[0:20] May August 25th Jasper City Council

[0:22] meeting, I will now call this meeting to

[0:25] order.

[0:27] For everyone will rise for the

[0:29] invocation led by Chief Poe and pledge

[0:32] of allegiance by Chief Upton.

[0:35] >> Bow our heads, please.

[0:37] Heavenly Father, thank you for this

[0:38] beautiful day you've given us and thank

[0:41] you for this city that we live in and

[0:43] thank you for the leaders and we ask for

[0:45] your guidance and wisdom to be bestowed

[0:48] upon them, Lord Jesus and just thank you

[0:50] for all the employees and keep them

[0:52] safe, Father. These things I ask in your

[0:54] precious name. Amen.

[1:00] » I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

[1:03] United States of America

[1:05] and to the republic for which it stands,

[1:08] one nation under God, indivisible, with

[1:11] liberty and justice for all.

[1:20] » All right, item two, consider approving

[1:22] minutes of the regular meeting held

[1:24] August 4th, 2026. Do you have a motion?

[1:28] >> I'll make that motion.

[1:30] >> I'll second.

[1:31] >> All right.

[1:33] >> Yes.

[1:39] All right, item three,

[1:41] consider amendments to the agenda.

[1:46] Okay,

[1:47] thank you.

[1:49] All right, with no amendments, I will

[1:52] consider approval of the agenda, the

[1:54] final agenda.

[1:56] >> I'll make that motion.

[1:57] >> I'll second.

[1:58] >> Yes.

[1:59] >> in favor?

[2:00] >> Yes.

[2:02] >> And yes.

[2:04] Okay.

[2:07] Item five, parade permits.

[2:11] Event permits.

[2:14] Kelly?

[2:14] >> Good morning, [clears throat] Council.

[2:15] >> Good morning.

[2:17] >> And this morning I'm seeking your

[2:18] approval to permit the 2026 Foothills 5K

[2:23] requested by Jasper High School's track

[2:25] and field team

[2:27] to be held on Saturday morning,

[2:29] September 12th.

[2:30] Uh registration will be in the front

[2:32] parking lot of the JCC at 7:00 a.m. with

[2:36] the run starting at 8:00, ending by

[2:38] 10:00 a.m.

[2:39] Uh with no requested [snorts] blockages.

[2:42] Uh participant information, course

[2:44] directions, and a route map were

[2:46] provided with the application, and which

[2:48] we did receive approval from our PD,

[2:51] fire, and street departments.

[2:53] >> All right.

[2:55] >> [clears throat]

[2:55] >> There are no questions. [snorts]

[3:00] Do I have a nomination?

[3:04] » I make that motion.

[3:05] >> Motion.

[3:06] >> I second.

[3:07] >> All in favor?

[3:07] >> Yes.

[3:09] >> And yes.

[3:10] >> Thank you.

[3:14] » All right. Item six, conduct a public

[3:18] hearing, restaurant retail liquor

[3:20] license. Lieutenant Lay?

[3:23] >> Good morning, Council.

[3:24] >> Good morning. [snorts and clears throat]

[3:25] >> This morning I'm here for an application

[3:27] for E-Food Mart and Bayou Fresh. They're

[3:30] located at 200 Highway 78 East, and they

[3:33] have applied for a restaurant retail

[3:35] liquor license for on-premise

[3:37] consumption only.

[3:39] They've met all the requirements of

[3:40] state law, city ordinances, and the

[3:42] police department does not have any

[3:43] [snorts] objections to this application.

[3:46] >> All right.

[3:47] And this is a public hearing, so if

[3:49] there's anyone that would like to speak

[3:51] for or against, now is the time.

[3:57] Seeing none, I will close that.

[4:00] And do I have a motion?

[4:02] >> I'll make the motion that we accept the

[4:03] request.

[4:05] >> Second.

[4:06] >> Motion is second. All in favor?

[4:08] >> Yes.

[4:09] >> And yes.

[4:14] All right, item seven.

[4:17] Pothole patcher.

[4:19] Mayor Gates.

[4:20] >> Good morning, Council. Um we have become

[4:23] aware of um some needs to enhance our

[4:25] ability to patch potholes around town.

