we will be
having some other community meetings um
[1:47:00] in like neighborhood associations and
everything. Is there a way for like an
[1:47:04] organization who may want um to kind of
hopefully request um our presence at
[1:47:09] maybe their meeting to um give some
information maybe on a case- by case
[1:47:14] basis or availability as it permits. But
is there something they can
[1:47:17] » We do have a email that we've set up.
It's um
[1:47:23] cattleports.gov.
>> They can send a request there. Also, if
[1:47:27] there are any questions that citizens
may have, they can email us at
[1:47:31] cattleports@cettle.gov.
>> Okay. Thank you so much.
[1:47:35] » All right. Thank you.
>> And I failed to mention we do have a
[1:47:37] meeting as well at the MLK Neighborhood
Association. We will get that uh those
[1:47:41] list of meetings out to you all.
>> Thank you.
[1:47:45] » Um let's see. And it's been brought to
my attention that's um at least one of
[1:47:49] our commissioners having a problem
with that little board. Um and so um the
[1:47:56] chair is going to recognize Commissioner
Conton at this time, but Commissioner
[1:48:00] Krakman, if you having problem with
yours, you have anything you want?
[1:48:03] » Okay. All right, Commissioner.
>> Thank you, Mr. President. Just wanted to
[1:48:06] acknowledge uh as previously stated
in the Southern Hills area, uh at least
[1:48:13] two meetings have been scheduled. I'm
pending a um answer from the uh Cedar
[1:48:19] Grove uh spar as well where we could use
that uh the end of September. So there
[1:48:25] are numerous places where people can go
and hear and are they actually live
[1:48:32] streamed or not?
>> We're not streaming.
[1:48:36] Uh in addition to that, I want to share
on the 8th of September, CARE uh will be
[1:48:41] having their neighborhood meeting and
also on the 14th, Southern Hill
[1:48:44] Neighborhood Association will be uh
conducted as well. And and as we talk
[1:48:50] about birthdays, Sunday will be my
birthday as well. Thank you very much.
[1:48:54] » Greatest people born. Happy birthday to
you, Commissioner.
[1:48:57] » Commissioners, the the original meeting
is still on the website that anyone can
[1:49:02] view at any time. It's just the
additional meetings. We won't be live
[1:49:05] streaming those.
>> Right. And uh Commissioner Jung, I know
[1:49:08] you stepped out for just a moment, but
uh it was brought to my attention that
[1:49:11] Commissioner Carter was having a problem
with his board and so just want to make
[1:49:14] sure you're not having a problem if you
want to get on the board to speak. All
[1:49:18] right. All right. Thank you. Okay, Mr.
Clerk.
[1:49:22] » Okay, that brings us uh to the
president's report. Did you have
[1:49:26] anything else?
>> No. No, I think I've exhausted. All
[1:49:29] right, that brings us then to public
hearings on zoning ordinances and cases
[1:49:33] where the first item we have is a public
hearing on ordinance number 6639 of
[1:49:37] 2026. That's in relation to parish
zoning case 26-13-P.
[1:49:42] That is an ordinance to amend volume two
of the code of ordinances of the parish
[1:49:45] of Kat as amended to Kataparish unified
development code by amending the zoning
[1:49:49] of property located on the south side of
stage coach road approximately 500 ft
[1:49:53] west of writing club lane in Cataparish
Louisiana from RA rural agricultural
[1:49:58] district to RA rural agricultural small
planned unit development district and
[1:50:03] otherwise providing with respect there
too. This item is in district 11.
[1:50:10] » Okay. Okay. Public hearing is now open.
Um those who wish to express opposition
[1:50:16] uh to this ordinance u may speak now.
And those in support of this ordinance,
[1:50:20] you may speak now.
[1:50:25] Public hearing on ordinance 6639 of 2026
is now closed.
[1:50:29] » Thank you very much. Now we have a
public hearing on a regular ordinance to
[1:50:33] address and that is uh 6640 of 2026.
That is an ordinance amending the budget
[1:50:39] of estimated revenues and expenditures
for the public works fund and the
[1:50:42] capital outlay fund to provide an
appropriation to install welcome signs
[1:50:46] on I20 eastbound and otherwise providing
with respect there too.
[1:50:51] » Public hearing is now open. Um excuse me
public hearing is now open. Uh those who
[1:50:57] are in opposition to this ordinance uh
6640 of 2026 may speak now and those who
[1:51:04] are in support of it may speak now.
Seeing that no one has risen, this
[1:51:11] public hearing is now closed.
>> Thank you very much. That brings us now
[1:51:14] to the consideration of the ordinances
that just had public hearings. The first
[1:51:18] one is adop uh to consider adopting
ordinance 6639 of 2026 in relation to
[1:51:23] parish zoning case 26-13-P.
[1:51:28] » Okay. There's a motion um by Victor
Thomas and a second by Commissioner
[1:51:34] Eperson. Um, I'd like to make a motion
to adopt and uh to adopt ordinance 6639
[1:51:41] if appropriate to adopt ordinance 6639,
ordinance 6640
[1:51:46] um to adopt the work session minutes of
August 31st um resolution 52
[1:51:55] and that will bring us to our new
business if that a global and adoption
[1:51:59] is is appropriate.
>> All right, let's see. Uh, Commissioner
[1:52:04] Epson, would you like to speak on the
motion?
[1:52:08] » Okay. If I just may add that um um the
first one,
[1:52:14] ordinance um 6639 is in Commissioner
Lazarus district and he's expressed to
[1:52:20] me that uh he is in support of this um
ordinance just for the record.
[1:52:28] Okay.
And we'll comment on either of these
[1:52:31] items.
Okay. Hey, Mr. CL.
[1:52:34] » Okay.
[1:52:44] » And Commissioner Cawthorne, is your pad
back up yet or Okay. Thank you. That's
[1:52:48] an affirmative. Uh, Commissioner Corn.
[1:52:55] Okay. And that motion carries with seven
in support, two in opposition, and three
[1:52:59] absent. Um, so those items are adopted.
Uh before we move on, we do need to
[1:53:03] quickly introduce uh an ordinance by
title. Uh and that is 6641 of 2026.
[1:53:09] That's an ordinance to close and abandon
the street dedication in the BMK
[1:53:13] subdivision located in section 32
township 17 north range 14 west in the
[1:53:17] parish of Cado and otherwise provide
with respect there too. That item is in
[1:53:21] district 7. Uh and then that brings us
forward to new business where the first
[1:53:26] item we have today uh and our only item
under new business are the animal
[1:53:31] service board appeals.
[1:53:34] » Yes.
[1:53:44] » You're not You're not on the mic. You're
not
[1:53:49] okay.
Now,
[1:53:53] » I'm sorry,
>> speaker.
[1:53:54] » Okay. I would like to uh
I think I did a thumbs up for 6640. That
[1:54:02] was not my intent.
[1:54:07] » That's not an affirmative for 6640.
>> Just based on our um our policy to do a
[1:54:12] motion to reconsider, we have to have a
um somebody on the failing side of the
[1:54:18] vote. So somebody that voted no
>> prevailing.
[1:54:20] » No, it's prevailing side.
>> Oh, I'm sorry. Right. Yes. Sorry.
[1:54:24] » Right.
>> So,
[1:54:26] » and which he was. And now he now he has
a motion to reconsider. And if I
[1:54:30] understand it correct, we have we have
to vote on whether or not to reconsider.
[1:54:34] Is that accurate?
>> Yes. Correct.
[1:54:36] » Okay.
You like to speak on your motion,
[1:54:40] Commissioner?
>> Yes, Mr. President. And I just like to
[1:54:43] say
>> Well, I apologize. I apologize. You need
[1:54:46] a second.
Okay. Thank you. Uh for the record,
[1:54:50] Commissioner Kraken is a second.
>> Okay. Thank you. You may proceed,
[1:54:55] Commissioner.
>> Thank you, Mr. President. The the thing
[1:54:57] is when I look at the language here, uh
there's two different things going on
[1:55:02] because again, when I look at the
ordinance and actually go into the
[1:55:05] adoption part versus the fact sheet in
and of itself is showing me two
[1:55:08] different things. in the one area is
showing me that we're just voting for a
[1:55:14] welcome sign on I uh on I 20, but then
when I go into the fact sheet is showing
[1:55:19] me that we're voting for $75,000 for a
sign. And the thing is my question is
[1:55:25] how's this any different from what we
had previously vote on concern
[1:55:29] concerning the veteran friendly sign
that we
[1:55:34] did not support last time?
[1:55:40] Is that a question for the chair?
Just statement. Um I mean I don't I
[1:55:48] don't I don't see where it's materially
different. You know, it's still the sign
[1:55:51] and and and he wants to sign at the the
different ends of uh I believe I 20. Um
[1:55:58] I don't think there's anything
materially different. of course has been
[1:56:02] articulated and thoroughly expressed
around this body that individual can
[1:56:05] keep bringing things up you know as long
as he wants to correct
[1:56:09] » and uh sometimes um the politics change
you know people have a right to change
[1:56:14] their mind about things as we evolve we
get more information um you know and of
[1:56:19] course you know politics is what it is
and I I really don't know what else to
[1:56:24] say about it
>> yeah I mean it's not a yeah or nay
[1:56:27] question it's just sir you know that's
sir
[1:56:29] » that's my But to your point, I don't
think there's anything materially
[1:56:32] different. Correct. Does anybody else
have any other view about it?
[1:56:36] » Is there anything that you all know
that's materially different?
[1:56:40] » Okay.
>> Well, it the our understanding is that
[1:56:44] we would be u mimicking the sign that we
already have on I49. So, we have a sign
[1:56:50] on I49 that says welcome to cattle
parish and at the bottom of it, it says
[1:56:55] um veteran friendly. Uh so, the sign
itself is a welcome sign. The purpose of
[1:57:00] the sign is to be a welcome sign, but we
added language that says veteran
[1:57:05] friendly. So,
it's not it's not different. I'm just
[1:57:10] explaining what it is. It is a welcome
sign. It says,
[1:57:12] » right, but to be clear, we approving
what is in the record. And what's in the
[1:57:18] record is is to do what?
>> A welcome sign on I20 East. But you need
[1:57:25] but what we're actually doing is
appropriating the dollars to do that. We
[1:57:30] have to have money to add the the I the
welcome sign,
[1:57:34] » right?
>> And we were my understanding is that we
[1:57:37] would put the same type of sign as that
we already had. We already have one on
[1:57:41] I20 I mean on I49 and it says welcome to
Kettle Parish and at the bottom it says
[1:57:46] veteran friendly.
[1:57:51] » Okay.
[1:57:54] Okay, the motion is on the board.
Commissioner Thomas, you had something
[1:57:57] you wanted to say?
>> Yes. I just wanted to clarify with
[1:57:59] administration that I mean, we haven't
entered the design phase for this sign
[1:58:02] yet or nothing. At this point, we're
just appropriating dollars um for the
[1:58:06] welcome sign. Um it's Commissioner
Epson's desire for it to say veteran
[1:58:10] friendly and welcome to Kado. Um, I
think I'm sure that he's amanable to if
[1:58:15] we want to say veteran friendly and and
deer hunting friendly, you know, or
[1:58:20] whatever we can do, we have time to
discuss that in the, you know, in the um
[1:58:24] in the design phase of this portion.
>> Yes, we can adjust the design if you so
[1:58:28] desire. You're basically doing a budget
amendment. Once you appropriate the
[1:58:33] dollars, this administration's role, you
don't vote, you're not actually, you're
[1:58:36] voting for the money.
>> Thank you. And once you vote for the
[1:58:39] money, we then have to go figure out
what the sign would be. We would provide
[1:58:43] you um you know, in the past we provide
you um diagrams to show what we were
[1:58:48] putting, what it looked like, and then
we went forward with the um approval.