[4:28] Um

[4:29] something and tools that would require

[4:30] less man hours and also be able to list

[4:32] a patch throughout the year and not um

[4:34] have to factor in weather, you know,

[4:36] temperature and things like that. Um so

[4:38] this pothole patcher fills that void.

[4:40] It's a tremendous tool in our arsenal.

[4:43] Um the cost for this is 110,000 and I'm

[4:45] requesting funding uh to make that

[4:47] purchase.

[4:51] » You know you're a council member when

[4:53] you deep dive into the pothole patcher

[4:56] and you're so excited. So this is great

[5:00] on that.

[5:03] Do I have a

[5:05] Who's Who's Who's excited about the

[5:07] pothole patcher?

[5:08] >> I'll make a motion.

[5:10] >> I'll second.

[5:11] >> And a second. All in favor?

[5:12] >> Yes.

[5:13] >> And yes. Thank you.

[5:20] Oh, you wanted us to do that by

[5:22] unanimous unanimous consent. Yes.

[5:26] >> All right.

[5:28] >> We should have just named it pothole

[5:29] something.

[5:29] >> No, I don't have to do that one.

[5:31] Perfect. It's only 14. Okay.

[5:35] All right, item eight.

[5:37] >> All right, continuing on uh in uh the

[5:40] spirit of addressing our our streets and

[5:42] wanting to maintain those as well as we

[5:44] possibly can. Um there's uh we've

[5:47] developed a strategic transportation

[5:48] infrastructure management plan. And part

[5:50] of this is is software that will really

[5:52] guide and inform our decisions of what

[5:54] we pave, when we pave it, pave it,

[5:56] keeping a record of, um,

[5:58] just the age and condition of the

[6:00] streets citywide. Um, and so this, um,

[6:04] product, um, by Capstone Geo, I'm

[6:06] requesting authorization, uh, to enter

[6:07] into a consulting and advisory agreement

[6:09] with this this company.

[6:11] Um, the total is $59,700.

[6:15] $45,000 of that is for the initial

[6:17] [snorts]

[6:17] citywide, um, evaluation and smart

[6:20] analysis, which will direct our efforts,

[6:22] um, related to paving.

[6:24] Um, and then a $7,500

[6:27] charge for a citywide, again, citywide,

[6:30] um, traffic study. We haven't [snorts]

[6:31] had one of those, um,

[6:34] conducted in quite a while, so having

[6:35] just an updated analysis of of where we

[6:38] stand with things is critically

[6:39] important. And then

[6:41] the only ongoing fee after the initial

[6:43] payment will be a $600 monthly fee, uh,

[6:45] just to maintain the software. So, today

[6:48] I'm requesting, uh, authorization to

[6:49] again enter into this service agreement

[6:51] with Capstone Geo.

[6:54] >> All right, you've heard the [snorts] mayor's recommendation.

[6:57] >> I'll make that motion.

[6:59] >> I'll second.

[7:00] >> A motion and a second. All in favor?

[7:02] >> Yes.

[7:03] >> And yes. Thank you. Moving on.

[7:07] Nine.

[7:07] >> All right. Me again. Um, this is a more

[7:10] of a procedural matter, um, but I do

[7:11] need the council's approval, uh, to

[7:13] provide my um,

[7:15] approval of this request. The, um,

[7:18] Parish Housing Authority

[7:20] um, is requesting merging with the

[7:22] Jasper Housing Authority. So, the Jasper

[7:24] Housing Authority will be absorbing, um,

[7:26] the Parish Housing Authority units and

[7:28] operations. And the Department of

[7:30] Housing and Urban Development requires

[7:32] mayors that are impacted in local

[7:34] municipalities to sign off on that. Uh,

[7:36] and I'm happy to do so, but I need your

[7:37] approval to

[7:39] sign off on that.

[7:41] >> That's wonderful.

[7:42] >> All right, members. You've heard the

[7:43] mayors.

[7:45] As delivered.

[7:46] >> Make a motion.

[7:48] >> And I'll second.

[7:48] >> And a second. All in favor?

[7:50] >> Yes.

[7:52] >> And yes.

[7:54] >> Thank you.