[1:58:53] Now, I will remind you all DOTD does
have to approve this. We can't just go
[1:58:58] put a sign on I 20. We do have to work
with the state to determine if they
[1:59:03] would allow us to put the sign. and then
if they do allow us and that will take
[1:59:07] some time. If they do allow us then we
would design the sign. Um but this is
[1:59:12] basically just appropriate the dollars.
>> Right. Thank you so much for that
[1:59:16] clarity. And you know, I want to just
assure everybody um the reason why my my
[1:59:20] um vote changed on it cuz I um didn't
support it initially was because I think
[1:59:24] that when we initially did the sign on
I49 um Cattle Parish may not have had as
[1:59:29] much um activity going on as much um
things that we should be telling people
[1:59:34] welcome the cattle and stop and see. So
um I think that um once again getting
[1:59:39] into the weeds about what it looks like
and this I'm not insinuating that's what
[1:59:43] you're doing. I think we first need to
once again like many other things first
[1:59:47] we need to identify a dollar amount
before we get into you know the the
[1:59:55] details of the things of certain things
I mean design and all those other
[1:59:58] aspects. So that's why I support it.
Thank you.
[2:00:06] » Okay. Right now um what's on the board
the motion on the board is to reconsider
[2:00:11] uh the previous vote. So that's what
we're going to be voting on right now,
[2:00:14] whether or not we want to reconsider the
previous vote. If you vote no, you're
[2:00:18] saying that the previous vote stand. If
you vote yes, then we have to vote all
[2:00:22] over again on the matter that's before
us on the agenda.
[2:00:27] Is that clear to everybody?
>> Let's go.
[2:00:31] » You would have to take up all of the
items that were in the enlo.
[2:00:35] You'd have to revote on everything.
Yeah.
[2:00:40] » Excuse me.
Just to be clear, we're not it's not
[2:00:44] we're not just we can't reconsider on
just one item like it it's the whole
[2:00:48] conglomerate,
>> but we're voting as to whether or not
[2:00:51] we're going to reconsider.
>> Mhm.
[2:00:53] » That's what we're voting on right now.
Whether or not we're going to reconsider
[2:00:56] the vote that we previously had. So, we
don't have to vote on the on the on the
[2:01:01] global part. We don't have to vote on
that if the motion to reconsider stands
[2:01:06] » passes. Yes.
>> Right.
[2:01:08] » Okay. Is that clear to everybody what
we're voting on now?
[2:01:12] » Yes.
>> No means the previous vote and global
[2:01:16] vote stands.
[2:01:22] Is Is that not clear to everybody?
>> All right. All right, Mr. Clerk. Let's
[2:01:27] go with it. Is somebody Okay.
Okay.
[2:01:41] Okay, that motion does not carry that uh
you have four in support, five in
[2:01:45] opposition. Um and so that uh motion to
reconsider does not uh does not uh
[2:01:52] carry. Um, so that brings us uh again
back to new business
[2:01:59] where we have the animal services board
appeals
[2:02:04] and we have two cases today. Uh the
first case uh I believe is the Hawthorne
[2:02:10] appeal and I believe Mr. Hawthorne is
here. Um I believe we have a second case
[2:02:16] uh the Galvin appeal. I don't believe
there is anybody present for that case.
[2:02:22] Uh seeing no one uh we can move forward
with the Hawthorne appeal. So uh if uh
[2:02:27] Mr. Hawthorne uh if the appellant would
like to make their way forward
[2:02:32] um
[2:02:36] we typically start out by inviting the
appellant to speak and these hearings I
[2:02:42] know we haven't done one in a minute so
I'll just refresh everybody's memory. Uh
[2:02:45] we'll invite the appellent to speak
first. Uh they appeal directly to this
[2:02:49] body. After that the um the KTO animal
services will give a presentation. Uh
[2:02:56] you do have your um uh on the agenda
linked are uh documents from the
[2:03:02] previous hearings uh that may be
referenced uh and you do have those
[2:03:07] available as part of the public record.
Um so uh at this time uh we'll have the
[2:03:13] presentation uh from uh Mr. Hawthorne
or the appellent.
[2:03:21] Hi,
[2:03:25] firstly um thanks for seeing us today. I
would just like to apologize for
[2:03:31] somebody leaving the gate open and the
two Houdinis going to town.
[2:03:37] Um but I think I would just like to read
you my letter. Um, if you ask any of the
[2:03:45] Kado Parish animal control employees,
they will probably tell you that they
[2:03:51] are not aggressive and they are not
vicious or dangerous.
[2:03:56] Um, the driver that came to pick them
up, I'm I was not there that day and I
[2:04:01] was not at the last hearing because my
patient got on the floor as I was trying
[2:04:05] to leave and I had to stay for two hours
and check blood pressure.
[2:04:10] Um,
I don't think that she even wanted to
[2:04:14] take them because they just got right in
the car with her like they do anybody
[2:04:18] that would come by.
Um, the ring leader
[2:04:24] is pinned up, but she got out. She's 9
years old and has arthritis. I don't
[2:04:29] know where she thought she was going,
but he felt a pure pressure and went
[2:04:34] with her.
They have not been out that I know of
[2:04:39] because nobody has told me anything
since August the 2nd of 2025. And they
[2:04:45] were picked up by a very nice man named
Brian Garza. Somebody told him where
[2:04:50] they thought they lived.
He messaged me because I saw it on
[2:04:56] Facebook and he said, "I'm sorry, I put
them out at the wrong place. Are they
[2:05:00] home? They're so sweet." Yes, sir.
They're home.
[2:05:04] When this video that was posted that
you're going to see, the comment that
[2:05:08] was made by the lady who posted the
video says she had met them before and
[2:05:12] she thought they were nice because they
are nice. The owner of the dog told me
[2:05:18] that she saw them and turned around and
basically started running back home.
[2:05:23] These two goofballs will protect anybody
in this room and if there was a dog
[2:05:28] chasing you, they would go after them.
But this is not they don't stay loose
[2:05:35] and at large and running the town. So um
you know she sent me a copy of of the
[2:05:43] bill $69 a photo of the scratch no
stitches staples glue or antibiotics.
[2:05:51] Her and the lady that posted the video,
without her permission, had both already
[2:05:56] called the shelter by the next morning
to ask why they came to get the dogs.
[2:06:01] They knew where the dogs lived because
when they used to get out frequently
[2:06:07] before August of last year, they made
lots of friends. Uh the Petri over on
[2:06:14] Norris Ferry, um their best friend is
the delivery driver from FedEx. And I
[2:06:20] have a letter that I brought from her.
She's been delivering mail for 9 years.
[2:06:27] They're lovable fur babies and always
greet me with affection. They get on her
[2:06:32] truck and they eat the dog treats.
Um,
[2:06:36] we live on a farm and the acres in front
of us and beside us are owned by Gabriel
[2:06:41] Baldderas who is a member of the MPC.
He has multiple employees at his
[2:06:47] property every day who take care of his
poultry because, you know, he has his
[2:06:52] business. He he does farm to table at
his restaurant. Those dogs are probably
[2:06:57] more of a pest than anything because
they want to help him do everything.
[2:07:01] They go down there and they watch and
they protect and they help. They've
[2:07:05] never bitten him. They have never bitten
his employees. They've probably licked
[2:07:10] them to death.
The one that does not say pinned up,
[2:07:14] which is the young one,
guards all of his animals, all of our
[2:07:19] animals. I've lost two chickens and my
farm cat since he's been gone.
[2:07:26] All of our neighbors have dogs. I don't
know if anybody went and interviewed
[2:07:30] them from the shelter, but they don't go
to their house. They don't attack their
[2:07:34] dogs.
I firmly all I can see is a video of a
[2:07:39] corner of them nipping her dog, but she
told me she was running. When I run, he
[2:07:45] runs after me, too. So, I mean, we have
a great two great grandchildren, one is
[2:07:50] two, and he drapes himself across this
dog and sleeps on him. If if he were
[2:07:57] either of them were vicious, um if
either of them were dangerous, they
[2:08:02] would have already been to the vet and
be unelved and would not be running the
[2:08:07] streets and getting arrested.
They were bred to protect,
[2:08:13] not to be aggressive.
Um you know, we're not going to open the
[2:08:19] gate to mow the yard. The goats will
just have to mow it or it's going to be
[2:08:23] eight feet tall because if she gets out,
she's going to tell him, "Let's go to
[2:08:28] town. Let's go to Norris Ferry and see
our friends." I don't know if they've
[2:08:32] ever been to the Grove. They used to go
to Providence all the time. They have a
[2:08:36] sweet lady in fancy house shoes they go
see. But I'm I'm just here to beg for
[2:08:42] forgiveness because this has never
happened before. If you met them, you
[2:08:47] would be like, "Oh my god, y'all are
goofballs.
[2:08:51] Um,
that's really all I have to say. Thank
[2:08:55] you.
[2:09:09] » How y'all doing?
>> Thank you.
[2:09:11] » Um, we sent information to Mr. Jeff. I'm
certain if him and Mrs. Nation sent you
[2:09:18] all that. Have you read the synopsis of
the cases and whatnot?
[2:09:21] » But you can give us an overview of it.
>> And these items are, by the way, I know
[2:09:25] I mentioned a moment ago, but they are
all linked on the agenda, your
[2:09:27] electronic agendas,
>> um, as an attachment.
[2:09:30] » Yes, we all have
>> for your reference.
[2:09:32] » Okay. So,
one, when a dog is deemed dangerous, we
[2:09:39] know that it's a difference between
dangerous and vicious. Dangerous means
[2:09:43] that the animal has either bitten
someone, escaped the property, attacked
[2:09:47] another animal. It does not mean that we
want to keep your animal, and you will
[2:09:51] not get it back. It means that if this
animal is deemed dangerous, it goes home
[2:09:56] with stipulations that it can no longer
run loose, has to stay confined, has to
[2:10:02] have a muzzle if it leaves the property,
also has to be spayed or neutered.
[2:10:08] According to the records, Kaa being the
older Great Pyrenees, the female, she's
[2:10:13] already spayed according to our records.
The younger one is the male. We know
[2:10:20] that he's intact.
>> Excuse me, sir.
[2:10:23] » The video that Excuse me, just one
second. There's some type of disturbance
[2:10:26] going on.
>> They're watching video.
[2:10:29] » Okay. Well, you may want to you may want
to freeze it while he's making his
[2:10:32] presentation.
Right.
[2:10:36] » No. So,
>> I'm I'm thinking as a dog or pencil.
[2:10:40] » So, when we run into these instance in
instances or these situations, it is not
[2:10:45] solely on me to deem a dog dangerous. I
give the owners an opportunity. Hey, you
[2:10:51] can agree with the dangerous
stipulations or it can go before the
[2:10:54] board. The board reviews the information
with the owner and with the victim and
[2:11:00] they make their determination.
They made the determination that the
[2:11:04] dogs are dangerous.
You have videos that you can watch. It
[2:11:09] is solely up to you. If you want to
uphold, you want to kick it back. It's
[2:11:13] totally up to you.
>> Right. Um, thank you. Thank you very
[2:11:18] much for your u presentation. Um, just
so that the general public can be made
[2:11:24] aware of what the process is. Um there
was an incident on a particular date
[2:11:29] involving uh the two animals in
question,
[2:11:32] » right?
>> Um there was a complaint that was
[2:11:35] forwarded to your office.
>> Yes.
[2:11:38] » The board convened and listened to both
sides of the case.
[2:11:42] » Yes.
>> And they rendered a decision that the
[2:11:44] dog met the criteria for being
characterized as dangerous.
[2:11:48] » Yes. Subsequent to that, subsequent to
that, uh, the parties, uh, the owners of
[2:11:53] the dog,
>> the two dogs,
[2:11:56] » uh, filed an appeal. Yes. Before the
commission.
[2:11:58] » Yes.
>> To overturn the Bo decision.
[2:12:02] » Yes.