[7:56] » All right. Adam Tien,

[7:59] public hearing.

[8:01] Cathy Chambliss.

[8:02] >> And council members, we have three cost

[8:05] hearings to conduct this morning. The

[8:08] first piece of property will be at

[8:10] William Street, and it's property that

[8:13] would belong to Worship Life

[8:15] International. The city removed

[8:18] overgrown grass and weeds for a total

[8:21] cost of $1,000, and this is to the

[8:23] public hearing.

[8:26] Uh and I'll go through all three of

[8:27] them, and then if anyone is here, then

[8:31] um

[8:32] if you would ask that they come forward.

[8:35] So, the next piece of property is at

[8:37] 1608 Barker Street. It's property that

[8:40] belongs to Judy Bland, District 5.

[8:44] The total cost is $837.50,

[8:49] removal of overgrown grass and weeds.

[8:53] The next piece of property is at

[8:55] Clarence Street, property belonging to

[8:58] Charlene Boshell, in care of James

[9:01] Boshell, District 4.

[9:03] Removal of overgrown grass and weeds,

[9:06] $837.50.

[9:11] » Will you repeat how much that one was

[9:12] again?

[9:13] >> Um this was um

[9:16] property belonging to the Boshells,

[9:18] $837.50.

[9:22] » Okay.

[9:27] All right. And this is a public hearing.

[9:30] So, if we have anyone that would like to

[9:32] speak,

[9:33] um please come to the podium, state your

[9:35] name and

[9:37] your address.

[9:42] Going once, going twice.

[9:45] All right.

[9:48] I will close

[9:49] that and do I have a motion?

[9:53] >> I'll make that motion.

[9:55] >> I'll second.

[9:56] >> All in favor?

[9:58] >> Yes.

[10:04] All right. Adam 11.

[10:07] Adam Bolton.

[10:11] » Good morning, Council.

[10:12] >> Good morning.

[10:13] >> [snorts]

[10:14] >> We have uh

[10:15] accumulation, unsafe structures, and

[10:17] grass and weeds to go over. We'll go

[10:19] over the accumulation first.

[10:21] The first is in District 1. It's 401

[10:24] Crest Circle.

[10:26] The second

[10:28] No, excuse me. That's the only

[10:29] accumulation that we have.

[10:37] The second uh

[10:38] or the first grass and weeds is 2708

[10:42] Gamble Avenue,

[10:43] 2800 Gamble Avenue,

[10:48] and 2804 Calumet Road.

[10:56] And if we can, we'll vote on those and

[10:59] then we'll do the unsafe structures

[11:01] separately.

[11:03] >> Okay, cuz the unsafe just popped up

[11:05] there. So, we're not on that.

[11:06] >> Not voting on that yet. We'll do that

[11:08] next. [clears throat]

[11:09] >> We're just going to do

[11:11] accumulation and grass and weeds.

[11:13] >> Accumulation and grass and weeds.

[11:14] >> All right. Do I have a motion?

[11:17] >> I'll make that motion.

[11:19] >> Motion?

[11:20] >> I'll second.

[11:21] >> And a second. All in favor?

[11:23] >> Yes.

[11:24] >> And yes.

[11:26] All right. I will now commission uh

[11:28] >> The unsafe structure District 1 is 305

[11:32] Crest Circle.

[11:35] District 5

[11:38] is parcel number 64-1705-3-000-002.

[11:50] 000

[11:54] There's also three 1321

[11:58] Vineland [snorts] Drive.

[12:01] And then there's 2804 Calumet Road.

[12:05] And those are all unsafe structures.

[12:14] » All right.

[12:16] Do I have a motion for the unsafe

[12:17] structures?

[12:18] >> I'll make that motion.

[12:20] >> Motion?

[12:20] >> I'll second.

[12:21] >> And a second. All in favor?

[12:23] >> Yes.

[12:24] >> And yes.

[12:25] >> Thank you.

[12:29] All right. Item 14, there's my unanimous

[12:32] consent. Mayor?