>> Is that pretty, that pretty much sums it
[2:12:04] up?
>> Yes, sir.
[2:12:05] » Okay. And so, uh, I I guess, um, at this
point, we'll, uh,
[2:12:11] commissioners to, uh, make an
observation or question or whatever they
[2:12:14] want to do. Commissioner John Fang.
>> Thank you, Mr. President. Um,
[2:12:19] » Director Clark, can you tell me is it
both dogs that were deemed dangerous or
[2:12:24] just one?
>> Both.
[2:12:26] » Both.
>> Both. Both dogs are at large. Both dogs
[2:12:28] are in the video.
>> Mhm.
[2:12:30] » You don't want to
differentiate one dog from the other.
[2:12:34] » Which dog is it? Is it the older one or
the younger one that we can see um doing
[2:12:38] the bite?
>> We believe that is the male, but again,
[2:12:43] both dogs are at large,
>> right? I'm just trying to see. So I can
[2:12:48] see
>> and they gray white paint. They both
[2:12:51] look alike.
>> They look pretty similar.
[2:12:54] » Yeah,
>> one of them has like a little Oh, they
[2:12:57] both have
>> nipp the uh other dog. That was the
[2:13:01] male.
>> That was the the the younger dog.
[2:13:04] » The old
>> Okay. And you've you've got your older
[2:13:09] dog has like a little black spot right
here.
[2:13:12] » Probably better.
>> Okay.
[2:13:13] » I think that's a point of information.
>> Sure.
[2:13:18] Young, if you would uh could we show the
video? Yes, I think I think that'll be
[2:13:22] helpful.
>> That'd be great.
[2:13:24] » General public too.
>> Thank you, Commissioner. Uh if it if it
[2:13:27] pleases you, Commissioner jumped to show
the video.
[2:13:30] » While we're pulling it up, I would just
like to observe that. So, for a dog to
[2:13:34] be dangerous, it does not have to bite
another dog. It merely has to attack
[2:13:38] unprovoked, and that can be just
charging in a menacing manner.
[2:13:43] So, um, what I see in the video is, and
it has to be, you know, not in the dog's
[2:13:49] own yard. Um, so what I see in the
video, this is the second video. If you
[2:13:54] show the first one, it's a little
clearer.
[2:14:01] So, was that the is that the boy dog
that bit the other dog?
[2:14:06] » Okay. So, what I see in the video is um
the first one is these two dogs are on
[2:14:13] public property first, the street, and
then they run onto private property. And
[2:14:17] like not only do they charge in a
menacing manner, but one of them bites
[2:14:22] another dog. And um that is the
definition of a dangerous dog.
[2:14:27] » Oh, we're a mile away from their house.
>> Oh, and they're more than a mile away
[2:14:30] from their house. Okay. So like um I
would also like to just so now I have
[2:14:35] the information that I wanted. Um what I
would like to observe for the public is
[2:14:40] great Pyrenees are wonderful super sweet
dogs. I have a great Pyrenees mix
[2:14:46] myself. He's mixed with a border collie.
He likes to get out and he likes to roam
[2:14:50] and I have to make sure he doesn't. He's
old now so he doesn't do it as much. Um,
[2:14:55] my dog has never run up to another dog
and bit it or charged any other dog in a
[2:15:01] menacing way. But those are the elements
that are the definition of a dangerous
[2:15:08] dog in Kat Parish. And if I was this dog
owner uh whose yard they ran into and
[2:15:14] whose dog they bit, I would feel very
strongly that those dogs had attacked my
[2:15:20] dog and were dangerous. even though I
love this kind of dog and I think
[2:15:26] they're wonderful.
So, what I would suggest, and I'll make
[2:15:31] a motion later because I've already
started speaking, what I would suggest
[2:15:34] is that we um acknowledge that finding a
dog dangerous means it has to wear a
[2:15:40] muzzle and a collar that says, "I'm
dangerous. It does not have to be
[2:15:44] killed, but especially in the case of
dogs that have a habit of getting out
[2:15:49] like this breed does, like this is going
to happen again
[2:15:54] if it goes outside without a muzzle on
and the gate is open. So, I think it
[2:16:00] would be appropriate for us to like go
ahead and uphold that dangerous because
[2:16:05] they did everything that a dangerous dog
has to do under our law to be considered
[2:16:09] dangerous. and um caution the owners
very strongly that they must not let
[2:16:16] this ever ever ever happen again because
two attacks by a dog means it has to be
[2:16:21] put down and these are wonderful dogs
and I don't want to see them put down.
[2:16:27] » Thank you, Mr. President.
>> Thank you, Commissioner. Appreciate um
[2:16:30] your observations. I think I may add
that um Commissioner John Paul Young is
[2:16:35] a for former chair of the U animal and
mosquito control committee.
[2:16:40] » So he is
>> well but he's very very well versed on
[2:16:45] this issue and I do appreciate your
contribution. Uh Commissioner Ken
[2:16:48] Eperson,
>> Mr. President, I'd like to make a motion
[2:16:52] that the dog be deemed as uh dangerous
and be put under the oposes of uh
[2:16:58] whatever those stipulations are. I need
a second. Second.
[2:17:03] » Can I say something?
>> Not not at this not at this time. We'll
[2:17:07] give you an opportunity.
[2:17:20] » Give me an opportunity to speak after
Commissioner um Trac Blake.
[2:17:26] Go ahead.
>> Thank you, Mr. President. Could you
[2:17:31] clarify to us what Commissioner John
Paul Young was sharing that
[2:17:37] if a dog is bitten twice, they can be
put down?
[2:17:43] » If a dog attacks
twice,
[2:17:45] » okay,
>> twice.
[2:17:48] » All right.
>> Would you share that to make that clear?
[2:17:50] I thought I think what he what he's what
he's trying what what he's trying to
[2:17:54] convey is any dog that is deemed
dangerous because this offense could
[2:17:58] deem the dog dangerous. If the dog goes
home and has another incident off of
[2:18:04] that property chasing someone, biting
another animal, biting a human, it can
[2:18:10] automatically be upgraded to vicious.
When an animal is deemed vicious and it
[2:18:16] is upheld, that animal is humanely
euthanized. that is not allowed to
[2:18:21] return home at that point.
[2:18:26] Am I correct, Commissioner? That's what
he was.
[2:18:29] » That's what he was trying to
>> behavior,
[2:18:31] » right?
>> Right.
[2:18:34] » Second instance of the same behavior
means it'll come back before the board
[2:18:38] and if they deem it vicious and we
uphold any appeal, then the dog has to
[2:18:41] be euthanized because we don't allow
vicious dogs,
[2:18:44] » right? It's like he's on a life
probation. You got one strike,
[2:18:48] » right?
>> Right.
[2:18:50] » Right. So, the dangerous dog
stipulations prevent any other attack if
[2:18:54] they're followed.
>> Right.
[2:18:57] Because
>> because he wears a muzzle.
[2:19:00] » Right. And and as I understand it,
um if something similar to this occurs
[2:19:07] after he's been found deemed to be
dangerous, then he's considered a
[2:19:12] vicious dog. He has to go through the
same process to be considered a
[2:19:15] » Absolutely. Absolutely. You still have
to The dog still gets due process,
[2:19:20] » right? Sure.
[2:19:24] » So,
the dogs can run freely on the property
[2:19:28] without being muzzled. It's just But if
it was off of the property
[2:19:33] » within the enclosed yard, they can. Once
they leave their property, if they leave
[2:19:37] confinement of that yard or that house,
then they're legally they're supposed to
[2:19:41] be Muslims.
And it could be is a specific muzzle or
[2:19:46] just one of the muzzles that
>> muzzle that prevents them from biting.
[2:19:51] » Okay. So different types of muzzle. So
it would be their choice of muzzle
[2:19:56] » as long as they don't bite anybody.
>> Okay. I was just wondering because I
[2:20:00] have different types of muzzles. I I
have a dog that I sometimes, you know,
[2:20:03] muzzle.
>> But I think what he's saying, and of
[2:20:05] course he can speak for himself.
>> Yeah. want to whatever kind of muzzle he
[2:20:10] wants to.
>> But if the dog is out and if the dog
[2:20:12] bites on
>> off the property,
[2:20:14] » then that means the the muzzle didn't
work.
[2:20:16] » Yes. Okay.
>> Okay.
[2:20:20] » Thank you.
>> Um and of course, you know, this is not
[2:20:22] something that that we do every week or
every month. And so, you know, we we all
[2:20:28] need to make sure that we enjoy great
latitude and trying to get an
[2:20:32] understanding about the process.
>> May I ask for a point of clarification
[2:20:35] regarding Commissioner Blake's question?
>> Um
[2:20:39] Director Clark, uh, on a on a property
that's large. Uh, I'm not I I haven't
[2:20:45] dealt with a case of a dangerous dog on
a large property before, except that one
[2:20:49] where we um where they paid for the
sheep and um so like isn't there a
[2:20:55] prescribed enclosure that's supposed to
be made?
[2:20:58] » It can be it can be
recommended.
[2:21:04] » Okay. You know, you you all can say,
"Hey, this dog will be allowed to go
[2:21:09] home, but we want to add that it needs
to have a concreted enclosure, however
[2:21:16] many feet, concrete floor,
uh has to have a lock on it."
[2:21:20] » Okay.
>> You you can you all can do that.
[2:21:23] » Okay. Um
>> the board did not make that
[2:21:26] recommendation, but
>> that is a recommendation that can be
[2:21:29] made because we have had people who've
had to have dogs and they'll put them in
[2:21:33] like a 10 by10 concrete the bottom
enclosed the top has to have a lock on
[2:21:38] it.
>> Okay. Well, so just like one sentence
[2:21:43] beyond my point of clarification in this
case, I would say like if it was my dog
[2:21:47] whenever it went outside, I would put
one of those buzzles on it just to be
[2:21:52] safe. But I I don't want to force this
roaming happy farm dog to live inside a
[2:21:57] kennel.
>> Right.
[2:21:59] All right. Thank you. U Commissioner um
Commissioner Eperson.
[2:22:05] You just have your motion. Um at this
time, I want to permit uh the dog owner
[2:22:11] uh to make
>> I'd like to explain
[2:22:14] how I got my farm set up. Now, I know my
female, the older one, she's the
[2:22:19] instigator. She's the ROR. I built a
pasture fence for her last year. She has
[2:22:27] not been out of that since. She's the
one that instigates the Roman. He don't
[2:22:31] go nowhere. He stays right there on the
probably got three acres.
[2:22:36] I went and with the motor grass, she was
on the other side of the pasture. Before
[2:22:41] I could get the tractor in there, she
got out and they got out. They have not
[2:22:45] been out in a year since I buil built
that fence. She's the one that roams. He
[2:22:50] does not leave the property at all.
Period.
[2:22:55] And that's why I say I, you know, if you
deem him vicious or dangerous,
[2:23:02] then he cannot be outside the little
pasture at the house to take care of our
[2:23:08] animals, which is what they're there
for. Like I said, we've lost cats. We've
[2:23:14] lost chickens since he's been locked up.
Uh our neighbors Gabriel, they've lost
[2:23:19] 30 ducks because he watches their
whichever probably butts up to ours.
[2:23:25] As long as she is locked up in her pin,
which she ain't been out in years. My
[2:23:29] fault she got out cuz I'm mowing the
grass.
[2:23:32] He does not. He goes to the end of the
our driveway, which our driveway is
[2:23:36] probably a half a mile long. And he'll
sit right there
[2:23:40] and he stays in the yard. He never
leaves. Period. And to put vicious that
[2:23:45] I've got to keep him on a muzzle
and it's just they can't do their job. I
[2:23:52] mean it's more or less you might as well
put them down because I've got dogs
[2:23:55] locked up. He knows I got great pyrenees
locked up. They can't do their job.
[2:24:00] That's what they're raised for and born
for is to take care of our farm animals.