[12:35] >> Hello again Council. Uh this is a

[12:36] follow-up from our last Council meeting

[12:38] where you approved me

[12:40] entering into a memorandum of

[12:42] understanding with Walker County

[12:43] Economic and Industrial Development

[12:45] Authority for professional services. Um

[12:47] today I'm bringing you a request to

[12:49] amend our lodging tax which we currently

[12:51] direct a portion of to the Jasper

[12:54] Industrial Development Authority. And

[12:56] asking you to amend the ordinance

[12:58] sufficient to cover the $200,000

[13:01] agreement we have

[13:02] to fund the MOU with the County

[13:04] Development Authority.

[13:08] To clarify,

[13:09] we're currently funding the JIDB about

[13:13] 70% of our lodging tax. And so we're

[13:15] going to reduce that number to cover

[13:18] the new agreement we have with the

[13:19] County Development Authority.

[13:21] Um the JIDB is no longer funding the

[13:24] role of executive director and we're

[13:25] using the county amongst many other

[13:27] things to fill those services. So we're

[13:30] just we're just we're shuffling the same

[13:31] funding for the same outcomes, but very

[13:34] pleased with the effort we're getting

[13:35] from the the two different entities

[13:37] working together right now.

[13:40] » All right. See if we can

[13:44] Here goes.

[13:44] >> And this will be for consideration by

[13:46] unanimous consent, sorry.

[13:48] >> Yes.

[13:50] I will entertain a motion in a second

[13:52] that the rules be suspended and

[13:54] unanimous consent be given for immediate

[13:57] consideration

[13:58] of an action on lodging tax ordinance.

[14:06] Need a motion.

[14:07] >> I'll be making that motion.

[14:10] >> I have a motion.

[14:11] >> I'll second.

[14:12] >> All in favor?

[14:13] >> Yes.

[14:15] >> And yes. The motion for unanimous

[14:18] consent for immediate consideration of

[14:20] an action

[14:22] on the said ordinance has unanimously

[14:24] carried.

[14:26] I will now entertain a motion in a

[14:28] second that the ordinance be finally

[14:30] approved.

[14:31] >> I'll make that motion.

[14:32] >> I have a motion.

[14:33] >> I'll second.

[14:34] >> And a second. All in favor?

[14:36] >> Yes.

[14:37] >> And yes. The motion for approval of the

[14:40] said ordinance has been unanimously

[14:42] carried and the ordinance has been

[14:45] approved.

[14:48] » Thank you.

[14:50] >> Item 15, rezoning. Michelle.

[14:54] >> All right.

[14:55] Um items 15 and 16 on the agenda are an

[14:58] introduction for one rezoning. These are

[15:01] the two parcels in the Tate Road area

[15:03] that the council annexed into the city a

[15:05] few weeks ago. Both parcels are in

[15:07] district two. For item 15, the planning

[15:10] commission would like to recommend a

[15:11] rezoning of an approximately four acre

[15:13] parcel at 2700 Tate Road from its

[15:16] [snorts] temporary zone of MR to a

[15:18] permanent zone of AG. The surrounding

[15:21] properties in this area are zoned R-1

[15:23] and AG and the owner requested to be

[15:25] zoned AG.

[15:29] » All right, and that's an introduction

[15:31] and so 16.

[15:33] >> Go ahead and do 16. Um the count the

[15:35] commission also recommends rezoning an

[15:37] approximately 4.4 acre parcel identified

[15:40] as parcel number

[15:41] 64-10-06-24-0-0-0-018.000

[15:50] from its temporary zone of MR to a

[15:52] permanent zone of AG.

[15:55] » All right, and that as well is an

[15:57] introduction.

[15:59] >> Okay.

[15:59] >> Thank you.

[16:03] » Okay, item 17.

[16:06] Receive comments from the audience.

[16:10] If you'll please step to the podium and

[16:13] give us your name.

[16:24] >> Good morning.

[16:25] >> My name is Wanda Howard and I'm trying

[16:28] to get update on some property that I

[16:30] came down a couple of weeks and talked

[16:32] about.

[16:34] Overgrown property.

[16:38] » Can you give us the address?

[16:40] >> Uh 604 27th Street West

[16:44] and the other one is

[16:45] 2604 Martin Luther King Drive.

[16:58] Yeah, I'm trying to get some update on

[16:59] the overgrown property that I talked to

[17:01] you about before.