[2:24:06] And then just
[2:24:10] if I mean if there's something we can do
not where they ain't vicious. I know I
[2:24:15] know she'll never get back out again.
But I'll make sure I tie her up before I
[2:24:19] » right
>> undo that. And can we put a uh shot
[2:24:24] collar to keep him in the a more
confined area in our property or
[2:24:30] something? I just don't want them deemed
vicious because you got a Muslim. But to
[2:24:34] be clear, I apologize for interrupting
you, but to be clear, he's not being
[2:24:37] deemed vicious. That's a whole another
level.
[2:24:40] » Okay. But dangerous, don't they still
have to be muzzled and kept and kept in
[2:24:45] a pin?
>> So, let me let me ask you this. U
[2:24:49] because um you are describing uh some um
well, I would say different
[2:24:53] circumstances
um in comparison to what people would
[2:24:57] normally be dealing with in a
neighborhood. uh your your dog is
[2:25:00] essentially uh your dogs are a working
dog,
[2:25:03] » right?
>> And their their mission is to protect
[2:25:06] your farm animals uh from predators,
>> right?
[2:25:10] » Other, you know, wild animals and so
forth.
[2:25:12] » And so what you're saying is that your
dogs by uh the way that um uh you use
[2:25:18] them is outside of the fence is outside
of the fence.
[2:25:22] » No. No. Well, she stays in about an acre
fence,
[2:25:26] » right,
>> with the goats,
[2:25:29] » right?
>> Cuz she's the one that likes to roam. He
[2:25:31] don't he don't roam unless she's out,
>> right?
[2:25:34] » And they've been put out now. Now, him
he he guards the other two acres.
[2:25:38] » Yes, sir.
>> Which is in the yard. We live on a dead
[2:25:41] end in street and there's nothing but
woods around us.
[2:25:43] » Yes, I understand. But just so that
everybody would kind of be on the same
[2:25:46] page.
>> She's she's still put up in a big
[2:25:49] » acre fence and he's
>> right. But he's not.
[2:25:53] » But the space that they are protecting
your livestock is inside is already
[2:25:57] inside of a fence.
>> Some of some of it is.
[2:26:01] » Okay.
>> Some of it is.
[2:26:04] » But your but your animals do any of your
animals, your livestock, do they roam
[2:26:08] outside of the fence?
>> Oh, the chickens do.
[2:26:10] » The chickens do.
>> Yeah.
[2:26:12] » Well,
okay. it. What what I'm saying is that I
[2:26:18] I I know you suggested earlier that if
we if we vote and that's not yet
[2:26:23] determined, but if we vote to to render
your dog dangerous, your two dogs
[2:26:27] dangerous, you suggested that it would
really disqualify them from doing their
[2:26:32] work.
>> But if their job is to protect the
[2:26:34] animals inside of the fence, right,
>> that does not disqualify them from doing
[2:26:39] the work.
>> I understand that.
[2:26:40] » You understand what I'm saying?
>> Right. Essentially, essentially
[2:26:44] essentially the animals will be put on
sort of a probation, right?
[2:26:49] » If this never happens again, it it would
never rise to the level of vicious.
[2:26:53] » Okay?
>> You know, unless he attacks somebody uh
[2:26:56] in the manner that he just did, right?
>> And of course, uh you know, I more
[2:26:59] learned that animal control guy uh that
sits over there. Um Mr. Travis, if if
[2:27:05] I'm mistaken in this regard, you know,
please correct me. Uh the way I
[2:27:08] understand it is that if if the dog is
inside of the the fence, he doesn't have
[2:27:14] to have to wear a muzzle.
>> And so he wouldn't be restricted from
[2:27:18] doing the work that you have
commissioned him to do. If any any
[2:27:22] livestock is threatened by animal that
has come to that perimeter, your dog can
[2:27:27] still do his job. And so this does not
in fact based on you know what you've
[2:27:32] what you stated here and what's been
conveyed you know by your spouse this
[2:27:37] does not disqualify your dog from doing
the work that you want him to do if he's
[2:27:42] if he's rendered to be dangerous and so
if your dog is not in the habit of doing
[2:27:46] this type of conducting himself in this
way you should never ever have a
[2:27:50] problem. This would be
>> you know like one of these moments and
[2:27:53] you say yeah back in the day you know I
had the dog did this and this happened.
[2:27:57] Yeah, but um but Lucy was a wonderful
dog. I'm not saying your dog name is
[2:28:00] Lucy, but I'm just saying
>> um you kind of on the same page because
[2:28:05] you know we take we take your concerns
very seriously as a governing body
[2:28:09] » but at the same time you know we value
human life. Yes.
[2:28:14] » Right. So we have to protect the
citizens.
[2:28:16] » I would just like if y'all just if y'all
could have just met the dogs like I when
[2:28:20] I was in the meeting with them and
everybody raised their hand said the
[2:28:23] bishes. No, no, they watch. That's a
different It's not when I was in there
[2:28:27] and I'm like, you know, I'm tell y'all
didn't Yes, sir.
[2:28:30] » Y'all don't know the dogs, right?
>> Y'all could go to the pound right now,
[2:28:33] talk to everybody's there for the last
month.
[2:28:36] » They lick you to death.
>> Yes, sir.
[2:28:37] » You know.
>> Yes, sir. But these are the these people
[2:28:40] that sit up here typically, they're very
fair-minded folk, you know, you know,
[2:28:43] they're not coming after those. That's
not, you know, what we do.
[2:28:46] » Okay. All right. Anybody else have any
other Let's see. Commissioner, let's
[2:28:50] see. Um I know you're still on the board
for the motion, right? Okay. And and so
[2:28:55] John Pow, you had another observation
you wanted to make.
[2:28:58] » Yes, Mr. President. Thank you. So, um
the stakes are high if these dogs get
[2:29:05] out again and do this whether they're
deemed vicious or not because I saw them
[2:29:10] attack a dog in a neighborhood, not on a
farm, and we were told it's a mile away.