[17:03] >> Tell me the address again.

[17:04] >> 604 27th Street West and 2604 Martin

[17:08] Luther King Drive.

[17:09] >> I'll make sure I can get that down for

[17:11] two years.

[17:14] » Okay.

[17:18] » All right.

[17:19] >> Thank you.

[17:22] » Okay, so you've y'all spoke and we're

[17:27] Anyone else?

[17:29] Thank you, Ms. Howard.

[17:33] All right, we will receive comments from

[17:35] the mayor.

[17:36] >> All right.

[17:37] I want to highlight a few things this

[17:39] morning. Um good morning again, Council.

[17:41] Good morning, everyone. Uh one of the

[17:43] biggest privileges of of being in this

[17:45] role is getting to interact uh with our

[17:47] city employees and actually seeing what

[17:48] goes on behind the scenes to make our

[17:51] city function. And I assure you guys

[17:52] very little to do with me. Um so, today

[17:55] we've got some officers with us from the

[17:56] Jasper Police Department. I want to

[17:58] recognize that uh recently um

[18:00] been promoted. Uh so, we got Officer

[18:02] Ryan Brewer, um Jeremiah Alexander, and

[18:05] Octavius Dockery. If you guys will come

[18:06] up here, please.

[18:12] Officer Brewer and and Dockery are just

[18:14] recently promoted to sergeant and then

[18:16] now Captain Alexander. Um very

[18:18] privileged to to work with these

[18:20] gentlemen. They represent our city

[18:21] incredibly well and and are very

[18:23] consistent and dependable and and

[18:25] couldn't be prouder. So, just wanted to

[18:26] let you all see uh some of these

[18:28] officers and celebrate their uh

[18:30] promotions with us today.

[18:33] >> Oh, man.

[18:35] Sorry, Captain Alexander.

[18:38] Thank you, Chief.

[18:46] Thank you, gentlemen.

[18:49] >> [applause]

[18:51] » Great job, Chief.

[18:55] Also, I don't know if you've noticed

[18:56] around town we have a bit of a blitz

[18:59] going on. We're really focused on just

[19:00] the aesthetic features of our city,

[19:02] making sure we're representing it well

[19:03] to our citizens and also to people who

[19:05] are visiting our city. We have a lot

[19:07] going on and we want to make a great

[19:08] first impression.

[19:09] Um and there's several members of our

[19:11] street department, One specific crew

[19:13] that's really been going above and

[19:14] beyond recently just laboring throughout

[19:16] the day

[19:17] in in this heat in this weather and

[19:19] really working everything from

[19:21] crosswalks to rights of way to all kind

[19:23] of different things around our city and

[19:24] I would like to call them up if you guys

[19:26] will come up. We've got Hope Kilgore,

[19:28] Joshua Dotson, and Kent Hall.

[19:33] I don't know if you guys have a team

[19:34] name or not, but this is a stellar group

[19:36] of people and just want you guys to see

[19:39] who's responsible for a lot of the

[19:40] efforts you're seeing a lot of good work

[19:41] around the city. [music] So

[19:52] Thank you all very much for all you do

[19:53] for us.

[20:00] Let's do it again.

[20:05] Excellent.

[20:06] That's all I have. Thank you.

[20:08] >> That's awesome. Thank you.

[20:10] All right. Um, comments from council

[20:12] members?

[20:15] >> I just like to make one announcement on

[20:17] September 24th we'll be having a

[20:19] district five citizens meeting here at

[20:22] 5:00 here at city hall.

[20:24] September 24th.

[20:27] » All right. And then also need to point

[20:29] out

[20:30] our next council meeting will actually

[20:33] fall on September 8th.

[20:35] So making that aware so we'll have a

[20:39] council meeting on September 8th and

[20:44] Do you have anything? And go bikes.

[20:47] Yeah. All right.

[20:51] I

[20:52] That's it.

[20:53] Do I have a motion to adjourn?

[20:54] >> I'll make that motion.

[20:56] >> Second.

[20:57] >> All in favor?

[20:58] >> Yes.

[21:00] This meeting is adjourned.

[21:03] This too.

Jasper City Council - August 25, 2026

Transcript