[2:29:17] So, I don't want that to happen again
because of a vote that I make. So, um if
[2:29:25] if they're deemed dangerous and they
stay inside their fence, that's fine.
[2:29:29] And this wouldn't have hap we would
never have seen this video if they had
[2:29:33] stayed inside their fence the first
time. So, like I'm going to vote to deem
[2:29:39] them to uphold the deeming that they're
dangerous. And if it was my dog, I would
[2:29:44] want to protect it from ever having the
chance of doing this again and getting
[2:29:48] put down as a result of it. And I would
put a muzzle on him when he goes
[2:29:52] outside. But inside their fence, it's up
to them whether they muzzle it or not.
[2:29:58] And I understand they're on a farm, and
that's a wonderful setting for this kind
[2:30:01] of dog. Um,
but it is 100% immaterial
[2:30:08] to the question whether a dog is
dangerous or not. if he is super
[2:30:11] friendly to people and will lick your
hand in the pound or in any other
[2:30:15] setting. The only thing that matters for
whether a dog is dangerous or not is
[2:30:19] whether a dog has done exactly what we
saw in the video, which is attack
[2:30:24] somebody or their dog unprovoked
in a place that's not their own yard.
[2:30:29] » But we don't know that he was on
>> Well,
[2:30:32] » when he was at the end of that driveway,
that dog was sir. Sir, a dog on a leash
[2:30:38] on its own property cannot possibly be
provoking another dog.
[2:30:42] » So, they ran th those dogs ran from the
street into somebody's yard
[2:30:47] » without being teased or summoned or
anything. So, that's the definition of a
[2:30:52] dangerous dog. And I'm sorry because
these are wonderful, sweet breeds, but
[2:30:56] I'm going to vote that way. All right.
>> Thank you.
[2:30:58] » All right. Thank you, Commissioner uh
Commissioner Atkins.
[2:31:00] » Thank you, Mr. President.
I just wanted to um respectfully
[2:31:05] make sure our our our owners understand
that, you know, if we vote for this dog
[2:31:12] to be considered dangerous, then he's
basically on probation. He's free to do
[2:31:17] what you want him to do, but if he were
to get out and have another incident
[2:31:21] like this, he would then be upgraded to
vicious, or maybe I should say
[2:31:25] downgraded to vicious. So, I just want
to make sure you all understand. And I
[2:31:28] don't I want you to be able to I want
you and your dogs to be able to enjoy
[2:31:31] the life that you want to enjoy. I just
want you to be aware of the situation
[2:31:34] and use care and caution. And I say that
with due respect. Thank you, Mr.
[2:31:38] President.
>> All right. Thank you for your
[2:31:40] observation and your comments,
Commissioner Atkins. All right, Mr.
[2:31:44] Cler.
>> Okay, we ready?
[2:31:49] » Explain explain what the vote means. If
you vote yes, it means we'll
[2:31:54] » a vote to uphold the decision uh of the
deeming of the dog as dangerous.
[2:31:58] » And if you vote no,
>> the dogs as dangerous and voting no uh
[2:32:04] would would require another motion to be
made,
[2:32:07] » right?
>> Okay, because
[2:32:10] » it would it would not deem the dogs,
>> right? Forgive me.
[2:32:12] » It would not uphold,
>> right? You're voting to uphold the
[2:32:15] decision. If this doesn't pass, right,
>> then we'd need another motion. The
[2:32:18] reason why I was concerned is because I
I thought we were hearing an appeal and
[2:32:23] normally when you're hearing an appeal,
you vote yes, you're agreeing with the
[2:32:26] appeal.
>> Thank you for that clarification. Yes,
[2:32:28] that the mo the motion, however, was
made to uphold. So, and as opposed to uh
[2:32:34] saying yes or no because you're right, a
lot of times our agenda items are
[2:32:37] phrased in the affirmative. Uh but this
being an appeal, the motion that was
[2:32:41] made was made to uphold the decision of
the previous body that heard this.
[2:32:44] » That's right. I just want to make sure
that was clear with everyone.
[2:32:47] All righty.
[2:32:54] » So, a yes vote upholds the the dangerous
dog determination.
[2:33:01] » Commissioner Catherine is affirmative.
[2:33:07] » That's what I'm doing right now.
[2:33:14] Okay. That uh motion carries with aid in
support, none in opposition. Uh that
[2:33:19] that uh that uh dangerous dog
determination is with is upheld. Um and
[2:33:26] that uh case number two, we do not have
the appellant here today. Um I'm not
[2:33:32] sure how to I guess we will go ahead and
hear the KTO
[2:33:38] uh animal services summary or I'm not
sure how y'all want to proceed with
[2:33:42] that. Maybe our parish attorney may have
a suggestion.
[2:33:45] » Um, commissioners, it's my understanding
that the um appellant contacted the
[2:33:50] clerk's office and stated that they had
an emergency due to flooding.
[2:33:54] » That is correct.
>> Um, which I'm not aware if they're
[2:33:57] currently here in the parish. I would
suggest that this be continued to the
[2:34:01] next regular meeting that he be notified
um via certified mail that it will be
[2:34:06] continued.
>> Okay. We have a motion by Victor uh
[2:34:10] Thomas and a second by Ken Epson.
>> Thank you, Mr. President. I'd like to
[2:34:15] make a motion to postpone the appeal um
the appellet um hearing to allow um the
[2:34:20] Galvin um appeal to be able to be
present and allow some like the request
[2:34:26] to certified notice.
>> Okay, Commissioner.
[2:34:30] All right, let's vote.
[2:34:36] And Commissioner Cauman is also voting
in the affirmative.
[2:34:42] And that motion carries with eight in
support, none in opposition and four
[2:34:46] absent. Uh brings us to communication
committee report second round.
[2:34:51] Anybody? Nobody. I just want to uh take
this opportunity to to acknowledge and
[2:34:56] to thank our our very uh handsome u law
enforcement officers and our very
[2:35:02] beautiful law enforcement officers that
are ladies and really do appreciate you
[2:35:06] know your presence and uh your
participation. Thank you very much.